After setting the tactics for our team in the previous post, we’ll look how they are going to play out in a game situation. Our first friendly will give us a chance to see how our players will handle the tactics. The First Friendly Firstly, In this video we can see our main attacking weakness, at least in terms of formation and players positioning in phase attack. When the team is splitting and every player takes his position, according to how the team is shaped in phase attack, there is huge space between our main playmaker and the front four. The negative of this is that our attacks becomes one-dimensional, at least in terms of vertical and…

Given the fact that I have players, which don’t possess the all-round skill to transition between the phases well enough, I think it’ll be more productive to stick to rigid type of players positioning and movement on the pitch. With such a formation, the separated lines should have enough cover between them just because they are in pairs and more imporatantly – they are near enough between each other. With such conservative setup my players will stick to their base position and will position themselves, in each phase, only due to their specific role, duty and tactical instructions. With the team yet blended, lacking key aspect of football skill, such a…

Editors note: Cagiva once again has produced a work of great tactical analysis of his current game. This time he manages in his home country of Bulgaria where he takes on a team with huge expectations in their domestic competitions - but in Europe are seen as the underdogs. He will show how he balances these two expectations tactically. Here is his introduction and we will post his analysis throughout the week. Some of you may know, some of you may not, but in Bulgaria the two biggest clubs are Sofia Levski and Sofia CSKA . I opted to take over the latter, because of their problems in the past few years are bigger than their arch-rivals, creating for a more thrilling…

The previous article looking into the Lazio system, we laid down the theory of the tactical setup, what each players role was to do in the team and how that would work for the tactics on a whole. We were looking for a good defensive standing with players that could attack quickly on the counter, moving the ball from each part of the pitch quickly as the players intelligently moved. But theory and practise are two different things and I analyse the positives and disadvantages of the system against different sides and formations. You can download the matches and watch them yourself here. Against Sampdoria/4-4-2 Positives In the first 15 minutes Zarate had two…

Mihail takes a look at re-creating the Lazio 3-5-2 shape within Football Manager an interesting look at how to create a system that moves from defence to attack quickly and how the players reposition themselves in each phase. The first place to start with any tactical decision building is what football you want to play and the aims of the tactics. I am looking to recreate the Lazio 2009/10 tactic and the way it moves from defence to attack quickly, the aims of the tactical setup will be; Good shape and tactical discipline with a rigid philosophy Control the play and possession patiently waiting for opportunities to attack. Each player will have a particular…