Executing a successful football formation depends upon variables like player quality, ranking on the table, and the tournament itself.
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 been enhanced with a few of the most pleasurable formations in the history of the sport, and some of which are still used to this day. However, the 2010s saw a visible shift in football formations with the rise of a more offensive style of play and a more structured method to playmaking. Modern football has leveraged both skill and tech to formulate some of the most successful tactics that have managed to win clubs lots of prizes. In this context, the modified 4-3-3 tactic has actually ended up being among the more popular modern football tactics due to its efficient attack and balanced defense. The minority shareholder of Liverpool FC will agree that technical skill and speed make this tactic very tough to ward off.
Extensively deemed one of the most versatile 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 factors that this tactic is amongst the most common football tactics across different leagues and competitions. If the coach wishes to utilise an offensive 4-4-2, they can introduce some key modifications to enable increased fluidity in passing and play building. For instance, they can create a lozenge in the midfield that consists of one defensive midfielder, 2 playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would provide 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 coach can create an arch composed of 4 midfielders that serves as a barrier that keeps the opponent from reaching the defense line.
Today, 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 clubs. The fact is, there are numerous parameters that affect this choice, and not all of which are strictly technical. For instance, the quality of players in the squad can make coaches reconsider what tactic to utilise. In the absence of quality players in attack, some managers choose to use a more midfield-dense strategy in an effort to dominate ownership of the ball. In the attacking stance, midfielders and wingers will attempt to send through balls or shoot from outside the box in order to destabilise the defenses of the other team. The AC Milan former US owner would likely confirm that other factors like footballer injury and managing a busy calendar likewise affect tactical and technical decisions.