Queen’s Park, the oldest football club in Scotland who saw great success in the Scottish Cup in the late nineteenth century. The Glasgow club holds an iconic status in football and has been well known for its commitment to amateurism and fair play. The club has produced several notable players over the years, including many Scotland internationals such as Liverpool fan favourite Andy Robertson.
In recent years, Queens Park has struggled to maintain its position in Scottish football and was relegated to the fourth tier of the football pyramid at the end of the 2017/18 campaign. However, fed up with losing their best players for free, in 2019 the club made the decision to turn professional and it’s safe to say, they have not looked back since. After winning the Scottish League Two in 2020/21, Queen’s Park then surprised many by immediately gaining promotion from League One via the playoffs the following season.
Current manager Owen Coyle took charge of the club in June 2022 and has continued the upward trajectory. The Spiders are enjoying a wonderful season where they find themselves in the frame for promotion to the Scottish Premiership. They currently sit second in the Championship, one point behind leaders Dundee and on course to qualify for the playoffs as a minimum. Surely, a third consecutive promotion couldn’t be on the cards, could it?
This tactical analysis will focus on the tactics Owen Coyle has implemented during his tenure at Queen’s Park. We will analyse the style of play he has brought to the club and why they have continued to be so successful despite the step up.
Preferred formations
To begin this analysis, let’s take a look at the formations and tactical setup that Coyle has used most often this season.
From this graphic, we can see that he mostly favours a 4-2-3-1 formation. We can also see that this is very fluid as Queen’s Park also uses a 4-4-2 and 4-1-4-1 quite often. All of these tactical setups are very similar which suggests that it is a relatively easy transition between them for the team.
For example, a 4-2-3-1 can easily transform into a 4-4-2 if the attacking midfielder pushes forward to create a front two and the wingers just drop back a little to form a midfield block of four. Many managers favour this when pressing as the two forwards can put pressure on the opposition centre backs whilst the midfielders can cut off passing lanes to prevent the opponent from successfully building from the back.
