5 Tactic Mistakes to AVOID Every Time

I have always felt wary making tactic videos for Football Manager. It is so nuanced and changes so much every year that being right is often proven impossible over time. I also did not come up on the tactic message boards for Football Manager, or in tactic discords, I came up through helping people here. To do that I eventually had to start making detailed tactical videos about FM as well, so I brought in reinforcements, RDF.
RDF Tactics is a fantastic tactical mind on Football Manager. I would recommend you all check out his videos on different tactical styles to help improve your gameplay. But I wasn’t asking him to come on for help, no, I wanted him to come on and help me tell you what NOT to do on FM this year. We are planning on another video where we give you some ‘musts’ for future tactics, but right now it’s about making sure you aren’t losing because of one silly thing you still have in your tactic. You should probably not be doing that silly thing.
Much Love,
FM Senpai
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#FootballManager #Gaming #Hashtags

[@RDFTactics]

Thank you, Z! Quality content creator but more importantly, a quality person. I hope everyone enjoyed the video 🤝

[@Realest_United]

Big up my guy you doing your thing and deserve your flowers for it💯

[@kilianvanhaelen3682]

The duo you didn't know you would need.

[@EnsoHenzo]

My brother sent me some of your vids and now I'm subscribed and see every one of them as soon as they come. Nice collab here, great work and thanks Vini for the recommendation xD

[@Connorules619]

Yes mate the video is sick, the rise you’re having is great to see and fully deserved man

[@tgbabcoc]

@RDF is that an Arka jersey you are wearing? I’m current managing them in my journeyman save. Interesting team and country to manage in.

[@ABiggles]

Double recommendation for RDF. It is his analysis of IRL manager's tactics and showing how he replicates them that makes him stand out from the crowd. Plus he shows how he makes his own tactics. Lots of ideas that you can pinch from him to adjust your own tactics and lots of interesting tactics to try out for short side saves so you can see how they work.

[@KLG-rw3ct]

Will definitely check him out, Tactical advice + voice smooth as hell is an instant click

[@davidrichards613]

He's outstanding generally but this one aspect he is the pinnacle. He not only replicates the real life tactics as faithfully as possible but makes them work using FMs engine.

[@CONVICT4RMWEST6]

Rdf is sick with the tactical analysis

[@robosztyk8159]

Reffering to tackle harder dispute - I belive that individual instructions overwrite team instructions. This is what I take from my observations, and it would make sense. Like, you give your whole team instructions first, and then you go to certain individuals and ask them to do something that isn't included in team instructions because the player is good at it. But as said in the video, you can't really make definite statement unless someone from SI explains it

[@emzn1833]

By overwrite do you mean the PI completely takes over? I always believed them to be additive. For ex, If you have get stuck in TI and ease off as PI, I assumed it would make the player be between the PI and TI. I treat the TI as a big slider and the PI as a smaller slider.

[@blakewhitehead4210]

@@emzn1833 What u on about mate? Take a real life perspective. If a coach tells the team to counterattack upon possession loss, does that mean the centrebacks follow this instruction? Of course not... Furthermore for getting stuck in. If the coach tells the team to tackle harder, but your an attacker, who would have a higher injury chance than actually winning the ball, they are going to get specific instructions in place to exhibit their best performance (not tackle harder).

[@rasmusherlv744]

@@emzn1833 That would be my interpretation of how instructions work. PI completely overrules TI when enabled. In earlier versions, the tactic screen came with a great variety of sliders, for defensive line, width and indeed tackle hardness. With the transition into instructions, the tactic setup is much more binary, that is, either you tell your player to tackle harder or you don't. Which to me makes a lot of sense, as that's probably closer to how it works in real life too. Therefore, I also agree with Z and RDF that TI and PI do not double.

[@MFDOOOOOOM]

That's the point of individual instructions. Player instructions basically instruct the player to do a given thing more or less than the team is instructed to.

[@robosztyk8159]

@@emzn1833 yes, PI are tier higher than TI. In this instance, if the team is instructed to stay on feet, but the player is instructed to tackle harder he will completely ignore TI and just tackle hard like he is supposed to do. Same thing for drybling etc.

