Cloud9

Looks good to me! A couple quick suggestions: DLP(d) annoys me as a role, DLP(s) also gives hold position w/a bit higher positioning. Downside to DLP is he can be a ball hog + get targeted and won't try to break the lines too much. I like to spread the progressive responsibility across several non playmaker roles in a tactic via PI tweaks to make your ball progression a bit more dynamic. Looks like a counter attack based on the roles? Adding "pass into space" + "Counter" can help things run smoothly. Defending on wide can leave big gaps, making defending on a midblock tricky. Unless the boys outside are proper rapid I'd dial that back in a bit. Most of your play might progress down the left side of the pitch w/the WB(a) + DLP. Angelo may find himself isolated and struggle (but check the pass maps). This is compounded by a IFB(d) on his side. That's a role I've mostly had success w/ in possession tactics, so you might consider a FB(s) + WB(s) combo for your midblock.

Hm so your tactic will smash opponents who sit back against you and try to defend. However, if another high quality team brings the game back to you, you'll be in real trouble. Almost everyone is going forward in your tactic which is a huge ask for Tchouameni. Fortunately, @Rashidi just published this article which directly addresses the issues your experiencing (in why you're so exposed at the back when the ball turns over). A quick breakdown of the defensive issues: The IF(a) are basically pure strikers (bringing you to a count of 3), they'll stay high and participate very little out of possession and struggle to link up with the rest of the team. I would recommend 2 primary goalscorers in a tactic as a good baseline, so mixing up the frontline would help. Your solo 6 Tchouameni will get pulled out of position as a solo BWM(d), try him on a DM(s)! Costa is a great distributer of the ball, I'd let him do his thing rather than tell him to pass it short to the centers every time. This can be esp useful against a committed attack like a 4-2-4 that will be vulnerable in transition. MEZ(s) is probably a little hampering on your star boy Jude, I would prefer him in a role that game him a little more license to do his thing. A true BBM is tough to find and Jude can definitely do that for you. I usually like a CM(a) with height on him, who can attack the box aggressively with the role. I might suggest giving Fernandes a role to create from, rather than adding another goal scorer. Fun fact on Bruno: Apparently all the commentators say his name wrong even though he sends them a video on how to pronounce Fernandes (Fer-Nanj) in Portuguese at the start of each season Usually once you start to play well, the pundits learn your name (Broja becoming Bro-Ha, Mitoma becoming Me-Toe-Ma etc.), but unfortunately for him he seems to be the exception to the rule. IWB(s) + IWB(a) + Libero(s) sounds like fun! But I think vs a team who can punch your weight, you're going to get a bloody nose. In these big games try dropping the IWB(a) and IWB(s) for two IFB(d). That gives you an extremely solid base for your team to go out and play in front of. I would also consider running just two of those roles at most, even against easy opponents. Leaving just one guy to hold the fort still leaves you vulnerable to a counter attack. W/ a 4-3-3 against a 4-2-4 though, you can pin them back and overwhelm the pivot. Sorting the roles as I've detailed above so you have less goal scorers will help with this. This will isolate the front 4 and you can boss the game from there. W/just the Libero that's 4 vs 2 in the midfield so playing so targeting those players in the OIs and playing through the midfield will be a field day. The IFBs will cover you if they do get out, but w/Tchouameni's height as a DM as well you'll be well covered. I'd want one of the IFB's to be proper Kyle Walker rapid if possible.

Hi again! Hope the save is going well since last time. Is he performing poorly on top of being unhappy? If so, I think my advice usually would be sell. However since you're academy only, would you really be able to use the funds? If he's tied down to a contract getting him firing would 1. generate a much higher offer for him 2. help you overachieve to get more board requests through. Usually if you haven't broken any promises and give them lots of game time they will come around on happiness. So in this case, trying to get the most out of him would likely make sense imo.

It does happen a lot but ultimately it does not impact the outcome of your match. The match engine reflects what is happening behind the scenes which is a lot of number crunching. A miss is a miss, the match engine is just representing that miss more frequently as hitting the bar than IRL.

Here you go Take a look at IWB or Libero roles.

