Fluid Formations and Positional Play

Hello and welcome to the Premier Skills English podcast. This series of Football English podcasts are based around the needs of football players and football fans and will present language you need to play the game, language you need to watch the game on TV and online and language you need to travel to the UK to see a match at a Premier League stadium.  

Today, I am focusing on English for players and want to talk about some more advanced football English that you can use to talk about tactics. The focus of today’s podcast is fluid formations and positional play. The language I use and talk about will be useful for players who want to understand tactical terminology and who want to be able to read and discuss match reports.

When I was preparing for this podcast, I spent some time looking through the talking tactics pages on PremierLeague.com, and ... well, the language is not too complicated, but there are lots of advanced phrases and specialist football uses that might make the texts a bit of a challenge.

As well as the talking tactics pages on the Premier League website, I had a look at match reports and some coaching blogs and I made a list of five approaches to tactics. I’ve already published podcasts on Total football, Tiki-Taka, counter attacking and high press. So this podcast which focuses on fluid formations and positional play is the last podcast in this short series on tactics.  

Fluid Formations and Positional Play

Fluid Formations and Positional Play refers to a modern approach to tactics where a team’s shape changes throughout a match, depending on whether the side is in or out of possession. Rather than sticking to a rigid formation, where players stay in their positions on the pitch, players operate within a flexible framework that allows seamless transitions between different shapes — For example, a team might shift from a back three when they are in possession of the ball to a back five when they are defending.

This strategy relies on players who can read the game, who are comfortable in different roles, and who are able to use space effectively. Positional play, at the core of this system, requires players to occupy specific zones on the pitch to create passing lanes, maintain balance, and control the tempo of the game. Attackers and midfielders must be comfortable rotating positions, dropping deep, or drifting wide to link play and create overloads. The effectiveness of this approach depends on the whole team understanding movement, structure, and having spatial discipline. When done well, this enables teams to dominate possession while remaining defensively secure.

OK - there was quite a lot of high-level football English in that description so don’t worry if you found it hard to follow. I’m going to talk about some of the challenging language now and then you can listen to the description again and hopefully, it will be easier to understand.

The challenging language from the description of fluid formations and positional play is: 

• Rigid formation
• Seamless transitions
• Specific zones
• Dropping deep
• Drifting wide (floating wide)
• Overloads

Rigid formation

A rigid formation is one where players stick very strictly to their positions and don’t move around much. If something is rigid, it is hard and can’t bend. Things made out of steel and concrete are normally rigid. If something can bend and change shape a bit, it is flexible. If something can change shape completely, then you can describe it as fluid which means it’s like water and can change shape easily. 

A rigid formation can help a team stay organised and solid in defence. If players can hold their defensive shape, that is normally a good thing, but it might make them less flexible or creative going forward. If a team is too rigid, it can be easy for the opposition to predict what they’re going to do. Sometimes being too rigid can make it hard to adapt when the game changes.

Seamless transitions

Seamless transitions are when a team moves smoothly from one phase of play to another – for example, from defence to attack or vice versa; there’s no hesitation or confusion, just quick, well-timed movement. Most commonly, the word seam is used to talk about clothes. It’s the line where two pieces of fabric are stitched together. If something is seamless, you can’t tell where the different pieces are connected. In football, when transitions are seamless, you can’t tell when the team transitions from an attacking formation to a defensive formation and it looks like the team is one step ahead – pressing at the right moment or launching a fast counter-attack straight after winning the ball.

Specific zones

The pitch is often divided into zones for tactical purposes – wide areas, half-spaces, central zones, and so on. I will admit that I didn’t know the names of the different zones that are used when talking about tactics, but as far as I understand it, the wide areas are between the touchlines and the outer edge of the penalty area. The half-spaces are from the outer edge of the penalty area to the outer edge of the box and the central area is between the edges of the box. I’ll add a graphic to the page for this podcast on the Premier League British Council website in case you’re still not sure. So ... Coaches might tell players to stay in or move into specific zones during different phases or stages of play. For example, a winger might be told to stay high and wide, or a midfielder might be asked to try to stay in the left half-space. It’s all about controlling space and creating options.

Dropping deep

Dropping deep means a player moves backwards into a deeper position, usually towards their own goal or away from the opposition’s goal. A striker might drop deep to receive the ball and link play, or a whole team might drop deep to defend a lead. It’s a way of creating space or staying compact defensively. You’ll often hear commentators say things like “he’s dropped deep to get involved” or “they’ve dropped deep to protect the lead”.

