The Football Manager Playbook Released

[Cleon]

This is taken from the website 

View From The Touchline

 

The wait is finally over and we are pleased to announce the release of our first Football Manager book.  Titled - View From The Touchline Presents Cleon Hobson - The Football Manager Playbook Part 1.

Hopefully, this book is the first of many we have planned over the next few months and years.

So what is this book about? Well like I’ve said before hopefully this is the first of many I create. This is why I decided to start at the beginning and tackle the difficult subject of how to create a tactic. The book has 13 actual Football Manager chapters in it along with an intro and credits section. Each chapter of the Football Manager book follows from the next and I felt it was important to tell the story that I wanted to tell. I don’t want to call this a guide as such because I believe it is more than that but essentially, I wanted to create something that felt like a step-by-step story/guide.

The book covers all the steps needed to translate your ideas into Football Manager and helps you create a tactic even if you perhaps don’t have an idea initially. I’m hoping over time that this becomes some kind of starting/reference point for people when creating a tactic on Football Manager. Another thing that I am hoping for is that it makes people strip back to the basics in their thinking and allows them to play in complex ways by keeping it all simple.  The key to that in my opinion is not overthinking stuff and if we use a player role, duty or any kind of tactical setting on Football Manager, you understand what it actually does. I want to try and give you meaning for why you select something and understand why something does or doesn’t work.

The Chapters in the book and the contents in it are as follows:

1. Intro

2. How you Want to Play - You need some kind of plan of action, in this chapter, we take a look at the very beginning of tactical creation as we look to create a starting point.

3. The Shape - Whatever shape you use, it will have strengths and weaknesses. This chapter is a few words about actually understanding the shape and what it means.

4. Playing Styles - After identifying the shape you will use it’s time to start focusing on the playing style you want to create. We delve into all the different playstyles, and the implications and try to understand the attribute side of the game too.

5. Understand the roles, duties and team instructions  - This topic covers how to bring all the roles, duties and instructions together to create the style of play we are wanting. Focusing on the different phases of play and talking about the impact all of this has on the tactic.

6. Mentality - In this section, we break down mentality and I give an insight into how I select what I’ll use. Less is more.

7. AM vs MC - I explain why I decided to go with central midfielders instead of attacking midfielders. I talk about the pros and cons of both variations and why I selected what I did.

8. Training The Eye - Lots of people struggle with knowing what to look out for when trying to find faults and issues with their systems. In this chapter, I try and break down how I focus on things and simplify the game for myself by developing a system to help with the identifying issues part.

9. Have Options - Games strategies! That’s basically what this section is. Whether it’s a tactical change, substitution, role change, settings change etc. We have it all covered in here.

10. Don't panic - A chapter dedicated to understanding the context of what you actually see happening.

11. The Next Steps - Once you’ve got a tactic and playstyle, what you do next is covered under this section. I take a deep dive and talk you through what I do.

12. General Observations - Is the system/players/settings all playing/doing what you expected? Again I break it all down in this section as we put everything we learned in the other 11 chapters into motion.

13. Further Refining - I talk about how we can use other tools available in the game to help us with really honing down our tactics and playing style.

14. Piecing it all Together - The finished product can take a while to achieve and is something that can take seasons to perfect. In this section, I talk through all the settings, roles and instructions and give a real breakdown of how it all links together.

15. Credits

 

No matter how experienced you are in the game and confident in your own set-ups, I'm confident I'll have given you some food for thought with the above throughout the book. As with everything though, remember this is just my way of playing the game and building tactics along with maintaining them. It isn't a hard and fast rule.

If you download it please leave feedback below after reading it and let me know how it felt and if it flowed as well, as I’d hoped it would. It is free of charge as I don’t believe anyone should charge for Football Manager content regardless of how much time and effort has been put into creating it (just my opinion). And it can be downloaded at the following link;

PDF VERSION DOWNLOAD LINK

PDF MIRROR

PDF MIRROR 2

PDF MIRROR 3

Epub Version

We tried to upload the book to all the popular stores like iBooks, Kindle etc but had some issues which still need sorting. But we do have an Epub version you can download it's just you have to manually add it to your libraries. If you don't know how to do that follow these two link;

KINDLE

APPLE

To download the Epub version click the link below

EPUB VERSION DOWNLOAD LINK

MIRROR LINK EPUB

MIRROR LINK EPUB 1

Hope you all enjoy the book.

