Von Elf's FM14 Tactics

I have tried a lot of ready-made tactics, but none of them worked for me on long term. So I wondered what was I doing wrong especially in those big games or against deep defense teams. I noticed none of the tactics give me the ability to press all 90 minutes until I thought about a different sport: handball. In this sport it's pressure from one end to another. Players pass the ball from one side to another until one player finds an opening. So I tried this in football too.

I present to you my first tactics made from scratch for Football Manager 2014. An asymmetric control tactic with good possession, solid defense and lots of shots.

Works great for me, I hope it does the same for you. Main strength is the defense, I haven't allowed a goal in 5 consecutive games. If you don't give them the ball, they can't score. In away games I switch to control and if I need a goal I switch to attack again in the second half.

This tactic will allow you to dominate every match. The players press from the first minute till the end. If you don't manage to score from action you will get the goal from set pieces. And you will have lots of those.

You don't need big names but you need players with acceptable passing skills and a reliable finisher. This is a team tactic which avoids star names to depend on the result. Opposition Player Instructions is left to your assistant. I tweaked the player instructions a lot so you will be covered for most player types.

Try it and provide some feedback; suggestions are very welcomed. Have fun.