Once the chaos of the game starts, it's important to keep an eye on how the teams line up. And there is a universal convention for naming these formations. This isn't like American football with Nickel defenses lined up against a shotgun bunch right offense. Soccer formations have a simpler approach to naming their lineups. Teams will use a series of 3 to 4 numbers in succession to create clarity and organization so players can know their responsibilities on the field. The classic formation employed by many teams is known as the 4-4-2. It's such a famous and ubiquitous strategy that there's a famous soccer magazine that uses the formation as its namesake: Four Four Two. So how does this series of numbers create organization on the soccer field? 

An Introduction to Soccer Formations

When I outlined how the offside rule works, I said that it’s important to think of the field in terms of sectional slices by thirds. You have your defensive third, middle third, and attacking third. When a coach sizes up the team, they will form up their players to best utilize the space on the field. To do this, they will consider the strength of their starters and how their bench players fit into the scheme. So everyone has a clear idea of where they will be on the field, they are given an assignment within a formation. The universal numbering system tells the defenders, midfielders, and attackers where they fit on the field. So returning to the 4-4-2 example above, the system illustrates how many players will be needed in specified roles. So the first 4 denotes the 4 back-line defenders, which are the centerbacks and fullbacks. The next 4 denotes the midfield players, including two central midfielders and two wide midfielders on the flanks. The last number, the 2 up front stands for the two attacking players, which are the striker and the second striker.

You might be asking, what about the goal keeper? Well, for the sake of redundancy, the keeper is not included in formations since it’s pretty much the rules that teams have one keeper between the sticks. But man, imagine if you could have 2 or 4 goal keepers? If the US Men’s National Team would have had like 3 Tim Howards in the box, we would have won that World Cup in 2014. Rules… Bah!

Let’s Talk History

Anyway, soccer formations not only show the spaces that players will occupy during a match, but they also illustrate the overall style of the team and the coach’s philosophy. These formations can show offensive or defensive mindedness. Back in the 1800s in the infancy of soccer in England, formations were wildly offensive. Teams would line up in something comically stacked in favor of attackers, like a 2-3-5 or maybe a 1-3-6, because reasons. Actually, there’s a fantastic book that explains the beginning and evolution of soccer tactics called Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Soccer Tactics by Jonathan Wilson.

There are a ton of variations to soccer formations, and they will often tell more about a team than their defensive and offensive personnel. These formations can show how a team prefers to move the ball up the field. With the 4-4-2, you have a good balance of passing options up the middle of the field or wide along the sidelines. And with two strikers up front, the midfield can feed the ball straight up, or work the sidelines for a crossing pass into the opposition’s box. The fact that there are 4 midfielders gives the team a good balance to play and offensive and defensive style. Another popular formation is the 4-3-3, which became popular in the 2010s thanks to the style and flair of Spanish La Liga giants Barcelona. Barcelona used speedy wingers to play forward with Lionel Messi in the middle to create all sorts of havoc for the opposition.

Using Variations to Define Style

There are also variations to soccer formations that denote utility midfielders such as defensive midfielders or attacking midfielders. This is where formations like the 4-2-3-1 or the 4-3-2-1 show use of defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders respectively. There is also a recent trend where the defensive back line sacrifices one player to favor more midfield players. A recent example would be the 3-5-2, which stacks the midfield with speedy wide players and protection in the middle. English Premier League club Manchester City is enjoying a really successful season with the 3-5-2, because it compliments the style of their coach Pep Guardiola, who utilizes high pressure up the field. His thinking is that if the opposition can’t utilize their options when building up the field, then having a 4-player defensive backline isn’t an efficient use of the field. So it’s up to the midfield to shut down passing lanes to maintain a high defensive pressure..

When I realized how formations line up players on the field and dictate the overall flow of play, it became easy for me to follow games. I remember catching a few games in my early days of interest in the sport, and just not getting how it all worked. Honestly, what helped me understand formations and tactics was playing the FIFA video game series. Since picking up some insight, it became easier to follow and understand the strategies that the coaches were using on the field. I hope that this guide has helped you gain some knowledge about how soccer works. There are a ton more formations and tactics to get into, but this is a brief primer into the world of soccer strategy. Now when someone asks you how soccer works, you have an answer that will make you sound like a soccer insider. Because now you are. You’re in the Matrix and you can’t unsee what you’ve learned. Thank you for reading! As always, live well and watch more soccer.