Please reply below with any questions, feedback etc. Hopefully it generates a lot of discussion.

 

We've added a new way of viewing the book on the website today. You can read it online now as well as offline.

https://fmplaybook.viewfromthetouchline.com

If you follow that link you can view the book. You'll also have the option to install it as an offline app on your desktop, Android, and iOS and it works in aeroplane mode too. To use the offline app simply just click on the icon in the tool.

 

 

Then it will look and act like an app on your desktop;

If you still want to download it, you can also still do that. Click the print option on your keyboard and save it as a PDF while on the book's homepage.

A massive shoutout and huge thanks to Rob the owner of sortitoutsi for reaching out and creating this. We can't thank him enough.

Edited August 21, 2022 by Cleon

[Cleon]

Added lots of mirrors as we had 1k downloads in like 25 mins and I didn't plan for that 

[Justified]

Looking forward to reading this. Well done! 

[Skywalk3r83]

Nice!!!

[bezzy1970]

@CleonThank you so much mate. Yourself with @Rashidihave helped me so much with Football Manager but still nowhere close to you two but I'll keep trying. Thank you again 👍👍

[Rashidi]

Its definitely worth reading.  I haven't finished it yet but from what i;ve read it should help quite a lot of people

[Cleon]

1 hour ago, Justified said:

Looking forward to reading this. Well done! 

Thanks. Hopefully it lives up to expectations. 

43 minutes ago, Skywalk3r83 said:

Nice!!!

Hope you enjoy it.

16 minutes ago, bezzy1970 said:

@CleonThank you so much mate. Yourself with @Rashidihave helped me so much with Football Manager but still nowhere close to you two but I'll keep trying. Thank you again 👍👍

Thank you. Hopefully there is some good stuff in there for you

4 minutes ago, Rashidi said:

Its definitely worth reading.  I haven't finished it yet but from what i;ve read it should help quite a lot of people

Thanks buddy.

[herne79]

1 hour ago, Cleon said:

we had 1k downloads in like 25 mins

Says it all.  Great going mate .

[CARRERA]

Haven’t read yet, but I appreciate the contribution to the community and wanted to thank you for sharing the playbook with us (for free!)

Is liking bugged for mobile version of the website btw?!

[Fieldsy]

An amazing thing you have done for the community - the book will help so many people and the amount of downloads already is a testament to that.

[Tsuru]

Hi Cleon. This is simply amazing and I am already reading it!

I am also part of a Brazilian FM forum (https://fmanager.com.br/). Would you mind if I translate the material into Portuguese and post the material there, with all the credits to the original post and to the original download? This way I think more people could have access, read and understand your ideas.

Thank you so much for this.

[Delial]

Finally!

Thanks a lot! Can't wait to get back from vacations to read it. (and screw my new job)

[Cleon]

2 hours ago, CARRERA said:

Haven’t read yet, but I appreciate the contribution to the community and wanted to thank you for sharing the playbook with us (for free!)

Is liking bugged for mobile version of the website btw?!

Thanks hopefully you'll find it enjoyable. I'll have a look at the button and see if it needs fixing.

53 minutes ago, Fieldsy said:

An amazing thing you have done for the community - the book will help so many people and the amount of downloads already is a testament to that.

Appreciate it, thanks. Over 6k now. Madness, didn't think it would be this popular this quick 

3 minutes ago, Tsuru said:

Hi Cleon. This is simply amazing and I am already reading it!

I am also part of a Brazilian FM forum (https://fmanager.com.br/). Would you mind if I translate the material into Portuguese and post the material there, with all the credits to the original post and to the original download? This way I think more people could have access, read and understand your ideas.

Thank you so much for this.

Yes please, go for it. I use the forum too but have to do it via Google Translate. I use the files that Adriano Roberto creates for a more realistic Brazilian save.

