Your Tactical Style

Simple question that could have complex answers, how involved do you get in the tactics of your teams? FM has so many options you could literally spend hours on end sorting out your tactics, personally i'm kind of a lazy manager and don't go too far beyond selecting a formation and setting positional roles then choosing set piece takers. Obviously you can go into player instructions, set piece routines etc ... but I generally leave these as defaults as i'm too lazy.

How about in game changes too? I tend to make basic changes through the game depending on how it's going, for instance slowing the game down when trying to hold a lead, playing more direct when chasing a goal and will change our approach from working it in to the box to pumping long balls into the box if I feel our tactic is being ineffective.

So, how tactically aware are you?

Yeah I choose my team, player roles, team shape, team insturctions, basically never do player instructions and oppiostion instructions I get advice on and decide if its a good idea or not. In game I use extended highlights in 3d and make some tweaks when and where I feel it is needed.

I tend to pick the formation, Mentality, Team Shape, Team instructions. Then based on what i have in my squad move the players Role and Duty. As much as it pain's me i have a thing that if i don't set their specific instructions then they really aren't doing what I want them to do, so i do those as well.

I do send time on the set piece's moving the players about, but not really that much and the takers of course.

My biggest down fall is the training. I think thats TOOOO much and as such I probably lose out. I let the Assistant do this and generally the focus on general play when i want them to be looking at set-piece's. So, if I can be bothered i get involved there. That's the only area that i find too much.

Yeah same training is annoying. I mean I do general training and match prep but like working on specific attribute I just can't be bothered doing that

I don't touch training, just get in the best staff I can and leave it balanced, probably missing out to be fair but doesn't bother me, also find if I ever set a player up for individual focus they start whinging that they are being work too hard! So I can't be arsed with that.

Yeah its pretty tricky I normally do like team training and leave the individual to ass man and change if I notice a problem or high workload.

I do the individual but purely just so i can train them in new positions.

Do you find that makes a big difference ??? If so I might have to give it a go

It's always useful to have players comfortable in more than one position. I don't mean trying to change a left back to a right winger but simply improving a DLP's ability to play as a box to box midfielder can be a massive help.

I always leave the training alone, think i've trained a player in a new position once ever. One time I played a CB at LB for so long that LB became his new natural position and he even got in the England team. As for formations, I usually have a 4-2-3-1 that is solid in the middle with wingers that go nuts and attack nonstop. I try and set the mentality, team shape and instructions in such a way that everyone is firing shots on goal whether we're in the box or just near it, it seems to work quite well for me.

i retrain players to new positions all the time, in my southamption save i retrained wanyama to be a centre back instead, i looked at his attributes and decided he would be much better suited to that role...

I try to tweak as much as possible. I'm a 'builder', so when I play AC Milan for example, and I set 2 or 3 tactics up for my team (including team instructions, role instructions per position, custom set pieces for corners and free-kicks, etc), I also know these tactics will not 100% match with the quality of my starting squad. For example: I usually set up a 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-2-3-1 controlling tactic, which aren't the best choices for the Milan players available at the start of the game. The fun for me in this game is to keep a handfull of players which I like skillwise (like Romagnoli, De Sciglio and Bacca) and fit in the pre designed tactics for the long term, while I try to get rid of the rest in the next seasons. I replace those players with the best options available to execute the designed roles in my tactics. Example: get rid of Bonaventura and Menez as mid 20 wingers, dribling to the center and looking for a shot/pass .... and replace them for young talents like Rodrigo De Paul (Valencia) and Gabriel Barbosa (Santos), who can execute these roles way better + get way better because of training from a young age onwards.

Next to my tactics, I always try to get the best staff available for my club. So, again when I manage AC Milan: I promote Tasotti from a scout to my assistent coach (high ratings on almost every skill + great as an tactical advisor during live matches - I also follow up alsmost every advise he gives me during the 3D match), I negotiate with the rest to leave, and then bring in top quality coaches (of course as far as they want to join) for every training aspect. I also make sure training pressure for my coaches is never extremely high. So 2 coaches for every aspect of training is the standard.

I set individual training for every first squad player myself. For youth teams, I leave it to my staff. Exceptions are high rated- / wonderkids (if you have them at your club, like Donarumma) For team training: at the beginning of the season (pre season phase) I focus 100% on my teamtactics training (high/very high intensity) Normally, my players will get used to the tactics around October/November. From then on, I set a general balanced training during the whole season, with 1 day match day preparations for my opponents, advised by my top scout.

The first seasons is always a struggle. My goal is not to get fired. From season 2 and onwards, the team get's better and better. Tactics are fully mastered, I sign better players and I am on a roll. For every postion and every position instruction, there are specific top skills that players require to 'own' their opponent on the pitch. It's all a matter of scouting, and getting the right players in. This approach can work for every club in every league... you just have to be on top of everything.

I always prefer attacking style in my games. So such style requires a lot of work both with the staff and players. At the beginning I make min. two tactics matched to my current human resources. Next steps: team and individual trainings with prefered moves, which can be useful in my tactical vision. Of course I spend a lot of time to search for suitable players to my style (the most important attributes for me: determination, hard work, teamwork, professional and discipline. I remember that earlier I watched only on the technical and physical attributes. You know very good pace, technique or dribbling and f.ck the rest. But football is similar to other businesses in our life. Therefore the creating team with proper mind-set is the key to the treasury. So the whole mental background is "my precious". Also I try to employ quality coaches - it is very helpful. About tactic and style. As I wrote above - attack and attack and once again attack. I try to use old Brit footie style with a lot number of flank attacks as well control ball (element from Argentine) plus set pieces routine.