Evolution of BritLeague tactics

The evolution of BritLeague tactics has seen dramatic changes in the styles of football since the league began in 1996. From the start, the majority of managers opted for a 4-4-2 while some opted for 3-5-2, but since the mid-noughties managers have gone 4-3-3, 4-5-1 or, most popularly, 4-2-3-1. Here we look at how tactics have evolved in the competition since 1996.

Possession is king (2011-2013)
In 2012, midway through the season, newly-promoted West London Warriors made the controversial decision to sack Harry Davis despite the fact that the club, in only their second season of existence, were doing alright in mid-table. The decision was taken as the board wanted to go in a different direction and move away from the direct style of football Davis' side had played. The decision was met with condemnation from almost all quarters, but Davis' successor, Dutchman Wim Pieters, promised to "sex up" the Warriors by playing a brand of short-passing football. Suddenly, defenders were being asked to play it out from the back, after being instructed by Davis to boot it up towards striker Michael Heaney. In Pieters' first game since taking over, centre-back Jack Tracy, while carrying the ball out, dwelled on it for too long and was dispossessed, leading to them to go 1-0 down. They won 2-1 however through set-piece goals from Tracy and striker Adam Carter. Pieters was undeterred by Tracy's mistake, however, and promised to keep playing this way until the defenders got it right. And true to his word, the defenders became more comfortable in bringing it out from the back and laying it off either to their creative French playmaker, Jean-Paul Sanchez, who'd be spraying passes about, or Ian Parker, a former winger who was converted into a central midfielder after numerous injuries restricted his pace. The Warriors stayed up by playing a brand of football that won them many admirers, but fellow newly-promoted side Essex Saxons finished above them by playing a much cruder style of football. However, the possession football was not entirely an attacking tool - the side would build up slowly and learnt that against the bigger teams, they had to play slowly from the back and stop them from getting the ball. In the end, they would try to beat teams through set-pieces, which they worked on meticulously in training which began under Davis and continued under Pieters. Corner kicks, especially, which were usually taken by Parker and one of Heaney, Carter, Tracy or the Irishman's centre-half partner Shane Macdonald would usually head home the resulting cross. And it was not just through set-plays they could hurt opponents, either; Olsi Rati and Billy Macintyre would provide plenty of pace on the wings, which was sometimes too much for some full-backs to deal with.

Pressing issues (2014-2016)
After Bobby Hutchinson left London United at the end of 2013, SV Mungenstadt manager Bernd Strauss was appointed to replace him. The German was known for his high-pressing style, or "Gegenpressing", at his previous club, and looked to install it at Santander Park. Gegenpressing consists of the forward line moving quickly to close down defenders whenever they looked to play it out from the back, central midfielders would sometimes close down space behind the forwards and defenders would push up too, thus denying any space for the opposing team to play through. This is also called defending with a high block, as opposed to defending with a low block which teams like Essex Saxons are known for doing. This consists of a team putting all 11 players behind the ball including the striker(s) and defending the box in compact zones. This is also popularly called "parking the bus".

In 2015, Essex Saxons had defied all BritLeague pundits' expectations and finished 6th, thus qualifying for European football for the first time in their history. Striker Steven Bodger, possessing an envious mix of pace, power and clinical finishing, fired the Saxons to Europe with 21 goals to his name. A year later, with Europa League football on the horizon, pundits again tipped the Saxons to struggle with the Thursday-Sunday weekend and have a difficult season and a relegation battle. But using their depth in the squad (unusual for a club of their size), manager Mike Rocker rotated his side shrewdly without upsetting the team balance as the Saxons started the 2016 BritLeague season out of the blocks, going joint-top with Newcastle Geordies. Using on-loan Spanish midfielder Ander García as his creative force from the right wing, and also adding tricky winger Max McMillan from South Coast Rangers in July, Rocker had some flair while attacking to go with his extreme compactness while defending. They defended in numbers, played narrow and made them almost impossible to break down defensively, with Rocker extensively teaching the shape in training every week. Saxons skipper Justin Wright would plump the ball from central defence towards the head of target man Peter Elkins, who'd knock it down for Steven Bodger for the ace striker to fire home. Bodger's hot form earned him his first England call-up for the EuroCup at the age of 29 and played one game in which he scored. Goalkeeper Aiden Charles' form got him selected for the Euros too, and his distribution towards others was a key part of the Saxons way of playing. A lot of their goals came from set-pieces, especially long throws. The Saxons had a lot of players who could catapult the ball into the box. Players like Darren Arnold, Kenny Sayers and Justin Sharma had wonderful throwing ability. And with either Ander García or Kevin Simms taking the corners, it seemed every team was looking for big trouble if they either gave away a throw-in or a corner kick because the Saxons were experts in both. And they were difficult to break down on corners defensively too. Rocker used a man-to-man marking system on corners where big lads mark big lads and small lads mark small lads. They conceded the fewest goals from corners in their surprise title win which came on the last day of the season, their equaliser came via long throw-in from Kenny Sayers which was headed home by Justin Wright in a 1-1 draw at Leeds Lightning which clinched the title ahead of Newcastle Geordies on goal difference - the 5-0 thrashing of bitter rival East Anglia Knights earlier in the season proving crucial. The Knights, who suffered relegation that season after losing a two-legged play-off against Lancashire Bears, were bullied by the Saxons in September, conceding goals from a long throw, a corner, a long ball from Wright to Bodger, a free-kick from Simms and finally a defensive howler from Charlie De La Hoya from which McMillan capitalised. This game was the Saxons' season a nutshell, condensed into 90 minutes.