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When you think of the archetypal target man, players like James Beattie, Duncan Ferguson, or for those of us with longer memories, Paul Mariner, spring to mind. Tall and strong with a good touch for a big man (Mariner possibly excepted) whose job it is to win flick ons, hold up the ball and generally bring others in to play. In a good year they can be top scorers, but their all round contribution is more important than their goal ratio.
Yet, in the real world, as in FM, there are different types of target men. Alan Shearer was not the tallest of players and despite being good in the air preferred to have the ball played to his feet so he could use his excellent first touch and physical strength to hold up the ball and lay it off to breaking wingers. Mark Hughes was of similar ilk. Finally, you have the lightening fast finishers who, although able to hold up the ball, are more concerned with running on to through balls and using their pace to best effect. Michael Owen best personifies this type of player.
FM07 is arguably the first version of Football Manager that allows users to design tactics around such various types of target men. In previous versions the Target Man option just seemed to limit play. Now, if set up correctly, it can offer the user team a massive advantage and constantly delivers results. The following post is a guide for best setting up the various types of target men.
The Strong Target Man
The most important attributes for the strong target man are height, strength, jumping, heading, and bravery.
When using a strong target man the two supply options are ‘mixed’ or ‘to head’. The ‘mixed’ option is largely ‘to head’ dominant, with circa 80% of balls played high. However, enough balls are played in to feet or in front of the target man to make pace and skill important. Ideal players at higher levels are poachers or strong strikers with a decent amount of pace, flair, creativity, and composure such as Drogba, Klose, Toni, Fred, or Gillardino. At lower levels height remains important, but some pace, decision making ability and a decent first touch should still be required. If your target man option is tall, strong but less than skilful then ‘to head’ becomes the best option.
Best Settings
TM settings (if strong striker is TM)
Preferred supply: To head/mixed
Mentality: Lower than team average in attacking systems, team average in defensive
Forward run settings: rarely
HUB: Yes
Creative freedom: Low
Crosses from byline, cross aim mixed
All other settings: Mixed
Team crosses set to: Wingers and full backs closest to the TM cross to mixed as the TM isn't always up with play due to winning the flick on to the wide player. The winger/full back on the other side of the pitch should cross to far post as the target man is either up with play because it wasn't his flick on or will arrive late in the box, yet still in time to meet the header, as the ball has further to travel
Mobile Target Man
(A good goal-poacher is required for this role)
Target Man Supply: Mixed
Mentality: Lower than team average in attacking systems (e.g. -5 to 6)
HUB: No
CF: 4 - 10 (depending on away-home matches and the quality of the TM)
Long Shots: Rarely/mixed
All other settings: Mixed
If you choose to play a tall, strong player supporting a quick, mobile target man, the following settings are best advised.
Strong Striker Supporting a Quick TM
As above, except for:
Mentality: equal or above the attacking average mentality
HUB: no
FWR: mixed (if quick and frequently caught offside), often (if slow or quick with good anticipation, off the ball etc.)
Long shots: rarely
Team crosses set to: side of the strong striker. (E.g. near post from right + far post from left)
Reasoning
Setting Target Man Supply to head/mixed is much more possession friendly than run to ball which often loses out against deep lying defensive lines. The lower mentality setting will get the Target Man to play deep which offers two advantages. Firstly, his headers, rather than being constantly attacking flick ons, will often be cushioned backwards to the midfielders or sprayed out to the wings which allows for quality build up play. Secondly, his lower mentality and deep position drags his marking defender out of the defensive line, opening up space behind it for a quick strike partner to exploit should the header be a flick on.
Tests have suggested that ideal players in the strong Target Man role will make more key passes and assists then the MC/a, especially in home games.
In home games against ultra-defensive opposition, two strong strikers can be used occasionally. It is even better if one of those two has a fair amount of pace. Two tall strong strikers can be amazing in combo as they dominate everything in the air. If the ball to TM is played badly the other striker is equally likely to win his header so you can constantly win possession and counter.
The Quick Target Man
The most important attributes for the quick target man are first touch, pace, dribbling, strength, off the ball, finishing, and composure.
