This new tactic is called the dreidl; a dreidl is a four-sided spinning top played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant of the teetotum, a gambling toy in many European cultures. It’s called such because I’m managing in Israel, and much like the dreidl, my team is constantly spinning around its axis to create dynamic superiority. 

Our opponents never know what to expect from us, as we constantly change our strategies and adapt to the ever-changing game. The dreidl perfectly symbolises our team’s agility and unpredictability, making it the perfect name for our tactic. With this approach, we aim to outmanoeuvre our opponents.

I prefer to see movement into spaces in a tactic rather than space occupancy. The time and speed (but not merely physical activity) with which a player can arrive at a location are critical to the tactic’s success. To arrive in this space faster than your opponent is to be dynamically superior. 

Aiming for dynamic superiority allows quicker transitions and opportunities to exploit gaps in the opposition’s defence. It also puts pressure on the opposing team, forcing them to constantly adjust and react to your movements, which can lead to mistakes and scoring opportunities. This constant movement and pressure can be a key strategy for winning matches.

Fancy tactical setups are not a prerequisite; it’s all about the players’ movements and feeding off each other’s movements. Therefore, you can achieve this dynamic superiority with a dummy run that pulls defenders out of position, which frees up space for others to move into. Players must constantly be aware of their positioning and the spaces they can exploit to create passing options and scoring opportunities.

The video above details some good examples of on-the-ball actions where a third-man combination shows you how effective it can be when that third man is making and anticipating movement prior to the opposition. 

For example, we can see how the attacking team creates a scoring opportunity by executing several dummy runs. One player without the ball makes a deceptive run towards space, attracting defenders and creating space for another player to receive a pass and progress our forward movement. This movement and coordination between players can confuse the defenders, leading to mistakes and increased chances of scoring.

In this example, we can see how Juventus loses the ball to a concentrated press in midfield. As the ball is won and brought to our left flank, our shadow striker drops back into space, drawing the defenders forward to make sure they do not lose their marker.

Our left winger starts to make a run when the shadow striker plays a bounce pass back to the midfielder. The Juventus defensive line has moved forward, freeing up space for a run by our left winger. Our shadow striker also swivels and moves into space. As the attack progresses, our left winger spots the movement and plays a pass into space, where our shadow striker can surge into and score a goal. So despite the presence of six Juventus players to three Maccabi players, we end up victorious because our players are more mobile and can exploit the available space.

This is the generic movement it generates, where players constantly cover each other’s positions.

The video above showcases the offensive prowess of the setup, it also shows how good it can be defensively. While something like a dummy run or a third-man combination are proactive movements, I also want to see the reactionary movements that the team makes when, for instance, the ball is lost. My teams know that once we lose the ball, we now have to counter-press, and we want to do so as quickly as possible to win the ball back and eliminate counter-attacking opportunities for the opposition. 

The ability of our team to react collectively in a more organised manner to the loss of the ball than the opposition can organise now that they have the ball demonstrates an aspect of dynamic superiority. The video above shows how the midfielders crowd out an opponent to win the ball.

So what you’re all after is the download-link. Well, here it is. Please be advised that I tend to switch styles a bit, depending on the circumstances. You can find the styles I use right here, as detailed in this article.

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Guido

Guido is the founding father of Strikerless and main nutjob running the show.