View From the Touchline

[Cleon]

Some of you may know me (Cleon) and others may not. I'm a content creator and have been creating content for as long as the internet has been a thing, sad I know right? I gave up creating content 4 years ago but recently got back into it again. Hence the new website

View From The Touchline

We have big plans for FM23 and beyond. We also have some new stuff on there now like the FREE Football Manager The Playbook that we have released. Which is a book all about FM and creating tactics. To give you a little insight into the book itself;

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 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 - Are 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 setups, 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.

The book can be downloaded in PDF/Epub formats from the following link;

The Playbook

It's all free and has no hidden costs.

If you don't want to download it then you can also view it online at the following link;

The Playbook Online Version

The online version can also be translated if needs be too via something like Google translate or your other preferred translator.

This is the first of many free books we will be creating.

For FM23 and onwards we will be bringing you videos, streams, and interviews with people from inside the football world with an FM spin on them. Plus lots more.

I've also started uploading some of the older content that I get requests for on a daily basis too like the Art of Counter Attacking, Art of Possession football etc too. They are now both on the website.

We are also looking for guest writers. So if you have something to write about but don't want the hassle of running a website yourself, just get in touch, we'd be happy to help.

You can also find us on all the usual socials;

Twitter

Facebook

Instagram

And we even have a Discord server that is growing every day;

Discord

If you have any ideas on what kind of content you'd like to see from us in the coming months and years then please let us know. We have lots of plans and ideas ourselves but can never hurt to get more opinions from you.

Edited November 24, 2022 by Cleon

[phnompenhandy]

Just found this thread. Been a massive Cleon fan for decades so delighted to rediscover him. I've gone to the site and downloaded the book to read asap.

 

Cleon, one suggestion for future editions: for those players who get bored of winning too easily, maybe you could cover specific challenges such as the Head Coach challenge and the Youth Academy challenge, as well as Lower League Management generally.

[Cleon]

9 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Just found this thread. Been a massive Cleon fan for decades so delighted to rediscover him. I've gone to the site and downloaded the book to read asap.

 

Cleon, one suggestion for future editions: for those players who get bored of winning too easily, maybe you could cover specific challenges such as the Head Coach challenge and the Youth Academy challenge, as well as Lower League Management generally.

Thanks

That is something we can consider and explore looking at for sure

[Maviarab.]

Also just found.  Long time fan of yours Cleon, not played since '18 version and deciding whether to get into '22 or try '23 (though historically I never 'play' a new release until; the third patch at least).  First thing did was try to remember your name, searched for posts on Santos and there were you were!