5. Tactics
There are two main approaches when it comes to choosing tactics when taking control of a club: making a tactic to suit the players that you have or buying the right players to suit your tactic. If you ask me I always choose the second option but I can’t say that it’s the best way. It just makes more sense to me if I want to build something on the long run. That’s the overall look but I always keep the opponent in mind when tweaking the tactical approach for a specific game. I always assign one of my scouts (usually the one with the best tactical knowledge) to scout the next opposition. It’s a good way of finding out important things about your opponent and an essential tool for the next step…
… opposition instructions! I won’t go into too much detail about those but if you are in doubt about which instructions to choose you can always click on «ask assistant» and the assistant manager will take care of that. If you want to get more detailed knowledge about this aspect I warmly recommend reading FM Britain’s Tactical Theorems, I can say that this book is as important as the game manual. It can be downloaded for free from here.
Reading that book can help you a lot if you want to transpose a real life tactic that you like into Football Manager. I did that myself although it’s not a particular tactical approach, it’s more of a combination between Guus Hiddink‘s aggressive approach and the Spanish creative possession football. You can download my tactic from here and give it a try if you want, it has his good and bad sides but it has served me well until now. I am just going to give you a couple of examples to see what I was looking for when I created this tactic. First, when we don’t have the ball the players are instructed to press and get the ball back as soon as possible. In the screen shot below my lads are the ones wearing white shirts and as you can see most of them are trying to close down their opponents. The result? We got the ball back!
Then when we have the ball in attack I gave the players some freedom to move and think and that often surprises the opposition defense. As you can see from the screen shot below my central midfielder had quite a few options to pass the ball but he noticed the left winger’s good move off the ball and played the ball to him through the defense. The result? No, we didn’t score but we created a pretty good chance. Again, there is no tactic that works for all teams and my advice is to watch a few games in «full match» mode just to see how the tactic works. That can be mostly used during the pre-season friendlies, the results don’t really matter and there is still time to make the necessary adjustments before the beginning of the season.
When it comes to watching the matches you can’t be just a spectator, you have to be constantly alert. I choose to always have the opposition formation on screen during a match so that I can react quickly if they make any tactical changes.
The most common change is switching the strategy to counter if the opponent changes his formation to a very attacking one but there are more things that you can use from the touchline instructions.
The so-called shouts can make the difference in some games but honestly I don’t use them very often. My advice is to read FM Britain’s Tactical Theorems to know all there is to know about the shouts.
Set pieces are a very important part of modern football and my advice is to take special care of those situations. The first thing that you should do is picking the right corner kick and free kick takers, that is the first thing that I do before the first match of any season. When it comes to corner kicks there are quite a few «magic» recipes to score goals. The one that I use allows my centre backs to score quite a few goals every season provided we have a good set piece taker to bend the cross into the box. Here’s how my players are set up for the attacking corners:
RB — back
LB -back
CB1 -challenge goalkeeper
CB2 — attack far post
RM — attack near post
LM -attack ball from deep
CM1 — back if needed
CM2 -lurk outside area
ST1 -near post flick on
ST2 — attack ball from deep
Then I set the corner kick to be sent at the far post and if the set piece taker does well the centre back that attacks the far post can find himself with a good chance of scoring. The good thing is that if the corner is not well taken then there is a chance for the other centre back to score or even for one of the strikers to flick the ball on from the near post.
After the match you can take some time to have a look at the match analysis, that could provide some important information. For instance, if your central midfielder loses most tackles then you have a problem that you should deal with. Sometimes we have subjective impressions after watching a match and the cold numbers can give us a better idea of what worked and what didn’t. Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Sears
13 июля, 2010 at 21:39
@Johnny, sorry mate, my comment has nothing to do with this fantastic post, but I’ll get back to that later. I just wanted to get your advice on a slight problem I’m having in my Ledds game. I’m a few years ahead of my blog but today I was playing it for a while and I was about to play one more game until an error came up resulting in my game to shut down. and because my last save was a few weeks back in the game I had to start again on the new season and I lost a game I had previously won and I was losing another one I had already won and I just couldn’t believe it. I was gobsmacked. So in a fit of rage I turned off my computer and now I feel if I play on my Ledds game I think I’m a cheater and if I think that I just cannot play on anymore. I just wanted to know what would you do if you were in my position? Continue or start all over again?
Johnny Karp
13 июля, 2010 at 21:42
I’m sorry to hear that Sears, that’s a rather unfortunate thing. I guess you shouldn’t feel like a cheater at all, it wasn’t your fault that the game crashed. My advice would be to continue the game, it would be a shame to waste all that hard work.
