Clearly there are areas that a head coach deals with other than tactics, and these areas must be important. One such area may be motivation. The coach is there to get the team playing well as a unit, encouraging them when they are down and ensuring they don’t get complacent when winning. In Football Manager, we might call it morale.

Morale boosting is an important and often underrated part of Football Manager. A team with superb morale can perform to a much higher standard than a disenchanted dressing room. A squad which, on the whole, sees you as one of their favoured personnel is not going to “struggle to motivate itself to play for you”. And crucially, happy players don’t tend to cause dressing room discontent by bitching about their team mates and destroying club harmony.

The best tool I’ve found for all of this is player interaction. Briefly, this week, I’ll take a look at how commenting on your players’ form can work wonders for maintaining team belief and keeping the side ready for battle.

Player Interaction – a system

We have five options for talking to our players. We can say whether we’re delighted or merely pleased with a player’s performance. We can say whether we think they are playing acceptably or below par. Or we can say how disappointed we are with their recent form. The trick to finding the right option is twofold:

• We need to tell the player what they need to hear.
• We need to tell the player what they want to hear.

Of course, these are not necessarily the same thing.

The Example

At Hinkley I worked on a basic premise. Since “7” is the baseline for a decent performance, I decided that any average rating above 6.50 would be acceptable. Therefore, if I had the chance to comment on a player’s form, I would work on a scale going up and down by 0.50 at a time. So, for example, an average of above 7.50 would delight me. An average of below 6.00 would make me angry.

Working on this basis, I commented on a player whenever I could. Usually this happens if the player has played at least 5 games for you and was selected in the previous match. This is not always the case, so you will need to check.

Then I used the notes system to take a look at the reaction of my players. If a player reacted badly to my praise or criticism, I wrote it down. For example, last week’s subject Sylvain Legwinski thought that I was wrong to suggest that his performance between 6.50 and 6.99 was “acceptable”. Being a more professional and experienced player, he expected a lot more from himself and expected me to demand the same. So, I had to modify the way I dealt with him.

I made a note to criticise him more often. I knew that in order to elicit a positive response from him (i.e. to get his morale boosted) I would have to shift my scale by as much a 0.50. So, performances in the range of 6.50 and 6.99 were now “below par”.

After about half a season, it became clear who fit into my initial scheme and who didn’t. I was commenting so much that I didn’t even need the notes in the end – I knew my players and who needed what sort of treatment. This, to me, is basic man management. And vital to building a good team atmosphere.

There are a few things to note:

• The best time to comment, in my experience, is when you get the mail about the match odds, about 24-48 hours before kickoff. Too much earlier, and the effect of your interaction might “wear off”. Any later, and the player won’t react to your words until after the game (which seems pointless).
• It isn’t always necessary to comment on a player who has “superb” morale, but if you do and you get it right time after time there is more chance that the player will see you as a “favoured personnel”.
• Professional players in higher divisions will need more criticism. At a semi-pro club (and a small one at that) I found the softly-softly approach worked best. At better clubs, the players will demand more from themselves – and more from you. Likewise, youth players may need more encouragement and fewer tongue lashings in order to build their confidence.
• Never, ever, ever be afraid to get it wrong. You will get it wrong, and occasionally will get it wrong with a player you’ve known for years. That isn’t a problem – the player won’t resent you for it long-term and without making mistakes you cannot learn what the correct response is.

A full guide on maintaining morale in your dressing room is being worked on by FM-Britain as we speak, so I will leave this pep talk here. But understanding the importance of morale was, in my opinion, the driving force behind Hinckley’s promotion to the Blue Square Premier in season two.

How do you go about talking to your squad? Do you favour a hands-off approach, or do you like to comment on anything and everything? Is morale a big deal for you, or do you spend more time on the training pitch, in the transfer market, or on a tactical master plan? I’d love to hear your thoughts from your own careers.

Related posts:

1. Lessons from Hinckley: Experienced Players Win Promotions
2. Communication and Psychological Warfare 2008 – Part 1
3. Communication and Psychological Warfare 2008 – Part 3

What sort of player can step in?

Players who have good attributes for different position, such as a midfielder with good tackling, marking and intelligence, which would make them suited for a central defender’s role, could be a saviour when you need backup. Attributes are much more important to the match engine when considering how a player will perform. Although the further away a player is from a natural position, the less efficient his attributes will; especially in the mental attributes such as position, off the ball and anticipation, which can really suffer when a player unfamiliar with his surroundings.

