AceAvenger

@Zemahh Amazing work as always, I have to commend you on how well you protray your ideas and knowledge of how the tactics interface works. I also can't thank you enough for letting us know about that Monchi masterclass, I'm 7 episodes in and loving every second.

Boots on the Pitch In this post I’ll be covering the player roles and specific Player Instructions (PI) that I use. Let’s start from the top, our attacking duo. Strikers In my RB Leipzig save (I went for the best team for this tactic to see if it can cut it at the top), I had 3 strikers to choose from. Timo Werner, Yussuf Poulson and Patrick Schick. For “Turbo” Timo, I went for Pressing Forward (Attack) because it has all the things I want from the spearhead of the attack, such as Get Further Forward and Moves Into Channels (much like the Advanced Forward), but it also has Close Down More and Tackle Harder hardcoded, which is what I want from my ‘front 5’. When it came to who supported him, I picked roles that suited the player. For Yussuf Poulson, the combative, ultra-physical machine, I went for Pressing Forward (Support). It had the PI that I need for the focal point, Holds Up Ball. The other hardcoded PIs were Close Down More and Tackle Harder, which is, again, what I want. When it came to Schick, I set as Complete Forward (Support) which has Take More Risk, Hold Up Ball, Move into Channels, Dribble More and Roam from Position. The Hold Up Ball PI is there, but married to PIs that make use of his better technical ability. The jury is still out on Roam from Position, I didn’t try whether having him set as a Deep-Lying Forward (Support) with Dribble More selected would be more effective, especially against sides that leave space to counter. In that case, he will most definitely be the focal point, as he will be positioned centrally and not floating about the place. Roams from Position would be more useful if I’m up against a parked bus, with Schick trying to find pockets of space to drag out defenders. Unfortunately, Close Down More can’t be selected, so it was a case of sacrificing the effectiveness of the press to get the best out of Schick’s abilities. In terms of performances, Poulson did better; the Dane won us possession further up the pitch the most which lead to a lot of goals, which is invaluable. However, I do like what Schick has to offer with the ball at his feet, so I feel it’s a sacrifice worth making. I didn’t select Tackle Harder either, truth be told. The same is true for all the other players in the pressing block. This was actually an oversight, as Tackle Harder would help them win the ball back more. However, maybe with their poorer Tackling, this would contribute to more fouls than more ball recoveries, so more ‘research’ should be done into this. Midfielders Here is where stuff gets interesting, especially when it comes to the diamond (4-3-1-2). I’ll start with the two most important roles there, the Attacking Midfielder (Attack) and the Deep-Lying Playmaker (Support). When it comes to the AM(A), the role adds literally nothing in attack. Every since my first tactic (4-4-1-1 2DM), I’ve struggled getting attacking output from the attacking midfielder. I’ve tried the AM(A), Shadow Striker and Advanced Playmaker (Attack) to no avail. The only thing that worked for me is when I played Dani Olmo instead of Emile Forsberg, who is the better player in the game anyway so it makes sense he’ll play better. What this role has to offer though is when you’re defending. I set it to man-mark a specific player, the DMC of the other team in a 4-1-2-3, which nullifies him to the best of the team’s ability, hampering the oppositions ability to play out of defense. I also set him to Close Down More to be a part of the pressing block. It dawns on me as I write