Tactics with Booey - How You Can Succeed

[bababooey]

So I'm a bit OCD when it comes to this game, and in life too..  I've read hundreds of articles and threads on FM tactics, (and real life tactics) and watched countless videos.  (Much love to Rashidi for his "bustthenet" youtube channel, it's very helpful!)

Because of all of that reading and watching, it's easy to develop certain thought patterns, which then are solidified as you play the game.  For example, you're starting out with a new save and you're trying to figure out your tactics. You're drawing from past experience, current knowledge, and maybe a bunch of things you've read or heard previously.  It's so easy to fall into traps..    The one I've ALWAYS fallen into?  Using too many attack duties.   To be more specific, following a "rule" of always having 1 attack duty within each band of the team (def, mid, att).   And honestly, that's a pretty helpful rule of thumb in general, particularly if you're new to the game or have no clue what to do tactically. 

But  by following that rule of thumb so strictly, I limited myself tactically. And I wasn't getting the absolute best out of my various saves because of that.  I have gone through many threads and articles wondering "Why the hell don't my strikers score goals?"  Always focused on fitting that rule of thumb into every tactic.   Totally silly. 

 

Fast forward to my most recent save with my favorite club, Manchester United.  In our first season, we did pretty well.  We scored and created chances at a decent clip, but I was not satisfied with our tactical approach. 

I realized that I was falling into the same trap I always fall into.  I was too rigid in my ways.  I wasn't willing to act on instinct.  I was just trying to do everything by the book.  

First season ends, and I start planning for year two. Get transfer business done super early, and so I have plenty of time to focus on our approach.  It was time to do things a bit differently. 

 

Key Concept #1  - Focus on developing a style of play 

One of the ways I find success in FM is to create a plan, or in other words, develop a tactical identity.  It may depend heavily on the players you have at your disposal, particularly if you manage in the lower leagues where players are less adept at playing certain styles. For example, I wouldn't tell Stockport to play a possession style of football.   Just my opinion though! 

The way I do this is I first look at my squad and compare it to the league we are playing in.  I also consider any cups + continental competitions.   Are we a favorite to win the title? Are we going to struggle? Are we a mid-table side?  Etc.  It's easy to do this and it can save you from making bad decisions on your style of play. 

After that, it's honestly really simple.  You can either adapt to your players, or force them to adapt to you.  Or maybe mix a bit of both...    Keep in mind, it's much harder to get the players to adapt to you, and you'll probably need to spend a lot of money bringing in players who suit your style of play.  It takes time!    A good example would be like..  Carlo Ancelotti, who is well known for adapting his tactics to the players he's got.  Whereas, Pep Guardiola will mostly stick to his principles and train / buy players to fit. 

Key Concept #2  - Starting with a solid foundation  

Let's use my current Manchester United team as an example here....    I want to play a style that is defined like this:  positive mentality (taking a bit of risk!), scoring plenty of goals, playing entertaining football, and not pressing too high up so we have some space left to attack into during transitions..    Simple right? 

So I typically like to start with team instructions and mentality.  That sort of sets the stage for the roles and duties. 

I choose "Positive" as the mentality, because I want to take a bit of risk, and we're a very good team!  For team instructions, I am a big believer in keeping it simple.  Why? Because the more instructions you add, the harder it is to figure out what's going wrong when things aren't quite clicking.  It's like adding too many spices to a dish you're cooking.  You can always add more, but it's nearly impossible to take them out.  Start with less!

I use 6 to 7 team instructions, including one that dictates where the keeper distributes.  So it's really like 5 or 6 that are truly important.  They help lay the foundation for the style of play..  It's really simple, and based on my experience, I know that the style of play we're looking for is achievable this way.  That just comes with time making tactics. 

Key Concept # 3 - Add the main components and build it up

So we've got our style of play determined, our team mentality + instructions set, AND we have done our homework on our squad so we know what we're working with.  Great..  

The real fun begins now, with roles and duties. 

I'll post a screen shot below, and walk you through why I made those choices... 

Defense first... 

Goalkeeper - Defend     This is simple.. De Gea is better as a normal GK than a sweeper, but it's also a better fit for our system because we don't really prioritize playing out of defense, and we don't press extremely high.  We also have an incredibly high level of defensive mental attributes so playing an offside trap is very effective. 

WB (L+R)  - Support     I debated whether or not to have one flank on support and one on attack.  But you know what?  Having both on support works great because the players we have are already pretty "attack minded" given their preferred moves and attributes. So, playing them on attack isn't really needed.  Plus, our style of play doesn't rely on those guys bombing forward immediately.  We do however utilize them heavily once we have transitioned into attack, and are safely probing the final third, looking at overlaps. 

CD - Defend    Again, I do not want my team playing the ball out of defense, so I opt for two central defenders.  No need for ball players.   Dias and maguire are both very capable of bringing it out, but I hate that.   Simple setup.  

DM - Defend    One of my favorite roles in FM is the DM-D.   That's because this player (if he has the proper mental attributes) can be so good at breaking up play before it gets dangerous.  If he's good on the ball, he can help recycle possession.  We're not asking him to be a playmaker like Pirlo, but rather, we want him to protect the back four, and also help us keep the ball when we are safely probing the final third.   If we play against a team with 2 strikers, I like to drop that role to "halfback" so we outnumber the opposing strikers 3 v 2. 

