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Total Football Journeyman: Bossing the Ball like 1995 Ajax

Total Football Journeyman: Bossing the Ball like 1995 Ajax

Part 2 of Building a Total Football Club in FM20 It is not about how long you have the ball, it is what you do with it. When playing possession football, you should always have this mantra in mind. Although I am not one to obsess over getting high possession numbers. Of course it is always nice to see your team getting the higher possession %. I see it as proof that my players are imposing themselves on the opposition…

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

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

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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4-3-3 Role Guide: The Back Four

4-3-3 Role Guide: The Back Four

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…

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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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Young Devils – Total Football DNA and Two Johans

Young Devils – Total Football DNA and Two Johans

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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Recreating Total Football in FM20

Recreating Total Football in FM20

Is it Possible in a Football Manager Game? 1974. To some football enthusiasts (and Ajax fans), this was the year when football reached its apotheosis as a sport. The highest point in the development of the beautiful game, when it was the closest it would ever be to an art-form. Some would even argue that the game has been on the downturn ever since, as the sport gets more and more violent and mechanical and VAR discussions dominate the media….

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How many player instructions to set in FM19?

How many player instructions to set in 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…

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Dynamo Project: Prologue

Dynamo Project: Prologue

Hi my name is CrusaderTsar and I’ve been playing Football Manager since 2013. Finally deciding to dip my feet into writing, I plan to discuss Dynamo Kiev club history and my tactics. I intend to post regular updates on my squad, results and musings on how to improve my tactics and training.