Football Manager Tactics: Henry’s diamond 442 (France U23s) #FM24
Intro
Bonjour tout le monde, the French National Team requires renewal. Didier Deschamps will go down as one of their best ever managers, but my undeniable feeling is that his journey with the national team has run its course. Still, a World Cup win and multiple major final appearances means the next Manager probably has the hardest job in world football: stay competitive like Deschamp’s France did, but crucially do it in a more attractive way.
Despite the France Football Federation (FFF) probably wanting to continue with Deschamps until 2026, Zinedine Zidane remains the unanimous favourite from fans and media alike to take over, but Thierry Henry (the current U21 coach) has the opportunity to provide a demonstration for his credentials in this year’s Olympic Games. Host nation France have submitted a competitive squad of younger talents and have decided to make use of the three player older dispensation cap by submitting Loïc Badé (24), Jean-Philippe Mateta (27) and Alexandre Lacazette (33) too. They will be favourites to win Olympic gold.
However, the pressure is amplified somewhat by the bluntness and staleness of France’s Euro 2024 campaign. Can Thierry Henry’s young squad deal with that pressure and rejuvenate the hope within a nation of football lovers? I certainly think so, it’s why I am once again powering up the network save klaxon with good friend FM Adventure. We will be making this the sequel to our Euro 2024 save, where player appearances ensured we used the whole squad.
Because the Olympic squads are 18-man as opposed to 26-man, we propose the following tweak:
From the onset of the tournament, four non-overage players are nominated and allowed to play every game of the Olympics. We call these Designated Players (DP).
All other players, including overage players, are limited to a maximum of three appearances from the Group Stage through to the Semi Final - this includes starts and sub appearances.
Any player is eligible to play in the Final, should one of us get there.
Football, rentres à la maison? Read on to find out… 🤞🏻
La tactique: 442 💎
Now quickly back to the subject of ‘pressure’, how many times have you heard the expression: “young players don’t feel pressure?”. I certainly heard it a lot over the course of Euro 2024 from certain commentators on English TV, whilst seeing the likes of Arda Güler, Kobbie Mainoo, Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal play with such confidence. Young players still feel pressure though, but perhaps what is different between them and older players is that they are open to trying new and exciting things on the football pitch.
A squad open to being guided and influenced by a legend of the game is Thierry Henry's opportunity at this year’s Olympics. He has the chance to introduce some much needed ‘va va voom’ to the French nation, and I think he is going to do that with an attractive narrow 442 (out of possession), which sometimes looks like a 343 or 334 in possession. It’s narrow, with the attacking width predominantly supplied by Adrien Truffert at left back whilst the Full Back on the other side shuffles to make a back three (Kiliann Sildillia). There’s an industrious midfield trio keeping things ticking along, meaning you can have a roaming No.10 (Michael Olise or Ryan Cherki) behind two forwards. One forward will look to hold up the ball into on the right hand side channel and link up play (Alexandre Lacazette or JP Mateta) and the other will be on the shoulders of the last man (Arnaud Kalimuendo, but also captain Lacazette once again) who will look to be the primary goal threat.
DIAMOND TACTIC.
Player Roles
The advantage of copying and basing a tactic from real-life is that it will normally be well balanced in terms of attack and defence. Obviously some roles will always be open to debate and particular players will perform multiple duties throughout a typical match. Henry’s system likes to attack central areas, using Michael Olise as the No.10. The Strikers will move into channels, where they can disrupt the opposition and also link up with the deeper midfielders, and what attacking width there is comes in the form of the attacking wing back. I chose a Complete Wing Back here, purely for the basis that they’re able to roam into the open space that is plentiful given that there is only a Carrilero in front…and that’s not a role that will move into half-spaces or hug the line looking for crosses. Once I decided on that, I looked at what the other two in midfield do…this is quite interchangeable. But certainly one of the CMs is an attack minded ‘central winger’. I like Enzo Millot in this role (Mezzala), but Maghnes Akliouche is equally effective and both have had standout seasons in real-life in the Bundesliga and Ligue 1 respectively.
