Football blogs and sites are full of chat about tactics. People love to draw out their predicted and preferred starting XIs and talk about how to get the most out of teams. It makes a good chat in a bar or coffee chat and football fans love to talk about what they would do if the decisions were down to them.

When a team wins the manager is often hailed as a tactical genius – but nobody necessarily asks about the importance of tactics and whether they are actually what makes the difference. Perhaps a team of great players wouldn’t need tactics.

A famous quote by the late Brian Clough shows what he thought of it. “Players lose you games, not tactics.” Some managers have taken the approach of not overloading players with tactical info and just letting them play…

Tactics and Strategy

Tactics in football are easy to compare to a lot of other sports and games. People often compare it to table games and some even refer to football as a game of chess.

Table games including blackjack may be an even simpler comparison. Players use the information available to them in live blackjack games to make a calculated decision on what they are going to do next. If they were to take an attacking approach (to put it in football terms) then this might involve hitting more on numbers a defensive player would choose to stand on.

Football tactics can be more complex but it still boils down to the same principles and reacting to the cards that are dealt – proverbially in football but literally in the game of blackjack. The strength of the cards can be compared to the strength of the players but ultimately there is still an element of luck involved in both.

Lots of football players and personalities are drawn to games like blackjack when they are not playing. Cristiano Ronaldo is known to be a player of the game and there are plenty of managers and coaches who play table games as another chance to use their tactical and strategic skills.

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Structure and Formation

4-4-2 or 4-3-3? Football tactics are often thought of in terms of formation and how the players line up. Each team has a shape in the way the players are put on the pitch but the reality is that tactics go beyond the formation a team lines up in; it encompasses the whole philosophy of how a side should play.

4-3-3 or 3-5-2 are often a starting point but within these structures, there are countless variations depending on the specific players and the style a manager wants to implement. A team’s tactics will dictate how they control the game whether through possession-based football or counter-attacking play. Managers like Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp have brought different tactical blueprints to the table in recent years and they have been a fascinating watch as they battle it out as managers. Guardiola emphasizes control and domination through possession and precise passing patterns. Klopp is all about pressing. Gegenpressing is the term people give to this type of pressing play (football nerds like to give things names!)

Klopp is now gone and the big battle looks like it will be Pep’s Manchester City against Arsenal under the guidance of Arteta. Pep himself says they are getting better by the season.

Managers sometimes prove that tactics work. A well-structured tactical approach can help weaker teams compete with stronger ones. Leicester City’s miraculous Premier League title win in 2015-16 is a prime example. Manager Claudio Ranieri set up his side to defend solidly and attack quickly on the break. This meant his team could maximize the impact of Jamie Vardy’s pace and we know how it ended; he fired them to the Premier League win that nobody thought was possible.

Adapting Tactics to Opponents

Lower league managers know this well – one of the most crucial aspects of tactics in football is adaptability. Good teams can adjust their game plan based on their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses. This could mean sitting deep and defending with two banks of four against an attacking powerhouse or pressing high up the pitch against a team that struggles under pressure.

Jose Mourinho often sets his teams up defensively against stronger opponents and allows his team to give up possession in favor of counter-attacks. Parking the bus is effectively what this is (though there is more to it than that). The method may not be aesthetically pleasing to all fans but it has brought him considerable success. His tactics often depend on frustrating opponents by breaking their rhythm and waiting for the right moments to strike.

Conclusion

Tactics are just a part of the equation. Tactics can’t turn a terrible team into an amazing one but they can improve the performance of a team. The clash of styles is one thing that keeps sport interesting for us all to watch.