[FM20] Need help: Getting ready for the next step

[HanziZoloman]

Hee folks, I have just finished 2027 season with 1. FC Kaiserslautern in Germany. I led the club from 3rd divison to Bundesliga, winning both 3rd and 2nd division. Those were the joyful years. I am a loyal coach and the lads winning promotion always get a chance the next year. I still have two guys from the beginning with me, Bergmann (Mez) and Grill (GK). After promotion to Bundesliga it got really difficult, five years fighting relegation, always keeping the team just a notch above the cutting line. It is very, very frustrating not to win 7 or 9 games in a row but in the end we overperformed, even winning manager of the year with a wonderful 12th place in 2026. After that I thought it will go up but instead this year was again very, very frustrating. I need help, I can't do it anymore. It's too much. 

Tactical evolution: 

I started in 3rd Div. with a 442 inspired by the thread of @cocoadavid  "Defending like a real 442" and stick to it until Bundesliga. I managed to build a squad which secured another year in german top league (16th). After that I tried to implement a fast counter attacking style which gave me two times a 14th place. In 2025/26 I had a horrendous run of 7 games without a win and I changed my tactic into 4312 which gave me the 12th place in the end (inspired by @Rashidi mastering movement). After that I thought I have the winning formula and sold some of the old guys from 3rd division and brought in new faces for this style of football but it all went wrong. After a solid start with two draw, a loss and two victories I had again a run of 8 games without a win (2draws) and after one win again 7 games without winning again. Of course I tried everything, I read this forum up and down, I tweaked I tried, nothing.

I need your help and I give you the information you need.

First I give you the Team comparison: 

Goalkeepers

Defence:

Midfielders: 

Strikers:

After that my actual tactic: 

PI: right FB hold position / cross from deep // left FB run wide / stay wider

I ask my Poacher to stay wider. My front three and the MEZ will close down more and takle harder.

Before I was playing more counter attacking which resulted in sitting deep and waiting for the counter. What I got was being under fire for the whole 90 minutes with small attemps on the other goal. Of course we kept solid until we got beaten by a freekick or corner or a longshot. After all, 30 shots on goal at some point the ball has to get in the net. It was horrible watching and I switched to a more positive style which gave us a least a battle, some nice clear chances and a loss anyway. I also give you pictures of my best players. I am really desperate. 

This is my best defender, 5 goals from set pieces and he is even in the lists of the bests for winning the most headers and key headers. 

His partner in crime

In midfield I have only MCs as I planned for a 4312. They should be brave and good tacklers. I brought in some younger guys like those: 

Except for Bate they are all underperforming most of the time and usually I play older, slower players like him

Of course the Fullbacks are really important:

I also have a FB who is a strong and brave defender but not good in delivering something up front crossing (9). I even suggest to use him as a BWM. In the next post I will show my strikers. 

What is the issue here? Well I need to develop further. Despite having already overperformed and staying in the league and can't stomach another year with awful football and many games without winning. I just can't but want to keep up with this save. 

- If you where in my place, what would you do?

- I have 10 Millions to invest in the squad, where should I spend the money?

- What kind of football do you suggest? What kind of formation to use?

- What the heck can I do better then before?

Thank you very much!

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[HanziZoloman]

Let's have a look at my strikers:

This is my best one this year.

I like my Poacher to cut inside like him:

We all remember Pierre van Hooijdonk? Well his son plays for me (in 2025/26 the year we finished 12th he had his best year)

Again in 2025/26 our 12th place year Awoniyi was amazing with 14 goals and 9 assists but after playing for Nigeria in Africa Cup of Nations he just quit scoring. I like him because his has always good mood sometimes the whole team is in bad mood after losing 5 games but he won't even if he didn't score for hours.

If you need anything else, I'll provide you with everything you need. Just please help me.  

Edit: Here is another tactic which has been promising:

PI: Poacher stay wider // front three and MEZ close down more / tackle harder / BPD stay wider

I want the BPD form a back three with the HB and give my WB more freedom.

