Part 2. Using Cruyff’s 3-4-3 Diamond to Highlight New Wide-CB Role Now that we established that Football Manager is a simple game, let me show you an example of how simple it is to recreate a seemingly complicated historic tactic. We will do it step by step. So it might take a few articles to lay out the tactic completely. In this first step we’ll only take a general look at the newest FM role that inspired my FM22. Specifically…
Recently, I changed my approach to both tactic creation and playing matches in FM21. I would like to share this approach with you, because it has given me a lot of joy. It’s what I call the Swiss Army Knife Method to Football Management. At its core, my approach uses a very basic 4-5-1 shape. But unlike my previous articles, which often chronicled historic tactics and teams, this guide is not about any one particular formation. It’s really about building a whole…
When I set out to recreate Maslov’s style of football with Notts County, it started as a long-term project of developing an effectively simple 4-4-2. I was looking for a formation that could be successful in both lower leagues and the elite ones. For this to work the concepts of intense pressing, strategic possession and constant ball movement had to be central as they were essential in Viktor Maslov’s own tactics. In many ways, Maslov’s tactical ideas contained quite a…
Part 1: Building a Total Football Club in FM20 One country has always fascinated me. España. The historian in me is attracted to its turbulent history of conquests and revolutions. And Spanish football is no less interesting. As a nation it is united by its love of the beautiful game. Nevertheless it is divided politically and geographically. Each autonomous community comes with its own distinct culture and languages. And it is this vibrant multi-cultural mosaic that also gives Spanish football…
This articles continues my guided series on crafting the ultimate 4-3-3 Possession Tactic. I have been enamoured with this formation in FM20. I believe it offers the perfect balance of attack and defence while maintaining high possession. Possession has always been important for me when creating tactics although I have never been a fan of possession just for the sake of possession. Thus the main of this series is to find ways to optimize possession with intent within the limits…
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…
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…
Young Devils Guide Football Manager is a cultural phenomenon because it is a game that is built around numerical statistics and spreadsheets. And at the core of all the stats, are player attributes, representing their technical, mental and physical ability. Which in on themselves are simple collections of numbers. Yet they can make us whoop with joy, when you first see that wonderkid regen with green 16+ values across the board. Or sigh in frustration when confronted with down-pointing red…
Part of Great Sides of Football Manager Series We finally did it! Roma has won its 3rd Serie A title after a long 20 year drought. The fairy-tale run we had in my 2nd season, solidified my belief in Roma as the most fun club to play on FM. Luckily the club’s talented core remained unchanged in real life. So it should be another great year with AS Roma in FM20. Here are some of the reason why I love my FM19…
The tactical depth in FM19 is simply phenomenal. You can get so immersed in the new roles and sorting out your defensive width, while forgetting about all the other parts of your tactic. Don’t forget player instructions in FM19! When it doesn’t work, some people will go straight to Miles Jacobson to lament how the new features don’t work.However, we’re not like that. These issues test all of our patience, though; no one’s more than mine. You want to know…
