How we analyse football matches

Tactical analysis in football is nothing new. Coaches in places like England, Austria, and Hungary would sit down in cafés to talk tactics even during the early stages of the games development. With the birth of the internet and the mass globalization of football, people have been able to share their ideas quickly, easily, and with a huge amount of people.

Here at Total Football Analysis, we pride ourselves on delivering quality football tactical analysis in the form of easily digestible articles. Some of our writers have experience playing and coaching, while others watch countless hours of footy to improve their knowledge. However, many people wonder what the exact purpose of this analysis is. Do we actually believe that technical writing using terms like halfspace can contribute to the betterment of the sport? As I think youll find out soon enough, the answer is yes.

If you take 100 analysts, put them in a room showing any old football match, and ask them for their thoughts, youll get 100 different answers. One may focus on how a manager used his defenders to build from the back. Another will discuss the use of defensive organization as a form of attack. Yet another may remark about player interactions off the ball. The tactical analysis of football is almost completely subjective.

Benoit Pimpaud has a style of analysis I find very comparable to my own. For him, preparation is key and repetition is necessary. Before the match starts, Benoit wrote me, I go on WhoScored to see the last five lineups for both teams and look at the news to refresh my memory about the teams. This calls up the concept of familiarity. Its so much easier to analyse teams you support or watch often because you know what to expect. Writing about an unfamiliar squad will require prior research to truly grasp their motives.

After his pre-match research, Benoit looks at the lineups and thinks about how each side will attack the other. Once the referee blows his whistle, though, the methodical inquiry is over. He doesnt try to do any on-the-spot analysis of complex plays. Each time I see an interesting gameplan or a built action, I note the timestamp and some details about it. It’s quite simple during game time; I prefer to concentrate on the game instead of miss out an important phase.

David Selini is currently a professional coach, something made apparent by his analytical style. This is not only the case with his article choices (a great piece on football fitness stands out) but also in the way he goes about watching matches. I divide the game up into 15 minute periods, says David. I spend the first fifteen minutes looking at how both teams attack, how they defend collectively and how they act in both transitions [defence to attack and vice-versa]. For the next fifteen minutes period I look at the game in a similar way, and then its easy to notice changes in how the two teams play.

Picture from Davids piece, Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.

David repeats this fifteen-minute sectional analysis throughout the match. His goal is firstly to grasp how each team wants to play, and then look for eventual changes in how they play throughout the 90 minutes (substitutions, target areas, opposition players they mark, formation changes, etc.). David noted that his UEFA B coaching course was a major influence on this type of tactical analysis.

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