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Formation Playbooks · No. 07 Coaches' edition

The 4-4-2 Playbook

Two banks of four and two up front, with and without the ball.

Two banks of four. Two up front. The shape that never went away.

The 4-4-2, explained free on a moving board →

  • 95 pages
  • 80 boards
  • 20 sessions
  • 5 languages
€14.99 €9.99 with a Studio plan
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Instant PDF download · All five languages included · Your price is applied at checkout

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The 4-4-2 Playbook, a Playbook Series e-book from Total Football Studio

What is inside

Two banks of four. Two up front. The shape that never went away.

The 4-4-2 is the simplest shape in football to draw and one of the hardest to play well. This playbook shows every job in it: the block and its distances, the slide, the press from the front two, the midfield pair, the strike partnership, playing out, the full-back and the wide midfielder, and the counter-attack. Every board is drawn to scale and checked.

  1. 01 What a 4-4-2 gives you and what it costs, with the history and the data
  2. 02 The flat 4-4-2, the 4-4-1-1 and the 4-2-2-2, and the shape in every phase
  3. 03 Two banks of four: the distances, the three heights and the back four
  4. 04 Sliding, defending the flank and the box, and pressing from the front two
  5. 05 The midfield two and the strike partnership
  6. 06 Playing out, the full-back and the wide midfielder, and the counter-attack
  7. 07 Matchups, rest defence and changing shape during a game
  8. 08 20 sessions, from two banks of four to 11 v 11

The impact

What you will be able to do after reading it.

Read it well and this is what changes for you, your staff and your players. Each point is a chapter of the book, not a promise on top of it.

  • Analysis room 2
  • Training ground 2
  • Match day 2
  1. Analysis room Ch. 01 · 02

    Pick the 4-4-2 that suits your players

    The flat 4-4-2, the 4-4-1-1 and the 4-2-2-2 side by side: what two banks of four give you, what they cost, and the players each role needs.

  2. Training ground Ch. 03

    Give your block its distances

    How far apart the two lines stand, the three heights from high to low, how the back four press, cover and balance, and who holds the line.

  3. Match day Ch. 04 · 05

    Slide as one, press from the front two

    Sliding to the ball, the far side, two against two on the flank and the box. Then the curve and the shadow, the touchline trap, the triggers, and when not to press.

  4. Training ground Ch. 06 · 07

    Give each pair one job each

    In midfield, one goes and one stays, and the two against three. Up front, one short and one long, splitting the centre-backs and the second striker of the 4-4-1-1.

  5. Match day Ch. 08 · 09 · 10

    Play out, go wide and break

    The box against two strikers and going long on purpose, overlap and underlap and crosses for two strikers, then the three runs of the counter-attack.

  6. Analysis room Ch. 11 · 12

    Plan for this week's opponent, then train it

    Matchups against a 4-3-3, a 4-2-3-1, a back three and a diamond, with rest defence and changing shape during a game. Then 20 sessions, picked in the session finder by the problem you saw.

20 sessions and about 80 boards drawn to scale turn every point into something you can show your players, then train.

Buy it for €14.99

Pages from the book

Every board drawn to scale.

Like these pages?

The whole book is €14.99, or €9.99 with a Studio plan. Instant PDF, all five languages.

Or download a free 13-page sample (PDF, 1.3 MB)
Buy the e-book

Five languages

One book, five languages, one price.

The whole book is translated, the boards and the index too. Buy it once and every edition is in your account: download the one you need, or all five for a staff that works in more than one language.

Contents

12 chapters, then the index.

Each chapter is a bookmark in the PDF, and every row of the contents page is a link to it.

