See and hear lots of terminology these days about false 9s, high press etc and have never really paid much attention to the evolution of football tactics and strategy over the years but it seems now even at our level it is increasingly relevant so I'm keen to learn more and pay attention to that side of the game this season at all levels.
See that many posters on here a very knowledgeable and well versed in this area so thought it may be useful for those of us who are not initiated in the terminology and even concept of lots of modern tactics to have a thread on it.
My starter for ten is what is Garner's style/ Garner ball and what sort of players are required (know it's been discussed on various threads elsewhere but can't recall where)
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When I first went in the 70's and 80's it was a default 4 4 2. I don't recall any major changes in formation when Theo Foley was replaced by Andy Nelson or when he made way for Mike Bailey.
Interestingly both Nelson and Bailey both built promotion teams not by bringing in lots of new players but somehow they managed to get better results than their predecessor.
What has changed in the last 40/50 years?
Seemed so much simpler in the old days when full backs marked the wingers, centre half the centre forward, left and right halves the inside forwards etc
Talking about the great Eddie Firmani.
(See also Don Revie).
To answer the exam question.
We aren't going to suddenly turn into the league 1 version of the Mighty Magyars, Brazil 1970, Rinus Michels' Ajax, Pep's Barcelona or masters of gegenpressing.
There is no such thing as Garnerball. There isn't, fundamentally, much difference between how we will play and how we played at the fag end of the 20/21 season. Hopefully we will have better suited players for it.
We will keep the ball at the back, unless there is an obvious progressive pass, as we tried to do under most of the previous managers.
With the full backs we have signed your more likely to see over laps than underlaps. The Kirk Sessegnon partnership should be more Robinson and Powell or Jackson and Wiggins than we have seen recently.
We won't be as gunho as Swindon were last season, for multiple reasons. We will shoot more often than Robinson or Bowyer's teams did. That isn't necessarily a good thing.
We will be better at attacking set pieces than Robinson's team was. We lack that bit of magic that Holmes or Fosu gave us.
In short I would say the closest we have played, in the recent passed, to how I expect us to play next season is the start of Adkins spell, but with more suitable players.
I expect us to use CBT on the right, how we used Millar on the left. I expect Fraser and Payne to be our 2nd and 3rd top scorers. That's a problem.
I had a massive argument at the start of the 20/21 season in defence of Bowyer ball and the method of scoring. I still think its legitimate (you cross the ball, low, form the wide edge of the six yard box) but I think we will have more long shots and crosses from the traditional wide areas next season.
As for terminology like high presses, false 9s, 6s, 8s, 10s, 9 and a halfs, they are just new names for positions, types of players, that are as old as the game its self.
What used to be called the 'wall pass' or the '1-2' or the 'give and go'.
What ways have footballers got to beat another player?
Superior speed.
Diddling jiggery pokery.
Selling a dummy.
Receiving the ball in space and passing away from the opponent.
Tanking through 'em.
Are there really any others?
Formations are to my mind ever more elaborate versions of the 1-2.
Like the 1-2-3-4-5-1again-3again and so on, all intended to support the above list.
Isn't football getting a bit over complicated anyway?
Get between the ball and the goal when you haven't got it, make yourself available to a teammate when you have, make your decisions quickly.
The reason center backs have different numbers in different cultures is my favourite. Many ways to solve a problem :-)
I’m not as into football as I was when I was younger, by that I mean watching the Prem, CL and knowing who all the up & coming players are, which means I am in a similar to boat re: modern day tactics as @RodneyCharltonTrotta, however, at our level, I think players are okay, but not necessarily good enough to adapt and adopt different formations and styles of play.
It's get the ball, keep the ball, create a chance. That is it. It's not complicated is it.
If we subscribe to the fact Garnerball is some complicated alien concept that's far to confusing to our mear motal players. Let's have a quick stock take.
3 players from Swindon. Obviously comfortable with it.
Dobson: Westham academy. That famous school of kick and rush.
Aneke: Aresenal academy, offered the chance to go to Barcelona.......
Inniss: Palace academy under Garner.
Fraser: a stand out player in MK Dons kick it and hope for the best team?
CBT: a cat 1 academy graduate are producing really good technical players.
Charlie Kirk: Crewe are the team John Beck wished he managed.
O'Connell: Obviously signed for his Pearce style wrestling skills, second only to Brock Lesner in that regard. Or not.