1 minute ago, Delial said:

Finally!

Thanks a lot! Can't wait to get back from vacations to read it. (and screw my new job)

Haha. Hope you enjoy it. Also hope you're having a great vacation.

[bosque]

IT'S CHRISTMAS!

[danielgear]

A great read cleon 

[bahmet]

Is there a text version or Word? I know English badly, so you need to read with a translator. And here the text cannot be selected.

[Cleon]

1 hour ago, bahmet said:

Is there a text version or Word? I know English badly, so you need to read with a translator. And here the text cannot be selected.

Sadly no. But I can sort something out for you tomorrow so you can translate it.

[john1]

Took me almost 2 hours to read the playbook, already made changes to my tactic with Bologna, and still in work in progress but seeing alot of positive already.
 

Can't wait for the rest of the parts of this! Will you also be focusing on youth development too? Like you did with Ajax, many moons ago!

[KlaaZ]

Read through this at work today (slow day, huzzah), and it inspired me to really think about what I was trying to do. Resulted in a 1-1 draw in my first game away at Braga, with a very satisfying goal which was a copybook example of what I'm trying to do.

Rezaei got the ball while dropping off, turned and launched Caju, who was free on the left flank because Schrijvers is sitting narrower. He hit in a whipped cross and Benson, who has roam from position, tapped it in, with Maertens as a diversion at the near post.

[EnigMattic1]

Been a big fan of your content for years, especially your Ajax and Brazilian Box Midfield content. Downloading this now and looking forward to having something available offline. Thanks for the time and effort you have put in over the years. 

[DJ Sir Matthew]

After a hiatus of a few years I actually launched FM (FM21) last night to give it another try (and to see if I'm going to buy FM23 or not). As a fan of Marcelo Bielsa I choose Newell's Old Boys because I wanted something different than Europe. So I have 2 tactical ideas in mind: replicating Bielsa's 4-1-4-1 system but I believe it to be too advanced and too demanding for myself and for FM. So I resort to (given 1st transfer window is disabled) to look at the squad and go from there. 

Alas, on page 9 you start to discuss formations. Well, a formation. The 3-5-2 with it's pro's and con's. And while they make perfect sense to me, I don't seem to be able to come to the same + / - lists for all formations within FM. I can understand listing them all would make the book longer and/or maybe this is planned in one of the other books? There is some info on the 4-4-2's in https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/328398-building-a-tactic-from-the-beginning-and-maintaining-it-long-term/ but there seems to be no real overview of all formations and their strengths & weaknesses? So I'm left with a list of players and their roles according to our staff and their attributes & PPM's but having no idea in which formation I best put them into for maximum results. And not knowing that, leaves me, like you wrote, on the back foot and out of touch. Leading to dropping the game once more?

Maybe providing all that information is a little too much hand-holding but then again, some people just need that little nudge to get going and take it from there. Some have enough insight to do it themselves, others don't. I guess it starts with a very well explained dummy-like version of the basic things and I'm missing that depth in the initial chapter (maybe it comes later but it's too late so that will have to wait until tomorrow). I'm also sure it isn't the most sexy part to write going through all those formations and listing their pros and cons.

Also, please, don't see this as critique of your work, it has been clear for a long time you and others are at another level than most of us. And  spending all that time and effort to help out others truly is appreciated. I guess what I'm trying to say is that things that might seem like obvious to you (and the other experts) isn't always so to others/the noobs. And it might well be the key for some to unlock that insight and "see the light".  If the goal is truly to create a one-stop-shop for all things tactic related, then I do believe these basic things have to be in it too, or referenced to.

EDIT: Regarding formations, I don't know if stating Google is your friend for finding out strengths and weaknesses? Like https://www.google.com/search?q=352+formation+strengths+and+weaknesses give a lot of results and diving deeper into the links, well, sometimes the quality is there, sometimes it isn't. So not sure this is the best approach...

Edited August 19, 2022 by DJ Sir Matthew

[Cleon]

11 hours ago, john1 said:

Took me almost 2 hours to read the playbook, already made changes to my tactic with Bologna, and still in work in progress but seeing alot of positive already.
 

