Tactical Theorems and Frameworks '09 -3

Framework Adaptation

Although this section links very closely to the frameworks section, it also refers to Match Strategy Theories (pages 32-34). To get the most out of this section, it might be best to familiarise yourself with the basics of these strategic ideas.

Defensive Line

Getting the defensive line right is fundamental to a team being able to defend effectively. This section discusses the various elements a manager needs to consider when setting up his back line.

Relation to Mentality System

The most important setting for the defensive line relates to the mentality system. The back line must be in contact with its midfield at all times. If it isn’t, opposition forwards will constantly exploit the gap between the deepest midfielder and the central defenders. This will lead to the team being vulnerable to long shots (as the forwards have plenty of time and space to set themselves) plus a series of desperate last-ditch tackles resulting in bookings and dangerous free kicks. A solid defence needs to have at least one defensively minded central midfielder harassing attacking moves before they reach the defensive line.

To ensure the above doesn’t happen, the defensive line must be linked to the mentality structure. As a rough guide, the non-floating Support players’ mentality instructions determine the most desirable setting for the defensive line. Linking the defensive line to the mentality system ensures the back four remains in contact with the midfield and the team plays as a unit rather than separate attacking and defensive forces.

Relation to Opposition Formation

Whilst it is always important to keep the above in mind when setting a default defensive line, a good manager will also take into account the opposing formation he is facing. A formation that is narrow and multi-strata (e.g. wingless 4-1-2-1-2, wingless 4-3-1-2) generates a lot of chances through the AMC. Increasing the d-line reduces the space in which the opposing AMC can operate and limits his effectiveness. As there are no wingers, it is difficult for such a formation to spread the play wide into space, so utilising the high d-line against this type of formation often results in passing chances drying up and loss of possession for the opposition.

If the opposing side is playing with a very defensive formation, it is often worthwhile deepening the defensive line. Defensively structured formations (4-1-4-1, 4-5-1) typically have no midfielders supporting the forward and rely on direct/long balls down the flanks/over the top to create counter-attacking chances. A deeper defensive line limits the chances of such balls being successful and often isolates the forwards when they do get possession, as they have nobody supporting the move and quickly find themselves surrounded by opposing defenders and midfielders. This often results in the defending team winning possession back in a dangerous area and being able to launch a counter attack before the opposing defence has had time to regroup.

Relation to Player Attributes

It is important to be aware of both your own and opposing player attributes when setting your defensive line prior to each match. If your central defenders are on the slow side a deeper defensive line is going to be a safer bet. This will need to be protected with a more defensive mentality system, which collapses the central midfield into the pocket and makes it difficult for fast forwards to run at or behind the back line. In contrast, if the back line is very athletic then a higher defensive line with more aggressive closing down will put opposition strikers under pressure the instant they get the ball. Learning how high a defensive line your starting defenders can cope with will be hugely beneficial when setting defensive strategies for different opponents.

Relation to Pitch Size

If the pitch is on the short side, a very high defensive line might be problematic for your team, no matter how athletic your back four. With less ground to cover, a breaking forward might well be able to stay ahead of a chasing defender long enough to get a clear shot on goal. On a longer pitch, the defenders will have more time to cover the break and snuff out the chance. In contrast, a high defensive line on a short pitch may increase the chances of your defenders being caught in possession by a heavily pressing front line, especially if you are playing a low tempo, short passing game. On a longer pitch, the opposite applies. A low defensive line offers an increased amount of exploitable space in front of the back four, which could cause problems against quick and skilful attacks. It also requires defenders to have better passing attributes as longer passes more easily go astray, leading to intercepted balls in dangerous positions. Taking careful consideration of your defenders’ attributes when deciding your pitch size is a major step towards building a defensive home fortress.

Additional Settings

The Nike Defence: relies on an athletic player sweeping balls behind a more destructive blocker and thus requires a higher d-line.

The Libero Defence: relies on a world-class ball playing defender being able to step out of the line and join attacks, leaving a defensively minded midfielder and central defender as cover. To do this effectively you will have to play a lower d-line to open up the space for the Libero to move into.

