What is tactical periodisation?

Tactical periodisation explained simply: the principle that organises training around the model of play, and the division of the match into four moments.

Thibaud C. · Fitness coach · Last updated: September 26, 2026

More than 30 years ago, a Portuguese university professor, Victor Frade, put forward an idea that is simple to state and demanding to apply: train the physical, technical, tactical and mental together, within the same exercise, rather than each on its own.

It's a reversal of perspective compared with classical training — in the same spirit as what Gilles Cometti argued for in France, the fitness coach who pushed to bring athletic work closer to the real actions of the sport rather than isolating it.

For him, football and its components cannot be separated. Classically, you work on the physical, or the tactical, or the mental, or the technical… sometimes two components at once, but never all four together. Tactical periodisation aims to work every component at the same time — each one depending on the others, as if interconnected. The perspective is more global.

In practice, everything is organised around a morphocycle: a template week repeated between two matches. Within it, each session has a dominant theme — one day oriented towards strength and short actions, another towards endurance and resistance, another towards speed and freshness before the match. We detail that template week in a dedicated module; for now, remember that the morphocycle is the basic unit of the method.

Dividing the game into four moments

In this method, the physical, tactical, technical and mental must therefore be worked on together. On the other hand, for Frade it is relevant to divide training by talking about four moments of the game:

• Attacking
• Defending
• The attack-to-defence transition
• The defence-to-attack transition

On the basis of this division, you can put in place principles of play which ultimately form the team's playing philosophy. These principles are, however, hard for players to grasp and must be translated into sub-principles, which can themselves be broken down into further principles that are easier to absorb.

The principles of play must take into account the style of play the coach is aiming for. Even though every component of performance is worked on at the same time, the tactical side remains the central component of this method.

Why divide the game into moments?

The purpose of this division is to let players face, in training, situations they will meet in a match.

So you need to design exercises that come close to match conditions and that help players understand how to organise themselves in response to a given situation. That requires the coach to put in place a clear model of play.

What the coach has to take into account

• The formations he uses will have an impact on how his team plays.
• The strengths and weaknesses of the players available. The aim of the game plan is to bring out their qualities — you have to identify their technical strengths and weaknesses, but also their ability to read situations.
• How the players feel: Frade insists on involving them in setting up the philosophy so that they make it their own.
• The setting you work in: number of sessions per week, equipment available, player availability.

Today most Portuguese coaches use it (Mourinho, Villas-Boas, Jardim, Sousa…) and many coaches around the world are starting to use it or take an interest in it.