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Firstly i will show my stats for how my tactic worked, the basis of my formation, player and team instructions, the players who played and back up the positions.
Secondly i will show my formation from a view if you are getting beat, on how to and when to change the formation and team instructions.
Thirdly and last, i will show you how to tweak the formation to hold onto a lead if you decide to switch the formation in the game.
In the following links to images and details, the detail is to that of the tactic, but i have everything online for people who maybe wish to view details to implement without actually taking the tactic and using it.
Part 1 – The formation
One thing i have noticed after playing FM last year and this year’s edition is that players do find issue in constant changing tactics. I have read several posts on this forum and its easy to tell that certain people having trouble, most likely change their tactic with a new one they find on the forum every 3-4 matches and if it is showing result then they disregard, and look for another.
It is hard to find that perfect tactic, but if you stay with a tactic and build your team around this tactic, you are more likely to see results and a promise of your team becoming strong.
My tactic that i am about to show details for is one i have brought through FM 06 into FM 07 and is still working well.
I have just completed my first season as Celtic manager and here are my stats
League
Position – first
Played – 38
Won – 33
Drawn – 5
Lost – 0
Goals For – 90
Goals Against – 22
Now this tactic is built using four defenders, one defensive midfielder, three midfielders and two strikers.
The basis allows a simple strong backfield with an attacking midfield who progress up the field in order to aid the strikers. Between both these areas of the park, we have a strong defensive midfielder whos aim is to support the back four, creating a back 5 when the opponent is making their move and is also able to cover the hole which can be created but the centre midfielder when he is attacking.
Now its simple task of setting players,.
For my full season, i aimed to stick with the same team, same bench unless matters ruined this.
My usual team would be;
GK – Arthur Boruc
DL – Lee Naylor
DC – Evander Sno
DC – Gary Caldwell
DR – Mark Wilson
DMC – Thomas Gravesen
MC(left) – Aiden Mcgeady
MC – Jiri Jarosik
MC(right) – Shunsuke Nakamura
FC(left) – Kenny Miller
FC (right) - J Venegoor of Hesselink
As you can see my full team is an original Celtic team, no players bought.
For positions with the players set to make runs such as;
DMC – I used Gravesen, midfielder, strong and robust, who could aid the midfield but also come between the two centre defenders to offer extra support at the back (still managed 3 goals, 5 assists from this position)
MC(left) and MC(right) – these positions where covered using attacking midfielders on their best sides. The focus for these players was to remain a tight built unit in the centre of the field but due to their pace, scoring and attacking ability, i have progressed both players to run into wide positions to make full use of the midfield area.
Mcgeady managed 4 goals, 8 assists from this position, making man of the match 9 times through the season.
Nakamura managed 15 goals, 17 assists from this position making man of the match 5 times.
MC – for this position, i used an attacking midfielder (AMC). Like the other two midfielders, the main role is to keep a strong unit in the middle of the field but with using an attacking midfielder he is able to quickly move up the field to join the two attackers and offer support up front in which is where the DMC comes into use to help secure that hole if defenders break through it. Jarosik managed 6 goals and 9 assists from this position.
Positions in the team in case of injury or suspension where covered as follows;
GK – Mark Brown
DL – J Perrier Doumbe (D/WB RL)
DC – John Kennedy (DC), Bobo Baldé (DC), Joey O’Brien (DR, MC – brought in on loan)
DC – John Kennedy (DC), Bobo Baldé (DC), Joey O’Brien (DR, MC)
DR – Joey O’Brien (DR, MC), J Perrier Doumbe (D/WB RL)
DMC – Diedo Gavilan (DM, MRC – signed player), Joey O’Brien (DR, MC), Scott Brown (AM RC – signed player)
MC(left) – Scott Brown (AM RC), Paul Hartley (AM C), Maciej Zurawski (AM RC, FC), Craig Beattie (AMR, ST)
MC – Scott Brown (AM RC), Paul Hartley (AM C), Maciej Zurawski (AM RC, FC), Craig Beattie (AMR, ST), Diedo Gavilan (DM, MRC)
MC(right) – Scott Brown (AM RC), Paul Hartley (AM C), Maciej Zurawski (AM RC, FC), Craig Beattie (AMR, ST), Diedo Gavilan (DM, MRC)
FC(left) – Maciej Zurawski (AM RC, FC), Craig Beattie (AMR, ST)
FC (right) - Maciej Zurawski (AM RC, FC), Craig Beattie (AMR, ST)
Down to the next gritty bits, the team and players instructions will all be found in the links below.