Can't wait for the rest of the parts of this! Will you also be focusing on youth development too? Like you did with Ajax, many moons ago!

Ha cheers. I have stuffed planned for FM23 yeah but it's likely to be different to what you've seen before. This will be a new way of playing so will cover lots of things, especially on scouting/development.

10 hours ago, KlaaZ said:

Read through this at work today (slow day, huzzah), and it inspired me to really think about what I was trying to do. Resulted in a 1-1 draw in my first game away at Braga, with a very satisfying goal which was a copybook example of what I'm trying to do.

Rezaei got the ball while dropping off, turned and launched Caju, who was free on the left flank because Schrijvers is sitting narrower. He hit in a whipped cross and Benson, who has roam from position, tapped it in, with Maertens as a diversion at the near post.

Sounds like a good goal.

10 hours ago, EnigMattic1 said:

Been a big fan of your content for years, especially your Ajax and Brazilian Box Midfield content. Downloading this now and looking forward to having something available offline. Thanks for the time and effort you have put in over the years. 

Thank you

10 hours ago, DJ Sir Matthew said:

After a hiatus of a few years I actually launched FM (FM21) last night to give it another try (and to see if I'm going to buy FM23 or not). As a fan of Marcelo Bielsa I choose Newell's Old Boys because I wanted something different than Europe. So I have 2 tactical ideas in mind: replicating Bielsa's 4-1-4-1 system but I believe it to be too advanced and too demanding for myself and for FM. So I resort to (given 1st transfer window is disabled) to look at the squad and go from there. 

Alas, on page 9 you start to discuss formations. Well, a formation. The 3-5-2 with it's pro's and con's. And while they make perfect sense to me, I don't seem to be able to come to the same + / - lists for all formations within FM. I can understand listing them all would make the book longer and/or maybe this is planned in one of the other books? There is some info on the 4-4-2's in https://community.sigames.com/forums/topic/328398-building-a-tactic-from-the-beginning-and-maintaining-it-long-term/ but there seems to be no real overview of all formations and their strengths & weaknesses? So I'm left with a list of players and their roles according to our staff and their attributes & PPM's but having no idea in which formation I best put them into for maximum results. And not knowing that, leaves me, like you wrote, on the back foot and out of touch. Leading to dropping the game once more?

Maybe providing all that information is a little too much hand-holding but then again, some people just need that little nudge to get going and take it from there. Some have enough insight to do it themselves, others don't. I guess it starts with a very well explained dummy-like version of the basic things and I'm missing that depth in the initial chapter (maybe it comes later but it's too late so that will have to wait until tomorrow). I'm also sure it isn't the most sexy part to write going through all those formations and listing their pros and cons.

Also, please, don't see this as critique of your work, it has been clear for a long time you and others are at another level than most of us. And  spending all that time and effort to help out others truly is appreciated. I guess what I'm trying to say is that things that might seem like obvious to you (and the other experts) isn't always so to others/the noobs. And it might well be the key for some to unlock that insight and "see the light".  If the goal is truly to create a one-stop-shop for all things tactic related, then I do believe these basic things have to be in it too, or referenced to.

EDIT: Regarding formations, I don't know if stating Google is your friend for finding out strengths and weaknesses? Like https://www.google.com/search?q=352+formation+strengths+and+weaknesses give a lot of results and diving deeper into the links, well, sometimes the quality is there, sometimes it isn't. So not sure this is the best approach...

It's a lot of effort to list that pros and cons of every formation because it all depends on the formations you face too. However the info is all out there already if you do a little Google search, just use the real life ones. I know you say the quality/depth doesn't seem to be there on Google but it is. I mean this will all respect but maybe you are just too picky or need far more guidance than most. That's fine but I genuinely don't know what more I could do. At some stage you have to take responsibility for what you are learning and discovering yourself. You can't always put it on others and expect them to provide every single detail, that is just unrealistic. Any more in-depth from me and you're look at a 1k+ page book and another 2-3 years before completing it. I feel I covered enough for anyone to create a tactic. You say that the quality isn't always there when searching Google and that's fine. Yet you expect people to shift through them all and find the better ones for you or write an extensive list for you. 