Identifying the players that can play different roles and re-training each one into new positions can give a huge advantage to a small squad when you are seeking depth in different positions across the field. Re-training a player will give them an opportunity to develop and become more effective in the position that you need covered.  Training a fringe player (for example a striker who has the ability of a full back), can give you several advantages. It can:

• Find a use for your fringe players.
• Ensure effective cover for each area of your positions
• Give more opportunities for players to get into the first team, and therefore keep squad harmony much higher

Just look at Dion Dublin. A prolific striker, but when he became older and less sharp he was able to change positions and extend his first team playing career by a season or two.

Playing a player out of position can affect him. He will need to have the intelligence to be able to adapt to different parts of the field. Positioning, off the ball and decisions all give the player the intelligence to cope in a different environment. This is because it is these attributes that are going to be key to his success in your tactics, but they also the first attributes to suffer.

Think about your tactics

Playing a player out of position is certainly going to effect your tactics. Be aware that relying on these men to play key roles in your side can be risky. For example, defensive midfielders need to be positioned well, tackle well, distribute the ball in front of the midfield and hold on to it if there isn’t a good enough pass available. A player who hasn’t got the intelligence for the position could fail to be the linchpin you need them to be.

On the other hand, if you just wanted a player to play as a limited defender, poacher or winger they will be better suited if they have the relevant attributes to play those roles; but their positioning and decision making are not as vital to the overall tactical master plan.

Much of football, though, is about being able to balance your squad in such a way that it exploits the strengths of your squad, without making you vulnerable to the opposition. Having a “plan B” and different formations that your squad can play with the players that are available can therefore exploit your strengths and leave your side less exposed. Trying to suit availability of your players therefore could give you much more steel than using players out of position. But what do you think can be more effective: changing the formation or changing the players?

Over to you.

I’d be interested to know if you think the same thing. Have you had success having players covering your key roles, when they have been out of position? Do you think players out of position are suited more to rigid football where each player has a specific role to play in the side, and so needs to play that role well. Or are they more suited to fluid football, where decision making skills are needed to prevent big holes being created from players drifting out of position?

Listen to Jordan and Millie discuss this subject on the FM-Britian podcast.

Related posts:

1. Tactical Theorems & Frameworks ‘09: Specialist Position Theories
2. The Debate Download – Is this the perfect Brazil tactic?
3. Friendlies, The Tactical Playground

At the lower levels, technical and mental skills can be at a premium. In fact, all skills are at a premium. You can often find a striker with nothing more than 16 for acceleration can grab 20 goals a season simply by virtue of creating a hat full of chances by out-sprinting the opposition centre backs. Or a 6′ 4″ centre back with 18 for jumping can be a beast at set pieces, defensively and offensively.

An older player who has been at a higher level, however, will have a lot more technical and mental skills than other players in your league – even if physically they may not be in the best shape.

Older players have “experience”

Many commentators in football talk about “experience”. In Football Manager, this is best expressed through the mental stats in the player’s profile. Mental stats continue to improve long after physical and technical attributes reach their peaks. Never underestimate the power of things like positioning, composure, concentration and decision making. These sorts of traits continue to develop well into a player’s 20s, and can make up for a lack of technical or physical skill.

If a player is more likely to make the right passing decision, he doesn’t need great passing to pull off an audacious pass – he’ll just look for the simpler one.

If a player has great positioning, he doesn’t need great pace to cover an opposition forward – he can just walk into the right place to give himself maximum defensive efficiency.

So, experience in this sense is very useful, especially at the lower leagues where small changes in skill levels can make a big difference. Your scouts, given enough time, may be able to give you more information about hidden attributes which can also affect the way the player behaves. “Professionalism” for example is something that players at the higher levels are much more likely to have than those who have spent most of their lives in the lower leagues.

The Example

In this series of articles, I will use examples from my current career save. In this instance, I will show the example of Sylvain Legwinski, ex-Fulham and France midfielder with a wealth of experience. I signed him for Hinckley early in my first season.

This screenshot comes from the fourth season of the career – so, obviously, with an acceleration of 1 Sylvain is no spring chicken. But even when I signed him, his acceleration was around 5. So, why pick a player who has such poor physical stats?

When I signed him, he was plying his trade in at St. Neots, a team not even in the playable leagues (unless you’ve been fiddling with the editor). But he had stats of 13 and above in a number of areas. Unlike most of my squad (who may just about reach 10 for some of the key attributes for their position), Legwinski was, technically and mentally, good enough to play in the Football League. Indeed, by the end of the second season I was fending off enquiries from Hereford United in League Two.

