FM26’s new tactical system (separate in- and out-of-possession shapes, smarter role behaviours, and dynamic width logic) finally makes it possible to rebuild PSG’s 2024-25 positional structure — a system built on order, movement, and total control.
This is not a “plug and play” super tactic.
It’s a replica project — meant for people who love watching football as much as winning.
The Idea
Luis Enrique’s PSG is one of the most fascinating sides of the last few years.It’s not about sterile possession or chaotic pressing — it’s about using structure to create freedom.
The principle is simple: Five lanes in attack, five in defence, and constant rotation in between.
FM26 finally captures that logic. This tactic tries to recreate it.
The Shape
- Base: 4-3-3
- In Possession: 3-2-5
- Out of Possession: 4-1-4-1
- Mentality: Offensive
- Tempo: High (but calm)
- Passing: Standard (FM26’s contextual passing engine does the rest)
- Pressing Traps: Force wide, then collapse
Key Roles & Responsibilities
Chevalier – Ball-Playing GoalkeeperCalm on the ball, builds short, offers a clean passing lane to form the first diamond.
Marquinhos – Ball-Playing Centre-Back
Holds position, stays wider, plays shorter but riskier passes. Starts buildup, steps forward to connect with midfield.
Pacho – Ball-Playing Centre-Back
Mirror of Marquinhos but on the left. Stays wider, dribbles less, keeps a calmer rhythm to control the base of the 3-2.
Mendes – Inside Wing-Back
Moves inside next to Vitinha to form the “2” in the 3-2 base. Roams from position, makes forward runs when the block is set.
Hakimi – Playmaking Wing-Back
High and wide, roams inside to combine with Barcola. Takes more risks, crosses for the far post. The creative outlet on the right.
Vitinha – Half-Back
Drops between centre-backs in the first phase, then steps up to control the rhythm. Keeps structure, plays simple, breaks lines early.
Neves – Channel Midfielder
Runs into channels, roams to link defence and attack. Balances the half-space and supports the first pass forward.
Fabián – Advanced Playmaker
Positions higher between lines, roams to connect with Kvaratskhelia. Directs switches of play, dictates tempo in the middle third.
Kvaratskhelia – Wide Forward
Stays wide, dribbles and drives diagonally toward goal. The constant vertical threat from the left.
Barcola – Channel Forward
Runs into channels, presses from the front, stretches defences horizontally. Works closely with Hakimi.
Doué / Dembélé – Inside Winger
Stays wide early, cuts inside with the ball, dribbles aggressively and attacks the far post.
Early Results (after 12 games)
- 12 wins in 12 matches
- Highlights: 2–0 @ Inter, 3–0 vs Chelsea, 4–1 vs Leverkusen, 2–0 vs Tottenham
- Ligue 1: 8 games, 8 wins, 34 scored / 6 conceded
- Average possession: 68%
- Non-penalty xG: 3.2 / 90
- xG Against: 0.2 / 90
- Pass completion: 93%
- OOPDA: 14 (elite pressing efficiency)
All of this with Dembélé injured the entire time.
To Improve
- Central defenders lack aggression in aerial duels
- Full-backs lose too many 1v1s, leading to closed-angle goals
- Width between Neves and Fabián can be too narrow at times
- Dembélé behaviour (wide vs inverted) still needs testing
- Gonçalo Ramos substitution logic still uncertain
- Lucas Hernández less fluid than Mendes as inverted LB
Why It Works
FM26’s new tactical engine rewards spatial intelligence.This setup creates:
- A 3-2 base for controlled build-up
- Five-lane occupation in attack
- Immediate rest-defence compactness
- Risk without chaos — the essence of Enrique’s PSG
Recommended Usage
- Built specifically for PSG’s 2024-25 squad
- Requires intelligent, technical players between lines
- Not designed as a universal plug-and-play system
Feedback Wanted
If you’re a PSG fan or a tactics enthusiast, test it and share:- Match stats and xG data
- Positional or passing maps
- Notes on spacing, pressing triggers, or Dembélé’s positioning
I’m only interested in making it more accurate — tactically and statistically.
Discussion: Luis Enrique’s PSG 2025-26 / Order, Chaos, Control
8 comments have been posted so far.
