Wiping the Slate Clean: A Logical Guide to Building a Tactic from Scratch

[dcayton9]

This isn’t a guide about how to perform at the top of the league with a relegation battler or how to play a specific or even beautiful style of football, but this is a way to build a simple tactic that works around your team. It also allows other aspects of the game that drive results, such as squad-building, morale management, and player rotation, to be your primary focus. There are great posts on here that go into further depth about manipulating aspects of the game to get certain patterns of play or specific formations to replicate real-life tactical success, but this is more about generalizing tactic creation to fit any team or scenario, from non-league to Champions League. So buckle in, create a new tactic with a clean slate option, and let’s begin.

 

A Winning Mentality: Where do we begin when creating a tactic? Choosing one player to build around and working from there or pick the formation, roles and instructions and shoehorn your players into it? I say none, and where I usually begin is mentality. Though there are many ways to harness mentalities, in true role-playing form, I like to use the option how it is recommended. At the start of the season, you want to set your mentality you plan on using in most matches, as it is a large part of tactical familiarity. I propose these starting mentalities, to be based on where you’d expect your current squad to finish if you weren’t managing, not where you want to finish. Be honest with yourself, check the media prediction and don’t overestimate, it’s how you lose games.

• Positive: Choose only as a base mentality if your team is considered to be battling for the Champions League places in top European leagues, or promotion in your lower leagues
• Cautious: Choose only as base mentality if your team is considered to be battling for relegation in your league
• Balanced: The ultimate mentality, allows for easy switches with minimal loss of tactical familiarity and flexibility within your tactic. Choose if you are any other team.

Attacking or defensive mentalities are great weapons in game when you are chasing or protecting a lead, but for your entire season, they are too aggressive or passive to use with any team in and out of a given match.

 

Identifying a defensive style: After the mentality is picked, you should move to identify the way you want to play on defense. To win, you likely want to allow the least amount of goals possible, so build from there. We will start at the defensive instructions tab.

Note:

Spoiler

Comparisons can be done by checking the team comparison tab and checking the average attribute value in your league for each position. I recommend writing them down somewhere so you don’t have to constantly go back and forth. I don’t recommend always trusting the bar charts for your own average quality however, as it represents averages of your squad and will count the prospect you’re planning on playing 10-15 sub appearances with the same value as the star player you will start in 34 league games.)

• Defensive Line: Check your central defenders’ pace, acceleration, marking, and anticipation. If they are decent-to-high relative to your league push the line up one, if they are poor, push it down one, if they are average, keep it at standard. A higher line is more aggressive but if your team can’t track the defenders running in behind it’s useless. Likewise, the lower line is rarely used by players, but can be a decent way to make up for slow defenders. Remember that mentality affects DL accordingly, so if you are on cautious or positive with only slightly slow or fast defenders, respectively, keep it on standard.
• Line of Engagement: Check your attacking players’ work rate, pace, acceleration, aggression, and bravery. If they are good relative to your league, then push up, and if they are poor push back. Pressing high is a useful tool if you have the players to do it, but if you don’t it will be an ineffective waste of energy for your key attackers, so in that case, a lower LOE can open the door to quicker, more incisive breaks for those players.
• Pressing Intensity: This represents the frequency and distance your whole team’s pressing. Here, look at your team’s general ability to make quick, strong challenges. Only raise or lower this if your full team can handle it. If your DM and central defenders aren’t quick, but they still are being told to press a lot, they could get pulled out of position often and exposed.

These three instructions identify your basic defending style, and are all that need to be touched for now. It is important to remember that you don’t have to touch any of these. If your squad is bang average all around, don’t try something you’re not capable of doing.

 

Getting in Shape: Formation is your defensive shape in Football Manager. This is well-documented and I maintain it. Because of this, for a basic tactic it is not ideal to have an asymmetrical shape. This is not to say that they don’t work, as we’ve all seen numerous examples of excellent ones, but in a simple formation you want no glaring weaknesses.

• Back 3 or 4: This is the place to start when deciding your team shape.
  • To make this distinction, check your central defenders’ abilities. If you have a squad where 3 of them are among your best players (3.5 stars or above), it only makes sense to utilize all three and play to your strengths with a back 3. However, you also must have sufficient depth in your squad (ideally 5 or 6 quality CBs).
  • If you have 2 quality defenders, you don’t want to be forcing a weak link into the team for the sake of the system, so stick with the back 4.
• Constructing the Flanks: Once the back is sorted, the next stop is the flanks. Here, you must make the call on deploying wingers (meaning any player in M/AM(LR) positions) or not. Formations without wingers in a back 4 can be successful but they tend to be more situational.
  • Generally, teams in a back 4 use wingers, and you should too if possible, since width is important and formations with fullbacks (meaning any player in the D(LR) positions) and wingers allow for dangerous and multi-dimensional movement out wide.
  • Unless you have no quality players to play or no depth out wide, where a wingerless system makes sense. However, even in this case, if your fullbacks can’t effectively get up and down the flanks quickly, your play will be obsolete, so tread carefully.
  • In a back 3, you can use WCBs or AMs that drift wide to supplement width, so a wingerless formation (like the 5-3-2) can actually be a quality option, just make sure to place the wide players at the WB(LR) strata. This is because they will get back in a 5 when defending, something characteristic of real back 3 systems, but also get forward to be part of the front line when attacking.
• Where do my Wingers go: If you’ve decided to play with wingers, do you want to place them in the M(LR) or AM(LR) strata?
  • If I’m running a high pressing system (defined through our defensive instructions) or I am planning on using a winger as my main scoring option (roles will be addressed later), use them in the AM(LR) strata, so that they will be further up the pitch, located in the positions they are needed.
  • If running a mid-to-low block, push them back to the M(LR) strata, as they offer more defensive stability. This will not drastically change the way the same role plays at different positions, but will complement your defensive style better.
  • (Added Note 5/5): I forgot to mention that if you are running a back 3 and using wingbacks as well as wide attackers, it is best to place the wide attackers in the AM(LR) strata, as they will be too close to the wingbacks otherwise.
• Perfect Partnership or Solo Striker: The final dilemma takes place at the top of the pitch, and it’s deciding whether you want to operate with one or two strikers.
  • Modern football has almost been exclusively defined by single striker systems, but it’s important to remember when using these your striker has to be good enough to occupy two central defenders focusing on him. Know that if you try and play with one that can’t handle it (physically and technically), it could severely blunt the attack.
  • Two striker systems have their advantages as well, as they can cover up noticeable weaknesses in one or both of your strikers and allow you to have two central players to play off of each other in tandem. Even further, if two of your best players can only play striker, you have to fit them in somehow!
• Fill in The Middle: Finally, now that every other position is accounted for in your team, you can address the midfield. You will be left with a 2, 3, or 4 man midfield decided for you by the other choices you’ve made.
  • 4-man midfield: You have to resort to a box, which should be decided if you have 2 limited AM types and 2 limited DM types, or a diamond, which would have would fit one limited AM and DM, as well as two fairly versatile runners.
  • 2 man midfield: I’d recommend keeping it simple and flat, in the CM strata.
  • 3 man midfield, place them flat at first, then choose to adjust if necessary.
    • Shift to a single-pivot (DM-CM-CM) if you have a player that suits sitting deeper, along with two versatile midfielders that could make forward runs with more offensive presence.
    • Shift to a double pivot (CM-CM-AM) shape if you have an attacking midfielder that has little to no defensive skills, so that you can free him up to attack, by sitting two defensive minded players behind him.

