The Gaffer

Formation consisting of 4 defenders, 4 midfielders and 2 strikers. One of football's most straightforward and durable formations. Everyone knows their job: two central midfielders (usually one sits, one runs), wide midfielders stretch the pitch, and a strike partnership works off each other. It was the default in English football for years and still gets used because it's easy to set up and hard to get badly wrong.

The shorthand of Kevin De Bruyne.

A new breed of attacking midfielder than that acts as a hybrid between an 8 (midfield engine/arriving late in the box) and a 10 (playmaker just behind the strikers). There are usually two players occupying the free 8 role, sitting just in front of a lone CDM and just behind the forwards. They often operate in the half spaces and their job is typically to create chances for the forwards. Pep Guardiola is often credited as being the person behind the free 8 role, having used it at Barcelona with Xavi and Iniesta in the role, then later at Manchester City, with Kevin De Bruyne (KDB) and David Silva in the role.

Barcelona attackig trio Messi, Suarez and Neymar. They were the attacking front three for the Catalan giants between 2014 and 2017.

Florentino Pérez's approach at Real Madrid has generally been buy the biggest names in world football regardless of team balance, a sort of 'galaxy of stars' if you will. The first wave (2000-2006) brought in Figo, Zidane, Ronaldo, and Beckham. It sold shirts and made headlines but didn't always work on the pitch. The policy returned in 2009 with Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaká, and later Bale. It turned Real Madrid into the world's most valuable club, even when the footballing results were mixed.