Offensive defenders tactic

What is it?

Norwegian tactic (also called simply "Norway" or "Norge") concentrates on boosting midfield and/or attack at expense of defence. The idea behind this tactics is simple as inequality: 5 > (10-6), meaning: if you'll get 6 out of 10 chances there are in every match, and you will score from at least 5 of them, you will win the match even if your opponent scores from every chance he gets. In other words, if your possesion is big enough to get you 6 chances in a match and your attacks are good enough to convert those chances into goals, you need no defence at all. So if giving up defence will give you such midfield and attacks, then it is a logical thing to do.

Why is it called "Norwegian?"

The name of this tactic derives from famous final match (MatchID: 14287675) of World Cup IV, played on 29.02.2004, in which Norway beat Sweden 4-2 (it was the only World Cup not won by Sweden so far). Norwegian NT coach Snylte used the following line-up:

Norway gold medal line-up
GK
WB off	CD off	CD off	exIM
W off	IM off	IM off	WTM
FO		FO

This was in reality not the first match in which Norwegian tactic was used, only the most famous one. The oldest Norwegian tactic matches I know, were played on 29.10.2003 (friendly, MatchID: 9958212) and 12.11.2003 (cup, MatchID: 12860969) - 4 months before the World Cup final - and there are probably even older ones (please submit them if you find them).

Norwegian tactic vs. all out tactic

Norwegian tactic is often mistaken with "classic" all out tactic, which concentrates on boosting midfield (possesion), even at expense of attack (for example playing both wingers toward middle), but they're really not the same. The following table summerises the differences between them.

	Norwegian tactic	all out tactic
purpose	gain at least 6 chances, score at least 5	gain all the chances in the game
the idea	if you score 5 goals while opponent can only score 4, you need no defence, you'll win anyway	if you gain all the chances in the game the opponent won't score and with so many chances you must score something even with weak attack
means used	relative to opponent's stats; possesion >59%, attacks (at least central attack or both wings) equal or stronger then opponent's defences	extremely high midfield
lineups used	3-5-2, 3-4-3, (2-5-3)	3-5-2, (2-5-3)
tactics used	AIM, AOW, normal	AIM
players used	3 or 2 midfielders, 2 or 3 forwards, wingers off or TM, 1 or 2 CD off, 1 or 2 Wb off	3 midfielders, 2 forwards, 2 wingers TM, 2 CD off, WB doesn't really matter
counter tactics	a) strong midfield (possesion >44%) with central defence (if opponent is playing AIM) or both wing defences (if AOW/normal) stronger then opponents attacks b) all defences much, much stronger then his attacks, CA	boosting central defence, CA and/or possesion >39%

Effectiveness

While the changes changes in the game engine that increased the importance of defence - especially the introduction of CA and defensive coaches - severely hindered the effective use of all out tactic, the Norwegian tactic is still successfuly used by many managers.

See also

All out tactics