Target Man

I'm still very much struggling to come to grips with FM14 but that may be due to my stubbornness in sticking with shapes that aren't usually typical i.e asymmetrical, playing with sweepers/liberos, and trying to get the big man up top functioning.

Today I'd like to talk about the latter. Have you got one working? Up front by himself or with a partner or two? How have you set him up?

In real life you usually see a target man paired with a quick striker who will feed off his flick ons and lay offs. In football manager this would most likely be a TM set to support along side a poacher. The other real life variant used is a lone target man backed up by one or two onrushing attacking midfielders (think Carroll and Nolan). In FM terms this would be a TM set to support with one or two shadow strikers/attacking midfielders. The question is...will this play out how you want it to on the match engine?

I'm going to start a game with Freiburg in the Bundesliga and see how well I can get my target man playing.

I chose Freiburg because they start with former German international Mike Hanke

As you can see Hanke is absolutely tailor-made for the target man role. Ideally he'd have a better first touch and be stronger but he's dominant in the air and has fantastic mental skills to go with his perfect preferred moves.

Given the lack of attacking midfielders in the Freiburg squad (and lack of funds to bring one in) I'll look to play another striker along side him in the poacher role. I'll also make sure one of my central midfielders pushes up high to support him. Wingers are an obvious choice given we're playing with a target man but due to our resources and quality of centre backs I'm going to look to play three at the back with two wide midfielders on support. Perhaps against easier opposition I can look to push one or both wide players further forward with the defensive midfielder becoming a half back to balance things (selecting a half back pushes the LCB and RCB further wide so they act more like fullbacks).

So this is the original shape I'll use. Given that I plan to play close to a dozen friendlies roles are liable to change although I hope to keep the present shape.

Next is player instructions. Given that this thread is about the target man I won't go into my defensive settings and just focus on the target man, poacher, wide players and the box to box midfielder.

Target Man

There is actually very limited options on what we can do here and I'm thinking about leaving this blank until I've seen a few games. Given Hanke's average finishing and long shots I think restricting his attempts at range could be beneficial. I'd also like to try giving him the option to attempt riskier passes as his high decision making and decent creativity could allow him to open up defences. Hold position is the only other one I'd give consideration to as we want to make sure our target man doesn't drift too far wide or deep.

Poacher

Again not too many options here. The only one I would consider is the moving into channels instruction. Personally I would have thought a poacher would already be doing that anyway. Will leave it blank for the time being and add things as I need them.

Wingers

First off I'll select the shoot less often instruction as there is nothing more frustrating than seeing our wingers shoot from ridiculous angles instead of taking the better option. We'll also go for the stay wide option as we have three in midfield and two up front so don't need our wingers drifting inside and clogging up central areas. Two other options I'll look at adding but not starting with are the runs wide with ball and cross aim target man option. I'm reluctant to choose the latter as Hanke isn't a hugely impressive finisher so would like crosses to be of a mixed variety.

Box to Box Midfielder

I have one of my better players in this position in Vladimir Darida who along with a terrific work rate and decent finishing ability also is two footed- something that I love an onrushing central midfielder to have. Instruction wise we'll have him get further forward and close down more. Had I had a more limited player here I would have restricted long shots and had him playing a shorter passing game.

Right, so now I have my shape and tactics down it's now time to lose horribly against my reserve squad before starting all over again

As you may have noticed I haven't yet given any team instructions yet. This is mainly because I like to add things as I view my pre season games and because I'm still very much undecided on where I want to take this tactic. A higher back line that doesn't dive in playing a offside trap appeals given my quicker than average back three (and one incredibly quick centre back in Diagne). Going forward it's tempting to play the ball in the air given Hanke's aerial threat but I'm going to attempt to play a higher tempo short passing game and use my target man more as a creative outlet on the ground rather than a battering ram in the air (although he'll still most definitely be doing that on set pieces). I'd also like my team playing more disciplined as I lack flair players and have very set roles for my team.

Any thoughts, suggestions and criticisms most welcome!

