FM 2013 Guide — How to create your own tactic, part 2: Player roles

Hello and welcome to my Football Manager 2013 guide on how to create your own tactic. Part 1 of this three part series covered formations, philosophies and playing styles. Now we move onto part two, in which I’ll explain player roles, how they transform a formation and how we can use them to our advantage.

There are so many roles at our disposal, I couldn’t realistically go through them all. Instead I’ll breeze through the defence (there aren’t that many combinations to use,) spend more time explaining MC and then brush through how the wingers can multitask and what options are available upfront. But before all of that, I think its best you read my mission statement as I call it.

Mission statement

This guide isn’t about listing all the roles available (like some other sites have done.) You already know all  that, I want to go deeper into specific roles and also show you how certain roles put together can transform your formation. In order to make a tactic work every player needs to pull together to form a unit and you can’t achieve that without assigning the correct roles. Before we get started, I want to be rid of the stereotype that every player must be assigned his ‘preferred role’. That is utter twaddle, a player used in his preferred role when the role does not work with your tactic will perform a lot worse than someone used in a different role that coincides with your shape. Of course you’d be wrong to use Modric as a ball winning midfielder, but you could use a more supporting role than he prefers to make a tactic work. What I am trying to explain is you shouldn’t get too hung up on the players preferred role, think first of how that role effects the tactic then consider the players needs, someone in the middle lies a role he can play and one that suits your tactic. Now that I’ve confused you, lets begin. :)

Goalkeeper and back four

If you are a beginner or just not sure how different roles may effect your tactic, then I suggest keeping it simple. If there is one thing I have learnt from Johnny, its that you don’t have to give every player fancy, complicated roles to make a great tactic. Below are the roles I’d suggest using for goalkeepers and when to select them.

Goalkeeper: Defend — The most common and best used role for a keeper. You really can’t go far wrong, just be wary that a very high defensive line may required a sweeper keeper to fill the gap the defenders leave when pushing up.

Sweeper Keeper: Defend — Required if you use a very high defensive line, but only use if your keeper has decent acceleration and rushing out attributes.

The back four should always be kept simple in my opinion. I personally don’t bother with the ‘ball playing defender’ role or ‘stopper’ duty, a defenders job is to stop the opposition scoring and to not give the ball away too easily, so why make the roles too complex. Below are the two roles I’d use and why. FYI I always give both centre backs the same role, there isn’t any reason for them to differ.

Central Defender: Defend — This guy will simply clear the ball from danger and stop the opposition attacking. But his role can become more supporting if you are using aggressive tactics, for instance I use a fluid philosophy and attacking strategy, in this scenario a central defender has to be very composed as he will try to play the ball out of defence and avoid losing possession.

Limited Defender: Defend — This role is similar to the one above, but no matter what your tactic, he will always look to clear the ball, take very few risks and doesn’t care about possession, he just needs to clear his lines and stop the opposition. More suitable for defenders with limited composure and technical skills.

I personally prefer the central defender role from the two above, but it depends on your tactic, if you play attacking, ambitious football then you won’t want the centre back giving away possession. But if you want to keep it tight then a more limited role may be best.

Lets move onto the wide defenders, their role will depend on a number of different factors. I will list the roles and duties below with an explanation and when they should be used.

Full Back: Defend — Your full back will concentrate on his defensive duties offering very little going forward. Only ever use this role if you want to keep a flat back line, but I personally wouldn’t recommend it.

Full Back: Support — Quite useful if you like to see your full back get forward and attack down the wings. Also use this if your wingers are in an AM position so they can get more support.

Full Back: Automatic — By far my favorite role, if you tend to switch your strategy from time to time, then this role and duty is perfect. Your full back will adjust his game plan around your strategy, so if you want the team to attack he’ll get forward overlapping the wide man and if you are countering he’ll just support the winger.

As for the wing back role and Full back role with attack duty, I would stay well clear unless you use a formation without wingers. Even then these roles are very risky and leave your defenders fatigued.

Central midfielders and AMC’s

In my opinion this is where a lot of gamers fail to make a tactic work. Many think that a player such as Fellaini must be used as box to box midfielder, or that Modric has to be an advanced playmaker. Tonnes of tacticians are obsessed with their MC’s gaining high ratings, but at what cost?

