Hoofenballen

Im probably in a minority but i never want to know what breaks the game, because then ill rely on breaking the game, as opposed to managing a football team. If i know for example that a certain set up is inherently better than the other, regardless of the situation its played in, that takes all the fun away for me.

Id kind of contest when it comes to FM, not even the people who write here or spend hours on youtube (which would make me hate my life if i was playing this game all day every day but thats entirely different) know how FM works. There are that many variables going on at the same time that all you can do is make adjustments and hope they work on a particular given day, or develop an overally philosophy around the tweaks youve made. It should be like that, or else we would all be going on a plug and play quest where we just search for the most game breaking role cobimations and instructions instead of playying properly

I dont think it has to be all that complicated. Just ask simple questions. To play the style you want, do you want the left and right back to overlap their wide man? underlap their wide man? make a back 3 with the centre backs? that decides the roles you put on them. What are your midfielders supposed to do? sit and form a pivot? get forward to create or attack space, score maybe? determines the roles What kind of striker do you need? one who drops deep? one who runs behind? maybe you play 2 forwards and a combination of both Then just watch the games and tweak things until they play the way you visualise, regardless of whether it makes "sense" or was what you had in mind at first. Dont go too aggressive on the team mentality, it doesnt have to always be positive and above to score goals And likewise, support duties dont mean players dont attack. Some roles naturally compliment each other, so look to buld around those. An easy one would be deepl lying forward (s) compliments an advanced forward (a) in a two man strike partnership etc, so build on those

Work rate, stamina, positioning, decisions and teamwork i would consider to be the "fundamentals" of adopting this approach for winning the balls high up the pitch

Ive not read through the entire thread, but i get the gist of the thread. Away games for sure are harder than home games and ive fallen into the rabbit hole before of wondering why I was so dominant at home and yet so rubbish away with certain teams. The more ive played the game, the more the results have become more balanced for me. Id say there are some general things that ive found help (they might not be correct, or it might just be anecdotal) When playing away, its logical to drop the mentality down, the line of engagement and the defensive line. Pretty much goes without saying. If you feel like you are conceding shots from the 18 yard range, i find it helps to ask your defenders to "step up" as a team instruction, and close down more as player instructions. Essentially telling them defend from defensive line position X, but when theres a threat, block it like your life depends on it!! If you are looking for quicker transitions, RAISING the tempo and passing directness a notch above middle helps. So rather than a patient "craft out a chance" type approach, players will look to work if forward quickly to try and take advantage of any gaps left behind by the home team Trapping I see it as a two fold thing: If you trap INSIDE its a riskier strategy, but forcing an opposition player inside into a ball winning midfielder for example could result in a transition opportunity to expose the gap where the opposition player was forced inside from. A lower risk strategy is to trap outside; I see this as a way of ensuring you are slightly more compact and defending from the "inside out"..... so your players will sit in a narrower formation and push the opposition away from the goal. Coupled with "inviting crosses" i always think this is a "block the goal by putting everyone across the 18 yard box" type strategy. Because you are likely to win the ball in deeper positions, i feel its advantageous to as certain players to DRIBBLE you up the pitch by running with the ball from their position forwards before they offload a pass. Ive used the "run with the ball" option as a team instruction on occasions, but ill often just select players like the wide players (full backs and wingers) plus perhaps one slightly more proactive midfielder to carry us up the field with dribbles. Dribbles are also good as the opposition might foul you and winning a free kick helps you regroup. Use a striker that is going to push the opposition backwards. "give them something to think about".... like an advanced forward. this gives your team a chance to put a ball forwards for the striker to chase onto, or better still an opportunity for a through ball in behind. If your striker keeps coming towards the ball all day then its hard to get up the pitch Ride out the storm..... if you set up with a solid formation and the opposition is struggling to break you down, as they start to tire it can be a good time to make some subs and press them a little harder at the back if their defensive players are tired. This is more of a.... i sense we can nick something last 15-20 mins type thing. Use cautiously though. Unless using an exploit type tactic, sometimes accepting a point can be a good result helps. If playing real tactics sometimes the opposition IS going to batter you, it happens for real. Taking a point can be a great result....even a narrow defeat in a two legged knockout tie can be ok. Dont get in the mindset that youll find a way to win every single game over and over, its not realistic. There WILL be days theres nothing you can do but its not to say its scripted, its just to say on that particular day you couldnt get the better of the opponent.