this as they are quite contradictory instructions, as how can he press when he’s specifically man-marking a player. Hey, it works, if you want to be tactically sound, I’d remove the close down more and leave the other players to press. As for the DLP(S), he’s also set to man-mark, but one of the two MCs in the 4-1-2-3, specifically the one set as a playmaker. This is most effective if the opposition player is an AP, as he won’t drop back as much and drag your player out of position. But why set the DLP to man-mark in the first place, why can’t you set one of the other MCs to man-mark, especially the one on the side of the opposition’s playmaker. Well, when it comes to man-marking in FM, the marker doesn’t give much thought to what is happening around him and just marks the player he is instructed to do so. In a narrow formation (without anyone wide other than the fullbacks), this means if you set one of the outer MCs to man-mark, they won’t help the fullback on his side defend, which means he can be doubled-up on easily with the oppositions advancing fullback. That is no bueno, it’ll leave you open to attacks on the wing. Food for thought: If your AM and DLP are particularly good markers, setting the Mark Tighter PI would be a wise move. Another important point is the wingers in the 4-2-2-2 DM, They both have Sit Narrower to achieve that box I was talking about. Whether they are set to Inverted Winger or Wide Midfielder is dependent on their stronger foot. If they’re ‘on the wrong side’, i.e. their stronger foot is on the inside, then I went for IW(A), which has Cuts Inside hardcoded, along with Dribble More and Gets Further Forward. If they’re on the ‘right side’, i.e. their stronger foot is on the outside, then I went for WM(A), with Gets Further Forward and the option of Dribble More if they are good dribblers, but in Marcel Sabitzer’s case, he was not, so it wasn’t picked. Close Down More was also picked. The Box In the case of the double pivot in the 4-2-2-2 DM, the Segundo Volante was instructed to Close Down More and Get Further Forward, to be a part of the pressing block and provide line-breaking runs respectively and the Deep-Lying Playmaker was set to default. The best way to understand out roles work together is to read this guide written but @llama3, which will be the best thing you’ll read today, far better than this. For clarity, the following positions in each formation are set to Close Down More: Defenders For the wing-backs, the choice between Complete Wing-Back and Wing-Back is dependent on how good the player is at dribbling. If he is good at dribbling, have him as a CWB, as it has dribble more hardcoded; if he isn’t a good dribbler, have him set as Wing-Back, but with Stay Wider selected. NB: Having Stay Wider selected on for WB is only important for the 4-2-2-2 DM, as the Team Width is very narrow, you want your fullbacks to provide the width. In the other formations, the Team Width varies from Standard to Fairly Wide depending on the Mentality, so it is not important to select Stay Wider, but you could do so if you please. The selection of their Duties is formation specific. For the 4-2-2-2 DM, they’re both set to Support but with the Looks for Overlap TI will increase their individual mentality to Attacking. In the 4-3-1-2 and the 5-1-2-2 WB DM, the fullback/wingback with the Attack duty is paired with a Carrilero on his side on Support to cover his forward runs. The other fullback/wingback is on support to cover for the Mezzala’s attacking runs. The key thing here is balance. As for your central defenders, the roles are self-explanatory, the important thing is not to have any of them on Cover duty. This will make the offside trap ineffective as they won’t be keeping a unified line with one defender dropping off.