For clarity here is my first tactic again: 

PIs were left FB stay wider/ rund wide // right FB hold position / cross from deep // Poacher stay wider // front three and MEZ close down more / tackle harder

In both formations the left FB is the main assists source (good crosser). I want him to play into the Poacher. Also i want through balls from the AM / DLF again on the Poacher. My DLF has "try to beat offside trap" which makes him a goalthread too. The Mez should come behind the Poacher to convert second balls and cut backs.

Edited January 21, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[lfds89]

I had a save running on 2.Bundesliga with Karlsruhe. One thing I noticed is the league is very physical. Every team has strong and tall players. I know the Bundesliga is more technical, but still most teams will still have a core of those players. This is most relevant when you are not a dominating team. I think that's why you see Touré doing better and needing him. I would definitely focus on that. All your midfielders are playmakers or other technical roles. Try getting someone with the attributes to play BWM or BBM.

Also, make sure you have good set-pieces. With those CBs I'm pretty sure you can turn losses into draws and draws into wins.

I would also have Mulholland as Playmaker. 17/15 for passing and vision is great.

Last, Clark seems a decent backup as he's pretty much average on everything and can play many positions, but I would try to get a better starter.

[HanziZoloman]

Thank you for the reply @lfds89 and I am sure it will help me. How much do you care about flair?

Here is a screen of some more Team comparison:

Physically we are not the best ... 

 

Mentally

and Technically

I don't know how to implement short gifs with goals. But usually the transition breaks down up front, the opponent plays a long ball to the flanks where a quick winger overuns my FB or my MC and crosses to the longpost where the other wingers just busts the net.

Maybe we should play a slow possession based style of football? We are physically not the strongest but have many decent passers and a lot of vision. In defense we should win the ball in midfield with our good tacklers, playing a midblock?

Edited January 22, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[Justified]

I'm no expert at narrow formations. Not played them since the CM days so I don't know how much I can contribute here... However here are my thoughts. I would maybe start with default LOE and DL and see how that looks like. You def's are actually not that slow but if you feel you're not compact enough then obviously you can try a higher D-line or a lower LOE to reduce compactness.

In terms of your playing personnel I don't think Bisseck is a BPD and two seem a bit of an overkill anyways. You've made the right decision in going with DiMarco as your attacking FB as he looks very good. All your CM's look very creative which is good, at least you don't have blinkered players. One thought I just had, what if you tried the right FB as a WBsu and your MEZ on support? Feels like that is two roles which could support each other to get upfield? If not and you want to keep the MEZ on attack then how about a WBde in the right spot?

Also I would question whether you're a good enough team on positive and counter? You will have fast and frequent transitions so I would maybe tinker with that a bit as well. Maybe even going down to standard?

[HanziZoloman]

Thank you @Justified for your thoughts. Your options sound reasonable but as you are not playing narrow formations, what kind of football would you play with this team or with a team, which is expected to be relegated or fighting relegation? I am open in every direction. 

[Justified]

Well I guess the thing is, it sounds like you've been building a team made for a narrow formation so ripping it up in a season might not be most advisable.

If you feel that your team is still being too open then I would maybe test the AMC in a support role so he helps the defence more. If that's the case I would definitely play both strikers on attacking roles and go more direct. I'd keep the MEZat but keep the FB on that side in a defensive role. It will actually create a sort of 352 in attack but keep you quite solid with 3 defenders and a holder in front.

Personally I always play a 442 or 4411 whenever I have a team who is not good enough to have "specialist" roles. By that I mean teams who might not have a "complete" striker but they might have a speedy guy and a creative AMC or strong TM. Or they just don't have hard working midfielders.

In my opinion, two banks of 4 is the best way to defend as it covers all zones on the pitch. I'm sure there would be people who disagree but that's my view of football. By "forcing" a player to play in the Mid strata I am asking them to keep the shape.

