Inverting the Pyramid

1. From Mob Chaos to the Structured Pyramid

Before there could be tactics, though, there had, first of all, to be a coherent set of rules.

Early football anarchy. Medieval mob football was violent and formless, repeatedly outlawed. The Victorian public schools, influenced by "muscular Christianity," began codifying rules in the 19th century, seeing sport as a moral tool. Initial games were chaotic dribbling contests with players "backing up."

Rules evolve. The 1863 formation of the Football Association standardized rules, crucially outlawing handling but initially restricting forward passing. The 1866 offside rule change (requiring three defenders ahead of the attacker) still favored dribbling in England, but Scotland, with a more liberal rule, developed a passing game ("combination").

The Pyramid emerges. The Scottish passing game, notably by Queen's Park and spread by the Royal Engineers, gradually influenced England. This led to one forward dropping back, creating the 2-3-5 formation ("the Pyramid") by the 1880s, which became the global standard until the 1920s.

2. The Divergence: Danubian Waltz vs. South American Tango

Where Britain, despite the acceptance of passing and the spread of 2-3-5, persisted in ruggedness and physicality, others developed subtler forms of the game.

Football spreads globally. British trade and influence exported football worldwide, particularly to South America and Central Europe. Early adoption involved imitation of the British style, but local cultures soon began to adapt the game.

Cultural adaptation. In Central Europe (Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia), football was embraced by the urban working class and intellectuals, leading to a focus on quick, short passing ("the Danubian School" or "Waltz"), heavily influenced by Scottish coaches like Jimmy Hogan. Technique and team structure were prioritized.

Individuality flourishes. In South America (Argentina, Uruguay), particularly in poorer urban areas, the game evolved differently. Uninhibited by British ideals, it celebrated individual skill, improvisation, and self-expression ("the Tango"). Dribbling and flair ("la nuestra," "criolla viveza") became paramount, sometimes at the expense of team structure.

3. The Offside Revolution and the Birth of the W-M

And that, it is widely held, was what precipitated the decline and increasing negativity of English football.

Solving goal droughts. By the 1920s, teams, like Newcastle United, had become adept at the offside trap using the three-man rule, leading to low-scoring games. In 1925, the offside law was changed to require only two defenders ahead of the attacker, immediately increasing goals but stretching the game.

Chapman's response. Herbert Chapman, manager of Huddersfield Town and later Arsenal, recognized the need for tactical adaptation. He developed the W-M formation (3-2-2-3) by withdrawing the centre-half into a defensive role ("third back") and dropping the inside-forwards deeper to link midfield and attack.

The stopper emerges. This shift created the defensive centre-half role, exemplified by Arsenal's Herbie Roberts. While successful for Arsenal, this defensive focus was blamed by some, like Willy Meisl, for encouraging negativity and long-ball play in English football, as other clubs copied the shape without the attacking intelligence.

4. Coffee Houses, Fascism, and Defensive Innovation

The modern way of understanding and discussing the game was invented in the coffee houses of Vienna.

Intellectual hubs. In inter-war Vienna and Budapest, coffee houses became centers for intellectual debate, including football tactics. This environment fostered analytical thinking about the game, contrasting with the more intuitive approach elsewhere.

The Wunderteam. Hugo Meisl's Austrian "Wunderteam" of the early 1930s, featuring the elegant Matthias Sindelar as a withdrawn centre-forward, embodied the Danubian style – technical, fluid, and attacking within a 2-3-5 framework. They captivated Europe but were criticized for lacking a final "punch."

Pozzo's pragmatism. Vittorio Pozzo's Italy, influenced by English physicality and South American flair (oriundi), developed the "metodo" (W-W or 2-3-2-3). Under fascism, Italian football emphasized athleticism and combativeness. Pozzo pioneered man-marking and led Italy to two World Cups (1934, 1938), often through pragmatic, sometimes controversial, means.

5. Soviet Organized Disorder and the Dawn of Pressing

The newspapers hailed the ‘organised disorder’, while opponents sought ways of combating it.