This gave him the ability to pick a pass and hit a long shot unlike anyone else in my squad – maybe anyone else in the league.

On the down side, Legwinski was incredibly injury prone. And unfit. Despite only playing him one game a week when he first arrived, it didn’t take long for him to need an extended rest. By the second season, I was only able to play him for 60-70 minutes a week.

That meant I had to make the choice of whether to play him in the Wednesday night fixture against a promotion rival, or in the FA Cup game at the weekend!

Despite this, Legwinski managed around 30 league games a season, averaging over 7.00 a game. But why?

When a player can pas the ball well and make the right decisions, it is of less concern whether he is quick over 10 yards or not. Especially when he plays in a position like centre midfield where pace is not a key attribute. Besides – he has a partner in the midfield who can cover for him in the event that he does get caught out of position.

Not that this is likely to happen too often, since his experience gives him such good positioning skills that he can read the game so well. The following highlights from one of his games in season two show that age is no barrier to creating problems in the lower divisions.

Download Hinckley United v Worcester.pkm (right click and “Save target as”)

Obviously, a player with such low fitness and speed is never going to be a great winger. Nor is he going to be a prolific striker. But the creativity that he can provide in midfield is something you will not get from players who don’t have experience of a higher level.

I used Sylvain as a ball-winning midfielder in my tactics, with a more energetic box-to-box midfielder alongside him in a simple 4-4-2. That gave the tactic balance, but also added energy and drive to the midfield. It gives the side a choice, as well – power through with a more pacey central midfielder, or use the skill and touch of Legwinski to find good through balls.

As you will see in the analysis screens in this pkm, Gooding’s passes, tackles and interceptions show far more movement than Legwinski’s.

So – this is what I’ve learned at Hinckley. In future weeks, I will talk more about various tactical elements that have been highlighted by my career save, including more examples and discussions.

Related posts:

1. Friendlies, The Tactical Playground
2. Tactical Bible 08: Player Requirements I
3. The Debate Download – Is this the perfect Brazil tactic?

Danish – Thanks to the good folks at fmfreaks.dk, Danish Football Manager fans can get their hands on TT10 in their mother tongue. Head along to their site and download the Danish version here.

French – FM Manifest have uploaded their translation of TT10 to Mega Upload.com. Thier site is currently down, but despite this their version has been downloaded over 1,000 times already. You can download the French version here.

Greek – The lads at fmgreece.gr have long had an association with translating Football Manager guides into Greek. Known to Football Manager Live fans as the home of the “Greek Gang”, their translation of TT10 is available to download through their site.

Italian – FMIta have had their translation out a while, and it certainly will help Italian users. Their guide has been uploaded to file front, and can be downloaded through this link.

Poland – Premier Polish website cmrev.com have put the finishing touches to their translation. Their site has many of FM-Britain’s articles translated into Polish, and even has an English language section for those who are interested! You can download the guide directly from their website.

Thank you very much to all our translators

There are still many translations in progress. As these are completed, we will let you know. If any foreign visitors would like to translate our guides, or if you have already translated them and haven’t told us, then drop us an e-mail on thinktank@fm-britain.co.uk.

Related posts:

1. Tactical Theorems ‘10 Appendix Update – 19 Tactics from the Community
2. Tactical Theorems Podcast – Learn about the tactics creator and ask us questions!
3. Tactical Theorems ‘10: The most downloaded Football Manager tactics guide is back!

The tactical philosophy of the most successful football nation on earth has captured the hearts and minds of football fans all over the world for generations. Brazil’s breathtaking attacking flair has won them 5 World Cups making it not just beautiful football but also effective and can be perfectly described by the term ‘Joga Bonito’ meaning ‘play beautifully’ in Portuguese and that is exactly what we are going to do.

The system is based on individual flair, emphasis on attack and vibrant possession football.

Some of you will remember my first Brazilian Adventure back in 2006 on Samba Futebol which was so much fun I decided to have another go.

Formation

Widely regarded as the greatest team of all time, the legendary Brazil side of the 1970 World Cup lined up in a 4-2-4 formation. Brazilian sides have also been known to line up in variants of the 5-3-2 formation.

When I looked at Brazilian football back in 2006 I opted for a variant of the 5-3-2 formation creating a 2-3-2-1-2.

This time around I will be looking at a variant of the 4-2-4 formation.

This formation is one of my favourite formations.

