When Coach of PSG's U18 team, former Italian International and recent ex Juventus coach Thiago Motta once famously said- ''I don't see formations vertically, I see them horizontally. We play a 2-7-2*'' *the goalkeeper acts as part of the midfield 7.
For many years I didn't quite understand what Motta was referring to, that is a pretentious way of articulating something rather simplistic like verticality. What did Motta mean with these comments? Could it be that he was referring to diagonality?
I wanted to write something that speaks to the current curiosity surrounding this topic, as diagonality does not simply mean just an emphasis on progressions or penetrations, but in fact a way a team actively circumvents universal football logic. A big answer to this is how we interpret the football pitch, to understand diagonality we need to overlook one of the most obvious and logical parts of football- that it's played on a rectangular pitch with 2 vertically facing goals.
What makes diagonality so distinct, what is diagonality and what is it not? Why do these teams perceive the pitch out to in, almost like a slope or gradient, why are their references different compared to a team that looks to circulate or overload to isolate, why is rhythm such an important component in diagonals?
This isn't your typical article on diagonality, many other writers have already contributed excellent work to this topic, this article focuses more on the perceptual limits of looking at football from a different perceptual lens, is the pitch really meant to be interpreted as a vertical rectangular pitch? What effect does this have and how can diagonal affordances be explored?
WHAT IS DIAGONALITY?
While traditional analysis often focuses on vertical play, or horizontal occupation - width and rational spacing, diagonality acts as footballs third dimension, as L'Ultimo Uomo wrote in their excellent article on the topic.
Diagonality does not mean simply diagonal passes, it relates to how players being more perceptive to affordances through rather than around or regression. Being attuned to diagonal perception aids effective chance creation, harder to defend and resulting in very fluent, chaotic and devastating combination play. Diagonality provides us with an opportunity to unleash chaos. So important to the Brazilians, that teams were often organised not by formations with units or horizontal lines, but instead a set of diagonals.
Diagonality is not just a pass, it's a structural organisation in itself, it's a tool for manipulating the shift of a defensive block and affords players opportunities to create danger in a way a frontal pass could never do. A diagonal pass does not only advance the ball from a lower value position to one of higher value, but the lateral displacement of the opposing defender creates gaps on the blindside, space that was previously not accessible in between the lines - or behind them- suddenly appear.
The diagonal pass is much harder to intercept than a vertically orientated pass as it gives the receptor a better chance of receiving with his furthest foot and facing forwards- 360 degree reception at the moment of ball reception maximises attacking affordances. Player movement is orientated towards the conditions that create progression routes to goal, the concept of diagonality is there for players to interpret and arrange to benefit from functional affordances.
In spite of all the benefits to diagonality, its a concept that often rebels against the pre conceived notion of attacking or possession based affordances- we often hear similar messages about being patient, playing out to the other side, recycling the ball or not letting the ball get trapped on the wing. Space and time are generated through movement happening around the ball, not just beyond it, diagonality is the catalyst for enhancing progressions. Player perceptions are attuned to emerging diagonals or tilted pyramids- as Jose Naranjo calls them in his article.
We have been led to believe that space is a conceptual dimension and a static entity and that time is a consequence of reaction, in reality space is fluid not compound, it fluctuates with each movement, its not concerned with predictability but causality. Synchronisation within the context, space and time is subjective and often qualitative. Low value spaces can become high value spaces with just one slight manipulation, everything stems from context and emergence.
Cruyff once claimed that he wanted to avoid build up through the full backs because they play in an area of 'low accessibility', whilst other coaches like Louis Van Gaal have said that they were easier pressing targets and inside progression from this area could be easily prevented, forcing line balls. A generation of coaches were inspired by these teachings, preferring to find and exploit the numerical or positional superiority through central and frontal progressions above all else.
These comments seem a contradiction , having read Simon Kuper's book 'The Barcelona Complex', the triangle principle of Cryuff originated from the idea that if you give the ball carrier two forward diagonal passing options it would be very difficult to defend. Why doesn't this apply to full backs? Coaches develop a narrower perception of game affordances based on their own individual preferences, resulting in players not being able to navigate or identify changes in the games dynamic state.
