Franky's PHANTOMS Tactic for FM 17 - plug and play!!!!

[Carninho]

I need to set you up as a tactical coach in my DB.

Since FM16 I've used nothing but your tactics.

What would your in game profile be like? ;-)

[Franky.]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Moving on, probably my favourite tactic for FM 16 was KILLER THROUGH BALL. I'm working on trying to recreate it for FM 17 and am using PHANTOMS as a base for developing that. It's called the GHOST tactic because there's a player in the team who's a ghost (the shadow striker) in that the opposition just cannot see him and therefore are unable to mark him or track his runs. To make the tactic work how I want, I've gone to a strikerless formation with two wingers and a shadow striker. It's more or less how PHANTOMS started out before I replaced the SS with an F9. It's quite simply one through ball after another with the shadow striker running onto it, collecting the pass and outpacing the defence for a one on one with the keeper so loads of 'clear cut chances'. When that's not happening and the ball is played out wide for the wingers, he'll almost always be unmarked in the box, again ghost like!! I will try to upload the tactic later today but have posted the match highlights to view from another 'tactic test' game that I use. It's compelling viewing and shows how the tactic works. We are 6-4 favourites but Everton can quite easily beat us if we're not at the races. I've highlighted three comments from the match report in the screenshot below that pretty much sum the tactic up. Raheem Sterling is the GHOST..................

free photo hosting

The match highlights can be downloaded below.

 

Everton 0-8 Wycombe (GHOST Tactic).pkm

[marksmithlfc1234]

Just smashed Barcelona in the Champions league final 3-0 using this with Liverpool in my 4th season !! I mean the Actual Frankys phantom Tactic not the one above only just seen it !!

[MrMungo]

40 minutes ago, Franky. said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. Moving on, probably my favourite tactic for FM 16 was KILLER THROUGH BALL. I'm working on trying to recreate it for FM 17 and am using PHANTOMS as a base for developing that. It's called the GHOST tactic because there's a player in the team that the opposition just cannot see and therefore are unable to mark. He's the GHOST. To make the tactic work how I want, I've gone to a strikerless formation with two wingers and a shadow striker who is the ghost. It's more or less how PHANTOMS started out before I replaced the SS with an F9. It's quite simply one through ball after another with the shadow striker running onto it, collecting the pass and outpacing the defence for a one on one with the keeper so loads of 'clear cut chances'. When that's not happening and the ball is played out wide for the wingers, he'll almost always be unmarked in the box, again ghost like!! I will try to upload the tactic later today but have posted the match highlights to view. It's compelling viewing and shows how the tactic works. The screenshot below is from another 'tactic test' game that I use. We are 6-4 favourites but Everton can quite easily beat us if we're not at the races...................

image hosting no register

The match highlights can be downloaded below. Raheem Sterling is the GHOST.............

 

Everton 0-8 Wycombe (GHOST Tactic).pkm

 

Will look forward to this tactic, Franky.

I am loving the long balls/killer balls in FM17 - Strikerless tactics are generally great for it as they just seem to confuse the hell out of defenders!

[NeJebi]

Holy ****! What the hell? That's pretty sick!

[sparkysrovers]

Should I remove the extra supplemental OI's and just go with the coaches recommendation? 

[Franky.]

12 minutes ago, sparkysrovers said:

Should I remove the extra supplemental OI's and just go with the coaches recommendation? 

It's up to you really. Trial and error would be best but personally, I only use the assistant manager's OIs. It's not necessarily the best approach but I just can't be bothered monitoring the opponent's formation for the full game..... gets a bit too laborious for my liking and I wanted this tactic to be easy to use, hence it's plug and play and no manual OIs.

[Majick]

Franky, been meaning to ask this for a while now - Is there an easy way of telling (or pre-setting) players to ease off tackles once they're on yellow cards? Right now I have to go to Tactics > Player > Find the right player > Edit > Ease off tackles. I feel like I'm missing something...

[Franky.]

19 minutes ago, Majick said:

Franky, been meaning to ask this for a while now - Is there an easy way of telling (or pre-setting) players to ease off tackles once they're on yellow cards? Right now I have to go to Tactics > Player > Find the right player > Edit > Ease off tackles. I feel like I'm missing something...