[@spicedaddy1976]

I genuinely laughed with the "don't go defensive" one. Ever since I changed to defensive I went from challenging for play-offs to a double promotion. Some things work for some people so I'd almost argue that there's no right or wrong; Love the content Z!

[@pppopo3662]

Yup defensive countering tactic work great for me especially in lower league got Salford to championship with i

[@beuthen8562]

Counter=/=defensive

[@michaelfarrow5817]

I would have thought, given how it works in real life that if you bring your back line back to the 18 yard box, you'd need to bring the line of engagement back to the halfway line.

[@matt-ko4cc]

"Don't go defensive" I hear, right as I go 2-0 up against Man City in the 90th minute playing a park-the-bus on defensive. And yes, I do watch zealand on my second monitor while I play FM

[@Taeerom]

You would have had the same result, but safer, with cautious and some tweaks on player roles/positions. The difference between defensive and cautious is stuff like passing directness and pressing intensity, stuff you should tweak individually rather than use the mentality slider for. Cautious, balanced and positive are the only settings that determine player mentality directly. Cautious moves the mentality one step towards defensive, and positive moves everyones mentality one step more attacking.

[@iaindw1]

yep. played defensive loads and won games

[@connorgrimshaw5457]

@@iaindw1 there not saying you can’t win it’s just that you probably would have had those same results if you played on cautious and it would have been as boring haha

[@iaindw1]

@@connorgrimshaw5457 they were basically saying don’t do it. It’s a bad tactic when it’s not. It can be used well to win games. Still very enjoyable to watch Mr Grimshaw.

[@joewood791]

Back in FM19 I had a save in Hungary at Puskas and I was able to beat most sides but due to years (in game) of European qualifications I couldn't dream of matching Ferencvaros and I'd always lose. One time just kind of to experiment I told the pressers I'd go out to attack etc. Then I played 3 CBs, 2 WBs, 2 DMs, 2 CMs (BWM, CMd), and a lonely AF. Somehow we managed to win 3-1 and despite the low line I had played with we had the majority (just) of possession, probably because the very defensive mentality meant all my players dared to do was a safe 5 yard pass and due to the really compact shape there was always an option for a safe pass. And I had never felt more proud of my boys.

[@Jur1_00]

What I like about FM is that there are no rules and you can really do what ever you want. I've had success with doing everything they said you shouldn't do. I've been played games on very defensive for the entire 90 minutes and very attacking. Once you understand that the mentality is just the level of risk your taking you can then work from there. For example let's say my normal tactic players on balanced and I have it on higher tempo, when I switch to Vattacking I better lower that tempo and passing directness and maybe select work ball into the box because on Vattacking the players make a lot of forward passes and just shoot whenever they see the goal post

[@davidrichards613]

Of course they can work. But as a general rule, they are spot on. I went invincible on a lower league team with lower defensive line, but I wouldn't advise it outside of a few specific cases. I don't think going defensive works in real life any more than FM, you just invite pressure and a decent team will unlock you eventually.

[@Jur1_00]

@@davidrichards613 yea I agree with them because it's just easier to create a tactic following what they said. They only thing I'd say I don't like is when you tell people something doesn't work even if it works 5% of the time, people tend to take that and carry it along for years. An example is when people talk about Italian football being defensive because of how it has been historically. If you talk to someone that doesn't watch Serie A they would echo that even if it's not the case right now

[@Cottage_Punk]

Yeah. I use pretty much half of what they say you should not do as the basis for most of my saves and it works fine. I like to play a sort of possession football with modest team. So I often include "hold the shape" in my tactics for when I am over 2 goals ahead. Likewise I play with lower defensive line most of the time because my central defenders simply do not have the skill to do a pressing with consistency. And it works fine as I just admit I will have 52 to 65% of possession instead of over 65% and I organize my team accordingly for when I have the ball. I played this way successfully as FC Nantes in FM20, with AS Saint-Etienne in FM21 and now with AS Roma in FM22. Tactic building is a matter of knowing where you team stand, knowing where you want to go and knowing the effect of each instruction you select.

