Brighton & Hove Albion have been the favourite team of offensive trainers since Roberto De Zerbi arrived and took control. De Zerbi’s Brighton team has become a joy to watch for football purists, with a heavy focus on positional play and rapid, complex passing. The team’s ability to transition from defence to Read more…
References I wanted to put the references for this piece at the beginning (I can hear my lecturer at university wince in agony as I do it) as they all explain, at great length, the concepts behind the overall theory of Relationism. I’ve also included work from View From The Touchline, who Read more…
This new tactic is called the dreidl; a dreidl is a four-sided spinning top played during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. The dreidel is a Jewish variant of the teetotum, a gambling toy in many European cultures. It’s called such because I’m managing in Israel, and much like the dreidl, my team is constantly spinning Read more…
A well-defined tactical style is essential for a football manager since it provides a framework for the team’s performance and enables for effective communication and understanding among the players. A well-defined style allows the manager to create a unique identity and philosophy for the team, which benefits in recruiting and attracting players that fit the system. Having alternative styles and switching things up also makes sense.
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.
As my tactics setup evolved and developed, I noticed my build-up from the back was far too easily disrupted by high-intensity pressing sides. They targeted my deep-lying playmaker and, at times, my ball-playing defender. Players generally respond universally when under pressure and faced with no way out; they will boot Read more…
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.
Football, and by extension, Football Manager, is a game that is constantly evolving, and it features a wide variety of various formations, styles, and tactical approaches, each of which is successful in its own right. However, no single version can be considered flawless. Each style has its particular drawbacks and Read more…
Goalkeepers who end up on the score sheet are often regarded as glitches or abnormalities in the matrix of football nature – and they are, in a way. There’s something delightfully depraved about goalkeepers scoring goals. It’s like Cruella DeVille starting an animal shelter for obviously nefarious purposes. You know Read more…
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!