Once you’ve settled on your team shape, let’s move to roles and duties!

 

This is where I’ll stop for now. I know this seems self-explanatory but I find that applying simple logic makes tactic creation a much smoother process. I’ll follow up with a post on choosing roles and duties, along with simple combos to implement, as well as choosing the rest of the team instructions in the near future. After that post will be a quick follow up with an example tactic and season using these methods, so stay tuned and I hope you’ve enjoyed!

Edited May 5, 2022 by dcayton9

[bosque]

Lovely post! I like you started back to front with team instructions. Defence first!

[Skywalk3r83]

Fantastic! Clean slate tactics incoming

[JoOSTAR]

Looking forward to the next chapter!

[bosque]

When checking your average defenders pace and acceleration, you do it against defenders or against attackers?

[coach vahid]

Brilliant open thread. 

Just a question. 

What's your point on view on the average? For example on elite league 15 is the best, the average attribute is between 10 and 15 or 7-8 and 12-13? If you can explain a little more, it will help. 

Thanks. 

[michaeldawson75]

Really good read with a lot of practical tips. Not ground breaking, but I love the methodical approach. To me, this is how the game and tactical creation should work.

But for me, it just doesn't. Cautious mentalities, low defensive lines, wingers in the M strata just mean turgid, lifeless football and 1-0 defeats. I almost always play with an underdog team, and a 433 with higher lines and specialised roles is always more successful.

I know some people can find success playing in a cautious way, but I find that I end up fulfilling the media prediction and nothing more, when really the fun is in pushing a team further than their supposed limitations.

Interested to read the next instalment, maybe I can figure out where I am going wrong.

[dcayton9]

@bosque @coach vahid I compare against other defenders, but in the league I'm currently playing in, Ligue 1, the average lands about .5 attribute values of difference, so marginal and I'd assume this is the same in other leagues. Also, in my experience, the target value for an attribute is tough to land on, as no specific info for starters is given, just for squad values, where fullbacks are similarly weighted to centerbacks. I see the average of attributes, in top 5 leagues, being around the 13 range in a given attribute with above average being 14-15 and below being 11-12. These may seem low, but keep in mind that this would represent the average quality of player at a midtable club. Once you are challenging for Europe or even challenging for the league title, you should be way above average and your tactics will change to reflect that with a higher line and positive mentality likely. I don't exactly know how to scale it down but usually, I start at the bar graphs (though I said not to trust them always) and as the season goes on, I'll be constantly looking at other team's players during opposition instructions in pre-match and begin to get a solid feel on where the league stands, attribute-wise by mid year.

 

3 hours ago, michaeldawson75 said:

Cautious mentalities, low defensive lines, wingers in the M strata just mean turgid, lifeless football and 1-0 defeats. I almost always play with an underdog team, and a 433 with higher lines and specialised roles is always more successful.

I know some people can find success playing in a cautious way, but I find that I end up fulfilling the media prediction and nothing more, when really the fun is in pushing a team further than their supposed limitations.

I agreed with this for the longest time, and I still will say that the method I'm writing on is not going to always create the most effective tactic possible in the match engine. Rather I am attempting to lay out framework for building a tactic each season that fits the players you have and attempts to get the most out of them, within realistic bounds. I do concede that this is a game, and perhaps this is a little bit roleplay-ey, but I do think playing in the cautious way can be effective for realism as a relegation contender, as well as creating a good foundation for future team building. I guess ultimately, I am not writing on how to soar above expectations, but understand where the fun is in that. I just personally like the slow growth of a club, consistent overperformance of a number of positions in the league each season, and the growth of the tactics to match.

[smeagoltonez]

A very informative read & very well written. Looking forward to the next edition! 

[gennamitico]

Any update on this? It is very interesting your approach 

[Lbsaligh]

Can’t wait for the next instalment about roles and duties. Holding off on playing FM until then. Always struggle creating tactics. 

[Anexxias]

On 25/04/2022 at 21:24, michaeldawson75 said:

Really good read with a lot of practical tips. Not ground breaking, but I love the methodical approach. To me, this is how the game and tactical creation should work.

But for me, it just doesn't. Cautious mentalities, low defensive lines, wingers in the M strata just mean turgid, lifeless football and 1-0 defeats. I almost always play with an underdog team, and a 433 with higher lines and specialised roles is always more successful.

I know some people can find success playing in a cautious way, but I find that I end up fulfilling the media prediction and nothing more, when really the fun is in pushing a team further than their supposed limitations.

Interested to read the next instalment, maybe I can figure out where I am going wrong.

I think a big part of why people struggle with the "defensive" mentalities is how poorly described they are by SI in the game. The idea that the lower your mentality the more defensive you are isn't really true. It's more a case of how quickly and aggressively are you going to transition the ball up the field.

I think the mistake people make is going overkill on their roles/team instructions in relation to their mentality. "I am playing Cautious therefore I must lower my defensive lines" for example when actually this is just inviting, as you describe, turgid football, because now you're playing a low-tempo brand of keeping the ball whilst camped near your own goal, inviting the other team to pin you back.