In more recent times coaches like Roberto De Zerbi has taken this a step further, with almost all of his build up coming through the central 6 players, the full backs are used as an auxiliary tool to stretch the opponents and the wingers to pin. If we read the football pitch from top to bottom then this logic makes perfect sense, he who controls the middle controls the game.
But if we alter our perception of the pitch and look at it from a different lens 'directionally' then we start to notice new opportunities for progressions emerge. This area of 'low accessibility' becomes an area full of opportunity, suddenly the FB becomes the teams orchestrator, he is an instigator, rhythm setter, searching and verifying opportunities to exploit the inside diagonal. Can the FB take the first touch inside against the momentum of the pressing player going in to out, to open up the diagonal channel?
This diagonal line invites players to launch a chain of moving actions, invitations to combine and relate, insertions met with dynamic advantage and telepathy. Martin Demichelis' River Plate side and their relationship with diagonality was a subject of my early articles and YouTube videos, it was one of the first times I'd seen a team's playing idea built around the sole concept of diagonals. Diagonality creates the preconditions for relations and associative play to emerge.
Diagonality facilitates dualities and coupling actions, everything is about pace, rhythm and intent, as such is Marcelo Bielsa's use of the wall pass, which is a perfect example of how interactions and insertions on the diagonal line give attacks intent. These insertions are trained relentlessly by Bielsa, often unopposed, with many ex players including Kemar Roofe explaining how they were never instructed to take on players in a 1v1- instead looking for the supporting player and penetrating the space diagonally with a run.
Bielsa often talks about the diagonal pass coupled with the blind side third man run in behind the defence, claiming it to be the most dangerous offensive tool in football- a combination that will be seen a lot when we get to the application part of this article. If the timings of these emergent associations are on point, they create a situation of distress for the defender, the emergence of passing lanes and space on the double blindside is more devastating and connective than your typical third man bounce pass.
Another way to exploit this diagonal line is through dribbling, zonal defensive theory tells us if you dribble vertically the ball stays on the same line of reference, making it easier for the defender to push out to the ball carrier. When dribbling diagonally, it creates a moment of doubt for the defender, who must leave his line of reference to push out to the ball carrier, making it unclear when or when not to pass him over and return to the defensive line.
The defenders reaction to diagonality is reactionary, compromising zonal defensive theory, we have been told to defend on horizontal lines and shift left to right, diagonality interrupts this. When this happens players can orientate their actions in relation to the ball carrier, this is known as reacting to emergent information in the environment, they start to align with him and forming these structures of 3 or 4 players. The threat is moving and you have to constantly close space and defend what is happening on the blind side.
I've spoken about how modern build up structures like 3-2-5 can often stifle these opportunities to interact diagonally with the absence of deeper FB's and double width, play is often emphasised to central progressions and bounce passes to the spare CB for a forward drive. The 3-2-5 structure in a positional form conditions and self diagnoses vertical facing progressions due to its symmetrical nature.
That's not to say these diagonal interactions are impossible to achieve in a 3-2-5/3-1-6, a great example are Swedish champions Mjallby. Teams like Mjallby provide a healthy mix between functional concepts and positional order, but diagonality is the hallmark of the their style. A lot of what the Swedish side does in their play is perception-action, diagonal positioning between players and to the ball carrier and an emphasis on central progressions- whether through give and go's or up back and throughs.
The first team Head coach Karl Aksum has said that'' Diagonal passing, regardless of any system, is perhaps the most vital attacking concept to coach and implement at any level''. This shows how coaches coach to actively set up opportunities for diagonals, not just a tool for penetration. We've reached an age in football where coaches have started to analyse tactical affordances from new perspectives, where player numbers loose their value and play resembles a current more than a tide. Escadinha's and diagonal attacks are very common in their attacking play with Aksum often sharing bitesize analysis of these moves fro their game and training footage on his X account.
