I miss connecting with those on X, formerly Twitter, but I don’t miss participating on the platform. https://t.co/SjNDLzE0wB

I will no longer be posting on the social media site X, formerly known as Twitter. The decision to leave is being forced upon me due to the deterioration of the website. I no longer want to contribute to their platform.

It is hard to pick because I put a lot of thought into them, but if I had to pick, these are my top sixty favorite posts I wrote in 2024 in the Tactics Journal. Thank you all for reading, and Happy New Year!

Why are we afraid of the other team shooting the ball? Why not get it over with quicker? “Expedite the shot to regain possession,” says the impatient center-forward waiting for his next chance to score.

When you play the ball over the top and through, rarely does the defending team have the discipline to wait once they regain possession, nor does the rest of their team move back. Making it easier to immediately counter press.

That is the biggest lesson I have learned from this blog: Just because I understand something does not mean others can spot those same things. Things that you may find common or insignificant could be new to someone else.

A low cross from the corner into the six-yard box with a forward attacking the near post, a forward attacking the middle of the six-yard box, and a player sneaking up on the back post has to be the most dangerous pass in football.

xG (goals), xA (assists), xCS (clean sheets), xP (points), and expected anything are great tools to help quantify anticipated success, only to be met with unmet disappointment.

Remove the names and numbers of the players on your tactics board, and all you have left is shapes. Those shapes can help you instruct; I can tell you where they are and where they might go, but they don’t provide enough context.

Stagnation should terrify those that want to improve. How do you stagnate? You play it safe. You make it, and then you plateau because you don’t take risks. It is more risky to play it safe than it is to take risks.

Wind is swirling; the ball moves even when the ball is stopped. If you try to attack through the middle, on the ground, the ball bobbles too much. Attack in-to-out, then out-to-in to move with the wind.

“I am sick of the team having to score two goals every game,” says the fed-up fan of a team on a long losing streak that has yet to get a clean sheet. This is the mindset you have to have to win a domestic league title.

I think this is what makes Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou relatable for some because he wants to be remembered. Many of us are not comfortable with being unmemorable.

Brentford manager Thomas Frank agrees with me. I want to face the other team’s full squad. No shortcuts. If my team is facing Arsenal, I want to see Saka. Liverpool, Salah better start. Bayern, Musiala should get the full 90 minutes.

“The Premier League is tactically diverse,” as I draw the same 4-4-2 to 3-4-3 box midfield, with the same interchanging positions. It is hard to focus on anything other than structure when most public analysis is hyper-focused on structures and managers.

Pep Guardiola summed up Manchester City’s issues in one perfect answer to a question, and the answer is simple: The schedule.

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The player that impressed me in the Manchester Derby was Noussair Mazraoui for Manchester United. Few defenders have guarded Jérémy Doku as effectively as he did. It was all in the position of his feet, to be first to face the ball after the challenge. …

Southampton manager Russell Martin said he has “a lot of respect” for Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou because of the consistency in his beliefs, despite criticism. He spoke about the challenges unconventional “stubborn” managers face when results dip.

In football we find the meta, what works, who wins, and we steal those ideas and make them our own, making small tweaks. We can learn a lot about that same practice when you look at art.