[Functional Play: an FM attempt to reproduce Fernando Diniz's Fluminense]

So basically, what this boils down to, is having one playmaker being surrounded by five or six players, giving him plenty of passing options in theory. Maybe we can "cheat" a bit, by using a positional play light? I.e. sort of imagining the positions the players may have to end up, to be fully effective? 

As for the striker: I also had my problems with the Advanced Forward, as he wasted too many chances. As I said, you probably need a Haaland-type of striker. But maybe a Complete Forward on attack could do the trick? Still scoring goals, but also being more involved in build-up and perhaps also playing more one-two passes? I may try that out.

[Functional Play: an FM attempt to reproduce Fernando Diniz's Fluminense]

I've found an interesting article on Twitter, which our very own @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! shared. Thanks a lot! Though on the matter of functionalism, only the first paragraph is really interesting. 

https://medium.com/@clarissabarcala/julian-nagelsmann-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-20a425016fe9

Didn't watch Bayern that much over the past season. But some bits of the article ring a bell, especially in the context of this thread. 4-2 shape in buildup, players being clustered in the middle or focusing one side in attack. 

[Functional Play: an FM attempt to reproduce Fernando Diniz's Fluminense]

I've implemented this tactic myself, but mirrored. So the CWB is for example on the right side and so on. When it works, it's a really good tactic that provides lots of scoring and a tight defense. But the high defensive line naturally also caused me some goals, where the opponent's striker simply outran my defenders. But also I have the feeling you really need a Haaland type of striker to be really successful. Many times, my strikers miss plenty of 1vs1s or headers and end up with a 6.3 rating or worse. My team also bunches up in the middle and they can't really figure out a way to unlock tight defenses.

What I tried from the other thread that linked here, was to remove the team instruction of shorter passing, giving it to most players as a player instruction instead. I also told most players to shoot less, in the hope of creating more quality chances. But the results haven't really changed so far. I'm playing the Console Edition, so once my team's morale tanks, it's hard to get it back up again. I have a bad run of results and I'm afraid I'll be sacked soon in my second season. But I don't blame your tactics. As I said, when it works, it's really good football.

[FM21 | Method in the madness | Kasımpaşa S.K]

2 minutes ago, Dan1884 said:

I must have some kind of link to Erdogan, I did Basaksehir before totally unaware of the link there and now this too, I noticed their ground was named after him after I'd already got it running, when the idea all along was just to pick what seemed like a middle of the road Turkish side.

I think by default you have to focus on Turkish talent somewhat, but the method in this madness is going to be similar to what I did at Annecy, and most other clubs, I just can't resist scouring for those bargains and the fact there's no restriction on non-EU is a help as it means we can actually bring in a good number of South Americans rather than just 4.

The first season is a bit of a slog though as expected, I'm playing with a team of whom I expect the majority gone this time next season.

What you could do is to look for bargains in countries that once belonged to the Ottoman Empire or a Turkic nations like Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and so on. So you can create a Neo-Ottoman team with a strong Turkish core. But South American talent is always good.

[FM21 | Method in the madness | Kasımpaşa S.K]

Kasimpasa is an interesting project. The clubs comes from the part of Istanbul Recep Tayyip Erdogan comes from, their stadium is also named after him and I think they were supposed to be Erdogan's club until Basaksehir arrived.

Your approach sounds interesting, especially with you going to make use of Turkish talent. I'll keep following!

[Manchester City Pep Guardiola Analysis and Tactical Recreation]

Hi there! I've been reading this forums for a long time and the tactics section in particular. Over the past years, I've been reading threads that went into the direction of replicating Pep Guardiola's tactics, Total Football or simply producing possession tactics. So naturally, I read your thread with huge interest and tried to implement your tactics into FM.

Now I've got to say, I'm using FMT17. Why? Simply because I've got an old laptop and haven't been able to afford a new computer, let alone FM21 so far. Plus I like the more streamlined gameplay of Football Manager Touch. Now I understand that match engines change between each game, as it develop along with football tactics. Still, the basic principles behind each tactic can be applied to any FM more or less, at least in my opinion. Granted, I probably couldn't do a good tactic with IWBs in FM15 for example, a game I put way more than 1000 hours into. If I recall correctly, FM15 didn't implement the IWB well enough, but FM17 definitely does.

Anyway, what I wanted to achieve with my tactic, was the replicate what Pep does at City. Mostly the front five offensive line, with both central midfielders using the space between the central striker and the wingers. I took Hoffenheim, because I like managing in the Bundesliga - as a German, I naturally know that league well - and Hoffenheim always had some great talent in each game. I went with your formation involving the two wide midfielders, the shadow striker, the attacking midfielder and the false nine. Here's what I witnessed:

1. Congestion in front of the opponent's box. Lots of it. I've had my players up front, but they kept passing the ball amongst themselves, with nobody attempting to make a run into the box. The opponent was also parking the bus. Though this is an issue possession-based teams faced in real life as well. Still, I have two support duties and three attacking duties, so in theory, someone should make a run. But the only threat from my team came from the wide midfielders, who more often than not missed their chances.
2. I'm fairly suspectible to counter attacks. I've got some beatings like a 0-6 against Dortmund or a 0-5 against Olympiakos in the Europa League. Most of these goals came from counters. This also happened in real life. When a possessing team got stuck at the opponent's defense and lost their ball, they didn't have enough men at the back to stop the counter attack.
3. But: If the tactics worked, it worked beautifully. I handed out some good beatings as well. Plus I often manage to get 60+% in possession, though that usually happened in matches where I lost.
4. I originally didn't use your high pressing settings, because I didn't quite trust my defenders. Rightfully so, because they're not very good and I haven't been able to buy better ones yet. I guess this is the reason, Pep spent hundreds of millions on new central defenders, lol. Only in the recent matches in my save, I went "all in", when I hit a crisis. This boosted my possession numbers, but didn't increase penetration.

I finished my first season in 6th, while I'm currently at 9th in my second season, which is in line with pre-season prediction. But I feel I could compete right for the Champions League positions, if I solved the issues with my tactics. Here's what I would do:

1. I'd change the formation into a 4231, with one central midfielder drawn back into the DM position. I like your setup with the three at the back and the DM in front of them, so I'll keep that. Even though I found that the IWB close to the DM won't be able to fulfill his duties, because he seems to lack the room then. I don't mind this that much, because I can always change him into a FBd. The DM and the other IWB make a nice double pivot, which I reckon will be enough to recycle possession.
2. The remaining central midfielder will be a BBM that gets further forward and moves into channels. While I want him to contribute in offense, I also want him to do his defensive part, so I have an additional player that can help fending off counters.
3. I'll keep the F9/SS setup, so I've got to adjust the winger roles accordingly. I think I'll go with a Winger on support on one side and with either an Inside Forward or a Raumdeuter on the other. FM17 didn't have an inside forward yet, so maybe I'll have to build one myself from an inside forward.

Now, defeats like the 0-6 against Dortmund make me angry. But at the same time, this gives my save some sort of realism. You can't just implement a Guardiola-like football at a mid-table Bundesliga team from the get go. It takes years for it to happen, if it does at all. But I'll see what I can achieve with a 4231. Your thread has been pretty inspiring and helpful, so I'll keep watching this one and see, how you can solve the remaining issues with your tactics.