I don't think that should be an issue in my case!

If the youngsters are academy kids I would give them extra benefit of the doubt To simplify: The ability to do one aspect of the game well is a strong indicator of a future squad player!

I think a lot of it just comes down to experience, but here are a few examples from my own save at the moment: I've been doing recruitment only via players my scouts can bring to me currently (I also allow myself free transfers and transfer listed player's from non english sides to help prevent an unrealistically young squad). The first thing I try to do is find my strongest starting 11 and a tactical shape that fits the players. I'm a defensive manager, preferring to play on the counter attack so that's factored in as well. Outside of the starting 11, I then look to bring in u23 players who I can develop to progress the team or squad player's who can do a specific job or play in multiple positions. I often run a smaller squad, I think my first team has 21 players in it, which helps me micro manage and rotate them properly. On versatile / role playing squad players: Sensi, a free transfer, is an example of a squad player who I can bring off the bench to change things up. He lacks the physicality and defensive attributes to be a starter in the squad, but if we're chasing a game in which the opponent sits back, he has the perfect skill set to help unlock them as an AP. As for developing youngsters, here's two different examples: Here's a Brazilian boy I brought in for 2.4m who has the core of what I'm looking for in a wide player and is finding his game time sparingly as a sub / occasional starter to either wide attacker. He's got attributes I won't be able to train onto other player's that suit my style of play. These guarantee that no matter how far he develops, he'll have a place in the squad (either as a starter or a rotation option off either wing). On a winger in a counter attack system I'm looking for decent pace as well as someone who contributes out of possession. That could be through high teamwork, tackling etc. but in Xavier's case, it's through aggression and anticipation. In terms of what he can do for the team now, even though the game gives him 2 stars, he can already be an effective 1v1 player in wide areas. He lacks the ability to come inside and play (mentals / passing / end product) but he has the combination of acc/pace, dribbling, and agi/balance which means I know I can put him on a Winger(a) role as pure or off footed winger and he can take on his defender and beat him. This last player is an example of one of the only 18-19 year olds that actually features in my best 11. Mikic, a 5.25m Croatian from Dinamo Zagreb, is well balanced enough to slot in straight away after the poaching of my starting right back Michał Karbownik via release clause. Ordinarily I would have liked a season or two to get some of his mentals up to snuff, but I've intentionally covered for him with the rest of my backline remaining fully grown pros. His versatility also ensures his value to the squad (as a winger or fullback option). I would always look to keep player's at the club compared to loaning them out, as you can do a much better job of it than the AI. In general if you're comparing two wonder kids for one position, I would reevaluate your recruitment style. Unless a much higher quality youngster becomes available who you can't turn down signing, that's not a situation you should be really be ending up in. The two youngsters above were signed because they can both do things for me now and have intrinsic qualities I won't be able to coach onto any player w/just high PA. If a player has super high PA according to your scouts, but he can't fit into your system now, then I would probably just not sign him. If there's a youngster who's surplus to requirements I'd probably just take the cash now and invest in someone else (5m in the current season is worth way more than 20m 2 years later). Sending player's out on loan is usually a last resort for me.

Depends on your tactical style (defensive styles are less forgiving w/youngsters), but the main indicator is that they are at least 18 years old (where they can start to benefit fully from first team game time). I would say a common pitfall many FM managers fall into is an over reliance on young players within their squads. Building a backbone of senior pros can allow you to bring in young players as rotation options/off the bench, where you can slowly blood them into the team. You'll also have mentors who can mould them into professional individuals. I'd recommend looking more at what a youngster is now than the lure of potential. Yes they will develop, but the core of the player is there by 18 (if they don't fit your tactical approach now, they likely won't in the future either). This prevents a drop in first team form and helps avoids hampering the development of the u23 players in your squad.

This wouldn't solve your issue directly with the recreation, but as for a route one style... you could play a double BPD w/more direct passing PIs who will actually launch balls from your defensive third. Just something to mull over.