That's the only way I know of as well. One of the big things missing in Football Manager is an automate feature that allows you to set ease off tackling when booked, OIs for each position and other things automatically so you never have to do it manually. I agree, it gets quite laborious but that's FM for you...... SI really need to sort this out, in my opinion!

[Carninho]

Phantom hasnt worked for me yet. 2 huge away defeats and a home 1-1. So i switched back to whichever one had the 2 B2B mids & DM (I think all the Franky tactics have evolved a bit since 'launch'). I have a weak Forest team in the Prem so its not the best test yet. I would jump over to Ghost tonight but I just signed a new IF, and my existing wide players all now have PPMs to cut inside...  Plus my star signing Maximiliano Romero is out for months after being injured 26mins into his long awaited debut

[paul_]

Looking forward to trying this out, I'm using Touch on iPad though so have to recreate manually. 

Would anybody be able to list the different PIs used? Thanks in advance!

[G82]

Been using Total Domination for two seasons with Sheff U and had great results, looking forward to giving this a try this evening.

 

[sparkysrovers]

I think I might have to start using TD for my Champions League games as the opp teams are much stronger than me and unfortunately cant cope with their players using Phantom. I'll have to give it a try.

[Franky.]

49 minutes ago, sparkysrovers said:

I think I might have to start using TD for my Champions League games as the opp teams are much stronger than me and unfortunately cant cope with their players using Phantom. I'll have to give it a try.

Personally, I find PHANTOMS works better against equal or superior opponents due to it's highly counter attacking nature. Against teams that park the bus, TOTAL DOMINATION is better as it adopts a more measured, probing approach that breaks teams down. Using PHANTOMS, I had a few 0-0s at home versus weaker teams that just sat back and defended. TD would have easily won those games.

[Leumas7]

Can somebody please post a screen shot of the tactics screen? I can't download as my browsers says the download contains malicious items such as viruses or spyware.

 

Thanks.

[Punt]

I'm going to use TD at home and Phantom away. Let's see what happens.

[sparkysrovers]

5 hours ago, Franky. said:

Personally, I find PHANTOMS works better against equal or superior opponents due to it's highly counter attacking nature. Against teams that park the bus, TOTAL DOMINATION is better as it adopts a more measured, probing approach that breaks teams down. Using PHANTOMS, I had a few 0-0s at home versus weaker teams that just sat back and defended. TD would have easily won those games.

Of course, you are right, last match in the group away to At. Madrid and beat them 4-1!!

[Winged_Poacher]

Hi Franky,

First of all, i must say this is one of the best tactics i`ve tested on 17.2, god job mate.

Second, can i have your permission to post your tactic on fm-base.co.uk? It`s a big community of FM lovers where we post our tactics & discuss it!

All credits will go to you, i`ll just post it there.

Thank you again for this tactic. 

 

[radetzky]

hi,
is the download link working correctly?
My pc is saying that there is a virus or a malware at the link in the opening post.
May be it has only become crazy but I just want to be sure of not plugging something wrong in my laptop

thanks

[MattyHills87]

Hi Franky

Seems like a good tactic iv been struggling with good tactics in FM 17. I had a very good one in FM 16 and i like to start in the very low none leagues and work my way up from there. I will be using this tactic halfway into my season in Vanarama League South with Hemel Hempstead Town. Ill post back when i have finished the second half of the season. (in Dec atm)

[8GoUrCuFf8]

Hi mate,

 

Why an advanced playmaker on support duty ? Everywhere i learn that the middle must had 3 duties (defend/support/attack).

 

Thanks fo you sharing tactic.

[Franky.]

7 hours ago, Winged_Poacher said:

Hi Franky,

First of all, i must say this is one of the best tactics i`ve tested on 17.2, god job mate.

Second, can i have your permission to post your tactic on fm-base.co.uk? It`s a big community of FM lovers where we post our tactics & discuss it!

All credits will go to you, i`ll just post it there.

Thank you again for this tactic. 