Hello Everyone Ive just started a CHILEAN save, utilising a medium database of: Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Spain, Italy, England This gives me access to a database of roughly 75,000 players. I feel like there should be more players though because finding talent will be hard. What databases do you select based on the team you are managing? and do you need a certain database size for a proper game? Thank you

Hello Everyone Ive been playing as Dynamo Kiev and im into season 2. I may write in the careers forum as its a very enjoyable team to manage. First season we pushed Shakhtar all the way for the title, eventually finishing 2nd but a long way ahead of third, whilst in europe we came through all the qualifying rounds but couldnt quite turn the draws into wins against our more reputable opponents in the Conference League group stage and we were eliminated. Now off the back of our performance last season we are in the champions league, so need to be solid and carry a threat to win against vastly superior opposition. Just wanted your thoughts on these tactics if possible. I am running with four tactics, and depending on the opposition/time of season and threats, i swap in the 4th tactic as and when: Home Tactics: Standard patient passing tactic used most of the time Aggressive pass and move home tactic: for weaker opponents or where we need more creativity Pragmatic away tactic used against most opponents in most situations which defends pretty solidly Proactive away tactic where we are getting more possession and have an opportunity to look more threatening Across the four tactics, ive been going with these player instructions: GK/SK: None IWB/L: Close down more, mark tighter CB/L: Close down more, mark tighter CB/R: Close down more, mark tighter CWB/WB R: Close down more, mark tighter SV/L: Move into channels, more risky passes HB/R: More direct passes IW/L: Stay Wider AM/C: Mark opposition DMC(L), roam from position, move into channels, dribble more, more risky passes TRQ/IW R: Cut inside with ball (as a trequartista); Stay wide, cut inside with ball (as an inverted winger) AF/A: Mark opposition DMC(R) Why these player positions and roles? Although ive not put the actual players onto the tactic as they swap around game to game, the principle of the tactic is: The main goalscorers of the team are the inverted winger on the left, and the advanced forward, with the attacking midfielder chipping in with goals at times and the occasional thunderbolt from the segundo volante. The objective of the tactic is a right sided overload which drags the opponent over towards the technically gifted players on the right side, for a quick switch of play into the inverted winger or through ball for chances. it also frees up the middle of the pitch for the segundo volante to get involved. Whoever plays in the Trequartista/inverted winger on the right position has player traits to come deep for the ball, move into channels, and come inside from the right wing. This is coupled with the advancing right wing back, the attacking midfielder who drifts over to the right channel and can come deep, and the half back who drops into what would be somewhere between a right centre back in a back 3 position and a right DM position, to create a 4 man passing "wedge" to play through opponents and drag the opposition out of shape The half back has a player trait to switch ball to flanks, which is great when coupled with more direct passing, as when hs is the player within the "wedge" who has the ball, he will sometimes orchestrate the pass to the left wing for the switch of play The freed up segundo volante is a good creator, he usually has time and space to slide through balls into the left inverted winger and advanced forward The inverted winger left has good dribbling, off the ball and finishing, so he can receive a ball into feet and dribble past his man to shoot/create, or latch onto a good through ball. There are promising signs with these tactics. We finished the domestic season with the 2nd best attack scoring 77 goals in 30 league games (3 worse than Shakhtar), we had 2nd best defence conceding 31 goals in 30 league games (6 goals worse than Shakhtar who conceded 25). In europe, whilst we only lost once, we drew 4 out of the 6 group games vs Slovan Bratislava, Rijeka and Lugano, so whilst we were very hard to beat, we just couldnt find the killer edge to finish teams off and progress to the knockout rounds. Now we are in the champions league (qualifiers), its a big step up and one we need to be solid for. Weve just drawn our first qualifier in the 2nd qualifying round 0-0 away to Fenerbahce, a good result, but this is an example of how we just need some extra quality to turn that into a 0-1 win. Any thoughts on these tactics would be greatly appreciated. Thank You

