Fundamental FM -Tactical Presets & Tactics - Updated!

Since FM06, I haven't been too keen on releasing tactics, where I can I try to help others understand the game as much as possible, and while that helps there are times when people just want to pick up the game and get on with it without too much planning. I can understand that view since I'm 42 and hardly have time to over-analyze things. With that in mind I'm releasing a set of presets and tactics.

Presets are tactical templates, these go into the folder found in : C:Program Files/Sports Interactive/Data/Tactics. The name of the file is tactical templates and it replaces this file. If you are slightly uncomfortable with this, I suggest copying the original file and keeping it somewhere in case my new file smokes your pc ...naturally I'm joking.

When you have replaced the file, start football manager, go to tactics and choose a player, then click on him to bring up his individual instructions, you should now be able to "Set To". This allows now to choose from a set of tactical presets that allow him to play differently. I haven't made this presets very detailed, because there can be a lot of permutations. The instructions do not necessarily turn them into world beaters but act as a guide.

There are two kinds of presets, one I've named Fergie and another has been named Benitez. The Fergie ones are very attacking in orientation and the Benitez ones are more conservative, but probably on the higher end of "standard" tactics. When you choose a preset for a player, these will override all his team instructions, in fact you could go through the whole set em all up and return to the team screen and just use the defensive line, tempo, width sliders. You could arrange the team sliders to inform you at a glance as well. Another use could also be to allow you to set up a set of players to act as a support group. I usually choose the FBs, attacking MCs to be the support group, set em to team settings and then adjust it in game when i need to. Now this may not be the preferred way for most people but its what I usually do, I guess more advanced players do the same as well.

My Default Tactics

I used those templates to make these default tactics of which there are 11:

Standard/Attacking 442

Standard/Attacking 4132

Standard/Attacking 4231

Standard/Attacking 4321 Narrow

Standard/Attacking 4321 Wide

Standard 442v2

I do not assure you that these tactics are going to go out and win you every game. If you're uncertain I recommend

you use the Standard 442v2. This is a relatively "safe" tactic, its neither too attacking nor too defensive. I used all these tactics, in fact i kept changing a tactic for every game with Newcastle who are not doing too badly..

When you download the file, save the file in My Documents/Sports Interactive/FM2009 Demo/Tactics folder. Then when you start the game it should all appear under your list of archived tactics.

Choosing Tactics

The attacking tactics will get you goals, but they will also concede a lot, in fact some of the attacking tactics are so out there, that you may want to consider reducing FWR on some players. I didn't want to make it too easy for people so these are general settings, sometimes you may find that the fullbacks and the wingers are all doing incredible forward runs, well you can change them if you want.

The standard tactics are more middle of the road, and while they are "standard" they have a variety of styles, so you may need to consider seriously whether your players can fit the mould.

All the tactics employ manmarking and tight marking on support players, while some of you may feel uncomfortable with it, I don't since I usually approach every game differently and decide for myself whether my players are better off marking zonally. These are decisions you will need to make for yourself.

The style of management

This is MY STYLE of management, I am not advocating that you follow it to a tee, but since there are people who obviously find this game challenging, I'm hoping you could just pick things off and go and do your own tactics.

The approach I take is fairly simple and logical:

Step 1 : Define Roles

Defensive, supporting and attacking. I take a team, break it into three and always decide who will do what. In more attacking formations, I tend to have the supporting cast on more attacking instructions. To make them more defensively responsible I need to up their closing down, while it works sometimes it all depends on the kind of players I have. With better teams like Liverpool who are a breeze to manage its a no-brainer. With poorer teams I strongly recommend the 433 attacking tactic. Its not been uploaded, but this tactic allows you to set up a team of pacey men upfront. ALl these guys do is run in front and chase after long balls, its route 1 football and its easy to do. Just make your own from the presets. As a guide I usually maintain my defensive line at around the median level of my mentality structure.

Step 2: Choose players

Once you have chosen the roles players need to perform, look at your side, if your side does not have the right kind of players, then rethink the roles, you may need to change tactics. This may happen in games where you end up playing against a strong TM for whom you have no answer. So you may need to modfiy your player selection to accomodate this.

I had a match against Arsenal, we were 2 goals down and I had no reply to their front line, so we changed formations at half time and i brought on another support player...we went on to grab a point. You can do this too, but you need to be honest with yourself.

