Structured or Chaotic: Which Direction Is Football Heading?

As the game of football evolves, so do strategies and tactics as every club's coaching staff need to keep adapting and finding new ways to exploit their opponents' weaknesses. Football will always be played in that manner as teams will continue to find ways to improve and patch up weaknesses, but by doing so, they open up new ones.

In this piece, we will go through examples of the two types of ways teams will go about finding new ways to breach their opponents’ defences- do they look to perform this in a structured manner or is it a bit more chaotic?

Structural Ways

Set-Piece Coaches

Perhaps the most famous example of this, is the Arsenal set-piece coach who is often spotted shouting from the touchline whenever the Gunners have a set-piece. Arsenal having their set-piece coach gives them a superior advantage over their opponents and we have seen many times this season where they look threatening from it, winning many matches via set-pieces too.

As you can see from the picture above, Arsenal have scored the most goals from corners of any other Premier League club, proving how threatening they are with their set-piece coach Nicolas Jover’s ideas. Crystal Palace’s 10 is only one behind Arsenal’s 11 and Arsenal’s putout from these positions have significantly decreased since Bukayo Saka’s long-term injury. Their goals from set-pieces per 90 have halved, their xG from set-pieces has also taken a hit of 0.2.

This could be for many reasons, including Saka’s injury of course would have been a big blow. However, in games they were unable to score from set-pieces in, included the likes of Wolves, Leicester, and West Ham who were, at the time in the top five for conceding the most shots from set-pieces, and Arsenal were unable to score against any of them according to analysts on the Premier League website.

This also comes down to adaptability of the modern game and how these teams have learned the largest threats, as well as where the ball is most likely to land, so that the players are aware of their jobs when Arsenal get free-kicks or corners.

High-Press

A second structured way of earning key chances in the modern-day game is high press football. Using the high press involves the defensive team pressing high up the pitch, inflicting pressure on the players with the ball, aiming to disrupt build-up play and pushing the opponents back.

A majority of elite-level clubs deploy this tactic, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City renowned for this strategy. This strategy involves structured co-ordinated efforts to trap the ball in the opponent's half waiting to pounce on any mistakes they may make.

Although it is difficult to perform, teams will be highly successful once they learn their specific roles. This tactic has the potential to earn the teams performing it, higher chances to score since by pouncing on an error, there is a high chance there is gap at the back, allowing the attacking side to have strong chances.

Chaos Can Work Too

England’s “Love Train”

At the 2018 edition of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, England deployed a corner tactic which proved highly effective throughout the tournament, resulting in four goals, three penalties and even two free-kicks off them.

This strategy involved England’s players bunched up together on the edge of the box in what was named a “love train”. This revolutionary set-piece tactic was immense for England’s success as the signal given by Kieran Trippier set all the players off in different directions allowing England’s best headers of the ball to get into positions which caused a mismatch for the defensive side.

Harry Maguire's first goal of 2018... He chose his moment well! #ENG #WorldCup #bbcworldcup pic.twitter.com/s3zFmN6Fh0

— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 8, 2018

Above is a perfect example of the love train working its magic against Sweden in the World Cup quarterfinal. Unfortunately, the video by BBC does not show the love train, however, if you watch closely, you can see England’s players all scattering, creating chaos in the box which allowed Harry Maguire send England into the lead.

Organised Chaos

The best way to describe strategies in modern day football is organised chaos. The answer to whether football is structured or chaotic simply depends on perspective. If you are the team attacking with said set-piece strategy or possession tactic on or off the ball, you always know what you are doing, therefore it is structured. Every player knows their specific role to help the team.

Whereas from a defensive perspective, since the idea for the opposition is to be unpredictable, it is chaotic as no one necessarily knows what their exact role is so they may only be able to hope the opposition does not score.

But in truth, it is best to describe these tactics as “organised chaos”, with the people deploying said strategies understanding everything about what they are doing. It is not spontaneous for the attackers since the tactic will be well-drilled into the minds of all players. Football may always stay this way, with the attacking side always looking to find ways to be unpredictable which may cause chaos, however, there will always be a main goal so there will always be a structure behind it.