Late adoption, rapid evolution. Football arrived late in the USSR but evolved rapidly, unburdened by tradition. A 1937 tour by a Basque side exposed Soviet teams' tactical backwardness (still largely 2-3-5) against the W-M.

Arkadiev's innovation. Boris Arkadiev, coach of Dinamo Moscow, embraced the W-M but sought to add "the Russian soul" – fluidity and positional interchange ("organised disorder"). His players roamed, confusing man-marking opponents. He speculated about reducing forwards further.

Early pressing. Arkadiev's teams also showed early signs of pressing – closing down opponents high up the pitch to regain possession. This required high fitness and tactical understanding, laying groundwork for future developments. Dinamo's 1945 tour of Britain showcased their energy and collective play ("passovotchka").

6. Hungary's Golden Team and the Withdrawn Forward

It was because of tactics that Hungary won.

Post-war dominance. Hungary's "Aranycsapat" (Golden Squad) of the early 1950s, coached by Gusztáv Sebes, built on Danubian traditions and Arkadiev's ideas. Márton Bukovi's innovation of withdrawing the centre-forward (Nándor Hidegkuti) created space and confused traditional W-M defenses.

Tactical superiority. Hungary's 6-3 demolition of England at Wembley in 1953 exposed the tactical rigidity of the English W-M. Hidegkuti's deep position neutralized the English centre-half, while the fluidity of the front four and attacking half-backs (Bozsik) overwhelmed their defense.

Near 4-2-4. Sebes's system, with two full-backs, a deep centre-half (Lóránt), a deep left-half (Zakariás), an attacking right-half (Bozsik), a withdrawn centre-forward (Hidegkuti), two inside-forwards (Puskás, Kocsis), and two wingers (Czibor, Budai), was a hair's breadth from 4-2-4, emphasizing possession and rapid counter-attacks.

7. Brazil's 4-2-4 and the Maracanazo Trauma

Rather they suffered a defeat in their final game so stunning that Nélson Rodrigues wrote of it as ‘our catastrophe, our Hiroshima’.

Early Brazilian style. Brazilian football, influenced by Scottish passing ("tabelinha") but rooted in individual flair ("jeitinho," "malandro"), prioritized attack and self-expression over defensive structure in its early decades.

Tactical awakening. European coaches like Dori Kürschner introduced the W-M, but it clashed with the local ethos. Flávio Costa's "diagonal" formation (a flexible W-M) offered a compromise, but defensive frailties remained.

The 1950 trauma. Brazil, overwhelming favorites playing at home, lost the World Cup final group decider 2-1 to Uruguay. Uruguay's pragmatic, defensive approach (a variant of Pozzo's metodo with a sweeper) and exploitation of space behind Brazil's attacking full-back exposed their tactical naivety and led to a national trauma ("Maracanazo"). This defeat spurred a greater focus on defensive organization.

8. English Pragmatism and the Wingless Wonders

It was,’ he said, ‘like cart-horses playing race-horses.’

Post-Hungary reflection. The 6-3 defeat to Hungary forced England to confront their tactical backwardness. While some advocated a return to the 2-3-5, others, like Arthur Rowe at Tottenham and Alf Ramsey at Ipswich, began experimenting with more fluid, possession-based approaches and attacking full-backs.

Ramsey's evolution. Alf Ramsey, initially using a 4-2-4, was influenced by Argentina's pragmatic, defensive approach in 1964. He developed the "Wingless Wonders" 4-1-3-2/4-3-3 formation, prioritizing a solid defensive base (Stiles as anchor) and multi-functional midfielders (Ball, Peters, Charlton) who could attack and defend.

1966 Triumph. England's 1966 World Cup victory, achieved with this system, was a triumph of pragmatism and organization over flair. Ramsey's meticulous planning and adaptation to opponents, including neutralizing key playmakers (Stiles on Onega, Ball on Marzolini), proved decisive, even if the style was criticized by some aesthetes.

