TACTICS AREN'T DIFFICULT, CONSISTENCY IS!

[kurtywurty]

So I've started a lot of games recently as I spend ages tweaking a perfect* tactic and then immediately become disenchanted the second it doesn't work. I have an Abramovich approach when it comes to success. The two teams I most frequent are Arsenal and Bilbao. So my point is this, I can play a few games and most of my team will literally all play between 7.5 and 10.0 and then bizarrely in another game they will all play at like 5.5 and incur my wrath. I understand from reading that the opposition can adapt to your tactics and such but if you want to play it as the person trying to dictate the game, i.e as the person with a particular philosophy (wenger, guardiola......rodgers?) as opposed to a tactician whose aim is to nullify the opposition threat (Benitez) how do you keep one maybe two tactics and keep the consistency up? Before anyone points out that you can't win every game well, I understand this but it is the aim of the game so let's imagine it's achievable and how it could be done.

*Obviously not perfect.

 

[Scotty98TR]

Well a start would be to score more goals than the other team...


Seriously though, there aren't actually and "philosophers" that achieved success which you could put down to their tactics. Guardiola started with an amazing team, but he didn't create the philosophy any more than Tito Vilanova did, it was created mainly by Cruyff, made better by van Gaal and perfected by Rijkaard. The only thing Guardiola did for Barca was drop Ronaldinho in favour of a certain short, skillful, teenage (at the time) Argentinean. So that had nothing to do with his tactics.

Wenger achieved success by his ability to spot new talent and nuture it, along with his brand new nutritional and fitness regimes. Again, not really his tactics, although to begin with it was mainly down to that, clubs adapted quickly (Which is why we are no longer challenging for the title)

And Rodgers definatly can't be counted as a philospher. All he did was carry on what had been put before him (Much like Guardiola), the way swansea play was started by Roberto Martinez, carried on by sousa and with no changes at all carried on by Rodgers, now Laudrup. And is he having success at Liverpool? The league position says not. Also, the swansea style isn't revelutionary.

There are only a handful of tactical revolutionarys. The main -and most successful- two being Johan Cruyff and of course Rinus Michels (Total football).


Rant out

 

[kurtywurty]

Excellent post mate, I disagree about the tactics side of things particularly with Wenger, he seems almost adamant to be the one who other teams have to try and stop and he does tweak things in game. Also you know he's never going to go out and play like Allardyce one day. It's a style of play within a tactic almost, like maybe today we'll try and play Walcott through and next week we'll oof it up to Giroud. I guess it's the specific match plan that needs to be changed as opposed to the tactic.

 

[Scotty98TR]

Excellent post mate, I disagree about the tactics side of things particularly with Wenger, he seems almost adamant to be the one who other teams have to try and stop and he does tweak things in game. Also you know he's never going to go out and play like Allardyce one day. It's a style of play within a tactic almost, like maybe today we'll try and play Walcott through and next week we'll oof it up to Giroud. I guess it's the specific match plan that needs to be changed as opposed to the tactic.

Fair enough, but since other clubs have adapted to our style of play, we have stopped being successful. (So he does stick to one style of play, like you want to, but doesn't change that much, and is no longer as successful. Just like in FM!!

 

[stajnko]

I understand from reading that the opposition can adapt to your tactics.

Well changing tactics often is not good for your team, so you should stick to 3 winning tactics you can train in match preparation training etc. You will win, as you said, few games and then opposition will start reading your tactic. So you should start looking for a way how to improve your chances with the same tactic - have a look here http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2013-discussion/109263-your-own-preparation.html

edit: also when there is a press conference, you should say that you can win that match, but it will be though (or that your players will have to work hard etc.)

 

[Scotty98TR]

Well changing tactics often is not good for your team, so you should stick to 3 winning tactics you can train in match preparation training etc. You will win, as you said, few games and then opposition will start reading your tactic. So you should start looking for a way how to improve your chances with the same tactic - have a look here http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2013-discussion/109263-your-own-preparation.html

edit: also when there is a press conference, you should say that you can win that match, but it will be though (or that your players will have to work hard etc.)

Making drastic changes to tactics isn't good in the short run, but things like editing there player instructions, moving one or two players to new position won't matter. Also, if you keep editing it back and forth for long enough, the team will get used to both ways of playing the tactic