[@qwertyvypez]

man like DarJ

[@thephotographer539]

I once came back to draw 2-2 from 2 down with 2 goals in injury time. Imagine my surprise when I saw that we'd scored those goals while set to 'very defensive'

[@leoneldionel5414]

Dude, ive tried one of RDF tactics in my "have fun" save. This dude really knows his tactics

[@ah_effe]

A few years ago I managed to avoid relegation in Bundesliga with a defensive team. I just got promoted and the league was way over my caliber. It happend to me, once, like 6 or 7 years ago. Don't lose hope, maybe.

[@jacopomangini3036]

I managed to win Serie B (Brazil, not Italy) with a team which was expected to end up very close to the relegation zone, while playing cautious, in FM20. Even managed to create trouble for some of the biggest Serie A clubs in the Paulistao. Never started a game with defensive, though, if I recall correctly.

[@shawngillogly6873]

@@jacopomangini3036 cautious is fine. It's not until Defensive they become counterproductive.

[@joewood791]

I find it matter very much on the mental and physical attributes if you can play a defensive style, and "play for set pieces". Typically in real life with a side like Burnley who are known for being quite a big, tough side. If you can have a team where everyone has good teamwork and concentration I can't see why you couldn't say look lads sit deep, stay on it for 90 and just lump it forward in game like you can IRL. It's just not the most useful tactical decision as a general basis, say starting blank at a new side it's probably worth just sitting balanced for the first game or two IMO to work out what makes the team tick but I'd definitely stick with cautious, balanced or positive to start personally as they still have some freedom.

[@andresgirardo8481]

Playing defensive mentality combined with a defensive formation has been useful in my experience over the years.

[@iaindw1]

@@andresgirardo8481 yep agreed.

[@ChippyL93]

Really good to see RDF getting the exposure he deserves. Been watching his videos for a while now and they're always high quality and informative.

[@Zombie1Boy]

I never ticked "get stuck in" or "stay on feet", but I did tell my Inverted Wingers, Box 2 Box, Mezzala and Advanced Forward (4-3-3) to "Tackle Harder" in individual roles, and combined with a fast press meant people like Dan James were averaging 3 tackles a game! All players I told to tackle harder did the occasional two-footed slide, but most of the time they stood on their feet and engaged the player to win the ball back.

[@SpazattackSamson]

I managed to win a league with Dundee United in season three of FM20 whilst playing cautious, play for set pieces and a low defensive line. I had the tallest and heaviest team in the league on average and conceded 18 goals, it was amazing/terrible to watch.

[@trllwv]

Good job haha

[@enders357]

Love this collab! It's so frustrating how everything intended to be defensive (mentality, defensive line, getting stuck in etc) doesn't really work. I tried so hard on FM19 to create a proper Diego Simeone 4-4-2 and it's basically impossible for all the reasons mentioned here - employing any kind of defensive tactics just invites far too much pressure.

[@davidrichards613]

Yeah this video defo highlights some shortfalls of the match engine.

[@gwin77]

I think I might just be allergic to seeing a bunch of red Condition hearts, but Hold Shape / Slower Distribution does affect intensity quite significantly. If you have a comfortable lead, keeping the defensive pressure the same but going to Hold Shape / Distribute slower is a great way to save energy and keep possession. It’s also a good option to tweak in game because it doesn’t affect tactical familiarity, just don’t set Hold Shape as default in the tactic

[@adamh4h4]

Same here. IMO, High / Red intensity tactics is too dangerous for lower league clubs. Bunch of injuries that will or going to happen( plus we don't have the money to get a high attribute physio). Happened to my Wrexham save and barely won. Had to depend on my Trialists and loans. Learned my lesson to LOWER the intensity of the tactics for lower-leagues cause most players down there are garbage in stamina and fitness.

[@NotThatOth]

funnily enough, I agree with all your points but think I might have found an exception that works... I play 4-3-3 with a lower defensive line, narrow width, much lower line of engagement, get stuck in on and trigger press set to more often with tighter marking/prevent gk distribution/offside trap all off. We play on positive with counter-press/tiki-taka style build-up. I've been managing Valencia with this tactic and won La Liga 3 years in a row starting with the first season, conceding the least amount of goals in the league every season and we've reached the Champions League Semi-Finals

[@Avioto]

Currently having a lot of success with RDF's Steven Gerrard tactic, great FM KZbinr! 👍

[@ArjanSchaeffer]

Has RDF ever played in the Streamer Showdown? If he has not, I think it would be mighty interesting to see what would happen.

