Soccer traditional number positioning
Soccer Federation since 2015 in their coaching education program. We will stick to the positional names and numbers used by the U.S.
Getting into which numbers correspond to which positions is not exactly an easy task. It did not last for long, but it was an interesting approach to beginning his time with the national team. Players wore different numbers than usual and did not have their names on their back of their jerseys. Jurgen Klinsmann went retro early in his USMNT tenure and brought the numbering system based on position. In the 4-3-3 system, the #10 has been pushed back into midfield and plays behind the center forward.Īs clubs shifted from assigning numbers on a game-by-game basis to players wearing the same number throughout the season in 1990’s, associating squad numbers with positions began to fall out of favor. As the numbering system and positions evolved, the #10 shirt was often given to the more creative of the forwards while the #9 was given to the out-and-out striker. The #10 shirt has always been special and has seen many of the game’s greats wear it. He took the iconic #10 shirt and the rest were handed out in alphabetical order.
In 1982, they broke with this system slightly by allowing Diego Maradona to choose what number he wanted. Osvaldo Ardiles, one of the game’s greatest midfielders, wore #1. The positions that the numbers would correspond to also evolved over time as the game’s tactics changed.Īrgentina did things a little differently for their 1974, 1978, and 1982 World Cup appearances, assigning jersey numbers to the squad in alphabetical order. Players would wear different numbers based on their position in that match. The numbers corresponded to positions going from the back to the front, that’s why goalkeepers traditionally wear #1. Arsenal’s Herbert Chapman added numbers to the Gunners’ jerseys in 1928, partly so his players would be able to maintain their shape. It’s the same in soccer, but the way that it has evolved is different. In American football, you expect certain positions to wear a certain range of numbers. With its use increasing, now is a good time to dig deeper into it and specifically where it applies to Tata Martino’s tactics at Atlanta United. I did not grow up using this naming system, I remember playing fullback, halfback, and stopper as a kid. Maybe it never went away, but its use has definitely increased in the U.S. The use of numbers to refer to positions is back in vogue.