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Football manager 2023 | Managers Guide |


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Hey guys so I've been playing football manager for a good couple of years now. during my time i have chosen to dive into multiple sections of the game and research how I can use them to make my in-game managerial career. Therefore, I have decided to put together a guide for both more experienced players and newer players in hopes to help you throughout your career! This is going to be a very long post so allow me to list below the parts of this post that we will be looking at....

 

Part one: Your first day at the club.

Part two: squad analysis. 

Part three: tactical creation.

Part four: training.

Part five: scouting.

Part six: transfers.

Part seven: negotiations.

Part eight: backroom staff.

Part nine: wonderkids.

Part ten: club breakdown sheet template.

Part eleven: common tactic templates.

Part twelve: Tactical style breakdown.

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PART ONE: FIRST DAY AT YOUR NEW CLUB

When you arrive at your club one of the first things to look at is the finances that you have at your disposal. They are one of the most important things you will have to deal with as they dictate to you who you can sign, when you can upgrade your clubs training ground or even enhance the youth academy. So one of the first things i would suggest to do when you arrive at your new club is to just have a quick look at your clubs money and just make a note at what you have at your disposal.

 

The next thing i suggest you do is have a look at your team report put together by your assistant manager. I will get into squad analysis, team building and tactics in the next section. However it dosen't hurt to take a look at your squad and just see how your assistant is suggesting how you line up. (however we will dive into this later during the guide)

 

After this go to the development center! Not many players especially new players take much notice of the development center but we do! It's just worth taking a look around and looking at the players we have on loan and players we have coming through our Youth academy as it wouldn't surprise me if you were to find a few hidden gems and future stars via the center.

 

Club vision is up next. Go ahead and have a look at the club vision screen and i would recommend to make a note of the things the club expect from you throughout your time here as not completing these objectives could see you end up without a job.

 

Squad dynamics. I would recommend taking a look at the squad dynamics page just to see how the team morale is during the season and you will also see if you have any unhappy players at the club. Along with this i would also look at the hierarchy of the squad so we can see who the most influential players are in the squad and try your best to avoid upsetting/selling the players at the very top of the food chain.

 

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PART TWO: SQUAD ANALYSIS

The main objective of squad analysis is not to come up with a super tactic straight away no. It's to give you a clear picture of your best players and how they play, identifying future stars and also spotting the weak points of the team. It's important to understand your team before we rush in and try to create a system so heres what we will be doing....

 

Revealing the squad's dna

 

Identify the best 22-25 players we have to use

 

Identify the weaknesses of the team

 

Identify any future stars we have at our disposal

 

Identify players to transfer list

 

If we start off comparing our squad to the other teams in our league via the "comparison menu" first thing to look at is age. This Gives you an idea if you are dealing with an ageing squad or if you have a younger squad that might not be as competitive yet.

 

If we continue to use the comparison screen to look we can look at the playing/tactical style for the club to use, the comparison section gives you an insight to the best attributes within the current squad and provides you with a clear identification of what type of football the players at your disposal is best at which we call the squad dna. I like to personally do this with the gk selected and without the gk selected and see how much of an impact that will make if any.

 

If you have a specific system or tactics in mind and the squad dna diverts from it, it will take longer time to successfully employ the tactical style. Meaning that you either need to develop players in that form or use the transfer market to shape the squad.

 

Once you have done looking at the squad comparison page i would encourage you to make a note of the highest attributes from Each section.

 

Individual player analysis.... This takes a lot of time however it pays off you need to go through each player in your senior squad and make notes about each one, i said it's gonna take awhile but again trust me it's worth it and what we are looking for is...players natural position, players natural role, current ability and potential ability also player traits can also be helpful.

 

Now lets take a look at squad depth, this screen is a great place to check pretty quickly when it comes to squad analysis. You can ask a specific member of staff to give you an opinion of the squad depth. Also here you are able to look at the depth of the squad when playing different formations.

