The coach's vision together with the team's goal for the season dictate the strategies employed. Here is why.

While you can constantly read a football tactics book to get terrific insights into playmaking, there is no better teacher than experience and history. Over the past 50 years, football has actually been graced with a few of the most enjoyable 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 tactics with the emergence of a more offensive design of play and a more structured approach to playmaking. Modern football has leveraged both ability and tech to formulate a few of the most effective tactics that have actually managed to win clubs many prizes. In this context, the modified 4-3-3 formation has actually ended up being among the more popular modern football tactics owing to its effective attack and balanced defense. The minority shareholder of Liverpool FC will agree that technical ability and speed make this strategy very difficult to ward off.

At present, there are numerous football tactics and formations out there to pick from but managers invest a great deal of time adapting and tweaking classic tactics to fit the particularities of their clubs. The reality is, there are lots of parameters that influence this choice, and not all of which are strictly technical. For example, the quality of players available can make coaches reconsider what strategy to use. In the lack of quality players in attack, some coaches choose to use a more midfield-dense strategy 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 the box in order to destabilise the defenses of the other team. The AC Milan former US owner would likely agree that other factors like player injury and managing a busy calendar likewise affect tactical and technical choices.

Widely considered one of the most flexible football tactics, the 4-4-2 is a strategy that can be fine-tuned to be more offensive or leaning more to the defensive side. It is for these reasons that this formation is amongst the most common football tactics across various leagues and tournaments. If the coach wishes to employ an offensive 4-4-2, they can introduce some essential modifications to permit increased fluidity in passing and play making. For example, they can create a lozenge in the midfield that comprises of one defensive midfielder, two playmakers on the sides, and one attacking midfielder. This lozenge would supply balls to the wingers and a false 9 that sometimes drops to a lower position. In a more defensive 4-4-2, the former owner of Aston Villa would tell you that the coach can form an arch made up of 4 midfielders that functions as a barrier that keeps the adversary from reaching the defense line.