Although reluctant I decided to do some considerable testing with tactics on fm 2007. I usually start as a championship or league one club as I enjoy the challenge of getting teams promoted and many of the tactical approaches I have used have been targeted at getting the past out of second tier quality players. I tend to play a 4-4-2 with short farrows on the wingers although I alter this depending on whether I want to defend heavily or go gung ho.
I would like to stress that this post has not been created to cater for all users; it is for those struggling to find an effective long term approach to tactics on the game. I must first stress, as a few others have stated that keeping your tactics as uncomplicated as possible is the best way to go (i.e. using mainly team instructions). I find that creating a high variant of individual instructions causes poor results as players are sent out not as a unit and becoming confused. As in real life more tactical complexity can be achieved higher up the divisions.
I would now like to apologise for a lack of screenshots to show examples but I have to shamefully admit I am not as technically minded with computers as other forum users seem to be, so sorry for that. Anyways the following points are the main aspects of my basic 4-4-2 tactic, with explanations of why I have chosen them:
*Flat 4-4-2 Short farrows on wingers – I find that most sides in the championship play with a 4-4-2 so this is a good way to match them all over the pitch, plus there are no specialist positions to have to teach players to play in.
*Direct, quick passing – Unless you’re Real Madrid or Manchester United or for that matter any of the other elite teams, this is the only way to play for me. Certainly for Championship sides and below this has seemed the most effective for myself. The ball does not get bogged down in small areas and the ball is moved forward quickly creating many openings to score. If you can get hold of a couple of pacey strikers it works particularly well.
*Use team mentality not individual – I find (and please forgive me fm gurus) that at this level particularly, individual mentalities massively over complicate tactics and cause a lack of togetherness. You will find your team moves forward and retreats as much more of a unit using the same mentality. I tend to use normal mentality unless playing against a lesser team (attacking) or better team (defensive).
*Unless using attacking mentality play counter attack – works very well with the direct, quick passing.
*Always, always, always use a deep defensive line – I have tried using a high line with and without an offside trap and it never ever works, even if you are playing attacking and high up the pitch and even if you are lucky enough to have pacey defenders. Fast strikers will always get in behind when you play like this and unless you’re a real quality team they will have more of the ball and more opportunities to do so. I know high line has worked for some but it’s certainly not for me. Because I use direct passing I can use a deep defensive line effectively without under hitting passes.
*Closing down normal for midfielders, low for defenders, high for strikers – You want your defenders to keep that low defensive line by not closing down to early so on individual set them to about 5 on closing down. Midfielders will make up their own mind when to come and when to go and as for strikers, the more pressure they can apply on defenders the more mistakes the opposition will be forced to make.
*Short passing for strikers – Everyone else should look to get the ball forward as quickly as possible to the strikers but once it gets there, they have nowhere else to go so this is where intricate short passing will help to bamboozle defenders.
As you can see I don’t change many individual instructions as keeping to team instructions all over the pitch helps the team play as a unit. The key areas to tweak individual instructions are in attack and defence, as these are obviously the vital thirds of the field in effectively keeping clean sheets and creating goal scoring chances.
All I can say is that with this approach I have had the most success on fm 2007 and have consistently achieved top 6 finishes in the championship and league one. In the premiership it probably has its limitations as other sides are a little more clever and technical, but it will enable you to remain in the top flight, usually finishing mid table to bottom half.
If anyone is keen to try this approach and would like more information about the finer details of it (of which there really aren’t that many) I will check back to answer any questions. I do urge people to try out this approach though.
If you believe in tactical simplicity read this! 
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