‘You should play a back five’: I used ChatGPT for advice on tactics, soccer coach admits

13 hours ago 3

By Kathryn Batte

November 1, 2025 — 10.01am

A coach in America’s top women’s league has admitted to using ChatGPT to determine her team’s tactics.

Laura Harvey, the head coach at National Women’s Soccer League club Seattle Reign, said she asked the AI chatbot questions about strategy and tactics, then implemented what it advised.

“One day in the off season, I was writing things into ChatGPT like, ‘What is Seattle Reign’s identity?’ And it would spurt it out,” Harvey told the Soccerish podcast.

“And I was like, ‘I don’t know if that’s true or not.’

“And then I put in, ‘What formation should you play to beat NWSL teams?’ and it spurted out every team in the league and what formation you should play. And for two teams, it went, ‘You should play a back five.’ So I did. No joke, that’s why I did it.”

Seattle Reign played with a back five against Orlando Pride in April but lost 1-0. They have played with a back five at other points this season. Harvey’s side finished second from bottom last season but have enjoyed an upturn in fortunes this campaign. They finished fourth in the regular season and landed a play-off place.

Laura Harvey talks to her Seattle players after their defeat to Orlando in April.

It is not clear which matches Harvey used the ChatGPT-inspired tactics for.

Harvey, an English coach who was named Women’s Super League manager of the year in 2011 after winning the title, FA Cup and Continental Cup with Arsenal, moved to America in 2013. This is her second spell at Seattle.

An alarming admission that raises uncomfortable questions

Opinion

Laura Harvey’s comments did not immediately seem outlandish. But look further into her remarks about her use of AI to inspire her tactics and it makes for worrying reading.

Harvey says she initially asked the chatbot general questions about women’s football before turning to tactics. She claims she had not considered playing a back five before ChatGPT suggested she used it to beat specific US clubs.

There has been much talk of how AI could transform football, but this is surely not what people had in mind. If this was part of a wider club approach then it would perhaps make more sense, but Harvey’s comments read as though she asked ChatGPT to do her homework for her.

It is one thing to use AI in that manner but to admit to it is another. Harvey has a superb reputation in women’s football. She won six trophies with Arsenal and has won four with Seattle over two separate spells. Surely she does not need ChatGPT to do her job for her?

If AI can come up with tactics and a formation, then what is the point in having a manager? What is perhaps more baffling than Harvey’s admission is her bewilderment at playing five at the back.

“I’d never really invested into how it could be played in the women’s game,” Harvey said. “I’d only ever really seen it from afar, you know, watching men’s games really.

“It was always talked about as a way to see games out. You know [you go ahead] and get into a back five and stop people from scoring, was how a back five had been talked about for me.”

Her comments read as if few women’s teams play with a back five. It is in fact quite common. Women’s Super League champions Chelsea have played that formation this season, Sarina Wiegman used it during the 2023 World Cup and Australia also regularly play with a back five. Basic research will tell you that.

If AI is to be used in football then it should be to acquire the so-called “marginal gains” managers so often talk about. You do not need ChatGPT to tell you that playing with a back five could be beneficial against certain opposition. Harvey’s comments raise questions whether more managers are using AI in this way. If that is the case then they may now think twice before admitting to it.

Telegraph, London