I'm not sure I understand your question. If you're not available to manage on match day, it becomes an AI vs AI match with your assistant manager in charge of the team. This is obviously a huge disadvantage. From the previous thread you posted, perhaps you're viewing the game as a solved situation once you have put together a tactic that works for you? FM24 is especially tinker heavy, with changes needing to be made throughout the season and importantly, in the match themselves.

The stars are only relative to your squad and can be heavily misleading to actual player quality / how they fit your tactics (registration rules, positions played, and form also influence them). If you post your tactic itself, I can give you some tips on dealing with a 4-2-4. Perhaps you could reference Newcastle's first group stage match vs PSG in the Champions League this year? PSG set up with a 4-2-4 and a high pressing 4-3-3 from Newcastle was able to easily overwhelm the pivot and isolate the front players.

Hi @Zachary Whyte, I'd be happy to provide a save file. A few questions on my end: How long before the transfer are we talking? I think I should have a few backup files to pick from. Where should I submit the file to? Finally, and most importantly, I manage as myself in my saves (as usual ). Is there a way to remove myself as manager before submitting for privacy reasons? I just noticed the transfer for Orsolini, if that's the outlying transfer for you, is more egregious than I previously reported. 73m pounds is the initial fee paid by City, with add-ons seeing the transfer rise to 98m pounds.

Add "Injury risk," "Fatigue," and "match load" to your selection view and don't play player's in the red. You'll likely need to do an overhaul of how you're rotating the squad and structuring your training schedules. You shouldn't be picking up too many serious injuries w/a good medical bench of physios at the club.

This is dictated in part by how much he wants to join you and the "promises" screen. If you've told him he's going to be a "squad player" in promises, you'll have to pay him a higher wage than if he's to be a "star player." The trade off here is it makes squad rotation more difficult and the player is less likely to benefit from mentor groups.

This was one of the promised features on this FM, and I've been continually disapointed by the quality of the AIs decision making in the transfer market this year, which has been far poorer in my own saves than in previous editions. Here's a link to the "smarter transfers" outlined for this year: https://www.footballmanager.com/features/smarter-transfers-squad-building-and-finance Here are two examples from how I've seen City spend their entire budget in the past few seasons: Is anyone else experiencing really poor AI in their saves this year? I understand that teams make bad calls IRL, but 258m pounds by a team w/one of the best track records for successful transfers feels like shoddy work on a promised feature for FM24. Riccardo Orsolini is also a fairly low quality Premier League quality player (73ca/76pa via FMinside), and having signed him for 73m pounds he's played 4 times and is now transfer listed for 9m. For context: the world record transfer is still Neymar at 198m pounds. I believe Madrid's failed bid for Mbappe was around 200m euros last summer, roughly 170m pounds (for the best player in the world). Disappointing that this has not been addressed (if it is an issue outside of my own saves) in the Winter Update. Not only have these issues not been addressed, but there's no match engine update (which is needed to continue to tune the excellent but a bit OP positional play feature), and the data update itself has been poor. Three of the biggest star players outside the big 6 (Neto, Paqueta, and Kudos) are all without upgraded CA/PA's to reflect their undeniable quality. Neto has been in talks to be the PFA player of the year as a dark horse and Paqueta is clearly one of the best midfielders in the league to anyone actually following the football. Since the game focuses primarily on and around English football it's a bit of a let down for FM24's biggest update.

I'm not, it's not as straight forward as a high press gegenpress and more things can go wrong. But, if you can't pull off a defensive approach the problem is on your end not the match engine. Here's a link to several useful threads that can teach you how to approach the game in this manner and avoid some of these pitfalls:

I think that makes sense. I've managed to get the players to produce many more crosses in my tinkering, but they're from fairly advanced positions as you're experiencing as well.

This is an FM myth for anyone else reading this. It just requires more ability from the manager.

