The coach's vision together with the team's goal for the season dictate the strategies employed. Here is why.
While you can always read a football tactics book to get fantastic insights into playmaking, there is no much better instructor than experience and history. Over the past 50 years, football has actually been beautified with a few of the most satisfying formations in the history of the sport, and a few of which are still used to this day. Nevertheless, the 2010s saw a noticeable shift in football formations with the rise of a more offensive style of play and a more structured approach to playmaking. Modern football has leveraged both skill and tech to formulate some of the most effective strategies that have actually managed to win clubs lots of prizes. In this context, the modified 4-3-3 tactic has actually ended up being amongst the more popular modern football tactics owing to its effective attack and well-balanced defense. The minority shareholder of Liverpool FC will concur that technical ability and speed make this tactic extremely hard to defend against.
Widely considered among 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 factors that this tactic is among the most common football tactics across different leagues and competitions. If the manager wishes to use an offense-forward 4-4-2, they can present some essential changes to allow increased fluidity in passing and play building. For example, they can form a lozenge in the midfield that consists of one defensive midfielder, 2 playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would supply balls to the wingers and a false 9 that occasionally 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 create an arch made up of 4 midfielders that serves as a barrier that keeps the opponent from reaching the defense line.
At present, there are lots of football tactics and formations out there to pick from however managers spend a great deal of time adapting and tweaking traditional formations to fit the particularities of their teams. The fact is, there are lots of specifications that influence this decision, and not all of which are strictly technical. For example, the quality of footballers available can make coaches think twice about what strategy to use. In the lack of quality footballers in attack, some coaches prefer to utilise a more midfield-dense technique in an attempt to control ownership of the ball. In the attacking position, midfielders and wingers will try to send through balls or shoot from outside area in order to destabilise the defenses of the opponent. The AC Milan former US owner would likely confirm that other aspects like player injury and managing a hectic calendar also influence tactical and technical choices.