A SHAMEFUL DISPLAY

Well it wasn't quite as bad as a the predicted loss but a 2-1 over the reserve team was far less than impressive.

* To start off with a complaint. Given that your reserve team will mirror your tactic for the game against you and are SIGNIFICANTLY worse in every department how is it that I very rarely get convincing results against them? Yes my team aren't used to the tactic yet but surely they wouldn't be either?

* We were actually dominated in the first half. They went one up and potentially could have had more. We offered absolutely nothing going forward and the majority of our players were invisible.

* Second half I pushed the wide players further forward and changed to an attacking mentality. We started to dominate possession but rarely threatened.

* The wide players and the box to box midfielder (who, admittedly, wasn't my first choice as Darida was away on international duty) were awful. Schmid got two assists and man of the match but was absolutely wasteful on crosses 2/13 and still managed to take a bunch of shots from bad angles.

* My poacher was barely involved all game either. Managed to get on the score sheet but that was pretty much it.

* Defensively we were poor with a number of balls being played over the top only for my centre backs to misjudge their headers. Once we pushed our wide players forward there were obvious gaps down the wings for the opposition to exploit too...however I didn't change my defensive midfield to a half back so that should remedy matters.

* Positives were Hanke playing well. Didn't provide any scoring chances, which he's in the team to do, but won 12/12 headers and made 43 passes- impressive for a striker. He did drift out too wide however and will be told to hold position next game.

* Schuster was excellent in the deep lying playmaker role. Made 143 passes and was the focal point of the side.

Two more friendlies down.

First was a 3-0 win over Neuchatel Xamax and the second another 3-0 win over Ravensburg.

Changed the formation to two defensive wingers and the defensive midfielder to half back. This has resulted in much better defensive displays and a little more coherency going forward. My poacher is still making runs past my target man though which is frustrating. The right winger however is...it's just that he can't finish to save his life. Also not getting the goal threat from my box to box I was hoping to, will attempt to play him as an attacking central mid in the next game.

So definite improvements but still a long way off from being competitive in the Bundesliga I think.

EDIT: Played one more friendly for the day.

Absolutely slaughtered Legia Warszawa 5-0 with all goals coming in the first half. Best result so far against the hardest opponents...things are starting to come together!

The first major issue is the sheer lack of runners - you have no players breaking from midfield to support the attacks - surely your DM could be the DLP in your side, and you could have an attacking central midfielder to provide support.

I played a shape very similar to this on fm13 with Crouch and Owen, I would consider setting one of the cm's to cm(attack) as Llama said, I would also consider setting on the wm's to attack as well perhaps with an instruction to get further forward so he is providing more support to the frontline

Why Very Rigid? Very Fluid or Very Rigid can be difficult to get right.

Swapping the BBM and DLP could have merit in that the DLP can be static and BBM should get forward. The space is some what hampered by the TM(s) dropping deep, were as the Poacher should be on the defenders last shoulder, stretching play. I'm not a fan of having passers in a line (TM and DLP) but it could work here. Also, i agree with changing a one of the MC's to a CM(a) probably the BBM plus there is cover from the DM so there is less risk. This would generate a more consistant runner from midfield.

A central BPD behind a DMC, could be hampered a little. I usually prefer them when there is no player in the DM stata. It makes more sense to me.

Wish I could help but I think you're already ahead of me. I play with a Target Man and at the moment a defensive forward (to try and capitalise on the defensive forward's movement), which is not as unsuccessful as some formations I've tried, but one of the problems I'm wrestling with is how to get a TM to also get in the box and use his aerial ability to win crosses - I've tried putting him on attack duty, but success is limited (as is the player I'm playing there admittedly). Keep this thread going and I can steal some ideas.

So unfortunately that save got corrupted and will mean I'll have to start again. Thankfully I was only a few friendlies in. Upside is I'm more confident with how I want my team to play and can start with a better system than last time.