It also allows you to keep 2 attackers centrally which can be tough for defences to handle in terms of push up or drop deep. After that you decide who are your runners from mid/def. If I have a good FB I would create a system which gets him involved. If I have a hard working B2B in midfield maybe I need to make sure I have enough cover to allow him to venture forward. Maybe my talent comes from the wings? Maybe just let them bomb forward. Exceptional AMC? Make him a playmaker and just get runners around him to create space. Create MC? Maybe create a double pivot to get deeper runners involved.

Possibilities are endless but are also player specific.

[lfds89]

Em 22/01/2022 em 16:56, HanziZoloman disse:

Thank you for the reply @lfds89 and I am sure it will help me. How much do you care about flair?

 

 

I don't know how to implement short gifs with goals. But usually the transition breaks down up front, the opponent plays a long ball to the flanks where a quick winger overuns my FB or my MC and crosses to the longpost where the other wingers just busts the net.

Maybe we should play a slow possession based style of football? We are physically not the strongest but have many decent passers and a lot of vision. In defense we should win the ball in midfield with our good tacklers, playing a midblock?

I've not noticed flair in action on fm20 and it's only highlighted as key attribute on Trequartista, so I don't feel it's too important.

Regarding the transitions, you don't have either Counter-Press or Regroup selected. I would suggest one of them. Whatever fits what you think (but reminded that counter-press generally works best). Counter-Press will make your players press the ball carrier so he won't be able to make the pass so easily; Regroup will help recover for defensive positions and not be beaten on the long ball. Touré as BWM-D/S might also help track the runners.

Where are the good tacklers? You don't have those... So, my guess: close lines (DL Standard LOE Low, for instance), have Mulholland as DM or CM on DLP-S (PI: More Direct Passing), 2 strikers on attack, TI Pass into Space and Early Crosses. I would start from there. I don't think your players are good enough to play possession. They have good passing and vision, but you don't have the dribblers to decide on 1vs1, great strikers, good enough CBs to play from the back, FBs who can make a difference... Use the passing to play faster and get behind the defence, use the height of your cbs to defend the area.

[HanziZoloman]

Thanks much again @lfds89 for digging in my tactics. That sounds very reasonable and I will consider it well. Maybe I should change from the 4312 to more simple 442 or 4411 something like @crusadertsar described here: 

 

I could play I midfield duo like you said, a player like Touré as a BWMs and Mulholland as a DLPs. Next to him I could play say Allan Gullion (see above) as a WP and on the opposite flank a W or IW. Elie Youan the striker is also a good creator he could play as a DLF but he shot most of his goals as a SS so maybe playing him there could also help. I could defend with 2 solid banks of 4 and regroup.

Of course you noticed the high amound of central players, some of them could be retrained as IW or WM or WP. A special lad is Nico, I am not sure how to play him. He is well rounded and good at everything again a good passer. He drops deep to get ball and arrives late in op. area which are nice traits. 

another two of my players are those: 

Both are brave ballwinners, the first is getting slow, the second is missing Teamwork. 

I believe a good right FB should come in and another striker (?) I mean, 10 Millions are easily spend, perhaps just a real strong right FB is the most priority. 

 

Edited January 24, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[HanziZoloman]

Now hope is growing. Preseason is almost over and I took some advice from this: 

Which resulted in a simple 451 with a strong core. My two CD and my midfield central trio. I set them up like @crusadertsar described it above. Touré seems to get slower every week, which is why I won't rely on him anymore. i train one of my defenders to play in this MCd role Awoudja (Makele). I play Mulholland or the stronger Nico at his side as a MCs (Essien) and Bate in the MCa (Lampard) role. The IWs/ IWa are Penanche and Playmaker roles while the lone striker will be the "power" role as described in the swiss army knife thread above.

I could not sign the crucial right FB which is why I got one who has been with me up the leagues back at the club. A backup for my backup but a little better in Crossing 13 compared to Clarks 11. The right FB has to cross from deep he can be a little slower than the left FB.

