Football Manager Tactics: 3241 magic in Monterrey #FM24EarlyAccess

 
 

Hola a todos!

The #FM24EarlyAccess is here, and the excitement ahead of the full release is now at fever pitch. But before I go an embark on my SuperClub Diaries save, I thought I would try out some sweet tactical goodness in Mexico, with CF Monterrey. Firstly, why Mexico? Well, it’s a fairly short Opening/Closing league system with the addition of the newly re-formatted Leagues Cup containing Major League Soccer franchises. There are also no relegations + promotions right now, so it makes sense to manage in this nation for a relatively short period…rather than a long-term save. Secondly, why CF Monterrey?

Squad review

It has been a four-year spell without a trophy for CF Monterrey in real-life, yet there is potential to challenge for honours from the beginning of this save due to some great players being present in the Day 1 squad:

  1. Esteban Andrada - a former Miami Galáctico in an alternate FM Universe. Not sure why, but I love this Goalkeeper. Tall, dependable with old school ‘keeping attributes.

  2. Héctor Moreno - Mexico seems to generate many players with 100+ international caps. Moreno is 6th on the most capped list, with 132 appearances for El Tricolor…he is a classy left-footed Centre-Back who can bring the ball out of defence and pick a good pass.

  3. Sergio Canales, Jesús Corona (‘Tecatito’) and Maximiliano Meza - Three technically gifted players here to build around, all three need to be in the First XI. All three have a decent mix of Flair, Technique and Vision.

There are a number of other players I have grown to like during this short play-through, but the five mentioned above are what drew me towards Monterrey. Here they are in FM24, (please do not mock the lack of club logos/facepacks…I’ve made no efforts to download them so far):

Building the tactic

So, the ideas of fitting the previously mentioned five players all went onto my tactical whiteboard. Here is the first concept of a tactic I had in mind for CF Monterrey:

 

My whiteboard.

 

The arrows crudely drawn by oneself hint at the kind of movement I was looking for, so you can probably guess some of the roles I intend to use. Maybe have a go at guessing before you read on?

4141 to 3241, with Positional Play

Positional Play, in my view at least, is not a new concept. I grew up with people telling me to pass as triangles on the football pitch, overloading a certain part of the pitch when in possession of the ball. Whilst I appreciate Pep Guardiola gets the modern day plaudits for Positional Play, in a lot of ways…it was already in grassroots football years/decades ago OR maybe it has always been in football? In Football Manager 2024 we now see players have a greater awareness of one another, so for the early-access content I wanted to use a few roles that trigger these transitional movements. Based on the previous screenshot I decided to try the below roles:

  • Libero (Defend) - moving CB to DM

  • Inverted Full Back (Defend) - moving FB to CB

  • Mezzala (Attack) - moving CM to AM

You can see clearly how the first couple of transitions work, the Inverted Full Back will slot in to the space vacated by the Libero (who forms a double pivot with my Deep Lying Playmaker). The final transition of the left sided Mezzala movement is not a new one, however the way Football Manager sees the players around him react to that movement has been tweaked. So, that means any wide player stays that little bit wider (to allow the Mezzala full occupancy of the half-space) and the Attacking Midfielder moving to the right slightly. Remember: FM24’s Positional Play is as much about the shifting of a role (e.g. an Attacking Midfielder) around a transitional role (e.g. Mezzala), than it is of the latter moving into certain spaces. I think it is important to bold this particular point, because I have seen a bit of confusion around the content creator community thinking Positional Play is the movement of certain roles themselves, which have largely always been there (think: Deep Lying Forward and Central Midfielder on Attack for example), nor is it the Enganche moving out wide under all conditions for example, rather it is the Positional Play from other roles forcing it to happen as a rotation.