I think in the book I did it very well with hand holding as you called it and talk people through it step by step. Out of 11.5k downloads the thousands of feedback so far seems to be the exact opposite of what you've said. People have said it talked them through every step of the creation and simplified the complex parts of the games. So maybe it's as you said and you just haven't read enough of the book yet but are commenting as if you have? Social media/ Reddit/website/Twitter/Instagram and Discord, everyone is saying the opposite. 

I don't mean to sound harsh and I appreciate the feedback but there's a fine line between what information I give out and the things you need to do yourself. Remember what I do is for free and isn't a job.

This site for example gives a quick run down that is more than fine for the basics functions of the popular formation;

https://www.sportsessionplanner.com/s/m7TZ/Formations-Srengths-&-Weakness.html?interface=en

Same again;

https://www.abiprod.com/6-common-soccer-formations-their-strengths-weaknesses-requirements-and-variations/

https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/football-tactics-formations-explained-442-433-451-4231-most-common-how-beat-them

https://www.quora.com/What-are-the-strengths-and-weaknesses-of-the-3-3-4-soccer-formation-How-can-one-use-this-formation-against-a-4-2-3-1-formation

https://www.sportsrec.com/523913-the-strengths-weaknesses-of-soccer-formations.html

All taken from the top 7 search hits on Google.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[bahmet]

13 часов назад, Cleon сказал:

К сожалению нет. Но я могу кое-что отсортировать для вас завтра, чтобы вы могли это перевести.

No, thank you. I converted to Word on my own. I will read)

Word Version

[Cleon]

1 minute ago, bahmet said:

No, thank you. I converted to Word on my own. I will read)

Word Version

Ah okay. Hopefully you enjoy it

[Delial]

@Cleonj Just finished to read the book : what a great job! Ballsy to have chose the Brazilian Box to illustrate some of the most basic principles of the game, but definitely a wise choice.

Did you see that your AF and your DLF would be probably more suited to the role of each other's regarding their attributes haha!? Maybe I missed something in the reading, but I found it funny! (even though obviously, things seem to work well for this tactic).

[Cleon]

13 minutes ago, Delial said:

@Cleonj Just finished to read the book : what a great job! Ballsy to have chose the Brazilian Box to illustrate some of the most basic principles of the game, but definitely a wise choice.

Did you see that your AF and your DLF would be probably more suited to the role of each other's regarding their attributes haha!? Maybe I missed something in the reading, but I found it funny! (even though obviously, things seem to work well for this tactic).

Glad you enjoyed it.

It didn't really matter who was which striker as they had attributes for anyrole. However there is a reason behind it. The player I used as the AF was the player I was trying to get to score 1k goals. And as the AF is the primary scorer, that's why I did it the way I did 

[Tsuru]

Yesterday I applied the same principles for Cleon's 4222 Box to a 4132, which is a formation I love, and it worked wonders. So let's keep up the good work and development

Cleon, I also would like to read how you would apply the principles to a counter strategy - which for me is harder to do on FM. Which instructions you would use In Possession and Out of Possession, for example? When I try to create something like that the team is always too passive or hoof the ball too much. I think it would be a nice addition to the guide.

Thank you once more!

[Cleon]

11 minutes ago, Tsuru said:

Yesterday I applied the same principles for Cleon's 4222 Box to a 4132, which is a formation I love, and it worked wonders. So let's keep up the good work and development

Cleon, I also would like to read how you would apply the principles to a counter strategy - which for me is harder to do on FM. Which instructions you would use In Possession and Out of Possession, for example? When I try to create something like that the team is always too passive or hoof the ball too much. I think it would be a nice addition to the guide.

Thank you once more!

Have you read the counter attacking piece I did a while back? If not you can view it here;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12MLuV4T-0ljqhFSVvgq0wLiMIEjGxgskJqQfLTYEkSw/edit?usp=sharing

[Owls]

Where is the part about the Sheffield team winning the league in 3rd season and then every year and team from Iceland going to CL knockouts with much lower line tactics? Can't find that.