With regards to my two outside midfielders, you will see that i have different settings for these two players and that my left midfielder reflects details of the centre, this is just sheer tweaking to see how they progressed and these settings worked. As you see the right mid is more tame in approach to shooting and through balls but scored more over the season and this way let him work better.
Other Information
Captains – these are always the managers choice, i was doing well with my centre midfielder as captain, he took injury it went to my GK in which i forgot to change. Over time i set it to my DMC and no matter who played that position, the defence seemed to more compact, less prone to mistake and the midfield produced more up front.
Playmakers Not part of my basic tactic – for myself and i would for you, pick the two outside midfielders, they are the players making the most progress with the ball and the defence is able to find them opening space with their running into wide areas. After this it was my centre midfielder and then two strikers selected.
Target Men – this is set reverse of the playmakers, make your two main strikers the target men and then follow with the two outside midfielders and lastly the centre midfielder.
Penalty, free kick, corner, throw in – dependent on your team.
This part and part 3 will be more short and sweet than the first.
This section will show several tweaks to the formation to show you how to adapt it to save the match, for me these ways have been flawless, i have came back to win or at least draw games i thought i was in danger of losing.
My best view on my fight back was away to Barcelona in the champions league.
Half time the score was 2-0 to Barcelona and they had one player sent off, but coming up to half time they still dominated the game and I felt much the same would happen second half.
So at half time, quick tactic change and the game ended 2-2. Second leg i won 4-0 at home to put Barcelona out using same tactic i used to fight back into the game.
The first half, my tactic was the basic tactic you viewed in the first part.
In order to fight back, you must set the team to ‘All Out Attack’, simple fact but some people don’t think about it and will throw 5 strikers up, that does sometimes work for me, but depending on the opponents tactics you need to change.
I have had the following formations work without an all out attack called but I always get a better return when I have an all out attack set as the players are in a more attacking outfit.
The above five are the most common switches I make in a game.
Now its all about timing is the key, I have changed my formation at stages and gone to see that I did it wrong and had to revert back to my original tactic and then the fight back once more.
When to switch – I usually, if I am down by 1 at half time, hold off till slightly into the second half, if I am down by more, then I just announce an all out attack but no formation change, and as the story goes, still trouble, switch it all with formation changes.
My typical time to change is 55-60 mins, with one subsituation, changing one of the midfielders or strikers dependent on rating and fitness to bring a stronger influence to the match.
Please when your playing if this is not helping to improve the game for your side, remove all out attack and revert to normal tactics, play 2 mins of the game, and go back to the formations board, change to an all out attack and change formation again.
The reason I say to play the game again before doing the formation again, is that I notice some players don’t move position, or their mentality is still so driven from one direction that this puts them back into a state of mind, ready to be pushed again. It may sound stupid but it is something that seems to happen in the match engine I seem to see.
Frankly in all my games, I never change my formation, I keep my basic tactic seen in part one and change to part two if I am down, and again switch back to original but as a defender, defensive tactics is not something I like to play.
Though within FM I have tried and tested few formations in which have worked and really not seen the ball get within 10 yards of my penalty area.
If you are going revert from my basic tactic to defensive, team instructions for me, mentality wise, sat at normal. With my tactic I feel that the use of the DMC is one part which aides my defence and allows me not to lose any games, cause I am resorting to a strong back 5 with the midfield coming back adding extra support, that run the DMC is set to cover, will push the the defence out and create a wider back wall and an extra player to cover behind.
Mentality I would say set the team instructions to ‘normal’ if you wish for further; I would personally only recommend a few clicks towards defensive.
yes that is correct, i go into every game with the same formation in part 1, and try to go with the same team but that isnt always possible through fitness etc
the all out attack is refering originally to the basic tactic, if their still is little progress with getting back in the game, use it with one of the formations
i have yet to try it in FM 07 with different teams but in FM 06 i used it alot with lower league scottish and english teams, worked well
Ruff - Tactic to success (3 part) 
Linear Mode
