The Aim of this guide is to introduce you to integrating the right tactic to use for the ability of your players. To do this I will talk about Formations, Team Instructions, Shouts and a little about player instructions. By the end of this guide I hope to have enlightened you into a different way of managing your team and hope fully bring more success to them lower league managers out there.

Some thing that has plagued me for a few years on football manager is I have made really good in depth formations and tactics for my lower league teams and then wondered why I still don't get the results I should. There is absolutely no point in setting up a really complex tactic if your managing a really poor team for example you wont be able to get Histon Town playing like Barcelona. As its just to difficult for the less talented players out there. Even if you sign better players than your opponents you will still find your asking them to do some thing they cant or the players around them cant..

If you watch the lower leagues on television you will notice that very few sides can play good football and most just have a big physical side who lump the ball up field and try to score goals that way. So why do you try to play 30 passes before taking that 30 yard shot. It simply will not work and you will not win games.

In the lower leagues I tend to stick to either a flat 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 formation nice and simple without leaving your midfield open. I have supported Peterborough United for a good 15 seasons and if I have learnt nothing else from our many years in the basement divisions of the league its matches are won and lost in midfield.

Your Players
As I have mentioned before your players will not be up for playing good attractive football so don't go wasting your money on getting that sort of player in all you need are defenders who can defend, midfielders who can pass the ball and a strike force that can score goals So if you feel the need to sign a player think KISS (Keep it simple, stupid).

When searching for any new player before choosing the attributes you want you should always ensure that you do not look for every stat to match the criteria otherwise you may miss out on bloody good players due to one attribute being one stat out. To this end I always try match half of the stats (If I am looking for 6 attributes Ill make sure at least 3 are my target stat)

Defenders
The main job for your central defender is to stop the opposing players from playing and to clear the ball out of danger when required. However you don't just want him hoofing the ball out of play every time he gets it so you will want him to possess technique and composure to be able to help your team maintain possession ad lay off simple passes to your midfield. So for your campaign your center backs should be basic Central Defenders with a defensive duty. The Defensive duty will keep your player inline with his partner and look to break up any attacks, mark players and prevent the ball from getting into the ox.

When looking at your defenders the main stats you should be looking at are Heading, Marking, Tackling, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Determination, Positioning, Jumping and Strength. If your center back has these attributes anything else is a bonus but anything less you should avoid.

Full Backs
You should look to use Full Backs on the wings with an automatic duty. as his job is to supplement his traditional defensive duties with overlapping runs down the wing to support the forward play and help attacks. Although primarily a defensive player he must be prepared to get forward when the team needs the extra width. With an automatic duty the full back will switch automatically between defend, Support and Attack duties according to your match strategy. When looking at your Full backs you should look at the following stats. Crossing, Marking, Tackling, Anticipation, Concentration, positioning, Team Work, work Rate, Acceleration and Stamina.

Wide Midfielders
The wide midfielder performs defensive and attacking duties on the flanks supporting the forwards, Midfield and defense when required. Generally lacking the explosive pace or the exciting dribbling skills of an out and out winger the wide midfielder relies on team work and work rate to get into dangerous attacking positions without compromising his defensive responsibilities. Again I have set my wide midfielders to an automatic duty which is the same as the defenders.

When looking at your wide midfielders look at the following attributes. Crossing, Passing, Tackling, Anticipation, Decisions, Determination, Off the ball, Team Work, Work Rate and Stamina. the big three here are Team work, Work rate and stamina.

Central Midfielder
The central midfielder has the technical ability to play in Attacking, Support or Defensive roles but tends to lack the stamina, vision and drive to perform more than one simultaneously so if your midfielders have the following stats I would keep them as Central Midfielders with a Support Duty. First Touch, Long Shots, Marking, Passing, Tackling, Creativity, Decisions, Determination, Off the ball, Positioning, Team work and Work Rate.

If however your central midfielders have decent stats in Dribbling, Finishing, First Touch, Heading, Long Shots, Marking, Passing, Technique, Anticipation, Bravery, Decisions, Determination, Off the ball, Positioning, Work Rate, Acceleration, Strength and Stamina then you should defiantly play them as Box to Box midfielders as this would greatly improve your chances of winning matches.

In the centre of the park standing proud should be your ball winning midfielders his job is in the title he is to close down the opposition and win the ball however he also needs the technical skills to help the team keep possession and fashion out chances for your attackers. With a support duty the ball winning midfielder will aim to win the ball back high up the pitch and support resulting counter attacking opportunities. His stats should be as follows. Marking, Passing, Aggression, Bravery, Determination, Team Work, Work Rate, Stamina and Strength.

Your lone striker
As I have left only one man up front he will play a trequartista role meaning he will operate in the center forward position. He will aim to drop into the holes between the oppositions midfield and defense the trequartista does far less defensively and simply drifts around looking for space when the team is not in possession. He will need the following attributes. Finishing, First touch, Passing, Technique, Anticipation, Composure, Creativity, Flair, Off the ball and Agility.

Team Instructions

With this philosophy each player is expected to focus on a single phase of play within a rigid system. the team will be expected to keep its shape at all times playing very precise and controlled football with players allowed little creative freedom, This is emphasized which the stick to position instruction on Roaming. I have chose to play a standard strategy. This is arguably the most important of all match strategies as by carefully balancing risk and reward it enables a manager to assess the match situation and how well the team is playing prior to switching to a more specialized tactical plan. It is an ideal starting strategy for all short odds matches, By carefully watching the match you can decide to be more aggressive or cautious depending on how the match is going.


Shouts

With this set up you can control each match using custom shouts which you should preset before the match starts. This is something you will tweak yourself as the season goes on.
I will give you some examples.



I think this is a great little feature but I would have liked to see other options added for example Waste time.


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