Definitely agree with you guys on having a midfielder getting further forward. I think I was worried the current shape would leave me to exposed at the back but so far, defensively, we're looking very good. Will look to switch out my box to box to central midfield (attack) and see if that will get him further up the pitch supporting the target man.

Definitely not keen on changing the half back role now I'm playing my wingers further forward though. Half backs are probably my favourite new position as you can really see on the match engine that they do exactly what they're supposed to.

Current formation

So far very happy with how we are defensively, the back line are playing like I wanted them to. If the right keeper become available I wouldn't mind playing a sweeper keeper due to the high line/offside trap but for now things seem solid enough. In midfield I'm hugely impressed with Schuster as he's really dictating the game and averaging a huge amount of passes- so doing what a deep lying playmaker should. Out wide there is room for improvement but the shift further forward and role change to defensive winger has helped a massive amount and both wide players are involved a lot more offensively and defensively. Hanke is doing great up front winning everything coming his way in the air (albeit against substandard opposition) and averaging a lot of passes for a forward. If I manage to get his strike partner and onrushing central midfielders playing how I want he'll be even more effective.

Edit: Peekay, definitely right about the very rigid setting. Think it was prohibiting a lot of movement from my midfielder and wide players. Changing to rigid has allowed me to keep a good shape but gives us more options going forward. Perhaps when I have a better standard of players I can look to playing more fluidly.

As far as the dm/cb goes I've found a half back and a centre back on cover works really well. With the two other centre backs pushing out wide into almost fullback roles there is enough space in the middle to avoid congestion.

Okay so all the friendlies are now done and dusted...

So what does this tell us? Well not a lot sadly as I scheduled our entire pre-season against very low level opposition to insure moral was kept high along with the team becoming comfortable with the tactic. While I can't infer too much I'm pretty happy with how things have gone so far; the defence have been superb (the Racing game was my B team) barely allowing a single shot in any of the games. Up front Hanke is doing exactly what I was hoping- coming deep and holding up the ball before releasing a through ball to the poacher. The midfield have all been getting amongst the goals too.

I brought in two players; Alan from Red Bull Salzburg for an entirely reasonable two million pounds. I was keen to get a more reliable finisher and his moves into channels PM gels perfectly with what I'm trying to do. He managed 5 goals in 3 games before injuring himself for three weeks which will keep him out of the cup game against Jena. The other player I bought was Danish international Erik Sviatchenko from FC Midtjylland for a million pounds. He was primarily bought as a first choice back up for the back three but his stats and age makes me think he'll be pressing Hohn for a starting spot.

Thankfully I have a reasonable start to the season because despite playing ten friendlies I'm still quite far off (just over a quarter of a bar) my tactic being fluid. I'm also hoping we can go into our Leverkusen and Dortmund game, which are the next two fixtures after Augsburg, full of confidence.

The Moment of Truth

First up was the cup game against Jena which resulted in a very one sided 5-0 victory. We didn't play all that well but got the result and moved into the next round...where we unfortunately drew Dortmund.

Next was our first Bundesliga game of the season against fellow relegation battlers/mid table hopers Hertha Berlin at our home ground. Like us they weren't packed to the rafters with talent but they did have a few players that needed to be watched closely; Ronny in the attacking midfield slot was very dangerous from range so the plan was to close him down as much as we could and restrict him to his wrong foot. The other danger man was Adrian Ramos up front. The problem with Ramos was the fact he was exceptionally good in the air as well as being exceptionally quick...closing him down or marking him tight seemed like a seriously bad idea so for the moment being I gave no personal instructions.

We got off to a great start with new signing Alan powerfully scoring from a ridiculous angle (the kind of angle you usually hate seeing your players shoot from I might add) before my biggest talent at the club, Matthias Ginter, powered in a header after their keeper parried another powerful shot from Alan. We could have killed the game off multiple times but poor decision making and finishing meant the game finished 2-0 to the good. Pretty pleased with that for a first game; clean sheet, lots of chances created, debut goal and no injuries or suspensions. We'll certainly have tougher challenges but the first test has been passed.