Because Football Manager 2024’s user interface does not show you a general in possession shape, I made one myself (see below). In the far left image I have a stripped back 2D Classic view of the pitch in the various zones, which FMers on the forums from yesteryear sometime like to call strata. The middle is out of possession, i.e. the tactic that you see on FM24 and the far right is the general spaces the roles like to move into. I appreciate I have not yet shown you the actual roles in their entirety, nor the Team Instructions…that comes next:

There is a part of me that doesn’t sit well with showing an ‘in possession’ graphic, as there are so many subtleties that dictate the precise location of a player on the pitch at any one time. But that’s their general locations from the general patterns of play I see from an Opening Stage play-through with CF Monterrey. Below is how the wider tactic looks in FM24. Note - I’m not usually one for asymmetrical tactics as I feel the AI doesn’t cope to well against them, but the DLP-S is there for the progressive balls to Winger but also a nice cross-field switch is on for the attacking Mezzala. Anyway, all tactics are asymmetrical once we’re in possession…so I’m cool with it. Here’s how we set up:

CF Monterrey tactic.

As always, I’ve evolved the tactic…accepting that I never get it exactly how I want it right from the start.

Mentality - I’ve either been on Balanced or Positive in this save. Balanced is when I want to show slightly less urgency, usually when in control of the game already.

In Possession - I’ve always made sure CF Monterrey have been a team that play out of the back. It suits the skillset of the Centre-Backs and Inverted Full-Backs that are also capable of playing centrally. There were times I changed our approach play though, removing Work Ball Into Box when switching Deep Lying Forward to Advanced Forward. During this switch, I would also usually remove the lower tempo…increasing the chance of the Advanced Forward getting a forward ball sooner. Low crosses is also something I added to the tactic too, and for obvious reasons: we’re not overly tall or physical upfront, but rather quick and nimble.

In Transition - I think I also kept these the same across all games. But I did ask the Goalkeeper to slow down distribution during some gut wrenching Opening Stage Finals (more on this later).

Out Of Possession - The only change here is when I noticed long kicks from opposition goalkeepers reaching my Centre-Backs and beyond. One goal is the line in the sand for me to switch and drop lines deeper towards my own goal.

Player Role changes - the eagle eyed readers may have noticed that Jesús Corona was very advanced in my tactical whiteboard drawing in the Attacking Midfielder zone. I moved him down to the Central Midfield zone part-way through the season and he was on the ball a lot more as a result, which is what you want for somebody with Dribbling 18, Flair 18, Technique 17 and Vision 16! The move was justified, as he has topped our Dribbles statistic with 5.33 per 90 over the course of this Opening Stage campaign.

Now I should probably show you some goal highlights, and to do that I will do it in Loom - a video capture software that also allows me to to talk to you…

 
 

As for other bits:

  • I used default set pieces, except tweaked Defensive corner routines to help with counters - whereby two players are left upfield to break forward if given the chance. Surprisingly, I was amazed my Assistant Manager routine had everybody back, which kind of invited the pressure!

  • No Opposition Instructions used. Not against them, I just feel I did not need to mico-manage this.

  • Only two Player Instructions used: Defensive Winger set to run wide with the ball (stretch the play) and attacking Winger told to cut inside with the ball (overload central areas).

Magic in Monterrey

If you got this far into the blog, I’m guessing you want to know how it all went in the Opening Stage with CF Monterrey? Today is your lucky day…

Leagues Cup

The revamped Leagues Cup now contains all clubs from MLS and Liga MX and it offers a unique experience in FM by seeing two leagues go up against one another - dare I say it’s relatively unknown to FMers right now? It starts with 15 groups of three clubs, before 1st and 2nd places are then placed into four regions (Central, East, South and West) where it becomes a knockout tournament with Quarter, Semi and Final games. The four winners of these regional finals then enter the ‘Semi Final play-offs’. Here’s how we did:

Stay in your lane MLS…

Seeing that the Board only ever wanted us to be competitive, we surpassed expectations by making it to the regional final…losing on penalties to Tigres at home. Pretty devastated with that, but the main focus was on the Opening Stage domestically…

Opening Stage

One thing I struggled to do in the early access save was manage the fitness of certain players as we played every 3 days with Leagues Cup overlapping into the Opening Stage. Simply put, I probably needed an extra player or two during this run but I turned off the opening Transfer Window (damn). Once we only had the Opening Stage to focus on, the run was strong: 12 games unbeaten to finish the season in 3rd.

