TLDR; Download-links

I have debated whether or not to post this article. Should I offer a downloadable version of my tactics, just for people to generally ignore why they work in a specific way and complain to yours truly about their perceived lack of progress or success? Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way to approach things with FM. If you're getting more success from downloadable tactics and that feels fulfilling enough, then crack on. This article contains links to the latest formation of my "Riders (on the storm)" series of tactics, using both a deep and middle block in defence.

My Throw-In Setups For FM23

Set pieces in football, and thus in Football Manager, have received much attention and study. But what about the innocuous throw-in? Apart from when a team develops a long throw-in programme (see Delap, Rory, or last year’s trebuchet-styled throw-ins), it is largely ignored. This doesn’t do the humble throw-in justice, as they are essential to your Football Manager game. Just throwing the ball somewhere willy-nilly not only robs you of a potential goalscoring opportunity (depending on your location, of course), but it also increases your risk of losing the ball and ending up on the wrong side of a devastating counter-attack. So again, throw-ins are far more important than you might think.

FM23 Beta Shortlist

Ever since Beta came out, I have been no-lifing FM23. I started with a game just to scout around. There is no attribute masking, every league is selected, so I can just look around. This isn't even a fully fleshed-out blog post; it's just a place where I can dump the shortlist and maybe some screenshots soon. Who knows. For now, enjoy the download.

El Emperador; The Man Of A 1000 Goals

As with most great relationships between player and manager, my partnership with El Emperador Maissel Sabgh resulted from pure coincidence. As I started my career with Junior Popular de Barranquilla FC, or just Junior FC for short, we lacked a proper strike force. As it happens, a young forward has just been released by his club. He looked decent enough, and he was a product of Juniors youth academy, so he was quickly snapped up and re-joined his boyhood club. It was the start of a journey that lasted two decades in-game, an epic adventure that frustrated many a defender and goalkeeper and brought much joy and jubilation to the Junior faithful in the pixelated stands.

Defensive Football; Applying The Principles

The following article regarding the application of defensive principles has the potential to become cluttered because a number of different ideas fit together pretty nicely in theory, but I am not quite sure if they translate well. In my head, everything makes a lot of sense, but if my mental gymnastics turn out to be incomprehensible, I would appreciate it if you would ask for clarification. Enjoy!

Defensive Football; The Principles

I am not someone who is willing to walk blindly into the unknown. I make an effort to read up on the possibilities as well as the potential problems, I make every attempt to plan, and I strive to figure out a strategy for the long term in ahead of time. How then do I go about playing this game? Which fundamental princples will be the core of my setup, which is so unlike traditional strikerless?

The Short Throw Overload

penalty area, where the goalkeepers usually remained transfixed, allowing one of your players to score an easy goal. It's not functioning very well this year, unfortunately. The short throw-in on the other hand works very well.

FM21; I Play It My Way 04

Earlier I wrote a brief piece on my intentions for FM21, the defensive principles and the transition from defence to attack. In this article, I intend to look at offensive principles. In case you missed Read more…

Replacing The Irreplaceable; Zlatan 2.0

If you have been following me on Twitter somewhat, you will have noticed my ongoing digital love-affair with Zlatan Ibrahimovic over the course of my FM21 save with AC Milan. Ever since returning to Milan from his MLS exploits, the Swedish frontman has rolled back the years, playing like a man 15 years younger. I always knew that Zlatan wouldn't last forever and that the time of his impending retirement drew nearer every time I hit continue. Like any manager worth his salt, I saw what needed to be done. Who could replace Zlatan?

FM21; I Play It My Way 03

Earlier I wrote a brief piece on my intentions for FM21 and a much longer article on the defensive principles I adhere to. In this article, I intend to look at the transition from defence to attack.

Bully-Ball & The Human Trebuchet

Over the past decades, we have seen ample evidence of the long throw-in and its effectiveness. Most notably, Rory Delap's bullet throws long proved a useful piece of weaponry for Stoke City. Launching howitzers into the box towards tall and powerful players turned out to be a winning strategy.

The success of Delap and Stoke proves that football need not be complicated. Find someone to lob the ball into the box and have your strongest players shove around defenders and the goalkeeper. Since you can't be offside from a throw-in, you can bring up your strongest players to cause mayhem in the opposing box.

FM21; I Play It My Way 02

Earlier I wrote a brief piece on my intentions for FM21. This the first proper article in this series, in which I want to look at the defensive aspect of things. Defensively, I want to look at the three defensive principles forcing the opposition wide, restricting the opposition's space and maintaining a cohesive formation, how I am to achieve those and which performance indicators I use to make sure my players are performing the way I want them to.