JFC: part of Poyet seniors Brighton revolution, not good enough for the prem but...
I could go on but there is no way on God's green earth this style of play is too complicated or alien to them.
Just spread out.
I do think we might start a bit slow , first few games will be a bit of a learning process for sure.
https://www.soccerstats.com/homeaway.asp?league=england4
Five subs changes things as you can have more of the team playing at a higher intensity knowing they’ll be subbed off. Signing a couple more options for the front three is a must to add more goal threats and creativity to the squad.
It’s also why being able to score via set pieces is important. Bringing in an Inniss alternative could make a real difference at both ends of the pitch.
Creativity is going to be a big thing to address, definitely think we're probably a senior striker and a winger short as it stands at least. Having 5 subs does change things , if you've got the ability to use Aneke for 30 mins off the bench most games then that's a big asset.
Don't know what kind of setpiece threat O'Connell will add , but Lavelle and Innis have shown they can cause problems.
The stat that was left out of the impressive list at Swindon under Ben Garner was the amount of goals conceded which put the Robins in 10th place; that is quid pro quo if you are an attacking team and get hit in transition; counter attack in old money.
Ian Evatt attempted to do the same with Bolton last season in League 1 when they attacked with numbers and had numerous forwards and midfielders in and around the box. Again the league table tells you that it was only partially successful as they were outside the top 6 but on their day they went for the jugular as the 4-1 win at the valley shows as they didn't sit on the 2-1 lead.
Surprised that the stats showed Swindon had the most shots and the best possession? I can understand that with Man City but surprised to see that in League 2; It sounds a contradiction as some teams that are good in Possession won't pull the trigger near goal.
Brighton under Poyet were the best example of possession football and playing out from the back in League 1 that I have seen.
I met a couple of Hibernian coaches 2 weeks ago through my son's job at a youth match and it was excellent to listen to them and I was grateful that despite agreeing with my views on the jeopardy of the pass back and defenders and keepers attempting crazy passes in their own area they couldn't see it changing as their remit was a keeper has to be good with his feet, they said being good with their hands was still mandatory!
New names but as has been stated "Garner ball" is a misnomer as several younger coaches and not so young are trying to play this way and the 5 sub rule will again prove that football is a 16 player game and the starting 11 won't always be as important as the 11 at the business end of a game.
Enter Chuks Aneke who must be delighted as other than older players he is the only professional that prefers to come on off the bench that I know of.
The article this chart came from has some other very interesting stats about last season in league 1 and is worth a read over a dump or two
https://theanalyst.com/eu/2022/06/english-league-one-2021-22-stats/
The problem with stats are they can pose more Questions than Answers; how did Wycombe allow more shots along with the relegated teams yet still get to the Play off final. Wycombe were the most direct team in the division as well.
Thanks to @Jac_52 for the stats but when you extrapolate the information, would you really conclude that possession football beats getting the ball to your goal scorers in and around the box with crisp accurate football ?
Doing long accurate diagonal passes isn't the same as hoof ball that go straight and long over the tall strikers head.
I remain a disciple of mix and match, where you have the ability to pass and keep possession but you speed up the tempo when fast play will catch out mediocre League 1 defences in transition.
To be successful alongside this possesion game, you can't have players cocking up easy passes and again this can happen too often at lower levels. Also the pass receivers have to be able to control decent paced balls. At lower levels this is also lacking but it is essential as a great pass can be a poor pass if the receiving player is not up to it. To be honest, I am not sure where we are with this this season. Each team has a passing number for their level. It is something a manager has to have a good idea what it is and ensure the tactics employed goes under this on average.
We need to have a high number here if our approach is going to succeed. I saw some lazy balls against Sutton. We can't see those when it gets serious.
Do You Watch Football Tactically? — Charlton Life
What I've found quite interesting in the last year or so whilst being around a few younger fans is that they know this stuff inside out. A lot more than I did when I was a teenager / young adult.
Not sure of the exact reason for that, but I've heard it be attributed quite a lot to the likes of Football Manager, FIFA etc as well as the overall increase in footballing discussion that we are all exposed to via social media.
I do also think a lot of tactical opinions tend to be borrowed though. For example - at Premier League level you'll get fans who will instantly critique a player coming in from overseas, when realistically they've never sat and watched a Sassuolo or Fiorentina match and made notes to come to their position.