64: Grow Coach Newsletter
Football Coaches: Develop your Coaching Craft.
Welcome from JustCoachMD. We are happy to have you on board and look forward to providing you with helpful content.
Here is What to Expect:
Coaching Craft: Seeking Superiorities.
Full 60-Minute Practice: Exploiting Superiorities.
The most important thing is to have more players in the middle than the opponent. If they have four, we need five. If they have five, we need six. Always one more. - Pep Guardiola
How to Dominate Football: Unlock the 4 Superiorities Every Team Needs
Ever wonder why some teams seem untouchable on the pitch? It’s not just talent—it’s mastering superiority. Numerical, positional, qualitative, and dynamism. These four factors along with psychological edges can turn an average squad into a juggernaut.
Whether you’re a coach plotting tactics, a player seeking an advantage, or a fan decoding the game, these four pillars are your playbook to dominance. We’ll unpack each with detailed tactics, real-world lessons, and questions to ignite your next breakthrough. Let’s take control of the game—starting now.
Numerical Superiority: Overload and Overwhelm
More bodies in key zones mean more passing options, better possession, and deadlier attacks. It’s math meets magic—like turning a 5v4 into a goal.
Numerical superiority occurs when a team has more players in a specific area of the pitch than the opponent. This overload allows the team to outnumber the opposition, creating passing options and making it easier to retain possession or progress the ball.
Teams achieve numerical superiority by shifting players into specific zones, often through the movement of midfielders or full-backs. For example, a team might overload one flank with three players (winger, full-back, and central midfielder) against two defenders. This creates a 3v2 situation, enabling the team to exploit the extra player to advance or create chances.
In Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, the full-back (e.g., Kyle Walker) often moves into midfield alongside the central midfielders, creating a numerical advantage in the center. This allows City to dominate possession and bypass the opponent’s press.
Tactical Considerations:
Fast Transitions: Train players to sprint into overloads during turnovers—think of Liverpool’s lightning counters under Klopp.
Wide Overloads: Use wingers and full-backs to flood flanks, pulling defences apart.
Pro Move: Deploy a 4-3-3 with attacking full-backs to naturally outnumber opponents in midfield or wide areas. Set “pressing triggers”—like an opponent’s heavy touch—to swarm and capitalise.
Common Problems: Players hesitate, missing overload windows. The solution is to play 3v2 or 4v3 small-sided games with constraints such as a 10-second shot clock to hone snap decisions.
Another typical problem is that by overcommitting players it can leave gaps at the back. Teach “Rest Defence”—two - four players hold a team shape whilst the others attack.
Qualitative Superiority
A player with elite skills—speed, technique, vision—can flip a game. It’s your ace in the hole.
Qualitative superiority refers to situations where a player’s individual skill or attributes give them an advantage over their direct opponent. This could be due to superior technical ability, speed, strength, or tactical intelligence.
Teams exploit qualitative superiority by isolating their best players in 1v1 situations against weaker defenders. For example, a quick and skillful winger might be positioned against a slower full-back, giving the winger a clear advantage to beat their marker and create chances.
Lionel Messi at Barcelona often exploited qualitative superiority by dribbling past defenders in 1v1 situations. His exceptional close control and acceleration made it nearly impossible for defenders to stop him, even without numerical or positional advantages.
Tactical Considerations:
Strength Mapping: Profile your squad—whose pace can burn a backline? Whose shot cracks nets?—and build plays around them.
Mismatch Hunting: Pair your dribbler against a lumbering defender or your aerial beast against a short center-back.
Creative Freedom: Give stars a “green light” zone (e.g., final third) to take risks—think Messi’s free-roam role.
Pro Move: Assign roles based on data—e.g., a winger with 80% dribble success stays wide to exploit. Design set pieces to spotlight your best headers or shooters.
Common Problem: Over-reliance on one star stalls the team. Be sure to cross-train others in 1v1 duels to spread the threat.