9. Total Football and the Science of Space

People think it was developed in Holland, but that is just because in Western Europe they didn’t see Maslov’s Dynamo.

Space control. Rinus Michels's Ajax and Valeriy Lobanovskyi's Dynamo Kyiv independently developed systems based on controlling space: making the pitch big in possession and small out of possession. This required high fitness and tactical understanding.

Pressing and interchange. Both sides implemented aggressive pressing to win the ball high up the pitch. Crucially, they encouraged positional interchange, with players capable of fulfilling multiple roles. This "Total Football" (Ajax) or "Universalism" (Dynamo) made them difficult to mark and predict.

Scientific approach. Lobanovskyi, influenced by cybernetics, applied scientific methods to football, using data analysis and physiological modeling to optimize training and tactics. He saw football as a dynamic system, prioritizing collective action and positional understanding over individual flair, a philosophy that became dominant in Soviet football.

10. Catenaccio: The Chain of Cynicism and Success

There is no tactical system so notorious as catenaccio.

Swiss origins. Karl Rappan's "verrou" (bolt) system in Switzerland (a 4-man defense with a sweeper) was an early form of defensive organization aimed at compensating for physical limitations.

Italian adaptation. Gipo Viani and Nereo Rocco popularized catenaccio in Italy, initially as "the right of the weak" – a way for smaller teams to frustrate stronger opponents by sitting deep and counter-attacking with a sweeper ("libero") behind the defense.

Herrera's Grande Inter. Helenio Herrera perfected catenaccio at Internazionale in the 1960s. His system featured a sweeper, man-markers, and attacking full-backs (Facchetti) and midfielders (Suárez), aiming for rapid vertical counter-attacks. While successful (two European Cups), it was criticized for its negativity, cynicism, and alleged foul play, culminating in their defeat to Celtic in the 1967 European Cup final.

11. Anti-Fútbol and the Enduring Playmaker Debate

The era of la nuestra ended with Argentina’s 6-1 defeat to Czechoslovakia in Helsingborg on 15 June 1958.

End of an era. Argentina's humiliating defeat in the 1958 World Cup shattered the myth of "la nuestra" and its focus on individual flair over tactical discipline. This led to a backlash and a shift towards a more pragmatic, defensive, and physical style ("anti-fútbol").

Zubeldía's Estudiantes. Osvaldo Zubeldía's Estudiantes de la Plata in the late 1960s embodied this new approach. They combined pressing and a high offside line (possibly influenced by Maslov) with intense physical preparation and psychological warfare ("viveza"). Their success (Libertadores titles, Intercontinental Cup) came at the cost of widespread criticism for their brutal and cynical methods.

The playmaker's place. The debate between "anti-fútbol" (Bilardo) and a romantic revival of "la nuestra" (Menotti) centered on the role of the playmaker ("enganche"). While Menotti championed artistry, Bilardo prioritized system and winning. The modern game still grapples with how to incorporate traditional playmakers who lack defensive work rate into increasingly structured and physically demanding systems.

12. The Turning World: Attack Returns in the Modern Game

And yet, come the turn of the millennium, football was as attacking as it had been for two decades.

Post-catenaccio shifts. The decline of strict catenaccio and the rise of Total Football/pressing led to new formations (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-5-2). While early results sometimes favored defensive rigidity (Euro 92, World Cup 94), the game continued to evolve.

Return of attack. Rule changes (backpass, tackle from behind) and a reaction against negativity contributed to a more attacking trend by Euro 2000. Teams found ways to incorporate multiple creative players and resurrected the role of the winger.

Modern flexibility. Modern systems, like the flexible 4-3-3 or variations of 4-4-2, emphasize tactical flexibility and multi-functional players. While traditional playmakers ("enganche") who don't press or defend struggle against organized defenses (especially double pivots), new types of creative midfielders (Modrić) combine artistry with tactical discipline and work rate, ensuring that beauty still has a place within the system.

Last updated: May 1, 2025