Ah... Now I see why Mourinho is the way he is; Or, the Joys of Parking the Bus

[Gregorio Thommassi]

Been playing FM since 08. First 5 years, I knew nothing about the tactical system. It was just 'buy the best players, then hit and hope'

Eventually I get to grips with the tactical system, and realise it's entirely possible to emulate Tiki-Taka in a very authentic way. Cue: the next five years spent turning yer Burnleys, yer MK Dons, yer Pescaras, into post-Barca tippy-tappy icons.

Alas, my dear friends, such times were not to last. By focusing your attention on a single tactical system, you inadvertently narrow the game and it players and their attributes down to a very narrow band of experience. I.E., that of 4-3-3 (inside forwards), where every time you load up the game you end up looking for the same type of player.

Recently, perhaps inspired by Big Sam's rather one-dimensional podcast, I loaded up FM09 and embarked upon a career with Bolton, in which I would play decidedly one-dimensional, deep-lying, counter-attacking football, in which there would me no tippeh-tappeh.

THE POINT OF THIS POST: It really opens up entirely untapped (no pun intended) avenues of this game when you decide to go for a certain, 'old-fashioned', direct, ye olde Englishe, way of footaball.

It forces you to view players differently. Instead of looking for the best all-round striker with good determination and good playmaking attributes, instead you find yourself looking for a very specific finisher, who perhaps doesn't have the best playmaking attributes or the best workrate, but is perfect to complement your battering ram target man (Kevin Davies, yes).

And when you buy this player for pennies (because that's all you can afford as Bolton in '08) and he turns out to be a success, it feels better than going through the always-successful process of buying a composed CDM and two new IFs because you want to emulate Pep.

In short, going for the Mourinho, Conte way of football allows you to experience a very different side to this game. It's almost like playing it on hard mode. But it is all the more enjoyable for it.

[Conardo]

Good post.

[trevjim]

Good post and I agree with your point. However one look at Knaps tactics sheet and the game tactics are heavily skewed to fast paced attacking play again, so you are always at a disadvantage if playing defensive 

[phd_angel]

Thanks. It feels good to be recognized.

[Jonthedon26]

21 hours ago, Gregorio Thommassi said:

Been playing FM since 08. First 5 years, I knew nothing about the tactical system. It was just 'buy the best players, then hit and hope'

Eventually I get to grips with the tactical system, and realise it's entirely possible to emulate Tiki-Taka in a very authentic way. Cue: the next five years spent turning yer Burnleys, yer MK Dons, yer Pescaras, into post-Barca tippy-tappy icons.

Alas, my dear friends, such times were not to last. By focusing your attention on a single tactical system, you inadvertently narrow the game and it players and their attributes down to a very narrow band of experience. I.E., that of 4-3-3 (inside forwards), where every time you load up the game you end up looking for the same type of player.

Recently, perhaps inspired by Big Sam's rather one-dimensional podcast, I loaded up FM09 and embarked upon a career with Bolton, in which I would play decidedly one-dimensional, deep-lying, counter-attacking football, in which there would me no tippeh-tappeh.

THE POINT OF THIS POST: It really opens up entirely untapped (no pun intended) avenues of this game when you decide to go for a certain, 'old-fashioned', direct, ye olde Englishe, way of footaball.

It forces you to view players differently. Instead of looking for the best all-round striker with good determination and good playmaking attributes, instead you find yourself looking for a very specific finisher, who perhaps doesn't have the best playmaking attributes or the best workrate, but is perfect to complement your battering ram target man (Kevin Davies, yes).

And when you buy this player for pennies (because that's all you can afford as Bolton in '08) and he turns out to be a success, it feels better than going through the always-successful process of buying a composed CDM and two new IFs because you want to emulate Pep.

In short, going for the Mourinho, Conte way of football allows you to experience a very different side to this game. It's almost like playing it on hard mode. But it is all the more enjoyable for it.

Great post! I love playing "the old fashioned way" on FM, not quite the route one battering ram style you talk of, but the traditional 442 get it out wide and in the box to the big man kind of way. Glad to see there are others out there that aren't all tika taka gegenpressers!

[kingjericho]

Sooner or later I always try to play a "Hoofball" save but end up failing. I won't give up until I can get good results with the "Route One" preset. I think a small mentality change may be the key to unlock the true potential of HOOF