BBM - Support  Pogba is good at everything, so you can use him a bunch of different ways..  Personally, I like to get the most out of his athleticism and his brain.  So the B2B role is ideal.  He's going to roam, he's going to be everywhere.  He's the ultimate linking player.

AP - Support  Bruuuunoooo.   Love him.    Best signing Man United have made in real life since...  Cantona?        The reason I chose this role is because I want us to have a player who will be able to unlock defenses with his passing. I need someone who can turn a transition from defense into attack in a flash.   The AP-S is great in this system because he's well protected by the B2B and DM-D,  but it's also really well positioned to pass to our front 3.   He's got plenty of players around him if he is covered tightly, which is another benefit. 

IF - Attack + AF + IW - Support     I've grouped my front three together because the way they interact is absolutely critical to how we play.   The idea is really simple..  Remember we want to play entertaining football and we want to take risks. We want to get behind defenses and score goals...       Our players up top are insanely fast.  That includes our bench/rotation options like Dan James.   It would be foolish to play, for example, Martial in a deeper lying role, because you're missing out on what makes him truly great - his pace!  The same can be said of Rashford and Sancho.  They're not playmakers.  They're not target men or classic wingers.  They're quick forwards who are lethal cutting inside and scoring goals.   

So I've got the IF-A and AF as the only two attack duties in the team.  The idea here is that I want to always have an outlet for a quick transition.  I also want them to be making those runs into space, for players like Bruno and Pogba to pick out passes.  Then, on the other side, I've got the IW - support.  Why?  Because I need to make sure my attack isn't isolated and one dimensional.  So having a support player out there helps us transition the ball smoothly, and provides a bit of help to those two attackers.  It also creates a dilemma for the defense because they cannot just drop deep, and risk leaving space for the IW to cut inside and create chances. 

 

I have set individual player instructions for my 5 furthest forward players.  Both CM's + the front 3 are all told to "close down more."  What I'm creating is a split-block style of defending where we press from the front, but we do NOT press mindlessly, or too aggressively. Our defensive line is slightly  pushed up simply because I want a bit of a compressed defensive shape, and the line of engagement is left at default because I don't want us to start pressing too high, and leaving us with no space to attack into. 

 

Wrapping it up 

Okay so now you can see what I'm trying to accomplish.  Did it work?  

Yes.  One of the things I look for is to see if we are creating chances from multiple areas, which should in theory make us truly hard to beat.  If you're only getting assists from one location, you're easier to defend against. 

In the graphic above, you can see we are very effective in all areas of the pitch.  That's awesome to see.  

The league table proves it, too: 

41 goals for, only 9 against.   I'm thrilled with that. 

I also look at the "stats" page and go to "team - detailed" to get a deeper look into how we're doing.  We are 2nd for chances created, with 53 (Liverpool has 54...) 

Our average possession is 10th in the league, at 49% 

We've been excellent at set pieces (thanks to Bruno and Ruben Dias)  7 goals scored from corners is tied for 1st in the league! 

89% pass completion, that ranks in the top 5 for the league

Conversion rate of 13% is joint-first with West Ham (lol) 

Dribbles per game, we are at 18 which is in the top 5, so we're definitely running at teams effectively 

 

Our attack is lethal.  We create a ton of chances, and when we get shots on target, they're likely to go in.  We create goals from various places on the pitch, and we are executing our style of play.  We are not dwelling on ball, and we're not screwing ourselves by pressing so high that there's no space left to attack. 

In defense, we've made the fewest fouls in the league.  We've also made the third fewest tackles, which tells me we are doing a good job of intercepting passes, and not getting exposed defensively.  

 

So hopefully this gives you an idea into how I was able to turn from static thinking to being a bit more dynamic.  The results are clear, it works!  

 

Cheers. 

 

[howard moon]

I enjoyed this, partly because some of the concepts you are trying to use are similar to mine. I'm still on FM17 but managing United and have a similar-ish setup: fast attacking football with a medium-block so as to create space to attack on the transition.

I am currently going for:

GK: D

RB: CWB (s)

CBs: BPD (d) - I have two excellent passers and find that they can sometimes launch a counter with their more direct passing

LB: FB (a)

RCM: DLP (s)

LCM: CM (d)

AMR: W (s)

AMC: AM (s) - roam, move into channels

AML: IF (a) - sit narrow, roam

CF: P (a)

I use OIs to create the split block. And play 'Control' and 'Structured'. No Team Instructions except for 'prevent opposition short GKs'.

It's been deadly so far, with a good spread of goals throughout the team. The left side is quite exposed but that's a risk I'm prepared to take.

I am thinking of moving to a more fluid shape. This will slightly lower the mentality of my wingers and increase the mentality of the fullbacks, which should reduce the gap between them. Then I can move them both to WB (s) and have them providing width in the attacking phase - at the moment they tend to stay a bit deeper and then make later runs into the final third - this is probably down to the team shape and their individual mentalities.