Silvafox

This goes against the way of the premier league? Arsenal went 49 games unbeaten playing short quick football. Everytime i play it, it doesn't seem to work!

lim

All your attacking players have to be on the same mentality to get an arsenal type attacking football.

Cleon

Arsenal play a short build up game slow tempo. They only break faster when a good opportunity arises, 90% fo the time its a pateint build up. They don;t look at forcing an oepning, they bide their time. This is why they play good football but sometimes lack the edge in certain games, as they ar too patient at times.

Short passing works better with a slow tempo, because you are only passing at a slow speed. Playing a more direct game would need a slightly faster tempo to be effective.

recon

My club also play short passing but extremely quickly* when at their best, so it shouldn't be a definite, though I see your point.



*Short passing, counter attacking/break downs quick attacks.

Cleon

Its not definet, it just advises for best results

Smac

This seems to be because FM defines 'slow tempo' as 'slow to take a possession gamble (IE, take a shot or long cross into traffic). As such, some of the best and fastest ping-ponging of the football will be seen with a slower tempo.

This is contrasted by a 'fast tempo', by which SI mean 'fast to attack the goal'. This fits with the old English style of 'longball' in that many low-percentage direct attacks will probably eventually work. In this sense, fast means direct in SI's FM parlance.

Cleon's tautology tautology notwithstanding, there is a continuing debate about how the tempo slider affects the match. Some see it as complex (buildup of play, and linkup play), while some see it as merely 'buildup speed'.

Do a search on 'tempo' for more discussion.

-Smacksim

Millie

I don't believe Cleon's argument is tautologous at all - I think it needs to be explained that slow tempo means slow passing. Because you can play a slow tempo passing game, yet close down rapidly and counter attack - which may seem to some as a high tempo tactic. "Tempo" needs to be defined as the passing speed. In this case, it is not tautology to call "slow tempo, slow passing".

Benoit2

The best way to make tempo clear to yourself (imo) is to consider how quickly a team changes from defence to attack.

If a team wins the ball and want to attack quickly, they'll play a high tempo game. If the other team does the same, you'll basically see end to end football. From defence straight to attack, right back to defending etc. No time to rest, switching constantly, hence, you need good stamina.

Im sure people recognize this scenario, right? Needless to say, if you want to play quick, you need to pass the ball forward quickly. Direct passing is a good way to do this.

If you play slow, then you gain possesion, but instead of passing it forward immediately, you try to keep possesion. Maybe play the ball back to your defence, then to the other side of the pitch etc allowing your midfielders to get forward again in no hurry (less running, less stamina needed).

Smac

Its a tautology (just to be nitpicky and give Cleon a hard time he doesn't deserve, but its the kind of thing that drives me batty in the tactics forums) because the quoted part is nearly word for word what's in the hints file / what's in the tutorial/manual/years of SI's overly ambiguous 'definitions' of slider effect/etc. The 'logic' is just a repetition of dogma. The conclusion does not follow by anything other than common sense, an attribute that the slider system doesn't have a high PA for . So you're right, its not a tautology. Its a false tautology.

We know SI say 'Direct passing works better with a higher tempo', etc.. Repeating the ambiguity:
to conclude: is more than debatable. The passing speed isn't necessarily slow or fast based on tempo. Try it yourself. What is largely agreed upon is that buildup-of-play is affected.

I agree with you Millie that a slow tempo game can be played with aggressive 'fast' closing down, and that this might seem contradictory at first. Like Defensive Line, certain tactical adjustments are for when your team's in possession (tempo, passing, etc..), and a couple affect your team when not in possession.

-S

Cleon

Tempo is how fast you move the ball around period. That is what tempo is, how fast you distribute the ball. Anyone who disagress doesn;t understand what tempo actually is.

Slow passing is for build up play, direct passing is for teams who want to go from defence, to midfield, to attack.

It seems though the more I try and help people understand the more stick I get, I can see me going back to the dark room again soon for hibernation again.