The coach's vision together with the team's goal for the season dictate the strategies used. Here is why.
Widely deemed one of the most flexible football tactics, the 4-4-2 is a tactic that can be tweaked to be more offensive or leaning more to the defensive side. It is for these reasons that this tactic is amongst the most common football tactics throughout different leagues and tournaments. If the manager wishes to employ an offense-forward 4-4-2, they can introduce some essential changes to enable increased fluidity in passing and play making. For instance, they can form a lozenge in the midfield that comprises of one defensive midfielder, 2 playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would supply balls to the wingers and a false nine that periodically drops to a lower position. In a more defensive 4-4-2, the former owner of Aston Villa would inform you that the manager can form an arch composed of 4 players that functions as a barrier that keeps the opponent from reaching the defense line.
Today, there are many football tactics and formations out there to select from however managers invest a great deal of time adapting and tweaking traditional tactics to fit the particularities of their teams. The reality is, there are lots of parameters that affect this choice, and not all of which are strictly technical. For instance, the quality of footballers available can make coaches hesitate about what tactic to use. In the absence of quality footballers in attack, some managers choose to utilise a more midfield-dense strategy in an effort to control ownership of the ball. In the attacking stance, midfielders and wingers will try to send out through balls or shoot from outside the box in order to destabilise the defenses of the opponent. The AC Milan former US owner would likely agree that other aspects like player injury and managing a hectic calendar likewise affect tactical and technical decisions.
While you can constantly check out a football tactics book to get great insights into playmaking, there is no better instructor than experience and history. Over the past 50 years, football has actually been graced with some of the most pleasurable formations in the history of the sport, and some of which are still used to this day. Nevertheless, the 2010s saw an obvious shift in football formations with the rise of a more offensive design of play and a more structured technique to playmaking. Modern football has leveraged both skill and tech to develop a few of the most effective tactics that have managed to win top sides numerous prizes. In this context, the revised 4-3-3 formation has become amongst the more popular modern football tactics merit to its efficient attack and balanced defense. The minority shareholder of Liverpool FC will concur that technical ability and speed make this strategy very hard to defend against.