Width

Relation to Match Strategy

In general, aggressive strategies require width. Attacking and controlling strategies need to open up space in the final third in order for their creative players to do damage. If the opposition is trying to shut-up shop, maximise width to try and break down the packed defence. If the opposition is trying to counter, then a slightly narrower formation prevents your defence from having to cover too much ground when the opposition does manage to break. A standard match strategy offers defensive solidity with some attacking flair and is best employed with medium width. A defensive strategy aims to reduce space in the defensive third and is narrower. A shut-up shop strategy aims to put as many bodies between the goal and ball as possible and is very narrow (see pages 32-34 for further information on the above match strategies).

Relation to Pitch Size

Although the above is very important in managing an overall match strategy, pitch size also needs to be taken into consideration. With a very wide pitch, players can easily find space and defending is generally tougher. Narrowing the formation ensures that the defence has less ground to cover when defending quick breaks without unduly compromising attacking options. When playing on a very small pitch, space is at a premium and therefore you will need your team to play wider than usual to have any hope of capitalising on attacks. A well-designed defence is still effective on a small pitch even when playing on the counter with maximum width. Think about what type of football you want to play at home prior to setting your pitch dimensions.

Tempo

Relation to Match Strategy

An attacking strategy aims to keep constant pressure on the opposition in order to stop them having time to break forward and counter. As such, it is generally pretty fast paced. On the other hand, a control strategy works on the assumption the opposition won’t even try to attack so aims to keep possession and slowly prise open gaps in the defence. Thus, a slower tempo is more suitable. For standard tactics, the manager can use the tempo instruction far more intuitively, cranking it up when the team seems to be on top and slowing it down when they are struggling to keep hold of the ball. Defensive strategies are very dependent on player quality. If you have a side that can play keep ball prior to releasing quick counters, then a slow tempo is fine. If, however, your players are prone to losing possession easily, play at a quicker pace to try and disrupt the opposition and take advantage of their mistakes. Quick tempo with a defensive strategy will result in a lot of ball for your opposition, but less likelihood of one of your players being caught in possession in a dangerous position. You’ll need to have good defenders to pull this off. Slowing it down can often lead to a lot of possession, but you will need to have players you can trust to keep the ball under pressure.

Relation to Pitch Size

Pitch size is very important when it comes to determining tempo. A fast paced strategy is excellent for a small pitch whereas a slower tempo is better for large ones. Passing and closing down at pace on a small pitch reduces the chance of a player losing the ball in a tight spot whilst increases the opportunities for your midfielders and attackers winning balls in dangerous areas. As the pitch is small, players have to cover less ground and are therefore less likely to run out of steam. Fast tempo play on a huge pitch leads to a greater chance of a hurried, misplaced and intercepted pass. Furthermore, the team will tire and make mistakes during the latter stages of a match. Look to slow things down, keep the ball and force the opposition to do all the chasing. Think about what type of football you want to play at home prior to setting your pitch dimensions.

Match Strategy Theories

This section explains the assumptions behind the Defensive, Standard and Attacking match strategies and details how to translate them into the slider system. It also looks at how you can transform these three strategies into five, adding the Shut Up Shop and Control options to the manager’s armoury.

Strategy Assumptions

Mentality System Assumptions

* For Attacking systems it is assumed that all the Attacking/Support players should be on an attacking mentality, with the Defend players on attacking/normal.

* For Standard systems the DCs and FCs can, but don't have to, be on defensive or attacking mentalities respectively, with the rest of the team on normal.

* For Defensive systems, it is assumed that all the Defend and Support players should be on defensive mentalities, with Attacking players on defensive/normal

Passing Assumptions

Passing has to be balanced so that it gets an ideal mix of three properties. A good passing framework should: a) take pressure off the defence; b) retain ball possession; c) create good goal scoring opportunities.

For defensive teams, playing deeper and more cautiously than attacking teams, it is important to make sure the ball is removed from the danger zone quickly. They will usually be weaker than their opposition, or certainly not pushing as hard for a goal, and therefore will want their passing to be incisive in what could be a short amount of time. Attacking sides will want to get the ball down and play it, keep hold of possession and look for the best opportunities to play in team mates for a goal.

Because of this, TT&F ’09 advocates the following frameworks for passing:

Defensive

Defend - direct

Support - mixed

Attack - short

Standard

Defend - low direct

Support - mixed

Attack - low mixed

Attacking

Defend - short

Support - mixed

Attack - direct

The logic behind this is that defensive teams will look to get the ball away from goal, but will then want to concentrate on keeping the ball when they reach the midfield. Because of the narrower width, players should be close enough together to have passing options. Therefore the support players can be on mixed and the attack can use short passing. The team should be able to hold on to the ball, but will only aim to once they have moved out of the defensive third. Since attack is not the prime aim of the game plan, it is assumed that the team can concede a little incisiveness in the final third in order to try and keep the ball. If you have possession, the opposition do not and, therefore, cannot score.