If you combine Cautious mentality with high lines, a certain amount of pressing, and more offensive individual player roles you can make a really successful possession-based tactic that doesn't give up many goals. This is because Cautious is only really describing how likely your players are to attempt something funky. You aren't going to turn the ball over very much by playing risky passes, so you're less likely to concede. Pep's philosophy of defending by keeping the ball basically = Cautious mentality.

On the other hand, it is a lot easier to just pump it to Positive/Attacking, set everything to max and watch your underdog team blitz their prediction, so I can understand the frustration.

Basically it's a case of asking yourself if you prefer to score 5 and have more chance of conceding 3 or score 1 and more chance of a clean sheet.

[Robson 07]

All valid points @Anexxiasconcerning the lower mentalities but sometimes you can just get bombarded using them no matter what you do.  Don't want to derail the conversation though from that enjoyable OP.

[michaeldawson75]

 

On 02/05/2022 at 11:00, Anexxias said:

I think a big part of why people struggle with the "defensive" mentalities is how poorly described they are by SI in the game. The idea that the lower your mentality the more defensive you are isn't really true. It's more a case of how quickly and aggressively are you going to transition the ball up the field

 

On 02/05/2022 at 11:00, Anexxias said:

I think the mistake people make is going overkill on their roles/team instructions in relation to their mentality. "I am playing Cautious therefore I must lower my defensive lines" for example when actually this is just inviting, as you describe, turgid football, because now you're playing a low-tempo brand of keeping the ball whilst camped near your own goal, inviting the other team to pin you back.

That's how SI thinks it should work though, no? If you set the Cautious mentality then it does lower your defensive lines.

If you look at the preset tactics, most if not all 'defensive' presets involve both cautious mentalities and have lower defensive lines as an additional instruction.

[dcayton9]

I'm back with the next installment! First we'll look at Roles and Duties, and how to balance them within a tactic, before exploring team instructions that define your base tactic. 

Roles and Duties:

This topic is well-dealt with in Pairs and Combinations, an important resource for any FM player, but I’ll take a slightly more rigid view in balancing roles and duties here in the attempt to simplify basic tactic creation and illustrate balance clearly. To start, I identify the duties I want each player to occupy to use, then fill the roles based on the player’s specific profile. Generally, you can set up a well balanced tactic before looking at your players, then fill who you have in your squad into the roles, but since each tactic should be custom-built to suit your squad, you need to know which players you want taking the risks or covering the space before you can define your responsibilities. Furthermore, duty can be seen like a mentality slider similar to team mentality, with attack taking the most offensive risk, and defend taking the least. Therefore, I like to pick who I want in the duties, before I settle on my tactic.

Goalkeepers: Not much to say here besides don't use a sweeper keeper on support or higher if your keeper does not have good acceleration, tendency to rush out, first touch, passing, and one-on-ones. Aside from this my rule of thumb is use a regular keeper with low DL on balanced or a normal DL on Cautious, G or SK(d) with a normal DL on Balanced, SK(d) or SK(su) with a high DL on Balanced or normal DL on positive, and a SK(su) or SK(a) with a high DL on Positive

Defend Duties: In a balanced or positive setup, I allocate three defend duties in each tactic I am creating. This provides cover against counterattacks, as well as gives a steady base to build on. A cautious tactic has the option to use two, as you may find that three can result in stagnated play since everyone is already taking less risk and three defense minded players compound on that, but this is not a set rule. To identify the players needed, I usually settle on my two central defenders (out of necessity in back 4 systems) and my most limited player offensively. This means the player that either can’t recover quickly (low physical ability) leaving a gap when he gets forwards, or player that will constantly lose possession in deep, dangerous zones (likely low passing, first touch, and vision along with mental attributes such as decisions, anticipation, or composure) so the defend duty can put a harness on his errancy. Since support duties take slightly more offensive risk and get further up the pitch than defend duties, this makes logical sense, as the most limited attacking player shouldn’t be as useful further up the pitch anyways. In this same vein, the third defend duty doesn’t have to be the best non-CD defender in your squad if that same player is also capable at getting forwards and making a difference. Rather it should just be the player that’s mistakes need to be covered up the most. The third defend duty should be a D(LR), single pivot, or member of the double pivot in midfield, and his position will fit the position preferred of the player you've chosen in the shape you've already decided on.

 

Attack Duties: On the opposite end of the spectrum, the players on attack duties should be the most capable going forwards. However, you can’t just set every player in your front 3 or 4 to attack and forget, but rather you should be decisive. Similar to the defend mentality, you should aim for 3 attack duties in balanced or cautious setups. In positive ones, it is possible to use only two attack duties, as your support players will be taking more risk and getting further forwards, so three may be too direct and gung-ho for everyone’s liking. Below is a chart I made to illustrate attack duties that correspond to different roles within the team's structure. Note that a player set to a pure creator will not provide only assists and no goals, but will be looking to create more often than score. This is the same with the goalscorer but with scoring, whereas the Hybrid will look to do both equally, when in positions to do so.

First, you should identify your best goalscorer by looking for the attributes that match. These are acceleration, strength, off the ball, anticipation, decisions, composure, finishing and technique. Acceleration, off the ball and anticipation get the scorer in the right position to score, decisions and strength allow them to make the right choices to shoot or pass and hold off defenders if necessary, and finally, composure, finishing, and technique should allow them to slot it away cooly. This player should be set to attack in a ‘goal-scoring role’ that attacks the box often. (Note: Complete Forward can operate as a hybrid or goalscorer depending on the player and his traits, even though I laid it out as a hybrid player in the chart)

Next, you should identify your most creative player to set to an attack duty. The attributes here are a little easier to identify, as everyone knows to look at passing, technique, and vision for killer balls, but anticipation, composure, and decisions are still key, so that your creator can read the game, even under pressure. Along with the passing side of creation, an often under-looked trait of a key creator (at least in FM) can be dribbling skill. Here, first touch, dribbling, flair, and agility can allow a wing player to create an immediate numerical advantage by winning a one-on-one or allow a technical maestro to final third weave between midfield ball-winners or avoid pressure with a first touch. The roles to utilize for these special players are ‘pure creators’ or ‘hybrid attackers’.