  1. 01 Why the 4-4-2 What two banks of four give you, what they cost, and who has won with them
  2. 02 The shapes The flat 4-4-2, the 4-4-1-1 and the 4-2-2-2, and one shape in every phase
  3. 03 Block: two banks of four The distances, the three heights, the back four and the space between the lines
  4. 04 Shift: sliding together Moving to the ball, the far side, the flank and the box
  5. 05 Press: pressing from a 4-4-2 The front two, the touchline trap, the triggers and the 4-2-2-2 press
  6. 06 Pair: the midfield two One goes, one stays, the two against three, and the ball-winner and the passer
  7. 07 Pair: the strike partnership One short, one long, splitting two centre-backs and the 4-4-1-1
  8. 08 Playing out from a 4-4-2 The 3-1, the box, the full-back and the long ball
  9. 09 Wide: the full-back and the wide midfielder Overlap and underlap, crosses for two strikers and the switch
  10. 10 Break: the counter-attack Win it and go, the three runs and the long ball into the channel
  11. 11 Matchups, rest defence and changing shape Against 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1, a back three and a diamond, and the game plan B
  12. 12 The training ground 20 sessions, from two banks of four to 11 v 11

Get The 4-4-2 Playbook

Yours in a minute. On the grass this week.

One payment, no subscription. The PDF is in your account the moment you pay.

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  1. This book

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  2. Best value

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    The set · No. 01 Deluxe and Nos. 02 to 07

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The format

A PDF built to be used on the training ground.

Format
PDF, A4 portrait
Length
95 pages, 80 boards, 20 sessions
File size
4.7 MB
Navigation
Bookmarks for every chapter, a clickable contents page and cross-references
Index
Terms, people and teams
Printing
Laid out for A4, so every page prints as it looks on screen
Languages
English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. Translated in full, boards and index included
Price
€14.99, or €9.99 on any paying Studio plan. One payment, instant download.
Edition
First edition, version 1.0, November 2026.
Licence
This copy is licensed to the buyer for personal and club coaching use. You may print pages for your own players and staff. Please do not share the file publicly, upload it or resell it. For a licence that covers a whole club or academy, write to us.

Questions

About The 4-4-2 Playbook

What does it cost?

€9.99 if your account is on a paying Studio plan, alone or in a team, and €14.99 without one. The seven paid books together are €59.14 with a plan, or €87.94 without (€109.93 bought one by one). One payment, no subscription, and the right price is applied at checkout.

See the prices

How do I get it after paying?

You pay on our secure checkout with a free Total Football account. The PDF is in your account straight away, under Your e-books, to download whenever you need it, and the link comes by email too.

Your e-books

Can I read some of it first?

Yes. The free sample is 13 pages of the real book: the front matter and introduction, the start of chapter 1, the first session and the back cover.

Who is it for?

Coaches, analysts and staff who want one shared language for this part of the game, with the cost of every choice and a session for every idea.

Can I print it and share it with my players?

This copy is licensed to the buyer for personal and club coaching use. You may print pages for your own players and staff. Please do not share the file publicly, upload it or resell it. For a licence that covers a whole club or academy, write to us.

Can I get a refund?

A download is delivered the moment you pay, so at checkout you ask for it straight away and the 14-day right to cancel ends when it arrives. Read the free sample first. If a file is faulty or will not open, write to us and we fix it or refund you.

E-book terms

Can I earn by recommending it?

Yes. In the Total Football Studio affiliate programme, on an Amateur or Pro plan, you earn 20% or 30% of every Playbook Series e-book bought by someone you referred, for 12 months from the day they signed up through your link. They pay the same price either way.

The affiliate programme

Which languages is it in?

English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. One purchase includes all five: download whichever you need from Your e-books, as often as you like. The whole book is translated, the boards and the index too, and the free sample is in all five.

What format is it in?

A 95-page A4 PDF of 4.7 MB, with bookmarks for every chapter, a clickable contents page and an index. It opens on any phone, tablet or computer that reads a PDF, and prints on A4.

Do I need Total Football Studio to use it?

No. The book is a PDF and stands on its own. Every diagram in it was built in Total Football Studio, so you can draw the same shapes on your own board if you want to.

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Affiliate programme Know a coach who needs this book? Earn on every copy. On an Amateur or Pro plan, your link earns you 20% or 30% of every Playbook Series e-book the people you refer buy, for 12 months. How it works

The Playbook Series

The other seven books

The whole series