Attacking teams will, on the other hand, need to get the ball and play it well between each other. The defenders are set to short passing so they can look for a good passing option to start an attack. Since they should be under less pressure, they should have the time and the mentality to be able to do this. The attacking players are on direct passing for two reasons. Firstly, it allows much more incisive passing leading to good opportunities to play in players in advanced positions. Secondly, since the players should be more spaced out, a direct passing game gives players more options and allows passes to more easily reach teammates. In most formations the Attack players will be wing players (full backs and wingers), so this allows them to look for options in the centre of the field without the need to always cross the ball. The Support players sit deeper and play dangerous through balls to attacking players, try to revitalise attacks in danger of petering out and aim at quickly recycling half-cleared balls.

Standard tactics’ passing instructions are similar to defensive tactics, but the passing settings are much closer together since there is more neutrality in player roles. It keeps the ball moving in the manner of an attacking tactic, but tries to avoid putting the team under undue pressure with inappropriate short defensive passing.

Tempo Assumptions

Fast tempo is generally a better bet for attacking sides as the more quickly the ball is moved around, the greater the likelihood of space opening up in the final third. A slower tempo means less misplaced passes but enables the opposing team to have more time to get back into position to cover attacks. It is thus better for more defensively minded formations.

There are cultural and weather differences to take into consideration when thinking about the above. Nations in colder climates tend to play a faster tempo game than those in warmer regions. There are a few reasons for this. Firstly, the ball travels more slowly in heavy conditions so a low tempo, short passing game is often unsuitable. Although the ball can zip off a damp pitch, it slows down significantly on a soaking wet one, both of which have led to the development of a direct, fast-paced game in Northern Europe. Secondly, hot and humid conditions will sap player energy, so teams from such climates tend to play a slower tempo, possession-orientated game, leading to the highly technical football of South America, Southern Europe and the better African nations. Thinking about the cultural footballing preferences of the country he is working in will help a manager to quickly find his tactical feet.

NB: Check pitch sizes before deciding on ideal tempo

Width Assumptions

To break a defence down the attacking team needs to use as much of the pitch as possible to open space. In contrast, a defensive team will look to reduce space at every available opportunity. Although a team’s defensive width will naturally be narrower than the attacking one, it will be risky for weaker teams to spread too wide as once they lose possession they will become vulnerable to quick passing movements that exploit space before the formation can regain defensive shape.

There are also cultural differences. Northern European teams tend to spread the ball to the wings with great regularity and expect the wingers and fullbacks to work together to provide plenty of crosses from standard positions. Teams from more technically orientated nations tend to play considerably narrower, aim to control possession in the middle of the park and use rampaging fullbacks or drifting midfielders/attackers to provide width as and when necessary.

NB Check pitch sizes before deciding on ideal width

Time Wasting Assumptions

An attacking team will be looking to score goals and won’t want to waste any time. A defensive team will be hoping not to concede and will therefore aim to take advantage of any stops in play to further wind down the clock. Time wasting also has a few cultural variations. Some nations/leagues have a greater tendency towards defensive play and will employ time wasting far earlier in the game than others. Other cultures believe that attack is the best form of defence and will go forward almost to the final whistle. Both strategies have potential weaknesses. Sitting on a narrow lead for 80 mins can cause a team to collapse under the weight of attacking pressure whilst pushing for the killer goal risks conceding on the counter. Ultimately, the type of time wasting strategy you choose to employ will depend on your trust in your team. Arguably, it is best employed as a dynamic instruction that changes relative to the match situation.

Tackling Assumptions

An attacking team will be looking to win quick ball high up the pitch and will thus throw themselves into tackles. As the majority of tackles will be made in the opposing half it doesn’t matter if they result in a free kick, as it won’t be in a dangerous position. Tackles in such areas are also less likely to get a card. Thus, tackling will be heavy. A defensive team aims to keep players behind the ball and not to make any tackling errors. They will also be pinned back in their own half so can’t afford to give away as many free-kicks, as they will be dangerous and more likely result in a card. Players will only choose to make tackles when they are sure of getting the ball or have no other choice. Thus, tackling will be easy.