We can even see examples of diagonal orientated structures from positional teams, this example from Italian Serie B side Catanazaro who use an asymmetric 3-2-5 build up, with one wide CB on the touchline with the other wide CB positioned in a more central position. This structural change opens the diagonal passing lane inside the defensive block and attunes players to attacks through diagonal body positioning, creating the conditions for more diagonal penetration. As seen in assistant coach Luigi Falcone's video, Pescara react to the diagonal alignment of Catanzaro's structure and their midfielder jumps a larger distance, creating more space to exploit in between the lines.
This could be a good idea for coaches working in a positional model but want to build their game around diagonal progressions as you naturally get a directional target- the far side winger. This was also seen in Nagelsamann's German side during the international break by actively setting up diagonal attacks but by keeping the far side winger isolated wide. I'll return to this idea in the next part of the article.
I've personally experimented with diagonal alignment within a positional structure, using a midfield box or diamond but tilted away from the centre and towards the touchline- this is what I refer to as a diagonal overload. Watch this video here of a build up situation where this happens, facilitating more diagonal progresions, a spare player between the lines and giving midfielders directional advantage in tight areas. In this River Plate thread that I recently posted there are examples of this as well.
Former Wolves manager Gary O Neil went on to Sky Sports' flagship program Monday Night Football to talk about how he prepared to exploit Bournemouth's mid block with a 'diagonal overload'. Generation of superiorities and game pictures are prepared for but what is fundamental to the strategy is how the players align to create advantage through their shared perception. The English coach also shares a video of the training session to prepare for the game, in which the players who form the diagonal are bibbed up in different colours to their teammates to reinforce this target.
The benefits of this type of directional overload is that it increases distances in-between defensive players, perfect for toco y me voy/tabelas or dummies, makes it harder for defenders to cover a line break diagonally and provides good access to the half spaces and zone 14. This could act as a new way for coaches to imagine how a positionally rigid structure can be reimagined by creating conditions within the structure for diagonality, I think this is a development that has a lot of potential. This brings me on to the second part of this dive into diagonals- diagonal perception.
DIAGONAL PERCEPTION
Diagonal perception on the other hand suggests that players should read the game diagonally rather than vertically, exploring the game through possibilities of action that the diagonal current offers. This is simply not an example of pursuing fixed tactical advantages- like a CB connecting with a far sided 10- but instead the necessity of play that transcends conventional football logic.
Football is exclusively read and understood horizontally and vertically- as we understand traditional formations or structures- the 442, 352, 325 etc. I started to see structures in football as a series of emergent diagonal lines, that appeared and reappeared constantly throughout the game, each one situational and different than the last. I realised that every 'structure' was an interpretation of the one that had came before, actions were now a product of space, time and ones personal desires- their sentiments and perceptions.
Diagonal perception means the players read the game diagonally, rather than top to bottom, a team maximises space through dynamism, players maximise space by shortening the distance between themselves and the goal as much as possible. Escadinha Tabelando- an Escadinha of successive give and go's. Players prioritise diagonal connections by looking for the most aggressive forward pass and creating these meso structures- 3/4 in a line- diagonal positioning (body shape) acts as a layer of non verbal communication, an invitation to go through the block and turn quickly to attack or combine 2v1 or react to the socio-affective understanding between players.
Diagonal perception can enhance how a team overloads parts of the pitch and interacts in reduced spaces. Using a lopsided defence, a line of 3 defenders aligned diagonally towards the touchline, to circulate the ball instead of the full pitch helps keep the attack's trajectory on the inside diagonal from the tilt, rather than circulating to the opposite side when the central spaces are blocked. More emergent space opens up on the blindside, defenders have to guess outcomes- leaving them vulnerable to transient actions like the corta luz or the tabela. I play, I perceive, I act.
Looking at the pitch diagonally generally offers more affordances per action, than looking at it conventionally, because each action attacks two dimensions at once- length and depth, thus manipulating the block more effectively and keeping the receiver better orientated towards goal. All of the combinations in football, whether by emergence or design, are not meant to be linear, diagonality is the perfect way to maximise this.
What happens if you take something that is vertical and symmetrical, like a formation on a pitch, and see it through diagonal perception? It becomes a set of long diagonal corridors and overlapping intersections. Relations between players are orientated diagonally, the pitch is no longer ruled by the vertical channels of positional play, instead the ball moves on a diagonal course and the players orbit around it.