Brazilian football is based very much on possession. Brazilian footballers typically have a far superior level of technical skill in comparison with their European counterparts. Additionally this formation is fantastic for establishing and maintaining a high level of possession due to the passing options.

It has always been argued that triangles in a formation create passing options making it easier to retain possession however you will notice that this formation creates two boxes: an attacking box and a defensive box. This means that when any given player in that ‘box’ has the ball he always has at least 3 passing options near by plus the wingbacks bombing up the flanks as oppose to the 2 passing options created by a triangle.

GOLEIRO – Sweeper Keeper
The goalkeeper has traditionally been the Achilles’ heel of great Brazilian sides. However in Julio Cesar they have a world class keeper. Brazilian goalkeepers act as a sweeper keepers moving quickly off their line should anything get through the defence.

ZAGUEIROS – Ball Playing Defender (cover)
Brazilian centre backs are known as zagueiros and they act as dual sweepers sweeping up anything that makes it through the packed midfield. They tend to be very quick for centre backs and be very good on the ball. Look out for pace, tackling, marking, areal ability and mental attributes.

LATERAL ESQUERDO/DIRECTO – Wingback (attack)
The attacking wing back is one of the most exciting characteristics of the Brazilian system and one of the more important components of the formation. European sides will traditionally play two players on each flank whereas Brazilian sides prefer to play just one, freeing up two more players to play in the centre. Blessed with the overwhelming talent of Maicon, Alves, Maxwell and Marcelo they provide all the width for the team and take on both attacking and defensive roles. Look out for strength; my experience with Vasco was that strong wingbacks are absolutely lethal.

VOLANTE – Anchorman (defend)
Volante is the Brazilian term for the holding midfielder – the Michael Essien, Daniel De Rossi or Claude Makelele of the European game. In truth there is not much difference between the Brazilian volante and the European holding midfielder apart from the volante will move back to cover the zagueiros when they move to cover the wingbacks. Unlike the system I used in 2006 this system operates with dual volantes providing more stability and along with the zagueiros creating the defensive box.

NO. 10 – Inside Forward (attack)
Experimentation led me to conclude that the most effective way to organise my front four was two deeper inside forwards providing the link between midfield and attack and two advanced forwards reeking havoc for the opposition defence. The inside forwards act as traditional Brazilian No. 10s with Kaka and Diego combining to create a creative and lethal force. These are the most technically gifted players on the team. Their primary function is to create goal scoring chances for themselves and those around them.

AVANTE – Advanced Forward (attack)
Pele, Romario and Ronaldo are all perfect examples of the devastating effect of the Brazilian avante. Combining with the two attacking midfielders they create the devastating attacking box. It seems that no defence in the world can deal with the likes of Kaka, Diego, Robinho, Luis Fabiano or Pato attacking their defence with at least three passing options and combining with the wingbacks giving them 4 targets in the box was also particularly lethal. Occasionally pushing them into the FR/L position would completely baffle centre backs dragging them out of position is they either move wide or forward to the inside forwards.

TEAM INSTRUCTIONS AND PHILOSOPHY

I like to start the game at a thunderous pace, literally all-out-attack. Catch the opposition off guard and grab and early goal. Once I have taken the lead switch to the counter-attacking system encouraging the opposition to attack but leaving the front four forward eventually catching them on the counter and grabbing a second. Then moving into the attacking system to control the game, pass the ball around a bit and go for the kill.

SHOUTS

Brazilian football is based largely on possession and movement so I use these shouts.

Maintain possession – Possession is nine tenths of the law. Brazilian sides dominate possession. You should be looking at 60+% possession and 70+% pass completion.

Pass into space – Particularly with the front 4 movement is vital as the opposition cannot keep tabs on the attacking players.

Exploit the Flanks – The wingbacks have 4 options in the box to aim crosses at so exploit this. Also in international football lots of sides play narrow formations. You might only have one player on each flank but they are world class and have 4 passing options inside so shouldn’t lose the ball.

RESULTS: FIFA WORLD CUP 2010

Who better to test a Brazilian tactic with than Brazil themselves?!

Having seen the system evolve after 8 seasons with Vasco I decided to take Brazil to the 2010 World Cup and see how it went.

Here are some video highlights of the goals I scored in the early part of the tournament. There’s so many, the song finished before I could cram them all in! So, in next week’s Debate Download article, I’ll show you the final knock out matches.

