Defence-First Football Tactics (Also Home To Real Sociedad Fans)

kennypavey · May 14

AIK Update

The AIK experiment under Henning Berg in FM24 ends with (somewhat) success but frustration. With AIK I sit at the top of the table, with 12 goals conceded in 16 games (a bit too much, but best in the league nonetheless) and 29 goals scored (a bit too much for my liking).

The frustration comes from the rigid movement of wide midfielders in this engine. In AIK, a combination of Bersant Celina, Taha Ayari, Victor Andersson and Ismaila Coulibaly has played on the left in our 4-4-2, but in attack they are roaming. Coulibaly forms a deep midfield trio with the double pivot, while the rest roams to AM positions, forming a front 4 with the strikers and the right wing. Especially Celina is allowed to roam freely. In the game against IFK Norrköping a week ago he regularly popped up close to the right side, creating overloads. The issue is that wide midfielders are almost impossible to rotate centrally in this engine. The only way to get a somewhat good rotation is to set them up as wide playmakers, but AIK are notoriously attacking on the right side, so a wide playmaker on the other side is counter-intuitive.

Today, it is easier to get a full back to rotate to CM and AM than a wide midfielder, which to me is insane. AIK plays a bit similar to Real Madrid, but AIK's 4-4-2 transitions to lopsided 4-2-2-2 while Real Madrid transforms into diamond (Valverde tucks in from right, Bellingham defends as striker but attacks as AM, Rodrygo defends as ML but attacks as striker)

The "final" state of the replication is a lopsided 4-4-2 that is really a 4-3-1-2 with a winger.

GK (d)

FB (a) - BPD (d) - CB (d) - WB (s)

CAR (s) - CM (d) - MEZ (s)

IF (a)

F9 (s) - AF (a)

This setup sort of gets the movement I am looking for without hard-coding playmakers. The CAR (s) "should" be a situational combination between HB, CAR, MEZ and RPM, but CAR sort of mimics Anton Saletros' role in AIK.

I quit the experiment due to the frustration of the wide midfielders. MEZ(s) sort of works, but it feels a bit cheat codey to have these lopsided non-standard formations, that the match engine has trouble handling. Going forward I will keep the philosophy but be more flexible in the exact roles of the formation.

Flohrinho · May 15

I think what triggered a defense first approach for me was a video from Rashidi about rest defenses.

I first started out with building my defensive setup the way Guardiola does these days with Manchester City.

Essentially this tactic morphes into a WM formation in attack, maintaining a great 5-5 split. My DM-DE and L-DE are doing an amazing job of recycling the possession if we lose the ball and the opposition striker and wingers are never left without a defender on them.

The setup works great with one exception. When I was playing against teams employing a 442 system I was leaking goals due to my CD being alone against 2 strikers. The strength of this setup against teams who play 4231 or 433 with the wide defenders becomes a disadvantage against teams who have two narrow attackers employed.

That's where my second rest defense comes into play, the WW formation.

This rest defense does an excellent job at defending against the 442. The WW shape allows me to defend the space in front of my defenders as well as the deeper sitting wide players of the 442 and keep their forwards both marked.

Of course my old way of playing finds its uses time and time gain as well, mostly when I'm up against a 352 or a 3421 I will employ a setup that uses attacking FBs.

This way close out the center of the pitch, while creating an overload against their WBs in wide areas. It also helps with the counter pressing, if my FBs are high up the pitch they can easily counterpress their WBs.

Employing these 3 different rest defenses has made me extremely stable against most teams, of course having Cubarsi on loan from Barca helps as well but I have by no means the best team in LaLiga 2 and am currently in first place with by far the fewest goals conceded. After 24 games I have only conceded 8 goals, while the next best team is sitting at 27 conceded.

Playing a fairly defensive style hasn't hampered me in attack either, the team plays some lovely attacking football at times and the fact that we win pretty much every second ball and long ball has helped us score loads of transition goals.

~~Oh yeah and my little Sant Andreu team is actually playing in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid, only conceding more than one goal once on their way to the final against Real San Sebastian.~~ Whoops, spoke to early, I didn't know there was a second leg in the Copa del Ray semi final. The second leg went to Sevilla 2-0 after we won at home 2-1. But it was a very narrow affair.

For everyone who wants to poke around in my tactics I uploaded them here. They all start on balanced, at which I leave it unless the game is getting to the final phase and I'm not in the lead or am one goal behind, in which case I switch to attacking.

There are also some settings that seem counterproductive at first glance, despite using IFB-DE I keep my overlap settings active, I simply found that without it the IFB-DE would never move up but with the setting on they would actually try and use the chance if space opened up on their side which can lead to some very good goal chances, I take it off towards the end of the game when I want to protect a lead to play with less risk so to speak.

When I don't have any particular requirements for my players, apart from looking for physically fit players, after all this is a counter-pressing tactic and demands high intensity football from all your players. The only one I pay some closer attention to is my libero, he should have some decent to good dribbling stats because he will go into dribblings fairly often and if he is bad at it he can lose the ball in dangerous situations.

Oh yeah and a personal preference, like Guardiola I prefer players in my IFB-DE position who are either also capable of playing CB or are very good defensively because this is their main job here, they only on rare occasions get really involved in attacking actions, their main objective is win the ball back and defend the wide spaces effectively.

WM-BALANCED-V1.1.fmf WW-BALANCED-V1.3.fmf FB-BALANCED-V1.1.fmf

Edited May 15 by Flohrinho

TheMartello · May 15

33 minutes ago, Flohrinho said:

I think what triggered a defense first approach for me was a video from Rashidi about rest defenses.

I first started out with building my defensive setup the way Guardiola does these days City.

Essentially this tactic morphes into a WM formation in attack, maintaining a great 5-5 split. My DM-DE and L-DE are doing an amazing job of recycling the possession if we lose the ball and the opposition striker and wingers are never left without a defender on them.

The setup works great with one exception. When I was playing against teams employing a 442 system I was leaking goals due to my CD being alone against 2 strikers. The strength of this setup against teams who play 4231 or 433 with the wide defenders becomes a disadvantage against teams who have two narrow attackers employed.

That's where my second rest defense comes into play, the WW formation.

This rest defense does an excellent job at defending against the 442. The WW shape allows me to defend the space in front of my defenders as well as the deeper sitting wide players of the 442 and keep their forwards both marked.

Of course my old way of playing finds it's uses time and time gain as well, mostly when I'm up against a 352 or a 3421 I will employ a setup that uses attacking FBs.

This way close out the center of the pitch, while creating an overload against their WBs in wide areas. It also helps with the counter pressing, if my FBs are high up the pitch they can easily counterpress their WBs.

Employing these 3 different rest defenses has made me extremely stable against most teams, of course having Cubarsi on loan from Barca helps as well but I have by no means the best team in LaLiga 2 and am currently in first place with by far the fewest goals conceded. After 24 games I have only conceded 8 goals, while the next best team is sitting at 27 conceded.

Playing a fairly defensive style hasn't hampered me in attack either, the team plays some lovely attacking football at times and the fact that we win pretty much every second ball and long ball has helped us score loads of transition goals.

Oh yeah and my little Sant Andreu team is actually playing in the Copa del Rey final against Real Madrid, only conceding more than one goal once on their way to the final against Real San Sebastian.

Could you share the full tactics, with all roles and team/player instructions?

Or maybe upload them so we can check it out!

Flohrinho · May 15

38 minutes ago, TheMartello said:

Could you share the full tactics, with all roles and team/player instructions?

Or maybe upload them so we can check it out!

I added the three tactics to my original post with some info on what adjustments I tend to make, they aren't strictly plug and play tactics but so far they are carrying me very well through most of my saves, be it with a small underdog side like Sant Andreu or my Manchester United super team.

HanziZoloman · May 16

@billmatic as long as performance levels are good everything is fine. I would not have chosen your roles in the first place because it's too much running around for me but if it works well for you, it's perfect.

The fluid counter-attack I posted above works well in Championship too. Results are excellent: I am last in salary/ spent but first in classement. We earned our victories in all matches especially the Everton match was difficult. We went 0:2 behind and a small tacticaL shift later we won that match fluidly counter-attacking 4:2. Charlton, Watford and Everton are clearly some of the best teams in the league.

Spoiler

billmatic · May 16

5 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said:

@billmatic as long as performance levels are good everything is fine. I would not have chosen your roles in the first place because it's too much running around for me but if it works well for you, it's perfect.

Which roles would you have chosen? I'm still trying to figure out which roles are beneficial to this approach.

HanziZoloman · May 16

vor 1 Stunde schrieb billmatic:

Which roles would you have chosen? I'm still trying to figure out which roles are beneficial to this approach.

With a midblock I try to cast a thick web of players which is hard to play through, a tight bunch. There are some ways to build that.
The midfield trio are two SV going from DM into AM and a BWM(D) who is chasing down opponents. All three could be somewhere else and then I am open to all attacks. Same goes for WB(S/A), they are bombing forward especially the (A) and then who will cover for that?

In my Billericay Midblock I have a lot of (S) roles, the RPM is roaming from DM into AM the Mezzala tends to defend higher, but behind that there are a DM (hold position) and two FB(S), plus the two CB. The only attacking role is the PF(A) in my set up.

You have roles I‘d maybe pick if I wanted to play counterpress because many of your players are close to the opponents defenseline.

billmatic · May 16

14 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said:

With a midblock I try to cast a thick web of players which is hard to play through, a tight bunch. There are some ways to build that.
The midfield trio are two SV going from DM into AM and a BWM(D) who is chasing down opponents. All three could be somewhere else and then I am open to all attacks. Same goes for WB(S/A), they are bombing forward especially the (A) and then who will cover for that?

In my Billericay Midblock I have a lot of (S) roles, the RPM is roaming from DM into AM the Mezzala tends to defend higher, but behind that there are a DM (hold position) and two FB(S), plus the two CB. The only attacking role is the PF(A) in my set up.

You have roles I‘d maybe pick if I wanted to play counterpress because many of your players are close to the opponents defenseline.

I've noticed, especially against the better teams, your Liverpools, Uniteds, etc., they seem to pass through my midfield easily and then I concede. I'll make some adjustments per your advice. Do you play with wingers? Ideally I'd want to maximise Wharton, Olise, and Eze before they're inevitably sold.

HanziZoloman · May 16

vor 46 Minuten schrieb billmatic:

I've noticed, especially against the better teams, your Liverpools, Uniteds, etc., they seem to pass through my midfield easily and then I concede. I'll make some adjustments per your advice. Do you play with wingers? Ideally I'd want to maximise Wharton, Olise, and Eze before they're inevitably sold.

Maybe it could help to write it up in an own thread. Then guys like @Cloud9 give a lot of help.

Yes I play with wingers, you can see the tactic a few postings above.

chris.jeeves · May 19

END OF SEASON UPDATE — Coruna

2nd season with Deportivo la Coruna in La Liga, and we improved on our 7th place to finish 4th! We also had a cheeky cup run that ended in the quarters sadly.

We were predicted to come 12th and despite a shoestring budget overall I'm very happy. Especially since the XG table put us in 6th so we may have been lucky too.

Thanks to @Rashidi @crusadertsar @Fox-7- @Johnny Ace @Cloud9 for all the amazing content on these forums.

Help/advice sought

You will see the tactic I predominantly used throughout the season below, the Board has added "Play attractive football" to my established list of Counter / Defensively solid / Under 23 / utilizing set pieces. I'm thinking of turning off "Be more disciplined / Drop deeper and going to standard passing? Will this do the trick? I have an exciting youngster Ramiro Rodriguez joining with 19 flair described as David Brentesque "Midfield entertainer(?!) Does that help
My DM's have struggled for consistency, often posting a 6.4 — 6.8. I've predominantly used Jon Moncayola as DM(S) and have a Newgen, Javi Rojas, joining (screenshots below). Are there any tweaks I can make to make them more effective or is it that they are simply not good enough?
I am going to be in the Champions League for the first time with a small and bang-average team, any tips to improve the team at both ends of the field would be greatly appreciated!

Player instructions:

FB(S) Run wide / cross more

CB: Take fewer risks

DM & CM(S): Hold position

CM(A) Take more risks / dribble more / get further forward

Wide players: Shoot less

AF: Shoot More

Thanks in advance, all help is greatly appreciated

Happy FM-ing!

Edited May 19 by chris.jeeves

Falahk · May 29

On 19/05/2024 at 10:50, chris.jeeves said:

END OF SEASON UPDATE — Coruna

2nd season with Deportivo la Coruna in La Liga, and we improved on our 7th place to finish 4th! We also had a cheeky cup run that ended in the quarters sadly.

We were predicted to come 12th and despite a shoestring budget overall I'm very happy. Especially since the XG table put us in 6th so we may have been lucky too.

Thanks to @Rashidi @crusadertsar @Fox-7- @Johnny Ace @Cloud9 for all the amazing content on these forums.

Help/advice sought

You will see the tactic I predominantly used throughout the season below, the Board has added "Play attractive football" to my established list of Counter / Defensively solid / Under 23 / utilizing set pieces. I'm thinking of turning off "Be more disciplined / Drop deeper and going to standard passing? Will this do the trick? I have an exciting youngster Ramiro Rodriguez joining with 19 flair described as David Brentesque "Midfield entertainer(?!) Does that help

My DM's have struggled for consistency, often posting a 6.4 — 6.8. I've predominantly used Jon Moncayola as DM(S) and have a Newgen, Javi Rojas, joining (screenshots below). Are there any tweaks I can make to make them more effective or is it that they are simply not good enough?

I am going to be in the Champions League for the first time with a small and bang-average team, any tips to improve the team at both ends of the field would be greatly appreciated!

Player instructions:

FB(S) Run wide / cross more

CB: Take fewer risks

DM & CM(S): Hold position

CM(A) Take more risks / dribble more / get further forward

Wide players: Shoot less

AF: Shoot More

Thanks in advance, all help is greatly appreciated

Happy FM-ing!

I would not wory about the dm's rating as long as he is doing the job you want from him, the ME rating system is skewed towards things like headers, interseptions, tackles, assists and goals, even if he play a perfect game and makes 150+ passes with 97% accuracy he will struggle to get a 7+ rating

spen86 · May 30

On 19/05/2024 at 09:50, chris.jeeves said:

END OF SEASON UPDATE — Coruna

2nd season with Deportivo la Coruna in La Liga, and we improved on our 7th place to finish 4th! We also had a cheeky cup run that ended in the quarters sadly.

We were predicted to come 12th and despite a shoestring budget overall I'm very happy. Especially since the XG table put us in 6th so we may have been lucky too.

Thanks to @Rashidi @crusadertsar @Fox-7- @Johnny Ace @Cloud9 for all the amazing content on these forums.

Help/advice sought

You will see the tactic I predominantly used throughout the season below, the Board has added "Play attractive football" to my established list of Counter / Defensively solid / Under 23 / utilizing set pieces. I'm thinking of turning off "Be more disciplined / Drop deeper and going to standard passing? Will this do the trick? I have an exciting youngster Ramiro Rodriguez joining with 19 flair described as David Brentesque "Midfield entertainer(?!) Does that help

My DM's have struggled for consistency, often posting a 6.4 — 6.8. I've predominantly used Jon Moncayola as DM(S) and have a Newgen, Javi Rojas, joining (screenshots below). Are there any tweaks I can make to make them more effective or is it that they are simply not good enough?

I am going to be in the Champions League for the first time with a small and bang-average team, any tips to improve the team at both ends of the field would be greatly appreciated!

Player instructions:

FB(S) Run wide / cross more

CB: Take fewer risks

DM & CM(S): Hold position

CM(A) Take more risks / dribble more / get further forward

Wide players: Shoot less

AF: Shoot More

Thanks in advance, all help is greatly appreciated

Happy FM-ing!

Hello mate, switched to this half way through the season in my Bury save and secured a safe midtable finish even beating City 3-0 although they're not what they used to be in my save now. I'm hoping a few early signings and with a full pre-season I can break into Europe with this system.

Having the same low ratings issue with the DM so I'm gunna add take more risks to see if he can get a few assists on the counter.

Do you change much mid-game to see games out or nick a cheeky win? My goal was to stay up so I've not been tweaking anything during the seasons just needed points. Think this season I'm gunna have two more variations one to hold onto a lead and one to steal a goal but only for the final 10 minutes of the game.

chris.jeeves · May 31

15 hours ago, spen86 said:

Hello mate, switched to this half way through the season in my Bury save and secured a safe midtable finish even beating City 3-0 although they're not what they used to be in my save now. I'm hoping a few early signings and with a full pre-season I can break into Europe with this system.

Having the same low ratings issue with the DM so I'm gunna add take more risks to see if he can get a few assists on the counter.

Do you change much mid-game to see games out or nick a cheeky win? My goal was to stay up so I've not been tweaking anything during the seasons just needed points. Think this season I'm gunna have two more variations one to hold onto a lead and one to steal a goal but only for the final 10 minutes of the game.

Thanks for the update, glad the tactic is working out for you.

Good shout regarding the DM, let me know how you get on.

Cheeky win: (I have this saved as a separate variant tactic)

You can go a notch wider / higher def line / LOE (All dependent on how good the opposition is or how adventurous you're feeling)
Toggle on counterpress and/or Hit early crosses (doing this in bursts of 10-15 mins can work well)
Toggle off "Be more disciplined" & "Drop off more"

See out a game

Up timewasting to "sometimes" if ahead comfortably, and for last 5 mins of a half or game go up to "often'
Change to fullbacks with support, or defend for last 5 mins
Change your most defensively-minded fullback to inverted fullback to create a back 3, leave the other as fullback support
Change DM to defend
If against a much stronger opposition in the last 5-10 mins and creaking you could consider "Regroup" and or "Hold Shape"

Hope that helps!

spen86 · May 31

3 hours ago, chris.jeeves said:

Thanks for the update, glad the tactic is working out for you.

Good shout regarding the DM, let me know how you get on.

Cheeky win: (I have this saved as a separate variant tactic)

You can go a notch wider / higher def line / LOE (All dependent on how good the opposition is or how adventurous you're feeling)

Toggle on counterpress and/or Hit early crosses (doing this in bursts of 10-15 mins can work well)

Toggle off "Be more disciplined" & "Drop off more"

See out a game

Up timewasting to "sometimes" if ahead comfortably, and for last 5 mins of a half or game go up to "often'

Change to fullbacks with support, or defend for last 5 mins

Change your most defensively-minded fullback to inverted fullback to create a back 3, leave the other as fullback support

Change DM to defend

If against a much stronger opposition in the last 5-10 mins and creaking you could consider "Regroup" and or "Hold Shape"

Hope that helps!

Cheers mate all pretty straight forward makes perfect sense! I'll be keeping an eye out for any of your updates want to see how you get on in Europe.

BrunosTaxi · June 4

Hi everyone, I have been reading this thread and also the "crafting 433" one for a while, and I decided to make my own defence-first tactics with high possession (since i hate not having cleansheets and i love to control the game)

After a couple of tries, I've came up with this setup with a 3-2 build up. As you can see from my result after using my own tactics, I successfully archieved a solid defense and also over 60% possession every game.

Despite archieving my goals, my attacking isn't working as I wanted it to. My striker is not getting enough chances and therefore not scoring. Gordon(LW) is not aggressive enough on the wing. And Olise (RW) is not creating chances as I want him to (I have tried AP and T for him, also not working)

This problem reflects on my result as there are quite a few low scoring games and also a late draw with Fulham. We are also not putting enough pressure against stronger teams and give them opportunities to counter despite controlling the game.

It would be great if I can get some advice on my setup. It is my first time digging this deep and creating my own tactics:)

Edited June 4 by BrunosTaxi

crusadertsar · June 4

45 minutes ago, BrunosTaxi said:

Hi everyone, I have been reading this thread and also the "crafting 433" one for a while, and I decided to make my own defence-first tactics with high possession (since i hate not having cleansheets and i love to control the game)

After a couple of tries, I've came up with this setup with a 3-2 build up. As you can see from my result after using my own tactics, I successfully archieved a solid defense and also over 60% possession every game.

Despite archieving my goals, my attacking isn't working as I wanted it to. My striker is not getting enough chances and therefore not scoring. Gordon(LW) is not aggressive enough on the wing. And Olise (RW) is not creating chances as I want him to (I have tried AP and T for him, also not working)

This problem reflects on my result as there are quite a few low scoring games and also a late draw with Fulham. We are also not putting enough pressure against stronger teams and give them opportunities to counter despite controlling the game.

It would be great if I can get some advice on my setup. It is my first time digging this deep and creating my own tactics:)

The thing with one-striker systems is that they are very player dependent. Meaning that if your striker is "hot" (high consistency hidden attribute helps) then you will score goals and probably win more games but the moment he gets bad streak you won't score as much and will probably lose more or get more ties. It can be very frustrating. Also the problem is compounded by the fact that in FM match engine you can never rely on your inside forwards and central midfielders to carry the weight of goalscoring. Sure they can chip in from time to time. But they won't guarantee you goals. For this reason two striker systems like 4-4-2 have always been very reliable going back to days of FM13 and FM14. Even good old 4-2-3-1 will guarantee you more goals. Sadly it's the reason why I always gravitate towards those two formations in each FM. Even though 433 has always been my favourite. It's just too frustrating because of this.

Edited June 4 by crusadertsar

BrunosTaxi · June 4

1 小时前, crusadertsar说:

The thing with one-striker systems is that they are very player dependent. Meaning that if your striker is "hot" (high consistency hidden attribute helps) then you will score goals and probably win more games but the moment he gets bad streak you won't score as much and will probably lose more or get more ties. It can be very frustrating. Also the problem is compounded by the fact that in FM match engine you can never rely on your inside forwards and central midfielders to carry the weight of goalscoring. Sure they can chip in from time to time. But they won't guarantee you goals. For this reason two striker systems like 4-4-2 have always been very reliable going back to days of FM13 and FM14. Even good old 4-2-3-1 will guarantee you more goals. Sadly it's the reason why I always gravitate towards those two formations in each FM. Even though 433 has always been my favourite. It's just too frustrating because of this.

Thanks for your reply! So does it mean that there isn’t any big problem with my tactics and player roles? All I have to do is to try tweaking it to a 4231 or 442 in order to get similar results + score more?

Edited June 4 by BrunosTaxi

BrunosTaxi · June 5

14 小时前, crusadertsar说:

The thing with one-striker systems is that they are very player dependent. Meaning that if your striker is "hot" (high consistency hidden attribute helps) then you will score goals and probably win more games but the moment he gets bad streak you won't score as much and will probably lose more or get more ties. It can be very frustrating. Also the problem is compounded by the fact that in FM match engine you can never rely on your inside forwards and central midfielders to carry the weight of goalscoring. Sure they can chip in from time to time. But they won't guarantee you goals. For this reason two striker systems like 4-4-2 have always been very reliable going back to days of FM13 and FM14. Even good old 4-2-3-1 will guarantee you more goals. Sadly it's the reason why I always gravitate towards those two formations in each FM. Even though 433 has always been my favourite. It's just too frustrating because of this.

Thanks for your reply! So does it mean that there isn’t any big problem with my tactics and player roles? All I have to do is to try tweaking it to a 4231 or 442 in order to get similar results + score more?

crusadertsar · June 15

FM Swansong – Or Why Love Playing Football Manager in Summertime (Part 1)

In this swansong period of FM24, having tested a variety of tactics, I found the 4-2-3-1 DM formation to be reliable workhorse for me. It has also become my go-to “Defence-First” tactic. The reasons for this are rather simple and sensible. Here, let me list off a few things that I love about 4-2-3-1 DM:

1) Double Pivot in DM strata. The deeper defensive positioning might be the obvious reason why this combination works so well. Even with relatively gung-ho roles like regista or Segundo volante, your DMs will take more care to retreat into deeper positioning when your team loses the ball. This behavior is pretty much programmed into them due to the nature of DM roles. Unless the player has an aggressive trait like “get forward” or an attack duty (which pretty much mimics that trait), your DM player will keep more defensive responsibility then equivalent CM strata roles. My favourite combination has become using two DMs with support duties and “hold position” individual instruction alongside an AMC player (with attack duty). I find that having such complimentary combination of duties allows my DMs and AMC to stay closer together and connect much better with the backline. And if your DMs are above average passers with decent technical/creativity then they will also link-up well with the advanced midfielder and generally circulate the ball well from defence to attack. Ideally, in a Defence-First 4-2-3-1 you don’t want either of your DMs to constantly look to burst into the box, dribble too long with the ball, roam around, or in any way endanger the solid two-player partnership in front of your defence. In defence, I want my double pivot to form a nice solid box together with the two centrebacks.

I like to combine one more creative DM role (DLP) with another one who fits the workhorse, ball-winner profile. When playing out of the back, DLP is perfect role here to help circulate the ball up from defence. When DLP is paired with BWM(S) (with added hold position instruction), they can become a powerful combo. Personally, I prefer to combine my DLP with a generic DM(S). Why? DM is a great role that is underused in FM. It is neither too defensive (when on support duty) nor overly aggressive (which sometimes is the shortcoming of the BWM role, especially when it comes to tackling) can be customized with a variety of instructions to fit your particular player and recreate just the behavior you want from him.

"Hold Position" and "Take more risks" are the individual instructions that I have set for my DM. Pretty self-explanatory, given the player I have in the role and the requirements of my double pivot.

But no amount of individual instructions will make a difference if you don’t have the right players to fit your Defence-First system. To reduce redundancy, I will not explain my reasoning on what I believe to be the ideal attribute profile for any defensively-responsible players in my tactical systems. You can look at my very first post (on first page) in this thread to get a good idea of that. As you can see from the above screen, Vicente Pizarro, with his great Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, and Positioning, fits my model of a typical Defence-First player like a glove.

All that green in Pizzaro's Defence-First DNA circle is exactly what I love seeing!

2) Another thing I love about 4-2-3-1 is having the luxury of 3 midfielders. But unlike in another popular 3 midfield formation, 433, the third midfielder here can truly be allowed to play a free attacking/creative role. A true “free” #10 is a rare "luxury" player these days and is only really possible in a system that employs a defensively-responsible holding double pivot. I might be a bit too conservative for some FM tastes, but I would not feel comfortable using a very attacking midfielder in a tactic that does not employ two midfielders who sit deeper and cover the space in front of your defence while your AMC is allowed to do his own thing. Mind you, teams like Barcelona or more recently Man City have used some really progressive midfield setups (within 433) with two “free” 8s but then they had the luxury of having a truly world-class #6 half-back player like Busquets, Rodri or Fernandinho.

3) The idea of having two defensively-responsible midfielders in a deeper position brings me to my next reason for liking 4-2-3-1 DM formation. With a solid double-pivot holding position in front of your centrebacks, allows you give both of your wingbacks/fullbacks a more “positive” risk-taking role. When both DMs stay back, it would be overkill to have one of the wingbacks stay back and play a conservative role. Instead you can have both wingbacks/fullbacks support attack proactively. Thus, this has become my favourite 4-2-3-1 set-up in FM24. Minimalist team instructions married with balanced sensible attacking and more aggressive defending. My goal is to show that you don't need to select every single team instruction and play on attacking team mentality to score lots of goals. Nor do you need lowblock and defensive team mentality to defend well. Balanced sensible approach can be very effective in FM24. Nor do you need 6-7 players flooding the opposition penalty box. Providing good width on both flanks, strategic movement in the channels and varied attacking movement from different positional strata is all you really need.

Double-pivot of DLP(S) and DM(S), one progressive Wingback to try to dribble to the byline (with individual instruction to stay wider) and one who focuses more on crossing from deep (FB on attack). An advanced midfielder (AM on attack duty) to play the free creative role. Similarly to DM, AM(A) is another generic role that I love. Mainly because, even on attack duty, it is AMC role that starts the deepest, and closest to your CMs or DMs. It can also be customized to act similarly to a creative trequartista or shadow striker, depending on what you want from the player in any particular match.

There are two main ways to make your AMC work in FM:

As a more attacking Shadow Striker paired with a more support-oriented striker that holds up ball and/or drops back to open up space for other players such as SS to move around and beyond him to attack the said spaces.

As a specialized playmaker who is the one supporting the striker and/or other attacking players who move around create space around your AMC.

My go-to combo has usually been a DLF on either attack or support (depending on the quality of the player, meaning that one like AC Milan's Leao who can dribble well and is able to attack as well as support will be perfect for DLF(A) role) paired with AM(A) and flanked by Winger and Inside Forward. Both the Winger and IF I leave on support duty because honestly I find their individual mentalities to be attacking enough even on Balanced team mentality. And I like having them start a bit a deeper, and more available for passes from the midfielders. The two central attackers, DLF and AMC, I prefer to leave on attack duty, to give them most freedom to take risks in both creating and finishing chances. As I mentioned before, AM(A) starts deeper than a Shadow Striker role, which allows it to avoid opposition defender marking for longer which in turn helps him to be in better positions to create chances for the other attackers or arrive late in the penalty zone to shoot on goal. He can act as a playmaker without needlessly being designated as one and becoming a target for opposition markers. I also tend to give him some Shadow Striker-like individual instructions. The asymmetric set-up is also an advantage as it tends to help my AMC with running the channels and generally create a lot of varied movement in the final third.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Edited June 16 by crusadertsar

keeper#1 · June 15

How are getting the FB(a) to cross from deep? It's hard-coded to cross from byline.

keeper#1 · June 15

30 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Cross early trait. But I thought that FB(a) didn't have that particular individual instruction. It's hard coded in WB(a) though.

Yep. Hard-coded for FB(a). I'm trying to work around it as an FB(s) with cross from deep and get further forward ticked. But that doesn't sound like it would work.

warlock · June 15

18 minutes ago, keeper#1 said:

I'm trying to work around it

Have you tried an automatic duty? FB and WB on automatic is pretty much a blank slate.

crusadertsar · June 15

23 minutes ago, keeper#1 said:

Yep. Hard-coded for FB(a). I'm trying to work around it as an FB(s) with cross from deep and get further forward ticked. But that doesn't sound like it would work.

Cross early trait wouldn't work? One of my players has it and it seems to be working very well at times, to get those nice crosses from deep.

Edited June 15 by crusadertsar

keeper#1 · June 16

1 hour ago, crusadertsar said:

Cross early trait wouldn't work? One of my players has it and it seems to be working very well at times, to get those nice crosses from deep.

My FB(a) doesn't have that trait right now. Training him on it now which is why I'm rolling with the FB(s) with the get forward more often and cross more often boxes ticked. It seems to be working but when it doesn't.....oh boy, it does not work.

1 hour ago, warlock said:

Have you tried an automatic duty? FB and WB on automatic is pretty much a blank slate.

May have to give this a try.

crusadertsar · June 16

4 hours ago, keeper#1 said:

Yep. Hard-coded for FB(a). I'm trying to work around it as an FB(s) with cross from deep and get further forward ticked. But that doesn't sound like it would work.

But FB(A) is not hardcoded to cross from byline. Just look in the screenshot you provided. "Cross from byline" option is not green. That's why I was confused by your initial comment. Sure, you can't select "cross from deep" but it does not mean that the role is programmed to cross from byline. Actually, its quite contrary. I find that the beauty of FB(A) is that under right conditions (especially the combination of fast pace and default-to-direct passing) there is increased likelihood of FB(A) crossing sooner before getting to final third.

Also, I guess it depends on your definition of crossing from deep. I was never much for route one type of football, even in my Defence-First tactics. But I'm happy to see my fullbacks crossing before getting to the byline line. Especially when on the other flank I have a wingback trying to cross from byline. More tactical variety is always better. I don't both fullbacks to cross from our own half. That would just be wasteful unless you are playing with two strikers, and one tall boy striker at least.

Edited June 16 by crusadertsar

Medio Volante · June 16

Beating Real Madrid with ease. Handing them their first loss of the season (Prior to the match stats of Real Madrid: P10 W9 D1 GF31 GA3). They conceded more goals in one match against us than in their previous 10 league games. :brock:

Result:

Spoiler

Real Madrid XI:

Spoiler

- Kepa instead of Courtois, Camavinga instead of Bellingham, and Valverde instead of Camavinga.
- Vini AF and Joselu DLF.

Tactic:

Spoiler

Player instructions:
- Stay wider + dribble more on both FBs to exploit wide spaces available due to their 4-diamond-2 system.
- Moves into channels + roam from position on Aspas to drag their DM (Valverde as BWM).

And btw, I already won the league with Everton.

Edited June 16 by Medio Volante

Medio Volante · June 16

16 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Currently playing with 4-2-3-1 myself, how do you like the movements of your double pivot? Do you feel like they move up too far, especially with 'counter' instruction on? Because that's the reason for me to always have one guy on defend duty, mainly Anchor. Even sometimes I catch my anchor being too aggressive (both in possession and in attacking transition).

TheMartello · June 16

37 minutes ago, Medio Volante said:

Beating Real Madrid with ease. Handing them their first loss of the season (Prior to the match stats of Real Madrid: P10 W9 D1 GF31 GA3). They conceded more goals in one match against us than in their previous 10 league games.

Result:

Reveal hidden contents

Real Madrid XI:

Reveal hidden contents

- Kepa instead of Courtois, Camavinga instead of Bellingham, and Valverde instead of Camavinga.
- Vini AF and Joselu DLF.

Tactic:

Hide contents

Player instructions:
- Stay wider + dribble more on both FBs to exploit wide spaces available due to their 4-diamond-2 system.
- Moves into channels + roam from position on Aspas to drag their DM (Valverde as BWM).

And btw, I already won the league with Everton.

Do you use the same player instructions in other games against other opponents?

naufal husain · June 16

17 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

FM Swansong – Or Why Love Playing Football Manager in Summertime (Part 1)

In this swansong period of FM24, having tested a variety of tactics, I found the 4-2-3-1 DM formation to be reliable workhorse for me. It has also become my go-to “Defence-First” tactic. The reasons for this are rather simple and sensible. Here, let me list off a few things that I love about 4-2-3-1 DM:

1) Double Pivot in DM strata. The deeper defensive positioning might be the obvious reason why this combination works so well. Even with relatively gung-ho roles like regista or Segundo volante, your DMs will take more care to retreat into deeper positioning when your team loses the ball. This behavior is pretty much programmed into them due to the nature of DM roles. Unless the player has an aggressive trait like “get forward” or an attack duty (which pretty much mimics that trait), your DM player will keep more defensive responsibility then equivalent CM strata roles. My favourite combination has become using two DMs with support duties and “hold position” individual instruction alongside an AMC player (with attack duty). I find that having such complimentary combination of duties allows my DMs and AMC to stay closer together and connect much better with the backline. And if your DMs are above average passers with decent technical/creativity then they will also link-up well with the advanced midfielder and generally circulate the ball well from defence to attack. Ideally, in a Defence-First 4-2-3-1 you don’t want either of your DMs to constantly look to burst into the box, dribble too long with the ball, roam around, or in any way endanger the solid two-player partnership in front of your defence. In defence, I want my double pivot to form a nice solid box together with the two centrebacks.

I like to combine one more creative DM role (DLP) with another one who fits the workhorse, ball-winner profile. When playing out of the back, DLP is perfect role here to help circulate the ball up from defence. When DLP is paired with BWM(S) (with added hold position instruction), they can become a powerful combo. Personally, I prefer to combine my DLP with a generic DM(S). Why? DM is a great role that is underused in FM. It is neither too defensive (when on support duty) nor overly aggressive (which sometimes is the shortcoming of the BWM role, especially when it comes to tackling) can be customized with a variety of instructions to fit your particular player and recreate just the behavior you want from him.

"Hold Position" and "Take more risks" are the individual instructions that I have set for my DM. Pretty self-explanatory, given the player I have in the role and the requirements of my double pivot.

But no amount of individual instructions will make a difference if you don’t have the right players to fit your Defence-First system. To reduce redundancy, I will not explain my reasoning on what I believe to be the ideal attribute profile for any defensively-responsible players in my tactical systems. You can look at my very first post (on first page) in this thread to get a good idea of that. As you can see from the above screen, Vicente Pizarro, with his great Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, and Positioning, fits my model of a typical Defence-First player like a glove.

All that green in Pizzaro's Defence-First DNA circle is exactly what I love seeing!

2) Another thing I love about 4-2-3-1 is having the luxury of 3 midfielders. But unlike in another popular 3 midfield formation, 433, the third midfielder here can truly be allowed to play a free attacking/creative role. A true “free” #10 is a rare "luxury" player these days and is only really possible in a system that employs a defensively-responsible holding double pivot. I might be a bit too conservative for some FM tastes, but I would not feel comfortable using a very attacking midfielder in a tactic that does not employ two midfielders who sit deeper and cover the space in front of your defence while your AMC is allowed to do his own thing. Mind you, teams like Barcelona or more recently Man City have used some really progressive midfield setups (within 433) with two “free” 8s but then they had the luxury of having a truly world-class #6 half-back player like Busquets, Rodri or Fernandinho.

3) The idea of having two defensively-responsible midfielders in a deeper position brings me to my next reason for liking 4-2-3-1 DM formation. With a solid double-pivot holding position in front of your centrebacks, allows you give both of your wingbacks/fullbacks a more “positive” risk-taking role. When both DMs stay back, it would be overkill to have one of the wingbacks stay back and play a conservative role. Instead you can have both wingbacks/fullbacks support attack proactively. Thus, this has become my favourite 4-2-3-1 set-up in FM24. Minimalist team instructions married with balanced sensible attacking and more aggressive defending. My goal is to show that you don't need to select every single team instruction and play on attacking team mentality to score lots of goals. Nor do you need lowblock and defensive team mentality to defend well. Balanced sensible approach is all you need to succeed in FM24. Nor do you need 6-7 players flooding the opposition penalty box. Providing good width on both flanks, strategic movement in the channels and varied attacking movement from different positional strata is all you really need.

Double-pivot of DLP(S) and DM(S), one progressive Wingback to try to dribble to the byline (with individual instruction to stay wider) and one who focuses more on crossing from deep (FB on attack). An advanced midfielder (AM on attack duty) to play the free creative role. Similarly to DM, AM(A) is another generic role that I love. Mainly because, even on attack duty, it is AMC role that starts the deepest, and closest to your CMs or DMs. It can also be customized to act similarly to a creative trequartista or shadow striker, depending on what you want from the player in any particular match.

There are two main ways to make your AMC work in FM:

As a more attacking Shadow Striker paired with a more support-oriented striker that holds up ball and/or drops back to open up space for other players such as SS to move around and beyond him to attack the said spaces.

As a specialized playmaker who is the one supporting the striker and/or other attacking players who move around create space around your AMC.

My go-to combo has usually been a DLF on either attack or support (depending on the quality of the player, meaning that one like AC Milan's Leao who can dribble well and is able to attack as well as support will be perfect for DLF(A) role) paired with AM(A) and flanked by Winger and Inside Forward. Both the Winger and IF I leave on support duty because honestly I find their individual mentalities to be attacking enough even on Balanced team mentality. And I like having them start a bit a deeper, and more available for passes from the midfielders. The two central attackers, DLF and AMC, I prefer to leave on attack duty, to give them most freedom to take risks in both creating and finishing chances. As I mentioned before, AM(A) starts deeper than a Shadow Striker role, which allows it to avoid opposition defender marking for longer which in turn helps him to be in better positions to create chances for the other attackers or arrive late in the penalty zone to shoot on goal. He can act as a playmaker without needlessly being designated as one and becoming a target for opposition markers. I also tend to give him some Shadow Striker-like individual instructions. The asymmetric set-up is also an advantage as it tends to help my AMC with running the channels and generally create a lot of varied movement in the final third.

TO BE CONTINUED...

To be fair, I'm not a 4-2-3-1 guy, I almost hate it hahaha. But I move to 4-2-3-1 from 3-5-2 and it is just solid, even with simple and not fancy roles such DM or AM, no IWB, no IFB, etc as base. At first I use BWM on defend and Regista, but now I think double DMs on support gives me more, but it really depends on the players. As for AM, I try use AP on support and SS, but the best so far is just AM on support, maybe give him instruction like roaming or move into channels. Wingers are flexible, sometimes IW, W, even AP or WTM, depends on situation

keeper#1 · June 16

8 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

But FB(A) is not hardcoded to cross from byline. Just look in the screenshot you provided. "Cross from byline" option is not green. That's why I was confused by your initial comment. Sure, you can't select "cross from deep" but it does not mean that the role is programmed to cross from byline. Actually, its quite contrary. I find that the beauty of FB(A) is that under right conditions (especially the combination of fast pace and default-to-direct passing) there is increased likelihood of FB(A) crossing sooner before getting to final third.

Also, I guess it depends on your definition of crossing from deep. I was never much for route one type of football, even in my Defence-First tactics. But I'm happy to see my fullbacks crossing before getting to the byline line. Especially when on the other flank I have a wingback trying to cross from byline. More tactical variety is always better. I don't both fullbacks to cross from our own half. That would just be wasteful unless you are playing with two strikers, and one tall boy striker at least.

Excellent point. I saw that "cross from deep" was unavailable and just assumed that "cross from byline" was hard-coded for FB(a). That's what I get for assuming. I'll take a deeper dive into FB(a)....I need some attacking width on that side of the pitch.

crusadertsar · June 16

3 hours ago, Medio Volante said:

Currently playing with 4-2-3-1 myself, how do you like the movements of your double pivot? Do you feel like they move up too far, especially with 'counter' instruction on? Because that's the reason for me to always have one guy on defend duty, mainly Anchor. Even sometimes I catch my anchor being too aggressive (both in possession and in attacking transition).

Even on defend duty there is always a chance that your midfielder will feel like leaving his position during an attack. That's why decision attribute exists. Players are not meant to be automatons. But i find that combination of Balanced Team mentality and "hold position" individual instruction helps. If you find it's not enough then you can add "more disciplined" shout. I do that sometimes for those important Champions League games. But I find my players to be disciplined enough to stick to their position even with "counter" ticked. But that's not surprising given how good Pizarro's mental attributes are.

crusadertsar · June 16

12 hours ago, naufal husain said:

To be fair, I'm not a 4-2-3-1 guy, I almost hate it hahaha. But I move to 4-2-3-1 from 3-5-2 and it is just solid, even with simple and not fancy roles such DM or AM, no IWB, no IFB, etc as base. At first I use BWM on defend and Regista, but now I think double DMs on support gives me more, but it really depends on the players. As for AM, I try use AP on support and SS, but the best so far is just AM on support, maybe give him instruction like roaming or move into channels. Wingers are flexible, sometimes IW, W, even AP or WTM, depends on situation

4-2-3-1 is glorious isn't it! The DM variant especially. I might sound like a broken record, but a good 4-2-3-1 just cant be matched in how it balances attack and defence. Your team has to be built from the ground up to fit the formation mind you. But unlike other "fancier"/more exotic formations it is rather easy to fit almost any team to it. And when you get a particularly good squad to gel well with such a tactic, oh boy are you in for a treat.

I mean sure we are AC Milan in 2030. Nevertheless, this is me playing every match on Balanced Team mentality with few actual attack duties. Only 8 goals conceded and 44 goals scored so far with 15 from my main DLF striker.

In my next update I'll try show what my team looks like and how each player fits their assigned role.

Edited June 16 by crusadertsar

BrunosTaxi · June 18

Hi everyone, I would like to know if you do any adjustments on your defense first tactic when facing the "big teams"

I'm currently managing Newcastle. After 3 seasons, I've managed to create my own defensive-solid tactic that plays the way I wanted.

However, I discovered that when I played against the "big teams", we always struggled to control possession and defend open plays. We concede 2+ goals regularly against them even tho I have players that match their quality

Here's the tactics I use:

Fox-7- · June 18

2 ore fa, BrunosTaxi ha scritto:

Hi everyone, I would like to know if you do any adjustments on your defense first tactic when facing the "big teams"

I'm currently managing Newcastle. After 3 seasons, I've managed to create my own defensive-solid tactic that plays the way I wanted.

However, I discovered that when I played against the "big teams", we always struggled to control possession and defend open plays. We concede 2+ goals regularly against them even tho I have players that match their quality

Here's the tactics I use:

I'd stick with the first tactic since big teams almost always bring their fullbacks forward while remaining more vulnerable on the flanks where you can hit them on the counter. Maybe with the 1st tactic you could tone things down a bit to be more conservative out of possession without losing the threat to your opponent. IWB could be IFB and BWM could became a simple CMs with 'Hold position' PI. I'd increase both tempo and passing directness, remove 'Hold shape' TI and switch to at least a mid block with standard pressing, you are still a very good team and maybe you don't need to go for a low block

Edited June 18 by Fox-7-

crusadertsar · June 18

2 hours ago, BrunosTaxi said:

Hi everyone, I would like to know if you do any adjustments on your defense first tactic when facing the "big teams"

I'm currently managing Newcastle. After 3 seasons, I've managed to create my own defensive-solid tactic that plays the way I wanted.

However, I discovered that when I played against the "big teams", we always struggled to control possession and defend open plays. We concede 2+ goals regularly against them even tho I have players that match their quality

Here's the tactics I use:

I like the look of your 2nd tactic! Makes me think of how I would visualize current German national team tactic at the Euros. Except maybe Kroos role set as a very creative halfback. I really like how this team plays and have been working on a recreation of it in FM24.

BrunosTaxi · June 18

4 小时前, crusadertsar说:

I like the look of your 2nd tactic! Makes me think of how I would visualize current German national team tactic at the Euros. Except maybe Kroos role set as a very creative halfback. I really like how this team plays and have been working on a recreation of it in FM24.

Yes! It was indeed inspired by the Germany tactic! We definitely need a HB on support for the kroos role for fm25.

This tactic in game is attacking so well but also not that good at defending. I got a 5-3 win against Arsenal. That’s why I won’t use it against big teams unless I can make the defense more solid. Because I just hate conceding:(

crusadertsar · June 23

Defence-First 4-2-3-1 Continued

First Some Context

The curious thing with playing any Football Manager is that it’s a kind of game where the best rewards
are reaped only some 500 hours into your playtime with it, preferably with the same save. In my opinion
it is largely because FM is a game that is built on procedural content in which, after a season or two, no
virtual footballing world is the same. And if you are lucky enough, or most likely persistent and patient
enough, to sink more than a handful of seasons into the same save then the true potential of FM starts
to open up. The real fun begins! Because I am someone who tends to watch almost every match on at
least extended highlights, and fiddle endlessly with tactics, by the time I need more than one hand to
count the number of elapsed seasons, I’m already starting to get into the “endphase” of any given FM
game cycle (Summertime every year since 2013).

Amazing thing with FM, is that every time you play the game and advance the virtual clock, there is a
chance that something could happen which could push its virtual football world further away from the real footballing reality. Old sleeping giants might rise to dominate the top division, or an old powerful club might sink to new lows. Or Newcastle might win the Champions League trophy (I know right! But it really happened in my save).

Then you add the “newgen” players, which the game injects into the
simulation every spring in the game calendar, into the equation for even more fun. Given enough time
you start seeing some interesting new superstars and even old stars get shuffled around to surprising
clubs. The more time passes in the game, the more interesting it gets!
As an example, let me give you a glimpse into Real Sociedad club in my longest running FM24 save, now
in 2031 (eight years into the simulation).

I started this save in the autumn of 2023 (both in real time and in game time) when FM24 was still in
Beta. From then on, my only club for 6.5 seasons in-game and over 500 hours in real-time has ended up being my long-beloved Real Sociedad in LaLiga.

Fast-forward to February 2030. A streak of bad form and I found myself on the wrong end of a board-
room gang-bang. A promise was made to not play my long-time keeper Alex Remiro (for aren’t
goalkeepers the perfect scapegoats for all team troubles?).

Then a few weeks later I prompted to break that promise by playing Alex in two matches. It was an easy
choice at that time because my other board-room-endorsed keeper was recovering from a moderate
injury. So there I was, after nearly seven years with the same club, without a job, but with plenty of hard choices to make. Which brings me to my current story. The story, which to me at least, perfectly
illustrates the beautiful joy of playing any Football Manager late in its yearly cycle (usually summer of any year and 4-5 month before the next FM iteration comes out) going as far back as the early 2000s.

The main thing that I learned over all these years playing Football Manager is that you should not be
afraid to change things up (and not only tactically) because you never know how it's going to affect the
game world and where it will bring you. And this becomes more and more apparent the longer you play
the same save.

So there I was, sacked by my favourite club but looking to make the best of the situation. I ended up taking AC Milan job because their long-time legendary manager Carlo Ancelotti just retired. AC Milan has been one of my favourite clubs even before I started playing FM (you want to guess why?).

So the job seemed a tempting one. And perhaps an opportunity to test a new 4-2-3-1 tactic?

To make it short and sweet, the tactic proved to be very good indeed and fit Milan's squad like a glove. With almost no player transfers I was able to win almost everything with them (except for Champions
League).

Yet, all that this sweet Treble seemed to do was fuel even more my appetite to win something big
with my Sociedad and their handcrafted, Basque-packed (thanks to me haha) squad. And because I waited an opportunity presented itself!

When Los Txuri-Urdin's manager was tempted away by the bigger riches of Chelsea and greater glory of Premiere League, I was overjoyed to be presented with another opportunity to manage in San Sebastien. Perhaps the winning tactic from Serie A could also work well in LaLiga? Afterall it was a Defence-First system that helped me to win the league with the least goals conceded and the most goals scored.

My 4-2-3-1 Tactic Role Break Down:

My tactic largely stayed the same throughout my season in Italy, but there were a few tactical tweaks which I would like to discuss and show how they apply to Real Sociedad.

1) Regista - the most Italian of all FM roles and one that can make aging AMC playmakers useful again.

Also, my Serie A experience has inspired me to finally relax and put a regista in my double pivot! Also thank you to my Brazilian reader from twitter Rafael for suggesting that regista is probably the best use of aging Oyarzabal's very good technical skills. Mikel might not have the same legs and stamina but his vision and passing are better than ever. I am hoping to get another 2-3 seasons from him (and maybe crack the 600 lifetime club appearances mark).

The thing with regista is that it's basically a more aggressive deep-lying playmaker which offers a more dynamic and unpredictable outlet for passes from the backline to the attackers. And unlike Roaming Playmaker, who will now get further forward and into the AMC strata (due to positional play programming), the regista will still mainly stay deep in line with his DM partner. So in an otherwise conservative, "boring" tactic, a regista should inject just the right amount of unpredictability and flair.

The regista/DM(S) pairing will still remain defensively solid enough to allow our fullback and wingback more freedom to advance. The reason why I chose these two roles is because they can offer varied movement on their respective flanks. The Fullback (A) is still primarily a defensive role even with the more attacking mentality. Hence why I decided to put him next to my more progressive regista. A fullback will cover the defensive quarter of the field and push up only when needed, while a wingback will be much more proactive in his attacking movement along his side of the field. Therefore wingbacks usually work best when you either have: 1) no wingers on his side of field or 2) there is attacking inside forward in front of the wingback. While if you have a traditional wingers or wide midfielders you’re probably best off with a simple fullback behind them. I believe that all tactics can be better of with some tactical variety. Thus having both a winger and a inside forward working alongside a wingback and a fullback can only make your tactic more varied and balanced. And that, in my opinion, is a sign of a good Defence-First tactic.

2) Why I use both Fullback and Wingback?

As a general rule of thumb in FM:

FB (A) will overlap wide players in the CM strata (as in a 4-4-2 or 4-1-4-1) and will crosses early.

WB (A) will overlaps wide players in the AMC strata (like in a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3), and will try to dribble more and to get to the byline before crossing. Wingbacks also have a higher starting position than fullbacks too. Generally you will want your more technical players to play as a fullback while one who is better in defensive attributes (such as tackling and marking) to be the Fullback (even one with attack duty).

Jon Pacheco, a most loyal team leader, and one of the best fullbacks I have had the pleasure to ever manage at Real Sociedad. His attributes might not be much to look at but its all you usually need for a solid fullback.

3) The Story of Two Strikers - Flexibility in Attack

This is what my front four looks like. For some of the matches at least.

I decided to play my AMC centrally again, rather then in offset asymmetric set-up. This way the player can decide which of the two half-spaces he can roam into. It allows for more tactical flexibility and unpredictability. All three of my AM roles remain the same while the striker will change depending on the situation. Let me explain by showing you my first-choice striker and the best youth product of Real Sociedad cantera academy, Cristian Villanueva (2025 grad).

The kid is a wizard in his favoured Advanced Forward role. Which means that he excels at spearheading our attack, running in behind the opponent's defenders and generally giving the opposition defensive line major headaches by pinning them back into their own half at all times. So I tend to play him when I am the underdog facing a side that will try to press us more and attempt to play in our own half. Similarly in most Away matches, the opponent will go more on the offensive and try to press our defences. So that's another situation where Cristian will be allowed to play in the striker role. So that he can use his lightning-fast speed to its full potential during inevitable counter-attacks against these aggressively, pressing sides. His other strength is his versatility. When not pushing back the opposition defensive line, I have him bomb forward as our left winger. He definitely has the attributes for that role too. Then who is my striker you may ask? I do a little reshuffle and a few little role changes.

So when we are favoured to win (or just playing at home against an equally-matched side), on come my DLF Bellmunt and Shadow Striker Chechu. Bellmunt will hold up the ball and try to play more passes to my two half-space attackers, the Shadow Striker and Inside Forward. As you can see, asymmetry is back, mainly because I want SS and IF focus on using two different half-spaces. We also become a much more methodical side that prefers to keep hold of the ball and slowly pass it towards opposition goal. Slow and steady wins the race, or breaks through those pesky parked buses. Along with the switch of striker, there is also a pretty significant switch in the AMC role. To take the full advantage of the situation, the type of player I use has to change. Whereas before I needed Aimar, your typical flashy playmaker, to play a mostly supporting role (even on attack duty) behind AF Villanueva, now I have Shadow Striker Chechu bombing forward to take advantage of the space that opens up due to my Deep-lying Forward's movement. Chechu may not be a world-beater but he has just the perfect attributes for his very focused task.

It always amazes me how the tactic can change so much just from 1 or 2 role tweaks. Truly, the reason why I love Football Manager! Sometimes, it's the simple things that make all the difference.

TO BE CONTINUED in 2031-32 season with Real Sociedad ...

Edited June 23 by crusadertsar

HanziZoloman · June 23

Wow @crusadertsar really again one of your best. Explained with tactical insight and depth, combined with your passion and hunger for FM it’s a true readers delight. Thank you again and many times. Also the pictures are on point tactical explanations or beautiful moments from the golden area to linger around. That Shewa is what we remember all. FM let us bring the legends alive again.

With my Billericay side I am in the year 2071 but still following in your footsteps.

Latest impact has been the generic role of the AM(A) which I now design to match the player and the opponent. Here we have another piece to puzzle with. Especially in introducing the deadly AF role into the tactic. Superb!

Edited June 23 by HanziZoloman

jc577 · June 23

4 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

TO BE CONTINUED in 2031-32 season with Real Sociedad ...

Honestly, I've read pretty much all of your work and this post is hands down my favourite; an incredible mix of FM fantasy, tactical nuance and football romanticism. I was truly mesmerised and didn't want the piece to end! Amazing work @crusadertsar, cannot wait for more!

crusadertsar · June 23

Addendum to Last Update

I realized that I forgot to post the picture of my chosen DLF striker, Francisco Javier Bellmunt. One of the non-Basque leftovers from my predecessor's short reign at Anoeta. I decided to let him stay, for now. I guess it's a bit of a cop-out in my Basque-only policy but what my last experience with Real Sociedad taught me is that one must be flexible sometimes. I don't really have an equivalent or better Basque DLF striker to fill Bellmunt's shoes. And neither have my scouts found one. So he is my #1 DLF for now! He is a not a half-bad player too. I am actually sorta starting to like him (who can say no to that mohawk) so it's probably gonna be bittersweet hard to get rid of him once a proper newgen Basque supporting striker emerges.

A second screenshot I wanted to post is just for fun. Thought some of you guys would like to see my best player from AC Milan. He sort of personifies why I love playing long FM saves. Discovering those surprisingly-good newgens is just so satisfying. Especially when you can find a word-class old-school winger. A role that is not so common these days.

Meet Eugenio Picasso! A home-grown club captain and a true artist of a winger. He was a true pleasure to manage. Just before I left a bunch of "big" clubs made stupid huge transfer offers for him. I guess winning a treble really increases the player's value?! The last one was somewhere in the area of $200 million from Newcastle (they are a huge huge club in my save, winning Champions League in 2028). Nevertheless, I refused all the offers for him, not wanting my beloved Milan to end up without Picasso's services even without me at the helm. Surprisingly, Eugenio did not even bat an eyebrow and didn't make the usual expected fuss over the huge transfer refusals. I guess he is AC Milan man through and through. What a player! Hopefully he becomes their own Oyarzabal, A club legend and true one-club man.

Edited June 23 by crusadertsar

crusadertsar · June 23

10 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

Wow @crusadertsar really again one of your best. Explained with tactical insight and depth, combined with your passion and hunger for FM it’s a true readers delight. Thank you again and many times. Also the pictures are on point tactical explanations or beautiful moments from the golden area to linger around. That Shewa is what we remember all. FM let us bring the legends alive again.

With my Billericay side I am in the year 2071 but still following in your footsteps.

Latest impact has been the generic role of the AM(A) which I now design to match the player and the opponent. Here we have another piece to puzzle with. Especially in introducing the deadly AF role into the tactic. Superb!

Thank you for the kind words mate I was also inspired by your long-running Billericay save. 2071 now?! Truly amazing. I also look forward to reading your career updates on here. I dont think I will be able to reach that far into FM future with mine but I will certainly try haha. Keep it up!

@jc577 It warms my heart that you enjoyed this piece so much. Honestly, to me that's the whole point of writing these. To try to pass across some of my own enthusiasm for FM in general but also for grassroots Basque football and youth development in FM. I strongly hope that it's contagious haha. So watch out, I might just have more similar content coming very soon

Edited June 23 by crusadertsar

jc577 · June 23

33 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

@jc577 It warms my heart that you enjoyed this piece so much. Honestly, to me that's the whole point of writing these. To try to pass across some of my own enthusiasm for FM in general but also for grassroots Basque football and youth development in FM. I strongly hope that it's contagious haha. So watch out, I might just have more similar content coming very soon

I'm just glad you're back playing FM, I remember a while ago you posted somewhere that you didn't have much time to (real life getting in the way as it tends to do!), so it's awesome to see you back on here mate, and certainly with a bang.

It's definitely contagious haha, I'm also managing in Spain myself over in Valencia who start the game with a lot of quality HG talent, and I've vowed to retain all of them no matter what crazy bids come in, and make them the spine of a league-winning side.

crusadertsar · June 23

1 hour ago, jc577 said:

I'm just glad you're back playing FM, I remember a while ago you posted somewhere that you didn't have much time to (real life getting in the way as it tends to do!), so it's awesome to see you back on here mate, and certainly with a bang.

It's definitely contagious haha, I'm also managing in Spain myself over in Valencia who start the game with a lot of quality HG talent, and I've vowed to retain all of them no matter what crazy bids come in, and make them the spine of a league-winning side.

It's great to be back indeed :cool: . And managing in Spain is probably my favourite of all management locations. The ultra technical heritage of football, the competitive reserve B teams, famous youth development canteras, and the stiff competition in LaLiga in general. Cracking that Barcelona/Real Madrid nut to win the league still eludes me. And now Barca seems to have their best team ever, having just got their 2nd Champions League trophy in 8 years. There is just so much fodder for long-term saves. And Valencia is a great side. I am always wary when facing them. Some great newgens there. And now they even switched to a similar 4-2-3-1 to mine!

Edited June 23 by crusadertsar

HanziZoloman · June 23

vor 1 Stunde schrieb crusadertsar:

Thank you for the kind words mate I was also inspired by your long-running Billericay save. 2071 now?! Truly amazing. I also look forward to reading your career updates on here. I dont think I will be able to reach that far into FM future with mine but I will certainly try haha. Keep it up!

Hey there, thanks man! I am fighting relegation in the Championship for four seasons now. It#s really hard as the last few intakes gave little. This thread here helps much, my offense players are not that fast. I only have two fast wingers, the quick AF is way off first team level and the other heros are more good in movement and passing. I adopted a tactic very close to yours as I don't need that much fast players for the offense four (DLF/ AMC combo) any suggestions how you would tweak it, if you'd had less fast players (but a fast Winger) ? If you rely more on movement. Basically it works well, we stay clear of the relegation battle and sit mainly save in the lower midfield.

keeper#1 · June 23

I've never managed in Spain but might do it later this summer if my Swansea save falls apart or in FM25.

crusadertsar · June 23

1 hour ago, HanziZoloman said:

Hey there, thanks man! I am fighting relegation in the Championship for four seasons now. It#s really hard as the last few intakes gave little. This thread here helps much, my offense players are not that fast. I only have two fast wingers, the quick AF is way off first team level and the other heros are more good in movement and passing. I adopted a tactic very close to yours as I don't need that much fast players for the offense four (DLF/ AMC combo) any suggestions how you would tweak it, if you'd had less fast players (but a fast Winger) ? If you rely more on movement. Basically it works well, we stay clear of the relegation battle and sit mainly save in the lower midfield.

If I had slower attackers (albait one fast winger) then maybe putting a Poacher upfront would work? Try to channel your attack through this one clinical finisher. That or a good strong Targetman who can hold up the ball and play off AMC and IF.

crusadertsar · June 24

The Basque Talent Factory - My Real Sociedad's Cantera in FM24

The word "cantera" has a double meaning in Spanish. At its most basic it's just the word for "quarry" or hole in the ground from which precious minerals and ores are drawn from. The second meaning, which is probably more familiar to football fans, refers to youth academies and farm teams organized by sports clubs, especially football clubs in Spain. It is also used to refer to the geographical area that clubs recruit players from. In that respect some famous canteras are associated with several autonomous communities of Spain, notably those of Basque Country (Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad, and CA Osasuna) , Catalonia (Barcelona, Espanyol), Asturias (Sporting de Gijón), Valencia (Valencia CF) and Galicia (Celta de Vigo). It becomes the point of local national pride to develop the best local footballers, and the best footballers in Spain. The cantera football academies are at the center of this competitive grassroots movement. There are few other countries in the world that devote as much effort to developing young footballers. And honestly, I love Spanish football for this very reason.

Basques are no different when it comes to taking pride in aspiring to create the best footballers in Spain. It is a dream of every kid in the region to be chosen by the local team's academy. And there are quite a few old and established clubs in this relatively small region.

Since 1912, Athletic Bilbao have employed a "cantera policy", which has come to be defined as an official signing policy whereby Athletic will only recruit players with a link to the Basque Country. One of the main beneficiaries of the policy has been the Spanish national team. Over the years, Athletic has provided numerous players for it, second only to Real Madrid.

During the early 1920s, the Basque Country was a breeding ground of great Spanish players. It was the first area where the sport really became popular, and the influx of immigrants from all over Spain was also a factor in the region producing dozens of quality players. In 1920, Spain made their international debut and entered a team in the Olympic Games. Of the 21 players in the squad, 14 were Basques, among them Pichichi, José María Belauste, Domingo Acedo and Félix Sesúmaga.

Throughout their history, Athletic Bilbao have continued to produce many notable players while adhering to their strict policy. Among them were Telmo Zarra, the then all-time top La Liga goalscorer José Ángel Iribar (614 official matches with Athletic and a member of the Spanish national team when they won the European Championship in 1964), and Andoni Zubizarreta, who made a record 622 La Liga appearances and is also the second most capped Spanish international player. Other notable graduates of the Athletic cantera include Bata, Agustín Gaínza, José Luis Panizo, Andoni Goikoetxea, Julio Salinas, Julen Guerrero, Rafael Alkorta, Andoni Iraola, Fernando Llorente and Kepa Arrizabalaga. Their youth teams continue to be among the most productive in Spain.

Athletic were not the only club to have a cantera policy — fellow Basque club Real Sociedad operated a similar policy until 1989. Neither were Athletic the only Basque club that provided players for the 1920 Olympics squad. Real Sociedad, Real Unión and Arenas Club de Getxo also provided their players. In 1928, these four clubs became founding members of La Liga, demonstrating further the strength in depth of the Basque canteras at the time. The saying "Con cantera y afición, no hace falta importación", translated as "With home-grown teams and supporters, there is no need for imports", made sense during these early days.

Jose Bakero - my favourite Barcelona player (and Spanish footballer in general) during Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" era. That hair just screams 1980s!

The ability of the Basque Country to produce great players was made clear during the early 1980s when Real Sociedad and Athletic won four Liga titles in a row between 1981 and 1984. The Real Sociedad team included, among others, Roberto López Ufarte, José Mari Bakero, Luis Arconada and Jesús María Zamora. More recently, Xabi Alonso, a World Cup winner in 2010, is also a product of Real Sociedad's youth system.

Nowadays in 2020s, there are still at least 5 relatively big clubs in the region (I'm not counting the other smaller clubs from 3rd division and lower). Therefore, if you, like me, are interested in doing a Basque-focused save, there is actually a sizable pool of talent to draw from. It's not always an easy, stress-free experience. Notably, I have had a few stumbling blocks myself. Even got sacked for it :lol: So before starting that Basque-only save, take this as a word of caution. Depending on how far you are willing to go, it might become a rather significant challenge.

With the goal of becoming the best Basque Club in the world (winning the Champions League with ALL-Basque XI!) I amassed some of the standout youth products of the other big 4 Basque clubs in the region. Some of the notables include my very own "Basque Pirlo" and the next Andoni Zubizarreta (for all those 1980-90s football lovers!):

Iker Bakero - a powerful winger capable of playing on either wing. A product of illustrious Athletic Bilbao cantera. On principal, I try not to poach wonderkids from Real Sociedad's main rival. Simply because they operate with an actual Basque-only policy and I find it already gives them a disadvantage in the game. Athletic had a misfortune to get relegated early on in my save. And even though they quickly climbef back to LaLiga, they have not been the same club since. After losing most of their original stars, Athletic is currently going through a slow rebuild process which I hope will make them stronger. Having more Basque clubs in LaLiga can only be a good thing. So the only reason I acquired Iker was because he was already poached by Liverpool.

Inigo Martin - a sensational young keeper. Probably the best Basque keeper under-23 in my save. I brought Inigo with me to Italy (season-long loan) to get some valuable experience at the elite level. Aside from winning three trophies, being named Italian Serie A goalkeeper of the season and becoming fully fluent in Italian, he got much better in his favoured Sweeper Keeper role. Not only is Inigo a natural successor to Alex Remiro's mantle but also labelled as the next Andoni Zubizarreta (both Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona legend). Big shoes to fill indeed. He is the graduate of Osasuna's (Athletico Pamplona in FM24) cantera

Daniel Mateo - another lightning quick winger with lots of potential to develop further. He has amassed a lot of experience with Sociedad's B team (58 appearances) and is perhaps getting ready to make the jump to the 1st Team soon. Mateo's talent was first unearthed at Eibar's cantera academy. The 450K we spend to buy his services may yet prove to be a very good investment.

Daniel Sanz - my proudest acquisition so far. Daniel made a switch to Anoeta training ground and stadium after graduating from Alaves' famous football academy. A true professional and model citizen who is comfortable in almost any creative role across the midfield. He might become Aimar's eventual replacement in AMC position. Or maybe when Oyarzabal eventually retires, Daniel might be better off taking up the playmaking duties in a deeper position as a smooth-passing regista and a heir to Pirlo's fame?

Aritz Cordoba - another Alaves cantera graduate. Aritz is another very creative player but as a natural in CB position already, he is my current first choice for the Ball-Playing Defender role. Although, he could just as easily fill in for a DLP or regista. With so much room to develop, I am faced with some tough choices for his development in the future.

Since starting my Real Sociedad journey, I settled on a compromise cantera policy. This means that I will always give any Basque player priority in my First Team. So when comparing a Basque and an equally good non-Basque player, that both fit a specific role, I will sign the Basque. The only exception would be when there are no Basques that are good enough to fit the role in my First Team. I might have eventual candidates training with our reserve B Team or other youth teams. But if they are not ready for prime time, then they can't help us. Meaning I will sign and play the non-Basque temporarily until his Basque replacement matures enough to surpass him and offer more for the team. Sometimes it's a really close call, and I must closely study the attributes, hidden attributes and even future potential. Sometimes it's worth it bringing a young Basque player into the First Team squad. Even if he is not as good as the older player, given enough First Team playing hours the youngster might quickly flourish and surpass the older player.

Another avenue by which non-Basques, might exceptionally enter our First Team, is by coming through via one of our many affiliated clubs. They are counted as our cantera graduates and, provided they are good enough, I welcome them into our First Team, just as much as the Basques. Some of them, especially if they join the club young enough, will get Basque citizen status by learning the language and culture of the region.

Since I'm in 2031 and our Cantera has been running non-stop for 8 seasons now, I have more than enough home-grown (as well as poached from other academies) Basque players to fill most of the roles in my tactic. I find that FM24's squad planner tool is great for a quick visualization of the squad depth through both First Team and the youth teams. From a quick overview here, I can see right away where Real Sociedad has personnel holes that might only be filled by non-Basques, for the near future at least.

Naturally, managing in Spain means that you tend to get a lot of very good technical midfielders and wide forwards. The goalkeepers and strikers are also plentiful, although strikers tend to come in the smaller and nimble trequartista mold (like Cheche and Villanueva shown in my previous post).

Taking a quick look at my squad planner, we can see right away that we lack some depth in the fullback/wingback positions and in the centreback position. While we possess a few players that fit the centreback role, they tend to be on the shorter and less strong side. One thing that my Italian experience taught me is that you cannot underestimate the power of a good-old powerful giant in the centreback position to intercept those floating crosses and win headers during important set-pieces. AC Milan's central defenders were mostly of the tall and strong mold, and thus it came without a surprise that we won the most centrepiece goals in the league. Sadly, at Real Sociedad there is no centreback that fits this role very well (with their Jumping Reach mostly in 13-15 range). So in this case, I might very well have to resort to filling this position with some foreign talent.

Jumping Reach of 20 at 19! Yes please! Having grown up on watching a lot 1990s-early2000s football, I learned early that as a football manager you can never go wrong with a giant Serb defender.

The role of the right DM (non-regista, workhorse one) might also become an issue because my two regulars Guillamon and Zubimendi are 31 and 32 y.o respectively and soon to be past their prime. Injuries might also play a factor. Their most promising young replacement has just returned from a season-long loan to our Slovenian affiliate Maribor. Albistegi improved a lot on his mentals and physicals but his technical skills still need maturing before he can break into the First Team.

Speaking of loan outs. I tend to avoid them when it comes to developing young players whom I would like to keep at the club in the future. Usually how my youth progression pathway goes is as follows:

1) In their first year my 15-16 y.o 3-5 star potential graduate is allowed to play at least one season in our u19 youth team. Then depending how good he is, he might stay there until he reaches 19 years of age.

2) But if he is better than average then in 1-2 years he might earn himself a move up to our Reserve B Team. For this to happen, usually the youngster must possess minimum 2 star ability. So Albistegi above could very well end up in the B Team. Real Sociedad's B Team is in 2nd Spanish Division so the level of competition is pretty strong. But the only problem is that there is a max salary that we can accrue per squad. So once the player's contract goes above a certain level, it gets harder for me to retain him there. Especially when I have 2-3 other youngsters pushing up from the u19 team to get more higher level experience.

3) So that is where loans come into play. If I cannot play my high-potential above 19 y.o youngster in our B Team because of his big salary, and he is not good enough to be a substitute in our First Team, then out on loan he goes. Until one of the First Teamers retires or is transferred out. Players who are unlikely to be ever good enough for First Team I tend to sell early. Or in some cases I drop them into our C Team Reserve to run down their contract there. I tend to skip C Team because it is not in high enough competition to help in the youth development.

4) Some of the foreign non-Basque players whom I acquire to sell for profit later, or to eventually play in the First Team if no Basque player is available, end up in our B Team. They might never end up playing for Real Sociedad in LaLiga but at least they can help in keeping our B Team from getting relegated down from 2nd Division. I cannot stress how important it is to have this reserve team in a relatively high league and providing high-level playing experience for our Basque young talents. And a perfect testing ground for the graduates of our Cantera.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Edited June 24 by crusadertsar

HanziZoloman · June 24

Nice piece of work. I am reading it all, a strong big Serbian defender is kind of a dream here though!
love it

jc577 · June 24

15 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

It's great to be back indeed . And managing in Spain is probably my favourite of all management locations. The ultra technical heritage of football, the competitive reserve B teams, famous youth development canteras, and the stiff competition in LaLiga in general. Cracking that Barcelona/Real Madrid nut to win the league still eludes me. And now Barca seems to have their best team ever, having just got their 2nd Champions League trophy in 8 years. There is just so much fodder for long-term saves. And Valencia is a great side. I am always wary when facing them. Some great newgens there. And now they even switched to a similar 4-2-3-1 to mine!

We came very close to beating Madrid & Barca to the La Liga Title in our second season... it was in our hands with 3 games to go (3 points clear of both), but a 1-1 draw away to Las Palmas and a 5-0 spanking at the Camp Nou ensured we finished third, and this season we've been way off it - wonder if the heartbreak of last season has affected the morale of the squad?

Alas, I'm sure we will come back stronger next season, with a tactical revamp - actually thinking of building upon your 4222 idea for FM24

DavutOzkan · June 25

I have gotten fully invested in managing a proper Athletic Club game this FM, and it has been my most enjoyable FM save ever, partly because of the cantera, but also because Spain is a great country to manage in for the reasons you've mentioned. I just wish SI would fix some of the annoyances regarding registration and salary caps though. It has also helped me to focus more on tactics than ever before. I used to be a simple "set it and forget it" type of manager in FM, but having to develop a tactic around the newgens has been interesting, and difficult at times.

I am at the point know where I place top-three in the league consistently but Real Madrid have won something like seven or eight LaLiga titles in a row, and I just cannot seem to get close to them.

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