[@konfuchie357]

Both of your channels are pure gems. I can't believe I never got them recommend. Found you on Twitch. I watch FM on KZbin for years but somehow I missed your content.

[@RexOedipus.]

I have literally left tackle harder on for more than a decade now

[@ahmedali-op1ug]

RDF is goated if you know you know .

[@oliverclayton4892]

This is so sick - if there's anyone who deserves more shine is RDF man is a FM GENIUS and shout out Zeeland for letting more of the community get to know this beautiful man

[@lorenzomartinez8543]

Individual instructions, team instructions, and roles add up. Someone either tested it or some developer expressed it. So "gets further forward" with "get further forward" adds up, and cancels with "stays back".

[@KingdomOfStars]

This is a great video! To be treasured! Good tip the one about visualizing the tactic movement, RDF!

[@dullastonishment]

Honestly never come across RDF's content before so I'm glad you did this collab. What a lovely guy he is. Subscribed!

[@kjkyle1492]

Only found your channel yesterday and must say that you are the best creator I’ve watched in ages! Great job, look forward to watching your content.

[@unklekai8966]

The world truly needed this. Y’all my favourite Fm streamers no doubt. Thank you for this ❤️💯

[@elliottwillacy2565]

i love how a week ago i subbed to rdf tactis and a week later you make a video with him! love this

[@DominikMalinowski95]

My man wearing Arka Gdynia shirt. Love to see it!

[@freeabrums8311]

Ku... ś...

[@Jurigag]

Actually defensive tactic can work if you play the highest possible tempo and using counter attack.

[@illu3pt]

Amazing video, you both put out excellent content and its great to see these colabs! thanks for your passion and hard work! ❤️

[@TheMcjamieG]

Crazy.. Pretty much the only 2 fm channels I follow on at the same time... Rdf has this strange way of calming me down.. He has a soothing voice lmao 🤣

[@usmanilyas5585]

What a collab! RDF is amazing, man!

[@galuh.mp4620]

My 2 favourite fm content creator talking about the thing i suck the most. This is a good day

[@milmilj]

Finally someone try to promote and support RDF and his brilliant work. I've been watching his tactics videos for over a year and Johan Cruyff / Total football video was the first I've seen and since then he is one of my top FM youtubers Great work you two.

[@Kaspisify]

Great video! More collabs between you two! Good chemistry. Subbed and belled to RDF too now :)

[@CptJumper]

You gave the shout out already but genuinely shout out to your editor. He did a GREAT job with this video. 👍🏾

[@iamAyal]

Thanks dude

[@user-lh2bl1fo5v]

Ok, first of all insane video. Really good job. Speechless. Second of all I'd subscribe even to a Tottenham channel with that RDF dance at end 🤣🤣🤣 Educational and funny. Keep it coming 🔥

[@tapiwamudiwa1289]

my two favourite fm youtubers linking up🔥

[@nerdifymusic7322]

No cap, RDF is the best tactics guy on FM. I can't say enough about the dude

[@seshadhri_s]

Another reason I have noticed you dont want to have get stuck in on against good teams is if one player goes for a tackle and misses, it can make life difficult because hes instantly out of the play and the team has to scramble to cover for him. It can sometimes expose a gap in your system that would never have been there had that player not gone lunging in.

[@colind5788]

two of my favorite FM'ers, genius collide xx

[@NickHughesPhotography]

Fabulous content, thanks guys!

[@MG11513]

Great video. I tend to agree with the defensive point, but I have had some success playing defensive, exclusively when I get a player sent off. I’ll go defensive, 4-4-1 with two DMs (one on support, one on defend), both full backs on defend, GK on defend, two wingers on support, a pressing forward on attack, go to a fluid counter attack style but with less pressing, force opponents outside, stay on feet, and a couple other tweaks too. It keeps shape well, allows for the odd counter attack and helps shut games down.

[@sweetson231]

Quality creators. We appreciate you guys

[@tardaboveall491a]

In FM16 (if I remember correctly) going "very defensive" after receiving a red card was almost guaranteed to net you a goal. Flawless tactic. Saved many a game for me

[@stevenmohlmann9999]

If you want to see where your players move, you can look at the pass map in the data hub for the average position.