The Download

Download my tactics here: Joga Bonito.rar
If you do not have WinRAR installed on your computer, then please download and install it to unpack the tactics: WinRAR

DISCLAIMER

This is designed to be a bit of fun more than anything, the system will be difficult to implement unless you have very suitable players. As with anything use the ideas here along with your own judgement to fit this to your team.

WHAT NEXT?

Coming up later on in the year, I want to look into the following aspects of Football Manager 10’s match engine:

- Total Football – is it possible on FM? Just finished reading Brilliant Orange and fancy having a bit of fun!

- Catenaccio – From one extreme to the other, from Brazilian flair and beauty to looking at one of the most solid defensive systems of all time.

Related posts:

1. The Debate Download – Can you play a libero in FM10?
2. The Debate Download – Why is Pellegrini thinking outside the box?
3. How Can You Use Duties Effectively in FM Tactics?

What makes up a centre backs?

Naturally tackling, strength and if you want your player to be an aerial battler heading will be what is analysed when searching for a centre back. But without the intelligence these attributes will be useless. Intelligence ensures your defenders make the right judgments, move in the right areas and are there to cover you when you most need them too.

Concentration, anticipation and decisions are important as these players are the last line of the defence you don’t want to allow those strikers in space unopposed, intellegent defenders will position themselves effectively and less likely to make rash challenges preventing holes at the back. It can be argued, that tackling can be much more important attribute for your defensive midfielder then your centre back, what do you think?

Centre back pairings

Effective tactics are built on balance. Very rarely will you find two centre backs that are equally amazing in one squad and therefore you will may want each to take different roles, balancing their skill set. Teams will come with a variety of threats and you will want to be able to deal with each effectively.

England for example play with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Terry good in the air, commands his area and makes good decisions. But isn’t very fast. Rio is athletic and fast and able to play on the ball distributing the ball much better to starting attacks. Both complement each other compensating for each others weaknesses and able to defend against different types of threat.

Stopper/Cover v Defend/Defend

The abilities of your defenders will dictate what duties they are able to handle. England setup with a Stopper and Cover, this exploits the talents of Terry and Ferdinand. Terry will chase strikers, head the ball away and go in strong on anyone trying to get past. Rio will be more mobile, using his pace to chase the ball. Although there is debate that Football Manager 2010 doesn’t yet to handle this system effectively.

Playing as Spurs I have found the stopper/cover system good against reasonable strikers. Against the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal, Woodgate played too deeply and was found flat footed dealing with Rooney, Berbatov and Eduardo. The cover defender does act well against those sides who will look to exploit your defence with through balls, but can invite pressure against strikers who want to take the defence on. Making it much more important that both players in are able to do each duty very well.

The defend/defend setup is a much simpler setup, if you have your two defenders with good decision making skills and team working they will do this job well, taking their own decisions when to leave the line, close down or jump into tackles. When your players don’t posses the technical ability to play specific duties, they will play much better football when it is simple.

Roles

Finally, consider if you want your defender to be a central defender, ball-playing defender or limited defender. The Central Defender is the more traditional man at the back in modern football. He will act to stop the strikers and get the ball out of danger as soon as possible, but doing their best to keep possession of the ball a good all rounder but doesn’t need to be brilliant in any particular attribute.

The ball-playing defender, similar to the Ferdinand type player will be more suited to teams that want to start attacks from the back, looking for the ball at the back and distributing it or taking it forward. Again this highlights the importance of decision making, composure and passing ability as the player will need to know when to run with the ball or get rid of it, careful not to be caught on the ball.

Limited defenders does one job well win the ball and hoof it at any given chance, he won’t take any nonsense and will look to use strength to keep the ball from going past them, possibly for the least talented of defenders, but can work effectively doing this one simple job with strength, height and positioning proving an advantage.

I’d like to see what you think about central defenders, have you tried a defend/cover combination to any success? Join the debate on whether the stopper/cover combination can be affective strategy in Football Manager 2010 and leave a comment on the forums.

Related posts:

1. How Can You Use Duties Effectively in FM Tactics?
2. Tactical Bible 08: Tactic Building Approaches – A Reference Guide
3. Tactical Bible 08: Building from the back

Thank you to all those who downloaded TT10 this year (around 40,000 of you so far!). Some of you have not only supported us by downloading the guide, but you’ve also been on the forums contributing to its appendix.

What’s new in the appendix 1.1?

The appendix is a compendium of football styles from around the world submitted by you, the readers and contributors at FM-Britain. From discussions in our research forum. The first version which went out alongside TT10 has been updated to reflect the opinions and new information from the community, and even includes a couple of new tactics such as SC Braga and Tottenham Hotspur.