[Cleon]

8 minutes ago, Owls said:

Where is the part about the Sheffield team winning the league in 3rd season and then every year and team from Iceland going to CL knockouts with much lower line tactics? Can't find that.

I've not wrote about Iceland yet and have literally millions of posts/articles/threads on here highlighting the Sheff Utd success over the years. Iceland is still an on going save. Not sure how you think I have time to finish the book and write about things. The book has been very time consuming, in fact 11 months in total. Had to fit it around real life and other stuff.

The book isn't about my accomplishments it's about laying the groundwork for the other books that are to come and explaining concepts. I want them all to follow on and be the next logical step in story telling. This one is just setting the tone and giving people a basic overview to be able to delve into the complication situations in FM and not feel out of their depth. The next book will be the next step in this.

As for lower line stuff, that's to come and something I'm working on currently.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[Owls]

vor 17 Minuten schrieb Cleon:

I've not wrote about Iceland yet and have literally millions of posts/articles/threads on here highlighting the Sheff Utd success over the years. Iceland is still an on going save. Not sure how you think I have time to finish the book and write about things. The book has been very time consuming, in fact 11 months in total. Had to fit it around real life and other stuff.

The book isn't about my accomplishments it's about laying the groundwork for the other books that are to come and explaining concepts. I want them all to follow on and be the next logical step in story telling. This one is just setting the tone and giving people a basic overview to be able to delve into the complication situations in FM and not feel out of their depth. The next book will be the next step in this.

As for lower line stuff, that's to come and something I'm working on currently.

You post about it on the forum vaguely for months and then not make it in the book. Sure thing.

[Tsuru]

1 hora atrás, Cleon disse:

Have you read the counter attacking piece I did a while back? If not you can view it here;

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12MLuV4T-0ljqhFSVvgq0wLiMIEjGxgskJqQfLTYEkSw/edit?usp=sharing

Yes I did, I am a fan of your articles!

So in FM 21/22 you would still do the same, that is, select the shape/roles/duties and use Cautious mentality with no TIs?

[danielgear]

7 minutes ago, Owls said:

You post about it on the forum vaguely for months and then not make it in the book. Sure thing.

The books not really about his saves though. It’s focusing around one area. 

[Cleon]

11 minutes ago, Owls said:

You post about it on the forum vaguely for months and then not make it in the book. Sure thing.

The book was started a year ago and any new stuff didn't make the cut. The Icelandic stuff is going on the blog. I told you I'm working on it, please don't be that guy be better. It's Saturday, get out and enjoy the fresh air. Grab a coffee, a beer, watch the Owls lose. Do something more productive that looking for something that isn't here. The Icelandic stuff doesn't even fit the book. Imagine if I'd written about how to build a tactic and then suddenly we are challenging for the Champions League . Quite the jump that fella.

I've already spoke about the low block, defensive stuff on the discord and twitter accounts highlighting it's coming. But stuff takes time to write and up until a week ago, any writing was on the book. Since then I've been busy with preparing the website, making the launch go smoothly and working on building socials. Hopefully towards the middle of next month everything you want is on the blog.

Also I take it you never read the other in-depth topics I did on low/blocks and defensive football though? As you are so eager, why not check it out you can find the draft here. It did exist on here but the images no longer exist iirc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_IiCkAgdZbUADAreSqd_mW7oKLyV6CToyy5q2NpKgQ/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy your afternoon sir.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[Cleon]

3 minutes ago, Tsuru said:

Yes I did, I am a fan of your articles!

So in FM 21/22 you would still do the same, that is, select the shape/roles/duties and use Cautious mentality with no TIs?

Id likely do the same yeah or approach it from that kind of angle to begin with yeah.

[Owls]

vor 7 Minuten schrieb Cleon:

The book was started a year ago and any new stuff didn't make the cut. The Icelandic stuff is going on the blog. I told you I'm working on it, please don't be that guy be better. It's Saturday, get out and enjoy the fresh air. Grab a coffee, a beer, watch the Owls lose. Do something more productive that looking for something that isn't here. The Icelandic stuff doesn't even fit the book. Imagine if I'd written about how to build a tactic and then suddenly we are challenging for the Champions League . Quite the jump that fella.

