(Part 2) Top products from r/TheMassive

Ah I'm glad you asked!

My next project coming up is actually to create a site for analyses like this, aimed towards teaching others, like yourself, how to think tactically. Unfortunately there aren't many resources available for “a beginners approach to tactics”, per se, which is a shame; as the initial learning curve can definitely be steep and intimidating.. but, I'll share with you the process I used to learn about tactics and hopefully I can give you some ideas on how to learn to think tactically!

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1. Pick a team / manager whose style you like and follow them. Watch games of various teams in various leagues. Like how a certain team plays? Follow the team, watch games of them when you can, and look for analyses of some of their bigger games online. (If you are a Crew fan and you want to analyze Crew games, watch the game the first time to “enjoy the game”, then watch it again in-depth to dissect it. It also helps that you know what is going to happen; ask yourself: What led to the Union’s goal? What events happened prior to it? Did the Crew make adjustments later on to fix an obvious problem? - I bought MLS Live specifically so I could do this.
   
   
2. Focus on the positioning of players. - one part of the field / position at a time. Ask yourself the following questions when watching a game such as: what formation are both teams using? How are players finding space? Are the teams playing wide or narrow? Fast or slow? Possession or counter? Fluid or rigid? etc. - (I’ll provide a complete list in an article later this week)
   Once you learn a tactic, pay attention to how that tactic fares against other teams' tactics (ie. 4-3-3 v 4-3-3; 4-3-3 v 4-4-2; etc.).
   
   
   
3. Follow the players when they leave said team This will naturally branch out your tactical knowledge, and allow you to compare and contrast the different systems.
   
   
   
4. Choose high profile games to watch, with big-name coaches. There are quite a few distinct styles today; Tiki Taka (Pep@Barca), Juego de Posicion (Pep @Bayern), and Gegenpressing (Klopp @ Dortmund & Liverpool) being the most talked about, but there are many that exist.
   
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   Some really interesting reading materials and resources:
   
   
   Inverting The Pyramid : This book is what I call my “soccer bible”. It gives an incredible scope into how soccer has changed throughout its existence, and while it only lightly covers modern tactics, as it was written in 2008, it explores the intricacies of various tactics, why they are used, and how to identify them. Its long, and very detailed so it may be a tough read but if you can get through it you will be gold.
   
   Football and Chess I mentioned in another comment how soccer is analogous to chess, as this book taught me. A good starting point as it is a very accessible book to any reader.
   
   Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning A fantastic read by itself, but with many parallels between Berhalter and Pep, this book can help understand some of Crew SC's tactics.
   
   Zonalmarking.net : The “Tactics in the 2000’s” section is almost an extension to the aforementioned book; it outlines the current trends in football really well. The author of the site also does very detailed statistical and analytical recaps of matches.
   
   Spielverlagerung.com (bonus content if you speak German- the German side of their site .de has even more info): The “Tactical Theory” section is a good place to start - While they are rather advanced articles, they do a good job at defining some of the key concepts in modern football. The writers are all very knowledgeable about tactics, and do in depth game analyses regularly.
   
   The Number 6 Role : His last post sadly was 2 years ago, but his pieces are fantastic. Of course I'm biased, but Sean’s analysis of Frank de Boer’s Ajax team is incredible, and I would completely recommend a read as Berhalter employs similar offensive tactics (defensively totally different, but the situational pressing application is fascinating).
   
   Think Football : Site focused on providing a wide range of info, content has declined in recent years as the site has sort of turned into a news site with brief articles, but it provides a bit more insight into world football happenings than say sky sports or fox sports; Good intro material.
   
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   I hope this helps, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions as I’m happy to help you learn! Also I have begun writing a rather lengthy piece that will expand on the 6 points highlighted above, it’s far too long to post here but I will be sure to let you know when I have it up on my site. For now you have a reference sheet you can save and hopefully I set you up with a good place to start!

• We were the first MLS team.
  
  
• We hate DC for knocking us out in the playoffs a lot.
  
  
• We hate TFC because their fans are assholes who riot in our stadium when they loose.
  
  
• We hate Chicago because they're fart faces.
  
  
• "Massive" is our tagline, the Crew's website has a pretty good write up on it here.
  
  
  
• Steve Sirk's "A Massive Season" is a good book.
  
  
• Our stadium is typically where the USMNT chooses to play their biggest home games.
  
  A very brief list of team legends include (but are certainly not limited to):
  
  
• Frankie Hejduk - captain of the championship team, awesome guy. Currently the Crew's "Brand Ambassador". You'll probably see him in the stands/tailgates if you come to a game.
  
  
• Robert Warzycha - Great player. Bad coach, but great player and definitely a legend.
  
  
• Brian McBride - Number one overall pick of the MLS inaugural draft and very much deserved it.
  
  
• Guillermo Barros Schelotto - The man, the legend, the god. Amazing player, league MVP during our championship season. I still contend that he is the best player MLS has seen (obviously not as an entire career, but the best player while they were playing in MLS).
  

Not sure exactly what you're looking for, but these go on sale under $150 often and they're quite good for the price. Paid $125 for mine on Amazon.