The appendix aims to show people how they can use the tactics creator in Football Manager 10 to get their team playing like real world sides. Obviously, with such a broad aim there’s bound to be debate about how teams really play. And for that reason there’s been as much discussion about how teams play in the real world as much as the virtual!

There has, for instance, been a heated debate about the Arsenal side of the past 12 months. What is the real formation? How does Robin van Persie play? How do we make that work in Football Manager? With those debates in mind, we have revised the original tactics in the 1.0 version of the appendix to reflect the new information provided by our forum members.

Once again, a massive thank you to our members

We aim to release updates to the appendix relatively frequently. Despite this release, there are still many things to be updated and thousands of real world tactics left to add. Although we cannot look to put every single club from every single period into the guide, we have seen from you that there are many that you would like to discuss.

By heading over to the research forum, you’ll see topics have been started on clubs as diverse as Juventus, Aston Villa, Benfica, Valencia, Poland, Wimbledon and Atletico Madrid, and from the 1960s through the 80s to the present day. But there are many more to be added, so get yourself signed up to the forum and let us know what you’d like to see – and even contribute to the tactics already posted.

So we give our gratitude to those who commented and created the tactics for this version of the guide, including: Jimbo51, Demo, Simulacra, Boobo, RiffHard, cagiva, Jockie, moj, trian, dryg, Akontipus, Machete82 Michlos, foomanjee, jonjon, DirtyACE, majed20, mantralux, trian, Rodace, gazsmith6, ezamudin, bily_marseille, Vermaelen05, Ron Burgundy, Aust, Dano and Jaswarbrick.

Download Appendix 1.1 Now

Our e-mail list subscribers got this guide a week earlier than the release on the FM-Britain main website. If you would like to receive these updates, and get your hands on Tactical Theorems ‘10, the tactics bible for all FM10 players, then sign up here to receive a copy of TT10 and get yourself added to our mailing list!

Related posts:

1. Tactical Theorems ‘10: The most downloaded Football Manager tactics guide is back!
2. The Debate Download – Can you play a libero in FM10?
3. FM2010 Community Roundup: A New Player Emerges

This week’s download is about the libero, or “free” defender. This article comes at the problem from the point of view of converting a DC into a libero. Fantastic has gone down the sweeper route. In any case, at the end is a download link to the latest version of the Arsenal tactic in the TT10 Appendix. You can debate all this and much, much more over at our forums.

The libero is one of those football concepts that has stayed around the Football Manager community for a long time. It’s up there with catenaccio and total football for “things we saw in the 1970s that we’d like to see again, please”.

For the uninitiated, libero is Italian for “free”. It refers often to a side’s sweeper who is given the freedom to step out of defence and join the attack when his team are on the ball, but sags back behind the centre backs to cover once possession is surrendered.

Franz Beckenbauer, World Cup winning captain and coach with West Germany, is often considered the archetypical libero. With his immense skill on the ball, he acted not only as a play maker but also as an effective sweeper in dealing with the threat from the opposition.

The decline of the libero

Since the early 1990s, however, the 3-5-2 has gone steadily into decline in favour of formations loosely based around the classic “back four”. As teams have dropped the sweeper, there has been little opportunity for teams to play with the old-style libero, and the role has virtually been eliminated from world football. Even in countries where the 3-5-2 had traditionally been strong, such as the ex-Yugoslavia, national squads have opted to play with four at the back. Success for Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia in recent years suggest that they will not be returning any time soon.

And yet, the trend which killed off the libero in the 1990s may well revive it in the 2010s. Most sides now line up with some form of 4-5-1. This has tended to come from two routes:

• One of the centre forwards has become withdrawn in the simple 4-4-2 to create a sort of 4-4-1-1, or even flat 4-5-1 shape
• The wider-most forwards in the 4-3-3 have been pulled back to the AM stratum, leaving the centre forward alone up front.

For some rough examples of this in action, one can look at the 2006 World Cup Final. France played with wingers providing wide support to a lone forward, whereas the Italian essentially played 4-4-2 with Totti dropping into the hole.

This made the 3-5-2 redundant – why have three centre backs marking one man? But it also makes one of the “back four” free again. Why have two centre backs always marking one man, regardless of where the ball is?

The libero as centre back

Since it is unlikely that the sweeper in its classic form will return to top flight football soon, the libero, if it is to rise again, will have to come from one of the two centre backs. In effect, this is already happening at Arsenal, where Thomas Vermaelen has often been seen popping up in the opponent’s penalty area during open play. It requires a lot of running, a lot of fitness and a lot of discipline, but it can be done.