I got a real strong defender on a free, he adds some aggression in this role Bissek and Bella-Kotchap only having 10

So far preseason is well but the real challenge is waiting.

Update: 

So far so good. We are very solid in defense. The game against Frankfurt was tough. They have had much of the ball but no clear or half chances. We got three good ones on the counter and one busts the net. I am very satisfied with the changes. The next step should be to give a bit more possesion. When we have the ball it's sometimes beautiful to watch but many players don't have a good passing completion ratio. Youan (IWa), Bate (MCa) both between 60 and 70 %. The FB and CD all have below 80%. The older guys Andrich and Touré have both close to 90% I play them in MCa/ Mcs but they are slow. Van Hooijdonk got 3 goals and his sub Awoniyi his first goal after 23 hours without. 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[HanziZoloman]

The dip of form came with the tough matches:

The friendly against HSV has been a forewarning. Everything was fine, espcially in defense but we didn't score our few good ones. I am working towards defending in a 4141 which is hard to break. In attack we form a 334. Truth is we had some injuries and tough matches to go. My firstchoice keeper missed all three and in central midfield we had to adopt to the situation and could not play the preferred personel. Despite that the match against Hertha went well it was very even. Against the FC from Köln I selpt and didn't adjust to their right winger ripping my team apart. Schalke 04 is a "Angstgegner" which means we lost every match and didn't score the last 9 times. We had 3 clear chances and 2 half ones but we conceded after a stupid mistake by my left FB in late 80s. The whole month I tried my best speaking with everyone and trying to keep them optimistic and in good mood. We wanted to draw as much of the three games as possible and win the key match against Bochum. We didn't reach our targets. The match itself turned out to be both. On the dark side we were inferior the whole match, Bochum outplayed my 451 with a 5212 and we again did some stupid mistakes like a penalty. On the bright side we came back into game two times and still collected a draw.

Plan is to gain complete tactical familiarity, the players need to become safe with the new 451 and then take out the swiss army knife adopting to different situations with different kinds of the 451. For me it is very difficult and I am fearing the dark long months of not winning. After the good start the heads must not drop. If you have any ideas for help I would listen very carefully. Especially how to change and twist the 451.

[HanziZoloman]

Wow this campaign is really something! It's going great! Just have a look at the last results in octobre. The only loss comes against the mighty Bayern and the match against Gladbach we played with ten man for the full 90 minutes (red card for Lewis in 2nd minute). We sit in 6th place now and play the best football since years.

We still play the 451 mostly in balance but sometimes at home in positive mentallity. What is the different compaired with the last years?

I always had some ideas inspired by many of the great content in this forum like this: 

But it didn't work. We still have a team that is expected to finish in relegation spots. I'm not good at scouting and working on that too. Mainly I try to overperform with not so good players. Well my team now has a strong base. My defenders play stopper cover and are suited to do so. Before my starters were lacking aggression, with Andre I have an aggressive defender to play the stopper. I've noticed that we often looked more aggressive in defence when Awoudja played and he too is aggressive. In midfield we have a triangle with simple roles but the key is my MCd which is played by former defender Awoudja. He developed into a crucial pivot behind the attacking players. He is very quick, aggressive and has a nice first touch, passing and a little vision. He also has the trait "brings ball out of defence". He often wins the ball and plays a simple but clever pass or even runs with the ball into space. In possession he is a central player for ball circulation. So Awoudja is a key player.

When looking at the attack my key player is the DLFa which is van Hooijdonk or Awoniyi both not the best players of the league but strong and hard working and a nose for the spot. the hold the ball up and are my best scorers (both 4 goals). Behind the striker my four attacking midfielders do a lot of work often shaping my formation into a 3124. The central defenders form a 3 man backline with the right FBs (hold position) in front of them Awoudja MCd. Then come the IWs who drops into a central playmaking role (sit narrower) next to him the MCs they help in ball circulation and look for through passes and shots. Up front my left FBa giving width (run wide, stay wider) my MCa the DLFa and the right IWa (stay wider) cutting inside. Opponents defence has a lot to do. Usually we don't have that much possession (around 40 %) but play really well on the break.

