Análise da frequência de uso das formações táticas nas Series A e B do Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol

Abstract

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and this popularity drives a constant search for evolution every year. Whether it's through changes to the rules, the way the game is played or tactical formations, football is constantly changing. The tactical formation in football refers to the organisation of the players on the pitch, determining the arrangement and locations by sectors that each player will occupy during a match. This study used a descriptive-analytical approach with the aim of quantifying the formations most used in the men's Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and Série B, as well as the main characteristics of the preferred formations. The match data, containing special statistics from the company OPTA® Sportsdata (Opta Sports, London, UK), was obtained through webscraping, totalling a sample of 5,319 matches (Campeonato Brasileiro Série A [n=2,660, 50.01%] and Campeonato Brasileiro Série B [n=2,659, 49.99%]), with a total of 55 different clubs playing in the two divisions, 47 of them in Série B. Twenty different tactical formations were identified over the seven seasons analysed. The five most frequent formations were: 4-2-3-1 (n=6,123; 57.56%), 4-3-3 (n=1,359; 12.77%), 4-1-4-1 (n=990; 3.31%), 4-4-2 (n=792; 7.45%) and 3-4-3 (n=375; 3.53%). This ranking did not remain constant over the seasons analysed. Apart from the dominance of the 4-2-3-1 formation, there have been times when formations such as the 4-1-4-1 have been used more frequently than the 4-3-3, which has seen a notable increase in final temporal series analysis. The 4-2-3-1 formation aims for defensive stability and offensive flexibility, combining a balance between defence and attack, which provides stability for the team. This formation generates a numerical superiority between the lines in midfield, forming triangles in all sectors of the pitch, which allows for triangulations, ideal for keeping possession of the ball. In the defensive phase, the 4- 2-3-1 has a very secure structure for playing in a medium and low block, due to the filling out of the midfield, which prevents penetrations from these central zones. These attributes are also similar to those of the 4-3-3 and 4-4-2 formations, with some peculiarities for each phase of the game.