3-1 v Inter (H) ECL
3-1 v Monaco (A) L1
3-0 v Courbevoie (H) Friendly (2nd Team fitness)
5-0 v Rennes (H) L1
3-0 Leverkusen (A) ECL
6-0 Metz (A) L1
1-0 Al-Ahli (N) CWC
3-0 Chartres (A) Coup De France (team made up of unfit backups and youngsters)
5-0 Amicale de Luce (A) mid-season break Friendly (team made up of youngsters)
- Dembele. I have tried to tell Dembele on the right (and Kvaratskhelia on the left) as well as Doue (who I'm playing on the left wing this season until I get some of the talented players back that are out on loan for the first season) and Lee on the right to all cut inside onto their inside foot via the player instructions. I can say with confidence that it does not work. It just takes away 50% of the ways the player can go past their full back. Therefore, I simply play Kvaratskhelia as a wide-forward just like you, Dembele as a winger, and the two backups each playing just the same as the first choices, with no specific instruction to beat their man inside OR outside. I have tested this difference in the same match several time, first half tell them to go in, 2nd half let them choose. The 2nd half almost always gave better performances on both wings, regardless of the player. The only one who I'm not sure about is Doue, and I think that may be because he is less confident on the left, so he may want to come inside much more than the others do. I just think Dembele playing on the right as a regular W/TW, with neither winger having any particular instruction on which way to dribble is the best way to go as a result of this testing. I tried for a while with IWs, but they come infield a little too much for my tastes, making a very central front 3 IP, and taking away the link-up play with my wing-backs (described next), and taking away perhaps the best weapon in this year's game: Wingplay.
- I also like to go with the 325 shape on attacks by bringing a fullback into the backline, another fullback into the DMC position, but with PSG I decided that Mendes and in particular Hakimi were simply too useful as wingbacks, and wingplay so overpowered this year, that their link-up play with Kvaratskhelia and Dembele would be far too valuable and unstoppable to ignore. So I have gone with a much more conventional wingbacks system in my own 433.
- My central midfield roles are the same as yours IP, and in OOP were also the same as yours, but I began to notice my WCM in OOP passages was positioning himself next to Hakimi near the full back position, just ahead of the back line, even with the other team in their own half when the other team played in a 343 shape. This would have the extra problem of ensuring he left the central midfield open, with the DMC he WOULD have been covering had he been given a more centrally-covering OOP role being completely open. This can leave you essentially a man light in the middle of the field, and in a tough away game in the Champion's league semi-final, that can be suicide, quite frankly. Now, if prime Lionel Messi is playing for the other team, such a role might be worth considering for spells in a match, but it's part of my footballing philosophy that, like in Chess, to control the centre of the field of play is to control the flow of the game. To give up the centre is to hand the initiative to the other side. PSG are good enough that they often win regardless, so it took me some time to really begin to notice this, but now I've seen it I will not be using a WCM again, unless in some special circumstance.
- Ramos is my first choice striker not Barcola, who is my backup. The reason I went with Ramos is because I, like you, wanted a channel forward, and Ramos has the 'Runs the Channels' trait already. Barcola has attributes that suit such play, but he lacks the trait. Ramos did not start as my main striker, first it was Dembele, but he was not good in that role and his ability to beat his man with mazy dribbles was wasted in a game where dribbling past defenders is so overpowered. Ramos is now my top scorer with 10 goals in total, 5 in 9 starts (plus 5 more appearances off the bench) in Ligue 1, but he does also have 5 goals from 5 games in the Champion's League with a 7.42 average in that tournament so far.
I have some other small differences, I have moved tempo 1 click higher than neutral, and my mentality is Balanced. My OOP play is not QUITE so aggressive in the press, especially once the other team gets through the first line in which case the 2nd and 3rd lines fall back to a good defensive shape. This includes my fullbacks, who do not press up like yours, but I have not yet tested the difference the pressing fullbacks make to any conclusive degree.
After making specific changes I noticed immediately better performances and results. I will now list those changes and the improvements noted:
- After 4 Champion's League games I had 5 points and was 24th in the league stage. We were struggling, and we had 2 massive games next, first at home v Inter, then away from home at 1st placed Leverkusen. I hade the changes to both my wingers at half-time, for the very first time in the save, to no longer force them to cut inside in the dribble. Both wingers went from 6.7 match rating at half-time, to the left winger going to an 8.0, the right winger going to a 7.6 at full time after telling them to dribbling which ever direction they wanted. We won the Inter game 3-1, and went on to beat Leverkusen 3-0 in Germany, because my wingers now no longer had one arm tied behind their backs and because when beating their man to the outside, the were more likely to link up with their support wingback making runs from deep.