Step 3: Never be stubborn

This is a common trait in FM, there are a lot of people who play the game and allude to their previous 'life" experiences and insist that the game needs to be somewhat realistic. I for one have been hearing this for ages, and honestly this game requires you to adapt. A successful manager needs to know how to adapt to ingame situations. There have been matches where I have been hesitant, thinking that the tactic they are playing smoked last week's opposition so this bottom of the table shouldn't be a problem. With 20 mins to go and all the possession we are still goal-less, that is when I decide to change my tactics. You should be prepared to do the same too if you need to.

Step 4: Always have a Plan B, if you have a Plan C, you'll be a legend

If you approach every game and decide hell, I am going to use one tactic and this should be enough, and you don't make any changes during the course of the game to either chase it or shut it up, this thread is not for you and neither are the tactics. A successful manager needs to adapt. If you're chasing a game why not sling the 442 into a 4222? Its possible to do, just move the ML/MR into AM/AR slots...make some small adjustments, or just have a 433 on standby. Always have an alternate plan, if you need to score and chase a game do you have a bench strategy, does that strategy also allow you shut up shop?

Downloads

The tactical presets can be found here. The file is called tactical presets http://www.mediafire.com/?xmtax3q3c4n

And My Default tactics can be found here. The fle is called RY Default Tactics http://www.mediafire.com/?zcfrm3difet

http://savefile.com/projects/808712528 - FM 2009 - Projects An alternate location to download both files, you can also register and will be notified via email if I update the tactics.

Alternative link hosted at FM:B

As all things go, you can't expect these tactics to win you the league on your first attempt. These are just templates to help and guide you. I will try and help anyone who wants it and please try and keep it to this thread. If these don't work don't come in and holler. I don't even know how these will do with other teams, they will certainly need to be adapted.

I was very reluctant to do this and I didn't want to offent anyone by uploading this stuff, but I hope people take this in the right spirit. Over time I will most likely be adjusting these templates and making changes, and perhaps will update the thread.

I won't be around between the 6-13th, and I don't think I'll be online much, but I will do what I can and I think there will always be members on this forum who will be willing to share. Good luck

first tactics I downloaded. just to see your settings?

what are we supposed to do with 'tactical presets'?

cheers

@Mitja...i've already explained it in the thread earlier...you can replace the presets in the game so that you can set the players up on a new mentality framework. In other words all the presets there have been redone with the intention of reducing the gaps. There are 2 sets to choose from each has been built on a specific mentality framework.

Presets are tactical templates, these go into the folder found in : C:Program Files/Sports Interactive/Data/Tactics. The name of the file is tactical templates and it replaces this file. If you are slightly uncomfortable with this, I suggest copying the original file and keeping it somewhere in case my new file smokes your pc ...naturally I'm joking.

When you have replaced the file, start football manager, go to tactics and choose a player, then click on him to bring up his individual instructions, you should now be able to "Set To". This allows now to choose from a set of tactical presets that allow him to play differently. I haven't made this presets very detailed, because there can be a lot of permutations. The instructions do not necessarily turn them into world beaters but act as a guide.

nice one rashidi, cant wait to start disecting these

@Mitja...i've already explained it in the thread earlier...you can replace the presets in the game so that you can set the players up on a new mentality framework. In other words all the presets there have been redone with the intention of reducing the gaps. There are 2 sets to choose from each has been built on a specific mentality framework.

oh, I see, nice thanks.

sometimes I just need to read the text more carefully as english is not my mother language

Sports Interactive folder in program files is empty...should I create Data/Tactics folders?

I'm going to try using your advice as the mighty Leeds United. I will report back with feedback. Thanks.

If you've used steam to download the demo the folder is located here (I hope!): C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2009 demo\data\tactics

Hmm I'd probably cycle through the standard 442 and attacking 442, using the 442v2 and 4132 if needing to defend. Will probably alter the attacking 442 and move it to a 4222 so I have an all out attack, standard and defensive tactic. Will also use these 3 types of player instructions too.

If you've used steam to download the demo the folder is located here (I hope!): C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\football manager 2009 demo\data\tactics

of course, how stupid of me...thanks mate.

now I just need to know how to replace these two files?

now I just need to know how to replace these two files?