For the third attack duty, identify the player that can attack from a separate area of the pitch than your first two attack duties, so you can have even attacking pressure. This doesn’t necessarily have to be your third-best attacker, but still must be someone you can trust with creation in the final third or shooting if they end up in the box. The role should reflect their skillset, but generally I’d look to fill the missing role of the three types of attackers I’ve laid out. Circling back to the even attacking pressure I mentioned, I’d go against having two flank roles both on attack, or having a CM and wide player on attack on a given side. I do think a stacked AM-ST or two ST on attack duty can work however, provided the roles are balanced right. I recommend two attack duties in the ST or AM(CLR) or M(LR) positions with one more in another spot, being either CM or D(LR), but three in the front line can work, however it will cause your attack to be more direct than expected. This can be a pro in cautious setups or a con in possession systems, so distribute as needed.

One last note on using two attack duties in a positive setup. The profile of the attackers you choose when you can’t get one of each will also affect how direct your play is. Generally only two attack duties will allow more support and short passages of play, so choosing a goal-scorer and hybrid attacker will balance that with some directness towards the box, whereas opting for a creator accompanied by either of the others will amplify the short game perhaps desired.

 

Support: Put the rest on support. Easy as that. Ok, obviously kidding, but the rest of your players must be on support. Their specific roles in the team should work to provide opportunities for the attacking players, connect play from the defensive players to the attack, or to fill space vacated by one of the other two. Here is where pitch coverage comes into play. When you’re transitioning through the thirds of the pitch, how are your players going to be situated so that they are not stepping on top of each other, but also close enough to provide easy passing options. A rule of thumb I like to use is to fill the five lanes of horizontal width. This is often associated with positional play and top teams dominating games, but the (2-3)/(3-2)-5 shape is not what I mean. I just mean having an avenue to advance play through each channel. Nearly every team at the top level has players designated to get into these positions. Even if they are not directly attacking the box, it simply creates dangerous threat from all around the pitch. This ultimately equates to getting a player in the center space (usually a striker or AM), players sitting in or moving into the two half spaces (often an IW/IF or AM/CM with ‘Moves into Channels’, and on each flank (usually a (A)M(LR) or DL/R with 'Stay Wider'). Thus, use support players to fill the spaces listed not occupied by attacking players. Also important, If you have a player inverting on a flank, make sure you have width through a DL/R (make sure it's a wingback on defend instead of fullback if your defend duty is on that side) or if you have an (A)M(LR) staying wide, make sure you have a runner from midfield or AM filling that space in the channel. 

Once you’ve filled out your five roles on support or attack across the horizontal areas, you’ll also have your three defensive players filled in in positions of cover. Now, treat the final two like a way to connect the dots left in your shape, something that can be seen in the analysis tab on your tactic with the color-coded squares. Support inherently comes with more flexibility based on roles that suit your players, so to link play with these other two players, choose roles that fit what you have left. You can even use generic roles or automatic roles if you don’t want to box your players in or don't know exactly how to deploy them.

 

Offensive and Transition Instructions: Now that your formation is decided and your roles and duties are settled on, your team will likely play with desired link-ups and passages of play, even without instructions. However, instructions are necessary to amplify the strengths or negate the weaknesses of your squad. There are two types of instructions, defining and enhancing. Defining instructions work in tandem with player roles and duties to further define your style of play. Enhancing instructions work to exploit certain opposition weaknesses or tailor your play to individual players on a game-by-game basis. Because of this, your base tactic will use solely defining instructions, and so I will explore them first.

Defining Attacking Instructions:

• Attacking Width: I recommend leaving this at regular for your mentality, as it tends to favor a balanced approach. However, for teams with plenty of fast attacking runners (think AFs, IFs, or Ws) as well as good passers, a wide width may be effective at stretching play and creating room for your runs. Likewise, if your team is technically great but athletically lacking, playing narrow will work such that your players don’t have to cover as much ground. However, much of width is defined by attacking shape, so keep that in mind when setting this slider.
• Play Out of Defense: This slider prescribes your play to a more consistent method of ball progression up the field, but use only if your CBs are league average or better in passing, technique, composure and decisions as well as you have a keeper capable of playing the ball with his feet. If not, don’t use this, as it could be disastrous and playing without this instruction does not mean every play will be a hoof towards the striker.
• Passing Length: Similar to width, this should be kept shorter if you have technically gifted players that aren’t as athletic and more direct if you have runners that can reach balls in space or athletically superior players that can win headers or challenges. There is a notion that more direct translates to purely hoof-ball and shorter creates solely beautiful possession play.However, it is possible to have passages of play that are each of these styles, even when set to the opposite style. Furthermore, each of these are valid styles of play that should be used when necessary for effective attacking. That is why I don’t recommend the furthest extremes here, as there is often a right pass that could be either short or long, and you don’t want to box your team out from playing that. Passing length purely defines the tendency for a player to do one or the other, not necessarily making them do that every time, so choose what suits your players and stick with it. Further, keeping it on standard passing can be a valuable tool, as it lets the players decide, and allows a strong element of diversity.
• Tempo: Tempo directly relates to the time that a player takes to make a decision on the ball. Whether it is the right decision or not depends on their mental attributes. Because of this, set to high when your players are capable of making good decisions with high anticipation to quickly read the next move. If they are poor decision makers or can’t anticipate the team’s next move, you may want to drop it a notch, and give them more time on the ball. However, if their composure is low, they may get pressed into a bad pass, so be wary of this. If your players are good or bad at both, maybe keep your tempo on normal and let them react as they will. Results should still follow.

Defining Transition Instructions:

• Regroup/Counter-Press: I recommend leaving this blank unless your team has sufficient quality at counter-pressing in every situation or lacks any ability to win the ball further up the field. This means that the players getting forward (i.e. DL/R, AM(LCR), CM) have high or low aggression, teamwork, tackling, speed, bravery, work rate and stamina, respectively. If you are counter-pressing, you may want to have a third CB, FB or half-back sitting back to protect against the counter. The versatility of a balanced approach is key for not taking too much risk, but also turning lost possession into an attacking opportunity.
• Hold Shape/Counter: Similar to the prior instruction, keep this blank unless your players have the ability to always win on the counter counter or absolutely cannot in any situation. In this case, it means that your forward players (i.e. AM(LCR) and ST) have high or low pace and off the ball movement to counter. Similar to how you need to keep players back when counter-pressing, if you intend on countering, make sure that you have sufficient players forwards to outnumber the opposition’s rest defense.
• Goalkeeper Distribution: Choose a method of distribution or a location to distribute to rely on. If your keeper is good at kicking and you have an aerial threat or an extremely pacy striker, look to distribute to a target man or over the top of the defense. They won’t do it every time, but it will be successful when they do. On the flip side, if your keeper is good at throwing, look to throw it long or if you want to play it out of the back and your keeper can pass, select short kicks and and distribute to CBs or a deep midfielder. Last, if your keeper isn’t great at anything, roll it out to a better player on the ball or leave it blank.