Marking Assumptions

Loose and zonal marking generally means a player won’t be close to an opponent when possession changes. These players will immediately be available for an attacking pass. It is the preferred marking instructions for Attacking roles. In contrast, tight and man marking ensures that the player is as close as possible to his opposing man when not in possession. Such players aim to win the ball back and launch passes to the more open, Attacking players to start a counter. It is the preferred instruction for Support and Defend players.

NB: It is more than possible to play zonal and tight, which is often the preferred option for players who have no obvious opponent to mark.

Focus Passing Assumptions

An attacking team will look to exploit the space on the flanks and regularly work the ball into those areas. Thus, for attacking formations, focus passing down flanks. In contrast, a defensive team aims to hit direct balls and thus tend to hit the balls that centrally positioned forwards have a chance of reaching. Thus, for defensive formations, focus passing through the middle.

Formation shape, which is often determined by cultural preferences, impacts upon the best choice of focus passing instructions. A team without wingers might not get the best out of the down the flanks instruction and mixed is likely to be the better option. Likewise, a defensive formation employing a lone FC runs the risk of his being overpowered by the defence before he can lay it off to the midfielders. Mixed will direct more balls into channels for the wingers to chase and might be a better option.

The left/right flanks focus passing options are best employed when you have identified one of your opponent’s flanks as being significantly weaker than the other and wish to take advantage of that weakness.

Creative Freedom Assumptions

Creative freedom, which encourages players to break from the tactical plan and take risks, is of great importance for an attacking strategy but dangerous for a defensive one. The more aggressive the strategy, the more players should be given high creative freedom instructions. Players assigned to Attack roles should be allowed higher creative freedom, Support roles normal and Defend roles lower. However, as detailed in the Frameworks section (pages 12-13) assigning levels of Creative Freedom is as much down to manager type as player roles.

Free Role Assumptions

A free role encourages a player to largely abandon defensive duties and focus on finding attacking space. As with creative freedom, this is highly advantageous for attacking systems but potentially dangerous for defensive ones. However, for every system it is important that one player is looking to create space at all times in order to provide a passing outlet for players under pressure. For each system, at least one Attacking roles need to operate within the formation structure or it will lose defensive stability and attacking organization. However, the others can be given free roles. Hence, Attacking strategies have three free roles, Standard two and Defend one. For the default tactics accompanying this guide, we have made the FCa the standard free role player. This will be fine if he is describes as an FC in the game. For STs, it is best to apply free roles elsewhere, as they do not make best use of the instruction.

NB: With top-class players, or when employing a playmaker or libero, you can increase free roles. However, doing so with a poor team will be disastrous.

Match Strategies

The Standard Match Strategy

This is arguably the most important of all match strategies as, by carefully balancing risk and reward, it enables a manager to assess the match situation and how well his team is playing prior to switching to a more specialised tactical plan. It is an ideal starting strategy for all short-odds matches. By carefully watching the match the manager can then decide to be more aggressive or cautious or to stick with the standard approach if things are going well.

Tactical Instructions

* Mentality System: Upper Defensive – Lower Attacking (min 5 players on Normal)

* Player Roles: 3 Defend, 4 Support, 3 Attack

* Closing Down: Low Normal- High Normal

* Passing Pattern: Defend (low direct), Support (mixed), Attack (low mixed)

* Tempo: Normal

* Width: Normal

* Time Wasting: Normal

* Tackling: Normal

* Focus Passing: Mixed

* Marking: Defend & Support (Tight/Man), Attack (Loose/Zonal)

* Creative Freedom: Defend (Low), Support (Normal), Attack (High)

* Free Roles: Attack (one)

* Counter Attack: Optional

* Play Offside: Optional

The Attacking Match Strategy

This strategy is best employed for matches that you are favourites to win and expect to dominate possession in your opponent's half. It aims to exploit space in the final third by employing fast tempo, direct, attacking orientated passing supported by a defensive strategy aimed at recycling possession. It focuses heavily on getting players forward and into space and allows them the creative freedom to express themselves.

Tactical Instructions

* Mentality System: High Normal – Upper Attacking (min 5 players on Attacking)

* Player Roles: 3 Defend, 2 Support, 5 Attack