Trying to determine player positions in the Pep Guardiola era is like trying to understand a piece of modern art: it is open to interpretation.
Take, for example, World Cup winner with Argentina Julian Alvarez. Transfermarkt has him listed as a centre-forward, second striker and right winger. This denotes the archetype of the modern footballer: someone who plays in an area of the pitch where he can be effective, rather than in one specific position.
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Just think about the transformation of Alvarez’s City teammates. Attacking midfielder Bernardo Silva often imitates left-back, centre-back John Stones has been converted into a holding midfielder, while new signing Mateus Nunes can “play as a holding midfielder or attacking midfielder” and “over time, he can play as a midfielder.” “. As a full-back,” according to Guardiola.
So, where does Alvarez think he plays?
“I’ve always played in different positions, mostly in attack and a little bit in midfield as well,” he told ESPN. “In the last few years, I have felt more comfortable near the goal, to have more chances to score. But it is true that with [Man City striker] “Erling Haaland, I can adapt to play with him, so now I’m playing in a position that is maybe a bit further away.”
However, even Alvarez is not so sure, which is typical of elite players working with the greatest tactical minds. Among the most advanced systems, players must have enough fluids to fit into any form… like water. Guardiola has a knack for moving pieces, but the likes of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, Roberto De Zerbe at Brighton and Tottenham’s new manager, Ange Postecoglou, are recruiting players they know will operate within their evolving tactical fluidity.
For casual fans, this approach represents a shift away from traditional, rigid, star-player-centric attitudes, and moves towards a flexible, system-based gameplay style. Managers who embrace this approach and implement it at a high level reap the rewards – winning trophies and winning admiration for their transformative teams.
Is this the future of tactics? A world without fixed positions, where multi-functional players rotate around the pitch? What is driving this trend? How does this controlled chaos work?
The illusion of freedom
So here’s the thing about free-roaming players: they’re actually not. It’s an illusion called ‘positional play’, a principle used by the likes of Guardiola. This system is based on a strict set of rules where players take up positions to create numerical advantages over opponents by passing triangles or diamonds, with the aim of advancing the ball.
In Guardiola’s interpretation of the system, the pitch is divided into zones, with each player allocated an area. Each move triggers a chain reaction, triggering moves by a teammate to confuse the opponent. Players are programmed to exploit appropriate spaces and press in certain areas. To achieve this, you need resilient footballers. Football players like Alvarez.
“He is capable of operating in a number of attacking roles and we firmly believe he is one of the best young attacking players in South America,” Manchester City sporting director Txiki Begiristain said when signing the Argentine for around £17m from River Plate. In January 2022.
Alvarez’s intelligent movement means he appears wherever there is space with the aim of linking up plays. During Argentina’s historic World Cup win, Alvarez scored four goals and did Lionel Messi’s dirty work, leading the press through the line. For Manchester City, he has held various attacking roles, most recently moving into a central role as the No. 8 on the right side to cover for the injured Kevin De Bruyne, where he has excelled with four goals and four assists in 10 matches.
So how does he deal with his manager’s ever-evolving playbook?
“It’s a great honor to have Pep coach me, and after being here for a year, I feel more comfortable,” Alvarez explained during an event to promote his adidas X Crazyfast cleats. “By learning new things, knowing the club more, I feel better with my teammates. It’s demanding, and we as players know the expectations are high, but it also reminds us.
“he [Guardiola] He makes it more difficult because he knows what we have to offer. As for team management, the way he reads matches and opponents and the tools he gives you when you have to get on the pitch to play is what makes Pep special.”
In the past, utility players were viewed as jacks of all trades. Failure to master one position worked against them as they moved up the team, and they never flourished, only filling in a needed spot. Consider John O’Shea, Phil Neville, or James Milner – players known not for outstanding quality, but for their ability to fill noticeable gaps wherever they appear.
“Diversity is very important because football has evolved tactically,” Alvarez explains. “Players are constantly changing, so playing in different positions gives you more options to be in the starting lineup.”
Burdening the opposition
Changes in positioning on and off the ball. In this latest iteration of Guardiola’s vision, his team lines up in a 4-4-2 when they defend and morphs into something like a 2-3-5 as they try to create overloads in the final third.
