General Tactics (FM15) – The Tactical Annals

The Leverkusen 1-2-4-1-2-0

Posted by Jonathon Aspeyon August 23, 2015July 19, 2017in General Tactics (FM15)4 Comments

It’s been far too long since I’ve done a tactical analysis post (since my analysis of my 4-5-1-0 with Eibar in fact). These type of write-ups used to make up the majority of my FM writing, but as this year has gone on I have enjoyed the saves I’ve been playing so much that I’ve tried to blend both the tactics and the story aspects together. However, it’s now time to go back to the tactical articles, to look at and disect the new tactic I’ve been using in the Leverkusen save, a 1-2-4-1-2-0. In effect, it’s a strikerless 3-4-1-2, but with a Libero instead of a third centre back.

It was part of not only a tactical shift, but a stylistic shift within the club. Over the first three seasons, I’d used possession based tactics in an asymmetrical 4-3-1-2 and a 4-4-2 diamond, which passed forward aggressively, but then probed around the opposition’s box, looking for a way in, and being patient. I wanted to move away from this somewhat, moving to a more direct, counter attacking approach, with a very fast tempo. It’s highly inspired by my recent research of the 1991 Red Star Belgrade team.

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Why 4-5-1 Is The ‘Best’ Formation on FM15

Posted by Jonathon Aspeyon February 20, 2015July 19, 2017in General Tactics (FM15)19 Comments

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be one of those FM articles where someone claims that their tactic is ‘the best and most effective tactic you’ll find on FM15’. However, I’m going to put forward my opinion of what is the ‘best’ formation to use on FM15.

Of course, my idea of ‘best’ is going to differ from those that claim their tactic is the best, really meaning the best for that particular team, in that particular league with those particular players and signings. My idea of the best formation relates to the most useful, the most versatile, whilst still being very effective.

So, first off, why do I like the 4-5-1 formation, when it’s largely thought of as such a bland formation, right alongside 4-4-2? Well, this won’t turn into a rant, because those of you that have read this blog will know of my complaints relating to the positioning of AM’s and DM’s, but conversely, my love of CM’s in this year’s version. They’re so versatile in their positioning, and you can make up for the issues with AM and DM positioning by tweaking the roles slightly. For example, as I showed in the Central Winger article (a tweaked CM-A), the CW will regularly move up into the AM strata to support the strikers.

‘Playing The Patch’ – The Strikerless 4-5-1-0

Posted by Jonathon Aspeyon January 14, 2015June 26, 2018in General Tactics (FM15)11 Comments

I’ve had a few problems with FM15 lately. There’s been a few things that have really been irritating me, particularly relating to player positioning, and how SI have interpreted certain positions. This article isn’t going to be a rant, but there’s several positions that I’ve become very annoyed by. I don’t like AMR/L’s on FM15. I find them largely useless when defending, and for someone as focused on defending (shamelessly a defence first manager) as I am, it’s meant I haven’t used them. Last year, I used them in a very successful 4-3-3 with *coughSalzburgcough* but I won’t use them this year until a patch sorts out their farcical efforts in defence. A bunch of successful teams throughout football history have used what SI would consider to be AMR/L’s, and they don’t act anything like they do in FM15. I also don’t like the positioning of AMC’s. With an ‘attack’ duty, they end up too far away from the rest of the midfield, and again, don’t contribute at all defensively. On ‘support’ they’re too close to the rest of the midfield, leaving me to think why on Earth would I bother using an AMC then? With Stuttgart, Roguljic was set as an AP-S, and he ended up being in the same line as the double pivot when I looked at average positions. If he’s going to end up in the same position as a central midfielder, why am I using an attacking midfielder?

A Brainstorm

Posted by Jonathon Aspeyon December 23, 2014July 19, 2017in FM15 - Sturm Graz, General Tactics (FM15)7 Comments

Before I begin this post, I feel it’s probably best to explain that I’ve always been a Pep/Bielsa disciple. I’ve always particularly believed in Pep’s style of football, and his philosophies. Looking at my Sturm save, you can identify this. I put my best players (Alar, Lovric and now Wydra) in the centre of the park as a midfield 3 in order to achieve numerical superiority there. I’m a firm believer that, like chess, achieving dominance in the centre is a sure-fire way of giving yourself a good chance of victory. It’s now become a football cliché, but this is something I’ve believed since I first started to watch Pep’s legendary Barca side. I’ll always maintain that the Barca/Real 5-0 is the best I’ll ever see a team play, and watching that match in a full pub at University confirmed my allegiance to Pep Guardiola.

Lately however, I’ve started to become influenced by a different style of football, that has moved me away from wanting my teams to play just like Pep. This probably started with the first time I watched Mourinho’s Madrid perfect the counter attack, or the first time I watched Dortmund’s gegenpressing. Now, I always make the point that possession isn’t everything to me, and I always look for that point of perfection between vertical movement and possession play. The epitome of this other style of football is former Red Bull Salzburg boss (I won’t hold that against him) Roger Schmidt, someone who Pep has openly admitted his admiration for.

A Tactical Brainstorm And Preview

Posted by Jonathon Aspeyon November 22, 2014July 19, 2017in General Tactics (FM15)12 Comments

I’ll admit it, I was hoping to have had a tactical piece out by now. Whether that was the FM15 Central Winger article (which is coming) or something altogether different, I wasn’t sure. I was only a few matches away from being ready to do the article on the 4-4-1-1/4-1-4-1 I’d been using with Sturm Graz, but then FM intervened, taking away my star Number 10, and forcing me to change tactics, meaning I hadn’t managed to test the 4-4-1-1/4-1-4-1 enough before writing an article on it.

To compensate for this (and also because I’m missing writing about tactics) I thought I’d give you a preview of what I’m hoping to use down the line on FM15. I’d use it now if I could, but there’s certain elements of the game that don’t work quite as SI said they would, meaning for now at least, they’re largely useless.

First off, I’ll show the formation and roles I’d want to use, before explaining the theory behind it.