 

Now you have an idea of what type of style your team are looking like they can play the best and how they can be most effective! This isn't where we will build our tactic just yet however i would recommend making notes about everything we have found out

 

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PART THREE: TACTICAL CONSTRUCTION

Now we know our chosen shape it's time to think about the play style we want to create. Firstly decide if you are looking to play a more defensive style of football or an attacking one as this will give you a good foundation. The team you are and the players you have will influence this however so you need to be realistic on what you can do and how you can play based on who you are. Any team can play a formation if they have the players however not every team can play an attacking style. The better side you are the more creative you'll be able to be with the tactic. (this is where the squad analysis we just did will help us out)

 

When deciding on the team you are going to be it's best to be realistic with your expectations.... I have also listed some of the most common playing styles and what attributes are important for them....

 

Playing styles.... Defensive approach

 

Tackling

 

Heading

 

Anticipation

 

Composure

 

Positioning

 

Teamwork

 

Work rate

 

Acceleration

 

Balance

 

Jumping

 

Strength

 

Stamina

 

 

 

Playing style....counter attacking

 

Crossing

 

Dribbling

 

Finishing

 

Long Shots

 

Technique

 

Aggression

 

Bravery

 

Off The Ball

 

Work Rate

 

Pace

 

Acceleration

 

Stamina

 

 

 

Playing styles....passing/possession

 

First Touch

 

Passing

 

Technique

 

Anticipation

 

Composure

 

Vision

 

Off The Ball

 

Teamwork

 

Agility

 

Balance

 

 

 

Playing style.....the direct style

 

Crossing

 

First Touch

 

Passing

 

Technique

 

Anticipation

 

Vision

 

Work Rate

 

Pace

 

Acceleration

 

 

 

Playing style....gegenpress

 

Anticipation

 

Composure

 

Decisions

 

Aggression

 

Teamwork

 

Work Rate

 

Acceleration

 

Stamina

 

Natural Fitness

 

 

 

Tactical style....the most common attributes featured above

 

Natural Fitness

 

Stamina

 

Acceleration

 

Work Rate

 

Composure

 

Anticipation

 

Off The Ball

 

Technique

 

Passing

 

Vision

 

When we look at all the playing styles i have listed previously this list shows the most common styles so i feel like the attributes above this text are some of the most important to look for when signing a player despite whatever tactic you end up going for.

 

Now if you did your squad analysis earlier you should have picked out a formation. Now we want to choose that formation and begin to place your best 5/6 players into the squad in their best positions. While doing this we look at their attributes and traits so we can find out how to use them to make them as effective as they can be and find what player roles they fit into best. If you are still undecided on what style you want your team to play look at what roles and duties you have chosen for your key players. That might help you decide.

 

Now we have our top players set into our team with the roles and duties set also it's time to select the rest of the team. Here i would advise going through the empty positions and setting roles and duties that will fit best to help and support those 5/6 players we have already selected. Once you have done this you can go back to your squad and begin to fill those gaps with players from your squad. However again look at the players attributes and traits to make sure they can fit that role your trying to put them in! If not leave it blank and look to sign a replacement or see if you can make a slight adjustment.

 

It is now important to look at your rest defence (how many players you have back defending if you were to be caught on the counter) just to ensure you have enough players back and providing defensive width on your rest to defence back also, i'd advise to try and have 5/6 players back on def and only 3 players not dropping back.

 

I would also do this when it comes to catching opposition on the counter. We already have three attackers that wont drop back to defend so therefore i feel we only need another two...three players maximum that look to attack and then the rest supporting and defending.

 

Now we have the player roles and shape set lets take a look and team and player instructions done. Again looking at the player roles you can often determine a tactic. If you can't go back to your notes you made from your squad analysis and also look at all the attributes i listed for each tactical style and then you should be able to select a tactic that fits your team. Then set your team instructions on how you would expect that style to play. Or use a tactical pre-set. Just make sure they don't adjust your player roles that you have just set.