The Corner Setup That Became A Throw-in Routine

Now that we have all been sucked into the enslaving obsession we all know FM can become if the game is good enough, it is time to look at another yearly seasonal tradition; the hunt for superb set-pieces. I am no stranger to the subject, I have tried (and succeeded on occasion) to create successful set-piece routines. FM21 was no exception to the rule and I tried my hand at creating a corner setup. You have probably heard of the famous saying "necessity is the mother of all invention"? Well, if necessity is the mother of all invention, blind luck is the drunk uncle of invention. Not exactly something to be proud of but there's a surprising number of such cases. This is the case of the mysterious throw-in routine that started as a corner setup.

The Shadowstriker Conundrum

Over the course of FM20 I have at times struggled to get into the flow of the game. It's not that my teams were not achieving successes but something felt off. My tactics were not producing the smooth, silky style of play they used to in other installments of the game. What was up? Were my earlier successes flukes? Were all those comments about exploiting, hacking and cheating correct? It all came down to the shadow striker and how he behaved and interacted.

man wearing black and white stripe shirt looking at white printer papers on the wall

The Ruan/Esposito Conundrum; The Devil Is In The Details

During our succession save, two most excellent forwards played a major part in the quick ascension of Depor; Internazionale's Sebastiano Esposito and a Brazilian newgen forward called Ruan. While both forwards were formidable forces on their own, our tactical tendency had quickly shifted to a single-forward setup. Neither Ruan nor Esposito was undisputed for all the managers involved. This ongoing mystery plagued the minds of the entire managerial pool. How can two obviously world-class players vacillate between quietly mediocre performances and stellar form within the course of a season?

Leaguescumming

As any seasoned player of the game knows, you can add and remove leagues to the setup of your savegame. If you have used this feature yourself, you can probably relate that at times the game adds too good, fully developed regens to teams in a newly activated league. The addition of too talented players creates an imbalance in the game world, not to mention the vast potential for human player exploits. Those of you with dastardly motives should pay attention. Strategic manipulation of the game is the point where I come in; this article will feature a few ways to game the adding and removal of leagues within your savegame. I present to you an introduction to the wonderful, majestic yet dastardly world of leaguescumming.

Shithousing The Transfer Market

After the unexpected success of the shithousing article, I went back for more. This time we are looking at various acts of shithousery one can commit on the transfer market. If you enjoyed the previous part, you will love this one. If you did not enjoy the previous part, I recommend you not read this one.

Creating And Using Graphics For Squad Management

I am not going to take credit for coming up with this style of graphic, I saw it in one of the articles over at Voetbal International and figured it looked cool enough to replicate. While I am not at all an expert in the usage of Excel, it didn't take me long to whip up something that looked reasonably good. It's a quick way to identify squad management issues and let's be honest, it looks cool in your blog or on your social media page as well.

Shithousing; A Quick Foray Into FM’s Dark Arts

Over the past years, especially during multiplayer matches, I have become impressed with the various acts of shithousery the game allows you to unleash upon unsuspecting opponents. In itself, shithousery is a muddled, somewhat ambiguous term. For this article, let us define it as the dark arts of football, resorted to gain an advantage over a nominally superior opponent, often by somewhat underhanded means.

Chrissy Ross Presents His 4-4-2 Tactic

Chrissy Ross shares his take on the classic 4-4-2 with us, as it's a tactical with a significant cultural interest to this day. It has given us great teams such as Sacchi’s Milan side and Ferguson’s Treble winning Manchester United team, as well as giving its name to one of the world’s most successful football lifestyle magazines. This article will provide not only an in-depth description of a functional flat 4-4-2 tactic that can win the Premier League with Bournemouth first season without transfers but also will justify and state why we should not look to discount old formations but instead should look to reinvigorate them with our modern tactical understanding of the game.

My Youth Training Regimes

I decided I wanted to shape the development of my players a bit more. I tried to form the players coming through the ranks to better suit my brand of football, so my U18's needed an overhauled training regime. That meant looking at their development and sculpting it more to my tastes and preferences. These are the training regimes I use to do so.

Breaking The Deadlock With Set Pieces

Set piece plays are an essential aspect of the game. If you are unable to break down a particularly sturdy defence, a well-executed set piece may be all you need to pry open the defence. Hell, you can win games by making sure your offensive set pieces are good. In this blog post, I am running through the plays I am using in FM20.

Sorting Out Those Killer Long Balls Over The Top

If Football Manager fora and Twitter are a reliable gauge to the mood of the gaming audience, one of the main gripes of gamers everywhere seems to be deadly accurate long balls played over the top, only for a striker to escape and end up in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper. So how can we fix this?

Gungnir; My (First) FM20 Tactic

This is the first tactic from a serie I have dubbed Mythology. Gungnir is a straight-forward strikerless tactic in a 4-1-2-3-0 tactic with a minor twist. In this article, you can read about what it does, how it sort of works and a download link.

Mastering Transitions

Football is a game of transitions, as matches can be won or lost by alternating quickly and successfully between attack and defence. Teams like Liverpool base their style of play on these transitional moments, making deadly counter-attacks a house speciality. This shift in style for many real-life football teams has been emulated by Football Manager; ensuring your tactical system is set up to give your team the best chance of taking advantage of mistakes in the transitional phases of the opposition while similarly limiting your own risks is key to doing well in Football Manager 20.

