Individual tactics require players to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of themselves and their opponent to gain an advantage in different game scenarios. Game Insights analyst, Luke Saunders, explores what individual tactics look like and the impact they can have on players being effective on the pitch.
What are individual tactics? How can we support our players to develop their individual tactics so they know which strength to call on at the right time to solve the problems they face? Read our ‘How to help players develop individual tactics’ article to build your understanding before we delve into some real life examples below.
What do individual tactics look like?
Players need to be able to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of themselves and their opponents and coaches can help to develop this through planning effective practice sessions. For coaches, a key skill is to take time to observe players during matches and training to spot their super strengths. The next step is to design practices which help players to practice and improve their strengths and weaknesses.
An attacker will need to be able to time their movement with the ball and consider their body shape when approaching a defender to work out the best way to beat them. A defender will need to scan their surroundings to know which technique will be most effective to win the ball based on what they expect their opponent to do. The technical qualities of all players will influence their individual tactics and how effective they are.
Take a look at the clips below – try to spot when players are using their super strengths, and which core skills and core moves are on show. How do you support your players to use their individual tactics to maximise the team’s tactics and strategies?
Video montage highlighting Manchester United’s defensive style of play. They sit in a mid-block, allowing opponents to play around the shape rather than through. If the ball penetrates the middle of the shape, the press is intense and supported by many players..
WSL player case study (data collected before matchday 7 in the 24/25 season)
After featuring for England U17, U19 & U23, Grace Clinton made her England senior debut in February 2024 whilst on loan at Tottenham Hotspur – she returned to Manchester United in the summer and made her debut for her parent club in September 2024 – showing her class, Clinton scored on each debut. Grace can also be described as a ‘game disruptor’ – she has a super strength of being able to battle for possession, working hard when having to defend and positioning herself in the best places to defend most effectively.
She has built a solid foundation of out of possession individual tactics so far in the 24/25 WSL season: averaging 3 interceptions, 3 pressing duels and 13 defensive duels per 90, as well as scoring 3 goals (2nd in the WSL).
Video montage highlighting Grace Clinton’s defensive prowess and the impact of her individual defensive tactics.
Ranked 2nd in the WSL for defensive duels attempted (68) and won (47), and joint-2nd for goals scored (3), Grace Clinton has a defensive impact across the whole of the pitch. The below image shows her superpower of winning defensive duels:
Graph showing number of successful defensive actions and number of successful defensive duels by players in the 24/25 WSL season (correct as of 08/11/24). Grace Clinton is highlighted with a blue circle. Catherine Bott, Leicester City WFC, is the highest and furthest to the right circle (102 successful defensive actions & 58 defensive duels won).
At Manchester United this season, Clinton has identified her defensive super strengths, ranking 1st in the team for successful defensive actions, defensive duels won (and fouls committed!) and ball recoveries in the opponent’s half. When comparing her to Ella Toone, who plays in a similar position but on the left-hand side of the field, we notice that her defensive outputs dwarf her teammate’s. Check out Grace’s player profile below and how her defending metrics differ to Ella’s, using the radar comparisons on the right of the image:
Player profile showcasing Grace Clinton’s defensive superpowers up to matchday 7 in the WSL. Visualisations from left to right: positions on the pitch player & how many minutes; areas of the pitch that defensive actions have occurred with heat map of most frequent space; 2 radars comparing Grace Clinton’s 2024/25 defensive metrics against Grace Clinton’s 2023/24 metrics, and 2024/25 metrics against Ella Toone’s 2024/25 metrics.
Coaching considerations
- What are your team’s or your opponent’s tactics & strategies? Do your players’ superpowers play into that? Take look at the radar above – notice how Grace Clinton’s defensive output in 2023/24 for Tottenham Hotspur was different to her current performance? Spurs’ tactics would have required different skills at different times.
- Small-sided practices give players the perfect opportunity to progress their individual tactics from 1v1 situations into wider team tactics – e.g. how is our team going to press or counter-attack and how do we get our players to practice these tactics?
- To support players with their individual tactics, encourage players to become more purposeful in their actions by giving them opportunities to practise: what to do in 1v1 situations and how to do it; when the right moment is to engage in them where on the pitch is appropriate.
Want more?
- Coachcast - An introduction to individual tactics with Matt Jones | S5 Ep7
- Media Day - How To Help Players Develop Individual Tactics | Football Coaching Advice
- EFL article
- Sessions