You can see that some little tactical tweaks from concept to finished tactic worked with the unbeaten run.

Opening Stage Finals

The Opening Stage Finals were a good reminder of the ‘h’ in FM-exico to grant the higher seed passage in the event of a draw. We made good use of that as Santos Laguna gave us a really good two ties.

Massive.

Seeing as Pachuca were our first defeat of the save in the Liga MX tie, I was keen to dial in a bit more and make some pragmatic changes. I decide to use the Focus Play Towards The Left vs Pachuca, because I suspected that they would play with IWB and an advanced Winger at AMR (based from Scout Report). With Canales returning from injury, it could be a good area of the pitch for us to exploit. So it proved too, with a healthy 5-2 aggregate score to take us into the final.

So, the Opening Stage Final: 3rd meets 8th. It’s classic Latin American goodness that I have come to love, whereby the league finish is really just a footnote. Bring your A Game when it matters, and you will do well my son. This is what Monterrey, and much to my surprise, actually did. With a depleted and tired squad, we had to show our mettle against a difficult Atlas side who had hit form when it mattered. Despite having five Moneterrey players in the match day squad needing a rest for the 2nd leg, we went to Atlas and won 2-0 (after drawing our home leg 1-1). It is time to celebrate the first trophy of FM24…

WE DID IT™

Too boring/long/short; did not read? I used three tactical roles that trigger Positional Play rotations: Inverted Full Back, Libero and Mezzala. We transitioned from a lop-sided 4141 of sorts to a 3241 in possession. Whilst we did not win the Leagues Cup, we managed to finish 3rd in the Liga MX and won the thing outright by progressing to the Opening Stage Final: beating Atlas 3-1 on aggregate. Gracias por todo, CF Monterrey.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the FM24 Early Access.

Tony / FM Grasshopper

A Tactical Evolution at Club Atlético Lanús (from 4-2-3-1 Control Possession Preset to 4-3-3 DM) #FM23Beta

Hi Everybody 👋

I planned to go all things Catenaccio with Spezia Calcio during the #FM23Beta, until I remained winless in the first 6 games of Serie A and “didn’t feel it anymore”.  Instead, I felt like I needed a bit of fun/magic, something away from Europe, and as I perused some of my favourite leagues around the globe I fell on 41-year-old José Sand:

 

This is the guy, his name is José Sand ♥

 

Those that know me will cite my love for Argentine Oldies, and there’s not many older than José Sand in the game database.  ‘Pepe’, as he is affectionately known, continues to regularly feature in the Argentine Premier Division aged 41.  His team, Club Atlético Lanús, are a nice blend of experience and some exciting youth prospects: Julián Aude, Maximiliano González, Franco Orozco and Pedro de la Vega (injured for the first 7-8 months of 2022) to name just a few.

Firstly, let’s take a closer look at Sand, because he is the player that piqued my interest for this beta save…

José Sand in FM23.

You can see that Sand is a great finisher and intelligent off the ball. He is ultra-aggressive, brave and hard working for his team mates.  His weaknesses are twofold: his flair (ability to do ‘magic’ when on the ball) and his relatively slow quickness.  Just from a brief look at these attributes, I’ve already ruled out a number of Striker roles such as Advanced Forward, Complete Forward, Deep Lying Forward and Trequartista.  He isn’t one to make regular sprints throughout 90 minutes of football, and he will not be very effective in a creative striker role.