Darren Smith
13 июля, 2010 at 21:52
Hi Johnny
fantastic post there. Sometimes you need to hear things step by step to create order from chaos. (Thats how I see lower league management, rewarding but chaos when you start.) Anyway thanks for your time and effort. It’s a great post and should help a lot of peps.
@Sears, if I were you I’d probably just go back and play the games again. In my opinion its not cheating if you have been cheated out of a result that was in the bag. Had a similar problem myself, but no dilema because I lost my whole game…7 seasons with Newcastle! I’m usually laid back but that wound me up big time. Hope you resolve your problem.
dami
13 июля, 2010 at 22:09
Great post…I’m sure it’ll be handy for me…I prefer giving my players team talks and I found a wonderful set of team talks at http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/f72/woifsongs-teamtalk-guide-t29092.html …its really good and works since I started using it…
Johnny Karp
13 июля, 2010 at 22:19
Thanks for sharing that Dami. I used to give the team talks myself but I tried to set the assistant to do it and I noticed that most times he follows the exact same route as I would have. So I guess it is just a way to save time. Sometimes I disagree with him though and I override his choices.
Laxeyman
13 июля, 2010 at 22:22
Hi Johnny, brilliant post mate, I think that’ll help everyone, no matter what team or at what level their managing at. As Darren said it orders the chaos, making everything seem much simpler. I sometimes take press conferences, mainly because I sent the assistant once and he said all the wrong things, and that had a massive impact on the game, the players didn’t look motivated at all, so I’d say press conferences can be important. Anyway great post, well done!
Sears
13 июля, 2010 at 22:25
@Johnny and Darren, thanks guys for your support, I continued my save because I have put a lot of work, time and effort into so I don’t see why I should give up.
About the post Johnny, it’s fantastic. I will surly take your advice and use on the new football manager when it comes out if I choose to be a lower league team. I will also use it in my Ledds game. You put a lot of effort and time into the post and I want to thank you. As usual you give us the reader the very best of advice and thats why your blog is so popular amongst us gamers.
Kevin Mayo
14 июля, 2010 at 00:26
Hello Johnny
Well you’ve realy out done yourself this time and have produced a first rate guide that will no doubt help us all. I particularly liked the piece about selecting coaches i.e. motivation, determination and will surely employ those and other stategies you have gracefully shared with us followers. Thank you for putting in all this time and effort to make our FM experience a more pleasureable one. It almost makes me want to start a new game and try all your tips from the beginning. Excellent stuff !!!
Mariano
14 июля, 2010 at 06:57
Hello Johnny,
Thanks so much for this brillant and helpful post.
Some feedback:
I would appreciate if you can put the filters to scout players that you use for download.
Could you go more in detail how you use your tactic considering the level of your opponent specially when you have to play those cup games against higher league teams.
I´ve been using it in several games in different leagues WITH FANTASTIC RESULTS and i highly recommend it.
Thanks again and congratulations!
ps:
I would like to share some tips i always use:
.When i offer players for free i put a 50% clause for a future transfer
.Specially during the pre season i set a note that reminds me everyday to visit the staff room.
.I made a habit of saving my game before and after every game.
.When buying players i always offer to pay the fee in 48 months, this way i can buy way beyond my budget
Andries
14 июля, 2010 at 08:53
Johnny,
great post, fantastic! Thank you for sharing.
@Sears: i agree with Darren Smith, you were cheated, it’s not the other way around. You deserved those wins, they are yours to take back.
Johnny Karp
14 июля, 2010 at 09:12
Thanks a lot for your feedback and kind words folks, I’m happy that you find the post helpful.
@Mariano
You are one of those who pushed me to write this post so I have to thank you for that. I am also grateful for your tips, I think I will add them into the post if that’s OK with you.
Majk
14 июля, 2010 at 09:17
I’m glad to see that we go about things in a similar fashion. Our match day experiences is something that differs as i usually only have the match stats box open at all times to see how my team is going about their overall business. But the opposing formation is a good tip.
Other than that we use the same things to find players and staff and look for the same attributes. So there’s really not much to be added to this great post.
ravenie
14 июля, 2010 at 11:20
That picture was extremely accurate on the last page, I always get frustrated when I concede to a weaker team. I conceded to Yeovil (League 1) and I went total berserk because I think the goal was extremely avoidable, fortunately the score was only 1-1 and the score finished 8-1 to me thankfully.
Jolicobbler
14 июля, 2010 at 11:26
Nice post, Jonny. At the moment the most relevant point to me was ‘Don’t give up’! I’ve had three back-to-back promotions form Bl Sq South with Eastleigh but I’m really struggling in League One. The class of opponents is far better.