Ambition – Dare to dream

Welcome! If you haven’t caught up to the introductory post, just click here. _____ Expectations Talking about expectations, we have no strict philosophies that we are enforced to follow. The board wants us to develop Read more…

I Want To Take His Face…Off – Nicolas Cage Meets the FM 20 Beta

Nicolaj Bur wakes with a start. He was having that dream. Again... A stranger's barbed voice from the other side of the hotel bed, half asleep. “Bad dream, love?” A sigh, followed by a mumbled, half-hearted response. “Something like that.” A comforting pat on the arm. What Nicolaj needs is a more sympathetic ear. Someone who understands him.

The Inverted Winger; Our New Wide Option

With the release of FM20, we can now use Inverted Wingers as a new wide option. So what is an Inverted Winger exactly and how is this role any different from the Inside Forward (and Advanced Playmaker)?

FM20 Shortlist

To me, one of the most exciting parts of a new version of Football Manager means perusing the new database: uncovering hidden gems, building them up and then wreaking strikerless havoc with them. This shortlist consists of my findings so far.

Improving The Training Of Your Youngsters

We've all come across situations like this one. You spot a talented player worth a few million, you approach his club with an offer, and they fire back with a ludicrous demand fifty times his actual value. I'm sure that rings a bell with most of us. The transfer market is going crazy, in real life as well as in Football Manager. As a result, training and developing your youths become increasingly essential, especially when money is tight. In this article I want to discuss my training regimen.

The Johan Cruijff Foundation: The 3-4-3 Diamond (Part II)

As mentioned in the previous article, Johan Cruijff has always been a huge inspiration for a lot of Dutch football fans. He’s the godfather of football in the Netherlands, and he has left a legacy which will be carried on in our hearts forever. And even though I am a massive fan of PSV Eindhoven, I do have to say that sometimes I wished that Cruijff has touched our club with some of his magic. But PSV has had her legends such as Romario and Ronaldo. But what if the scenario described above, has happened. What if Johan Cruijff touched PSV for a little while and our club has taken over some of his visions, combined with our own identity, would this bring a Champions League shortly? To find out, we’re going to implement his tactical vision into our team. Attacking, sexy football, which without the position changed could be described as “Total Football”. Would it actually at all be possible to play Cruijffs’ “Total Football” in Football Manager 2019? Johan Cruijff was all about developing young football talents, creating a formidable team of home-grown players which could play attacking football to entertain the fans. The first stop was recreating his 3-4-3 Diamond, and after a lot of experimentation, I have developed a system which I am really enjoying to watch. and became the foundation of the success for the upcoming years.

The Johan Cruijff Foundation: Introduction (Part I)

Ever since I was a little boy, there was this admiration of Johan Cruijff all around me. Who else was, as a Dutch guy, we’re all injected with the Cruijff-virus at a young age. For some the best football player ever, for others the person who gave FC Barcelona the status they have today, and for another person, it’s merely a man who doesn’t make any logical sentences when he was analysing a game of football. But what we can’t disagree on is that he was mainly responsible for putting the Netherlands on the world map of football.

Urban Warriors – Season 2

With promotion back to the ABSA Premiership achieved in our first season, Guido & I now need to quickly build a squad capable of challenging for the title whilst balancing the books and establishing the foundations for the future. So, how did we do?

Urban Warriors – Tactical Review

In the previous article I talked you through my new 'VW' tactic based on the car brands logo and my decision to play 2 strikers in my second season with Ajax Cape Town. In this article I will analyse the formation & roles to discuss their movement & give examples via videos & screenshots.

Urban Warriors – The Tactic

Tactic Construction When i start to put together a tactic I always start with the bookends of the formation - defenders & strikers. Once I've decided on the number of players I want in these 2 zones then I structure the rest of the team to both protect & feed these key roles. In this series I have also introduced another factor into my tactic construction process - the logo challenge.

The Gaucho Tactical Setup; Introduction

Over the past few years, I have written numerous tactical articles. Most of these articles finished on the end product, the downloadable tactic. Some of these tactical articles focussed on specific aspects of the tactic. I even had a brief series of articles on how to edit and tweak them. While I am still content with the quality of the material, the nagging feeling that I could have done better still remains. This series of articles is my attempt to do better, to show you how I created the tactic, what I had in mind and how I tweaked it to work as intended.

Urban Warriors – Part 5

Off We Go!! So after all the discussions and planning stages, it's time to put it all into action. The main goals were to get promotion out of the 2nd tier at the first attempt whilst stabilising the club financially. Squad wise we were very heavy which meant we were haemorrhaging money, so the first thing to do was pass the reins to Guido to be ruthless and sort the squad out.

Urban Warriors – Part 4

The 3 Year Plans. Find out about the challenge we face after arriving at our new club as Head Coach & Director of Football, and how we aim to achieve the clubs Mission, Vision & Values statement.