Here is a tactic that doesn't use full-backs or wing-backs, although the original is from an older version of FM (There will be newer takes later on) and it would require very talented players to pull off. You can also try a Conte inspired tactic, a 3-5-2 but instead of Wing-Backs, have Defensive Wingers on the M-strata.

Amazing stuff, this will be very helpful to anyone who's new to the game, even some of the veterans! Also the title reminded me of the best tactics threads in this forum, made by one of your countrymen @VinceLombardi. I think you'd find them very interesting.

Football with wings If you ask a German football fan which entity is despised the most is Germany, he will probably tell you it’s Dietmar Hopp, the co-founder of software giants SAP and financier of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, but a very close second would be RasenBallsport Leipzig. The thing they have in common, apart from them vitriol they get from fans all across Germany, is a man. That man is Ralf Rangnick. As mentioned previously, he was one of the first coaches to use the doctrine of ball-oriented pressing in Germany. Leipzig before Rangnick was a very different beast. Matthias Kießling, a blogger who has followed RB Leipzig since 2010 on his website Rotebrauseblogger.de recounts a tale of mismanagement before Rangnick was in charge. “Until Ralf Rangnick took over in 2012, management had no strategy and was pretty much dependent on [Red Bull CEO] Dietrich Mateschitz’s mood.” “The club signed tons of former Bundesliga and second division players, who were over-the-hill, and were paying them as if they were still playing [up there] without getting the appropriate performance in return.” Kießling says. “All those mistakes were over when Ralf Rangnick came in. He implemented a clear philosophy at both Salzburg and Leipzig, hired capable staff, and made sure that Mateschitz’s influence on day-to-day business went down to close to zero.” References: https://thesefootballtimes.co/2019/03/06/the-money-before-the-fame-rb-leipzigs-troubled-journey-to-the-top/ Caffeine-Induced Madness (On a Football Pitch) Rangnick may not have the most illustrious career as a coach, with no major honors to his name except the Pokal with Schalke, but his effect on German football is far reaching. The most telling sign of his influence is the number of coaches currently in the Bundesliga and abroad who were under his tutelage. The list is extensive, with coaches like Marco Rose and Adi Hütter at home in Germany, Thomas Tuchel in France and Ralph Hasenhüttl in England, with his most apt pupil, a man many of you know very well, Julian Nagelsmann, who was with him at Hoffenheim and now succeeded him at Leipzig. Here I will be focusing on Nagelsmann’s current rein at Leipzig, which borrows heavily from what Rangnick was doing before him and also adding his own unique twist. Pressing Just as they were under Rangnick, Nagelsmann’s Leipzig are pressing machines. While they only rank 4th in overall pressures in the Bundesliga according to FBRef, when adjusted for possession they rank first comfortably. The key to their strategy comes from their front four players, who press the ball as soon as the ball is lost. One of their central midfielders, usually the human Duracell bunny Laimer, goes to join in the pressing action while his partner holds his position and man marks to prevent a pass to the closest opposition player to him. Attacking Build-Up Play Nagelsmann brought a more cultured approach to build up play to Leipzig’s game. The use a basic, but effective positional play where the center-back will pass it to a full-back who has moved wide, and then the full-back will play the ball to the winger who has moved narrow who can then lay it off to an oncoming central midfielder. With the advancing full-backs wide and indented wingers in the half space, there is distribution of the team is varied enough so that the attack does not become one dimensional. Leipzig still play a vertical game, when looking at the total progressive distance (distance towards goal) of their passes as a faction of the total distance of their passes, RB Leipzig have the 3rd highest value of all teams with an average possession of greater that 50%. Counter-attacking Upfront, RB Leipzig usually play with a hold-up player to aim at to bring it the advancing midfielders or to release ‘Turbo’ Timo Werner. This can be either Poulson with his physicality or Schick with his technical ability. Their defensive shape adds to this as they line up with a 4-4-1-1 defensively with Schick or Poulson in the no. 10 role. When they win the ball back, they usually look for one of them. This also brings up a facet of their game where they look for the ‘up, back, through’ passage of play to initiate their attack, where Leipzig play the ball up to an advanced player with his back to goal, who lays it off to an on rushing player facing goal to play it through to the other attackers who have rushed ahead. Translating that into FM RDF on FMScout made an amazing recreation of Nagelsmann at Leipzig on the FMScout YouTube channel. He beat me to the punch (serves me right to take 2 months write up the tactic) but I learnt something very valuable from his recreation. Formations For this recreation I went with 4 formations: 4-2-2-2 DM 4-3-1-2 5-2-1-2 WB 5-1-2-2 WB DM The opposition’s formation and style dictate which formation I use, as well as their stature. If I’m playing against a possession focused team that use a 4-1-2-3 (i.e. Bayern or Leverkusen) I use the 4-3-1-2 with specific player instructions, which will become clear later. If I’m playing against a 4-4-2, I use one of the 5 at the back formations, to have an extra man in central defense and an