My Documents/ Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 09 demo/ tactics

My Documents/ Sports Interactive/ Football Manager 09 demo/ tactics

no, templates file....but I managed, that was hard (that's what's happaning when you're using computor almost for FM only )

Sports Interactive folder in program files is empty...should I create Data/Tactics folders?

Do this:

My Computer>Tools>Folder Options>View> Make sure show hidden files is ticked.

Now go to : C:Program Files>Sports Interactive>Data> You should see all the files now....or like someone suggested if if you downloaded via steam then you should look in the steamapps folder.

Would these templates work for FM2008?

rashidi does fwr runs mixed make players act like a rarely fwr player at times or does it just make him hold his position and act like a fwr often at times? hope that makes sense.

Rashidi,

Just want to say thanks very much for this. I'm in a similar position to you (wife, 3 young kids) meaning I don't now have the time to devote to FM that I used to when kids weren't about. Then I could easily sit down at night and do a 3 or 4 hour chunk at a time. Nowadays, well time is more precious so when I do get some FM time I want to enjoy it, playing games without spending an hour micro managing tactics.

Last years version, and this one, have been much the same IMO in that they are pretty deep tactically, certainly much more than previous versions IMO. I have never been one for killer tactics, just want some that are efficient without me having to build from scratch and change consistently once its up and running.

I think I got a good 4-3-2-1 set up for last years FM, possibly from wwfan (?) but it was someone who had been playing Milan and had developed a tactic with lots of short passing on it. From there I could watch games on the pitch and do a little tweak here and there as games went on and players came in and left. I eventually ended up with own version of that 4-3-2-1 which was enjoyable to play with.

I am hoping your set here gives me the same "start up" for 09, meaning I can play with them, analyse and learn from them and do tweaking where I want to but you have done all the hard work in putting the guts of them together in the first place.

So again, thanks for the tactics/templates and also the posts on tactical theory and how the 09 engine works. Its been an interesting read so far!

These are really working! Thanks so much

I hope they work for everyone, the standard ones are fairly safe, the 442RYv2 is pretty safe, I used it with Newcastle and actually came back from a goal down against Chelsea, and held them to only 5 shots on goal vs my 4, it wasn't a pretty game but it was engaging. IMHO what the game needs are decent presets, I'm not afraid about going out on a limb and saying my piece when it needs to be done, people do need some good preset tactics; while these were done pretty quickly I have to reiterate these are not killer tactics, they are just supposed to be decent enough for people to pick em up and go out and use them.

As time go on I will develop more, there is a 433 that I want to do, a basic one, unfortunately I will be flying off in a couple of hours. I'm fairly certain that Cleon and wwfan will be around to help people out as well.

@afeckingame, at the moment the way the 3d illustrates it, FWR mixed appears to look like they stand around, actually when you look around the player you will notice players actually moving or you will get passing outlets as well. FWR often sets a player off, but FWR mixed makes the player more effective as a link player and allows others (if they have FWR often) to become passing outlets. Its very possible to make a patient probing tactic with players on FWR mixed, its not going to create a lot of chances though and your players need to have good passing. Its not something I'd recommend, but it definitely is an option.

In the future, I reckon Cleon and wwfan will have loads more to add, both of them are getting stuff together, we could have all done it as a group, but my apologies also need to go to them as I couldn't sit around and wait, the demo is out and I just want people to see what i see in the engine, hopefully the tactics at least get some of that to happen......hopefully.

cheers thanks for the explanation

Another great post thanks rashidi. Not doing too bad in the demo at the moment myself but definately looking forward to seeing how yourself,cleon and wwfan are approaching the new engine.

Keep up the great work mate

What a difference to my gameplay. I play as NUFC and under these tactics they are actually good to watch. Better performance but still signs of their fratility in defence. Time to tweak!!

Thanks rashidi, these set of tactics have improved my enjoyment of the game. Just goes to show it's all down to tactics...

Rashidi,

i think your a top bloke spending your time helping others like this, im not sure i dare look at your tacics currently cos it may turn me into world beaters, what i need to do is understand from the matchg engine, where im going wrong and like you said have a plan B and C,

im never sure when to go deep, high, wide, narrow, or what tempo to use, im pritty good at making a tactic that gives me lots of possesion but i cant take it any further, if i go a goal behind im normally doomed, go a goal up and the rest of the game is a nite mare..

i think possibly this is where people need help with. its knowing what to use and when. what do you think?