 

When it comes to player instructions...first off player instructions just mean we are increasing the tendency of what we are asking them to do it doe not mean they will do it all the time. It's a good idea to have your attackers to have tackle harder on just to win possession back higher up the pitch and also to stop teams playing out the back. Also when it comes to player instructions it;s always important to have at least two (more attacking players) to have move into the channels instruction.

 

In a midfield two. One player...the more active could have get further forward or roam from position and then the holding mid should have hold position. When it comes to your wide players if you are looking to create more width (say your attacking third is already crowded) then we could look at stay wider, cross from byline and cross more often. Or if you already have width then have them cut inside.

 

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PART FOUR: TRAINING

Here with our training schedule we are going to offer two schedules one where we play one game a week and another when we have two games!

 

One game per week! We are going to guess our match day is on a saturday. Our training starts two days after the match. With two sessions of overall and one on ones.

 

The following day we start with defending and then outfield and one last session with match tactics.

 

On the third day we start with attacking patient followed by attacking general and lastly some chance creation.

 

On day four we will use some possession training, teamwork & attacking corners

 

On day five we will use attacking movement, defending from the front & match preview

 

 

 

Now we go for a two match week with matches on wednesday and saturday. Two days after the saturday match we use teamwork & attacking patient and lastly some defending

 

The day before our mid week game we use defending training, set piece training & match preview.

 

The day after the match we use recovery, attacking patient, defending from the front

 

The next day we will use attacking movement and match preview

 

The day after the match we will use recovery and match review

 

------------------------------------------------------------------PART FIVE: SCOUTING

Scouting can sometimes be tricky and tough to find the players that you want for your current team so here i'm gonna provide you with a few different tips to help you set up your scouting so lets go....

 

Sack your deadweight scouts. And by that i mean sack any scouts that have low adaptability, determination, player potential, player ability and replace them with scouts that have 15 or higher in potential or ability.

 

Set your scout with the best tactical knowledge to scout your opposition every week in order to get the best and most in-depth reports for your opposition each week

 

The best countries that we should be scouting are spain, germany, italy, france, portugal, holland, belgium, russia, ukraine, brazil, argentina

 

Like when we spoke about choosing our tactical style i listed the most common attributes that are useful with every style of play so i would always suggest scouting players that have good...

 

Natural fitness

 

Stamina

 

Acceleration

 

Work Rate

 

Composure

 

Anticipation

 

Off The Ball

 

Technique

 

Passing

 

Vision

 

However you don't need to this is just my advise. Also it depends on what position you are scouting for.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------PART SIX: TRANSFERS

When looking at transfers i am about to provide you with 5 tips that are going to save you some money when you want to sign your next superstar signing....

 

Structure your bids. And by this i mean if your signing a player for £40 million and you have £60. Offer the team £7.5 million upfront. £40 million in instalments & £10 million after 50 league appearances.

 

Ensure you make use of clauses for example percentage of next sale.

 

Be patient! Things get cheaper over time.

 

Always suggest terms!

 

Know when to walk away...

 

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PART SEVEN: NEGOTIATIONS

Negotiations can sometimes be tricky with players trying to get more than what they deserve or maybe the players agent can sometimes try to get a better deal for thier client however this is how i go about dealing with my contract negotiations...

 

Depending on what the player is asking for per week i will always take away anywhere from 15-35%. The more money they ask for the bigger percentage i will take away.

 

I will also add on some extra incentives when it comes to my first counter offer in hopes that the percentage taken off will be replaced by whatever else i offer.

 

Always read the agents feedback in order to see what's going well with the contract negotiations and what else isn't.