I used to be one of them, I’d switch and change my MC roles to suit the players I bought, always opting for the overly complicated roles, always thinking of the player as opposed to the roles effect on my tactic. Yes the individual probably gained better average ratings, but the consistency in my results was shocking. The only way to make a tactic that gains consistent results is to find roles in central midfield that form the nucleus of the team. Everything must run and move around the nucleus, this nucleus will always be made up of two or three players and they must be unified, to a certain degree anyway. OK, let me try and explain.

No matter what formation you use, it’ll probably include two or three central midfielders. The same goes for your opposition and these 2 to 3 players will be at the centre of every defending, supporting and attacking move. So you need to find a way of keeping these guys unified while they all serve a different purpose. How do you do this? By using what I call the ‘static and active rule’. One player in your midfield should be assigned an active role, while the other one or two should have a more static role.

An active role is one that involves the player running from end to end, been used as playmaker or constantly looking for a chance to get forward. These tend to require a specific combination of attributes and can be quite complicated. While a static role is one that keeps the MC more holding, he could be defending, supporting, attacking or all of the above but he must be doing so in tandem with your formation always holding a line, never really drifting off. These roles are more bland and far less complicated, but make a tactic solid. Below are the roles that I class as static and active.

Static roles: Central Midfielder, Ball Winning Midfielder.

Active roles: Advanced Playmaker, Deep Lying Playmaker, Box to Box Midfielder.

I use a 4-5-1 (with AMR and AML.) To stick with the ‘Static and active rule’ I use one Central Midfielder with Defend duty, another one with support duty (they are my static players) and then my active player is an advanced playamker with attack duty. Here is a little example of how they work together.

Without the ball they keep an almost flat line, this line is only broken when an opponent approaches one of the three with the ball. Breaking through my midfield is quite tough as a result and the opponents very often use the wings or play it long.

My Central Midfielder with defend duty does a lot of the chasing, trying to win back possession, when he finally gets the ball there are always two MC’s in close proximity for support so he never has to go long or play a complicated pass. All three midfielders now go from defensive mode into supporting mode and move forward as a unit. They don’t tend to break that organized line until outside of their own half.

As my team advance on the opposition box you can expect the advanced playmaker to dart forward, trying to get more involved in the attacking phase of play while the two Central Midfielders just hold their position outside the penalty area. This offers the perfect blend between attack and keeping organized, I can’t think of a better example of the ‘Static and active rule’.

That is how I use my MC’s, but you could use the same logic with any number of roles, you just need to think of how the role effects the players positioning and that of his teammates. The only reason you should ignore the ‘Static and active rule’ is if you have an MR and ML that hold the line well, then you can afford to have two active MC’s. It’s all about getting that balance in the team of who stays back, who holds their position and who moves forward. Talking of moving forward, lets take a look at the wingers.

Wide Midfielders and Wingers

I will split this section into two, we’ll begin with what roles to assign when using a flat midfield ie the 4-4-2 and then what to do when using AM’s like in my formation.

If you are using a flat midfield like in Johnny’s defensive tactic or a 4-4-2 you should approach the wide players completely differently to when they are pushed further up the pitch. Below are the two roles I’d suggest using in this scenario and what benefit they could have.

Wide Midfielder — Involved in almost every phase of play this guy will defend, support and attack. Best used if you want to form a solid, flat line across your midfield while the opposition attack but also want someone pushing down the wings with the ball. Don’t be deceived by this role, Johnny has seen some excellent performances from Bale using it, just goes to show that simple can be better.

Winger — Far less involved with the defensive side, he will track back but not as far and will mainly look to hug the touchline using pace and skill with little regard to keeping shape with your MC’s. Only use this role if you’re covered in the centre of midfield, if you have attacking MC’s and wingers then who will defend the most important part of the pitch?

Lets see what happens if you are using wide men in the AMR and AML positions, including a three man central midfield, like in my 4-5-1. For starters, let me say that you should consider how dangerous your wingers are, then also think about how many men you have upfront. If you have a two man strike force I’d only really use a mixture of the two roles below.

Winger — Same as before, he’ll hug the touchline, take on his man and look for crossing opportunities. You can use this role in most systems to be honest.

Advanced Playmaker: Support — This guy will look to find space where ever it appears, he’ll cut inside or out and look to operate in between the midfield and strikers. Once he’s found the pockets he’ll make a pass or take the chance himself. Not really best used on the pacey skillful players that could do best with a direct run on goal. But very handy to compliment a two man attack where the final third is already clustered.

