Tactical Tinkering: Wide Centre-Back
A new position has been added to FM22, the Wide Centre Back (WCB). In this article, we look at what the position is and how it will make you think about your tactics on Football Manager.
Tactics have been changing in football for a very long time. Being able to replicate real-life tactics is one of the most illuring features of Football Manager. The new Wide Centre-Back builds on the tactical shapes that involve a back three.
As can be seen in the image below, the WCB will be available in three duties – defend, support and attack. Each duty will change the instructions slightly to support both defensive and attacking phases of play.
The three duties will allow for greater tactical personalisation for a variety of back-3 formations giving you the ability to select from far more tactical variations.
The WCB can both underlap and overlap depending on the duty set and the given match situation. Previous overlaps were reserved for Full-Backs (FB), Wing-Backs (WB) and Complete Wing-Backs (CWB). The addition of the WCB allows for more tactical innovation.
The movement, depending on the duty selected and match situation, will affect the movement of other players both in front of and behind your WCB, such as your FBs, WBs, CWBs and Defensive Midfielders. See the following clip:
The bigger picture is looking at where players are when your team are in possession as well as where they are when your team loses the ball. The video from Football Manager made it clear that the WCB role will need to be a role in which the surrounding tactical system supports the potential chosen WCB role due to the potential gaps that the role could leave when either underlapping or overlapping – something to consider before selecting an attacking WCB for sure!
“The best element of the pressing this year is that players now, based on their stamina, have the concept of their sprint capacity. They know when they can press and when they can’t. So, just a plug-and-play Gegenpress system is going to be a thing of the past.”
Nic Madden (Match Producer)
As with plug-and-play hipster pressing, the WCB role is an example of the knock-on effect individual player roles and instructions will have in FM22, in terms of will affecting other players’ roles and positioning — meaning, managers will have to think and use the Data Hub to assess performance.
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