creative player either in front or behind the midfield line. Against a 4-3-1-2 I use the 5-1-2-2 WB DM, again for the extra defender and to have a DM to nullify their AM. Against everything else I use the 4-2-2-2 DM. This is what I do, based on my flawed logic, so if you find yourself going for a different match plan, by all means go for it. Team Instructions Let’s recap what we want to achieve: Smart, but intense, pressing A vertical form of positional play Swift counter-attacks with a focal point For the first point, the pressing system has changed. The TIs were set to: Out of Possession Defend Narrower Much Higher Defensive Line Much Higher LOE Use Tighter Marking Use Offside Trap In Transition: Counter-Press I kept the D-Line and LOE instructions but kept the Pressing Intensity to the default level. How come? Well I opted to use split-block pressing, meaning I will use individual Close Down More PIs on my 4-5 most advanced players, encouraging press the ball more urgently, leaving the rest to preserve their defensive positions. This allows for more defensive solidity, without sacrificing our pressing potency. Also, with the Positive mentality, the default Pressing Intensity is set to Slightly More Urgent anyway, so the rest won’t be exactly having afternoon tea. @Experienced Defender has a fantastic thread of how to set up your side defensively and I definitely recommend everyone to read it. The offside trap also remains which fits in well with out high defensive line, and Defend Narrower keeps us compact when we do not have the ball. Compactness is key, as we don’t want the other team to play through our middle, forcing the to play wide where we can use the touchline as an extra defender. NB: The Use Tighter Marking TI is used only if your team includes players that have good Marking and, more importantly, are quick. The TI will help you win balls back quicker as your players will be better positioned to do so, but if they aren’t fast enough, being tighter to your opponents will mean that there is a greater risk of players losing markers due to their pace. To achieve the second point, the style of play of the ball, I went for the following: Positive mentality In possession: Play out of Defense Focus Play Through Middle Higher Tempo In Transition: Distribute to Center-backs The Positive mentality with a Higher Tempo and the default Passing Directness will allow my team to play the vertical style of football, while not playing direct balls to force turnovers like a team coached by Rangnick would have done. Play out of Defense and Distribute to Center-backs will allow my team to have a more controlled build-up play when we have the at goal-kicks but will have our full-backs free to support from more advanced positions. @Rashidi has an amazing video on the different set-ups you can use for your goal-kicks. NB: When the 4-2-2-2 DM is used, the following instructions were also used: In possession: Overlap Left Overlap Right Much Narrower The 4-2-2-2 DM specific instruction are there to provide the ‘box’ in midfield, with the very narrow width (which is what I took from RDF’s interpretation) while also ensuring the uniformity of the midfield individual mentalities with the Looks for Overlap TI. Here is a great guide to individual mentalities and what they do in the game. Achieving the third point is simple: In possession: Pass into Space In Transition: Counter Easy enough, the Higher Tempo and Positive mentality will factor into our counter-attacking set-up. The focal point will be achieved with the player roles, which will be clarified later on. Team style w/4-2-2-2 DM: Team style w/other formations: I also developed a style which is used when you are the underdog, and is mostly used with the 4-3-1-2 and the 5-1-2-2 WB DM. Cautious mentality In possession: Play out of Defense Pass into Space Higher Tempo In Transition: Distribute to Center-backs Counter Counter-press Out of possession: Defend Narrower More Urgent Pressing Use Tighter Marking The though process behind this is: Cautious mentality to ensure we’re not giving the ball away needlessly, inviting pressure on us The rest of the Tis are there to ensure we’re still threatening on the counter, with Pass into Space, Higher Tempo and Counter. The D-Line and LOE are lowered to the default setting to set ourselves up in a medium block, with an increase in Pressing Intensity to offset the drop due to our lower mentality. This is to counter rapid attackers, to deny them space to run in behind. More importantly, we allow the opposition to have the ball in their defense, as usually they will be good enough to break our press, but we do not surrender the middle. We want as many players in the middle so they do not control the game. Note the lack of overlapping fullbacks, even with the 4-2-2-2 DM. This is so that I don’t overcommit and get caught out in defense. NB: I usually just start the game with this mentality, if all is going well and the shot count is similar, I switch to the Positive team style, otherwise I tinker with the formation until I nullify the opposition. I also switch to this to grind out a lead, but only if the other team are getting lots of shots later in the game. If the other team is not offering a lot in attack, I usually stick with the Positive team style. If, however, I'm in the lead and the other team bring on a fresh striker who is quick, I always switch to the Cautious team style, to deny him that space to run into. Here is a great thread on mentality and game plans that explain how to approach a match. Team Style: References: https://statsbomb.com/2020/01/examining-rb-leipzigs-style/ https://statsbomb.com/2019/10/the-incredible-tactical-rb-leipzig-machine-part-one-a-uniquely-versatile-attack/

