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Category: Tactics

4-3-3 Role Guide: Attack and Midfield

4-3-3 Role Guide: Attack and Midfield

Only a few years ago, under Arsene Wenger, Arsenal was playing some of the most attractive football in Premiership. Over the course of his long stay, the visionary Frenchman changed the club DNA significantly. The Gunners went from playing boring park-the-bus to fast-paced short passing possession game. Before Pep’s Manchester City, there was Arsenal’s elegant Tiki-Taka-style that was making waves in England. Wenger turned English football on its head with his brand of attractive football that focused on technical ability…

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How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love 4-3-3

How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love 4-3-3

It seems that midway through the life-cycle of every Football Manager game there comes a time for change. It is usually when long-running saves start feeling stale. And a new challenge is needed to keep the game fresh. Sometimes it is a matter of changing up the tactics. The recent major Match Engine update has made me realize that my tactics were not doing what I wanted. We were winning games, but not in the way I wished. So I…

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Red Star Alliance: Shithousing the Shithousers (Socceroo Style Survival Tactics)

Red Star Alliance: Shithousing the Shithousers (Socceroo Style Survival Tactics)

After two seasons playing variations on the Allardyce 4-5-1 (4-3-3) system, I decided it was time for a change.  Considering we had grossly overachieved with Red Star Wrexham and gotten into the Championship ahead of schedule, I am faced with the daunting prospect of avoiding relegation.  Given that we’ve already mastered the dark arts of defensive, pragmatic, resultism football, where else could we go? How does a team of shithousers get even shithousier? After a few days of reflection, the…

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FM20 | Anti-Football | Simeone’s Symphony

FM20 | Anti-Football | Simeone’s Symphony

In the past, I have put a lot of emphasis into playing football “the right way”. In my FM18 save, I played Total Football with Ajax, the founders of the Cruyffian way of playing. A year later, I was experimenting with Arrigo Sacchi’s variant of total football in my save with Uniao de Madeira. In my current Moneyball save I have gone with a spin on the Hungarian Golden Team’s fluid style, an attacking 4-2-4. A change was required. I…

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Red Star Alliance: Resultism (30 Ways To Not Lose)

Red Star Alliance: Resultism (30 Ways To Not Lose)

As mentioned in my previous articles in this series, I wanted to achieve success playing pragmatic football. Considering we’ve taken Red Star Wrexham from the VNL to the Championship in just three seasons, pragmatism doesn’t quite cut it as a good description. To use a term attributed to our lord and saviour Big Sam, we can only call it one thing: Resultism.  If pragmatism is the acceptance of who you are and making the best of what you’ve got, resultism…

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Young Devils – Samba United and The Magic Box

Young Devils – Samba United and The Magic Box

There are two ways to creating tactics in Football Manager 2020. One that most FM players, myself included, use is to start with an idea of what kind of tactical style you want to achieve. Then look at your team and try to mold your players into the roles that fit such a style. Sometimes this can work very well, especially when starting with a squad that worked under such a system before. For example it will be easier to…

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FM20 | Moneyball | Part 2

FM20 | Moneyball | Part 2

Welcome back to my Moneyball series. If you missed part 1 you can check it out here, and if you have no idea what Moneyball is you can check out my FM19 series here. This time we will be looking at how the tactics I’m using are shaping my search for signings. We’ll also take a dive into my results so far, and compare my January targets with similar players and my own squad.

Red Star Alliance: Big Sam’s Greatest Hits (Tactics ala Allardyce)

Red Star Alliance: Big Sam’s Greatest Hits (Tactics ala Allardyce)

This instalment of the Red Star Alliance series continues my current obsession with all things Sam Allardyce and outlines my FM Interpretation of a “greatest hits” (pun intended) album from his time at Bolton. These tactics were developed in conjunction with Big Sam’s Fantastic Four data metrics for my Red Star Wrexham save. Recreating IRL tactics is my preferred approach to FM. I watched Bolton matches from their most successful period (2003-2007) where they competed in Europe and made Cup Finals….

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Targetman: Superhero Striker for FM20

Targetman: Superhero Striker for FM20

Targetman. Sounds like a low-budget Marvel character but in reality they are the no-nonsense hero your FM20 team might need. Playing a Targetman up front as one of your striker roles might not be popular amoungst fashionable teams. You might not see the likes Manchester City, Barcelona and Liverpool doing it. Or even generally across top divisions like La Liga and the EPL. The striker role of Targetman might have negative links with brutal and direct teams but that is…

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Three in One Tactical Planning – Colours of the Flag

Three in One Tactical Planning – Colours of the Flag

Welcome to Three in One Tactical Planning, part of the Colours of the Flag series which will be running on Dictate the Game, in this post we will be looking at how in Football Manager 2020 you can create three tactics, all to aid and work together to get you the points needed in this virtual world of FM20. Don’t forget to head over to other posts on the website after you have enjoyed this Three in One Tactical Planning…

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