 

Yes, of course 

 

3 hours ago, 8GoUrCuFf8 said:

Hi mate,

 

Why an advanced playmaker on support duty ? Everywhere i learn that the middle must had 3 duties (defend/support/attack).

 

Thanks fo you sharing tactic.

The box to box midfielder is in effect on attack duty due to the 'get further forward' player instruction. With the advanced playmaker, you have to assess what support he will have when he receives the ball. With a support duty, he will receive it in a slightly deeper position than if he was on attack. He'll then have wing backs and a BBM ahead of him, thus more options to play the ball forward. With an attack duty, this may not be the case and he'll more likely resort to futile long shots. I generally prefer to have midfielders on support duty anyway, as that allows for greater defensive stability. The only one on attack would be an AMC but this tactic doesn't have one. 

[Tottijim]

So franky when i use phantom and when i uss total domination?and thw oi??

[rammalc]

Usually would not ever use anyone elses advice or tactics but got to say this one i'm binning . In all the years of playing FM in its different guises i have never conceded so many goals in the 85-90 min , so much so if i'd been able to bet on the games i'd have retired a wealthy man . Such a shame as i'd high hopes when first starting it  , will keep an eye out for any future different attempts but for now off to try and find something a bit less predictable .

[thats life]

How do you get this tactic to play through balls ?

[thats life]

Do i need to change anything on this 

[Marcelo]

On 03/01/2017 at 13:43, Franky. said:

Thanks for the feedback guys. Moving on, probably my favourite tactic for FM 16 was KILLER THROUGH BALL. I'm working on trying to recreate it for FM 17 and am using PHANTOMS as a base for developing that. It's called the GHOST tactic because there's a player in the team who's a ghost (the shadow striker) in that the opposition just cannot see him and therefore are unable to mark him or track his runs. To make the tactic work how I want, I've gone to a strikerless formation with two wingers and a shadow striker. It's more or less how PHANTOMS started out before I replaced the SS with an F9. It's quite simply one through ball after another with the shadow striker running onto it, collecting the pass and outpacing the defence for a one on one with the keeper so loads of 'clear cut chances'. When that's not happening and the ball is played out wide for the wingers, he'll almost always be unmarked in the box, again ghost like!! I will try to upload the tactic later today but have posted the match highlights to view from another 'tactic test' game that I use. It's compelling viewing and shows how the tactic works. We are 6-4 favourites but Everton can quite easily beat us if we're not at the races. I've highlighted three comments from the match report in the screenshot below that pretty much sum the tactic up. Raheem Sterling is the GHOST..................

The match highlights can be downloaded below.

 

Everton 0-8 Wycombe (GHOST Tactic).pkm

Hey Franky, how is your GHOST tactic coming along? I downloaded the PKM and the movement of the shadow striker looks really amazing!

[Guest]

On ‎12‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 07:00, Franky. said:

FINAL WORD

When playing at home, it's important to note that PHANTOMS works better against equal or superior opponents due to it's highly counter attacking nature. Against teams that park the bus, my TOTAL DOMINATION tactic is better as it adopts a more measured, probing approach that is better at breaking down teams that just sit back and defend. Alternatively, you can lower the team mentality to 'control' and up the tempo from 'much lower' to 'lower' as this will provide a similar probing approach.

Is there any specific indicator in the pre-match scouting that says a team parks the bus?

[mlssmith]

when is the ghost tactic coming

[sparkysrovers]

15 minutes ago, mlssmith said:

when is the ghost tactic coming

He put it up but pulled it because it wasnt as good as this tactic. You could also say please.

[mlssmith]

wow

[mlssmith]

3 minutes ago, sparkysrovers said:

He put it up but pulled it because it wasnt as good as this tactic. You could also say please.

on every single forum theres 1 of you........ i wasnt being rude just asking a question

[Punt]

I´m using TD 1.3. at home and Phantom away and it´s still going well for me. I´m in third season in november and i lost only 1 game this season and it was unlucky ( i was the better team ) defeat against Tottenham. Right now i´m first in PL and first in my group of CL.  Defence is almost the same as first two seasons ( bulletproof!) but attack is better with this 2 tactics combination.

