The evolution of football tactis

 

Football tactics are those strategies employed by the members of one side to compete most effectively with their opponents.

The strategies used have evolved over time with the development and complexity of football laws.

In this article we will highlight the first tactics used in football

1-1-8 Formation :

You probably never guess the existence of this formation in serious circumstances. It was a while ago, though, more exactly in the 19th century in the pre-modern era of football.
To use only one defense player and one midfielder and put the rest on attack seems crazy today, but the matches looked different at the current time with minimal passing in sideways and instead full attack with much dribbling going on.

2-3-5 Formation :

In the 1890s, 2-3-5 ("the pyramid") became popular as a more balanced tactical formation. It would become standard for a long time and was used by all the British teams. The transition from 1-1-8 to 2-3-5 did not happen over a day, though. Other formations, such as 2-2-6 and 1-2-7, had been taken into practice in between.

A standardization followed with numbers linked to the position on the field:

W-M Formation :

One of the first side steps from the well-established 2-3-5 was the "W-M" (the attacking cluster is W-formated and the defending cluster is M-formated), or 3-2-2-3. The innovator was the great football theoretician Herbert Chapman during his time as manager for Arsenal in the early 1930s.

It was a formation used by many teams in 1950 world cup.

3-2-5 Formation :

After the change of the offside rule in 1925, both attacking and defending strategies would transform and new playing systems as a result emerged. 

Ahead of the three defenders and two midfielders there was a five-man offense. The offense was organized with one center forward flanked by double wings on both sides. Among the most successful team with this formation was Arsenal.

2-3-2-3 Formation :

Instead of the usual defender-midfielder-forward configuration, the so-called Metodo system brought a formation with four units into practice. This formation was used by Italy and helped the team to win the 1934 and 1938 World Cups.