Hello Everyone Recently, ive found myself playing FM20. Why go back so far to such an out of date game? Because i had a good grasp of how the game worked, and I could design good tactics on it. Ive been looking back at previous tactics on FM20, none of which translate into the modern versions, especially FM24. The difference is especially noticeable in away games, where they used to be normal on FM20 and previous, whereas now they fall anywhere between extremely hard to impossible to win. So what changed on the game? because i feel the game has passed me by totally. The attached tactic is one i deleted years ago but reinvented starting a new season as Benfica. Yes theyre a good team, but the tactic works nicely and plays balanced possession and defensively solid football. Its no harder winning an away game with this tactic as a home game Now, i know you probably wouldnt play with high lines and counter press every game in real life. Although if you were a good team you would in the vast majority of games. I do know that every mentality under balanced used to be pretty much useless too. Everyone was playing gegenpress, aggressive risk tactics in older versions. but play this tactic in FM24, im getting battered 3-0 or 3-1. Every away game. Without fail. Regardless of opposition formation. But every tactic i try in FM24 away from home also gets battered. From a deeper lines basic 442 where players are asked to regroup and not counter press, to 4231. Counter press or not. So for now im sticking with FM20, because in whatever situation the game throws at me, i feel like i know what changes need to be made to counter them. The game makes sense to me. FM24, and particularly away games, do not. Please help me make sense of why the game has left me. Why I was a good FM20 and earlier player, and now a horrible modern FM player, as im losing interest in the game sadly. Thank You

Hello Everyone Without using a cheesy exploit tactic, im struggling with this one. At Arbroath we have a tiny budget, hardly any staff, and only train 4 sessions per week on two days. I just feel its extremely difficult to attract the calibre of player needed to get us into the Premiership. Likewise, with no youth set up, barely any coaches and no training time, you cant really develop players either. When I ask the board about expanding the coaching team, or going full time, they keep knocking me back. Any ideas what to do?

Anyone with any thoughts on Arbroath as a club to manage? seem like big overachievers and a difficult next step tp get them to the Premier League?

Hello Everyone I have screenshots of the tactic ive been working on. I am a real life Leicester City fan, and have set a game up as Leicester with the intention of trying to recreate Enzo Maresca's tactics which see the foxes top of the Championship table. Before I post anything, has anyone attempted an Enzo Maresca recreation, and how are you getting on if you have? Thanks!

It does but the attributes worked on are so broad that in the example of a generic session, surely you arent going to see big gains across all of those attributes if you keep running those sessions? Surely if you want to really boost someone attributes, its individual training you need, right?

Can anyone explain what "Defensive Shadow Play" and "Attacking Shadow Play" sessions do, and what attributes they develop? If im only playing one game per week, i run a custom "Big Match Prep" schedule, and it looks like this (sorry for no pics): Monday: 1. Overall 2. Outfield 3. Goalkeepers Tuesday: 1. Attacking Shadow Play 2. Defensive Shadow Play 3. Chance Creation Wednesday: 1. Defending Engaged/Disengaged (depending on tactic for match), 2. Trainsition Press/Restrict (depending on tactic for match), 3. Chance Conversion Thursday: 1. Attacking Shadow Play 2. Defensive Shadow Play 3. Team Bonding Friday: 1: Set Piece Routines 2. Rest 3. Match Focus Game Day Sunday: 1: Recovery 2. Match Review 3. Rest This is just a basic schedule that is tailored around big match prep, so is this actually improving anyone? Some players do show green arrows to suggest attributes have gone up, is that to do with individual training more so than the overall schedule? or match time? all 3? Its a bit of a grey area this one i find

What difference does it make when choosing generic sessions eg "defending" rather than a specific session such as "defending from the front"??? Logically i would suggest the generic session has a tiny effect on a broad set of attributes, whereas a specific session would improve specific attributes but might even hurt others? I tend to think of the generic sessions as lower league sessions which could be totally wrong

Just from my perspective i like work ball in box but not for the reasons you may think. For me, i think its a great way to attack and press as a unit. I find working the ball into the box is great for transitional situations where its wasier to retrieve the ball back

what player instructions do you use? One obvious issue might be your vulnerability down the flanks because youve got both wingbacks pushing forward. Id say theres not much support around your target man either. Going to put a huge emphasis on him to hold the ball up to get you uo the pitch.

