Exactly this Roscoe.

Such a simple practice that is replicated in so many positions and scenarios on the pitch. 

Brilliant for younger players. 

Hi Daniel,

We love that you are finding them useful. 

The link below is the four-against-a-back-four. We don't have the back-five ones in place in this format on the website yet; the upcoming Coaches Pathway will take care of that.

https://tactxcoach.com/programs/manchester-united-high-pressing-performance-problems-collections

These X posts also support your request. https://x.com/Tactx_/status/1734239197953683930?s=20

Thibaut R.

Yes, exactly, Thibaut. 👍🏻

For me it’s less about the starting formation and more about what the opposition actually becomes out of possession and where the spaces appear. Against an aggressive 4-3-3, I think there’s definitely an opportunity for the full-back to roll inside the wide forward’s press. That can give your 10 and wide forward really good options to offer around, while the full-back moving inside can also create the extra player and potential overload in midfield. If they follow him inside, you potentially open the outside. If they don’t, you can find the overload centrally.But again, for me flexibility is key. I wouldn’t want the full-back automatically inverting every time just because we’re playing against a 4-3-3. Sometimes roll inside, sometimes stay outside, sometimes arrive later. Keep changing the picture and asking the opposition different questions.Ultimately, the more predictable our positioning becomes, the easier we are to defend.

I want enough structure to create advantages, but enough flexibility to keep surprising the opposition. 👍🏻

Great question, Thibaut. 👍🏻

My issue isn’t with the full-back inverting itself, there are obviously situations where it can be really effective. It’s more about what advantage the inversion actually creates against a midfield four.

If the full-back moves inside and and form a box/diamond, quite often the free pass is the diagonal into the wide forward. If that player is exceptional 1v1, can receive under pressure and threaten outside, then absolutely, keep finding them and let them go to work.

The problem is that at the elite level, a good full-back is often comfortable defending that situation. They can show the winger inside towards the midfield four, where the spaces are already congested and the movements of your 10s are largely happening in front of an organised defensive structure. You can make the half-space run, but you’re often running into players who are already matched and positioned to deal with it. That’s why, against a midfield four, I generally prefer to think around before through.

Keep two players threatening the wide channel on each side at different heights, force that midfield four to make decisions about how far they’re prepared to travel, and stretch the distances between them. If they stay narrow, you can play around them and potentially create the 2v1 outside. If they jump wider, you’ve now created bigger spaces to play through.

So for me, it’s not “inverting full-backs is wrong.” It’s simply asking: what problem are we trying to create for the opposition?

Against a compact midfield four, I’d rather use width to create the space to play through, rather than putting more players into an area they’re already trying to protect.Obviously there are loads of different scenarios and solutions within that, but hopefully that explains the rationale behind the point I was making. 👍🏻

Tactx (Mikey)

GUJIANG Hi, these videos are related to collections where you can see more. The actual animations of all of the movements beyond are coming in their own class. This animation was only an example.

https://tactxcoach.com/programs/collection-cgp_gepqtlc

https://tactxcoach.com/programs/collection-ccu2ltidfxo

Great question, Daniel. We’d personally have the core working through something like the following:

https://tactxcoach.com/programs/playing-out-technical-practice-1-controlling-two-central-forwards?utm_source=product&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=content_share&utm_term=3979201&utm_content=mobile

https://tactxcoach.com/programs/playing-out-technical-practice-1-controlling-two-central-forwards?utm_source=product&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=content_share&utm_term=3979201&utm_content=mobile

Then we’d look to bring everything together afterwards within a skill/game-based practice, where the players have to recognise and apply those actions under more realistic pressure.

We’re actually in the process of bringing all of this together into structured yearly schedules, so coaches can follow a clear progression that links the work across both the core and the hat, rather than practices sitting in isolation. 👍🏻

Ezra D. Yes, use yards for all metrics you see. 

Ezra D. Yards Ezra

Ezra D. Hi, the measurements are in yards. 

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