I will try to put something together when I get a moment

Here's a simple counter attacking 4-3-3 I put together earlier. I ended up switching to a RGA, BWM(s), and MEZ(s) when I was able to find a DM capable of doing both sides of the game. In the current version, the MEZ(a) is the main creator ahead of a tall enforcer DM(s). MEZ(a) can feel too strong at times? I also changed the mentality to "Balanced." The other pivotal role/player profile for this was the PF(a), as other spearheading roles would leave you stranded in terms of pulling off wide/inside traps. Height and pace alongside the pressing profile was therefore needed for him to lead to the line (Pace is the priority but he can't be short). I only considered transitioning from a structured, partner oriented 4-4-2 once I had a competent player for both of those roles (6 and 9). The 9 can be more flexible if you play farther up the pitch, but the DM is non negotiable for any style of 4-3-3. He needs to be tall/smart and fairly mobile to deal with counters/crosses and screen the defence in transition. He'll also need to be moderately proficient at linking up play from the defensive third. The strength of this formation, and the 4-3-3 in general, is its flexibility. You'll need to tweak roles, traps, etc. to get the best out of it. I would say this is perfect for a mid table club. 4-3-3's put you in more 1v1 battles so you need a bit higher quality players, but you'll still be an underdog who most teams will look to take the game to. In home matches against smaller sides, the flexibility of the 4-3-3 means you can dictate the game yourself (throw on an IWB and have fun).

Often times the media spin a narrative around a manager and Ancelotti is frequently (and incorrectly) seen as a man motivator only, overlooking his tactical ability. He builds his setup around his best players, preferring a flexible tactical style compared to an indoctrinated approach (ie. a manager who imposes his own tactical style upon the team like a Mourinho or Pep). You can see this in the last year where he changed the formation to build around Bellingham, who is now pulling up trees at Madrid. This is reflected throughout his career and at the big clubs he's managed (Milan, Madrid, Chelsea etc.) where he's adopted different approaches to get the best out of his best players. He's also Everton's statistically best manager since the 90's, who certainly didn't have the quality of players to just succeed only through pats on the head. This is as much to do with his understated persona as anything else. He's happy to let the player's take the limelight, whereas Mourinho will be crying on the pitch holding up his own number of European trophies on his fingers to remind you he's the main attraction (not the players). The game is far more tactical than it used to be and any top coach or team has to be tactically proficient to be successful. Top teams don't carry passengers anymore. Anything Souness or Soulskaer believe to be essential to run a successful team are likely best ignored.

On pre-season specifically, I don't have the link to a guide. But you should push the player's as hard as possible (lots of high intensity training around physicals w/very little rest/recovery). If you've got decent physios you shouldn't pick up serious injuries w/this method.

Positional play has been added, which I would read up on if you're jumping into FM24 Here's a link: Aside from that, one of the big changes since 2018 is how fatigue is managed within the game (ie. it's far more punishing than it used to be). What kind of football are you interested in? I'd personally recommend either playing to your team's strengths or trying to emulate a type of football you particularly like to watch IRL. I am a fan of defensive approaches and @crusadertsar has done a write up here on how to approach the game in a more patient approach: In general keeping things simple is a good idea when coming back to the game (and then adding Tis and Pis slowly from there as you develop your style of play). That can help you from feeling overwhelmed from the intentionally obscure tactics screen. I'd also recommend checking out the data hub, a great addition to the FM series. @Cleon has just posted this thread, which you might like to read through as well. He has a comprehensive understanding on the game and can help you learn how to approach your own tactic. At the top of the forum, there are several stickied threads on different approaches / formations that are good reference points (from 4-3-3's to counter attacking styles, etc.)

A collapse of form in January is textbook poor squad rotation catching up with you. It's also worth looking at how you structure your pre-season. I had struggled with a mid season slump before doing a deep dive into pre season schedules and now work the lads as hard as possible before the season starts. If you put them through a grueling preseason, followed by learning to rotate the squad properly (put Injury Risk, Fatigue, Match Load into your squad selection) you'll see your squad capable of pushing on after Christmas. This is difficult, as the game does little to indicate that you need to push your players like this in pre-season but it's essential to a successful campaign. The lack of rotation in your squad is something you can see, and will need to address ASAP. Establishing a starting 11 is important, but if you don't rotate those players throughout a season you will hamper their development and ultimately run them into the ground. I avoid starting players who are in the "red," as in Injury Risk (which is reflected of how medical staff will advise managers IRL).