Overview

In this article we are going to focus on conducting in game offensive tactical analysis of the opposing team. The purpose of this analysis is to find weaknesses we can exploit in order to score goals.

In our method of analysis, we go from big to little. We want to see the big things the opponent is doing and then focus more and more on individual opposing players and different parts of the field and situations. There is no single right way of doing analysis. Every analyst has her or his own way of doing it. With this said, the approach below is the way we as a team are going to talk about and conduct our in-game analysis. When we are looking at our offensive analysis (analyzing the game so we can score goals) we look at two aspects of the game.

1. How does the opponent defend.
2. How can we regain possession of the ball on the opponent’s defending half of the field and quickly create a local counter-attack.

Analyzing the Opponent’s Defense

Here is our list of questions we will ask when we have the ball about our opponent defending. Just a point about the steps below. Steps 1,2 and 6 are purely about the opponents. Steps 3,4, and 5 are about how we do against the opponent. In the end, this analysis enables us to better focus our offensive effort on the points where we will have success:

1. Defensive formation?
   1. What is the opponent’s defensive formation in their defending half?
   2. What is the opponent’s defensive formation in their attacking half?
2. Defensive style?
   1. Low-block, mid-block, high-block, high-press?
   2. How does each line work as a sub-team (defensive line, midfield line, offensive line)?
      1. Do they pressure, cover, balance as a team?
      2. Do they man mark?
   3. Do the lines work well together as a team?
3. Which side of the field are we able to successfully advance the ball down into the attacking third (left, center, right)?
4. How are we successfully getting the ball into the scoring zone?
   1. Crossing from the left or the right?
   2. Dribbling and or short passing from the left, right, or center?
   3. Counter-attack?
5. How are we creating scoring opportunities in the scoring zone?
6. Who are the defensive players we should avoid and who should we target?
7. What are their keeper’s weaknesses?
   1. Doesn’t handle crosses well?
   2. Doesn’t handle high or low shots well?
   3. Gives up rebounds?
8. What does the game tell us our best way to score is?

Analyzing How the Opponent Advances the Ball out of the Back

Here is the list of questions we ask when the opponent has the ball and is trying to advance the ball out of their defending half. We are looking for an opportunity to create a turn-over and regain the ball.

1. What is the opponent’s formation during the flow of the game in their defending half of the field when they have the ball?
2. What is their shape when they are trying to advance the ball out of their defending half of the field?
3. What is their style of play for advancing the ball down the field?
   1. Kick it long?
   2. Deliberately build it out of the back?
4. During a goal kick, what is the range of the goal kicker?
5. During build-up and goal kicks, what patterns of play repeat themselves?
6. Who are the strong players who are key to advancing the ball down the field?
7. Who are the weaker players who are likely to turn the ball over under pressure?
8. What does the game tell us our best way of regaining possession of the ball in our attacking half is?

As you get better and better at analyzing games you will add more and more detail to this framework. This is the framework we are going to use as a team to start our shared analysis of our opponents. I recommend you print this out and start watching games and see if you can answer these questions.

Future articles are going to dive into details on each of these steps and talk about the “so-whats” of the analysis of each step.