Tactics wise I was a little disappointed that Hanke wasn't involved more. I had a feeling he wouldn't have the same impact against bigger, stronger defenders but was hoping he'd get himself involved in other ways. Early days though.

I was interested on how we'd do against a 4-4-2 and we did not disappoint. Hanke scored a perfect hattrick (head, right, left) and had a hand in both the other goals too. Brilliant away performance and I'm now starting to feel confident I'm on to something...

Played one more game for the night, winning a tight contest with Leverkusen 1-0. Very good defensive display yet again, Ginter is a rock at the back and Diagne's athletic ability has been on show every game so far. Hanke scored again making it five for the season already. Next up is a extremely hard fixture with us heading to Dortmund. Will be doing exceptionally well to keep up our clean sheet record in tact.

We also had our Euro Cup group drawn which didn't quite go to plan. No horrific trips to Kazakhstan but we will be struggling to get out of a tough group containing Tottenham, Fiorentina and Slovenian side Maribor.

Dortmund 5-2 Freiburg

Frankly the scoreline flattered us. Dortmund were absolutely devastating. I probably made the mistake of not setting more opposition instructions but when you have so many quick two-footed players up against you it's hard to know quite what to do. I also should have altered our mentality to a more conservative approach but this was our first big away fixture and I wanted to see how we handled it. Alan and Hanke maintained their good early season form by scoring a goal a piece.

Freiburg 4-1 Nurnberg

Dominant display at home. Were great going forward as we were defensively. They got very lucky with their goal and we arguably should have scored more. An early own goal got us on our way before Alan, Schmid, and a wonderful free kick by Kerk earned us the win.

Tottenham 7-4 Freiburg

Given how well we've been going at the back this result was certainly a hard one to take, doubly so as we had more of the position and matched them for shots/shots on target. Adebayor had one of those games where he was unplayable though and bagged a hattrick and was hugely dangerous throughout. Was disappointed he was allowed so much time on the ball though as I'd purposely had him marked tightly. We were also exposed on the wing frequently as Tottenham's pacy fullbacks got in behind time and time again. Will definitely have to look at altering things when I'm playing against the better sides away from home. Attack wise we were very good however, with all of our goals being very nice one touch football. Darida, Hanke, Alan and substitute Guede with the goals.

Up next we have Hannover away then Dortmund away in the cup followed by Mainz and Maribor at home.

Hannover 1-0 Freiburg

Dominated them all over the park but could not find a way past an inspired Ron-Robert Zieler in the Hannover goal. Was frustrated to concede such a bad goal with a throw in being tossed over my defence from behind half way and a Hannover striker running on to slot it home past Baumann.

Dortmund 3-0 Freiburg

Played most of my reserves here as I have a small squad and due to being in Europe need to manage the fitness of my players as best I can. Dortmund played a few of their reserves too but, sadly, their reserves are better than my starters. Lewandowski hit a hattrick but we actually managed to keep them to few opportunities. So out of the cup but not too fussed.

Freiburg 2-1 Mainz

Back to winning ways but it was hard fought. Mainz might not be a household name but they have some quality players so this was a good result. Especially pleasing was the fact we had sixty-two percent possession and tripled the amount of shots on target. Mehmedi was in for the injured Alan (starting to think he may be somewhat injury prone) and managed to get a goal, assist and man of the match despite being absolutely woeful. Hanke continued his positive start for the season by grabbing the other goal.

Freiburg 1-1 Maribor

I knew this was going to be a tougher game than it looked on paper as Maribor had beaten Fiorentina in the previous game. We took a two minute lead through the impressive Kerk and looked to add to that multiple times throughout the first half and most of the second half but were continuously thwarted by an incredible display of keeping. With about a quarter of the game left Maribor suddenly decided to turn into 1970's Brazil and absolutely battered us, we could barely get a touch on the ball and selecting the retain possession instruction did nothing to stem the tide. Eventually we conceded in stoppage time and, quite frankly, I was relieved the final whistle blew as I was as shell shocked as my team was.

