Using the goalkeeper as a ’false 1’ during build-up
On September 19 2019 Manchester City played Liverpool in the Community Shield.
There was a brand new rule in world football that allowed the first pass from a goal kick to be played inside the penalty area. The ball now didn’t have to leave the area to be in play like before.
Pep Guardiola set up his team in their usual 4–3–3 formation but when his side had a goal kick John Stones vacated his position (RCB) and positioned himself next to Rodri as a double pivot in the gaps of Liverpool’s pressing front three. The vacated RCB-position gave the possibility for goalkeeper Claudio Bravo to play as what I call a ‘false 1’.
Introducing the false 1
Alright. Bravo’s position is not dramatically different to where we usually see the goalkeeper during build-up. But the small adjustment in his position (a little bit to the right with a lot of space) together with the positioning of the rest of the team (more players in front of the ball) makes this an interesting idea.
My definition of a false 1:
A goalkeeper with a position either higher up or more to either side of the pitch than usual (when team is in possession of the ball) in a space that’s been vacated by another player.
FC Barcelona — 2011
Fast forward a little more than a year after that Community Shield to the end of 2020 when I was researching different ways to build up the play with 3 at the back. I was watching a replay of the Club World Cup Final in 2011 between Santos and Barcelona, coached by Pep Guardiola. In this game, Barcelona didn’t use their usual 4–3–3 formation but something that was not far from a 3–7–0.
That was when I saw Valdés play in a false 1 position and was reminded of what I had seen in the Community Shield a year earlier. That sparked an idea that became reality a couple of months later, in April 2021, when I decided I wanted to write this text to try to describe what my definition of the false 1 is, why teams use it and how teams can use the position in different ways.
Reasons to use a false 1
Positional Football has the obvious feeling that you always lack one player (function, or task) for perfect spatial occupation: Width in the first line, depth in the first line, width in the last line, width in between, overload in the center and a deep option in the last line ; the obvious solution is to push up the goalkeeper (4–2–2–3, for instance), but it’s also the most risky one.
The text above is an extract from How Guardiola & 3–2–2–3 (ultimately) solved the defending meta from the amazing site Spielverlagerung. It perfectly describes why using a ‘false 1’ could be tempting for a coach. It allows the team to have all the following:
- Width and depth in the first line.
- Width in the last line.
- Width in between.
- Overload in the centre.
- Deep option in the last line.
The reason to use the goalkeeper in possession is of course to have 11 players against the oppositions 10 players since their goalkeeper can’t/doesn’t leave the goal to mark a player (maybe that’s what the ‘false 1' 2.0 could be).
But the reason for using the false 1 is to make it even harder for the opposition by giving more space to the goalkeeper. Vacating more space for the goalkeeper and having more players in front of the ball makes it harder for the opposition to press the GK without leaving a free man behind.
It allows the team to overload the centre without sacrificing another task like width in the first line. This makes it easier to find a free man in the centre or force the opposition to narrow their press and play around.
Different ways to play with a false 1
There are a lot of ways to use the false 1 to your team’s advantage. You could use it on goal kicks and you can even use it when you try to break down the opposition’s defence further up the field.
Back 3
In the Barcelona-example shown before, and again in the video below, they spread their outside centre backs wide and Valdés takes the position next to Piqué as a false 1. Valdés attracts pressure and can pass to a free man in the centre.
Against man-marking
When playing against a man-marking strategy the false 1 could be very efficient to create and find a free player. When someone puts pressure on the false 1 someone else will be free and can be passed to either directly or via another player.
Back 4
There are a lot of different ways to rotate your team to create the false 1 as well as creating width in the first line and overloading the centre. How the team should rotate depends a lot on the characteristics of the players. Who does the coach want to overload the centre? Who is more suitable to keep the width?
It also depends on the opponent’s strategy and system. Where do we want to overload the opponents and position our players to create threats?
Manchester City have used different rotations to create the false 1 (as shown below). Sometimes one of the centre-backs have joined the midfield and sometimes it’s been one of the full-backs.
False 1 in the middle third
It’s of course possible, although maybe a bit risky, to use the goalkeeper as a false 1 higher up the pitch. Hamburg SV have used this strategy as shown in the video by João Nuno Fonseca below. The same benefits apply here as those described earlier when using the false 1 in the first third.
Summary
Some will say that this approach is idiocy while others will be intrigued by it. The beauty of football is that there’s no right or wrong. But if a coach wants to have more control of the ball and simultaneously create more ways of playing through or around the opponents' press, the false 1 might be an interesting strategy to use.