The two best supply settings for a quick target man are ‘run to ball’ or ‘to feet’. ‘Run to ball’ produces a fair number of high balls over the defence with lots of quick direct through balls whereas ‘to feet’ pretty much guarantees the ball being played on the floor and a lot less through balls. Ideal players at higher levels are Henry, Eto'o, Robinho, van Persie and Tevez.
Best Settings
Lone TM Settings
Preferred Supply: Run to ball
Mentality: Lower than team average in attacking systems, team average in defensive
FWR: Mixed
HUB: No
Creative freedom: High
Close down: Rarely
Crosses mixed, cross aim mixed, cross from mixed
Long shots: Mixed
TTB: Often
Team crosses set to: Mixed
For a quick Target Man in a two-man strike force the best settings are as follows.
Quick Striker TM
Target Man Supply: Run to ball (away or defensive play), to feet (home or attacking play)
As above, except for:
FWR: Rarely
HUB: Often
CF: High
CB: Often, cross aim far post
CD: Mixed/rarely
Cross from byline
Long shots: Rarely
TTB: Often
Team crosses set to: Side of the strong striker. (E.g. near post from right + far post from left)
If you choose to play a quick, mobile striker supporting a tall, strong Target Man the following settings are advised.
Quick Striker Supporting Strong TM
Fast striker mentality highest possible (e.g. 20 in attacking mindset)
FWR: often/mixed if constantly offside
RWB: often
Long shots; rarely
Rest mixed
Closing down heavy
Creative freedom: higher then strong striker
Team crosses: mixed, TM, TM side
Reasoning
The quick target man is best employed with supply set to ‘run to ball’ or ‘to feet’. The ‘run to ball’ instruction seems to be especially effective for quick lone strikers or for away tactics that work with two strikers.
When playing at home with two strikers, the supply option should be ‘to feet’ as ‘run to ball’ leads to many scrappy one-on-one situations that most keepers handle easily. The team gives away possession quite frequently by trying to play too many through balls past a well-prepared defence.
A lone quick target man can be used at home and will often get on the end of a few crucial key passes and grab a goal or two. However, an ultra-defensive opposition can reduce the effectiveness of the lone striker target man dramatically.
If you are playing an ultra-attacking formation that is trying to overload the opposition’s defence, ‘run to ball’ still can work well if your quick target man always has options to pass the ball on to several other players.
Lower League Settings
In LLM scenarios, quick target men can be even more valuable, since many defenders who are less skilled are simply outplayed by the sheer pace.
Setting up an AMC as TM behind two strikers drifting out wide
An experimental guide and results for employing an AMC as a Target Man.
FCL With SArrow
Mentality: 14-16
CF: 4-6
Passing: 4-6
CD: 16-20
Tackling: Easy
FRuns: Often
RWB: Often
TTB: Rarely
Long Shots: Rarely
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Byline
Cross Aim: Centre (As MidTM should be getting into the area by now)
The results were outstanding as the MidTM supplied 18 from an attempted 21 passes with only 2 fouls (although one produced a yellow card), 5 runs and winning 28 of 29 headers!! He also scored 2 and had 2 assists. His rating at half time was 8 and morale was very good. He finished with a 10 rating superb morale and got MoM in a 4-2 victory.
Although the Target Man supply in the above match was set ‘to head’ a Target Man AMC with good decision making skills should be able to dominate with a ‘mixed’ setting. Even with poor decision making skills, giving the team specific instructions as to his supply makes a massive difference. Although only employed as an AMC/TM in away games he plays a massive role in the attack. His first goal came from him flicking the ball left to the SC who ran to the byline and crossed into the penalty area before my AMC/TM out-jumped the keeper and DC and buried the header in the right corner.
Decisions will play a role in specified settings. The higher the rating the more varied you can set team supply.
Advantages: high number of flick ons to the strikers, effective use of an AMC with less flair but good heading. Well suited for less technical teams.
Disadvantages: Less slow passing and less patient build up play through the midfield.