[@moderatemapper9440]

We know we all used the preset gegenpress because it sounded cool and had a good description when we started the game.

[@vlnt6499]

my first fm save, i used default 4-2-4 gegenpress with newcastle and i finished 2nd in the league and all i did was sign greenwood on loan. so yea its actually pretty good

[@peaknick]

I actually picked tiki-taka first because of the name. I didn't know anything about football back then

[@RadicalBriggy]

This was super helpful - I'm a relegation candidate in the Prem and we always lose to late goals because I think I'm shutting up shop by going Defensive (or very) + Lower line and actually the game engine just takes my hope and immediately shits all over it........like IMMEDIATELY after I score I'll always concede on the next highlight.

[@alalalakoo4750]

The collab I never knew I needed

[@ChadYu]

I love RDF, so happy to see him on the channel

[@TexasGentleman_]

Two of the best tactical minds in FM. Bring back RDF for more vids, Z!

[@Rakettivuori]

I've actually had some success with lower defensive line, lower line of engagement and wide defensive line this year

[@lorenzomartinez8543]

Staying compact in defense, works in real football too

[@Rakettivuori]

@@lorenzomartinez8543 yeah that was my thought process behind there, going wider to limit those crosses though

[@cannsawv2]

wont narrow-ball teams with IF/IWs cut through you quite easily though if defending wide? or do you switch it up for those types of teams. still feels impossible to low-block a Man City for example (not that it's much easier to go toe-to-toe with them either lol)

[@lorenzomartinez8543]

@@cannsawv2 I guess, depends on the formation, but unlikely considering how packed those areas should be too. The downside is really no counterattack and vulnerability to counterpressing., and forwards are real good at intercepting in Fm22

[@yaboykirby7789]

depending on FM lower defensive line can work for me but if I only play 2 midfielders I normally get torn to shreds by longshots and set pieces (the opposition got fouled in more dangerous areas +got more corners because my defenders were clearing the ball alot more behind goal) and if I play more midfielders and sacrifice a wide player then I feel like I normally get shrekt on the wings and if I don't play 2 forwards I feel like I don't really create any chances. I went 4-4-2 with lower on both and wide defensive line in FM20 (huge huge mistake lol) and I conceded 21 goals in my first 10 games as a top 4 team in Serbia, 8 from long shots and 12 from set pieces. We did score a ton of goals but geez. Something I did was I moved my CMs to DMs so that if they got a long shot off it was blocked a lot more and I started man marking the opposition full backs with my wingers (a personal favourite of mine) and the goals dried up a lot on both ends but I was still conceding too many long shots for my liking

[@OskarIng]

That offensive vs defensive visualization was insanely cool

[@miloogfreskus]

I had huge succes in a save, where if i was leading in the final 10 minutes, i would switch formation and keep the ball in my own team, defend the last 10 minutes by dragging tempo out of the game, time wasting keep the ball in the team, so the opposstion could not put pressure on me. Keep shape was perfect in this scenario Keep up the work

[@razvanvasile3176]

I only play defensive mentality , and its the most spectacular and secure gameplay, I am thrilled about it!

[@thomaswilliams8270]

Great video! quality, quality FM content.

[@OwenTownson]

RDF! A collab I didn’t think I’d see!

[@ExpectedBoy]

Great vid. I've went defensive one or twice and yeah it went bad. A good lead disappeared. I've also been using hold shape and its been working. Although I prefer to counter tbh.

[@peteatkinson3500]

Great video, particularly liked the counter attack advice. Also, if you have a brilliant squad and lots of talented young players you want to give experience to... maybe a higher level of suspensions from 'Get stuck in' helps you rotate and give the kiddos a game here and there. :p

[@thomasmiller2401]

Stumbled upon this. Tip number 4 is a genuine gamechanger - thank you very much for that idea, it's genuinely never occurred to me and it immediately allowed me to spot an issue with one of my tactics that was effective domestically but not in Europe. Was also interesting to hear the debate around 'Get Stuck In' being left on. I've genuinely had a lot of success with it - playing as Rangers, domestically it works well in conjunction with very high pressing to stop teams in their tracks whenever they start to do better against me and in Europe I used it to level the playing field against better sides (tons of yellows and fouls, but leads to disjointed games, which is what I want against the elite sides where I'm also aiming to keep the ball). Pack and hack football - my teams look to retain the ball at all costs when we do have it and contain teams by boxing them in and hacking them when we don't!

