What is the best tactics on Managerleague

There is no best tactic on ML. It all depends about quality of your players and quality of opponent.

Some players keep the same tactics every match, other change it according to the opponent. It seems to be better to change your tactics and try to take advantage over the opponent's formation. You also avoid this way being read by the next opponent.


Playstyle

Continental:
- possession play, the ball will be passed alot
- works best with many midfielders
- not recommended when having few midfielders
- said to be good when trying to freeze the match
- very good when the opponent is playing mixed

Mixed:
- works best with 3-4 midfielders
- a combination between longball and continental
- very good when the opponent is playing longball

Longball:
- the ball will be passed very fast to the attackers
- works best with few midfielders
- the travels often dirictly from the defender to the attacker
- said to make the match more active
- is good when the opponent is playing continental


Tackling

Tackling should be set depending on what type of match you play and against who.
Soft tackles will bring you less fitness loss, therefore it should be used in all friendlies. The disadvantage of soft tackling is that your players won't defend the goal so precise.
Normal tackles are good to use in regular official matches. It makes your defenders more involved and they won't get so many cards.
Hard tackles will make your players perform the best, but be careful, it's risky because there are many chances getting a red card with this type of tackles. Playing hard tackles will make your opponents vulnerable to injuries, but your players might get injured aswell. Hard tackling might be used when trying a comeback or when playing against a tough opponent.


Shooting

Shoot at will option means that your players will try the goal from any position. A large number of goal chances shoold be expected here, but a low efficiency. Scoring more the 4th goal is usually almost impossible to score with this option because of a limit imposed by the simulator. Setting the shooting on near goal or only when safe will bring you in theory less chances, but a much better rate of success for scoring goals.


Pressure

Unfortunately in ML the pressure doesn't always mean the same as real football. Playing defending won't always help you freezing the game and attacking won't always bring you more scoring chances. It depends more on what the opponent is playing. It is said that defending beats attacking, normal beats defending and attacking beats normal.


Offside trap

Turning offside trap on can be very efficient, but your team has to meet some standards:
- offside team-stat over 85
- defenders with high speed (over 90) and perception (over 85)
- a formation with 3 defenders is the most advised, but it might work with 4 defenders aswell

Not having the right players and stats will make your opponent have many scoring chances,freekicks and the number of penalty shots will increase aswell.


Tactics list

There is a list about how you can increase your winning chances against each tactic. This list is seen on ML's forums and blogs often and it works quite well. But please note that it doesnt always make you win, as some tactics don't fit your team well and because random has a very big role when matches are simulated. You will see on the right the tactics which are good to play against the tactic on the left:

5-4-1 Continental - 4-3-3 Long ball
5-4-1 Long ball - 3-6-1 Mixed
5-4-1 Mixed - 3-6-1 Continental
5-3-2 Continental - 4-3-3 Long ball
5-3-2 Long ball - 4-4-2 Mixed (4-3-3 Mixed)
5-3-2 Mixed - 3-6-1 Continental (4-5-1 Continental)
4-5-1 Continental - 3-4-3 Long ball (3-3-4 Long ball, 3-5-2 Long ball)
4-5-1 Long ball - 3-5-2 Mixed
4-5-1 Mixed - 3-5-2 Continental (3-6-1 Continental)
4-4-2 Continental - 4-3-3 Long ball (3-4-3 Long ball)
4-4-2 Long ball - 4-3-3 Mixed
4-4-2 Mixed - 4-4-2 Continental (3-4-3 Continental, 3-5-2 Continental)
4-3-3 Continental - 4-4-2 Long ball (4-3-3 Long ball)
4-3-3 Long ball - 5-3-2 Mixed
4-3-3 Mixed - 4-5-1 Continental
4-2-4 Continental 5-3-2 Long ball
4-2-4 Long ball - 5-3-2 Mixed
4-2-4 Mixed - 5-4-1 Continental (4-5-1 Continental)
3-6-1 Continental - 4-2-4 Long ball
3-6-1 Long ball - 4-2-4 Long ball
3-6-1 Mixed - 3-6-1 Continental
3-5-2 Continental - 4-3-3 Long ball (3-4-3 Long ball)
3-5-2 Long ball - 3-4-3 Mixed
3-5-2 Mixed - 3-5-2 Continental
3-4-3 Continental - 4-3-3 Long ball
3-4-3 Long ball - 4-4-2 Mixed
3-4-3 Mixed - 4-5-1 Continental (4-4-2 Continental)
3-3-4 Continental - 5-3-2 Long ball
3-3-4 Long ball - 5-3-2 Mixed (5-4-1 Mixed)
3-3-4 Mixed - 5-4-1 Continental