His traits of ‘Play Short Simples Passes’ and ‘Does Not Move Into Channels’ further refine what he probably can and cannot do effectively.  It looks like there are only a few roles I want to select him in: Poacher (Attack), Pressing Forward (Defend and Support) or Target Forward (Support and Attack) because neither require the player to move into channels and stretch the play.  But before I choose, I want to see what other roles I can place around him…

4-2-3-1 Control Possession

Has anybody tried to pass off a preset tactic from SI as one of their own? Because that’s exactly what I am doing today on the blog .  But in all seriousness, the game makes it easier for newer players these days.  But that being said, I’ve been recommended a trio of tactical styles: Route One, Fluid Counter-Attack or Park The Bus, neither of which really fit in how I would want to meet the Supporters’ vision of playing attacking football.  That’s not to say those styles can’t bring about high shots/goals-to-game ratios.  But I personally feel that we should be more proactive; whereby we take the game to the opponent and dictate the play.  Afterall, Lanús are supposedly a top 6 team based on the Media’s prediction.

I therefore decided to use the Control Possession preset.  The style is a lower tempo, counter-press…whereby the ball is worked into the box…a box that hopefully will be filled with Pepe Sand.  I’ve ignored a recommended 4-3-3 Wide and 5-2-3 Wide, because I would like to see how a No.10 does when working off Sand.  Instead, I’ve plucked for a 4-2-3-1 Wide…but there are a number of things I want to change from the roles initially offered in the preset:

Default roles in 4-2-3-1 Control Possession. Not great, not terrible.

  1. Firstly, I’m not a fan of the Complete Forward-Attack role for Sand for reasons previously mentioned.  Changing this in turn means I’d also want to change the No.10 role behind him.  I’m leaning towards an attacking role in the AMC slot, somebody to roam around and have full creative freedom.  There’s one role that pushes this to the max: The Trequartista.

  2. IF we go with a Treq…I’m keen to ditch the idea of a Target Forward (one of the three roles I had left in my head to choose from).  My thinking is that there will be an over reliance on pinging balls into the central striker area, because both roles are ‘ball magnets’.  A Poacher could certainly work, but I’ve instead chosen a supportive Pressing Forward mainly because I think Sand could do a great job of holding the ball up for us…allowing wider men in the 4-2-3-1 to be brought into play.

  3. From the base 4-2-3-1, I ditched the Winger role and replaced it for an Inside Forward.  Why?  Because I felt the Winger would not have a great deal to cross for.  It could work, but I’m thinking Club Captain Lautaro Acosta is more of a threat cutting inside and playing off Sand as an IF.

  4. Looking at the deeper roles.  The next domino that kick-starts a few extra changes is related to the penetration I want from the central area.  DM-S and BWM-D are a solid pivot, but for games I expect to win (certainly ones at home) I have opted for a Segundo Volante on Attack.  This is a deeper version of a box-to-box midfielder, and on attack should be regularly linking up with the Trequartista.  For away games, I will look to curb the advancements somewhat and will choose a Support mentality. 

  5. IF we go with a Segundo Volante.  I first wanted to try an Inverted Wing-Back to fill the void in the DM space when in possession.  But sadly this does not seem to work in x2 DM systems for another year, so instead opt for a supportive Wing Back.  I’ve also adjusted the mentality of the right sided Wing Back to further exaggerate that natural overlap on the right hand side with the Inside Forward cutting in.

  6. The last tweak is an extra Ball Playing Defender, but on Stopper duty in order for him to move forward if the Segundo Volante is caught up-field and unable to press oncoming opposition.  I’m confident that this could work well having a few CBs with high Aggression and relatively high Decision attributes.

So, this is how we set up for the first 6 months of Argieball (January-June 2022):

4-2-3-1 SandBall. A nice balance of Attack-Defence-Support.

