Four seasons, one promotion, Europa League knock-out stage and 100% fulfilled expectations. That’s a very brief and simple summary of my Football Manager 2023 save with the VVV-Venlo so far. I decided that the fourth season of the save will be the last one using the formation with just one central defender and two defensive midfielders. How did we do in the save so far with this not-so-traditional formation?

The background

I wrote about the idea behind this formation continuously during the Football Manager 2023 and there isn’t a single blog post without mentioning it. I’m a long-term fan of using three central defenders, both in-game and in real life. I also enjoyed using the more traditional two-central defender system with the Half Back in FM22 while having both wide defenders as WBL/WBR instead of DL/DR.

And I wanted to make it the opposite - one central defender and two defensive midfielders. That’s how the idea of “the lone central defender” came to my mind. I know I thought about how the tactic itself can look already during the FM22 and I also tried it in a short save before the FM23 was released. The results were encouraging despite I used different roles. Mainly for defensive midfielders.

Tactic development

I had a lot of initial ideas and plans on how to use, develop and piece this tactic together. Some of them remained both in my head and on paper. Some of them ended up in a bin after a couple of matches.

One of my naive ideas was to use the complete wing-back role. That was very naive as I realised very quickly it will be impossible to use CWB(S) in combination with just one central defender. This player was too adventurous and too offensive-minded. The lone central defender was really too alone at the back and the defensive midfielder with any role was unable to fill the space or act as another central defender. Not even a player in the Half-Back role.

Selecting the right wide defender roles was crucial during the opening months of the save. Not only to not be so frustrated while watching our defensive phase but also for the possible success of the save/team. It ended with playing with the customised FB(D) role and it was the best possible decision.

It’s safe to say that another change was because I was a little bit naive. I wanted to use the CM(A) role, especially as this role was (should be) tweaked for the FM23 and the player within this role should operate higher on the pitch in comparison with the previous versions. It worked on average. Another reason why I changed this role to AP(S) after the first season was that I wanted one more player in the middle of the midfield area to be able to help to the central defender and to both defensive midfielders.

Probably the most changed position/role within these four seasons was the ML position where I tried roles such as WM(S/A), IW(S/A) and also a classic Winger role. I used the W(S) role in the last season on both sides of the pitch as I decided to take advantage of the decent crossing abilities of my players.

Both main players for these positions/roles were able to play on both sides so it was also nice to swap them time from to time to get some refreshment and see what they can do with their inclination to cut inside or to stay wide etc. It’s still just a game so why not keep trying, experimenting and playing?

A couple of team instructions were changed during these seasons too. Mainly within the out-of-possession. I tended to be more cautious a careful. Mainly during the opening two seasons while the long balls and defending were not the best friends in the FM23. But the decision to not be so prudent and cautious within the defensive line and pressing was a good one as our playing style was even more attractive and joyful.

The main man

I mentioned that finding the best roles for the wide defenders was crucial at the beginning. Finding the best possible central defender who will be capable to operate alone was even more important.

When the save started, I found Rick Ketting here the main central defender. He would be one of the main central defenders even while using two or three central defenders so it was a no-brainer to use him as my main man. And he was great and of the best-rated player no matter if it was the second tier or in the Eredivisie after a promotion.

I decided to refresh this position during the second season and I wanted to find and sign someone even better. I found Lubomír Šatka and signed him for free from Lech Poznan. I didn’t want to lose Ketting so I moved him to the DM position and he played as the central defender when Šatka was unable to play.

There are no other names worth mentioning because these two players were really the only two who deserve some special mention. Some youngsters played a minor part but they will get more chances in the upcoming seasons in which I will use the 3-5-2 again. But Ketting will still be there…

How did we do?

When I look back to the previous four seasons, it’s safe to say it went very well and it’s another edition of the overachieving despite the save is not over yet and I’m happy to continue playing it again after almost one and a half month away from the game due to several reasons.

• 2022/2023 = a promotion to the Eredivisie from the 2nd place

• 2023/2024 = 5th in the Eredivisie

• 2024/2025 = 3rd in the Eredivisie

• 2025/2026 = 3rd in the Eredivisie & Europa League Round of 16

We didn’t win some trophy. We didn’t make it to the later stages of the domestic cup for example - the quarter-final in the first season was our best result so far.

We didn’t win a domestic league title so far. And maybe we won’t win it in a competition with Ajax, PSV or Feyenoord. But I’m happy with how the save went so far, especially with the not-so-traditional formation.

In comparison with my previous saves and previous FM editions, my team conceded a lot of goals. It was 50 or more goals in three of four seasons. And that’s a lot. The second season of the save, the first one in the Eredivise, was the worst in my eyes - we scored 63 and conceded 57 in the league. The goal difference of just 6 goals but still finishing 5th in the league was really weird.

I decided during the fourth season that I should end at the best. I knew I won’t be able to win the league with this formation while conceding so many goals. Finishing third in a quality league as the Eredivisie is, is the best result I was able to achieve with this.

The fifth season, 2026/2027, was already kicked off while finishing this post as I started writing it almost two months ago. Going through the opening seasons and reflecting on what everything happened gave me some new motivation to continue playing and writing. The same as the process of creating and tweaking something different.

Using the 3-5-2 formation is not something new to me. It’s my favourite formation in recent years both in the game and in a real life. I’m using it also as the playing coach of my local town team in real life and my players/teammates enjoy using it. So do I.

And I’m sure I will enjoy using it even in the game.

Again.