Let's explore the idea of crisscrossing intersections in more detail, although at first it may seem like nothing more than a metaphor, there is logic behind this, perhaps they can be seen as hotspots in which diagonal interactions typically emerge. This is nothing concrete, but I'm constantly looking at different ways to try and demonstrate or articulate the potential of diagonal affordances.
Roughly 35-45 meters from goal sits the first diagonal line, between the ball side defensive players acting like a base from which attacks are instigated, where the deep lying players start to move the ball to establish rhythm. Affordances around. The opposition becomes stretched side ways but players jump out frontally, creating the angle that a team can continuously exploit. Switching is only encouraged if it leads to a chance to attack the backline directly, not as a 'relief value' in circulating like in most teams.
A second line from the ball carrier to the goal- in which teammates choose to orientate their bodies 360 degrees to be receptive to affordances through the block. Where do these intersections exist? The lines cross at the ball side half space, the position of the ball carrier. The interesting thing about these lines is that they fluctuate depending on the positioning of the players and exploration and exploitation of affordances, not rigidly tied to spatial orientation.
Diagonality allows for relational superiority in the half spaces by orientating players on a diagonal axis, you create passing lanes that force defenders into loose loose situations, cover the angle or concede the switch- Jamie Hamilton 2025.
A third line between the far side full back and opposite side winger- the defensive diagonal- the intersection is at what would be commonly known as the 'half space'. Promoting Affordances through and attuning players to positions where they can exploit or accelerate the rhythm. The closer the full back is to the ball, the more likely the players are to interact at this intersection.
Player roles take on a whole new meaning;
The CB's traditionally play side by side in the same line, they exchange the ball between each other, feed into the deep lying midfielder, circulate with the GK or try to probe and creep forward to target a more vertical pass. In a diagonal interpretation of the pitch the LCB - assuming we have a left sided tilt, is the instigator of the diagonal, the back 4 relationship is no longer a flat or static entity, he positions himself in the middle of a diagonal line between his nearside full back and center back, who supports beneath him.
This leads to the playing area becoming more stretched making it harder for mid blocks to shut off central spaces, typically a mid block will happily sit on the deepest midfielder, be compact and narrow in midfield neutralising the overload, stopping vertical progression and allowing the passing lane between FB and winger or wide CB and winger. The increased depth between two CB's compromises this stability, pressing distances are now larger and more space is opened up on the blindside when one decides to jump out.
This diagonal line can act as a catalyst for setting up attacks through diagonal perception, the ball is exchanged along this line opposed to switching out to the opposite side, instead players look for opportunities for diagonal structures to emerge so they can collectively climb them. The job of the players ahead of this line is to orientate themselves diagonally to the ball, creating invitations to act and exploiting the blindside.
This is evident in this move by Diniz's prime Fluminense, the deep diagonal orientates play to the diagonal affordances, the deep midfielder, rather than occupying a static position in front of the CB's as a bounce option, actively looks to drop wide and turn to then exploit the space opened up. From there we see the corta luz and tabelas- the hallmark of relational play- which starts by prioritising diagonal perception of the playing area.
It's not that they don't use the whole pitch, a team prioritising diagonals uses more depth behind the ball to stretch the opposition's lines, maximising opportunities to combine. If we were to read formations diagonally would we consider the LW to be part of the back 4? Would the RB be considered to be part of the attacking unit despite being one of the furthest players away from goal? Just by flipping generations of logic on its side you begin to realise that the conventional way of looking at a football pitch is flawed.
In this video of a team I coached, lets say this is a 4-2-3-1 but read diagonally, notice how the player roles change, can this be noticed in this clip? Diagonality simply doesn't mean how a team that progresses the ball, its definition is extended to how the pitch itself is perceived. The attack towards goal is orientated diagonally, affordances are exploited out- in, not only can we perceive diagonal structures as towards goal but also away from it.
HOW CAN WE TRANSFER THIS TO THE GAME?