Some players strengths go unused. Run skill-specific practices to build on players super strengths—dribbling for flair players, sprints for speedsters.
Positional Superiority: Be Where They Aren’t
Perfect positioning turns a good pass into a great chance. It’s about outsmarting, not outrunning, the opposition.
Positional superiority is about creating better angles and passing lanes through intelligent positioning. It involves players positioning themselves in spaces where they can receive the ball comfortably and progress play effectively.
This superiority is achieved by players moving into spaces between the lines (e.g., between the opponent’s midfield and defence) or in half-spaces (the channels between the center and the wing). By doing so, they force the opponent to make difficult decisions about whether to press or hold their position.
Kevin De Bruyne at Manchester City often finds positional superiority by drifting into half-spaces or between the lines. His ability to receive the ball in these areas allows him to turn and play incisive passes, breaking through the opponent’s defensive structure.
Tactical Considerations:
Between the Lines: Teach midfielders to drift into half-spaces—those tricky zones between defenders—à la Xavi’s Barcelona.
Off-Ball Runs: Train strikers to peel off markers, creating lanes like Haaland does for City.
Game Reading: Use video analysis to show players where the ball will go, not just where it is.
Pro Move: Adopt positional play principles: divide the pitch into zones, keep players in each, and rotate to disrupt marking—like Guardiola’s chessboard approach.
Common Problem: Players stand still, clogging lanes. Run “shadow movement” practices with and without the ball to walk through game scenarios
Overcrowding kills structure. Use markers in training to enforce spacing, like a 10-yard “personal bubble.”
Spain’s 2010 World Cup win leaned on positional superiority—Iniesta and Xavi always seemed one step ahead, finding pockets no one else saw.
Think About It: What’s one off-ball move your team can master?
Dynamism: Keep Them Guessing
Dynamism is the spark—unpredictable movement, tempo shifts, and adaptability that throw opponents off balance. A static team is a solved puzzle; a dynamic one is a moving target.
Dynamic superiority refers to creating advantages through movement and timing. It involves players making runs or rotations that disrupt the opponent’s defensive shape and create space for teammates.
This superiority is achieved through coordinated movements, such as overlapping runs, underlapping runs, or third-man combinations. The goal is to destabilise the opponent’s defensive structure by forcing them to adjust their positioning, which opens up spaces for others to exploit.
A classic example is the overlapping run of a full-back (e.g., Trent Alexander-Arnold at Liverpool). When the winger (e.g., Mohamed Salah) cuts inside, the full-back overlaps down the flank, creating a dynamic advantage by forcing the defender to choose between tracking the runner or staying with the winger.
Tactical Considerations:
Tempo Control: Train players to switch gears—slow build-up to a sudden sprint—like Arsenal’s Arteta-era fluidity.
Role Swaps: Encourage midfielders and attackers to interchange positions, creating confusion as seen in Total Football.
Unpredictable Runs: Teach overlapping, underlapping, and diagonal bursts to disrupt rigid defenses.
Pro Move: Implement a “chaos trigger”—e.g., when the ball reaches your No. 10, two players break in opposite directions. Pair this with high pressing to force errors, then strike with speed.
Common Problem: Players stick to rigid patterns, becoming predictable. Run games with random “switch” calls—players must swap roles mid-play.
Dynamic moves lack coordination, leading to turnovers. Practice “combo runs” (e.g., winger cuts in, full-back overlaps) in small sided game formats.
Psychological Superiority: Win the Mind Game
A mentally tough team bends but never breaks. Outlasting the opponent’s spirit seals victories.
Tactical Considerations:
Team Bonding: Team huddles or chants (like New Zealand’s rugby haka) forge unity.
Pressure Proofing: Simulate chaos—down a goal, 5 minutes left—in practice to build grit.
Momentum Mastery: Teach players to ride highs (e.g., a quick counter after a save) and reset after lows.