It is in the attack phase where the traditional perception of situations becomes blurred. Freedom is given within the parameters of a pre-determined framework. Players search for space and take turns to create an unpredictable attacking force, as Tottenham coach Postecoglou explained after their 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
“They all gained freedom,” Postecoglou said. “We’re very organized, but hopefully it won’t look that way. We did.” [right-back] Pedro Porro as a centre-forward at some point – that’s part of us hoping to be a good, effective team that’s hard to stop.
“The steel structure is very flexible because guys understand that as long as there’s movement out there, they’re looking for spaces and other people are filling the spaces they leave, it doesn’t really matter where they show up or where they go. But there’s discipline in that; it’s not about running anywhere.” “It’s about going into areas that we’re constantly working on, and if it looks smooth, that makes it difficult to stop us.”
Fans and pundits alike will watch this blur of movement around the pitch and assume the coach has allowed the team to open up, but it’s all about control and neutralizing the opposition.
“A lot of managers at the top level want to control every situation and leave as little as possible to chance,” Harry Brooks, who works as a coach and analyst with Premier League and academy players, tells ESPN. “Almost all of the best managers have succeeded in creating an algorithm, and they work over and over again to iterate that formula, to basically say, ‘If I do this and then this and then this, that should lead to X,’ like a goal, for example.
“They want their players to memorize pre-rehearsed routines of what they do in each situation, so all the players can refer to that log without having to think too much. This is something they learn in the under-14s where they can play as a number 10 in a week One, then as No. 6 the next week, then as right-back, and so on.”
This micromanagement stems from the data revolution. Every club employs analysts to study matches, analyze numbers and identify patterns, which helps them decipher the tactical habits of their opponents.
To maintain the advantage, you need to spring some surprises. One of Guardiola’s standout qualities is his ability to recognize how a player’s strengths can flourish in different areas of the pitch, both in and out of possession, rather than simply focusing on his suitability for a particular position.
“The problem with having all these pre-established red tape is that the opposition can discover them if they do their homework,” Brooks adds. “The best coaches find ways to get rid of the opposition, and this can be done by pushing players outside their traditional positions.
“Look at what Pep did with Stones and the different players [like Rico Lewis] He turned into an inverted fullback. The philosophy doesn’t change – positional play – but it’s the little tweaks that keep it fresh and keep opponents guessing. “Pep is a genius because he is very good at spotting trends and staying one step ahead, so finding players who can perform different functions for the team is really attractive for him.”
This is where someone like Tor-Kristian Karlsen comes into play. The former chief scout, athletic director and executive, who now works as a columnist for ESPN, has more than 25 years of experience sourcing elite talent. The increasing demand for players with positional adaptability has coincided with the increasing use of data and tactical sophistication.
“If you traveled back in time 20 years, exploration was very easy,” he says. “A player’s qualities are determined by his position. Wingers must be quick, direct, good at tackling players, and able to go outside. Full-backs must run up and down the channel, and the center – full-backs were not expected to be good at Handling the ball, but they will control the penalty area.
“Now the best players have to be able to do everything to varying degrees and understand tactics to the level of a manager. Managers like Arteta and Pep don’t look at the players in the position they play in, but more so: what can your skill set provide? These different areas of the playing field?
Formations and positions lay the foundation for more advanced tactical ideas that create space by rotating individuals around the pitch. This does not mean that players are free to abandon their positions; Instead, they need the intelligence to make an impact all over the pitch, moving seamlessly as a team to create numerical superiority in attack, while ensuring protection against counter-attacks and defending with a strong defensive stance.
“The game has moved from strict positions and rules, with certain patterns, to a focus on space and relationships,” notes Carlsen. “Teams will attack wherever there is space, giving players license to roam. It’s like a living organism – it has to function as a group. If that doesn’t happen, the team becomes sprawled and disorganized.”
This is a tactical trend for the foreseeable future, but football is cyclical. The 2-3-5 formation we see now dates back to the 1890s, while the ‘total football’ of Ajax and Holland in the 1970s instituted the same kind of positional changes, for example. What then? Is it the return of the free role given to the most talented players, when this freedom does not really mean a lack of responsibility?
“I don’t think players are positions, it’s about making better use of them and giving them license to be creative,” says Brooks. “We know that modern players are instructed to follow a certain plan and repeat it over and over again.
“Every coach is now canceling each other out, so, to counter that, I think we’ll start to see individual talent given the freedom to play. That’s talent that you can’t plan for.”
