Latte Quarterly Issue Five

Leagues, Tactics, Training, Analysis… Everything FM
(A lack of) Tactical Inspiration
By FMSamo
I’m going to tell you something. I don’t actually watch that much football at all. I
can’t remember the last time I watched a Champions League match live, and you
couldn’t pay me to watch the English Premier League.
I support a team in the Scottish Championship (the second tier of the Scottish
football pyramid) and that’s where all of my football viewing happens. It’s chaotic
and unpredictable. I love it, I love my club, but we don’t exactly play an exciting
brand of football. There’s a few outliers occasionally, but for the most part, the style
of play in the league consists of long balls and lots of running around. There’s not
much in the way of cleverly built attacks or pressing triggers to keep the opposition
at bay.
What does this have to do with Football Manager? It puts me in a tricky situation,
that’s what. As the years go on and new editions of the game come out, I have less
and less inspiration tactically.
I decided on the save I was going to do a good few months ago now, but as I fired it
up on release day I sat there staring at the tactics screen for a good while. I had a
complete blank about how I wanted to set my team up.
If you don’t watch any football in the non-FM world, how do you decide how to
setup tactically on the game?
Standout Players
You’ve had your introductory press
conference, now it’s time to meet the
players and assess who you’ve got at
your disposal. It’s highly likely you’ve
got a couple of players who are better
than the rest of your squad. It makes
sense to try and build a tactic around
them, that can give you a great starting
point in terms of a formation.
This was the case with me. I’m doing a
Club and Country save, I’ve got some
incredibly talented players eligible to
play for my Norwegian national side.
How the hell do I get the best out of
Haaland? How the hell do I get
Ødegaard assisting him as much as
possible? How the hell do I get Sander
Berge flourishing in the middle of the
pitch and how the hell do I aide
Kristoffer Ajer in keeping out the
opposition?