Tactics-Team Instructions

[manugray]

I have been playing FM since the Championship Manager days and must admit i have never got to grips with tactics within the game which ultimately leads me to playing maybe 1 1/2 seasons before giving up and starting again (im on my 4th save since full release already). After doing lots of research i have come to the conclusion that all successful tactics have lots of team instructions in possession, transition and out of possession. Has anybody had any success using minimal team instructions? I may be very tactically naive but it just seems add a load of team instructions for success

[HUNT3R]

11 minutes ago, manugray said:

After doing lots of research i have come to the conclusion that all successful tactics have lots of team instructions in possession, transition and out of possession.

They really don't have to. If anything, people add far too many instructions far too quickly, in general. Nothing wrong with having a few TIs, but add them if you know/see you need them. There's still all the standard settings at play here. TIs just tweak what's already there.

See this as an alternative view, for example : 

 

[Johnny Ace]

I always play with the "less is more" attitude, maybe at most 6 team instructions with as little as 2 or 3, you can play with 0-1 if you like

 

[Louisking1992]

2 hours ago, manugray said:

I have been playing FM since the Championship Manager days and must admit i have never got to grips with tactics within the game which ultimately leads me to playing maybe 1 1/2 seasons before giving up and starting again (im on my 4th save since full release already). After doing lots of research i have come to the conclusion that all successful tactics have lots of team instructions in possession, transition and out of possession. Has anybody had any success using minimal team instructions? I may be very tactically naive but it just seems add a load of team instructions for success

This just isnt true, I for one usually play with a total of 5-8 TIs depending on the style of play that I am trying to implement, I personally really dislike tactics that have loads of TIs. 

[manugray]

3 hours ago, Louisking1992 said:

This just isnt true, I for one usually play with a total of 5-8 TIs depending on the style of play that I am trying to implement, I personally really dislike tactics that have loads of TIs. 

Can i have an example please? I have started a new save with Everton and have set everything up apart from my tactics. Looking at my squad there isn’t much in the way of creativity but my physicals look reasonable so should i be looking at a pressing system?

Edited November 15, 2021 by manugray

[Louisking1992]

15 hours ago, manugray said:

Can i have an example please? I have started a new save with Everton and have set everything up apart from my tactics. Looking at my squad there isn’t much in the way of creativity but my physicals look reasonable so should i be looking at a pressing system?

Not necessarily no, I don't follow Everton but I know they don't lack of creativity, I would go ahead and start piecing together the actual set you you want, then move over to the TI's and really think about what you want to see from the team in-possession and out of possession

[EnigMattic1]

After watching many videos and reading many threads, I came to the conclusion that it isn't about how many or how few instructions you use, it's more about understanding what each role or instruction does and how you actually want your team to play. 

I can't remember who said it, but someone said that, if you start with fewer instructions, it is easier to see where your tactic is going wrong. 

[fc.cadoni]

If you check Klopp profile for example, you will see

- Look for overlap

- Work Ball Into the Box

- Play Out of Defense

- Counter-Press

- Counter

- Demand High Pressing (extremely urgent - “much more often”).

And it’s being very successful. Also prefer Zonal Marking for Set Pieces which always concede the least.

I don’t think above instructions is a lot IMHO. Less is more from me as well.

The more instructions, the more specialised a tactic which in LL might create an issue (where player attributes is lower compared to PL players).

[plcarlos]

This + a few tweaks got me 1st, then 2nd in season 2. Is it perfect? No. The players are also rotated in this, but I still ran with this at the time.

FM is about attributes. Players need the right attributes to play the role you give them. You then place them into the tactic. Providing you have the player role correct for what you want, you don't need many TIs.

Example - I want my DLF to Drop into space, to play through balls to the IW\IF who also get chances, the DLF will then attack the box from deep for a cut-back, and if cleared, my AMC\CM's shold pick those balls up for a long shot if appropriate, or to retain posession and re-do an attack.

Those attacking players in particular are ideal for thier roles, so I don't need any TI's to tell them to do that.

With the Positive mentality the team are already loking to play more forward thinking, so we don't need to add TI's for that. The pressing at that level is slightly higher, so I don't need that. Counter attacks happen anyway because of the mentality.

This tactic was based under a plan to "Fix Nuno's 4-2-3-1" -  2 Hard working MC's. Width via Full backs, and attacking via the front 4.

Finally - PPM's. No overlap\Attack role in my fullbacks?  Regullion's Get forward\runs with ball, which helps him get forward.

Hjojberg having plays killer balls makes him more progressive.

 

TI's can hone a tactic, But how can you see what's wrong when you have all of them on?

A few games I had, we were playing far to short and playing more tipy-tappy, and slower than what i wanted. Easy fix 1 was to increase the passing length to standard. It also slightly increased the tempo, and we won 2-0 instead of what was looking like a draw.

TI's are also fine, but you really need to understand why you are using them and what affect it will have on the team.

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, EnigMattic1 said:

After watching many videos and reading many threads, I came to the conclusion that it isn't about how many or how few instructions you use, it's more about understanding what each role or instruction does and how you actually want your team to play. 

 I've always focused on getting my roles right rather than adding TI's 

1 hour ago, EnigMattic1 said:

I can't remember who said it, but someone said that, if you start with fewer instructions, it is easier to see where your tactic is going wrong. 

 again, if you start off with 20 instructions & things aren't playing out how you'd like, were do you start? Starting with very few TI's & then adding & removing as you go along is the easiest way to fine tune I find

When I started in level 10 England last year, my initial 4-4-2 had 1 TI & it wasn't until about 5 seasons in, as I started getting better players in, I started to add more of a play style 

[Tsuru]

I truly believe that tactical success in FM is directly related to the choice of your formation, roles and duties - team instructions can help a lot, but they won´t do everything. So yes, I think it is perfectly possible to use a tactic with very few or no TIs and have success, as long as your roles and duties are well set up. And if you need help on that, people can help you here in this forum.

I also think that we as players overcomplicate things and put too much burden on the tactical side. It is very important, of course, but the squad management also is. Finding good players and building a squad can make a huge difference on the field. If you combine a good squad management with a good tactical management you will be following the path to success.

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, Tsuru said:

I also think that we as players overcomplicate things and put too much burden on the tactical side. It is very important, of course, but the squad management also is. Finding good players and building a squad can make a huge difference on the field. If you combine a good squad management with a good tactical management you will be following the path to success.

Absolutely, then you throw some morale into the fix, take control of an utterly miserable team & give them a World beating tactic & watch them stink the stadium out. Player happiness, Cohesion, Familiarity & all that good stuff can have effects   

[Tsuru]

2 minutos atrás, Johnny Ace disse:

Absolutely, then you throw some morale into the fix, take control of an utterly miserable team & give them a World beating tactic & watch them stink the stadium out. Player happiness, Cohesion, Familiarity & all that good stuff can have effects   

Yeah, the tactical side is very important but it is not everything. Although I agree that in FM an unbalanced tactic will probably not bring the best results even with a very good squad or players available. As you said, all factors are important and neither should be neglected. It is just that sometimes we focus too much on TIs and there is so many other important things around...

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, Tsuru said:

Yeah, the tactical side is very important but it is not everything. Although I agree that in FM an unbalanced tactic will probably not bring the best results even with a very good squad or players available. As you said, all factors are important and neither should be neglected. It is just that sometimes we focus too much on TIs and there is so many other important things around...

Yep, they're not little magic buttons that all of a sudden have you scoring more & keeping cleans sheets  Important, yes, the be all & end all to a tactic, no