- We were playing a domestic game away from home. Like almost every domestic game with PSG, it was one I expected to win comfortably, yet at half-time it was 0-0, and the shot count for each side was quite even, as was the possession counter. I slowed down the between-highlights 2D radar to 4x and watched closely. It was then that I noticed the WCM on OOP, giving up the space in the middle. This was allowing one of their DMs to be completely free in the middle, and was allowing the other team to ALWAYS HAVE A MAN WIDE OPEN TO PASS TO. Once I took that away by bringing my CM to a screening CM in OOP, the game ended with a 3-0 away win, the shot count was something like 3x more for me than for the other team, and our possession % had gone up significantly.
- Another major improvement came after a very disappointing 0-0 draw at home against Le Havre, who were 2nd last in the league and were a team we should have destroyed in our own stadium. We had endless shots at goal, endless possession, but with a bit of luck (and several very good saves from their goalkeeper and some brave defending from their outfielders), Le Havre upset the odds to steal a point from us. I had played that game as I have played a good amount of the season to that time: With a Positive mentality and average tempo. It was my assistance who made the suggestion BEFORE the Le Havre game, and I ignored him: He suggested that we play a higher tempo. The reason he gave was that it would speed up our play in and around their penalty area, make it harder for them to defend us, and IF would could put everything together, we could weave ourselves a goalscoring chance or two from that. I ignored the advice, but after the game I remembered the advice, and decided I would implement it in the next game. I didn't like pairing this tempo with a positive mentality, though. I have noticed that the more attacking the mentality, the more your players just run up the field and the more direct you have to be. I wanted to pass the ball, make the other team chase us. I wanted to keep the ball, save our energy, and in the last 30 minutes, with the other team tired from chasing the ball all day, we would finally get the space we were looking for quite naturally. So I dropped the mentality back to Balanced, with a higher tempo. This worked very well indeed. In fact, my team has looked virtually invincible ever since this last change was made. Dropping back to a balanced mentality had the added benefit of giving more tactical familiarity to my players. I cannot stress the impact this last change has had on the team's performances.
One final, bonus change I made: PSG don't have that much height or physical power, really. So I made a conscious decision, after trying to cheese the near post corner trick for a couple of months, to keep mostly the same positioning, but to send a player to my corner and FK taker, and play short corners and short FKs. Since then, we are MUCH more dangerous from FKs and corners. This is the way to go for a team like PSG who lack height, but who have abundant dribbling. I have 4 men in the area to screen defenders off, and 6 outside the area, 2 or 3 to cover counters, 2 or 3 to make the play from the short set-piece. This has resulted in perhaps 5 or 6 extra goals I'm absolutely sure I would not have scored had I not made this set-piece change, from about 8 or 9 games since making said change.
I have no doubt at all that if you were to make even just one or two of these changes for your own tactic, you will see an improvement quickly. The question is, do you want to be true to your vision of Luis Enrique's tactic, or do you simply want the tactic to be better? If it's the first, you do not necessarily make any of the changes I suggested. If it's the 2nd, I think you should definitely take all of them under advisement.
My results are hard to fully quantify because my season started with a rather different set of roles, instructions and team shapes, it's only in the last 7 or 8 games that everything has been changed to what I have described, but in those 7 or 8 games I've won every match, scored probably 25 goals, conceded only 1 or 2. a 5-0 away win, a 6-0 win, a 3-1 win v Inter, a 3-0 win away at Champion's League, league stage leaders Leverkusen, we won the world club cup 1-0 without giving up a shot on target and it could have been 4 or 5-0 to be honest and probably SHOULD have been. It's a long way from the early season 0-0 at home against Le Havre and the awful, turgid 1-1 at Celtic.
I'll give the tactic a spin sometime soon!
I just requested for an edit.
Beyond that, I think we’ve hit the limit of this back-and-forth. You’re focusing on tone and formatting; I’m focusing on how to make the tactic play closer to real-life PSG. Different priorities, that’s all.
Thanks!
The use of outdated information (since AI obviously doesn't have the latest information), combined with some of the typical AI writing tells (em-dash, randomly bolded and italized text, enthusiastically asking for feedback and dialogue), really just makes me very suspicious.
Again, I really don't mind people using AI, I use it myself in my day job all the time. I just think you ought to double-check the information is generates is actually correct.
Also, for what it's worth, even if I don't upload tactics, I've uploaded more than a handful of editor files - I don't think I've ever had a mod go in and edit the text.
What’s online isn’t my raw post, and I don’t see where your comment points to any mismatch between the tactic and the write-up.
If you’ve spotted something specific that doesn’t align tactically, I’m genuinely open to discussing it. Otherwise, vague “AI wrote it” remarks don’t help make the tactic better — and that’s the only thing I’m here for.