It's important for coaches to explore new ways of penetrating blocks, using diagonal insertions to make connections out to in. I spoke about in a previous article called 'the moving game' that looks to explore how dynamic teams often operate in a state of chaos rather than control. Coaches should look to promote more dynamism in their teams by allowing concepts to self emerge, opposed to more coach controlled approaches that are often static, from here the chaos can be navigated.
Diagonal progressions or references can be exploited by any side, De Zerbi and Antonio Conte as aforementioned have been known to build these progressions in to their automations. However, diagonality as a concept will flourish will be if players are able to form attacks from perception-action coupling. It's about players understanding micro triggers to exploit the opportunity, team intentions should create more adaptability when navigating these moments.
The goal isn't to overemphasise diagonality but to attune players to structural imbalances in the opposition, as defenders are locked in on vertical logic, the opportunity to slice through creates numerous advantages. With diagonality you get the chance to break the lines twice over, as the guys at Spielverlagerung said in their article, Diagonality effectively creates a dent in a pressing structure that can't be undone.
Diagonality is also a key concept in the Red Bull football model, they have a strict viewpoint on horizontal passes as they are seen as pressing bait, so the aim is to move the ball diagonally up, down and across. Diagonality compliments Red Bull's core concepts perfectly as they are typically more ball orientated rather than space orientated, a distinct feature of their football. The aforementioned- attacking net- helps Red Bull teams counter press efficiently but also combine with intricate moves in between the lines.
Adi Hutter, an ex Red Bull manager, has been exploring this at Monaco. Invitations to act on the diagonal line.
RB Salzburg U19 under Rene Maric from a few years ago - diagonal pass plus corta luz that pierces the defensive structure, perfect for teams that like to overload in between the lines and prioritise close proximity combinations.
Let's look at some more examples of excellent diagonal play.
Malmo under Rydstrom - Chains of successive diagonal interactions, one after the other, climbing ladders.
Germany Nagelsmann - the players attuned to diagonal affordances, prioritising diagonally tilted progressions and invitations to combine, the far side winger left open to give the attack direction and pin the full back.
Empoli under Dionisi in his 1st spell- the 442 diamond creates conditions for diagonality and the diagonal third man and wall pass patterns that I spoke about earlier.
Colo Colo from two seasons ago - diagonally orientated attack. The diagonal pass is the trigger for combinations- play comes to life.
There are certain conditions a coach can help create in a playing environment that can assist in promoting diagonality and bringing to life diagonal perception. Asymmetry on the ball side wing helps disrupt an opponent's defensive structure, defenders aren't used to attackers abandoning key spaces or switching to play on the other wing and combine with the opposite wide player. The team self organises around this natural diagonal inclination, acting as a localised organism that functions without central control, players learn to oscillate between exploration and exploitation of these diagonal affordances.
establishing the rhythm - the set up
changing the rhythm - the trigger
accelerate/exploit the rhythm - the explosion
Players should have the opportunity to oscillate between exploration and exploitation of attacking affordances, are we always setting up attacks on static lines or are we prepared to go beyond anticipation and into synergies?
In relational sides players intentionally self organise around the concept of diagonality, Wilfreid Nancy's Columbus Crew demonstrate how this is done effectively. This reference helps attune players to diagonal affordances and opportunities to combine, if not emphasised and the circulation goes around then the distances between players expands and the team looses the conditions to explore dynamic advantages. Diagonality is a complimentary concept to the paralela cheia/tilting for keeping attacks directional, it enhances their perceptive view of the environment and variations and potential solutions they are receptive to.
In conclusion Diagonality can be anything that we want it to be, to can be a structural reference, a perceptual tool or a progression option, or all of them- it depends on how you live the game. We're looking for a new way to interpret the game, one that prioritises interactions between participants at the heart of a framework.
The future of football is teams that actively look to progress the ball by setting up diagonals, not by overloading to isolate or half space underlap at all costs. If no two exchanges or possession phases are the same why are we training as if there is the 'perfect move'.
These concepts are just tools that players can use to, there needs to be variation, we risk promoting prescribed solutions over relative solutions- for me this is the basis of team sport- collaborations, being receptive to information- empathy- and looking for invitations to combine.
Diagonality is a way of unlocking attacking potential, those who are brave enough to lean into it will be centre stage of a footballing revolution.
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