I’ve had to start using the Analysis after games to see where I’ve been going wrong and found my full backs were giving the ball away far too much, so you offer sound advice there.
One thing I like to do as a LLM is offer trials to foreign players who have hidden stats and also those that are transfer listed. Most clubs are happy to see the back of their no-hopers even if it is for a week. And you get to run the rule over them. I sometimes have about ten players on trial in pre-season and the odd few during the season too. I like to think it keeps my own players on their toes!
I’m looking forward to the next Dorchester installment.
Lye
14 июля, 2010 at 12:09
Thanks for the advice mate, even though i have been manage Thurrock but i still learn new things from the post. Think i need to expand my scout network so that i will get access to more players. Not only we do not give up, managing lower league teams is like a marathon, we need to be patient and persistent too.
Handy Fernandy
14 июля, 2010 at 14:36
nice info mate,,
Chris @ Chester
14 июля, 2010 at 17:52
Really helpful johnny, I’ll use it in my brand new crewe game as I lost my job at Chester :-( I will say that I don’t usually do the set peice tactics but I did notice you scored quite a few throughout your notts county game. I may look into that. I also do every press conference after my assistant told the press we need heavy strengthening just before the community shield which demoralised everyone
Java
14 июля, 2010 at 18:38
Hi, Johnny… I’m a FM player from Indonesia.
Sorry if my english is not good.
I’ve been following your football manager story for almost a year, since i had Football Manager 2010 on my notebook.
I’ve tried rising a club from lower division too, now my bradford stands on third place of Premier League after my 5th season. :D
It’s all because your tips sir. Thanks…
Now i’m a FM addict.
Johnny Karp
14 июля, 2010 at 20:32
Thanks for all your comments folks, I wasn’t expecting such a great reaction.
@Ravenie
Yeah, that happens to me sometimes too. Football tends to get frustrating at times but the rewards are even greater afterward.
@Jolicobbler
The trials thing seems to be quite a good tip, I have never tried that. Thanks! The next Dorchester post will be coming sooner or later, I had no time to play the game at all. I am planning to give it a try tomorrow if possible.
@Lye
It is a marathon and we are lucky that we’re not running it alone! :)
@Chris @ Chester
That’s curious, my assistant never said such stupid things at press conferences. I might be just lucky or it might be because of his skills, I don’t know.
@Java
Congratulations for your Bradford career, sounds impressive! We’re all more or less addicted to the game here, welcome to the club :)
Mariano
16 июля, 2010 at 09:02
Hi,
Very nice the updated guide,!
I just finished playing my first season managing Crewe Alexandra, i used the tactic offered in this guide and we won the league 2 with 116 points and lost the final of the Johnstone Trophy.
So i can say it´s a great tactic!
I also used Tug´s trainig schedule with great results too.
So thanks again for such good work!
Vinners
17 июля, 2010 at 21:47
Good post! I must say that I do regret leaving Wycombe after taking them to the premiership from League two but I was headhunted by Chelsea who offered a £95 million transfer budget, it was hard to refuse and winning trophies is fun but I don’t feel I am doing anything spectacular which is why I am wondering whether to start again and just stick to a lower league team or just carry on with this game. Anyway, great post!
Shane Heffernan
8 августа, 2010 at 01:01
can anyone post screen shots of the training schedules. I have MAC so i cant down load them. Cheers
Johnny Karp
8 августа, 2010 at 08:10
@Shane
I thought the schedules could be imported on a Mac too. Anyway, I will make the screen shots right now and post them here in a few minutes.
Johnny Karp
8 августа, 2010 at 08:16
There you go Shane, here are the first team schedules:
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/wingers.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/am.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/defenders.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/dm.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/full backs.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gk.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/mid.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/st.png
Shane Heffernan
9 августа, 2010 at 03:00
thanks mate. Really appreciate it. You wouldnt happen to have the youth ones aswell?
Johnny Karp
9 августа, 2010 at 07:27
I will try to add the youth schedules later today.
Johnny Karp
9 августа, 2010 at 14:07
Here are the youth schedules Shane:
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/wyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/amyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/dmyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/dyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/fbyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gkyth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/myth.png
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/styth.png
Michael
11 августа, 2010 at 10:39
If you can afford to spend £40-60K on one player, Motherwell striker John Sutton is rated as a good Coca Cola Championship player at the start of the 09/10 season, and only demands around £1K/per week in wages, which is very good going. He scored nearly 30 goals for my Notts Co. team despite injury and I sold him for just over £1.5m. I think people might want to consider buying him perhaps?
Very good guide here, thanks.