Season 2022

2022 Copa de la Liga Profesional

In the first 6 months of fútbol, there was not much in the way of game-to-game changes.  In terms of player roles, I mentioned previously that dropping the Segundo Volante mentality down was a common tweak when I’ve gone in front and looking to close out the match.  I would also consider only having a Support SV when I am in a big away game (e.g. Vs ‘The Big Five’ teams).  In terms of instructions, I turn off Counter-Press when there is no need to be so risky when we are out-of-possession.  I also turn off Work The Ball Into Box when I feel like my wide players are better off pumping the ball into the box from wider areas.

Sand hit form as soon as the season commenced as our Pressing Forward on Support duty, reaching 10 goals in his first nine league games.  But then went seven games on the bounce without netting, as we struggled with fixture congestion and fatigue due to the 2022 Copa Sudamericana.   He ended up at the midpoint of the season with 13 goals (all comps).  You can see how inconsistent we were throughout the first 6 months:

 

Traffic Light FM 🚦

 

2022 Argentine Primera División

With a 40-day break before the second half of the Argentine season commences, I thought I would see if I can get a Director of Football into the club to make some deals.  83-year-old Roberto Saporiti, who played for the club in 1962, answered the call.  His first task was to see if he can bring in a flair based player via a short Recruitment Focus, until I realised that the transfer window was also disabled for the second window of the save.  Bug OR my ignorance on database creation?  I think the latter, I had started in February…so what I think is the second window is actually the first.  Never mind, I’ll go all Arsène Wenger and say that the returning Pedro de la Vega in 5-weeks would be “like a new signing”.  However, Sand also signed on for a further two years to take him into his 44th year, well done Saporiti!

I cannot go into the Data Hub to determine where things could do with a tactical adjustment ahead of the 2nd half of the season.  This is because the Hub only populates with league game data…and the opening league system is [possibly incorrectly] coded as a cup tournament.  So, it feels like I am playing a pre-Data Hub edition of FM, but luckily I have watched all of the matches played.  For the second half of the year, I propose the below tactical tweaks:

  • I’ve not seen enough of the Segundo Volante (just 3 goals) to warrant its continued inclusion, despite it being one of my favourite roles from other saves.  He’s getting forward in the highlights I’m seeing, but I can tell it's far from perfect.  However, it’s the No.10 position that worries me more (3 goals and 1 assist from my 1st choice ffs).  I changed Treq to Advanced Playmaker on support duty…but more importantly brought him down into the central midfielder area, alongside an attacking Mezzala.  My reasoning is that the playmaker can now get on the ball more and see players ahead of him, which now also includes an attacking Inside Forward - who I hope can get beyond the supportive Pressing Forward who drops deep and holds up the ball.  Elsewhere, there are a few other little tweaks in the midfield and within the backline.  But largely the same roles throughout.

  • I downsize in Team instructions though.  I’m no longer forcing so much through the middle, but we’re keeping the controlling style of play.  I have also permanently ditched the counter press, and in turn have decided to also do away with the high lines…instead settling on a Mid-Block.  One of the benefits I see here is that I can adjust the lines, and add out-of-possession bits as I see fit during the games themselves.

Here is SandBall v2, which is now a 4-3-3 DM…

The 4-3-3 with DM was the most popular shape during FM23 Beta.

Annoyingly I wished I had made the changes sooner, but I was determined to smash Continue and review at the season mid-point.  The v2 of the tactic has made a real difference, despite initially earning a few too many draws…I could see a real difference in the style of football, in the xG I was now accumulating and eventually the results!  We hit form, building up a sequence of wins to put us into the Copa Libertadores places after the first 10 matches after the re-start.

I’ve clipped some of the gorgeous interplay that has led to goals below.  When we were good, we were really good.  Although we have been prone to the odd narrow defeat, usually in the crunch games against super clubs like Boca and River or those in ridiculous form like Club Atlético Unión de Santa Fe and Vélez Sarsfield.

