In an era when every armchair fan, casual or ardent, idyllic or analytical, confounded or discerning, has access to all the statistics and sophisticated features of a given football match, a strange trend is emerging; the fixation with tactics.
Take time, after any one of the world’s leading football clubs has suffered a less than desirable result, and go through the opinions of irate fans on social media, and you’ll be struck by the consistency with which fans demand tactical nous from their favourite club’s managers.
The most popular targets are, of course, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær, and his Chelsea counterpart Frank Lampard. The two men have plenty in common. Hugely successful playing careers, a lack of significant managerial experience before their current stations, and now, victimization by fans for…wait for it…lack of tactical nous.
Now, some of these accusations aren’t exactly based on fiction. It is true that at times, the two have shown a surprising reluctance, in the eyes of us, the fans, at least, to impact matches with active management decisions.
In the aftermath of the two clubs playing out to a dour, goalless stalemate last Saturday, very many fans, of either club and indeed both, could be found lamenting their manager’s decisions, ranging from team selection to substitutions. One fan even suggested that both managers simply sent out players onto the pitch, and prayed for the best.
But do we, the fans, really have more football knowledge than the managers? Do we know more about sporting decisions than, at least in the case of Chelsea, the professional football people who made the choice of appointing Lampard? What are these “tactics” that we like to rant about? How much of a bearing do they have on the results of a match?
Now, of course, tactics are important. Professional managers actually earn their badges by attending facilities specially designed to impart knowledge of how to organise a team on the pitch.
Fans, though, aren’t exactly concerned with this aspect of tactics in particular. What they really long for, is those eye-catching moments in-game, when the coach apparently swings the momentum with a timely substitution. Or a major formation change.
Are tactics the only thing fans care about when it comes to judging managers?
At the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, then Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal made one such change. The Dutch were being held by Costa Rica, with extra-time running out and penalties looming, he took off first-choice goalkeeper Jasper Cillessen and replaced him with Tim Krul, who was supposedly a penalty specialist.
Long story short, the gamble paid off in spectacular fashion. Krul saved two penalties and the Netherlands advanced to the semi-finals, and van Gaal was deified for being a tactical genius.
I remember talking to Man United fans at that time, who were very excited about what future the club had once a real tactical manager took over the reins from the hapless David Moyes. What followed is now history.
Lampard and Solskjær’s apparent inabilities to pull off such daring stunts is what makes them the target of so much criticism. Granted, the two men have their flaws, but whether or not they are great, let alone good managers, is not the subject of this article. My point is that these demands for tactics are nothing short of irrational.
My argument is that at the bigger clubs such as Man United and Chelsea, results are more dependent on the quality of players available than any shapes or formations. At clubs, where every summer sees millions of pounds spent, the players ought to be good enough to roll their opponents over, regardless of tactical composition.
The fact that this does not always happen can be attributed to erroneous coaching, technical shortcomings, injuries or simply, inadequate application. Very little of it is down to what tactics the manager employed.
There are plenty of examples that prove this. Current Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane was, as a player, a multiple Balon D’Or winners. At his peak, he was a marauding force of a midfielder who practically won games single-handedly. But he is no tactical maven.
Watching both of his Madrid teams; this one, and the Cristiano Ronaldo led iteration which conquered Europe thrice, it is hard to discern any distinct philosophy.
Tactics aren’t the only thing that makes good managers, a lot more is at play than most fans actually think
What makes both teams great isn’t the maverick scheming of their manager, it is the fact that they possess more net talent than most of their opponents. The same goes for Real’s bitterest rivals Barcelona.
Men such as Luis Enrique and Ernesto Valverde possessed none of the acumens of Pep Guardiola. But they continued the winning culture at the club, despite receiving criticism for their playing styles.
Retired former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson earned a reputation as a serial winner but a close analysis of his teams reveals no overwhelming tactical imprint akin to the heavy metal Liverpool of Jurgen Klopp, or the slick quick passing Man City, Bayern, and Barcelona of Guardiola.
Interestingly, the most memorable characteristic of Ferguson’s greatest teams is that they scored very late in games, leaving little time for the opponent to rebut.
Some analysts have tried to play this as a tactic, but it is unrealistic to think the venerated Scotsman won so much by just setting up his team to soak up pressure for 85 minutes, before suddenly launching devastating onslaughts on the opposition’s penalty area. It was indicative of a never say die attitude, but it surely wasn’t a tactic.
All these examples seek to prove is that the flamboyant machinations that certain managers pull off aren’t even that crucial in the preparation of a team to win. Solskjær and Lampard deserve to be questioned over their inability to squeeze more out of the personnel at their disposal, but this new phenomenon of fans with very little, if any management knowledge at that, questioning the tactical know-how of professional managers is nothing short of bizarre.
More from sports: SC Villa Enters 3 Year Partnership with Ultimate Fitness Kampala
About The Author
