Louis Van Gaal on How to Dominate

"Dominant football, in my opinion, means that you are the team that decides the flow of the game. Meaning creating more chances than the opponent, playing offensively and doing this based on technical and tactical capacity, whereby the will to win plays an essential role. You therefore assume an offensive rather than defensive organisation. The core of this is that you decide what happens on the field; of course this is open for discussion, because when you play from a defensive organisation you can also dictate to a degree, as you determine that the opponent attacks in a small space. This, however, is not dominant play, because you do not determine the situation in an offensive manner.

"I see dominant play as playing offensively and pressing in the opponent’s half. Whenever you fall back more you will be playing with less initiative and with dominance only in phases. 

"When you opt to play with a 4-3-3 you will, in my perception, have optimal field positioning. The beautiful thing about my choice of system is that it creates a lot of lines. When you play with a 4-4-2 you have a flat four in midfield, creating only 3-4 lines.

 In our system of play we usually have about 6 lines. 

So from a mathematical point of view you are creating a lot more passing opportunities. Your positioning is not only better in attack, but also in defence.

"Within this formation you always have the positioning whereby there is one player who can execute pressure on the ball. When you are playing with more lines it will be easier to constrain your opponent. It is always about occupying regions.

"When you play fast circulation football you will be able to continuously pressure the opponent. Whenever you circulate the ball a lot, the opponent will likewise have to circulate a lot, increasing their chances of making a positional mistake. When a player is not moving or is dribbling slowly, you are making it easy for the opponent. Not moving for 2 seconds means an opponent can correct a positional mistake.

"Ball movement does not necessarily mean that you can’t dribble. You have to recognize the moment in which you can create a 2-v-1 situation. Whenever the opponent has moved in such a way that they can pick up their man and provide cover you should not initiate a dribble, because you will be outnumbered 1-v-2.

"When you move the ball the opponent has to constantly concentrate. And some weaker teams are unable to do this. They are mentally unable to adhere to the positional organisation for 90 minutes." 

The Importance of Shape

A.C. Milan was once the most powerful team in the world. They won three European Cup/Champions League titles in six seasons, culminating in a 4-0 beating of Barcelona in the 1994 Final. They were led by legends such as Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten, and were managed by Arrigo Saachi, who was simply a genius.

At Milan, Saachi got fed up with his players complaining about all the training they did on team shape, and so he convinced them of its worth with a simple drill. "I told Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit that five organized players would beat ten disorganized ones," Saachi says. "And I proved it to them. I took five players: Giovanni Galli in goal, Mauro Tassotti, Paolo Maldini, Alesandro Costacurta, and Franco Baresi." That's a back four with no holding midfielder. "They had ten players: Gullit, van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Carlo Ancelotti, Pietro Paolo Virdis, Alberigo Evani, Angelo Colombo, Roberto Donadoni, Christian Lantignotti, and Graziano Mannari. They had 15 minutes to score against my five players. The only rule was that if we won possession or they lost the ball, they had to start all over from 10 meters inside their half, thus ruining their team shape. I did this all the time and they never scored. Not once."