Seeing as I had no transfer window in the end, it forced me to give plenty of minutes to some of the brilliant youngsters that Lanús have in the squad.  This save started out all about a 41-year-old but I enjoyed seeing the young wonderkids come into the match day squad and surprise me too:

Julián Aude (1,578 minutes), Maximiliano González (1,240 minutes), Franco Orozco (3,436 minutes) and Pedro de la Vega (954 minutes) all receive glowing recommendations from me. They’re awesome!

2022 Argentine Primera División final table.

We ended up finishing 5th in the Premier Division with 50 points, which secured qualification for the 2023 Copa Libertadores which is above the board expectation (top half) and a place above the media prediction of 6th. Furthermore, this feat was superseded by a Copa Argentina penalty shootout win against Barracas Central. Although it did come at a huge personal cost as 34-year-old Club Captain Lautaro Acosta broke his leg in the showpiece final, who is now considering retirement. He faces 8 months out of action.

WE DID IT™

However, José Sand brought me here; so it’s only fitting I should sign off with one last mention to our top scorer of 2022 with 20 goals (all comps).  His goal rate may have plateaued by the end of the year, but he had a solid season and justified the extra two-year deal to remain at Lanús until his 44th year.  It sounds incredible, but also typically Argentine Primera División!

Too boring/long/short; did not read? Hopefully this tactical journey has been an interesting read [to some]. The finished style which I ended up on is not overly complicated, it does not require a detailed commentary on the inner-workings. It’s simply a modified preset, tailored to the nice squad I inherited here at Lanús. I won a trophy, got 20 goals out of a 41-year-old and captured some nice #GIFGoals.

Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue to enjoy the FM23 Beta.

Tony / FM Grasshopper

How 17th Century Japanese strategy can make you a better Football Manager

Intro

Inspiration can come from unlikely places. I have a continually expanding list of football literature to read, and whilst they are interesting on the most part; it’s rare for them to get my creative juices flowing. Instead, I often sidestep and read up on other subjects that interest me, and Japanese military strategy is an example of that.

Of course, I’m no expert in military strategy…but the subject of Japan, especially it’s martial arts, has always fascinated me. Miyamoto Musashi, the author of The Book of Five Rings (1645) that has loosely inspired this offbeat FM blog, was a swordsman of the Kenjutsu school. Despite being published in the mid-17th Century, Musashi’s thoughts on philosophy and life through the engagements of battle can not only be applied to many parts of modern day real-life, but also in Football and in Football Manager too.

 
 

In this post, I’ll share a quote from Miyamoto Musashi and explain why I think it can make you a better Football Manager.

“The principle of strategy is having one thing, to know ten thousand things”

In a broader sense, this quote (and its wider chapter) highlights the difference between Oriental and Western outlooks on education. Simply put, the East likes specialisms…whereas us in the West like to educate our children to have a broad sense of many specialist areas. Musashi wants the reader to know that total proficiency in one’s pastime/skill can bring about a greater knowledge of other things in life.

Specialise your save

“There’s no link to FM here Tony?!?”, I hear you ask. Well, what if you accept that your new save is about focussing in one area of the game? Be it: being a journeyman, maintaining a philosophy, focussing on transfers as a Director of Football, training for gains or youth development. The staff responsibilities screen, and the ability to delegate can drastically alter your save. I would even go as far as saying that many people who have been absent from Football Manager series for a decade do not know about the levels of customisation to make the game more streamlined. This ought to be screamed from the rooftops to get legacy players (who feel they no longer have the time to play) back into the game. It’s ok to “know one thing”.

Specialise your players

My other Football Manager sidestep is how I now play the game and rate its players. From time-to-time I have managed at a low level; whether that’s Mexico’s 2nd Division (FM20) or Brazilian lower leagues (FM22). By managing in a lower level, you accept that players will be inefficient at certain things. But it’s also worth keeping in mind that so too are the league opposition. Everything is relative. If a Winger has great acceleration and pace, but not much else…he can still be effective in a lower league. A defender with literally no Technicals is fine, just keep his play simple…have him specialise as a destroyer or non-nonsense type player. The players become specialised. It’s ok that they “know one thing”.