 

In order to try and sign the player prioritize the important stuff and keep low balling the non important stuff while adding incentives that the player likely will never get

 

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PART EIGHT: BACKROOM STAFF

To ensure your staff can offer 5-star coaching you can only have one individual coach to be assigned to one specific area so therefore they can provide the best coaching due to their being two types of training for each of those disciplines this means you will need

 

Two fitness coaches (1 strength, 1 quickness)

 

Two goalkeeper coaches (1 shot stopping, 1 handing & distribution)

 

Two defending coaches (1 defending & technical, 1 def & tactical)

 

Two attacking coaches (1 attacking & technical, 1 att & technical)

 

Two possession coaches (1 mental & technical, 1 mental & tactical)

 

This is how i would set up my backroom staff. Apart from this i would fill the backroom with all the positions that are available when you look at your backroom staff. When searching for staff in the search tab you can actually choose pre chosen filters based on the staffing role you have chosen. But basically you want the highest staff attributes you can sign with the highest reputation.

 

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PART NINE: WONDERKIDS

This is a side tip here but when scouting everyone wants to try and find the best wonderkids so i thought i would give you a quick list of places you can scout with the highest chance of fantastic wonderkids based on the locations youth ratings

 

Bahrain - 82 youth rating

 

China pr - 60 youth rating

 

India - 86 youth rating

 

Iran - 110 youth rating

 

Japan - 112 - youth rating

 

Jodan - 90 - youth rating

 

Qatar - 105 - youth rating

 

Uae - 87 - youth rating

 

Cameroon - 100 - youth rating

 

Ivory coast - 105 - youth rating

 

Morocco - 85 - youth rating

 

Nigeria - 120 - youth rating

 

South africa - 95 - youth rating

 

Mexico - 120 - youth rating

 

Argentina - 140 - youth rating

 

Brazil - 163 - youth rating

 

Belgium - 120 - youth rating

 

England - 135 - youth rating

 

France - 155 - youth rating

 

Germany - 155 - youth rating

 

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PART TEN: CLUB BREAKDOWN TEMPLATE

Here is a template i use day to day during my save just to keep everything noted down and it helps me keep everything in order. Feel free to copy this template and use in for making notes in your own save!

 

 

Football club:

 

Medi prediction:

 

Suggested formation:

 

Club vision:

 

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Finances

 

Overall balance:

 

Transfer budget:

 

Wage budget:

 

Scouting balance:

 

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Dynamics

 

Team leader:

 

Highly influential players:

 

-----------------

 

Squad analysis 1.0 (strengths & weaknesses)

 

---------------------------

 

Squad analysis 1.1 (comparison)

 

Squad age:

 

Physical:

 

Mental:

 

Technical:

 

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Squad analysis 1.2 (top players)

 

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Young players to watch

 

---------------------------------

 

Players to sell

 

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Tactical construction

 

------------------------------

 

Training schedule

 

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Scouting

 

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Shortlist

 

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Backroom staff

 

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PART ELEVEN: COMMON TACTIC TEMPLATES

How to play like manchester city

 

Formations used: 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 dm

 

Extremely wide

 

Pass into space

 

Much shorter passing

 

Much lower tempo

 

Play out of defense

 

Focus down left

 

Focus down the right

 

Counter press

 

Slow down the pace

 

Distribute to centre backs

 

Take short kicks

 

Offside trap

 

Much higher line of engagement

 

Much higher defensive line

 

Use tighter markig

 

More often

 

Prevent short gk distribution

 

 

How to play like liverpool football club

 

Formations used: 4-3-3dm or 4-2-3-1

 

Positive mentality

 

Standard attacking width

 

Play out of defence

 

Shorter passing directness

 

Underlap left

 

Underlap right

 

Higher tempo

 

Counter

 

Counter press

 

Distribute quickly

 

Much higher line of engagement

 

Much higher defensive line

 

Offside trap

 

More often pressing

 

Prevent short gk distribution

 

 

 

How to counter like jose mourhinio

 

Formations used: 4-2-3-1

 

Attacking

 

Extremely high tempo

 

Run at defence

 

Counter

 

Distribute quickly

 

Higher line of engagement

 

Standard defensive line

 

Use tighter marking

 

Force opposition outside Managerial 

 

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THANK YOU FOR READING!! I HOPE IT HELPED HOWEVER READ IT PLEASE LEAVE ANY COMMENTS AND FEEDBACK!

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