[@ky15r]

thanks thomas, as a beginner really needed this 😊

[@MrDando87]

Love RDF. Remember when I came across him on a Facebook post and it felt like I was meeting my idol!

[@sebfernandes7708]

Would love to see more of RDF on this page!

[@shawngillogly6873]

I'll use Hold Shape in my "game over" tactic. When I want to take the air out the ball, kill the clock, and spare player fitness for next game. But never in a regular system.

[@tombarnes4980]

RDF was nice to have on. He is soft spoken and knowledgeable.

[@layz6864]

love this collab👌

[@Monika_015]

Defensive has actually worked for me. In my journeyman save I got a job at the newly-promoted side in Uruguay - Juventud de las Piedras. Media prediction had odds for me being last, board expected to avoid last place and I'm comfortably above the relegation zone. Only negative is that you draw a lot of games but that's better than losing

[@AlexTheFou]

Hold shape works best if you are winning and playing with a team that uses counter attacks to create chances. If you win the ball and start a counter attack BUT you lose immediately the ball then you need to defend to the opposition's attack. By holding the shape you can do it easier. Therefore, if you are wining the game and the minute is near 80 you definitely wanna hold the shape!

[@andresgirardo8481]

Tactics videos are the best. Make one about combining roles and duties please.

[@hj-hv6rt]

RDF collab! Nice!

[@olaman]

Completely disagree about Lower defensive. It does work, you just have to know how to do it right. Your line of engagement has to also be lower. It allows you to compress the middle of the middle of the pitch. You can just drop ur defensive like and leave ur like of engagement higher, huge gaps in the middle.

[@Gwynbleidd1724]

I play fm hundreds of hours and these kind of videos always help me improve at the game. Lovely stuff

[@nigelbhebhe2805]

Same here. Beginning to think I'm obsessed lol

[@stevencurtis85]

Jesus. Number 4 🤯🤯🤯🤯 I’d never thought that when building tactics. Like it seems to obvious, but it’s never crossed my mind when building a tactic that I need to know where I’m exposed!

[@kennystokka7055]

In FM 2020 I had a lot of success with defensive mentality for my brentford team and achieved promotion to the EPL with it. If I remember correctly I was using a 442 for it.

[@flpalves]

Loved this guy!

[@nwoguuu]

the collab we didn't know we needed

[@WaariGaming]

Rdf seems like a really chill and quality dude. Definitely checking his channel out!

[@V1P3RR11]

His tactics vids are amazing...

[@maksiu11]

@RDFTactics Love your Arka kit! Greetings from Gdynia!!

[@user-kh1xr4wz3s]

rdf was cool thx for the introduction!

[@wife9571]

YO THE CROSSOVER I NEEDED ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@radovanstojanovic2020]

That was i call good one! Cuz you ''Z'', RDF and Omega Luke is the guys who i follow.

[@jankowalski210]

Hehe, the guy wears Arka Gdynia jersey. Nice pick:)

[@jml8956]

Much awaited linkup 🔥🔥

[@BTCTim]

I found great success by going defensive using a sweeper on my FM18 save in my first season in the Prem, which really solidified my defense and I was able to hit on the counter hard

[@kasarachiakudinobi1690]

RDF is soo cool. Cool voice and his channel is great

[@hoodie5004]

Good info guys ! RDF seems like a cool chill dude ! The type to lose 10-0 and be like 😀

[@LifesABeautifulMess]

Oddly, the "Very Attacking 4-2-3-1 Wide - Pyroclastic Flow" is a super successful tactic (I believe Omega Luke spoke about this tactic, possibly Zealand idk) and this uses both a standard defensive line and the "Get Stuck In" command. Although it does indeed gather quite a few yellow cards (therefore suspensions), it absolutely blows teams away. So I think maybe the don't use the "Get Stuck In" command, is a slightly misleading piece of advice. I rarely turn it off and so far I'm 1st in the Premier League (1st season) with Newcastle. Yes, Newcastle, I know. lol