[sparkysrovers]

On 1/8/2017 at 19:47, mlssmith said:

on every single forum theres 1 of you........ i wasnt being rude just asking a question

Alright man, dont get your knickers in a twist. Be grateful that Franky even puts these up.

[AntonioPateras]

So far, this is the most effective tactic in FM17 for me, plus it uses all positions (midfielders and wingers). Though in this FM, more things happen from the mid, that's why we see so many 4-3-3 formations (3CM, 3ST), but I hate play without wingers and getting 4-5 strikers for the whole season if you play with team with no budget is not an easy thing.

[clemo]

On 06/01/2017 at 17:30, radetzky said:

hi,
is the download link working correctly?
My pc is saying that there is a virus or a malware at the link in the opening post.
May be it has only become crazy but I just want to be sure of not plugging something wrong in my laptop

thanks

I am also getting this

[sparkysrovers]

I think the update has messed this tactic up - going all season in total domination mode and since the update, lost 5 won 4

[Franky.]

I've updated the tactic to v1.1c................ Tactic is now more clinical in attack and slightly better defensively also. More goals scored from corners as well plus less wasted long shots........... all aspects of the tactic have been improved. However, I play the Touch version of the game and am still on 17.2. Please let me know how this works for you on 17.2.1....... thanks in advance. Tactic can be downloaded from the original post. Wingers are now preferred to Inside Forwards. The following info has been added to the original post, everything else is the same.............

Wingers – There's two of these guys and they'll be looking to get on the end of attacking moves and especially to take advantage of crosses fired in from the wing back on the opposite flank so good finishing and 'off the ball' ability is helpful, although not essential. What is essential though is that they must be quick and have good dribbling and crossing ability. 

PPM to set......... 1) gets into opposition area...... 2) gets forward whenever possible........ 3) if quick then 'knocks ball past opponent'.

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Out of necessity, inside forwards can be used instead of wingers. It's okay to have a winger on one flank and IF on the other. However, any inside forwards that have 'shoots from distance' as a PPM, train them up as wingers on the opposite flank. Do NOT use them as IFs as they cut inside and shoot from ridiculous positions every time, even though a team mate might be open for a tap in. Memphis Depay is a perfect example. Extremely wasteful as an IF on the left flank but an excellent winger on the right. Also, do NOT use them as inverted foot wingers so Memphis for example should be trained up and used ONLY as a right winger. However, if such a player doesn't have the attributes required for a winger (pace/acceleration/dribbling/crossing) then just sell him as he's not worth keeping. You want your wide men to be productive, not wasteful.

Having used the tactic now for several seasons, I find that wingers work better than inside forwards. They stretch the opponent's defence more and that creates extra space in the middle to exploit. They are also far less wasteful than IFs because being out wide, long shots are not really an option. Needless to say, this reduces the amount of wasteful long shots. All in all, I believe you will score more goals with wingers than with inside forwards. However, this doesn't mean IFs should be neglected altogether. If you have a player like Juan Mata then he'll still do a good job as an IF.

One more thing to note. Any striker will work for this tactic, doesn't have to be a False 9. Just use him in any of the following support roles that suit him best............ F9, DLF, DF, CF, TM.

[Punt]

Franky, would you say that using Td at home and Phantom away is the best approach?

What are you using in your save?

[Franky.]

3 hours ago, Punt said:

Franky, would you say that using Td at home and Phantom away is the best approach?

What are you using in your save?

I reckon using PHANTOMS exclusively would probably be the best approach. V1.1b that I've uploaded today seems to be better at breaking down stubborn teams than the version it replaced. It's worked well in testing and I'm actually just going to reboot my season to test it out. I'm in 2023 and 4th season in the Premier League with Wycombe. I'll update further 10+ games into the season.

EDIT: Just uploaded v1.1c with a minor change for attacking corners. Meant to do that with v1.1b but somehow left it out. Instruction for attacking corners................

Both centre backs, striker and BBM must NOT be on corner taking duty.

[sparkysrovers]

Good man Franky - with these ferrero rocher of tactics you're really spoiling us. 

Really want to try that ghost tactic but I think it might be beyond the type of player that i can attract. I did revert to TD but I'll try this updated version of Phantom. 