I believe the key was to play a 5 men midfield in front of a 4 men defence which is very tough to break. Next point is playing to the players strenghts in position and as a team. The first is achieved in looking exactly which attributes are needed in a specific role, that is how I identified Maxim Awoudja as a perfect MCd. Next is in playing simple roles and simple TIs using the players intelligence to shape the role for himself. I am really excited.

We had some difficult times even if the results don't reflect that. Our MCs/MCa roles had been stuck in bad form. I tried some players in this positions and played the older Andrich (ACC 10) in MCa because of his mental stats which turned out to help the players around him but still MCs and MCa are some work in progress. Lewis Bate is the perfect player for MCa quick, strong, good passing and shooting, also real good traits dictates tempo, plays one-twos, places shots, curls ball I imagined him in a Lampard role moving into the channels and placing long shots from the corner of the box into the net. But I only got 6.4 rated games from him  . I decided that MCa is not the right place for him, maybe becaus the dictates tempo next to the IWs who is also dictating the game? In MCs he plays slightly better and in MCa I will try Mullholand which is a similar player with different traits (switches ball to other side and tries long range passes). I don't know maybe just blast ball into the net is the best for this position? The MCa should just drive up playing one-twos and shooting on goal while defending strong when transitions changes. 

Maybe some of you can tell me about the best working MCa you have? 

[HanziZoloman]

Well I am suffering! Really! After a small fire which gave as a small lead we are now deep into trouble.

Ten without a win. I tried to stay confident. In January we wanted to get as much draws as possible, we even draw against Nürnberg who are almost relegated and played a Hail Mary 433 narrow. But as usual 3 clear cuts but no goal. Now it even looks worse, my complete midfield and my attack are out of form. My Team just pass the ball to an opponent defender. It's so bad I get headaches. And I didn't change much, it's still the core tatcic which gave us a wonderfull autumn. I got two new players to strenghen the squad:

A strong man upfront

 

And flair for the wings

Also I am doing something wrong here, as nobody is helping. I'd really like some help. Should I stick to the tactic, did anybody had this long runs without victory? Usually you guys just run up the leagues doing this and that and bingo treble winners. Of course you put in the work but I do too. I am reading, reading, trying, trying. I don't know.

This what I am doing: 

I adapt to situations I "read" I take my wingers back into 451. Sometimes I switch into DM/ Vol if the other team get to many chances. 

Edit: I played the match against S04 (now we are 11 games without a win). We lost the game 3:0 Schalke is 2nd place. They played a 442 which we countered with a 4231. Half Time has been Clear Chances: 1:2 / half chances 1:3 we were leading here and played a solid game but Schalke just hit a long freekick into the back. 2nd half we scored an owngoal. 

Opponent Team have a solid chance of scoring in the centre of the box. My defenders are tall (jumping 19/17), strong and quick. But of course many crosses raining in sometime they lose concentration. 

Edited February 4, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[HanziZoloman]

Hard rain! Wolfsburg is 1st in the league and we played so well just one blast from the past oft box and us missing our chances again.

We take a lot of positive from this. 

We did 4 games without a lose and sittig 13th with 10 points between us and the dropping places. I stick to the philosophy and tried to grind out as many draws as possible. I again checked Team Comparison which told me, that my midfielders are hard working but slow. Which is why I did some changes, before I wanted my MCs/a to close down more but now I am trying to defend with two solid lines in a 4141 (MCd dropping deeper). Team comparison also told me, that my defenders are very quick and I try to defend higher up a) to compress the space and b) to stop the many long shots. I saw this happening during matches, I am satisfied. In defense we look solid now but my offense still gives me headaches. Plan is to have a focal point (TM/ DLF) who helps getting the MCa and the IWa/IFa into play. The IWs should help creating goal scoring opportunities with his dribblings and cut backs. The MCs should be supporting this. But that is something I cannot recognize during matches, it looks more like hail mary.