I've already spoke about the low block, defensive stuff on the discord and twitter accounts highlighting it's coming. But stuff takes time to write and up until a week ago, any writing was on the book. Since then I've been busy with preparing the website, making the launch go smoothly and working on building socials. Hopefully towards the middle of next month everything you want is on the blog.

Also I take it you never read the other in-depth topics I did on low/blocks and defensive football though? As you are so eager, why not check it out you can find the draft here. It did exist on here but the images no longer exist iirc.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D_IiCkAgdZbUADAreSqd_mW7oKLyV6CToyy5q2NpKgQ/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy your afternoon sir.

yeah one typical blade babbling and babbling about something and bragging on the forum for over a year and then publishing some vague stuff everybody can google in 5 minutes. what else should i have expected. sorry for having some faith in the integrity of the forums. maybe YOU should go out and do some stuff instead of fishing for compliments for your "book".

[Cleon]

4 minutes ago, Owls said:

yeah one typical blade babbling and babbling about something and bragging on the forum for over a year and then publishing some vague stuff everybody can google in 5 minutes. what else should i have expected. sorry for having some faith in the integrity of the forums. maybe YOU should go out and do some stuff instead of fishing for compliments for your "book".

I provided you with a link above to what you're asking for which is 8000 words long, to tide you over until the new stuff is out shortly. Also you can search on here for any Blades stuff. Not sure why you're so angry though, I'm sorry you look up to me as your hero and feel let down.

Not sure the 14k people who downloaded the book all agree with you about finding the info on Google in 5 mins. If that was the case you'd not be so upset now either would you, as you can find the info you want me to provide in minutes. Let's not spoil a good day eh.

Enjoy your day sir.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[FrazT]

@Owls  You have made your point in this thread so just leave it there and let others make up their own minds as to the content.

[CowShedBarmyArmy]

Great work mate. Can't wait to read this multiple times and improve my tactical knowledge.

I've been trying to get a 4222 to work for ages (my real life team used it last season) so it felt like this book was written for me!!

 

[Cleon]

3 minutes ago, CowShedBarmyArmy said:

Great work mate. Can't wait to read this multiple times and improve my tactical knowledge.

I've been trying to get a 4222 to work for ages (my real life team used it last season) so it felt like this book was written for me!!

 

Ha! Hope it lives up to expectations

[fc.cadoni]

Great work! Thank you, Cleon!

[Owls]

The fact is you claimed ridiculous results with Sheffield with tactic with much lower lines. Then people tried the same and had the obvious horrible results so you told them they lack understanding of the game and whatnot and instead of explaining you said it's in the book. Now about a decade later the book comes online and it's nowhere to be seen. That's the typical Blade behavior and you try to deceive now by acting like you don't know I talk about that while referring to some text about Sheffield from 5 years ago. Amazed by how you behave as an alleged grown man.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Owls

[Cleon]

52 minutes ago, fc.cadoni said:

Great work! Thank you, Cleon!

Thanks. Hopefully you enjoy it.

30 minutes ago, Owls said:

The fact is you claimed ridiculous results with Sheffield with tactic with much lower lines. Then people tried the same and had the obvious horrible results so you told them they lack understanding of the game and whatnot and instead of explaining you said it's in the book. Now about a decade later the book comes online and it's nowhere to be seen. That's the typical Blade behavior and you try to deceive now by acting like you don't know I talk about that while referring to some text about Sheffield from 5 years ago. Amazed by how you behave as an alleged grown man.

Enjoy your day.

[Owls]

vor 13 Minuten schrieb Cleon:

Thanks. Hopefully you enjoy it.

Enjoy your day.