 

Finally, once your defining instructions are set for offense and transition, your tactic is set and you can roll with this the rest of your season! Next, we will look at small tweaks from game to game you can make on your tactic in order to get the best results possible game to game. This means how to implement enhancing instructions or changes to roles and duties to exploit space. See you then!

Bonus: After that incredible match by Real Madrid and their great Champions League run so far, I wanted to apply what I've been preaching to both City and Real, so attached are how I set up. These are not interpretations of their real life tactics, simply an application of my write-ups so far on these two teams. Also, mentalities for both are set to positive, as they are each title contenders in their leagues.

City:

Spoiler

Here, I deploy De Bruyne, the most creative player at Mezzala on attack, and Sterling, who I identify as my main scorer with his 20 Off the Ball at IF to be my primary scorer. Bernardo Silva has stays wider and hold position on his individual instructions so that he doesn't step over De Bruyne. Walker has relatively low passing, vision and crossing to the rest of the squad, so he sits deep on defend, but as a wingback instead of a fullback so he still has the occasional ability to 'Run Wide With Ball' to cover position if Silva cuts inside. For instructions, they suit a high pressing style that can counter press (like real life) but I leave passing distance to normal, as these are all good passers and athletic and can move off the ball, so let them dictate the right pass every time. I kept a possession-based system by using Foden as a False 9, though he could be deployed as a Trequartista or even a poacher to go more direct.

Real Madrid:

Spoiler

Madrid is a team with considerably less pace in the midfield and Benzema is not the best presser, so I only selected to run a higher defensive line with play out of defense as the two CBs are fast and good on the ball. Similarly, since I am not attempting to make my midfielders goalscorers, nor press high, I dropped them to the M(LR) strata. Benzema, for obvious reasons, is my goalscorer, Modric, the creator, and Vini off the wing as the hybrid player. Casemiro provides defensive pressure in the midfield, making up for Kroos' lack of ability to do so. Lastly, I operate with shorter passing, as the all around lack of pace but strength in technical skills allows for this and distribute to the flanks in order to get the most out of Courtois' good throwing and kicking, so that he can distribute it into space and cause something dangerous.

 

[DDX84]

Thank you for this. I've just ripped everything up in season 4 and I'm looking to build from scratch, and didn't know where to start. 

This is what I'm about to go with, hoping for an improvement in fortunes. 

[michaeldawson75]

Another great update, and I like the example tactics.

As it has been discussed (by me and others), can you show us how you would set up a weaker team (one that would qualify for a Cautious mentality based on these guidelines) and talk us through your choices? A weak Premier League team, perhaps Norwich, Watford, or Burnley.

[bosque]

Nice! I love the simplicity and common sense of the guide. Looking forward for the third part!

Edit: Maybe it is because english is not my native tongue but I have a problem understanding this paragraph:

Cita

Once you’ve filled out your five roles on support or attack across the horizontal areas, you’ll also have your three defensive players filled in in positions of cover. Now, treat the final two like a way to connect the dots left in your shape, something that can be seen in the analysis tab on your tactic with the color-coded squares.

Did you wrote "or attack" in the first sentence by mistake?

Edited May 6, 2022 by bosque

[dcayton9]

18 hours ago, bosque said:

Edit: Maybe it is because english is not my native tongue but I have a problem understanding this paragraph:

Did you wrote "or attack" in the first sentence by mistake?

The "support or attack" is redundant, I just meant that your roles filling out the five horizontal spaces will correspond to support and attack duties (and rather obviously not defend). My mistake.

[bosque]

hace 8 minutos, dcayton9 dijo:

The "support or attack" is redundant, I just meant that your roles filling out the five horizontal spaces will correspond to support and attack duties (and rather obviously not defend). My mistake.

Great, now I understand 

[dcayton9]

@michaeldawson75
I haven’t had time to play a full season but last night, I was able to get about 8 games into a season with Watford using these tactical techniques. I won’t be able to play this weekend, so I’m going ahead and posting my progress now for the sake of quickness, but hopefully I’ll be able to eventually update further when I get a chance to finish the season. Below is my tactic, as well as results and table. I recognize the results aren’t world-beating, but considering the squad is projected 19th, they’re decent and if the team cohesion wasn’t originally in the red zone, they’d probably be better!

 

First, I set the mentality to cautious, as it serves as the base mentality for my squad since we’ll be battling relegation this season. Then, I set up my defensive instructions. My CBs are all quality defenders with around average pace and anticipation, so I stick with the standard defensive line. Next, many of my attackers, though pacy, lack a high work rate and can’t win tackles, so I stick the line of engagement to lower so that they don’t have to waste their attacking energy pressing high on defense. Finally, my midfield and defenders are actually quite strong on the tackle and reasonably quick, so I set the pressing intensity to higher ultimately creating an aggressive low block. For my team shape, I start with the realization that I have 3 quality (3.5+ star) central defenders). Therefore, we settle on a 3ATB shape. The 3ATB dictates that we must use wingbacks, and since Watford has multiple quality pacy wingers, we play in a 3-4-3 to accommodate that. This means that we have to use a sole striker and 2 midfielders which fits, as Cucho Hernandez can generally handle that role and Watford doesn’t have many quality midfielders to need to squeeze in.

After defensive style and team shape is decided, we move to roles and duties. Our 3 center backs are the most limited offensively, so we set them all to defend. In terms of roles, Sierralta is a NCB on Stopper to close down the area in front of the defense, as well as send long balls to the fast attackers. Nkoulou at RCB is a standard CD as there is nothing about his profile to suggest any other role. Lastly, at LCB, Samir is a WCB, as he has the ability to go forwards somewhat more than the others, but probably not enough to warrant a support duty or higher.

