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Total Football Journeyman: Total Football on a Budget

Total Football Journeyman: Total Football on a Budget

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So far in my Total Football Journeyman series, I had covered some pretty great historic teams like Ajax, Barcelona, and Liverpool. But I feel that in recounting the stories of these giants, I lost track of something important. All those sides played beautiful fluid football but were already established world-class clubs. Yet the question remains, can a Total Football style be achieved by a club that is good but not world-class? And can Total Football be achieved on a budget?…

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The Art of Defence

The Art of Defence

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Offence wins matches, defence wins titles. OK, so that isnt verbatim, but we’ve all heard it. I see so many tactics that focus heavily on attack; wing backs with an attack duty, a playmaker, a mezzala on attack, inside forwards and a pressing forward. And watching those 11 dots all plough forward, hell bent on attacking, looks fantastic, doesn’t it? And if it works, great. But wouldn’t you like to understand defensive tactics and become a master in the art…

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Total Football Journeyman: How To Break Stubborn Defences

Total Football Journeyman: How To Break Stubborn Defences

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I pick up where I left off last time. Searching for the central striker role to complete my 3-4-3 Diamond formation. For this I will take a step back and look at the original inspiration for Louis van Gaal’s 3-4-3 formation. That is, Johan Cruyff and the Barcelona team of late 1980s and early 1990s. Also I will take a somewhat unorthodox approach to constructing my 3-4-3 Diamond Tactic. We will deconstruct the attacking formation by looking at defensive positioning….

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Total Football Journeyman: Giant-Killing & Second Chances in La Liga

Total Football Journeyman: Giant-Killing & Second Chances in La Liga

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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…

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Total Football, Total Balance: The Most Important Attribute

Total Football, Total Balance: The Most Important Attribute

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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…

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Targetman: Superhero Striker for FM20

Targetman: Superhero Striker for FM20

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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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FM20 Tactical Planning
Three in One Tactical Planning – Colours of the Flag

Three in One Tactical Planning – Colours of the Flag

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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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Young Devils – Total Football DNA and Two Johans

Young Devils – Total Football DNA and Two Johans

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Or how to use Club DNA to keep your FM20 save interesting The influence of Total Football has been far-reaching in both time and place. Since its dramatic entry into the world in 1974 it changed the face of the sport as we know it. Marcelo Bielsa, Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola were all influenced by Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels in 1970s Netherlands. If not for them, Spanish Tiki-Taka would not have existed. In this followup to my last…

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Young Devils – Creating Overloads 2.0

Young Devils – Creating Overloads 2.0

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The Hammer and Anvil Tactic (download below) FM20 Followup To: My obsession with overloads first started in FM19 with Roma. At that time I fell in love with this simple and effective strategy. The consistent results it led to with the Giallorossi, made me even more respectful of Pep Guardiola’s football philosophy and his achievements. More recently while researching for my current Young Devils series, I started to realize how much of an effect Marcelo Bielsa’s ideas had on Pep’s…

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FM20 new features: how the game is an improvement over FM19

FM20 new features: how the game is an improvement over FM19

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This year, I think I felt even more underwhelmed than usual. Being able to delegate the role of shouting from the touchline was one of the heights of the FM20 new features announced. Almost everyone I spoke to felt the same way. There wasn’t much to be excited about before the FM20 beta came out, but it was still a chance to start afresh with updated squads. Yet the game feels more professional and realistic. Let me explain!