Can every tactic work?

[steviewoodman]

I've been thinking about different clubs and different tactics and my question is - can everything work? 

I'm not a tactical guy by any measure, I'm very poor at the game. 

But to my uneducated simple mind, there's a few choices:

1. Go super defensive, and basically focus entirely on not conceding. Play for the 0-0. Try and nick a goal. Maybe used by teams likely to be relegated or maybe a good team 1-0 up going into a second leg. 

2. Target Man. Maybe like the old Wimbledon, or some teams like Crouch in. Lump the ball up, get players around the knock down. 

3. Simple 442. Thinking of the old Man United. 

4. Whatever it is that Atletico Madrid do. They look defensive, very rigid in their shape but counter attack occasionally. 

5. The short passing, take your time of old Barcelona. 

6. The pressing of a Liverpool or Man City with their high wing backs

 

If I start a game as any club, can I successfully implement anything, or any formation? 

I keep hearing that SI/FM rewards the attacking gegenpress formations more, even for lower teams, so I was wondering - has anyone tried using a defensive park the bus type tactic and actually been successful over a season with it? And by successful, I mean, achieve their aims? That might be finishing 15th out of 20 or whatever. 

 

[DarJ]

You can implement almost anything of course there are certain match engine limitations for example you can't tell your RB to go high up the pitch for one of your midfielders to take his place to from a back 3 when playing from the back.

Personally, I've be able to implement whatever play style I wanted to with success

[CKBrahMa]

Every tactic is usable with the proper players. 
I’m currently trying a Tikitaka with Arsenal with Odegaard as a false 9 (if you’re interested, take a look at my topic, I explain how I created it). Somehow, it looks like Mcity IRL. It can work because in my save I am dominant. If I was playing Bournemouth, I would be a lot more pragmatic.

So, yes, every good tactic (meaning well thought) can work with the right players.

[Hilly1979]

4 hours ago, DarJ said:

You can implement almost anything of course there are certain match engine limitations for example you can't tell your RB to go high up the pitch for one of your midfielders to take his place to from a back 3 when playing from the back.

Personally, I've be able to implement whatever play style I wanted to with success

Isn’t that the half back role?

[DarJ]

1 hour ago, Hilly1979 said:

Isn’t that the half back role?

the half back drops in the middle of the defenders but not at the RB or LB position like some teams do when playing fr0m the back

[Hilly1979]

1 minute ago, DarJ said:

the half back drops in the middle of the defenders but not at the RB or LB position like some teams do when playing fr0m the back

But it still gives you 3 at the back, not sure it matters who takes whos space as long as your team moves into a back  3 if that’s what you want 

[DarJ]

Just now, Hilly1979 said:

But it still gives you 3 at the back, not sure it matters who takes whos space as long as your team moves into a back  3 if that’s what you want 

we're not debating if they form a back 3 or not my point was  to say that there are certain things you can't do. IRL if I wanted my striker to do that I can tell him to do so even if it doesn't make sense but this is an hypothetical so it doesn't matter 

[_mxrky]

Every tactic can work but some ways are more effective than others. Similar to irl

[Tsuru]

Every tactic can work if you have suitable players and a good tactical design (mentality/roles/duties/PIs/TIs). But I am almost sure that if you have excellent players, like top world ones, their quality can compensate any flaws on your tactical design. Like top world CBs who can cover a ball over the top which resulted from too much space on your team´s own half, or maybe a striker that is so good that he can score and create chances even if he is kind of isolated by the tactic.

I already saw FM managers that arrived on a top division and struggled for some seasons until their players were really, really good (until they had money to pay high wages and transfers TBH), and even if their tactics were not that good at that point, they had success and won almost everything. So I think that tactical balance and design are even more important on lower divisions, when you have to extract the maximum from the players you have because their quality will hardly compensate any tactical flaws. Or when you develop a tactic that extracts the maximum from a player that is much better than the rest of the team.

I wonder that if you do a very good tactical design with top world players which are suited for the style you want to play, success will arrive much sooner than later.

Edited April 18, 2022 by Tsuru