For the attack duties, Sarr is the best player, as well as the best creator with his dribbling skill, so him on the left with the Winger role makes sense. Watford’s squad doesn’t contain any quality left-footed wingers to invert or else we might have gone IW to better facilitate central play given our deployment of wingbacks. On the left, King has good finishing and is rapid, so getting into goal scoring positions as an IF is his specialty, and what I went for. Finally, as he is relatively two-footed with decent passing skills and capable of filling the hybrid role, Hernandez is set to a DLF. I would’ve liked to use CF on attack, but Hernandez does not have the aerial ability for that.

Regarding support, the wingbacks are both set to standard roles, with Sissoko being on Auto instead of support so that he doesn’t get further forward and step on the winger’s toes, whereas Kamara will get forward and cover wide when the IF cuts inside. To make up for the lack of right half space movement, the RCM has moves into channels as an individual instruction. This will create a disjointed midfield when in possession sometimes, but possession play is not how we want to create our chances, so we should just feel the positives of that instruction. Lastly, the BWM is a role built for the limited, but athletic and aggressive midfielders at Watford’s disposal and will hopefully help give the energy we need there. 

 

For offensive instructions, we pass more directly, as our forwards are faster than most defenders in the league. Also, the higher tempo is due to our low composure, though many of the further back players have good enough decisions to make this work. In transition, we want to Counter, as again, our pacy forwards should make this successful. Last, the distribution instructions lend themselves to our GK’s skills, as he has 16 throwing and our flanks are the strong and overloaded areas of our formation, so distribution there makes sense. 

 

A major caveat I must mention is that I don’t stay in cautious the whole time. In match mentality adjustment is crucial for any team, no matter the level. A top team cannot stay in positive the whole time for optimal results and a bottom team cannot stay in cautious. The base mentality serves more as a starting point for you to work off of than something to adhere to through thick and thin. I will explain my processes of mentality adjustment in the next post, but it not only makes in match management more active, but allows for the best possible results. Simply, if I am getting dominated I switch down a mentality and if I am doing better than expected, I move up a mentality.  

 

While I like this tactic and it produces fun counter-based goals, I am also thinking of trying another setup to get a little more out of the team and some different patterns of play. This will involve moving Hernandez to IW support on the left and King to striker with the AF role to work on more directly beating slower opposition CBs. The LWB, Kamara, who likes to get into opposition area and has good crossing, will be set to CWB attack to facilitate this. Samir, who is about equally incapable at creativity with Etebo (both having fairly poor passing and vision) being set to WCB support, while Etebo will be set to BWM defend in order to cover the space in the defensive midfield and the space vacated by Samir. The last of this chain of changes would be Sierralta becoming a NCB on defend instead of stopper, as there is no need for him to close down the space with Etebo doing already. 

In this set-up, I will drop the tempo to standard to give time for the further back players to get forwards, but aside from that keep the same instructions. I will try this set-up out for a few games when I get the chance, then when I’ve decided which one is better, stick with it for the rest of the season and hopefully be able to update at the end. 

*Edit for formatting on computer

Edited May 9, 2022 by dcayton9

[Cam NBH]

Really nice thread

[bosque]

En 24/4/2022 a las 12:55, dcayton9 dijo:

Pressing Intensity: This represents the frequency and distance your whole team’s pressing. Here, look at your team’s general ability to make quick, strong challenges.

What are the attributes that dictate the ability to make quick, strong challenges? Acceleration, strenght and tackling?

[michaeldawson75]

@dcayton9 nice work, very interesting. Thanks!

[goalash]

This is the topic I’ve been waiting for my whole life: an in-depth guide with examples.

Edited May 11, 2022 by goalash

[Jeroentjee]

Very interesting topic indeed. Kinda came up with the following using this method. Maybe one of you guys could tell me what ya think?

 

       Poacher 

IF(AT)         WI(SUP)

   CM(SUP)  CM(ATT, ZAKHARYAN)

                 BWM(SUP)

WB (D) CD           CD      FB (ATT)

                  SK(SUP)

 

On a positive mentality,  wide, standard passing,  higher tempo, counter and higher higher lines. Its very basic and it had a bit of succes, but i think that i give this team too much Praise quality wise. I think we are not that good as i thoughts so i think ill put the lines down more..

 

I posted this in a topic i made with a question, and this topic is exactly the answer. I just need some more indeep stuff, but the basics are there. This is the topic i talk about under this message.

Look i know you are probably busy and stuff, and not waiting to check every tactic people send you. In my topic, i put pictures of my team, attributes etc. If you have time, can you see if im on the right track, with my analysis on my team, and the tactic i made using your topic? Maybe use it as an example or something. But if you dont want, thats perfectly fine, ill keep my eyes on this topic anyway! Much love !

)

[Raymond85]

I think i love this topic! Was having trouble with overcomplicating my tactic, and i didn't like how we performed even with good results. Started fresh, with these principles, and this is the result

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Raymond85

[josel15]

12 minutos atrás, Raymond85 disse:

I think i love this topic! Was having trouble with overcomplicating my tactic, and i didn't like how we performed even with good results. Started fresh, with these principles, and this is the result

 

How do you like the CF(s) movement in the front? I'm trying a 4-3-3 with this guide, and I used a DLF on attack, but I feel he gets too deep sometimes.

[Raymond85]

46 minuti fa, josel15 ha scritto:

How do you like the CF(s) movement in the front? I'm trying a 4-3-3 with this guide, and I used a DLF on attack, but I feel he gets too deep sometimes.

that was the only match i played before taking a break. He wasn't very involved, butt he was quite good at creating space. I might rethink it if he isn't influential, maybe pressing or target forward on Cavani and Diego Costa, and DLF if i have Rashford

Edited May 9, 2022 by Raymond85

[dcayton9]

On 07/05/2022 at 13:08, bosque said:

What are the attributes that dictate the ability to make quick, strong challenges? Acceleration, strenght and tackling?

Yes, I tend to look at those three attributes primarily with anticipation and decisions factored in. 

Also @Raymond85 I like the tactic, it looks very similar to Arsenal's tactic from around February when Lacazette was starting at ST actually. Keep us updated on how it goes.