Unfortunately, within the tactics creator in Football Manager 10 at the moment, the libero is not available as a defender role. It is possible to make them a ball-playing defender, but this does not really do justice to what the libero does. Advanced instructions may therefore be needed until FM allows us to play with liberi at the DC position.

In creating those individual instructions, you would have to consider the following:

• The player would probably need a higher mentality than his centre back partner to get him to move forward and join attacks.
• The player would need to make many runs from deep.
• The player needs to be creative.
• The player will probably need zonal, loose marking if he is to truly be “free” as well as provide cover.
• And therefore, closing down settings will need to considered carefully – should he close down everyone? Or sag back to his position to help cover?

There have been debates about how to play with a libero on the Football Manager tactics podcast, and also some informative views on Los Wonderkids in past months.

So, continuing on the excellent discussion on the forums about Arsenal, this months download is the latest version of the Arsenal 2009/10 tactic as discussed in the Tactical Theorems 10 Appendix.

Over to you!

What we’d like to debate, however, is how exactly would you get a libero playing from defence in your team? There’s some very interesting thoughts and debate at The Dugout right now about the libero in FM10, from a forum which seems to favour the “classic” slider approach more than playing with the tactics creator. But what would you do?

The Download

Here is the Arsenal 2009/10 tactic as created from the input from members here at FM-Britain. We’d like to see what modifications you would make, if any, to use one of the defenders more as a libero type of player. The basic tactic uses Vermaelen as a ball-playing defender – but is this enough? You can find more tactics and discussion like this one in the TT Research Forum.

Download the Arsenal tactic here – Arsenal_libero.tac
Discuss the Arsenal thread here – Arsenal 2009/2010
Discuss Fantastic’s Libero role theory here – 5-3-2 Sweeper

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3. Tactical Theorems ‘10 Appendix Update – 19 Tactics from the Community

Preparing for the season

Friendlies ensure that your side is ready for the season ahead. A summer without football can make your squad unprepared for competitive games. Unable to keep hold of the ball, lack sharpness in finishing and tire before a game is over. Vitally important it is to have a good pre-season warm up but it also has other advantages then a simple run out.

With the summer being a time for most of your major transfer activity, new players will need time to gel with the rest of your side, time to get comfortable playing in your system.  It can take around 15 games before a player is fully integrated into the team, friendlies can allow this integration to happen much quicker, preparing new players for the first games of the league season.

The tactical playground

Friendlies are a chance to get to know your squad, the new players and how you are going to deal with those departures that you had to reluctantly give up on. Currently, I am using my own friendlies to test out how new signing Rio Mavuba is going to fit into my Spurs side, I knew I needed an extra defensive midfielder to win the ball in the middle of the park, but how exactly is he to fit into the side as a whole, this will be discovered with little risk of losing points or competitions. Often I find it hard to risk young players when I am chasing points in the league. Again, friendlies will show me the players who may surprise and the future of the club.

Mistakes can and should be made; but you must learn from mistakes. Analyse what is happening on the pitch, without making major changes too quickly. Set up your side, nice and simple to start with, using small changes and tweaks. Making too many changes, could work amazingly well, but how are you meant to know what you actually did right to get good results? So use small changes to help you analyse what works and what doesn’t. Don’t be afraid to experiment, if you don’t know what a particular player role does? Then try it in this safe mode for a better understand and bettering your skills.

Variety, the spice of life

I am a believer of playing Football Manager yourself and not delegating all responsibilities to the assistant. Arranging games against a variety of sides during pre-season can have several advantages. First of all, for small clubs, playing sides much better then yourself can bring much needed finances into the team, help financial stability, friendlies profitability are a big reason why ‘arrange a friendly’ clauses in transfers can be of value to a selling team. You may even show some steel and have a chance to test out those defensive tactics.

Playing smaller sides, just before the start of the new season, can breed confidence into your side. You might only be playing Home Farm FC, but beating them 10-0 is a fantastic boost, making for a happy squad. Going into a new season, your squad will be up for it! There is no surprise that Liverpool’s season has gone from bad to worse, unable to create chances, making many mistakes and unable to see games out. Morale has a big part to play in Football Manager, so it can be a big advantage to help start a season strongly.

