Real life - to FM

Just a little thought, where do you guys get your ideas for your tactics, is it purely from your squad and pick a good system with the players you have available, or do you try and replicate a real life system into FM.

So many influences and inspirations have shaped my "playing style" and preferences on FM. In terms of tactics, I know why I have never wanted to play 4-4-2s. Arsene Wenger immediately comes to mind as a reason as a result of his distinct separation of roles between Henry and Bergkamp. In an era of BPL where 4-4-2 was still almost universal, I feel it was Wenger who truly broke the trend and introduced something on these shores which was similar to the "inverted 4-4-2" that was already emerging as a trend in Spain. In that sense, I believe that Wenger's innovation contributed to the rise in popularity of the modern 4-2-3-1, both here and beyond. Sir Alex Ferguson comes to mind as another innovator in the Premier League era, but he did not yet favour the "early 4-2-3-1" concept as far as I recall and was still set in his ways with what could better be described as a 4-2-4 of varying symmetry, whilst still occasionally dabbing with asymmetric (but never flat) 4-4-2s. Of course, there comes a point where the lines blur with regards to what distinguishes the attacking shape of a 4-2-3-1 from a 4-2-4 since it becomes a question of symmetry, and sometimes mere semantics. Nevertheless, while Fergie was still mainly partial to his alternative to the 4-4-2 (a testimony to his tactical flexibility, no less), I'd say it was Wenger who was truly adopting something along the lines of the Spanish "inverted 4-4-2" or 4-2-3-1 consistently, thus doing his part to ensure its surge in popularity over here.

Rafa Benitez is another inspiration, as well as someone who I firmly believe contributed to the latter stages of tactical evolution in the BPL. Despite initially playing a fairly dated 4-4-2 system initially at Liverpool, he eventually brought in players which allowed him to come close to his 4-2-3-1 at Valencia, a system which was effective even in the more tactically advanced La Liga (at the time). If Wenger and Ferguson did their part to show the BPL how inverted 4-4-2s/4-2-3-1s could attack, it was Rafa who showed the BPL how the 4-2-3-1 can defend. While Mourinho had previously demonstrated how the 4-3-3 could prove difficult to break down for any jurassic park managers still setting up their teams with old-fashioned 4-4-2 principles, Rafa exhibited a very different defensive model, one which wasn't geared towards packing the midfield. With the second striker helping wingers in harassing opposing teams in their own half before retreating into his own half to become the apex of a triangle sitting in front of the defence, it was a shape which removed lateral defending in the middle of the park, thus allowing higher team pressing, as well as accommodating Rafa's preference for a high defensive line. Personally, I feel that the pressing of Rafa's Liverpool was sometimes fairly similar to that of Jurgen's Klopp "gegenpressing" that generates so much attention and positive acclaim nowadays. Rafa's Liverpool certainly weren't far off.

Interesting to read your inspiration's, especially when you think at the time "rafa Liverpool" were always talked about around the media as a counter attacking team.

I do enjoy to look at young up and coming managers bringing in there own style or interpretations of systems, would be nice to read some articles here on how different people set up there own systems in their save.