Total Football Studio · E-books
The Playbook Series.
Short, practical playbooks for the people who coach the game. Every board is drawn to scale, every number has a source, and every idea ends on the grass with a session.
- 3 books
- 224 pages
- 179 boards
- 43 sessions
The books
Three books, one way of drawing the game.
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No. 01 Free edition
The 4-3-3 Playbook
Variations, attacking positions and defensive shape.
24 pages · 15 boards · 3 sessions
- The roles, the numbers and the triangles that hold it together
- From Michels to Guardiola to Spain 2024
- Single pivot, double pivot, false nine and the wingers
- Build-up structures: turning four at the back into three
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No. 02 Coaches' edition
Playing Out From the Back
Building up against every press: count it, shape for it, bait it, beat it.
101 pages · 84 boards · 20 sessions
- How to read any press: numbers, marking and triggers
- Four bases: 4+2, 3+2, 2+3 and the Lavolpiana
- Baiting the press: pause, square, show and go
- Eight ways through: the third man, the S, carries and switches
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No. 03 Coaches' edition
The 4-2-3-1 Playbook
One shape, many systems: how football's most-used formation builds, creates, presses and protects.
99 pages · 80 boards · 20 sessions
- The eleven roles and what each one owes the team
- Four double-pivot pairings and the stagger
- Four build-up bases against every first line
- The final third: freeing the 10 and the wide men
Find your book
Start from the problem you have this week.
Each book answers one question a coach keeps asking. Pick yours, and read them in any order.
- If You play a 4-3-3, or want to, and need it explained phase by phase.
Read No. 01, The 4-3-3 Playbook Free
- If Your team gives the ball away when the opponent presses your goal kicks.
Read No. 02, Playing Out From the Back
- If You start in a 4-2-3-1, or come up against one most weeks.
Read No. 03, The 4-2-3-1 Playbook
The impact
What the series changes at your club.
Read well, the three books give you more than ideas. They give you the words, the plans and the sessions to take into the analysis room, onto the training ground and into match day.
- Your staff
One language for your whole staff
Every book names the roles, shapes and patterns the same way, with a glossary and an index, so the analyst, the coaches and the players use the same words.
- Analysis room
A plan for this week's opponent
Matchups against four opponents in No. 01, an opponent matrix for six presses in No. 02, and for six shapes in No. 03.
- Training ground
Over 40 sessions, ready to run
From rondos to phase of play and 11 v 11. Each one is tied to an idea in the book, and Nos. 02 and 03 have a session finder that starts from the problem you saw.
- Analysis room
Choices made for a reason
What each version creates, what it costs and who it needs, so you choose the one that suits your players rather than copying a club on television.
- Match day
Honest about the cost
Rest defence and the cost of every choice are in all three books, with the fix next to the problem.
- Match day
Ready before the warm-up
Every book has a match-day checklist: the last things to run through with your players before they go out.
Look inside
Real pages from all three books.
Press any page to read it full size. Every board is drawn to scale.
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No. 01 Contents -
No. 01 Build-up structures -
No. 01 Rest defence and counterpress -
No. 01 The training ground -
No. 02 Inside the book -
No. 02 The 2+3 -
No. 02 The matrix at a glance -
No. 02 Bait the presser -
No. 02 The match-day checklist -
No. 03 Inside the book -
No. 03 The 10 in the pocket -
No. 03 The matrix on one page -
No. 03 7 v 6 -
No. 03 Our 4-2-3-1 on one page
In every book
Built for the people who have to explain it on a Tuesday night.
- 01
Drawn to scale
Every board is measured at real scale on a 105 × 68 m pitch, and built in the Total Football Studio board engine.
- 02
Every number sourced
Every statistic is quoted from the public sources listed at the back of the book.
- 03
Ends on the grass
Every idea leads to a session you can run, and every book has a match-day checklist.
- 04
Made to look things up
A clickable contents page, PDF bookmarks for every chapter, and an index of terms, people and teams.
Questions
About the series
What is the Playbook Series?
Three football coaching e-books from Total Football Studio: The 4-3-3 Playbook, Playing Out From the Back and The 4-2-3-1 Playbook. Every board is drawn to scale, every number has a source, and every idea ends with a session.
See the three books Is any of it free?
The 4-3-3 Playbook is free. It arrives in the welcome email when you join the newsletter, and you may share it with credit.
Get the 4-3-3 Playbook What format are the e-books in?
A4 PDFs with bookmarks for every chapter, a clickable contents page and an index of terms, people and teams. They read on any device and print on A4.
When are Playing Out From the Back and The 4-2-3-1 Playbook out?
Both books are finished, and each has a free sample to read now. The price is announced when they go on sale; join the list on either book page to hear the day it happens.
Read a free sampleStart with No. 01
The 4-3-3 Playbook is yours today.
It arrives in your welcome email. The next two books are finished, and you can read a sample of each now.
