FM19 - Making a Manager - 04 - Preliminary Tactic Design

Our base tactics will revolve around the 4-3-3 & 4-4-2 formations. They use the same team instructions and same player instructions, where applicable, but have a different shape. They are identical in playing style and follow the same general philosophies which I am looking to begin to implement on this football club.

Why do I have two different formations with the same tactical details? To put it simply, I don't know what will be the best way to line up my squad just yet. We don't have anywhere near a full squad yet at this football club and so I don't yet know which formation seems to be the most appropriate. This way, I can switch between the two formations depending on the individual situation provided by each fixture, based on what players I have available to me, the condition of these players and the condition of the fixture. We can also switch between the two formations mid-game to use the same philosophies but in a different shape, which can be beneficial in altering the balance of the game.

What is thinking behind the decisions made for each tactic? My ideal philosophy for this football club is to be a free-flowing possession-based side in attack, looking to move the ball around at pace BUT with control. In defensive scenarios, I want the ball to be contested in front of our defence with the midfielders and attackers working exceptionally hard to win the ball back with compromising our defensive structure. The way we will look to achieve this will be discussed in the next few pages.

What kind of tactical evolution will we see? These tactics are far from the finished product of what I want to achieve at the club, tactically. They are simply a base to build off and to adjust when possible/applicable. I will look to make minor adjustments as the game progresses, and I will keep a log of all changes made and why I make these changes. Eventually I wish to evolve the tactics to be far more free-flowing in attack than they are now, to allow for high amounts of creativity, while still holding on to strong defensive resilience. Personally I believe that the first iteration of your tactics should be (at least) a rough reflection of the image you are hoping to achieve, with every change that comes after a fine-tuning to develop a final product.