So a pretty decent start to the season despite being on the other end of a couple of maulings. I'm happy with most things about the tactic although there is definitely room for improvement in some areas- although some weaknesses can be attributed to the lack of quality players in certain positions. Defensively the goalkeeper and the back four are doing what I want them to do although the two wider centre backs occasionally decide to play these ridiculous cross-field switches that invariably get intercepted. This is most likely due to suspect decision making than anything else though.

The midfield is probably the area that needs the most work as the two central midfielders are prone to delusions of grandeur by playing far too many ambitious passes which aren't coming off. While the obvious solution here would be to select the fewer riskier passes and/or the pass shorter instruction I'm reluctant to as they do create a lot of chances. The central midfielder on attack is also wasting a whole lot of opportunities that are coming his way when it comes to goal too. With decent finishing and long shots combined with being two footed I had hoped Darida would be a regular goalscorer but despite getting into the right positions he has a tendency to miss...by quite some distance. I've got him training on placing his shots so hopefully that rectifies things. Our wide midfielders are wildly inconsistent and drift in and out of the game too much but, for most part, they are playing how I want them to. Once I'm able to get better players here I'll look for them to take their player on more.

Up front things are great, provided Alan is playing. All my other options up front seem unable to feed off Hanke and we lose a huge attacking threat when he's not on the pitch. Hanke has been great so far as his eight goals and four assists from only ten games attest to. I'm hoping I can pick up a potential long term replacement for him as soon as possible to I can get him to pass on his excellent preferred moves.

Bayern 2-0 Freiburg

Hardest game of the season out of the way and thankfully not a total humiliation.

Wolfsburg 0-1 Freiburg

Good result against tough opposition. Alan with the goal.

Freiburg 2-3 Fiorentina

Not doing so well in Europe sadly. Probably should have taken something from the game but Fiorentina have some quality players and took their chances well. Kerk and Alan got on the scoreboard for us.

Freiburg 0-3 Frankfurt

Worst result of the season. Frankfurt have some great players but to lose at home convincingly was extremely disappointing.

HSV 0-2 Freiburg

Hamburg were, and are, bottom of the table but with players such as Adler and van der Vaart we weren't going to take this one lightly. Thankfully we won but were aided by HSV having a player sent off at the start of the second half. Hanke and Alan with a goal a piece.

Fiorentina 4-0 Freiburg

Once again we show that we just can't cut it against the stronger sides yet. We didn't actually play that badly but the better teams will put their opportunities away.

Freiburg 3-2 Braunschweig

Braunshweig are doing surprisingly well this season and are currently in fifth spot which, given the quality of players at their disposal, was an excellent achievement. They were a match for us throughout but fortunately we managed to come out with the three points. Hohn scored his first goal of the season along with goals from Schmid and Alan.

These results keep us in third spot, although on equal points with second placed Dortmund. Bayern are already distancing themselves at the top with a nine point buffer. Can't see anyone catching up there to be honest.

So...is anyone actually reading/enjoying this or am I writing for my own amusement haha?

To be honest, this has gone from a tactics thread to a career update. I'm sure people would enjoy it over there in that forum if it continues like this. In fact we can move it if you would prefer to keep at it this way. Otherwise it needs to get back on to the tactics track.

Yeah could be a plan to move it there actually, cheers.

(maybe rename it?)

You really need a second tactic for the tougher games, although, it maybe a little too late to learn this far into the season.

When playing against "better" teams, they can soak up the attacking pressure and then transition quicker with more precision. Counter attacking teams, like Spurs and Dortmund, seem to do better against the tactic.

I also have some concerns with the Half Back. I find that he goes missing from the DM position too much. Couple that with the CM(a) running forward, it could be that the DLP(s) gets isolated. I've been coming to the conclusion that playing a HB requires a deeper sitting midfield.

How has the tactic developed? I am interested to see where the TM ends up as I want to try one out but have never been able to get the tactic working well