Pro Move: Prep with visualization—players imagine scoring or saving a penalty. In-game, use timeouts or subs to shift psychological tides.
Common Problems: A concession craters morale. Role-play “comeback” practices with loud encouragement.
Overconfidence breeds errors. Post-win debriefs focusing on “next play” humility.
Think About It: How do you rally your team when the chips are down?
Final Thoughts:
These five superiorities weave a winning tapestry. Numerical overloads carve positional gaps. Qualitative stars exploit those gaps with flair. Psychological resilience keeps the engine running, and dynamism throws a wrench in the opponent’s plans.
Train your team to flow between them: a 3v2 overload becomes a perfectly timed run, finished by your best striker with a surprise overlap, all backed by unshakable swagger.
Superiorities in positional play—numerical, qualitative, positional, and dynamic—are interconnected and often used in combination to break down opponents.
Teams that master these concepts can control games, create scoring opportunities, and dominate possession. By understanding and applying these principles, coaches and players can elevate their tactical understanding and execution on the pitch.
I always look for spaces. Sometimes I see a gap and just go for it. It’s instinctive. - Lionel Messi
Forward Passing | Full Practice
2v1 | Numerical Superiority | Through the Thirds
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Using the spare player to secure possession of the ball.
Set-Up:
24 by 8 yard box split into 8 by 8 thirds.
Place a pair of mini goals at each end of the pitch and offset them from the main playing area.
How to Play:
Two teams are the possession team (⚫️ & 🔵) and they score by working the ball from T to T (🟢).
The defenders 🔴 win the ball and score in the mini goals (defenders are fixed in their zone, they can pass to each other).
Rotate the defending team every 3 - 5 minutes.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: a point for each target who receives without an opponent touch.
👨🏫 Review: Body shape to receive the ball, pass forward or secure the ball with your spare player
🚫 Restriction: Players can only play off three touch max.
1v1 | Race to Score | 2v2 Fast Break | Dynamism
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Use movement and timing of runs to create scoring opportunities
Set-Up:
On a 30 by 20 pitch, use a line of flat 3 x flat markers at the halfway point.
Split the pitch into thirds (Attacking team must be in final third to score)
Place a pair of mini goals at each end of the field.
How to Play:
⚫️ start with a 1v1 duel. They race in a loop around the central markers. Then when one of them arrives into the final third they shoot. The first player to score wins.
The attackers 🔵 can launch their attack as soon as a ⚫️ has shot. The 🔵’s go 2v2 toward goal against the ⚫️’s .
The 2v2 is played to a finish where the scoring team must be in the final third to score.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: A second ball to attack with if a team scores within 5 seconds.
👨🏫 Review: Timing of runs to get on the ball and speed of the attacks.
🚫 Restriction: 1st time finishes only in the final third.
3v2 | Constant Attacks | Positional & Numerical Superiorities
⚽️ Created On: @SSPlanner
Aim:
Use positional superiorities to exploit opponents and create scoring chances
Set-Up:
40 by 30 yard box split into thirds.
Place a pair of mini goals at each end of the pitch. Teams must be in the final third to score.
How to Play:
2 Ball Game - Pairs of players enter the pitch from the middle third (⚫️’s & 🔴’s). The attacker starts between the mini goals ⚫️ or a 🔴.
They serve into their colour and join in to make a 3v2 towards the mini goal.
As soon as ball one leaves the pitch ball 2 starts from the other team who get their turn to attack. The shooting player drops out of the previous attack.
Once the attack finishes the practice resets then a new pair of players enter the middle third.
🚧 Constraints:
🏆Reward: If a player dribbles beyond an opponent then scores it earns the team a 2nd ball to attack with.
👨🏫 Review: How do players exploit opponents by their positioning on the field?
🚫 Restriction: Once your in the final third a shot clock starts, teams have 6 seconds to score.
The secret is to occupy the right spaces at the right time. Football is a game of positions, and if you’re in the right place, everything becomes easier. - Xavi
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