Team Instructions
The current ‘Olympic Team’ has not had a great deal of games for me to re-watch and review. But the obvious Team Instructions to select is the instructions designed to reap the most out of the left-hand side attack. Truffert is putting in some delicious hard and low crosses. The team is positive and playing at a high tempo (as you would expect an Henry side to behave having played for Monsieur Wenger for so many years). As a result, I have selected the team to frequently look to counter and attack the opposition.
Les Jeux Olympiques 🥇🥈🥉
So, you’ve seen the tactic and I guess you are now wanting to know how it plays out in a network save environment? Read on mes amies to find out.
Unlike FM Adventure, my four DPs (who would be eligible to play all tournament games) were mostly specialised in the defensive areas: Goalkeeper Guillaume Restes, Defenders Kiliann Sildillia & Castello Lukeba and No.10 Michael Olise. Restes was an easy choice due to being the only goalkeeper with any real experience between the two chosen by real life Thierry Henry.
The Inverted Full Back was crucial to my side, and I chanced on Sildillia having the Natural Fitness (14) to cope with all six games if we could make it that far. Likewise, Castello Lukeba is a classy CB for this U23 level and I wanted to play him as much as possible in this tournament.
I then chose Michael Olise as my final DP, knowing that I could rotate my two central ST roles easy enough with Cherki, Kalimuendo, Lacazette and Mateta.
Group Stage
Group A was where the best nations hung out in the 2024 Olympics. Brazil were the early test, a side blessed with both Vitor Roque and Endrick upfront. They had a real go at us too, and a late equaliser meant the top spot in the group would go to whichever side could wreck the most devastation on Mali and Japan. France 3-3 Brazil. Mali shocked the tournament for a good 50 minutes, before JP Mateta thundered in a through ball from Mezzala Millot. The game ended 4-1 to France, but Brazil’s 5-1 win against the Japanese meant they sat in pole position with a game to go. However, Japan were annihilated by the French in the final game, where a sending off contributed to a 6-0 French win. Top spot meant a crucial dodge of tournament dark horses The United States of Major North American Nations, phew.
Knockouts
Morocco were no pushovers in the Quarter Finals though, and I had to rotate…knowing Brazil/USA were bizarrely drawn back in against me as my potential Semi Finalists. To get past the North Africans I needed the help of DP Michael Olise who once again lit up the tournament with two goals. A 4-3 epic that Humphrey Bogart would have been proud of, set up the return grudge match with Brazil. This time however it was more comfortable. Mateta scored with his big tête-a-tête twice, before Akliouche became France’s 8th different goalscorer of the tournament. France 3-1 Brazil.
Final
The narrative had come good, and although French-Argentine footballing relations are at an all-time low, it’s very different in the Adventure-Grasshopper multiverse. I had a lot of respect for the way Adventure had gone about the tournament in an expansive 442. They were second in total goals scored so far (18 goals in the five games previously) and his 442 was getting the most out of tournament top scorer Lucas Beltrán (7 goals). However, despite the love, I still wanted to win gold and I thought my tactic could do well against the 442 due to the numerical advantages (3v2) in both midfield + against his centre-backs. It could be a game where the magic of an unmarked No.10 decides the outcome…
Still love this teamsheet FM graphic.
It was true, the Trequartista was the difference (well maybe my GK too). Michael Olise was the constant goal threat AND creator for the French whole tournament, and this time he linked up well with some nice passing; before crossing low for Alexandre Lacazette to score right before HT (see below). Credit must also go to guardian of the buts, Guillaume Restes. He saved Thiago Almada’s 6th minute penalty and put in a MOTM winning performance. On reflection, Argentina were perhaps unlucky not to at least push the game into Extra-Time but we will not care!
🥇 La France 1-0 L'Argentine 🥈 (with Spain winning bronze on penalties against Brazil 🥉)
Other Football Manager Tactics from me…
If you liked this post, and are thirsty for more, I have wrote similar pieces which span a number of Football Manager editions:
Euro 2024: England in a 343 🏴
Thanks for reading/ sharing and caring,
Tony / FM Grasshopper