Rashidi' date='

i think your a top bloke spending your time helping others like this, im not sure i dare look at your tacics currently cos it may turn me into world beaters, what i need to do is understand from the matchg engine, where im going wrong and like you said have a plan B and C,

im never sure when to go deep, high, wide, narrow, or what tempo to use, im pritty good at making a tactic that gives me lots of possesion but i cant take it any further, if i go a goal behind im normally doomed, go a goal up and the rest of the game is a nite mare..

i think possibly this is where people need help with. its knowing what to use and when. what do you think?[/quote']

I just played a game against Wrexham and I was expected to beat them comfortably. 55mins in and despite rocking the posts 4 times in the match we still hadn't bulged the net. Possession was around 65%, we were literally camping in their half. Despite telling my fullbacks to make fwr using my standard tactic I was not scoring.

The first thing I did was to change the emphasis, I simply decided to be lazy and switched to a 4312 thinking that the extra man in attack could pull the defenders apart. It did exactly that as we scored 2 goals immediately after.

There are many ways you can turn a game:

Depending on the situation, if you're in control its usually down to the fact that the opposition is not willing to commit to an attack. So either you draw them in or you stretch them. I didn't want to draw them in, I was actually enjoying the near total domination. So I decided to stretch them with a 4312.

Another choice in a situation like this is to increase your width, change passing to direct, since it moves the ball around faster. Tempo is a funny slider. You want to go direct, try increasing tempo..its usually the logical thing to do and it works. If you are after possession and are trying to run down the clock, then lower tempo, and perhaps even consider switching to a tactic where you can move the ball

around, and still defend well. The 442 and the 451 tactics are usually good choices. Personally I prefer the 442 since the counterattacks have more variety.

When I'm a goal behind, I tweak by messing with the main sliders, defensive line, tempo and width, however sometimes you can throw a spanner in the works by switching the focus of your tactics. This all depends on the situation, no one situation is ever alike.

Defending a lead is relatively simple...though not always possible. If you have the right players then timewasting, reducing width and using a tactic that employs short passing is usually better. Another option is to have a shut up shop tactic. Ultimately it depends on whom you're facing. Against teams like chelsea and arsenal you need to be prepared to actually try and win the ball in their half, against good teams, attack is always the best form of defense. But you need to use the right tactic.

I recommend at least using the 442v2 default tactic, its not a world beater, just meant to be a decent overall tactic.

rash

I have just quick question. I love 4231 formation, my question is:

should i give my wingers FWR-often or mixed?

They played on AML and AMR positions.

Sorry for english

Thank Rashidi1 very interesting read and tactics.

Just one question when your working on a tactic

How many fixtures do you play before your happy with that tactic?

And one more thing, in your 4231 why AMC have mixed FWR,not often?

tnx for that rashidi, will give it ago.

Another great post thanks rashidi. Not doing too bad in the demo at the moment myself but definately looking forward to seeing how yourself,cleon and wwfan are approaching the new engine.

Keep up the great work mate

I play the exact same way as I did on 08, nothings changed in terms of my style or approach.

Rashi

Quick question how much do you tinker during matches. Presumably you play full on slow speed?

Like your stuff but cannot quite get that killer instinct into my NUFC team.

K:)

I Just started using youre presets and , tactics what a difference although im only starting with man utd on the demo, my next step is to attempt to teach myself how to set up my own tactics (although unfortunatley when i try to do them myself i create such bad tactics that evenmy 44 million quid signing karim benzema couldnt score 1 goal in 15 hours of footy!) however what does he do with you playing as a target man , which i dont even consider him to be , only bloody bags 2 in the same game!

Martin

wish the tactics were not so complicated!

Just been messing around on the demo with Crewe using the 4-1-3-2 formation seems pretty solid. Won 1 drew 2 and lost 1 so far which is better than I thought I would do also knocked out Norwich and Burnley in the league cup.