[bosque]

@dcayton9 Why should the most creative player be in an attack duty? In my mind it would be better if he is on support. Just to understand a little more your thinking. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by bosque

[zodiacg]

2 小时前, bosque说:

@dcayton9 Why should the most creative player be in an attack duty? In my mind it would be better if he is on support. Just to understand a little more your thinking. 

Attack duty + corresponding role will make him a creator. Attack duty means taking more risks like the mentality slider. IMHO an attack duty will allow the player to convert more opportunities to actual assists/goals.

[Raymond85]

9 ore fa, dcayton9 ha scritto:

Yes, I tend to look at those three attributes primarily with anticipation and decisions factored in. 

Also @Raymond85 I like the tactic, it looks very similar to Arsenal's tactic from around February when Lacazette was starting at ST actually. Keep us updated on how it goes.

Quite promising for now, given how imbalanced United squad is, this approach is very promising. I still will have to iron out some things, as our defense lacks pace and concentration, but i am liking it so far

[Skywalk3r83]

Why do you use a higher DL and a lower LOE? Just curious  

[Raymond85]

17 minuti fa, Skywalk3r83 ha scritto:

Why do you use a higher DL and a lower LOE? Just curious  

I followed the principles of the first post, using player comparison. Defenders are quite ok to play it (god rid of bailly and i'm slowly benching maguire, bought some better options for playing a higher line), and my front players are not so good at pressing high comparison wise, so best playing lower. It's working wonders

[Christopher S]

Tried this process a couple of times. Both times it went absolutely horribly, unfortunately. Ended up with systems that had no ability retain possession, no attacking output and bare results.

[Raymond85]

Il 10/5/2022 in 01:15 , dcayton9 ha scritto:

Yes, I tend to look at those three attributes primarily with anticipation and decisions factored in. 

Also @Raymond85 I like the tactic, it looks very similar to Arsenal's tactic from around February when Lacazette was starting at ST actually. Keep us updated on how it goes.

Are you planning to talk about individual player instructions too by any chance? I furthered the approach a little bit by making some tweaks to accomodate player attributes (for example dribbling, crossing, individual closing down, risky passes etc…). Seems to be working quite well for now, still unbeaten across all competitions in march, and that is quite huge even for United. And i won the Carabao agains City, outsmarting them with a corner header in the first 5 minutes, and a strong push in extra time, when i brought in all my fresh and pace driven attackers to make it 2-1.

[dcayton9]

17 hours ago, Christopher S said:

Tried this process a couple of times. Both times it went absolutely horribly, unfortunately. Ended up with systems that had no ability retain possession, no attacking output and bare results.

I commented on your post with my recommendations using this same thought process and I'm sorry the tactical creation didn't work. I back the methods I'm writing about, as I've used them in every save for a while when creating a tactic and always had good results. Usually when it's not working it's due to the team cohesion or randomness in opposition over-performance over xG, but I find a well thought through tactic, while not propelling a relegation contender to first immediately, will always have results that over-achieve in the long run.

41 minutes ago, Raymond85 said:

Are you planning to talk about individual player instructions too by any chance? I furthered the approach a little bit by making some tweaks to accomodate player attributes (for example dribbling, crossing, individual closing down, risky passes etc…). Seems to be working quite well for now, still unbeaten across all competitions in march, and that is quite huge even for United. And i won the Carabao agains City, outsmarting them with a corner header in the first 5 minutes, and a strong push in extra time, when i brought in all my fresh and pace driven attackers to make it 2-1.

I hope to cover it eventually, but generally you're right, it's a good idea to set individual instructions to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of your players, so long as it's not to every player making your tactic overly blunted or aggressive. My personal favorite thing is to set a midfielder to dribble more if they are a good ball carrier, in order to have a different avenue for ball progression than simply passing. I'm glad it's working out for you so far!

[Raymond85]

19 minuti fa, dcayton9 ha scritto:

I commented on your post with my recommendations using this same thought process and I'm sorry the tactical creation didn't work. I back the methods I'm writing about, as I've used them in every save for a while when creating a tactic and always had good results. Usually when it's not working it's due to the team cohesion or randomness in opposition over-performance over xG, but I find a well thought through tactic, while not propelling a relegation contender to first immediately, will always have results that over-achieve in the long run.

I hope to cover it eventually, but generally you're right, it's a good idea to set individual instructions to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of your players, so long as it's not to every player making your tactic overly blunted or aggressive. My personal favorite thing is to set a midfielder to dribble more if they are a good ball carrier, in order to have a different avenue for ball progression than simply passing. I'm glad it's working out for you so far!

That’s about what i’ve been doing. In my team:

maguire presses less

pogba sancho and bruno (or mata) try risky passes and are more direct

cavani and bruno move into space

sancho dribbles more

and i think i gave ceballos (cheap fred replacement) some dribbling and passing too.

not everyone, only players with specific attributes (and complementary ones) in the greens. I set instructions based on specific player in the tactic setup

[goalash]

On 05/05/2022 at 00:48, dcayton9 said:

Next, you should identify your most creative player to set to an attack duty.

What if my best creator is an Enganche or a False Nine? They are available in support duty exclusively.

 

On 05/05/2022 at 00:48, dcayton9 said:

Defining Attacking Instructions:

Attacking Width:

Likewise, if your team is technically great but athletically lacking, playing narrow will work such that your players don’t have to cover as much ground. However, much of width is defined by attacking shape, so keep that in mind when setting this slider.

Passing Length: Similar to width, this should be kept shorter if you have technically gifted players that aren’t as athletic and more direct if you have runners that can reach balls in space or athletically superior players that can win headers or challenges. 

Which attributes would you look at specifically here? Pace, Stamina, Agility vs First Touch, Technique, Dribbling?

[bosque]

hace 16 minutos, goalash dijo:

What if my best creator is an Enganche or a False Nine? They are available in support duty exclusively.

Don't be fixed on the reccommendation of best role for the player. As long as he is familiar with the position and the attributes match with the highlighted ones he can play the role very well.

For example, a False Nine can play a Deep Lying Forward role if he has good balance and strenght too.

Edited May 11, 2022 by bosque

[goalash]

8 minutes ago, bosque said:

Don't be fixed on the reccommendation of best role for the player. As long as he is familiar with the position and the attributes match with the highlighted ones he can play the role very well.

