For a few years now, we’ve heard a lot about “positional play”. But do we know exactly what it’s about? Here is a reminder of a few principles that underpin the most important revolution in football of the last 30 years.
Playing method, vision or philosophy? It’s difficult to summarise with a few simple concepts the outlines of the shifting, and therefore complex, approach of positional play (PP). To have a grasp on the subject, you need to go to the source: Spain, where it was introduced by Pep Guardiola’s Barça as early as 2007. That’s where the principles of PP were most clearly formulated, before they became widely acclaimed. In his reference work “The evolution”, Marti Perarnau, official biographer of the current Manchester City head coach, transcribes these enlightening words: “Positional play doesn’t consist of passing the ball horizontally; it aims to generate superiority behind each line of pressure. It can be done more or less quickly, more or less vertically, more or less in a grouped way, but the only thing that should be maintained at all times is the pursuit of superiority. Or to put it another way: create free men between the lines (to move forward towards the goal, ed.)."
The systemic and systematic pursuit of superiority
A new way to approach space and time, “particularly the time and space that the player who receives the ball has to get organised (...) Each of the eleven players will have to adjust their situation and positioning based on what connects them: the ball.” In other words, a moving point of reference, which calls for a dynamic rather than static interpretation of space, as was previously the case for many years. So-called “phase” spaces which appear for a short amount of time, depending on where the ball is and where it moves to (see further). In the same way, Olivier Alberola, one of PP’s masterminds in Europe, explains: “Space is our guide and the ball is our oxygen. It is the element that organises our play, and our absolute reference point. Positional play requires a paradigm shift to consider the ball as the essential tool to our individual and collective expression.” To what extent is positional play going to develop further and which direction will it move in? It’s impossible to give an answer, as this approach seems to contain the seeds of all the necessary elements in its own transformation.
Positional or “location” play?
As it is too often restricted to a purely spatial concept, the use of the term “positional” overlooks two other key concepts:
> PP also includes the idea of “body positioning”. As Pep Guardiola’s assistant and mastermind Juanma Lillo has mentioned as a reminder, “a player on the pitch can be ‘in the wrong place but the right position’, or ‘in the right place but the wrong position”.
> PP doesn’t necessarily dictate the players’ locations depending on their position. They can “circulate” and self-organise in order to occupy each one of the “locations”.
In fact, some major positional play experts like Lillo or Catalonia’s Daniel Fernandez find it more accurate to call it “juego de ubicacion”, which translates as... “location play” !
Dynamic and shifting spaces
In order to help players approach the game from a common reference point, three dynamic so-called “phase” spaces (which shift depending on the position of the ball) are formalised:
- The space of intervention (highlighted in yellow on the drawing), which refers to the space between the ball carrier and the first direct opponent.
- The space of mutual help (highlighted in red on the drawing), which includes the ball carrier’s closest teammates. They can potentially be players receiving the ball, but also free men, that is, unmarked players, you will look to pass the ball to in the next phase.
- The space of cooperation (highlighted in blue on the drawing), which incorporates the ball carrier’s furthest team-mates. It should be noted that the players within this space can also receive the ball directly from a long pass.
4 types of superiority
“Concepts of advantage and superiority are the very foundations of positional play.” This is what Pierre Sage, current manager of Olympique Lyonnais, told us in 2020. “In other words, using positional play means knowing how to exploit advantages created by the team.” How exactly? Thanks to 4 kinds of superiority, according to the technician:
1/ NUMERICAL superiority: the most traditional superiority that involves having more team-mates than your opponents in a specific area of the pitch.
2/ POSITIONAL superiority: this means taking advantage of a situation where you are outnumbered, by good positioning of the players on the pitch. This type of superiority is very desirable because it usually leads to teams finding the famous « free man ».
3/ QUALITATIVE superiority: the aim here is to generate one-on-one situations with a likely probability of getting the upper hand. For example, by moving the opposing defensive unit, a team can isolate a winger or a particularly strong wide player in a one-on-one against a full back.
4/ SOCIO-EMOTIONAL superiority: This type of superiority is based on the level of cooperation between players who complement each other. “In other words, players who know each other inside out, or who are able to find each other with their eyes closed”, the coach says, before adding: “Thanks to this socio-affective superiority, the team is able to make the most of its potential on the pitch.”
