[The Art of Possession Football]

Cleon, what are the completed passes stats for you Wide Playmaker on the right wing? Is it normal for him to be getting below 70% completed passes?

I'm currently trying to implement a posession oriented tactic at Manchester United and i'm having problems with the role of Juan Mata. He's being very wasteful with the ball and i'm not sure if this is because of an incoherent setup relative to the role selection for the rest of the team or simply a result of playing advanced playmakers on attacking mentalities?

I am playing with an attacking team mentality and he's being deployed as a Wide Playmaker (S). I will upload pictures of the team's tactics and perhaps a PKM (or whatever the saved match file name is ) when i get home if you don't min, but i would really love if you could answer my first question.

[Lines and Diamonds: The Tactician's Handbook for Football Manager 2015]

THOG, i have a couple of questions which i would really like you to answer if you can. To contextualize you a bit, i normally play a 4-4-2 formation with Wide Playmakers.

1) I've recently instructed my goalkeeper to distribute the ball to a very strong and tall striker i have that is instructed to play as an Advanced Forward, however, i've found that my goalkeeper tends to kick the ball more towards the sides of the pitch, where my Wide Playmakers are. I assume it is because they are ticked as playmakers. Is there a way to solve this problem without turning my striker into a Target Man?

2) What role would you choose and which instructions would you use if you were to turn a Wide Midfielder into a Wide Playmaker/Interior WITHOUT him being ticked as a playmaker? Think of James Rodriguez and Isco when Real Madrid plays a 4-4-2.

3) Is there a problem with playing with more than 3 playmakers? or playing too many playmakers squeezed on the same area? (For example, 3 central midfield playmakers on a 4-3-3)

Thanks in advance.

[Lines and Diamonds: The Tactician's Handbook for Football Manager 2015]

Thank both THOG and Milted20.

I would like to ask a couple more questions if it ain't out of place.

1) What are the deferences between a fullback playing as FB-A and WB-S? And going with the same logic, what are the differences between playing a fullback in WB-A and CWB-S?

2) In my Valencia save i had problems playing a lone striker as an Advanced Striker and i ended up changing both the player and the role to a support role (DLS-S). Im curious though, how would you set a 1 striker system with a central midfield unable to make forward runs and a striker unable to drop deep?

3) Is it recommendable to drift away from the single-pivot principles you've outlined on the PDF of playing with an attacking fullback and a more defensive one in order to play with both fullbacks on attacking duties, and if so, are there any suggestions on making the midfield more defensive to compensate?

4) What individual instructions would you use on a wide midfielder (playing on the "CMs" line) in order to "turn him" into an inside forward? (both attacking and support version)

[Lines and Diamonds: The Tactician's Handbook for Football Manager 2015]

I was using standard because i wanted to defend on a medium block, but you're right, transitions have been very slow even when playing against teams that press. Would increasing the tempo and TI to pass into space be enough? Or is it better to change the mentality altogether (considering the increase in pressing and d-line)?

[Lines and Diamonds: The Tactician's Handbook for Football Manager 2015]

Finally had the time to read it all. Fantastic thread THOG, it really is!

Now, i've decided to design a tactic based on fast transitions and i've got this:

Mentality: Standard

Team Shape: Structured

A couple of questions:

1) On the document you highlighted that it is useful to have a big striker able to fight for long passes in order to hold the ball and wait for his team mates. Alcácer isn't particulary strong nor he has the ability to keep the ball through technique and dribbling to play him as a deep-lying forwad (Though he has the bravery and team work to work hard for the team and fight for those loose balls). What i'm seeing in matches is that Alcácer gets isolated because my wingers aren't able to support him quick enough on the counter. What would be your advise on this subject? I though about turning André Gomes into a support Advanced Playmaker, but i was worried that it might make my attack too focused down the center, when what i mainly want is to counter down the wings.

2) I'm having trouble when the opposition sit back. Now, this is something expected for a team based on fast transitions, but my main problem is that because both my wingers are on an attacking duty, they behave mostly like forwards, so they don't contribute much on the build-up process. This is putting too much creative responsablity on my MC's, as any opposition team can congest the midfield and cut away the support. I thought about a playing my wingers on support, but that would make Alcácer the only player making constant forward runs. Perhaps a change of team structure or team shape is the way to go?

3) I'm thinking about turning my wingers into attacking wide midfielders, as i want them to be more dynamic in attack, rather than hug the line and deliver a cross. Since the wide midfielder is a very generic role, what type of player or team instructions would you recommend?

In general, we are defending great (2 goals conceded in 7 matches), but i have problems in attack which i don't know how to fix, mainly on the wings, so any kind of help is hugely appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

[Lines and Diamonds: The Tactician's Handbook for Football Manager 2015]

First of, this is absolutely fantastic job! So much effort is put into it it's amazing.

However, so far things have mostly been on theoretical side, not really connecting much with FM world (except the obvious segments). As it is, I feel it's much more useful to those who have already mastered the tactical world of FM, and not so much for those struggling to prepare certain styles, read matches and coming up with the right tweaks etc.

Please don't take it the wrong way, it's just a suggestion and a hope it will at one point become more down to Earth and focus on exact advice in FM terms.

I disagree. I think THOG's work has been perfect in merging real life tactics with FM tactics.

The beuty of this thread IMO is how it does not rely on subjective, self-made tactical frameworks which at the end of the day are just theories about Football Manager's tactics creator. This thread is much more than that, because it is able to give a presentation of real life footbal principles and how to put it into practice in Football Manager terms through the simplicity of common sense. It is truly the most complete Football Manager guide to date.

However, i do agree that it might be too thick for those just starting to get into Football Manager tactics, perhaps the creation of a tactic following these principles from THOG after the guide is fully realesed could help.