Drifting wide / Floating wide

Drifting wide (or floating wide) means a player, often a striker or central midfielder, moves away from the middle and into the wider areas of the pitch. It’s usually done to find space or drag a defender out of position. It’s interesting that we use the verbs drift and float, as if it’s a subtle movement, perhaps a player moves wide in a sneaky way to try to open up passing lanes through the opposition’s midfielders. When someone drifts wide, they’re not running at full speed – it’s more like moving quietly into space where they can receive the ball and create something.

Overloads

An overload happens when one team has more players in a certain area of the pitch than the opposition. For example, if three attackers are up against two defenders on the wing, that’s an overload. It’s a tactic used to create space and give the team with the ball a better chance of getting through. You’ll hear things like “they’re trying to create an overload on the left” or “the midfield is overloaded”. This comes up a lot in the post-match analysis on the BBC football programme Match of the Day. The pundits are all ex-players and they recognise when a manager has instructed players to move into positions to create an overload so that the attackers always have a player who isn’t being marked.

OK. To talk about fluid formations, I have used and described:

• Rigid formation
• Seamless transitions
• Specific zones
• Dropping deep
• Drifting wide (floating wide)
• Overloads 

Listen to the description of Fluid Formations and Positional Play again to hear this language in a football English context.

Fluid Formations and Positional Play

Fluid Formations and Positional Play refers to a modern approach to tactics where a team’s shape changes throughout a match, depending on whether the side is in or out of possession. Rather than sticking to a rigid formation, where players stay in their positions on the pitch, players operate within a flexible framework that allows seamless transitions between different shapes — For example, a team might shift from a back three when they are in possession of the ball to a back five when they are defending.

This strategy relies on players who can read the game, who are comfortable in different roles, and who are able to use space effectively. Positional play, at the core of this system, requires players to occupy specific zones on the pitch to create passing lanes, maintain balance, and control the tempo of the game. Attackers and midfielders must be comfortable rotating positions, dropping deep, or drifting wide to link play and create overloads. The effectiveness of this approach depends on the whole team understanding movement, structure, and having spatial discipline. When done well, this enables teams to dominate possession while remaining defensively secure.

Language challenge

Now it’s time for you to think about some of this language again. I have come up with six sentences that use language from today’s podcast. I’m going to read you these sentences but I’m not going to say the language from the podcast so I want you to try to fill in the gaps with the words and phrases that I’ve been talking about.

Number 1. The pressing strategy was built around closing down _______________ where the opponents liked to play through.

Number 2. Thanks to their tactical discipline, the side was able to make _______________ without losing shape.

Number 3. They used positional play to create _______________ in attacking zones, overwhelming the defenders.

Number 4. Despite being a goal down, the coach insisted on sticking to a _______________ to avoid further defensive lapses.

Number 5. The striker kept _______________ to link up play and draw the centre-backs out of position.

Number 6. The midfielder kept _______________ to escape his marker and receive the ball in space.

There is an interactive activity on the page for this podcast on the Premier League British Council website that you can use to check to see if you’ve got the right answers.

Football phrase

Last week, Gary Lineker presented his last ever episode of the BBC’s main football review show Match of the day after 25 years. On the Premier League website, there is an article in which Lineker talks about his 10 most memorable moments in the 25 years of Premier League football that he’s been presenting. The moment that he admits should probably be the most memorable he rated slightly lower down the list, was when Sergio Aguero ******** Manchester City’s first Premier League title. I was working in Manchester that weekend and the atmosphere was ... well, it was a bit spicy in the city. The word ****** means to fix or settle. We also use the word seal, but I think ****** is more commonly used when the outcome is less certain. So if a team scores a third goal so they are 3-0 up, that third goal could seal the victory, making it impossible for their opponents to come back. But if two teams are at 2-2 and there are 90 seconds left to play and a player grabs a goal, then you can say that they ******** victory. 

If you think you know what the football phrase is, leave it in a comment on the page for this podcast on the Premier League British Council website and I’ll let you know if you’re right.

And that’s all I have time for today. Before I finish, I just wanted to say that I hope you found this podcast useful, and I hope everyone stays fit and healthy and safe.

Bye for now and enjoy your football.