Hello FM developers, I would like to turn your attention to the following: Summary: When you sign a coach for the B team (II Club) in Germany, the coach does not show up in coach assignments in the training section for the B team, nor does the manager. Description of issue: When you first join a German team with a II club, their current coaching staff for the II club are available to be assign to training, however the manager is not: To my knowledge, the manager should be available, as the player is available to be assigned a training category when managing a team. The second point is if you sign a coach for the II club, he does not become available to be assign a training category: Steps to reproduce: Become the manager of a German team and sign a II Club coach. I have replicated this test with multiple teams and found the same issue. Here is one test with Augsburn, in the 22/23 preseason. During the save, Augsburg signed a regen coach, whom is available for selection. However, when I sign a II Club coach, he is not available to be selected. On another note, if I sign a first team coach, he will become available for the II club. If the game save is required, please let me know and I will make them available.

Absolutely amazing Zemahh, I love the idea and how you went about achieving it. Your thought process is so clear and all your ideas are laid out so well. Top drawer stuff. You've honest given me so much food for thought for a defensive tactic with my upcoming save. What do you do for opposition instructions? I ask because I was reading knap's megathread and I saw a post about the importance to have your most advanced midfielder/deepest lying striker mark the opposition's deep-lying playmaker or equivalent to disrupt play. Maybe that would be a perfect job for your AP in the upcoming iteration of your tactic?

How have I missed out of this thread for this long, amazing content. After 14 years of playing FM, I didn't think I'd have anything left to learn (except the match engine that's still a mystery to me) but I'm glad to say I've learnt so much by reading through your thread. Honestly hats off to you Ben, KUTGW! I don't know if I have the full grasp of this. RCA (recommended current ability I'm guessing) is affected differently for different attributes depending on the position, therefore, for example, increasing a striker's finishing will 'cost' more CA points than doing the same thing for a full-back. Furthermore, from the mental attributes, increasing aggression, determination, flair and (most interestingly) off the ball will have no effect on CA. We need to get an academic prize going to acheivements in FM, because @Mikaelinho just won it.

Jimbo your dedication is phenomenal, you're 25 years in and you're still planning for the future. I honestly enjoy reading your stories more than playing the game sometimes. Hopefully you do win a continental competition will Ton Pentre before you go on your EFL and PL adventures.

Sorry guys for going AWOL for over a month, I feel down the rabbit hole that is Age of Empires 2 and Modern Warfare. Now that COD has frustrated me to the point of no return, I think it's time to boot up FM again. I'm so glad to see you guys still kept the discussion going strong about breaking the oppositions spirit by constant harrowing and conquest. I mostly did use the 4411 with my Heidenheim save but I went for the 442 version more often once I sign Jan Hurtado and had 2 good strikers. I'm glad you found it inspirational! That sounds like a very interesting offer, maybe we can compare our progress as we go along. I've been inspired myself to give Excel Manager a try though after reading @_Ben_'s amazing career at CD Guadalajara, so I might take a lot longer to get through the seasons. Phenomenal stuff! It's amazing what you did later on in the Champions League aswell, taking so many formidable scalps. I actually never considered this, what I though is that it just decreases the wingers mentality. This would definitely mean he would be more cautious on the ball, hence more likely to hold it up, but I had the idea that if his base mentality (Individual+Team) was high enough, even after the decrease the wingers mentality would still be high enough to be adventurous with the ball. If this TI does something additionally, other than just decrease the mentality, such as makes the winger hold up the ball, like the hold up ball PI, then that would definitely be undesirable. I will definitely experiment with this. The only PIs I set were for the AMC, which was dribble more and move into channels, if I recall correctly. Definitely give W(a) a try, it'll reduce horizontal compactness, but if your players perform better why not. You could even try WM(a) and put the PIs that would make the role the same as a winger, minus stay wider, or even DW(s) but remove looks for overlap and select the focus play down left/right TIs to increase their mentality. ___ As for the future, I've decided to go for a career with TSV 1860 Munich, with a focus on youth development and an aim to develop a conveyor belt of Gegenpressing machines. The goal is to be like the Red Bull empire, constantly unearthing gems from around the world and having a distinct footballing identity. Tactically, I'll be focusing on the managerial wunderkind that is Julian Nagelsmann, as well as looking at the revival Bayern are having under Hansi Flick.

