Football tactics can differ significantly from match to match or perhaps within the exact same match. A lot more about this below.

Nowadays, there are numerous football tactics and formations out there to choose from however managers spend a great deal of time adapting and tweaking traditional formations to fit the particularities of their clubs. The reality is, there are many criteria that influence this choice, and not all of which are strictly technical. For example, the quality of players in the squad can make coaches reconsider what tactic to utilise. In the lack of quality footballers in attack, some managers choose to utilise a more midfield-dense strategy in an effort to dominate ownership of the ball. In the attacking position, midfielders and wingers will try to send out through balls or shoot from outside area in order to destabilise the defenses of the opponent. The AC Milan former US owner would likely agree that other factors like footballer injury and managing a busy calendar also affect tactical and technical decisions.

While you can constantly read a football tactics book to get excellent insights into playmaking, there is no better instructor than experience and history. Over the past 50 years, football has been beautified with some of the most satisfying formations in the history of the game, and a few of which are still used to this day. Nevertheless, the 2010s saw a visible shift in football tactics with the rise of a more attacking style of play and a more structured technique to playmaking. Modern football has leveraged both ability and tech to develop a few of the most successful strategies that have managed to win clubs many prizes. In this context, the revised 4-3-3 tactic has actually become amongst the more popular modern football tactics due to its effective attack and balanced defense. The minority shareholder of Liverpool FC will agree that technical ability and speed make this tactic extremely tough to defend against.

Commonly considered one of the most flexible football formations, the 4-4-2 is a tactic that can be fine-tuned to be more offensive or leaning more to the defensive side. It is for these reasons that this tactic is among the most common football tactics across various leagues and tournaments. If the manager wishes to employ an offensive 4-4-2, they can present some key changes to permit increased fluidity in passing and play building. For instance, they can form a lozenge in the midfield that comprises of one defensive midfielder, two playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would provide balls to the wingers and a false 9 that sometimes drops to a lower position. In a more defense-forward 4-4-2, the former owner of Aston Villa would inform you that the manager can form an arch made up of 4 players that serves as a barrier that keeps the adversary from reaching the defense line.