It seems to me that there are too many people on these boards who simply have no tactical direction of their own; people who rather than thinking up there own ideas prefer to take the best parts of other people's ideas and put them together. That's all well and good - one can only improve by using other peoples' ideas - but it is helpful to know yourself exactly what you are looking for tactically. If you imagine that your tactics are a weighing scale, and attacking football is on one half, defensive on the other, it is important to strike the right balance between the two. Being too attacking may result in poor defending, and vice versa. So, it is important to know what you want from your attacking side and your defensive side, as well as the unit as a whole. Let's say I decide to work on my defence in the first season (as I often do to sort of set up shop in season one). I would obviously put more on the defensive side than the attacking one on our hypthetical weighing scale. In season two I might take away a little bit of my defensive solidarity to bolster the attack, and I will continue to do this until I have a working balance between the two. Now, that's all well and good, you say, but how do I do this in the game? Well, you don't think SI chose to use sliders for nothing do you?
Think about it; if your mentality slider is on 10, and you add 1 to attack, your mentality will become 11, and the 'weighing scale' will have tipped slightly to the attacking side. So, back to my hypothetical season where I decided to start defensively then - it is now a matter of how defensive. Obviously, the worse the team I am managing, the harder we will have to defend to be stable at the back. So, if I am a relegation candidate, I might start with mentality as low a 5. A top club might be 8 or 9 with the intention of increasing this ever so slightly as we become defensively stable. Crucially though, the mentality affects how you would want to play.
It goes without saying that with a mentality of 5 your team will sit deep and try to stop all attacks closer than 30 yards, so this might prompt a counter attacking style of play for a team in this category. As you become more defensively stable, and therefore progress up the mentality ladder, and likewise up the pitch physically, you can afford to change your style of play somewhat. Bear in mind that every time you have a succesful season, you are more likely to attract better players, and so you will be better prepared for the mentality leap each season will bring. If you are Sheff Utd, and decide to start with a mentality of 5 and play counterattacking football, if you stay out of relegation you can buy a few lower-midtable players, and progress. It's about taking progressional steps, rather than specifically trying to overachieve and getting caught out. As Alan Partridge said, it's evolution, not revolution.
So, if styles of play are affected by the mentality you choose you use, then everything must be changed to suit right? Correct. As we talked about, a team with 5 mentality will begin by playing counterattacking football, so everything else must fall into this category. Creative freedom will be lower for defensive players, and a little higher for attackers to fashion a chance on the break. Closing down will be lower at the front and higher at the back to lure the opposition near your box before stealing the ball, and playing a direct or long ball. As seasons progress and the mentality is raised, the style of play will begin to differ, and passing will be reduced somewhat, closing down will increase for the forwards as you become less inclined to use counter attack. Similarly, as the better players come to your club, you will want to raise creative freedom to allow the players to use their individual skill to help you. In short, once you have a specific plan and set of expectations, it is much easier to understand how to play and progress up the ranks.
Next, if I have the time I will put an example up to show this method in practise across a few seasons; hopefully that will make it more specific and familiar. But remember, have a plan and stick to it with every instruction you use. I have failed by having a plan but changing things for different players too often and this way is great to keep a steady mind about your football. That's it folks. Ciao!
Tactics and How to Use Them 
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