Lol a 40-year old "man" that has to hide from actual discussion but needs to publish "books" on a video game to get some attention and compliments for endorphines. I mean instead of just trying to act like that never happened you could maybe just admit you tried to troll people by claiming these results with no substance and proof instead of making real passionate and skilled players go into a rabbit hole because you claimed it. Your arrogance and how you treat other people is appalling.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Owls

[Cleon]

8 minutes ago, Owls said:

Lol a 40-year old "man" that has to hide from actual discussion but needs to publish "books" on a video game to get some attention and compliments for endorphines. I mean instead of just trying to act like that never happened you could maybe just admit you tried to troll people by claiming these results with no substance and proof instead of making real passionate and skilled players go into a rabbit hole because you claimed it. Your arrogance and how you treat other people is appalling.

I explained to you why and linked you a 8k word topic on the subject of low lines and defensive football to tide you over until the new one comes out in a few weeks. But it seems like you keep ignoring that to take cheap shots at every point you can and to get personal. That's fine if that's what you want to do as it seems you are incapable of having a proper discussion and avoided every single thing I have said and linked so far, to carry on this petty crusade on an alt account because you didn't have the balls to post on your main. In the future I'll ignore every post you do in here unless you can start to discuss like an adult and actually read/take in what is being said.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[Owls]

Gerade eben schrieb Cleon:

I explained to you why and linked you a 8k word topic on the subject of low lines and defensive football to tide you over until the new one comes out in a few weeks. But it seems like you keep ignoring that to take cheap shots at every point you can and to get personal. That's fine if that's what you want to do as it seems you are incapable of having a proper discussion and avoided every single thing I have said and linked so far, to carry on this petty crusade. In the future I'll ignore every post you do in here unless you can start to discuss like an adult and actually read/take in what is being said.

Lmao, you are going on and on and on about some old post you linked. While you can't explain how you ON FM22 WITH SHEFFIELD as you have claimed go to the Premier League and win it easy with these low lines but everybody else trying something similar even with the same group of players loses nearly every game. You can't, instead you insult and attack other players.

[Owls]

"I've played this way 6 seasons so far in this save games and have won the Premier League multiple times. I don't want to spoil too much or give too many details about specifics as it'll ruin the free books which will be released very soon. "

 

Was posted in JANUARY. By you. It's August and you are babbling how you need another weeks/months whatever at which point FM22 will be obsolete. At this point in my book this is pure trolling. Anybody liking this thread can load up a save with Sheffield United and use this tactic which this user claims the quoted results with, and try to get anywhere close. You could maybe get into the playoffs somehow.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Owls

[Owls]

Also incredible how on Page 127 the User claims to play with a low line but the only tactic he shows has much higher lines.

Addendum to his new post: Everybody here can read the bleacherreport article on you and how you present yourself in front of thousands of potential readers. You really are not the one to attack others on a personal level or act like you are an "adult" here. Maybe take care of your body and mind first before patrolling through online forums trying to insult others. Thanks.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Owls

[Cleon]

Let's try this one more time shall we, as stated in the book in the intro, things changed and it became too big so I had to chop the book up to make it all fit in a specific theme. As it would make no sense to keep jumping from topic to topic right. You keeping up here @Owlsright? So the rest of the stuff that didn't make the blog, the Icelandic stuff and the low block and defensive football stuff is coming to the blog next month hopefully. Right you keeping up? That's the whole reason for doing a blog and not just books as there is other stuff I want to put out there between, especially stuff like this as it's important subject and one that people get confused and frustrated about.

Is that simple enough to understand for you?

I linked the other topic above for you to read as you keep pushing and pushing the subject so thought it would be a better use of your time because all the principles discussed in that will still be the same principles I talk about when discussing the low block defensive stuff.

So can you please go back to being an adult now I've explained it in simple terms to you yeah and stop throwing toys out of the pram because some one on the internet didn't have the time or space to fit something in that you really want to read?

And yes there is several mistakes in the book but the page 127 one isn't a mistake. The mistake comes on page 40-41 where it says high line under the pros when it shouldn't.

Thank you for being a superfan though and reading through every single word I write on blogs, books and forums. People like you are the real MVP's, thanks.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Cleon

[Cleon]

For those of you who have read the book, which chapter/s were the most helpful and why?

Also for a second book, what would you as the read think the next natural step is? I.e what would you want to build upon now the basics are out of the way?