Thanks for making these I am not that good at creating tactics and I often feel like just getting stuck in and playing the game and these tactics allow me to do just that, great that you take the time to help others like this.

oh yer and i installed youre preset individual instructions but i didnt know you could do that how do i create my own preset individual instructions rashidi?

oh yer and i installed youre preset individual instructions but i didnt know you could do that how do i create my own preset individual instructions rashidi?

my compuer>C:drive>Program Files>sports interacive>footballmanager09>data>tactics

when your inside the tactics folder look for a file called tactical_templates, right click on it, select open with notepad. The file will then open up. Edit the detals inside the file, there is some explanation at the top what the values mean etc. Before you change anything i Highly reccommend you save the original file someplace safe.

nothings work for me.

where shall i put the preset file? in tactics folder?

I get the website can't be displayed error when I try and download the presets????

Of course I know how to set presets, but it's a little bit complicated for beginners, so I really hope that some day SI could make this available just by settings in the game, not by editing the "tactical templates" file. In other words, we want to be able to save our own templates in the game.

You, sir, are a genius.

Downloaded, applied... and it's one-way traffic for the next ten games. And with no tinkering at all: it sometimes feels like cm01/02, just press play, sit back and enjoy.

On the other hand, as long as you are doing this, I'll never feel compelled enough to try and make a tactic on my own .

nothings work for me.

where shall i put the preset file? in tactics folder?

If you are using the demo:

C:Program files\Sports Interactive\FM2009 Demo\Data\Tactics

Within that file there is one called tactical templates, just replace that file with the one I have provided

Hi Rashidi, where are the folders located in the full game? I don't seem to have any folders at all after installing it

Hi Rashidi, where are the folders located in the full game? I don't seem to have any folders at all after installing it

If you use STEAM, you'll have to look for the tactical_templates.xml file in C:\Program Files\Steam\SteamApps\common\football manager 2009\data\tactics.

I find that using the 442 tactic that the wingers get tired quickly and I need to sub them because of this otherwise they would end up with a condition less than 60 by the end of the game.

@ golden team depends on the kind of players you have and what you want to see happen.

If you want a lot of one touch passing and interesting attacking into space and if you have players who have good off the ball and dribbling skills then I would have the AMs on mixed forward runs and mixed rwb, passing would be short and tempo quick.

If you are blessed with pace and want the AMs to take up wider positions then you could give them often fwr and often rwb, that way they start to go to their attacking positions early. The problem I find when doing this is that they get picked up quickly by the fullbacks.. The engine is very predictable in my opinion. Having advanced players will make the opposiing fullbacks become more defensive.

In fact its very possible to make strange attacking tactics with a 4141 bent that completely nullifies their fullbacks, so it really depends on what you want to do.

@ poggo, I was really disappointed with the default tactics that came with the game. I do know that there are limitless possibilites with the game. I have now created something like 100 tactics, and its possible that I should complete the whole collection that I want to do which is every conceivable tactic that has ever been used in real-life, so i doubt my small collection that I've uploaded will hinder you on your quest to make tactics. I uploaded the tactics because I was actually worried that people would get the wrong impression of the game.

@tottiseya, that may just happen in the near future, but for now I guess this is the best way forward.

@richard76, check your browser settings, it could be that you have blocked scripts so this will cause the website not to display the contents.

@martmacs you'd need to use a html editor or do it on notepad. However you need to follow the structure very closely, its fairly easy to make mistakes but a bit of trial and error should be normal to expect. Just make sure you copy the original file somewhere for easy retrieval.

@ frag, yes it should work, however the engine is different, so players could react differently. I was using a different set then. This was is for 09 and I've not tested it on 08

@ Kazza, with my set of tactics, I honestly haven't tinkered, I sometimes switch tactics. In some matches I go from a 4231 narrow to a wide version which i never uploaded ;-)

@thnigeflc, to tell you the truth, if its a basic tactic, I can usually tell during the match itself. I then let it run for another match and if the stats hold out then I usually think it should work. As long as I get the right feedback visually then I usually sign off on the tactic. If its a complicated tactic then it may take me slightly longer to work things out but I usually find that a good tactic just needs one match to work out. You just need to know what to look out for.

I'll be renaming this thread instead of starting a new one. And I'll go on to discuss the Fundamentals of Football Manager.

The basics of the game remain the same. The reason I started off with tactical presets and some examples of default tactics was to give people a running start for the game which I find to be the easiest way to get people to understand the engine. To make any tactic one needs to understand the fundamentals of the game, there are plenty of good threads in the forum which deal with the details and I don't want to repeat anything else that's been added. In this thread it'll be the basics and how to make variations and more interesting tactics.