“It is difficult to move strong things by pushing directly, so you should injure the corners”

Miyamoto Musashi’s comments here relate to large scale battle, but the principle of what he is suggesting can be applied on the football pitch. Sometimes facing up your strength against the opposition will not be enough. Perhaps you need to find a weakness and alter your attack to “injure a corner” …and thus not engage the opposition head on.

There are several ways to do this in Football Manager. One way is consulting the scouting reports of the opposition each week. Not got a staff member doing that just yet? Get him/her focussed on providing you with one ahead of each game, there may be useful insight included which you can exploit.

Another way is simply a brief squad overview or previous line up analysis. Who’s in bad form right now? Whose condition is weakened by a run of games OR is a player coming back from long-term injury? Who doesn’t match up well against one member of your squad? Align your troops and “injure the corners”.

“The mountain-sea spirit means that it is bad to repeat the same thing several times when fighting the enemy (…) If you attempt a technique which you have previously tried unsuccessfully and fail yet again, then you must change your attacking method”

Miyamoto Musashi quote is based on a chapter around 1v1 sword technique. In 17th Century Kenjutsu, you’d likely have a maximum of two opportunities to change from a failed attack. Repeating it a third time would, in Musashi’s view, lead to a defeat.

In Football Manager strategy terms, this has been a common piece of discourse on the GrassNGear podcast, as Dan and I have often stressed the importance of attacking in a varied way. It’s a common sight, a tactic that has duplicated roles on each side…completely symmetrical. It can work…but you’re relying on the difference of those players through traits and attribute make-up to make the attacks varied. The same could be said for set pieces (Hi Ondrej), having more than one tailored to your side will add variety and could bring about the marginal gain that changes your season.

 

Example of perfect symmetry.

 

It would be much better to mix up where, and how, you attack the opposition. ‘Swap Roles’ option is a great technique (and something I wrote about here).

But also consider if you replace players on a like-for-like basis when making in-match substitutions. Do you? I’ve certainly done this before, and it’s only natural to recruit similar players who can interchange easily with those in your squad if the tactic is ‘working’. But sometimes it may be better to take off, for example, a Target Forward and replace him (and his role) with a different style of attack, e.g. an Advanced Forward who will look to get in behind of the opposition. The reasoning here is that the Target Forward may be having a bad game against similarly strong defenders who have nullified his threat, so use the “mountain-sea spirit” and attack variedly.

“People are always under the impression that the enemy is strong, and so tend to become cautious. But if you have good soldiers, and if you understand the principles of strategy, and if you know how to beat the enemy, there is nothing to worry about”

I am guilty of playing Football Manager over cautiously. Miyamoto Musashi’s words echoed in my head for a day or so from reading this chapter, because it rung true. Even in most successful ‘defensive’ teams, there is always a plan to win the match. A route to goal. It is easy for setups to become naturally entrenched in a defensive mindset, with little thought in how to attack. Throw caution to the wind, find the combination that works in your side, and don’t be too cautious.

If you know the three of four ways you regularly want to attack (refer to that mountain-sea spirit as mentioned above), make sure you check that it’s flourishing. Your Attacking players, and the chances they get, are the temperature gauge of how good your strategy is. I’m not talking about number of shots; rather the number of high xG chances per game. If you have confidence in this, then “there is nothing to worry about”.

Concluding thoughts

Not my kids.

This post is neither an FM Guide or book review. But it’s intended to act as an aide memoire for me, and to hopefully to serve a purpose in helping others too. The Book of Five Rings was a surprisingly enjoyable holiday read, having only encountered it by chance in a ‘bibliothèque libre-service’ (a pop-up cabinet with books). It’s rare to find English books as good as this in them, inspiration really does come from unlikely places!

Thank you for reading,

Tony / FM Grasshopper