The Football Manager Show by The Athletic spent six months and 23 episodes discussing
and dissecting the world’s greatest management simulation with the people who made it.
But what did they learn along the way? Here are the eight best tips.
8) There is no magic formation
The game has changed. In the old days, your team was low maintenance. A little bit of
careful pruning was all that was required from one season to another. It’s much harder
now and there is no magic formation that will take any team to the top. Not like the 2-3-5
in the mid-1990s version, or the 4-1-3-2 from 2001.
You don’t have to rip it all down and start again every week, but changes are important.
Mix up set pieces, so the AI doesn’t adapt. Alter player roles, too, perhaps using a ball-winning
midfielder to guard against a dangerous team, or a regista when you want the initiative.
Maybe even have two versions of the same side - one more conservative than the other, so
that you can switch accordingly.
7) Back-up plans
There are three slots for tactics and it’s in your interests to use all of them.
Sometimes it’s a good idea just to have a different variant of your main game plan,
so you can tighten up towards the end of a match, or pile forward for an equaliser. But
sometimes it’s nice to have something completely different in your locker.
Why not have the players practise an attacking back three now and then? Or a defensive 4-1-4-1?
Remember that your players play better when their instructions are familiar. Greater cohesion
brings improvement to your movement. Don’t throw a new idea at them 24 hours before kick-off.
Work on it in advance, maybe take control of the reserves and test it out in safe conditions.
Take your time.
6) Positions and roles
Player roles are so important. By adjusting player roles, you can have two 4-4-2s that
are completely different. Or a 4-4-2 that works like a 4-3-3.
But you have to ensure that the players suit the roles. Don’t tell a midfielder with
eight out of 20 stamina to play box-to-box midfielder. Full-backs who can’t cross should
be used defensively, not ordered to charge forward as complete wing-backs.
It’s good because it enables you to find roles for players you might otherwise have
to sell. Have you got a big slow forward in your squad? Maybe he’ll be less useless
as a supporting target man.
5) Keep it simple
Keep it simple. When you start with a new club, keep the player roles basic. Central
defenders, central midfielders, one or two strikers, one or two wingers. Then watch them
in the first friendly and see where they excel and where they struggle. Then make little
changes. Get movement between the lines by making one full-back more attacking than the
other, maybe invert a winger and see what happens. Baby steps. The fewer instructions
you give them, the fewer mistakes they’ll make.
4) Use interconnected tactics
Remember that every action has a reaction. If you make a winger attack more, he’ll
defend less. If you drop a striker into a deep-lying role, he’ll fill that gap. Every
decision you make will have repercussions.
It means that you can link player roles together. For example, don’t try to dominate the left
flank by telling both your full-back and your winger to attack. They’ll get in each other’s
way. Tell the full-back to attack and tell the winger to cut in by making him an inverted
winger. When he goes inside, he’ll probably take an opposing player with him, leaving
space on the flank.
And when your full-back delivers the ball from that space, make sure he’s crossing
in a way that suits whatever you have in the middle.
Three players, three roles; one effective attacking move.
3) Don’t ignore ‘player traits’
Depending on his teamwork attributes, when a player likes doing something, he will do
it whether you want him to or not. The worst thing you can do is fight it. The best thing
you can do is lean into it.
If you’ve got a defensive midfielder who likes playing short, simple passes, don’t
set him as a deep-lying midfielder and expect him to launch 60-yard killer balls. If you’re
trying to provide support for a lone striker, but you don’t want to play two strikers,
search for a midfielder who likes to make late runs into the box.
Look at every player’s information screen. They’re literally telling you how they like
to play and it’s best not to ignore them.
2) Plan your set pieces
Lots of people just ignore set-pieces. In fact, according to data from Steam, only 1.6
per cent of us have taken the time to create a set-piece plan for every occasion.
It’s time-consuming, but it really is worth the effort - and don’t forget to update
your routines. Remember that the AI is watching you and it will adapt its plans accordingly.
1) Try this near-post corner routine
If you’ve been reading the FM Bundesliga Challenge on The Athletic, you’ll have seen
how Iain Macintosh transformed a very poor Schalke side with a devastating near-post
corner routine.
Remember, you need the right players to make any plan work.
And don’t forget to switch to a new plan after a couple of months to keep the AI guessing.
Get a good corner taker to aim corners at the near post.
Position your best targets at the near post. Usually, it’s your centre-backs but check
everyone. You’re looking for 6ft 2in-plus with good jumping and heading stats.
If you haven’t used your strikers at the near post, put them at the far post where,
if the AI is man-marking your strikers, the towering defenders will follow,
If you’ve got a little winger who offers nothing in this sort of scenario, tell him
to be a short option. The AI might send someone to mark him. And that means one fewer defender
in the box. Make sure you leave someone lurking on the
edge of the box, in case the corner is cleared. Someone good at long shots, ideally.
Make sure you have at least two players back on the halfway line, ideally quick players
who can stop a counter. Finally, make sure that none of your halfway
line players are on your list of corner takers. Because if injuries or substitutions force
that player to step up and take the corner, you’ll only have one man back.