[Punt]

16 hours ago, Franky. said:

I reckon using PHANTOMS exclusively would probably be the best approach. V1.1b that I've uploaded today seems to be better at breaking down stubborn teams than the version it replaced. It's worked well in testing and I'm actually just going to reboot my season to test it out. I'm in 2023 and 4th season in the Premier League with Wycombe. I'll update further 10+ games into the season.

EDIT: Just uploaded v1.1c with a minor change for attacking corners. Meant to do that with v1.1b but somehow left it out. Instruction for attacking corners................

Both centre backs, striker and BBM must NOT be on corner taking duty.

Still thinking that using Phantom exclusively would be the best approach with Ghost resurrected?

[Franky.]

1 hour ago, Punt said:

Still thinking that using Phantom exclusively would be the best approach with Ghost resurrected?

I've rebooted my season using GHOST exclusively and finding that extremely consistent. The amount of clear cut chances created is unreal. Using it as plug and play and media prediction is 6th. Both my shadow strikers are being trained to acquire the 'likes to beat offside trap' PPM. Once that happens, I reckon we're going to absolutely smash it....... My honest advice would be to switch to GHOST. I'm loving the football we play. It's the most fun and enjoyable tactic of my four.

image url

[Punt]

27 minutes ago, Franky. said:

I've rebooted my season using GHOST exclusively and finding that extremely consistent. The amount of clear cut chances created is unreal. Using it as plug and play and media prediction is 6th. Both my shadow strikers are being trained to acquire the 'likes to beat offside trap' PPM. Once that happens, I reckon we're going to absolutely smash it....... My honest advice would be to switch to GHOST. I'm loving the football we play. It's the most fun and enjoyable tactic of my four.

image url

I´ve just tried Phantom against Man City away and lost 1-0. We were practically the same stats-wise. Then i repeated the game with Ghost (because i was curious) and won 1-3 and had 4 ccc´s to their 2 so i agree and i´m going to switch to Ghost. Another masterpiece of yours. Thank you Franky.

[Majick]

Franky, just want to say thanks to you again for this.

Wanting something different this year, I opted for a game in Scotland with Hearts, where I'd mainly be playing for 3rd place.

Using Total Domination for much of the first season, my results picked up as the players' familiarity with it grew, and we ended up in 3rd after just barely making the Champions Group.

In our second season I swapped to Phantom, with TD in reserve. Although we missed out in qualifying for the Europa League and had a shaky start in the league, we were 3rd after 7 matches, a position we held until the 3rd to last match of the season. Knocking off Rangers, 3-0, we moved up to 2nd. In the following match, we took out Hamilton to go top as Celtic mauled Rangers, 6-0. The final day of the season dawned with us 2 points ahead of Rangers and 3 of Celtic - we needed to win to guarantee the title, and while I was kept waiting for a little while, our 22 goal star striker Eamonn Brophy popped up just before half-time to give us the lead. 2 more goals followed in the second half, with our stand-in DM bagging his only domestic goal of his Hearts career to send the fans into ecstasy. The unfancied Heart of Midlothian are the champions of Scotland!

A couple of notes: We had a shaky spell mid-season, losing 5 in 9 in the league. However, after that we rallied and won 14 in a row in the league, and 17 in 18 overall. Only a galling 3-1 loss to Celtic in the cup spoiled our fun, else we'd be looking at a double.

As it's Scotland, and our coaches are fairly shabby, injuries are a problem; We lost our CM pair to injury for a combined 3 months, meaning they scarcely played together in the second half of the season. Various others got knocks - our star left winger and striker were out for a combined 3 months, for example. In spite of that, we kept on producing results. We had the meanest defence (26 in 38 games) and the second best attack only to Celtic, who could field Berahino, Sinclair and Januzaj as their front three. I'd spent a lot of time identifying really good defenders, especially as Hearts' starting set mainly left for bigger clubs in or after the first season. Still, it wasn't just good players - we only conceded 3 goals in the 14 straight wins.

So, having expected a low pressure career at Hearts, I now find myself set for the Champions League. Not what I was expecting, but neverthless, thanks, Franky!