Inside the philosophy James Armstrong is trying to implement for Auburn soccer — and how it affects the position battles among attackers
There's a risk-and-reward factor to the Auburn head coach's aggressive philosophy. Here's what it'll take for the Tigers to put that onto the field in 2026.
It’s kind of an oxymoron: James Armstrong wants forwards who are good at defending.
That’s one way to describe it, anyway — but, in truth, as counterintuitive as the idea may seem, it is one of the key tentpoles to the philosophy the Auburn soccer coach is trying to instill with the Tigers as they start their second season together.
Armstrong wants to play an aggressive style of soccer that pushes numbers up the field. And he wants Auburn to force turnovers as deep into enemy territory as possible, in order to convert those turnovers into opportunities at the other goal — and that’s where that backwards idea of defense by attackers comes into play.
At forward and in his attacking midfielders, Armstrong doesn’t just want offensive players who can create chances, make accurate passes and take shots: He also wants pickpockets.
“We want to go forward quickly with quality — get numbers forward, as fast and as often as we can. And then we want to win the ball as high up the field as we can as well,” Armstrong explained in his office last week, just after the Tigers opened their preseason acclimation period. “So, we lose the ball, we want to try and win it back as quickly as possible, and as high up the field as possible.”
Of course, that’s easier said than done — and where there’s reward, there’s almost always risk: