Two Decades of Football Manager: Tactical Re-enactments. Part 1 Mourinho's Chelsea [FM2005], Part 2 Rijkaard's Barcelona [FM2006], and Part 3 Ancelotti's Milan [FM2007]

[oldschoolfm]

yes! looking forward!

[fraudiola]

FORZA MILAN

[bosque]

I can't believe the Ronaldinho numbers. Especially because "inside forward" wasn't even a thing back then

[AceCream]

On 08/10/2024 at 10:05, bosque said:

I can't believe the Ronaldinho numbers. Especially because "inside forward" wasn't even a thing back then

Crazy right? I have played a lot of these old games throughout the years but have never gotten a wide player to score so many goals. HOWEVER, he did take penalties and free kicks and scored 13 penalty goals this season:

 

[AceCream]

 

Part 3: Ancelotti's Milan in FM2007

Historical Background:

In the 2006/2007 season, Ancelotti was left with an aging Milan squad full of superstars either in or leaving their prime. Balon d'Or winner Shevchenko had just left for Mourinho's Chelsea, and the Rossoneri were starting to look a bit deflated after performing at such a high level for nearly 7 years under Ancelotti. Their defeat at the hands of Liverpool in Istanbul two years prior had taken a toll mentally on a lot of players, and the core group felt like this season might be their last dance. Ancelotti was blessed with talent in the midfield, including Pirlo, Kakà, Seedorf, Gattuso, and Ambrosini. Silvio Berlusconi, the club's owner, infamously wanted his team to field 2 strikers and a number 10. This meant that Ancelotti usually used a narrow midfield diamond in a 4-4-2 or a 4-3-1-2. However, with the departure of Shevchenko and replacement Ricardo Oliveira not performing as well as hoped, Ancelotti often only fielded one striker (either Inzaghi or Gilardino). This meant that with an added midfielder, the formation turned into a 4-3-2-1, or what is commonly known as the Christmas Tree Formation. 

(Ancelotti's Christmas Tree) [1]

It is important to note that these formations and systems were developed by Ancelotti more out of necessity due to the players he had rather than some tactical ideology like Total Football or Gegenpressing. The team was less system-based and focused mainly on getting all these attacking players onto the pitch together without losing too much defensive balance. His teams usually lacked attacking width and played narrowly. As TIFO Football explains, such a formation has two inherent issues:

1. Insufficient defensive solidity centrally with too many playmakers.
2. A lack of width.

The first issue was solved by fielding both Ambrosini and Gattuso, more defensively-minded players, to protect the playmaking Pirlo in the defensive-midfield area. Seedorf and Kakà played in the attacking midfield position, but the extremely versatile Seedorf was capable of moving to more defensive areas to cover for either Pirlo or Ambrosini if they decided to attack. This resulted in a very fluid midfield, which would often see players swap positions, and even the stereotypically brutish Gattuso was technically brilliant. The lack of width was addressed by, instead of fielding a more traditional flat back 4, using the elite attacking fullbacks of Cafu, Serginho, Jankulovski, and Oddo. The latter two even pushed the two legendary Brazilian full-backs out of the starting line-up and started the Champions League final. 

Playstyle:

As usual, I will start out by looking at the team's reported formations on Transfermarkt. The team started off the campaign by almost exclusively using the 4-3-1-2. However, as the season progressed, you could see Ancelotti starting to move into the Christmas Tree formation, especially in the bigger games in Europe and against difficult opponents in the league. I will switch between these two formations and use the 4-3-2-1 in the more significant matches. This was the starting 11 and team shape against Liverpool in the Champions League final:

(Starting XI in the UCL Final)

Milan often used a mid-block or even low block resembling a 4-4-1-1 at times utilizing quick counters with the devastating passing ability of Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo exemplified the role of the Regista (which fittingly means director in Italian) with his passing abilities. The midfield three of Pirlo, Gattuso and Ambrosini all possessed world-class ball-playing abilities and the team could easily play out from the back or go direct when needed. If I were to set up the team in FM2024 it would look something like this:

(The Christmas Tree Formation in FM24)

In attack, the team looked to play the ball in behind onto the running lone striker or tried to deliver crosses into the box. This striker was usually Inzaghi, one of the greatest poachers of all time, or Gilardino who offered more physicality. The strikers would, however, also drop deep to contest for aerial balls or move into the channels, leaving space for the onrushing Kakà or Seedorf to run into and score. Kakà was usually fielded on the right side of the attacking midfield and had the freedom to roam, almost behaving like a second striker. He was of course, the team's talisman and focal point in attack. Regarded as one of the most direct and powerful dribblers of his generation. His goal against Manchester United remains as one of my all-time favorite goals and brilliantly showcases his dribbling and brutal acceleration:

 

Implementation in FM2007:

I love this game so much. The tactics creator is still the same as in FM2006, but the look and feel is just so good for some reason. Nostalgia plays a role, of course, and this was the first game I really stuck my teeth into when I was 14. The first thing I noticed was that the attributes of all players have been toned down. This is probably due to the incredibly inflated attributes of the players in the previous games. Here we can see the difference in Ronaldinho's Attributes, for example:

(Ronaldinho in FM2007)

Compare this with the Ronaldinho of FM2006, and you can see that all of his attributes have decreased by about 2-3 across the board. Considering this is the season after he won the Balon D'or and Champions League his attributes would more likely have seen a bump. But this is good in my opinion. Even mediocre players in FM2005 and 06 had WAY too inflated attributes. 

Anyways, my formation and team instructions will look like this to start off with:

  

(Starting XI and Team Instructions)

A lot of the sliders are set to the middle for the team instructions, but for individual player instructions this will vary. I have never tried the Focus Play through the Middle instruction before nor played with such a deep line, as well as rarely pressing the opponent. Hopefully, I'm not being too conservative out of possession. This is roughly the shape I want to see without the ball:

(Proposed Out of Possession Shape)

While in possession I aim to take this shape:

(Proposed In Possession Shape)

Hopefully, this can be achieved with the correct player instructions and cleverly placed movement arrows. Which will be the focal point of my next post where we will look more detailed into player roles and instructions as well as showcasing the team.

I am going to end it on Il Capitano himself, Paolo Maldini:

(Paolo Maldini in FM2007)

References: 

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=EeZW_X-qklg
2. Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid
3. Quiet Leadership, Carlo Ancelotti

 

 

Edited October 11 by AceCream

[Los_Culés]

This is an awesome thread! 

I love old FMs and what a read from the tactical perspective as well!  I still have CDs with FM05-07 somewhere but no CD drive in my notebook . I would like to try FM07 again (currently playing FM11, FM12 and FM24). 

[oldschoolfm]

im really looking forward to see you implement that shape using arrows!