The 4-4-2 tactic that I used with my Notts County in League Two was no longer suitable for my new better players, so I decided to tweak it quite radically since the start of the League One season. What came out is a new tactic, more aggressive and spectacular. Let’s see how it looks.
The formation is still 4-4-2 but the strategy is a bit different, the defensive line is higher up the pitch and the passing is focused down the flanks.The player roles are set as follows:
Goalkeeper — sweeper keeper, defend
Full Backs — full back, defend
Centre Backs — limited defender, defend
Wingers — defensive winger, attack
Left Central Midfielder — central midfielder, support
Right Central Midfielder — deep lying playmaker, defend
Left Striker — defensive forward, attack
Right Striker — complete forward, support
I guess it’s pretty obvious what type of players you need to use for this tactic, a quick keeper that has no problems with coming off the line and sweeping loose balls, quick centre backs, pacey full backs with good crossing abilities, hard working and creative central midfielders, quick wingers with good dribbling and crossing and a pair of hard working, pacey strikers. The right side striker that I use is Adam Szalai, he is both quick and tall, you should use a similar guy for that role if you have one.
The team instructions look like this:
As you can see we like to attack with short quick passes. We also press the opponents in their own half and once we get the ball back, pass it quickly down the flanks or, as it often happens, through the middle for the strikers.
That’s about it, download the tactic and try it if you want. I also encourage you to share your own tactics with us in the forum, we can discuss them over there to the benefit of every Football Manager 2010 fan!
LATEST UPDATE: You can download the latest version of this tactic from here, it’s the version that I’ve used during the last couple of seasons with Notts County and also during the first seasons with Dorchester Town. I really think that it’s the best version yet.
me
16 марта, 2010 at 22:42
I can’t believe nobody has left any comments here. Your tactic (the 3.8 version ) is the best I’ve used on FM 2010 (patch 10.2). Thank you very much :)
Johnny Karp
16 марта, 2010 at 23:24
@me
Thanks mate, I’m happy that it worked for you. I guess people were too busy downloading :) (the stats show around 2000 downloads until now)
me
17 марта, 2010 at 03:21
2000 is a pretty decent number, i guess. Anyway, my current record as manager of Tottenham stands at 292 games won out of 365 played. That’s bloody brilliant!
Johnny Karp
17 марта, 2010 at 10:15
That is brilliant indeed, well done!
Alex
28 мая, 2010 at 22:54
it’s works wery well. Tanks
Mariano
6 июня, 2010 at 07:01
In my managing history,i am 4-4-2 manager who likes to play with good Full backs and wingers,so i have a big pitch.
Soon i will try this tactic,but i´m concerned that my pitch is too big.
is this tactic for a small pitch?
Johnny Karp
6 июня, 2010 at 10:49
@Mariano
To be honest I never cares about the pitch dimensions, I always set mine to standard.
BONEX
12 июня, 2010 at 09:52
thanx for the tactic bro…when im using this tactic with my Inter milan , is the best tactic
but when i using this tactic to low level budget team , is really frustating to get win…a lot draw but really hard to make a goal from midfield or the fw
for the info im use fulham.. can u help me with the modification ? btw im also new in this game.. so any info really2 helpfull to me..
thanx
Johnny Karp
12 июня, 2010 at 10:28
@Bonex
Thanks, I’m happy that you found the tactic useful. You can also go to the downloads page and try the other tactics posted there :
https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/download/
But there is no such thing as a «wonder tactic» that works for all purposes. You should always try to tweak the tactics to suit the players you have at your disposal.
Andy
18 июня, 2010 at 12:41
Ive been playing football manager 2010 since it came out and im now in season 2024,i struggle so much with a decent tactic which will adapt to my players,do you think any of you guys can help me out as im thinking of ditching the game all together
Thanks
Johnny Karp
18 июня, 2010 at 19:19
Hi Andy, don’t ditch the game, it’s the best game ever! Now on to the point, there is no «wonder tactic» that works for every team. My approach is to adjust my squad in order to work with my preferred tactic but things might be easier the other way around. So I don’t know what advice to give you because I don’t know your squad but you could try some of the tactics that are posted in the downloads page and see if any of them works well for you. You can also use one of those tactics as frameworks and make tweaks from one game to another to improve. I hope this can help you.
Sears
18 июня, 2010 at 22:47
Andy, take Johnny’s adice. You can always check ‘fm base 2010’ also, that might help. Don’t ditch the game, like Johnny said, try tweak your tactic to suit your team. I’m bad at making tactics too, but never give up.
Andy
20 июня, 2010 at 00:58
Hi guys,thanks for the help,ive tried it out and there hasnt beena ny change,will keep you all updated.
Edward
28 июля, 2010 at 15:11
hi Johnny, absoloutley love your notts county story, just one question do you use touchline instructions, if so what?
Johnny Karp
1 августа, 2010 at 13:22
Edward, you can find more information about my approach to the game here: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2010/07/football-manager-lower-league-management-guide/
mariano
28 июля, 2010 at 15:24
Hi Johnny,
I used this tactic for my first and second season managing Crewe and winning League 2 and one quite easily, but when i got to championship……….
My defense looked like a Menotti(argentinian coach) team, constantly conceiding goals in the same way, an opposite player sent a through ball, and an opposite attacker run behind my defenders and it was a massacre until i changed and finished 10th positioned……
Now i´m starting the second season at championship with better players, but, do u have any advice for using this tactic against better sides?
Thanks
Johnny Karp
1 августа, 2010 at 13:24
@Mariano
I guess your defenders are not fast enough… If they are slow the opposition will always exploit the space behind them. You could move the defensive line a bit lower or find defenders with better pace and acceleration. A good sweeper keeper could also be a plus, you should have a goalie with good pace and rushing out attributes.
koky
28 мая, 2020 at 16:12
can use for 10.3