Most importantly, the front three provides significant firepower, ensuring your team can do the most important thing on the field: score goals. It’s made up of three key blocks, giving it exceptional balance, width, and solidity. Have a question that you want answered? Ask Coach Gough by sending Cincinnati Soccer Talk a message on Facebook, Twitter, or via Gough) for into the latest Cincinnati Soccer Talk podcasts on MONDAY nights at 9 p.m.4-3-3 is arguably the most popular formation in the game at present. If you understand that most teams play with a center forward that they call a “9,” and a midfield triangle made up of a “6,” “8,” and “10,” you’ll pretty much know enough to follow along with any broadcast. There’s no need to know the numbers from back to front. In terms of how you can learn them, I’d say don’t try. Ultimately, Lance, the question as to why they don’t make more sense has to do with the evolution of formations throughout history. The modern 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 that is used by so many teams throughout the world of soccer, if you transpose position numbers onto it, looks like this: Defensive minded midfielders are still called “number 6’s,” and big center forwards will forever be known as “number 9’s.” Many explosive and dynamic wingers have worn the number “7,” so often a team’s attacking width will be referred to in those terms. 10” no matter what jersey number he wears is pretty universally accepted. Namely, the numbers that still hold true in modern soccer are 1, 6, 7, 9, and 10.įor instance, the number “10” shirt has been worn by so many great playmakers and creative midfielders that referring to the creative player in a squad as the “No.

However, the historical nature of the numbers, along with the fact that they were worn by many of the position’s historical greats, causes them to still hold relevance in some circles. Ultimately, now that players mostly wear their favorite numbers, the actual positional numbers mean very little in a practical sense. The popularization of the 4-4-2 formation in England caused the numbers “4” and “5” to drop in as central defenders and the wide players, “7” and “ll” to become part of the midfield. We now call that playing a “direct” style.Īs time went on and formations changed, many of the numbers stayed somewhat in place. Most teams played a style that involved the full-backs (2 and 3) clearing the ball out as quickly as possible to the front line. In this format, the numbering was pretty straight forward, with the numbers reading back to front, and right to left. The prevailing way of playing back then was in a very attacking formation that looked something like this:

There were no substitutions allowed during games, so additional numbers weren’t needed. When players first started wearing numbered jerseys, they were all numbered 2-11, with the Goalkeeper not wearing a number. It helps to first understand where the position numbers came from. Why don’t the position numbers in soccer make more sense? How can we learn them? Do you have a question about a general tactic, formation, or specific play? Ask Coach Gough on twitter or send an email to week’s question comes from on Twitter: Questions for Coach is your chance to ask the soccer questions that you’ve always wanted answered, - from an “inside the locker room” perspective.

Soccer position numbers 4 4 2