Tactics in soccer are great. They are fascinating. Diving into them allows for a deeper look into the game, an embrace of the chess-match element inherent in the sport, and a whole new series of ...

Since the innovation of the flat 4 in the late 1980’s, most professional and international teams have adopted the system as part of their standard tactics. In its most common evolution, the flat 4 is ...

Throughout the world, soccer strategy is a hot topic of conversation. There’s debate about employing a 4-3-3 versus the 4-2-3-1 or the trendy 3-5-2; playing possession soccer or absorbing pressure and ...

Formations. What are they? What do they mean? Why so many numbers? And so forth. As part of a series I'm going to be doing on this blog explaining some of the ins and outs of soccer to new fans, let's ...

Formations, formations, formations. Everyone loves to talk formations. Both in real life and in fantasy. In fantasy soccer, actually, formations are more important even than in real life. They can ...

When things aren’t going well, sometimes a change is in order. After back-to-back shutouts, No. 18 UCLA women’s soccer (13-5-1, 7-3-1) started the game against No. 5 USC (14-4-1, 8-2-1) in a formation ...

Arsenal missed out on the Premier League title last season despite leading the league table for the majority of it. Mikel Arteta’s men finished second, which was creditable. This time around, they ...

Change can take a while to get used to. The Georgia soccer team is strong evidence of that, still searching for its first win of the season four games in. A new coaching staff has changed the ...

This is going to be difficult for soccer traditionalists to swallow, but here goes. Formations in soccer don't matter. Not anymore. Their chief function nowadays is to justify coaches' salaries and ...