default tactics, everything balanced,,,works the best ?

[cressers]

I have a few diffrent versions of the same save going on testing out tactical ideas.

the best one that is working seems to be:

on the tc creator.

strategy:standard

philosphy:balanced

everything set to default

no changes atall...

this essentailyl leaves tempo, defensive line and time wasting and width all dead on in the middle.

seems a bit easy that this is working out the best ?

i cant exactly nail down what type of play this is producing either, tonight i will look at a few matches in full to try and get a grip of it but..

what team in real life would this type of thing represent ?

in terms of tactics how would you descirbe what is going on, why is it working for the attack and defence ?

(i can describe high tempos and high defnsive lines with quick closing down)

[furiousuk]

Sorry this is going to sound a bit glib but it works simply because it is well balanced.

Players are given their heads so with intelligent players it's a fantastic system, particularly if you are a good motivator and good at selecting a cohesive team. I'm not an expert on real football but I believe Keegan's main area of success was in picking a team and getting them fired up to play so any team he managed would be a good example of this. I would imagine that a lot of top managers get by on being excellent motivators rather than excellent tacticians, probably far more than you'd think.

Tactically players aren't 'restricted' by instructions so they'll do what they think is best in most situations. It probably won't produce outstanding technical play, or dominant physical play, or long-ball football, or tika-taka but it will produce bits of all of them. The key here is flexibility. If my team are set up against crosses then I'll do well against a team that likes to cross but if I'm playing your balanced team I'll be facing a few crosses but I'll also be up against some stuff through the middle and some stuff over the top which I'm maybe not so well set up to handle.

If your team are well rounded enough to make a decent stab at playing lots of different styles then it'll be incredibly difficult for my team to face this. To be fair, all top teams do this to some extent - Barcelona are best at playing intricate technical stuff but they won't be afraid to hit on the counter or play the odd speculative ball over the top when it's on, the key is that players are intelligent enough to spot when it is and isn't on.

Another take on a balanced playstyle like this is that it emphasises the individual differences between players. Players will be more free to play their way. Xavi will play very differently from, say, Scott Parker, and you don't have to do a thing with your tactics. Your skill will be in selecting the right personnel for the job and ensuring they are fit, ready and motivated to do a job.

In my opinion it's actually harder to play this way. It's actually very difficult to pick a cohesive and complementary team that targets the opposition whilst also balancing morale, fatigue and form. In fact, for most teams it's impossible because they simply won't have (i.e can't afford) the squad.

A lot of people who write about 'tactics' on here will actually admit that they don't do a great deal tactically with their team and that it's the balancing (and knowing what instructions NOT to set) that is their real skill.