TCU went the fall season of 2020 undefeated in NCAA Women’s soccer, with an 8-0-1 record, and have picked up where they left off by beating Oklahoma 2-0 on March 20th, after having their first two Spring season fixtures against West Virginia and Baylor cancelled.
Head Coach Eric Bell, the winner of 2020’s Big 12 soccer coach of the year, has forged a winning program in his time at TCU thus far. In 2016, the Horned Frogs made their first NCAA tournament appearance, and they have been a mainstay in the tournament ever since. Thanks to their impressive undefeated run in the fall of 2020, they also won their maiden Big 12 championship. Under Bell, TCU are going from strength to strength and along with Florida State, North Carolina and UCLA, they rounded out the top four in the United Soccer Coaches NCAA D1 soccer rankings for the fixtures through to Feb 28, 2021.
This tactical analysis will give an in-depth analysis of some of the tactics Bell is currently using to great effect with TCU, whilst also offering some areas that opponents might wish to target.
Formation and personnel
In terms of a formation, there seems to be a little debate around what TCU field. Instat claim they use a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 but truthfully it is more of a 4-5-1. Bell prefers his wide attackers to stay relatively wide and link up with the full-backs, particularly on the right flank. Right-back Chaylyn Hubbard is more expansive than the defensively solid Brandi Peterson at left-back, as the diagram below shows. The width provided by TCU’s wide players leaves plenty of space either side of the centre-forward for their central-midfielders to push up in attack.
Out of possession, their shape begins more in a 4-1-4-1 where there is a clear definition between the positioning of the pivot and the rest of the midfield, but as the ball progresses with the opposition they will fall back into a 4-5-1. However, when they press, their shape starts far more aggressively, and we will look at this in more detail later on.
