When Dominic Kinnear slips out of his well-worn 4-4-2 and into something more comfortable, you know there is a darn good reason. The Houston Dynamo manager, who has long worshiped at the altar of the ...

Tactics in soccer are great. They are fascinating. Diving into them allows for a deeper look into the game, an embrace of the chess-match element inherent in the sport, and a whole new series of ...

Since the innovation of the flat 4 in the late 1980’s, most professional and international teams have adopted the system as part of their standard tactics. In its most common evolution, the flat 4 is ...

We tend to spend disproportionate time on Toronto FC in Talking Tactics. It may seem like an uneven share among 18 MLS sides, especially considering that TFC now reside squarely in “We’ll get ‘em next ...

Throughout the world, soccer strategy is a hot topic of conversation. There’s debate about employing a 4-3-3 versus the 4-2-3-1 or the trendy 3-5-2; playing possession soccer or absorbing pressure and ...

In my experience with USMNT fans and media, the single biggest complaint I hear about Bob Bradley is his tactical stubbornness. From day one, Bradley has implemented the 4-4-2 “empty bucket” formation ...

Formations. What are they? What do they mean? Why so many numbers? And so forth. As part of a series I'm going to be doing on this blog explaining some of the ins and outs of soccer to new fans, let's ...

An automated analysis by Disney Research Pittsburgh of team formations used during an entire season of professional soccer provides further evidence that visiting teams are less successful than home ...

Soccer continues to grow in popularity in the United States especially amongst the younger generation. But I have found that very few Americans really know much about the tactics that big time teams ...

The Red & Black is a 501c3 nonprofit. Please consider a one-time gift or become a monthly supporter. Cancel anytime. Before coming to Athens, Georgia soccer head coach Billy Lesesne served 14 years on ...