Magath's Wolfsburg 4-4-2 Diamond // FM20 Tactic

This tactic is greatly inspired by Felix Magath's Wolfsburg team which unexpectedly won the title in 2008-09. Hard workers are required in all areas of the pitch, especially wing-backs, who are expected to contribute defensively as well as get in the box to score goals, and box-to-box midfielders, the lifeblood of this team.

I made 3 first team signings in the first season, Alfredo Morelos, Joshua Zirkzee (loan), and Matias Zaracho. Morelos played a key role in the team with 21 league goals including a hat-trick against Borussia Dortmund at home, while Zirkzee became an important player as the season progressed and Weghorst's form dropped off. Zaracho started slowly, struggling in the Advanced Playmaker role, and found himself more at home in his traditional central midfield role as Brekalo became more comfortable in the AM position.



My first choice line-up. Roussillon struggled with injuries throughout much of the season but Kevin Mbabu was a key player, scoring 8 league goals and recording 2 assists. Guilavogui's role as both the defensive anchor and the captain also made him a key player in this team, ensuring defensive stability at the back. Morelos proved to be a nuisance for defenders, while Weghorst and Zirkzee's aerial capabilities made them constant threats. This tactic does require hard workers so I would recommend making sure central midfielders and wing backs have a solid work rate stat.



Here is the league table. The title was not quite as comfortable as it appears to be: only a point separated ourselves and Bayern with 3 games to go, and we were to play Bayern on the last game of the season which could have decided the title. Ultimately, they would lose 3-0 away to Werder Bremen while we went on to secure wins away to Mönchengladbach (0-1), away to Schalke (0-3), and winning what could have been the title decider on the final day at home to Bayern (1-0).

It has to be said that this tactic is not foolproof, and miraculous results should not be expected. We were knocked by Augsburg on penalties in only the 2nd round of the DFB-Pokal and we were knocked out by Napoli in the Europa League first knockout round. This ensured our run of fixtures toward the end of the season was more than generous, as our players did not struggle much for fitness. Despite this, however, we would impressively go on to beat Magath's record points haul from 2009-09 by 7 points.












I've attached my fixture list and some memorable results: fairly impressive for a team targeting a Europa League spot. A very lackluster series of cup runs, but the performances were not particularly worrying and both happened to come at an unfortunate time.