At GOAL we tell you how to create custom tactics for Football Manager 2024.
Space is one of the most valuable commodities on a football pitch and a tactical principle designed to create more of it, known as positional play, has become one of the most popular in top-flight football in recent times.
As is often the case, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was at the forefront of this trend. In short, the idea of positional play is for players to adjust their position on the pitch to “find the extra player”, giving the ball carrier more passing options and allowing the team to move the ball forward quickly and effectively.
Positional play makes its debut in Football Manager 2024. Significant improvements to player rotations, i.e. the concept of moving players to different positions while your team has possession of the ball, in the flow of matches ensure that your teams play like the best.
Add an extra player to the attack
One of the most popular formations in modern football, the 4-2-3-1, is being revived on FM24.
Take a look at the training below as an example. Here you have a second midfielder and a defensive midfielder at the base of your midfield, and then an advanced playmaker in position 10. In a match on FM24, this is what your team’s shape looks like when you are out of possession.
With these changes to the player rotation, the second midfielder has the freedom to move forward and join the attack as the second player in the 10th position behind the striker when your team has possession of the ball.
This is where changes in positional play become important. The advanced playmaker recognizes the forward movement of the second midfielder and moves to free up more space in front of him, effectively creating a four-player unit behind the striker.
Take Manchester City as an example, with Mateo Kovacic as a second midfielder and Kevin De Bruyne as an advanced playmaker. Here, De Bruyne will move up to accommodate Kovacic’s advance and although Phil Foden is lined up on the right as an inverted winger, he will start from a wider position to allow Kovacic to support the attack.
This gives you a 4-1-4-1 formation when in possession, which usually means a numerical advantage over the opponent’s defense and better opportunities for your players to shoot more effectively.
Moreover, with more support, your attacker gets even more support and opportunities for association play. That usually means goals and what do goals mean? Trophies.
Add smart defenders to the mix
Player rotations in FM24 are not limited to just midfielders and wingers. The new Inverted Side Defender feature and improvements to the Inverted Backward feature allow you to create smoother shapes across the entire field.
The 4-3-3 shown below is quite simple in shape, but with these improved defenders your way of building the game will look very different.
In this system, Kyle Walker as an inverted lateral defender will position himself as a third central defender and Josko Gvardiol as an inverted full-back will move forward to support Rodri in a double defensive pivot in midfield.
With more cover behind them, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva will move further up the pitch to support the attacking trio.
Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden, as in the previous example, will remain wider, meaning you will once again have a four-man attacking unit supporting and working together with Erling Haaland in the final third of the pitch.
This will give you something similar to the following when your team has possession of the ball.
What these positional rotations give you is tactical flexibility. With smarter player movements, your team’s shape will dynamically adapt between different phases of the attack, allowing you to better play through the lines and overload the opponent in attacking areas, giving you the best chance of winning trophies in the key phases of the game. football.
Football Manager 2024 is available to buy now here.
Source: Goal