FM22: What Type of Tactical Manager Are You?
You’ve just taken over your new team on Football Manager. You’ve had your meeting with the chairman, and decided on the roles of your various staff members. Now it’s on to possibly the most important part of your job as a manager. Meeting your squad and deciding which tactics you’re going to play! The question is, when it comes to tactics, what type of tactical manager are you?
Self-confessed Tactical Genius
Now I fully appreciate that everyone takes their own individual approach here… Firstly, we have the ‘self-confessed tactical genius’. They will scrutinise every aspect of their formation, tactical style and individual player performance! This manager will likely look to change things game by game. Whether it be a formation change, changing player roles or individual instructions to counter specific threats from their opposition! They will generally take longer to get from game to game. Maybe taking days and weeks to complete a single season because of the intensity of their approach to tactical setup.
FM Teacher Tip – If you are a self-confessed tactical genius, then I tip my hat to you. However, a tactical manager has to realise they will need to adapt and improve their squad as time goes on. Your “winning” tactic needs to constantly be reviewed and updated/tweaked as your reputation grows. When you do well, the reputation of your team increases. Which means the AI managers start to take your team more seriously than before. The AI will start to use more resources in matches against your teams. That’s why the difficulty increases after a successful season.
Two or Three Tactics Specialist
A more watered-down version of the above is the ‘two or three tactics specialist’! This is the manager that looks at their team, and sets up a formation and tactical style they are comfortable with based on the players they have. However, they don’t want to just use the one tactic. They are very aware that different levels of opposition will come up throughout a single season, so they may set up 2-3 tactics that they will alternate on, depending on the opponent! It’s likely this manager doesn’t have major differences between their tactics but instead just minor tweaks. Likely they will have something like a 4-1-2-3 Wide with a DM to cover when playing stronger sides. They might switch it up to a 4-2-3-1 Wide when facing a team they’re expected to beat. Usually, if there is a 3rd tactic, it’s likely it will be an ultra-aggressive or ultra-defensive one. To either get a late goal or defend a narrow lead late on!
FM Teacher’s Tip: If you’re using more than one tactic, try to ensure that there is not much difference between each tactic. Tactical familiarity is important for team performance. According to the Football Manager manual:
According to the manual:
“A maximum of three Tactics can be worked on at any one time; the Primary Trained Tactic will benefit from 60% of the contribution towards the team’s Tactical Familiarity, with the other two each gaining 20%. Familiarity rise and falls depending on the team and player instructions set in a tactic and is remembered across the use of all tactics. For example, if a player is tasked with Short Passing in all three tactics, his Familiarity will be higher in that particular regard, which contributes towards the overall score when extrapolated across all players and instructions.“
One Tactic Suits All
Then there are the ‘one tactic suits all’ manager. The manager who likes to play with one formation. One tactical style and whatever team they end up at WILL play their way and no other. With no room for manoeuvre on what said manager is most comfortable with. One of my best pals has played a 4-1-2-3 Wide formation for about 10 editions of Football Manager. Without ever deviating and trying something different. If he takes over a club without the right players, he will simply have a clear-out. Then buy a whole new team to suit his style if that is what is required!
Download Specialist
Next, there is the ‘download specialist’. The manager that goes searching the internet for the best downloadable tactics. This manager might be willing to try different setups. They may look at their players first and decide ‘I need a good 4-4-2 flat formation’. Then they start looking for one that has been uploaded, and other FM players have commented with their own success!
FM Teacher Tip: If you’re really wanting to download tactics, then my best referral would be to look at RDF Tactics.
Broken Tactic Manager
Finally, we have the ‘broken tactic manager’. This is the manager who goes hunting the broken tactics. Ones that will allow them to beat Manchester City with their Dulwich Hamlet side, just 20 games into their managerial career!
Now there are new aspects to take into account with the newer version of FM. The introduction of the data hub, and the new Wide Centre Back role. These new additions will affect your long term tactical strategy. Using the new data hub properly will allow you to turn your potentially ‘broken tactic’ into a working tactic. You just have to do it properly. How? Well, check how the article below for an example.
As always, I value your opinions and look forward to hearing your thoughts.
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