Facing sides that are of a similar standard can have the best tactical importance. You want to be able to better these sides as you have the players good enough to mount a challenge. Further, it will give you an indication of how strong your side is relative to the rest of the league. Playing around here will give you a better understanding of how they will fair in your league. Although it must not be forgotten that these are friendlies and won’t have the added difficulty that competitive games will have. So use these games to give you a better idea of your squad and tactics, but always be aware that these are just tools to prepare you.

Having a full arsenal of tactics and options that have been tried and tested in friendlies can increase your ability to change games and form helping you better adapt to different situations along the way. Unlike Rafael Benitez current Liverpool side.

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Real Madrid’s “magic box”

At the beginning of the season, Manuel Pellegrini, the Real Madrid head coach, had taken to playing a 4-4-2 “box” formation in order to accommodate the new arrivals in Perez’s Galacticos II. After some pretty shaky performances and wide-spread speculation that he was about to lose his job, he appears now to have settled on a version of 4-3-3. But why did he ditch the box? And what is he left with now?

The box midfield, perhaps best exemplified by Brazil’s 1982 World Cup side, appeared on the face of it to be the perfect solution to the problem – namely, how do you fit so many of the world’s most technically gifted (and, therefore, expensive) players into one side?

It allowed two out-and-out forwards as well as two creative attacking midfielders. Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo could play deep with full freedom to work their magic, while Benzema and Raúl would be ahead of them ready to consume whatever balls the midfield could provide them with.

To support this, two more-defensive midfielders (Diarra and Alonso) could cover the back line, as well as providing supporting balls themselves. And width could be provided by the marauding wing backs, Arbeloa and Sergio Ramos.

Unfortunately, this sort of system is inherently unbalanced. Against smaller teams with little ambition to come forward, it has great potential. Essentially playing with four players who have no defensive responsibilities whatsoever, combined with a further four who are also encouraged to create, can provide plenty of attacking opportunities and overwhelm the opposition. The problem is, every decent opponent Real Madrid faced (AC Milan and Barcelona in particular) caused them problems. The lack of cover as well as support from out wide, combined with a natural rift between the defensive “team” and the attacking “team” left Madrid exposed.

The solution

FM-Britain Tactical Think Tank member cagiva has posted the solution that Pellegrini found. He can still harness the attacking skills of his galactico squad, but provides a far more equal player distribution, both horizontally and vertically.

By essentially turning the box 45 degrees, the system automatically gets more width and more depth. The two main goal scoring forwards, instead of playing FC-FC now play FC-AMR. The creativity now comes from AMC and MC. And the support players play at ML and DMC.

The result is more 4-3-3 than 4-2-4. It offers far more stability. But more importantly it is winning games.

The system in FM

In shape, the new system is essentially the asymmetrical 4-2-3-1. Perhaps it is no coincidence that this was essentially the shape employed by Manchester United when Cristiano Ronaldo played there. To exploit his strengths, the AMR plays as an inside forward. This allows him to attack from the wing, cutting in and causing far more damage than he could by starting in the centre. His strike partner (FC) is more of a poacher, looking to make a yard for himself so he can slot the ball home. Behind him sits the other attacker at AMC, playing as an attacking midfielder and using his creativity to create openings.

Behind them lie the three main midfielders. The ML acts as a support player to those ahead of him, and so too does the creative MC deep-lying playmaker. The DMC is there to cover the defence and add solidity to the formation, playing as he does as a defensive midfielder.

Being asymmetrical, the manager will have to keep an eye on things such as marking and opposition instructions. This formation’s shape is unlikely to match the opposition’s, so you will need to make sure that you are not leaving players unmarked in space. It may also be necessary to force the side to put pressure on the opposition, particularly in their midfield.

It is also a system built around fluidity of movement in the front three. The technical skills of Kaká and Ronaldo especially are the fundamental reasons for the system’s success. Therefore, playing with low quality players who are uncomfortable with the ball at their feet is probably ill advised. You could probably get away with less physical strength (such as with a squad like Arsenal’s), but technical skill is essential.

The Download

If you would like to play with this style of football, then check out the downloadable tactic here from FM-Britain. This is a recreation of Pellegrini’s current style, with thanks to cagiva a member of the Tactical Think Tank. You can find more tactics and discussion like this one in the TT Research Forum.

Download Pellegrini’s 4-3-3 here – RealMadrid_Pellegrini.tac
Debate Pellegrini’s 4-3-3 here – Real Madrid 2009-

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1. The Debate Download – Can you play a libero in FM10?
2. The Debate Download – Is this the perfect Brazil tactic?
3. Tactical Theorems ‘10 Appendix Update – 19 Tactics from the Community

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