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Total Football Journeyman: Creating My 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 Hybrid

Total Football Journeyman: Creating My 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 Hybrid

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The following tactical experiment drew inspiration from many sources. It would not be Total Football without its tactical holy grail of course. Ajax’ original 4-3-3 with Johan Cruyff centering the attack and controlling the whole formation from his iconic False 9 position. Then came the next natural evolution of this formula with Pep Guardiola’s Barca and the talismanic rise of its young Argentinian star. Finally, recently we witnessed an emergence of a renewed Total Football system at Ajax under it’s…

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Scoring Tips for Struggling Teams
Scoring Tips for Struggling Teams in Football Manager

Scoring Tips for Struggling Teams in Football Manager

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A lot of teams go through dry spells during a season, some teams never get scoring at all to start a campaign. I’ve found a few ways to help this situation during my current journeyman save in Singapore. (Follow me on Twitter for updates 😉 These are scoring tips for struggling teams in Football Manager. Tactics Starting off we’re going to take a look at your tactics. Many managers play in many different ways, and there is always a way…

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Guide to Player Interactions on Football Manager

Guide to Player Interactions on Football Manager

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FM21 replaced the classic “voice tone” system with the gestures, an improved, more humane new mechanic for interactions. They say around 70% of human communication is non-verbal, so it only made sense that we were no longer simply being “assertive” or “passionate”, but pointing fingers and flinging bottles at people… or, you know, less aggressive tactics. However, how can we make the best of this new system, and best communicate with our players? It’s now been over a year, so…

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Pragmatic Football: Mid-Block Your Way To Victory in FM22

Pragmatic Football: Mid-Block Your Way To Victory in FM22

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That is right. This article won’t be about my usual subject, Total Football. Instead I will be joining the Dark Side and discussing Pragmatic Football. And at the same time offering praise to Pragmatic Football’s grandmaster and high priest, Jose Mourinho. In that light another possible title for this article could have been “Understanding The Misunderstood Genius of Jose Mourinho”. My long-delayed tribute to the Special One.

Toughest teams to manage in FM22
The TOUGHEST teams to manage in FM22

The TOUGHEST teams to manage in FM22

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These might be the toughest teams to manage in the fully licensed leagues in Football Manager 22. If you want a real challenge, I think taking on one of these clubs could be a great challenge for any self-proclaimed FM expert! Derby County – England You are in for quite the task to turn Derby County into a force again in the EFL. The club is in administration, and they are under a transfer embargo. They have been docked 21…

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FM22 Wales Hidden Gems
FM 22: Hidden Gems in Wales

FM 22: Hidden Gems in Wales

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Read along as I unearth the hidden gems in Wales. Fire up your laptop and set your destination for Cardiff as we jump through time 5 years into the future to see how our aspiring Gareth Bale’s have developed.  Deuparth gwaith yw ei ddechrau. Starting the work is two thirds of it… Traditional Welsh Proverb Yes, this old proverb lends itself nicely to our article which will hopefully make your time managing a side in Wales a lot more enjoyable….

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Ernst Happel’s 433 and The Invention of Total Football

Ernst Happel’s 433 and The Invention of Total Football

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From time to time my readers will ask me one particular question. Or a variation of it. Basically it goes like this. What is the absolute essence of Total Football? If I want my team to play Total Football, where do I start? How do I build it into a Total Football powerhouse? What foundation stones, in tactics, training and personnel, do I implement? The following article will hopefully answer some of these questions. To do so we might as…

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Tactical Styles - Gegenpress
Football Manager – Tactical Style – Gegenpress

Football Manager – Tactical Style – Gegenpress

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Football Manager comes with a set of pre-set tactical styles. These styles were first introduced in FM19 and they support both the tactical novice as well as the tactical veterans out there. In this article, we’ll go through the creation of Gegenpress tactical style, its roots and its use in the modern game.