Johnny Karp
11 августа, 2010 at 10:52
Thanks for the suggestion Michael! I can’t afford 40-60K at the moment but I will take a look and maybe add him to my shortlist.
hils
11 сентября, 2010 at 18:53
Thanks for this post Johnny. This helped me stick with FC Zurich who are predicted to come 1st but low finances and poor consistency Resulted in us being 6th out of 12.
mariano
20 сентября, 2010 at 15:12
Hi Johnny,
I would like to share how i raise founds.
To set an example, right now i´m starting to manage Djurgarden a Swedish team which has 675k of balance.
I arranged friendlies almost every day playing away(to don´t destroy my pitch).
To play away against Gremio(Brazil) i will receive 250k, 33% of my total balance.
So if i play 20 friendlies i will raise 5 million dollars.
Of course you need time to do this.
I save my time by getting like 20 useless players on trial i put them all in the reserve team and i use the for the friendlies so i don´t care about their morale getting low or they getting injured.
I also used a super defensive tactic and watch the game in «only commentary » mode.
Too make it quicker basically every time i have a game, when i have to choose the first eleven i set the reserve team filter and i tell the AM to choose whos´going to play.
And you can do this as many times as you want, even in the middle of the season from when you are playing on weekends.
And if you add this to buy your players paying in 48 month, you can get a so much first eleven in a very short period of time.
Hope this is helpful.
Johnny Karp
20 сентября, 2010 at 17:19
That’s very creative to say the least Mariano, you always surprise me :) I don’t know if I’ll ever try your recipe but I’m sure it can help lots of people.
mariano
22 сентября, 2010 at 11:41
I still don´t know if i´m being creative or complicating the uncomplicated……:)
Anyway, my experiment seem to have benefits for the shareholders of the club as i started the pre-season with 600k usd, and by the first league game i have more than 7 million usd, but the wage and transfer busget is the same…….
In my personal experience playing FM, everytime i overspend happens 2 things:
1.the board come to rescue me
2. i start to receive lots of overpaid transfer offers or my players.
I will keep my experiment till the end of the season and the report my results.
Chau!:)
Johnny Karp
23 сентября, 2010 at 18:34
Thanks for all the info Mariano, I’m looking forward to the end of season update.
Harry England
13 ноября, 2010 at 15:59
Be careful about the advice to spread costs of players over monthly installments..
The total sum comes out of your budget for that season (so you can’t buy over your budget, don’t know where that’s come from), and can lose you money in the long run.
If you have strong finances in the plus numbers, you will be gaining interest on the money you have, so spreading finances will save you maybe a few hundred thousand over two years if you’re lucky. If you have negative numbers, you’ll be losing money every month which can make it harder to get your club financially stable and also gaining more interest on loan repayments, so in the long run the transfer is more damaging.
Not sure if anyone else cares about club finances, but for me, part of the game is running a successful, well-run club from non-league, and it’s rewarding when you have the funds to expand stadiums or upgrade youth facilities.
Also to the person above, that’s technically exploiting an error within the game, the £250k fee for playing away in Brazil is actually to cover costs of travel, but I don’t believe the game is programmed to deduct this (same principle as paying clubs to play at your home). This is the reason you will receive very small funds for playing in your home country, but lots more for being on the other side of the world. I’d personally class it as cheating, but that might be just me.
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2010 at 16:04
Thanks for sharing your opinion Harry. Personally I didn’t use the monthly installments very often for the exact reason you pointed out, it adds an expense on the long run and I prefer paying what has to be paid and move on from there.
Mariano
14 ноября, 2010 at 00:45
Hi Harry,
Buying players in 48 months is base on the assumption that you will do much better than expected, so year after year the board will give you more money.
Every year you are going to sell a couple of good players to keep the snowball rolling:)
I also buy youngsters as commodities, very often you can buy transfer listed youngsters with a great potential from the bigger clubs for around 1M, you loan them out for one or 2 seasons and then you sell them for 10M.
But usually if i get in big debt the chairman comes to rescue and injects cash, at least in my experience, but i do my best to avoid this situation.
Arranging friendlies is not cheating, for example right now i´m managing a tem from Square south with a budget of 400k and a starting balance of 120k, i´m being able to arrange friendlies in New Caledonia, Cook Islands, Salomon Islands for around 30k per match, so if i play around 15 away friendly games per season, i double my budget. If with a square north team i try to play with a brazilian team right now, they will not pay me 250k, i was receiving that money while managing DIF , an important swedish team.
But is all about management style, for me being a good manager is about trophies, not about making the shareholders rich, I am Argentinian, so why would i want the corrupt «president»(«owner») of the club to get more money?:)
Cheers
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