The most important thing to remember is that not everyone has to attack or play attacking roles. Whats the point in having two poachers upfront and then two wingers as inside forwards. The poachers will get crowded and the inside forward will have nowhere to run. That brings me onto my main tip…when you are using a lone striker, the AMR and AML can operate wonderfully as inside forwards. They have plenty of space to run at and tend to form a front three with the lone striker when the time is right.

I use that system with a poacher upfront and two inside forwards on the wings. My full backs get forward and support as the inside forwards cut to the box acting as second and third strikers. This can be very tough for the opposition dragging their full back inside and leaving room for my full back to attack.

This makes for a perfect through ball scenario, neither the opposition full back nor  their centre backs want to commit to tracking the inside forward so gaps open up just like the screenshot shows to your right.

Another example of the inside forwards off the ball movement is below. The player moves forward ahead of my three MC’s and tends to sit on the shoulder of both the full back and centre back when he sees space. This then opens up for a defence splitting pass from my Central Midfielders. I often find the inside forward makes better runs from an AMR or AML position to that of his striking poacher counterpart. This is because the inside forward is so tough to mark, drifting between the opposition full back and centre back creates havoc.

But the most important factors for this role to work are full backs that are supporting, central midfielders that will hold the middle and just one striker upfront so there is still space to attack.

Strikers

When selecting your front line, the first thing to make a difference will be the number of forwards in your formation. If you have two or three you should look to achieve a blend with one pushing on to score while the other links up play and isn’t so much in the lime light. However, its more complicated if you use the lone striker. You could use him in a more defensive role to bring him closer to the midfielders and have them make runs off him, or you could do what I do and assign your lone striker the poacher role to have the inside forwards multi-task from the wings. Below are the best supporting roles and then the main attacking roles with their benefits and general uses.

Supporting striker roles

Target Man: Support — Your player will look to win the ball aerially and bring teammates into play. He won’t bare down on goal looking to score, but will sit further back waiting to receive the ball and hold up play before flicking on. If you use a direct style and have players to support the target man like a poacher then this guy should work well, if not I’d look elsewhere.

Deep Lying Forward: Support -Very similar to the role above but based on the floor as opposed to in the air. Needs to be used with a striker that works on the shoulder of the defence.

Defensive Forward: Support — The work horse of the team, very much like Tevez does for City, the defensive forward will look to close the ball down and win back possession. You’ll need a great work rate and don’t expect too many goals but a fair amount of assists.

Attacking striker roles

Poacher — My favorite role, the poacher won’t offer anything defensively, but he’ll always be on the shoulder of the defence in lurch of a goal. He can be used upfront on his own if the wingers cut inside or an attacking midfielder is in support. Alternatively you could pair him with one of the supporting roles listed above.

Trequartista — This guy will drift around the front line looking for space and pockets to exploit. He’ll offer nothing defensively but will be the main outlet going forward, you want someone technically able here, flair and off the ball movement can make a difference. Just as with the poacher he can be lone striker if supported by midfielders or alternatively paired with a supporting forward while using two upfront.

Advanced Forward — Runs the line of attack but also looks to bring others into play so paired nicely with a deep lying forward. This guy will even go out wide if it means picking up the ball. Not my favorite role but many have used it really well.

Summary

To summarize you can use any number of combinations, but you must pay close attention to the balance within your team. Below are some bullet points and vital information to remember.

• Your centre backs should have very simple roles.
• The full backs need to support if your wide players are high up the pitch.
• The midfield should have no more than one active player (ie playmaker or box to box midfielder.)
• Its vital to use simple roles in the middle if you want to keep organized while defending and going forward.
• You should have no more than 4 players in excessively attacking roles.

To conclude part two I will share my current tactic screen. This should give you an idea of how I set my roles to clarify all of the above.

OK my eyes are hurting and fingers are starting to ache so we’ll call it a night. I hope part two was of interest and if you have any questions please place them below. I should have ‘Part 3: Testing tactics’ ready for the weekend or Monday. Until then thanks for reading and if you enjoyed this guide, please use the social networking buttons below to spread the word. :) You can now read part three by clicking the link below.

FM 2013 Guide — How to create your own tactic, part 3: Testing tactics