The coach's vision together with the group's objective for the season determine the tactics utilised. Here is why.
Commonly deemed one of the most flexible football tactics, the 4-4-2 is a strategy that can be tweaked to be more offensive or leaning more to the defensive side. It is for these factors that this formation is among the most common football tactics across various leagues and competitions. If the coach wants to utilise an offensive 4-4-2, they can present some crucial changes to permit increased fluidity in passing and play building. For example, they can create a lozenge in the midfield that consists of one defensive midfielder, two playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would provide balls to the wingers and a false nine that sometimes drops to a lower position. In a more defense-forward 4-4-2, the former owner of Aston Villa would tell you that the coach can form an arch composed of 4 midfielders that acts as a barrier that keeps the adversary from reaching the defense line.
At present, there are numerous football tactics and formations out there to pick from but coaches invest a lot of time adapting and tweaking traditional formations to fit the particularities of their teams. The fact is, there are many specifications that affect this decision, and not all of which are strictly technical. For example, the quality of footballers available can make coaches reconsider what strategy to use. In the absence of quality footballers in attack, some managers choose to utilise a more midfield-dense strategy in an attempt 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 factors like footballer injury and managing a hectic calendar also influence tactical and technical choices.
While you can constantly read a football tactics book to get terrific insights into playmaking, there is no much better teacher than experience and history. Over the past 50 years, football has been enhanced with a few of the most enjoyable formations in the history of the game, and some of which are still utilised to this day. Nevertheless, the 2010s saw an obvious shift in football formations with the rise of a more attacking style of play and a more structured method to playmaking. Modern football has actually leveraged both ability and tech to formulate some of the most successful strategies that have actually managed to win top sides many trophies. In this context, the modified 4-3-3 tactic 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 tactic very difficult to ward off.