Glossary: Tactics terms and definitions
All the key words you need to know to understand football tactics
Player roles and tactical profiles
Centre-back – A central defender whose main responsibility is to stop opposing attackers, especially strikers, through positioning, interceptions, and aerial duels.
Ball-playing defender – A centre-back who actively contributes to build-up play by progressing the ball via accurate passes or carries into midfield areas.
Full-back – A wide defender who supports both defensively and offensively, often overlapping with the winger and contributing to width in attack.
Inverted full-back – A full-back who inverts their movement into central areas of the pitch, often to provide additional support in midfield or to create overloads, rather than staying wide.
Central midfielder – A player who operates centrally in the midfield, balancing both defensive and offensive responsibilities, typically involved in linking up play between defence and attack.
Holding midfielder – A deep-lying midfielder tasked with protecting the defence, breaking up play, and maintaining positional discipline. It’s a type of defensive midfielder.
Deep-lying playmaker – A midfielder who operates from a deeper position and dictates the tempo of play with precise distribution and vision, often initiating build-up from the back. It’s a type of defensive midfielder.
Box-to-box midfielder – A dynamic midfielder with responsibilities at both ends of the pitch, contributing to both defensive coverage and attacking runs into the box. Can be a defensive midfielder or a central midfielder.
Winger – A wide attacking player who typically stays close to the touchline to stretch the opposition’s defence, often aiming to beat their marker and deliver crosses into the box using their stronger foot from the same side of the pitch.
Inverted winger – A wide forward who plays on the opposite side of their dominant foot (e.g., a right-footed player on the left), often cutting inside to shoot or create.
Advanced playmaker – A creative midfielder operating between the opposition's midfield and defensive lines, tasked with finding space and supplying incisive passes. It’s a type of attacking midfielder.
Target forward – A physically strong striker who excels at receiving direct passes, holding up the ball, and bringing others into play, often under pressure.
Tactical concepts and field zones
Build-up – The structured phase of possession in which a team advances the ball from the defensive third toward the final third, often involving short, controlled passes.
Overload – Creating a numerical advantage in a specific area of the pitch, usually to disrupt defensive shape or generate better passing options.
Switch of play – A horizontal or diagonal pass (often long-range) that quickly moves the ball from one flank to the other, aiming to exploit open space or stretch the defence.
Half-space – The vertical channels between the central and wide areas of the pitch, often used by attackers or midfielders to receive the ball in threatening positions.
Zone 14 – The central area just outside the opponent’s penalty box. Considered one of the most dangerous zones for creating goal-scoring chances.
Pressing trap – A coordinated defensive tactic that invites a pass into a specific area or player before quickly closing down to regain possession.
Rest defence – The out-of-possession structure is maintained during attacking phases, ensuring the team is protected against counter-attacks.
Verticality – A tactical emphasis on quickly advancing the ball toward the opponent's goal, often bypassing midfield congestion.
Compactness – The vertical and horizontal closeness of a team’s shape, used to limit space for opponents and improve defensive solidity.
Transitions – The moments when possession switches from one team to the other, either attacking-to-defending (defensive transition) or defending-to-attacking (offensive transition).
Counter-pressing – A strategy where a team immediately presses the opponent after losing possession, aiming to recover the ball quickly and high up the pitch.
Underlapping run – A movement by a wide or central player who makes a run inside the teammate in possession, creating an option in the half-space.
Overlapping run – A movement by a wide or central player (usually a full-back or winger) who makes a run outside the teammate in possession, typically to provide width in attack and create crossing or passing options on the flank.
Key Performance Stats
Expected goals (xG) – Estimates the likelihood that a given shot will result in a goal, based on factors like shot location, type, and context. The closer the xG value is to 1, the better the chance of scoring.
Expected assists (xA) – Measures the quality of a pass that leads to a shot, estimating how likely it would be to result in a goal based on xG models. The closer the xA value is to 1, the higher the likelihood that the pass creates a goal.
Post-shot xG (PSxG) – A variation of xG that accounts for shot placement and trajectory, offering a better measure of goalkeepers’ shot-stopping difficulty. For example, two shots from the same location may have identical xG, but PSxG will be lower for a weak shot at the keeper and higher for a well-placed strike toward the top corner.
Shot-creating actions (SCA) – The two offensive actions (passes, dribbles, fouls won, etc.) that directly precede a shot attempt.
Key passes – Passes that lead directly to a shot, regardless of whether the shot results in a goal.
Progressive passes – Forward passes that move the ball significantly closer to the opponent’s goal, often breaking defensive lines.
Progressive carries – Dribbles or carries that advance the ball at least 10 yards toward goal or into the final third.
Touches in the penalty area – The number of times a player controls the ball inside the opponent’s 18-yard box, indicative of attacking involvement.
Pass completion % – The percentage of a player’s attempted passes that successfully reach a teammate.
Duels won / duel success rate – Measures how often a player wins physical or contested one-on-one challenges, both aerial and on the ground.
Pressures and successful pressures – "Pressures" track how often a player applies pressure to an opponent in possession; "successful" ones lead to possession being regained within 5 seconds.
Save percentage – Used for goalkeepers; represents the proportion of shots on target that are saved.
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