Game Model Documentation
Every coach has a game model — a set of principles that defines how their team plays. Most coaches, however, carry it in their head. A documented game model is one that can be communicated, taught, updated, and consistently applied by your entire staff.
What is a game model?
A game model is a structured description of how your team intends to play football. It defines the collective behaviours and individual responsibilities that your players should execute across every phase of the game — in and out of possession, and in both transitions.
The game model is not a rigid system. It is a set of principles — reference points that guide decision-making under pressure. The goal is not for every player to execute the same movement robotically, but for every player to understand the team's intentions clearly enough to make good individual decisions that serve those intentions.
The four moments of the game
A game model covers four distinct phases that occur repeatedly during a match. Your documentation should address each one explicitly.
Organised Attack
(Possession)Your team has the ball and the opponent is organised defensively.
Key questions to answer
- —How do we build out from the back? Which players carry the ball and which offer vertical options?
- —What is our shape in possession? How does it shift between lines?
- —How do we create superiority in the final third? Combinations, runs, overlaps?
- —What are our principles for attacking set pieces?
Organised Defense
(Without the ball)The opponent has the ball and your team is defending in an organised block.
Key questions to answer
- —What is our defensive shape and which zone do we defend (high, mid, low block)?
- —What are the triggers for pressing? Which player, which zone, which moment?
- —How do we defend wide areas? Do fullbacks track runners or stay compact?
- —What are our principles for defensive set pieces?
Defensive Transition
(Losing the ball)Your team has just lost possession — the critical 5–8 seconds that follow.
Key questions to answer
- —Do we press immediately after losing the ball, or recover our defensive shape first?
- —Which players are responsible for the immediate press (gegenpressing)?
- —How quickly do we look to regain possession versus dropping into shape?
- —What is the trigger that tells players to stop pressing and transition to defence?
Offensive Transition
(Winning the ball)Your team has just won possession — the moments immediately after a turnover.
Key questions to answer
- —Do we look to play forward immediately, or consolidate possession first?
- —Which players are the primary receivers in transition? Where do they position in anticipation?
- —How do we use wide areas in transition — direct or through central combinations?
- —What is the trigger to slow transition and move into organised attack?
Three levels of principles
Within each moment, your principles operate at three levels. The documentation should address all three — but note that the team level comes first. Individual principles should always serve collective ones.
Team level
The global shape and collective intention. What does the entire team try to do when we are in organised attack? What is our defensive block? These are the non-negotiables that every player must understand.
Unit level
The specific responsibilities of each line — defence, midfield, attack. How do the defenders behave when the ball is in wide areas? What is the midfield's role in pressing triggers? The unit principles translate the team intention into line-specific tasks.
Individual level
The specific reference points for each position. Where does the striker press from? When does the right back overlap versus tuck in? Individual principles are the most granular and the ones most likely to be personalised to specific players in your squad.
How to write your principles
Effective game model documentation is descriptive, not prescriptive. It should answer what and why, not just how. A principle written as "the striker presses the centre back when the ball goes back to the goalkeeper" is more useful than "press high" because it gives the player a concrete trigger and a concrete action.
A practical format for each principle:
Situation: When the ball goes back to the opposition goalkeeper.
Intention: We want to press and force a long ball.
Trigger: The striker initiates the press toward the nearest centre back, cutting the passing lane to the other centre back.
Secondary action: The attacking midfielders press the near centre back and the deep midfielder simultaneously, closing the easy exit.
Making it a living document
A game model written once and filed away is not a game model — it is a historical document. The model should evolve as your squad evolves, as opponents adapt, and as your own tactical thinking deepens.
Schedule a monthly review where you read through each moment and ask: do our training sessions reflect these principles? Are there principles we teach in training but have not written down? Are there written principles we no longer actually use?
A digital platform that stores your game model alongside your exercise library and session plans makes this review natural — you can see directly whether your exercises are aligned with the principles they claim to develop.
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