Thanks for checking Jimbo! Hopefully you don't actually concede any. Webb looks like a real catch, I'm sure he'll score buckets of goals for you.

I'm always amazed at how many goals your goalkeepers score, my best free kick takers can't hit a barn door if their life depended on it. Do you concede any goals from your goalkeeper being so far up the pitch? Because if not, I might try the big fat goalkeeper goalscoring challenge.

We could have a Discord group together? We can talk all things Football Manager. I was thinking of starting one a while back, just so I can stop annoying my family by describing what my transfer strategy for the January market would be.

Heidenheim: 2023/2024 Update The final year, the end of a 5 year project. I'm not going to lie, I haven't been this invested in a save as much as I have with this in years, maybe ever. Yeah maybe it's a good thing I don't get this invested. Let's start with the league: We finished 4 points behind Bayern Munich and if we turned that Bayern loss in that fateful fortnight into a win that still wouldn't have been enough. We drew too many game, the worst 2 being against rock bottom Mainz after they've already been relegated and one against Bayer Leverkusen were we were 2-0 up and snatched a draw from the jaws of victory by scoring two own goals. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. In the Champions League we did a lot better than I expected, when we got the group I thought we had an amazing chance to advance to the round of 16; we were drawn against Real Madrid, Rostov and Club Brugge. Russia and Belgium aren't loaded in my save therefore I was licking my lips knowing I'd be facing a lot of greyed out fictional players. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to do the double over Real Madrid and top the group, that one draw was against Rostov away. *insert joke about how Germans don't do so well in Russia* We drew Lille in the RO16 and we made quick work of them only to get knocked out by Bayern. This meant the only thing left to crown by many hours in this save with a trophy was the DFB-Pokal, once we dispatched Bayern in the semi-final, it was only Schalke standing between us and (virtual) immortality. Fittingly it was also my 200th game in charge. The teams on the night were: As you can see, Schalke have a pretty decent side and we have a very even head-to-head history with 3 wins each and 2 draws. I was *this* close to throwing my laptop out the window. Best part about the win is that Niklas Dorsch, club captain and the only player from the original squad I inherited to remain in the squad, let alone in the starting 11, was the man of the match. He's been with us through it all and is the OG Bayern 'reject'. I'm going to give a break down of my squad, what we do well and what we can do better in the next post.

I just noticed I have 5 players who have come through at Bayern or are on loan from Bayern, which is insane. I think I took that too seriously. Or not seriously enough! *Proceeds to build a Bayern B team and wins the league with it* It was a mixed bag. I got knocked out of the CL 4-2 on aggregate, the loss in the league was the chance to overtake them and become first but I missed it and Bayern don't drop too many points but I knocked them out of the Pokal though which is amazing because I'm still sour about losing the cup last year. That is amazing! I'm so glad you and everyone else is succeeding with the tactic, I honestly didn't know if it was good or I was just lucky. Oh God you would not want to play a network game with me, the ping would be horrendous. I know that that might not seem to matter for FM, but it's so annoying having to wait a couple of minutes to do anything.