I want to preface this by saying i am Bayern Munchen, which is an easy save in terms of winning things, but one where id really like to implement different styles of play and see exactly what each instruction does on the game. Im also not an expert by any means on the game. I took a few years off the game. I developed this tactic for hard away games like away games in the Champions League or really tough Bundesliga away games where maybe the squad is tired and i cant rotate, or im looking to counter specific threats they have up front, usually 2 players in the attacking mid positions is the one that is particularly tricky. It works around the principle of defending firstly. The two full backs are told to sit narrower, but both perform different roles. Davies sits narrower, but then runs wide. This is to provide extra width down the left and to work in tandem with Sane, so if we do get a bit of possession it can act as an overload/overlap down the left. Davies has excellent dribbling and can carry the ball up the pitch after winning it back deep. Mazraoui sits narrow but then runs inside, so he goes to sit in a more orthodox central DM position where I ask him to cross from deep. Produces lovely through balls. I go with narrow attacking width as a starting point but players can be told to "run wide" with the ball. This coupled with "invite crosses" i think helps keep a narrow "two banks of four"structure to our defending, no spaces in between the lines. I also feel the instruction "be more disciplined" helps keep the solid team structure. In attack, ive sent the mentality to attack, despite the tactic being defensive. Ive heard the game has changed around this, where cautious mentality works well, and ive used this in other tactics at other teams. But i like attacking to encourage fast transitions, and once the players get back into position, an aggressive deep block. All players who arent "sitting" players are told to dribble more, as they are winning the ball back from a deep position and I want them to carry us up the field. Plus it works well with traits. Goretzka has a trait to get into the area, so with box to box he can pick the ball up deep a bit like a volante and get on the end of things in the box. Kimmich has traits to come deep and switch the ball to wide areas, so he acts like a DLP which is ideal. This tactic ive adapted for other clubs, Atletico Madrid i used a similar type structure in a 4-4-1-1 and it made me the highest scorer in the league despite playing on the counter attack (its in the la liga thread), whereas this tactic is solid for clean sheets.

To achieve the shape youre after, id suggest pushing your fullbacks into the wingback slots with the role of WB/D but then have them sit narrower. I think this should do the job for you. Id combine with a DM in the DM slot, perhaps a DM or DLP on support

Quite a few teams use a 4-4-2 defensive shape. I like using 4-4-2 on the game as for me its great in defending space between the lines and in half spaces. I can compress the lines between midfield defence and attack, and tuck the wide players inside with player instructions and trapping instructions, and for me, its led to lots of clean sheets. I agree with @Cloud9 that in this edition of the game, 4-4-2 can be a really effective tactic when setting up the central midfield 2 correctly.

Hello Everyone If youre playing 4-4-2, how are you getting on with it in FM24? Are you using it primarily to defend space in two banks of four? are you trying to bring back old school wing play to a tall striker in the box? Maybe going for something that resembles a Leicester title win or A Fergie era Man Utd tactic? Would live to see your 4-4-2 set up if youre using one

Im currently managing Bayern Munich as a bit of an ego massaging project to be honest. Their squad seems so SLOW, its weird. You have pace out wide but up front and in centre midfield, no pace at all

Hello Everyone What do you think about utilising Harry Kane as a trequartista? If he plays as a trequartista, will his goals output suffer much? In an out and out forward role, his lack of pace annoys me, ive played him quite a bit as a poacher to use his off the ball movement but hes got more to his game than that. Id like to use him as a number 10. Any thoughts?

Hello Everyone Ive got an atletico madrid save i love. Just wondered are there any good teams in europe preferably (but not exclusively) who are in the top division who have priorities for defence first and direct football? Thank You

Sometimes its good to get back to being very pragmatic. My away form in season 2 is very good and i like to sit deep on a balanced mentality and "hit early crosses". A target man or someone who can use a PI to hold up the ball can help you get up the field and win 1st and 2nd contacts. Id suggest floating high balls into the box is an option and getting bodies around loose balls. Yes, its ugly. But its effective

No guides as such. Just take your time to get to know the players with tactics that arent too intricate at first. Trust the opinions of the coaches for now. Test the players in friendlies etc