Edit: We secured a respectable 13th place and I got runners up in "manager of the year". Can't be too bad what we're doing. After those 11 games without winning I didnt change too much  which was crucial. We were defensive very solid and I usually tend to mix things up after getting a goal behind and then things turned out to get worse. Now I spoke to the players in half time, like critic a 6.5 or below performance or encouraging players who need to performe better. During the week I also spoke to players praising training or conduct and stuff. During matches I just did slight changes mostly defensive width and small things like that. We scored in set pieces a lot which gave us victories even against strong teams (Stuttgart lost the championship against us just hitting two corners :D). Next year our performance up front needs to get up. I post my actual tactic again. We have some good opportunities but my strikers are missing them (finishing 15). I usual play route one which looks a little like hoofball. My right winger is the main creater with dribblings. I'd like to implement a quick passing game. Our offensive transistions look good on first sight but run out of options in the final third. Well I post the tactic below:

of all relegation candidates we conceded least. My target was drawing as much games as possible against the better sides which means every team above us. This was crucial beacause my mindset was different. When viewing a match I often chose a more conservative option when tweaking my tactic. That gave us a lot of draws and some close games even wins through set pieces and it ended the long run without winning in winter. 

For next season I try to capture important players from my rivals. I could get my hands on the crucual player from Bochum which should hurt them. I go on to try to better then all the teams behind me. I always tried to climb up but it is really difficult.

And here is the tactic:

My TM got good ratings despite scoring any goals. From the midfield trio usually Awoudja got the best ratings but they have difficulties gaining good ratings. Mulholland could be a threat to the goal (long shots / finishing 11) but isn't. Andrich is a perfect team player helping out a workhorse but he's 32 I doubt he get any playing time next year. 

right FB: sit narrower/ cross from deep

left FB: go wide + ppm get forward (which is why I opted for FBs. He is involved up front but a little more solid in defense.

MCd and TMa: take fewer risks/ short passing

front three : close down more

I'd like to play one midfielder like Lampard and my striker like Drogba. Those shall be my main scorer. Instead my main scorer has been Andre (5) and Bisseck (4). In Octobre I played a flat 451 with my mains threats being Van Hooijdonk and Youan playing DLFa but they closed the scoring department in november and never opened it again. 

Here are some stats which I consider usefull in FM20:

My FB on both sides did the most mistakes leading to a goal (2) but usually Morgado and Dimarco plaed here (0). My defense got the best av. ratings. Passing completion ratio is mostly around 80% but my FB have the lowest. There are just few key passes mailny from central midfield and of course few shots on target. My strikers only have between 2 and three shots on target per game but hitting the target in 50% of the times. Tackling completion ratio is high in the team but despite having good passing compl. ratio my central midfielders have the worst av. ratings. My team usually doesn't see much of the ball, my FB left and right play the most passes. The more offensive a player, the less passes. I'd like to have a humming central midfield with more passes completed per 90 minutes.

Edited February 6, 2022 by HanziZoloman

[HanziZoloman]

The next step had to be a "Gegenpress" Tactic. We are sitting on 7th in the league, playing real good attacking football. My Strikers still miss most of their chances but our strongest part had always been the defense.

This is a moment to savour. We just lost the games against Stuttgart, Schalke, Bayer Leverkusen and BVB. All of them had a hard time against my team and they needed a shoting star from one of their outstanding players to get 3 points (including the misses from my strikers). I have finaly transformed my team in some huge overperforming eleven. We mainly play 451 swiss army knife but with a focus on Gegenpress due to the fact that it suits my hard working men best. I'd like to create something like Mourinho in Chelsea but it didn't worked out. With that I mean a close, narrow shape with quick transitions and a Lampard player as a goal threat. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by HanziZoloman