Leroy1883

Introduction to Pure Tactics
This guide is dedicated to all those people who have struggled with tactics in FM. It is called pure tactics because it describes my understanding of the relationships between the different tactical sliders and how to use them effectively.

I have limited the scope of this guide to just tactical concepts only. I do this because applied tactical theory would mean that this guide would be 100 times longer. Application of successful tactics requires situational awareness, something that will be different for each squad of players and indeed each and every game you play.

The examples I will use here are using a 4-4-2 formation. It is the most popular formation used today and I believe it will provide the most benefit to the most people. That being said most of the concepts hold true for most of other formations.

Note: there are no tactics to download for this guide. It wouldn’t make sense to provide any as this is all conceptual work. It should however give you some ideas as how to design your own tactics and enjoy the playing the game.

Hope you enjoy and maybe pick up something you haven’t considered before.

Basic Tactical Knowledge
These are the things every manager should know and understand. Without understanding your tactics will be brittle and you will not have consistency.

General Defensive Play

Marking System
If you expect to do more attacking then play a zonal marking system. If you expect to defend more then consider a man-marking system as this will ensure that everyone is being pickup.

Closing Down
Closing down should be based on how direct the opposition play. If the opposition play a short passing game then you will need to put pressure on them to win back possession. However the more direct they play the more important it is for your players to keep their formation so you should be more conservative in closing down.

Setting up your Backline
Setting up your backline correctly is the major part of ensuring that you minimise the number of shots at your goal.

Back Line Closing Down
Your backline will need to keep its shape more than the rest of your team. Centre-halves should close down rarely as they need to be positionally sound or the opposition will break through. Full-backs should close down slightly more than the centre-backs as they need to intercept any opposition wingers.

Back Line Marking System and Defensive Line

Defensive Line
When setting your D-Line you need to consider what it is you want your defence to achieve.

Push Up
Play a higher D-Line when you are expecting to attack more. Playing your defence higher up the pitch ensures that you contain the play in the opposition half. In this situation play with your back four using a zonal marking system. This way you will keep your line better and catch the opposition offside if they try to break quickly.

Normal
Use a normal D-line usually when you are unsure who has the upper hand. Stick with zonal marking on your fullbacks so that they don’t close until the opposing winger moves up the flank. Use Man-mark with your centre backs to limit the space for the opposition strikers.

Deep
By playing a deep defensive line you are expecting to be put under a lot of pressure by the opposition. Holding the line is not as important in this situation. Put all of you back line on a man marking system and probably the rest of your team as well. This will ensure that everyone is picked up and your fullbacks will not be caught in a dilemma between marking the winger or his supporting fullback.

Width
By reducing the width of your formation you are closing the potential to be caught out by through balls and you are forcing the opposition wider.

General Attacking Play

Passing Style and Tempo
When choosing a passing style to employ consideration of the players you have is vital.

Short/Mixed
To play a short passing game you need to have high passing stats and high composure. Also tack consideration of how heavy the opposition are likely to close you down as you may need to increase this slightly to avoid putting your players under pressure. When playing this style of passing you will need to play at a lower tempo than if playing direct football. The better your players are at making quick decisions the quicker the tempo maybe employed.

Direct/Long
Employing direct long ball tactics is usually a result of your players being deficient in passing ability although it can also be used to take advantage of a lack of pace in the opposition back line. As longer passing doesn’t need to be as accurate as shorter passing you can begin to ramp up the tempo to catch the opposition on the back foot.

Forward Runs
I consider setting up forward runs correctly to be vital in order to succeed as a manager. Use forward runs to provide options for team to pass to. By not doing this you will find that your team lose possession more and become impotent in attack. Be sensible though pushing two many players forward will leave holes in your formation that will be exploited.

If playing a short passing game then consider setting up forward runs as follows.

Example of forward run settings for a 4-4-2 formation using short passing
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> M MM M M MM M M M M</pre>

If playing a direct passing game then consider setting up forward runs as follows.