Additional Midfield Target Men: (AMLR)
Useful in multi-strata formations like a 4-2-3-1. If your wingers have similar attributes as your target man, it can help to include them into to the target man list. No further tweaks needed here.
Addendum
However effective a target man is when man-marked, it seems a zonal defence with opposition instructions focused on the target man can limit his worth to the side. If you see a low won headers percentage for a target man who should be dominating in the air it may be worthwhile unchecking the target man option and allowing some balls to be played to his strike partner.
The Target Man Supply option 'to feet' can work exceedingly well with a strong player with no forward runs. He will hold up the ball and spread the play to the wings with some effect. It can be a useful second option if your tall yet strong target man is being beaten to the ball in the air.
As I have less and less time to write or play these days this thread received its major theoretical contributions from others at FM-Britain with my own role being largely editorial. I would like to take the opportunity to thank the following for their contributions and testing.
garyh, Justified, GaryWHUFC, thegooner, Crazy Gra, Millie, The next Diaby, Staff at FM-Britain
Amazing! Thank you so much for writing all of your genius out. Some of this stuff I never would have thought of!
But here's a question: if you have the personnel to utilize a strong TM or quick TM, which should be used?? Would you base it on the opposition's defense, I.E. if they are good in the air or quick? Thanks again for your dedication.
Originally posted by crazyrap465:
Amazing! Thank you so much for writing all of your genius out. Some of this stuff I never would have thought of!
But here's a question: if you have the personnel to utilize a strong TM or quick TM, which should be used?? Would you base it on the opposition's defense, I.E. if they are good in the air or quick? Thanks again for your dedication.
I personally prefer the strong TM option but am careful to build mirrored versions of my tactics, one with the TM as the FCR, the other with him at FCL. Pre-game I will see which of the opposing DCs is worse in the air and make sure my TM is playing on his side of the pitch. The same should work equally well by checking pace if you are using a quick TM.
If you have a quick/strong strike force it isn't difficult to switch in game to the quick option if the strong TM is being out-muscled and the AI defence is slow. I would personally start with strong but be ready to switch to another option if required. I have switched to 'to feet' in the past from 'mixed' or 'to head' with great result.
Great post, although I must admit I tend to leave both my forwards on the same settings when playing two upfront. Before kick off I pit my TM up against the shortest of their central defenders, as he's the guy he'll be challenging for most of the balls with. If/when the AI wises up and swaps their DC's round mid-match, I simply swap my forwards.
Did toy with the idea of creating the same tactic but with the forwards positions reversed for such situations and simply load up whichever was needed, but came down with a bout of CBA
Another awesome read wwfan! your guides are always a joy to read, is there any chance of some screenshots posting your success or stats such as goals and assists made with your different types of target men?
So the question where should I play the MCa with
respect to TM position ? Should he be on th TM's side on the pitch to receive flick ons considering
greater percentage of headers to back to the midifield, or on the side of the FS to try vertical (more accurate) thru passes to FS's feet
or path ?
I have a quick question, when using a tall flick-on style target man(supply to head), which side do u put your pacey finisher on? Do u want his strong foot on the inside or outside? Does it matter?
Originally posted by UNITED!!!!!:
Another awesome read wwfan! your guides are always a joy to read, is there any chance of some screenshots posting your success or stats such as goals and assists made with your different types of target men?
KUTGW
I have only tested the mixed/to head combo and have been very pleased with its success. At top level with a world class TM he has been averaging circa 8.10 scoring and assisting at well over one of each per game. At a lower level, my TM averages 7.5 with a goal every other game but an assist 2 in every 3. His strike partner wasn't really up to the divisional level, scoring every other game but only averaging 6.92, which will have contributed to the slightly lower rankings.
@ teleroth: I mirror the TM positions depending on the height of the DC marking him but leave the MCa and MCd untouched so it doesn't really matter.
I might add that run onto ball is really effective when defending a lead and trying to hit on the counter, bellamy performs this role magnificently in my wales game, running deep and holding on to the ball and setting up midfielders if not given a clear run at the goal... too bad he seems to be crap at one on one's with the keeper
TT&F: How to Set Up a Target Man 
Linear Mode
