Football Manager 2012 tactics — Emulating Stoke’s rough and tumble

Hey guys, I have recently provided you with an Arsenal orientated tactic. This tactic created some attractive and possession play football very similar to Arsenal’s real life style. Well today’s FM 2012 top tactic couldn’t be more different, over the last week I have been testing and preparing a Football Manager 2012 Stoke City tactic. This boasts a direct style of play, a bulldozer like mentality, some dogged defending and very unique set pieces that could only be claimed by Stoke. We’ll start by explaining how this FM12 traditional 4-4-2 works then move onto my results using this tactic, in game video and finally the download itself.

The Formation

Tony Pulis very rarely switches from a traditional 4-4-2 boasting three flat lines. Therefore I have based this FM 2012 Stoke tatic around a flat 4-4-2, it may look plain but carry on reading and you’ll see the important details as we go along. Let’s start with player roles.

GK (Role = Goalkeeper, Duty = Defend) — Stoke don’t really play with a high defensive line and you’ll rarely see their Keeper rushing off his line to clear a through ball. Therefore the Goalie is just standard.

DR, DL (Role = Full Back, Duty = Automatic) — Stoke tend to play with a balanced philosophy, meaning their back four defend and help with transitional play as opposed to gunning forward at every opportunity. However, the two full backs do move along the line if required. A full back role with automatic duty will mean their movement is depicted from the overall strategy. If you want to attack they will attack, if you want to defend then they will defend.

DCR, DCL (Role = Limited Defender, Duty = Defend) — Tony Pulis likes his centre backs to do a traditional job and concentrate on keeping the ball away from their goal. The limited role will assign both CB’s to clear the ball on site and make sure no one gets through. No fancy stuff and certainly no playing out from the back. You need two very tall and strong centre backs for this position and the DCL position should be filled by your best header of the ball and most dangerous in the air (he is important from set pieces.)

MCR (Role = Box to Box Midfielder, Duty = Support) — Stoke like to get the ball forward to the target man quickly or play down the wings. They rarely mess around in the middle, this means that both CM’s could be left useless and playing a minor role. However, Pulis assigns one of his midfielders the box to box role which means he is responsible for all duties and therefore covers a lot of ground. This player needs stamina and a good all round game. He may arrive late in the box as support so long shots and general shooting ability could help.

MCL (Role = Ball Winning Midfielder, Duty = Defend) — Tony’s system usually includes a power house midfielder to bully the ball back. This guy needs to be strong with great tackling and marking skills. Pace is also a bonus as he is responsible for winning the ball back alone.

MR, ML (Role = Winger, Duty = Attack) — Both wingers are used for attacking purposes alone, with the full backs concentrating on defending this leaves both wingers to do what they do best. Stoke like their wingers to stick out wide and get lots of crosses in. Therefore, you need pace with dribbling attributes to beat your man, great crossing ability to take advantage of the tall target man and a little flair would also help. While most of the team should be giant ogres, these two wingers are the little stars that need to represent the magic and spark of your team.

STCR (Role = Complete Forward, Duty = Support) I have one word to describe this role, Crouch!! The lanky target man epitomizes what you need and what Stoke like to use. This player is the one to receive the ball then decide whether to pass or score himself. He must be huge, strong and aerially supreme. Having said that a little bit of footwork is required and he must be able to hit the net. Remember I have set this guy as the teams target man and centre of attention during set pieces so make him great in the air.

STCL (Role = Poacher, Duty = Attack) — What do you need if the complete forward manages to knock a ball on? That’s right, you need a fast poacher to take advantage. :) This guy won’t consider defending or supporting for a second. All day long he’ll look for the loose ball or take it on himself. You need great finishing, dribbling and pace for this role. However, due to Stoke’s set pieces this guy needs some sort of aerial ability but its not completely vital.

Team Instructions

While Stoke never seem to be all out attack they aren’t afraid of getting forward and taking the game to their opponents. Therefore a balanced philosophy and standard strategy have been assigned to best replicate Stoke’s style. Their passing style is no secret and must obviously be set to ‘direct’ while each player does seem to press the opponent so closing down is set to ‘press more’. Pulis definitely uses a ‘man marking’ system and he sends his players out to tackle ‘more aggressive’ and ruffle the oppositions feathers. Due to the teams general height you’ll notice Stoke floating high crosses through the air and I have selected ‘float crosses’ for crossing to emulate this. Last but certainly not least I set the passing focus to ‘down both flanks’ as Pulis likes his wingers to attack the wings and they seem to provide the best balls.

Playmaker: Pennant (strongest winger MR or ML)

Target man: Crouch (Complete forward, STCR)

Target man supply: Mixed

Set Pieces

I won’t talk about set pieces here as I’ve already written an in depth set piece guide displaying all the settings required to mimic Stoke’s corner kick’s, throw-ins and free-kicks. Just click the link to view my FM 2012 set piece guide and the settings used in this tactic.

Important notes

Remember this tactic is based purely on Stoke City so if you’re downloading it for a different team you need one with real strength, height and the ability to cause trouble from set pieces. The most important areas are upfront where you need a Crouch/Dzeko like forward partnered by a real poacher with pace. Then on the wings you must have pace mixed with major crossing ability. Last of all your two centre backs need to be solid and similar to Shawcross and Huth. If you download this tactic be aware that I have assigned set piece positions based on particular players so that will need checking. This tactic works a treat with Stoke, watch the video below for proof. :)

FM 2012 Stoke tactic video — click here to see the results

If the video above isn’t enough, try looking through my first 17 matches. Not only does this tactic emulate the Stoke City of real life but provides some outstanding results if used correctly.

Click the download image below to be redirected to the download page then follow the ‘how to install’ instructions.

How to Install

Download the file to Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2012 demo\tactics, obviously you will save the tactic into the official game when its released as opposed to the demo file. Then in the game go to the tactics screen and load it from the «archived tactics». The tactic is named ‘Stoke 4-4-2’.