That’s not what I mean. I’ve got an amazing creator though with barely any strength (bye bye Deep Lying Forward), dribbling or finishing (farewell Advanced Playmaker (A), Attacking Midfielder (A) and TQ) on him. He’a a very static player, but amazing at what he does. His attributes make him a pure Enganche, is what I’ve meant - and an Enganche is a support player. What now?

Edited May 11, 2022 by goalash

[MattSpurs94]

1 hour ago, goalash said:

That’s not what I mean. I’ve got an amazing creator though with barely any strength (bye bye Deep Lying Forward), dribbling or finishing (farewell Advanced Playmaker (A), Attacking Midfielder (A) and TQ) on him. He’a a very static player, but amazing at what he does. His attributes make him a pure Enganche, is what I’ve meant - and an Enganche is a support player. What now?

For what it's worth, an Enganche on support still has an Attacking mentality, even on Balanced. Same as an Advanced Forward on attack. I would say that you could see the Enganche as effectively having an Attacking duty.

EDIT: In fact, any player in the AMC slot has an Attacking mentality on Balanced (Positive on Cautious). For me, the individual player mentality is the most important thing

Edited May 11, 2022 by MattSpurs94

[goalash]

41 minutes ago, MattSpurs94 said:

For what it's worth, an Enganche on support still has an Attacking mentality, even on Balanced. Same as an Advanced Forward on attack. I would say that you could see the Enganche as effectively having an Attacking duty.

EDIT: In fact, any player in the AMC slot has an Attacking mentality on Balanced (Positive on Cautious). For me, the individual player mentality is the most important thing

You’re right. Going along with this logic, with Positive mentality basically any AMC creator should do the trick.

[goalash]

59 minutes ago, MattSpurs94 said:

For what it's worth, an Enganche on support still has an Attacking mentality, even on Balanced.

Having verified in the game - unfortunately it’s not the case. With Positive mentality, my Enganche is also Positive - same as Attacking Midfielder on support. With the team set as Balanced, the Enganche is also Balanced.

Edited May 11, 2022 by goalash

[MattSpurs94]

38 minutes ago, goalash said:

Having verified in the game - unfortunately it’s not the case. With Positive mentality, my Enganche is also Positive - same as Attacking Midfielder on support. With the team set as Balanced, the Enganche is also Balanced.

Bizarre, that's not what I'm seeing

[goalash]

30 minutes ago, MattSpurs94 said:

Bizarre, that's not what I'm seeing

Must’ve been changed in the 22 edition. I’m still playing 21. Can’t see any other way.

[dcayton9]

I think they modified it for FM22, and now support duties in the final third have the same mentality as attack duties. Because of that change, I guess it stands that my logic isn't fully backed on who should be your main creator. Still, my personal experience finds the same roles on attack rather than support to take more risk and provide more final balls, whereas support players tend to connect play more often. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows but that is why I go with what I was saying.

3 hours ago, goalash said:

That’s not what I mean. I’ve got an amazing creator though with barely any strength (bye bye Deep Lying Forward), dribbling or finishing (farewell Advanced Playmaker (A), Attacking Midfielder (A) and TQ) on him. He’a a very static player, but amazing at what he does. His attributes make him a pure Enganche, is what I’ve meant - and an Enganche is a support player. What now?

I didn't address this well enough and I apologize. A lot of people have their best creators being DLPs and in your case an Enganche. In this scenario, I just think getting mobile creators around him, such as a W (a) or IW (a) or any fullback creators will well. Because of this, he'll serve as a connecting player, and feed the 'hockey assist' to these other players. When I mentioned "most creative player", I was thinking more along the lines of a player that can dribble, pass/cross, and move off the ball to receive it in dangerous positions. Thus, the enganche, while maybe the best passer, may not always be the "best creator." (at least in my limited definition of the term) 

Last, a note on the false 9 is that I think of the attack duty version of it being the Trequartista at Striker, though some are turned off by the lack of pressing intensity. I guess that is another exception to the rule that I laid out.

[bosque]

En 24/4/2022 a las 12:55, dcayton9 dijo:

Defensive Line: Check your central defenders’ pace, acceleration, marking, and anticipation. If they are decent-to-high relative to your league push the line up one, if they are poor, push it down one, if they are average, keep it at standard.

Would yo pay attention on CB's concentration when considering a higher defensive line?

 

Edit:

I really liked the guide because it makes a lot of sense and I feel is the approach I would like to apply from now on. I made 3 views: 1 for Defensive Style, 1 for Transitioning Style and 1 for Attacking Style. So you can assess the team faster and check your players and the team instructions:

Defensive Style:

Spoiler

Transitioning:

Spoiler

 

Attacking Style:

Spoiler

 

Attacking Style.fmf Defensive Style.fmf Transitioning Style.fmf

Edited May 11, 2022 by bosque

[goalash]

2 hours ago, dcayton9 said:

I think they modified it for FM22, and now support duties in the final third have the same mentality as attack duties. Because of that change, I guess it stands that my logic isn't fully backed on who should be your main creator. Still, my personal experience finds the same roles on attack rather than support to take more risk and provide more final balls, whereas support players tend to connect play more often. Maybe I'm wrong, who knows but that is why I go with what I was saying.

I didn't address this well enough and I apologize. A lot of people have their best creators being DLPs and in your case an Enganche. In this scenario, I just think getting mobile creators around him, such as a W (a) or IW (a) or any fullback creators will well. Because of this, he'll serve as a connecting player, and feed the 'hockey assist' to these other players. When I mentioned "most creative player", I was thinking more along the lines of a player that can dribble, pass/cross, and move off the ball to receive it in dangerous positions. Thus, the enganche, while maybe the best passer, may not always be the "best creator." (at least in my limited definition of the term) 

Last, a note on the false 9 is that I think of the attack duty version of it being the Trequartista at Striker, though some are turned off by the lack of pressing intensity. I guess that is another exception to the rule that I laid out.

Thanks for this. As always in your case, clarifies things very well. Also makes perfect sense: a positive-minded Enganche would rather provide hockey assists to more dynamic creators.

What about the playing width and passing length? You mentioned such factors as: runners, header winners, athleticism vs technicality. But what exact attributes would you look at? If my team is Positive, which by default stretches the play a tiny bit, what would make you go a click narrower or/and shorter regarding passing?