crazyscotsman

What is the rule of thumb on tempo. Slower against better teams, quicker against lesser wuality teams?

Dayle Wood

The other way around I'd say... Think of it more like home and away.

Home the other side will sit back and defend more against you because your at home and expected to attack. Therefore a slower tempo keeps possession and you can create better chances though less of them.

Away you will be defending more so you will look to hit sides with counterattacks and therefore a fast more direct game is ideal.

Hope this helps.

bcm

Think of it this way, quicker tempo means more trough balls, long shots, crosses and forward runs, not run with the ball though.

zenith

I would say that the tempo should be set to match your gameplan and tactic. I not just to be so static as saying slow for lesser teams and quick for a more defensive and more counter attacking tactic.

Its true as Dayle said that slow tempo is most often used against weaker teams to let your team keep possession and try to break them down more slowly, and quicker is more often used in a counter attack tactic where you need to bring the ball forward quick.

But to look at it from another angle, sometime you need a higher tempo against a weak team in order to attack them before they get a chance to organize the defence and sit back. I also think that you should consider the closing down of the opponents when setting your tempo for a game. If the opponents close down hard and allover the pitch my opinion is that you should play a higher tempo game to tire the opposition out more by moving the ball around faster and try to get them out of position. If you play a slow tempo against a side that close down hard the chance that they will win the ball is greater since your players take a longer time on them with the ball and the opponents will be all over him.

So imo it isnt so easy as just saying slow for home games and fast for away where you should play defensive. Alot of other different parameters then just if you should play an attacking tactic or defensive tactic should be taken into consideration when choosing the tempo.

As an example i play a higher tempo game against weaker opponent to be able to break them down before they organize at the back and it has worked good for me so far.