The Mentality System

This is perhaps the most important facet of the game. I will go out on a limb and suggest that this is perhaps the key to making any tactic successful. There are various ways to approach this but the key lies in making sure that there are no gaps in mentality. This should allow you to move the ball around comfortably and then go on to dominate and score.

The best tactics will inevitably have a mentality system that range from 8-16. These mentality settings allow you to keep the team in the centre of the park and then when you need to increase the defensive line it allows you to play within the high normal to the pushed up lines which give you the ability to force pressure on teams.

An example is included in the tactical presets that I've uploaded, there are Benitez and Fergie settings. The Benitez ones are more conservative and allow teams to play with a degree of control.

Making sure there are no gaps is simple. Between defense and midfield keep the notches to within 4, the same holds for attack and midfield. In the end you would have a broad system that has the team within a Band of Eight.

Define them roles

• Broadly there should be three groups. Defense, support and attack. Each group has unique characteristics, and depending on what your style is you could conceivably practice different kinds of football by giving each group different individual instructions.
  
• Defense - This group could be assigned no forward runs, direct passing and have little or no mentality gaps. Typically this group must incorporate a player from the midfield group to make a trio of players covering the back. In 532 formations you don't really need a DMC or MCs playing defensive roles, the 3 man backline is easily one of the hardest to break down in the game now.
  
• Support - This group can be placed on a slider, so set them on identical mentality settings and identical closing down settings. If you decide in game to increase their mentality adjust the closing downs by the same amount. There is harmony in mentality and closing down settings in the game. The more attacking the formation the more there will be players with forward runs in this group, their passing can be varied, with some players on short passing and others on direct passing. Decide this based on the width your formation should take, the wider your formation the more important its going to be to have players on direct passing. The DMC if you choose to have one, can be a simple "Mascherano" type of player who wins the ball and plays a short pass or you could go for a more riskier type of player who plays through balls. I prefer the former as the DMC usually passes to a better positioned player who can play the through ball. The support group is your fulcrum in the team. Set them up right and you will rarely find yourself in trouble.
  
• The attacking group is the easiest to set up. The interesting thing is how you can use creative freedom and free roles. I find that giving this attacking group freeroles actually increases my chances of playing beautiful football. Defensively they work to move into better positions to support the attack. Ideally you want to see players like AMCs and wingers on free roles with a healthy does of CF. Creative freedom affects how flair gets used in the game, so choose the right players carefully. Ideally they should have good flair and decisions.
  

Putting it all together

No theories here....just good old fundamental common sense. If you see your players moving the ball around well and finding players then you are on the right track. So take your time, it shouldn't be that hard.

Just remember the more attacking the formation the higher the mentality and closing down instructions, but there should always be BALANCE, or you could find yourself caught out. This thread will be continously updated with more information, but I doubt more needs to be said.

Can't be bothered to read it all...or understand it tbh..

i just want a tactic that works reasonably well.

Can't be bothered to read it all...or understand it tbh..

i just want a tactic that works reasonably well.

To make a good tactic, you must understand how it works. This topic isn't about having a godlike tactic that will defeat everybody, it's about taking solid tactics and perfecting them yourself.

I know but i'm just so frustrated with the standard tactics i have used and the one i have created and downloaded...

Tbh i starting to get fed up with the game...never said that before in 16+ years!

*deep breath*

I know but i'm just so frustrated with the standard tactics i have used and the one i have created and downloaded...

Tbh i starting to get fed up with the game...never said that before in 16+ years!

*deep breath*

The standard tactics in the game aren't that good. This thread is meant to guide people, there are tactics that are available, these have been tested with newcastle and liverpool. I'm pretty confident that if you use the standard tactics with the right players you should be able to do ok.

I cant seem to do anything on this game as my beloved Sunderland its just way too hard at the moment. Tried to download tactics and make my own but my team just keeps on losing, I feel like giving up lol.

I cant seem to do anything on this game as my beloved Sunderland its just way too hard at the moment. Tried to download tactics and make my own but my team just keeps on losing, I feel like giving up lol.

What are the tactics you're using? do you have a pkm of one of the matches as well?