[@joshuabond946]

i used this tactic in my hertha berlin save to win back to back bundesliga titles, it was really good, but taking "get stuck in" helps so much. the only bing change i made was changing the rb and lb to Wing Backs on automatic, it just helps the defence be a lot more solid while still creatimg chances

[@LifesABeautifulMess]

@@joshuabond946 Oh so you're saying it'll be just as impactful if I remove the 'Get Stuck in' command and switch to Wing Backs instead of CWBs? I have been cautious about changing anything incase it just becomes less effective. I really want to change the DLP to a CM on attack or a RPM but think it may be too leaky defensively.

[@joshuabond946]

@@LifesABeautifulMess yeah or for atleast for me is was just as impactful, ive struggled with fm 22 to get Lb/Rb to work consistently, wing back on automatic is the only way ive managed to get them to have consistently good games, they create chances still but they seem to be a lot more effective in defence as well. everry other roles its always one 7 or above rating followed by a 6.2 or something like that for me. "Get Stuck in" never works for me it just results in players gettimg yellows every game and having 3-4 players suspended all at one time, or a red every other game, taking stuck in off for me has lowered that significantly, and as a result we also dont concede as many free kicks leading to goals. Finnally for me the BBM and DLP are key, consistently averaging over 7 rating most of the time, the roles are just perfect for this tactic, even with get stuck in off the amount of turnovers ive seen where they still dive in and win the ball is amazing, it might help that grillitch and tousart are perfect players for the role however. i also dont play on very attacking for obvious reasons

[@messigoh6061]

Get stuck is fantastic for aggressive pressing systems. Besides fouls can stop play most of the time, which is very helpful defensively. Generally free kicks arent a problem for me.

[@messigoh6061]

@@LifesABeautifulMess honestly adjusting a little to help with ur system can change a lot. I use a simple concept mark tighter tackle harder get stuck in plus super high engagement line, high def line and really high press. Along woth slightly shorter and much higher tempo. The rest i mix and match. Same for roles. I like a lopsided 4231 with a wing back on the left and invertedwingback on the right.

[@garywhite8880]

I play in my Dumbarton save with a low back line and play fluid cou ter attack. I do concede another of crosses however compensate with tall, physically strong CBs with good areal ability. Great content 👍

[@KaisteIam]

Point 4. is exceptional. Can't wait to incorporate it

[@suncrise]

Nice Roma shirt Z. Love it

[@lolloa22]

I don't agree with the advise to never use defensive/ very defensive. I used them efficiently in the last 5 minutes of a game I'm winning by one goal when the other team is pushing hard and only when team cohesion is high AND I have a good defense. You gotta tune the individual tactics coherently though, changing my wings to pressing wings and my fullbacks to more defensive roles has often done the trick

[@HeadRecieverAtHeadOffice]

Next level editing

[@M_RM.]

We love you Z

[@Hyde_Hill]

I have plenty of good experiences on Defensive and very defensive. It is very confirmation bias that it is bad. As you remember when it goes wrong and forget when it does not. And you can never test it going back to the same point and then not going defensive and it going wrong. Also according to FM tactics ballwinner and tackle harder does stack.

[@jezdunn8399]

Goddamn RDF is on like another level. Love it.

[@lucasfina123]

I was able to use successfully a low block tatic back on fm 19. hope it comes back to work onto the next years.

[@davelisapaly6750]

in my experience so far lowering defensive line is fine if you lower the front as well, making the shape still compact so that midfield can help to ease the pressure when we're on possession while decreasing chance of getting through passes in on defense. It helps especially in lower leagues when defenders aren't that good at employing offside trap and are generally slower than attackers. This is a helpful video otherwise, especially tip no. 4 (y)

[@dhaisa]

Editing game is stepping up!

[@cameronwebster5683]

RDF!!! insane crossover

[@themastema1189]

I find going ultra defensive rather good in the last 20 minutes, holding the ball far more and now allowing the oposition to counter attack!

[@filippoantoniodecrescenzo7323]

Love your shirt Z ❤️

[@bdbby]

nice collab 👏