Example of forward run settings for a 4-4-2 formation using direct passing
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> M MO O M OM M M M M</pre>

Width
Increase width to breakdown a stubborn defence. Playing wider means that your forwards will move out to the flanks more. This helps because it drags the man-marking defenders with them creating space for midfielders running from deep to have a better chance at goal. By overloading the defence you should be able to breakthrough even the most stubborn teams.

Be cautious of using this too often or early in the match as there is a risk that by playing wider your team are more susceptible to though balls and a fast counter attack though the centre.

Conclusion
Understanding the tactical concepts above should allow you to develop tactics suitable for the players at your disposable to be successful. I will look to add to this when I have time, but this is what I consider the fundamentals of pure tactics.

I hope you find it useful.

EA_mon_hello2

Well done that's a decent basic guide. But i do not understand your "example of forward run settings". It would be great if you could extend into individual instructions as well.

kolobok

Beatifull explanation Leroy :thup:

Just wanted to add one thing to general principles: when creating your tactic think about what you current team is capable of, not how you imagine an ideal style should look like. Everybody wants attacking football with lots of posession, but only a few teams, both in FM07 and irl, can actually do it. Unfortunately many people try to apply Arsenal's style to much lower teams and then complin it didn't work

Fatt

Very nice guide, helped me understand a few things

zeusbheld

well done.

way to keep it focussed on big-picture principles and very very simple. that's actually hard to do, keeping it terse and simple, and very much needed, judging by the number of people complaining about how complicated tactics are.

one thing that might be an interesting addition: how about explaining different effect of runs vs arrows? i kinda feel like i understand it intuitively but i don't want to make an ass of myself trying to explain it and failing as i prefer to make an ass of myself in other ways.

oh and tenner someone posts in the first 2 pages somewhere asking where they can download the tactic

Leroy1883

Okay just a quick response to zeusbheld's question.

All that the arrows do is say to the player operate between your position and the end of the arrow. No more, no less. They do not tell the player to run with the ball. As your team moves up the pitch the winger will position themselves higher, because the arrow allows them to.

An ML with a long forward arrow means that the player will take up positions either at ML, AML or FL, with a preference for ML.

Forward Runs are when one of the players teammates is looking for a passing option and the this instructs the player what to do.

If instructed to make forward runs the player will be higher up the pitch and the player with the ball will see them as a good choice to hit there direct pass too. If the player on the ball is set to direct passing the forward running player is a good target, whilst if he is playing short passing the player would preffer to pass to a closer player.

If you play short passing and you players run forward often then the guy will not see them as a valid target as they have been instructed to pass the ball short.

Forward runs are all about positioning to receive a pass.

thezogsageordie

tenner they don't zeusbheld...



T h e s e A r e n ' t T a c t i c s

Rafalution

Leroy1883

Well done again!

Question 1: Do you recommend mixed forward runs for the centre backs and the keeper? Your examples suggest so.

Question 2: This might be a bit too specific, but how would you set up defensive line and closing down vs Arsenal who deploy a normal width play and combine a quick short passing style with a high defensive line? Deep, low closing down, direct passing and counter attack?

Leroy1883

Yes, I do. The reason is because these also offer the player with the ball even more options of to pass to. If you are playing with a defensive mentality a lot more passes are going to be played to the side and to the back.

If you set your DC's or GK to forward runs rarely you will find that they not be able to support the team in keepin the ball and if there are not decent option going forward then you will lose possesion.

It depends who I am managing, and whether I was playing home or away. However I would definately press greater than 10 in the premiership. Also I would avoid a very direct game as Arsenal will play the offside trap.

Rafalution

Hmm it makes sense when you put it like that. Something to experiment with, I always have them on rarely forward runs because obviously I want them to be at the back. However forward runs on the GK would not make him prone to actually make runs into the opposition box.

Aye, I agree with that.