Hopefully this longer form video is enjoyable, a LOT to take in. Importantly, let us know if you get any luck with the tactic or even applying some of the principles.
Brilliant video, the structure of the video and your explanation of each stage has given me a whole new perspective of FM despite being a 15 year veteran. Keep up the good work!
Mate, this is incredible. I took over a dodgy Hearts side who were underperfoming and spent the majority of the rest of the season tinkering with formations, player roles and the duties. Fast forward to 15th May, in the "Relegation Group", I implement this, and keep my first clean sheet in 3 months. Unreal. Next game, same again, except we get one shot on target and score from it. You've saved my bacon. Looking forward to getting this locked down during a pre-season with some fresh players!
Really good and well explained. It's all very logical when you think it through. The only thing I didn't get is the two central midfielders out of possession settings: trigger press more and mark tighter. Are they not contradictory as players will be leaving their tighter marking responsibilities to press?
Love this. I tend to play a very similar 4-3-3 tactic. I also have a chase game and kill game off version. So losing at end of game I use chase game which ups mentality, more direct, higher defensive line, etc Then my kill game off tactic keeps same formation but slows play down, time wastes etc. But I love this one you’ve created, which is much better than mine. Funnily enough I was about to comment about why don’t you turn on play for set pieces. Goes hand in hand with time wasting for me. Anyway I’m certainly going to try this. A very different and well thought out bit of logic. 👍👏👏
Nice video, great insight on defense!. I believe the purpose of football is scoring goals. Clean sheet is nice but than matches become really boring and without emotions. A 6-2 win compared to 1-0 is a much better experience in my small opinion. 7 goals scored in 14 matches in a video game means your supporters have high risk to fall asleep on their seats.. Also..best defense in football manager is made with a good ball possesion and offense. old rule..they can't score if you have the ball. Off course each team and situations need different approaches so understanding defense principles is crucial and you explained them perfectly.
I disagree. I’d much rather win 1-0 or 2-0. It’s not all about scoring goals. The best teams can always defend well. It’s a big part of the game and one of the big problems I have with the Knap tactics is the ridiculous amount of goals. It makes the whole game unrealistic.
I agree. Great defensive insight from the uploader, but I think this was just to show you how effective it is and defending, though I think it is good, there is no risk for the opposition to go all out attack, where they will score. You have to make some sort of attacking threat to keep the opponent honest.
I watched the video once its was released and to be honest I was not believing my eyes at all finally someone is talking about defensive football in FM and I have to say this this video is excellent and very informative too I still remember last year video about possession football 🔝🔝 before watching your video i was searching and gathering all avaliable informations try to replicate Otto Rehhagel Approach with Greece 2004 🇬🇷 I believe your video can be a hug help for sure keep the good work up and I hope you will always surprised us with a good quality work. Quick question what are the Core Attributes for this Defensive Approach? Thanks in advance
Thank you very much for the lovely comment! If you mean player attributes, there’s a few key areas. Particularly mentals: positioning, decisions, composure, workrate. Start with these and then introduce some key physicals (agility, balance, stamina) and technicals (marking, vision, heading)
Time wasting: I always put it at max. There's literally no reason not to do it. If you change the overall mentality, the actual usage of time wasting changes with it, so once you go to attacking, time wasting will drop to "never", even if the bar is full to the right. Not only does time wasting over the course of a game mean fewer chances for the opponent to score, it also keeps your players fresher to press aggressively. Also, a back 3 with 2 WB and a DM (anchor or HB) is just immediately more solid from my experience.
awesome video mate, had real issues with defense this year and this has helped out loads. im a football addict IRL and seeing how things i know about in real life like defensive fundamentals and principles are able to be translated into the game have helped a lot. have you got any advice on how to tweak this to make it better against smaller teams? what the changes will be when you're hunting a goal etc etc
Thanks for the lovely comment mate. You could flip the first part of the video - take your defensive structure and work through it making it a more attacking version. To do that I’d focus on; adding some creativity into the midfield via a playmaker. Getting your wingers more involved and ask them to act in a more attacking nature and make sure you’ve got players in the box - AF up top and a midfielder breaking into the box CMa or B2B. Then team instructions are key, push a higher line and press
excellent tips. ease off tackles on full backs and DMC are a stroke of genius. They cover space so well and offer a lot of opportunity for counter attacks when they intercept balls if you put it in team instructions.
I have won the champions league with Shrewsbury, zaragoza, Leeds. Game is so easy if you attack and press high. I cant ever get success with a low block though, wish the game would allow defensive/counter tactics to work properly
Muy buen video muy bien explicado, lo aplicaré en mi guardado con Amiens, la afición y la directiva estarán contentos al ver jugar al equipo un fútbol sólido defensivamente, me estaba costando no encajar. Muchas gracias
I will use this tactic when my team is 2 goals up. If my team is 0-0 or losing by 1-0 down or more, I will use my primary attacking tactic. That would be my match plans
I've had some intermittent success against big teams with lower defensive line, press less often, and counter attack tuned on. I only see tactics with Much More often pressing so I wanted to try something different. Can you try to make a lower defensive line, less often pressing tactic?
I did try. This tactic was from a LOT of testing. Dropping back deep with less pressing is just a backs against the wall 90 mins. Horrible to watch. I am working on a counter tactic focussing on creating space to run into. So welcome an attack, absorb, welcome overloads and then break with numbers. Very up and down!
just found this and subbed brilliant vid and description always looking to keep things tight and just seem to fall short but this im hoping helps me a lot. Couple of things 1 the WM do you need capable players as my 2 wingers fall well short of the mark. 2 would this work in a 4231 or does it have to be 4141 i love the concept ideas and find it very Simeone A Madrid style keep em coming
Hey man, thanks for the lovely comment. WM would need to have attributes that will work in a defensive shape (concentration, work rate, positioning etc) I wouldn’t expect them to have 15 tackling as that’s not realistic. They’d be a support role to the defenders so just need to be in the right places. 4231 could work, it’s an attacking formation but no reason why in defence the shape can’t change. I had a 4411 that transitioned to a 4231 in attack, you could adopt something similar
Great defensive vid mate. Would you also give an anchor the ease off tackles PI? Compared to the halfback you showcased he's more cautious regarding pressing and tackling i guess.
@@TheManagersSeat Like you I don't have neither press much more often (only more often) nor i don't have get stuck in either, so my anchor isn't aggressive in any way, just focussing on anchoring the defence, so I don't believe it will get better with ease off tackles then? Because with that role he can also bee TOO passive....
@@TheManagersSeat So with that you'll highly recommend to use "trap outside", to be more compact centrally and make the opponent playing more in wide areas, if my back 4 is too leaky in defence?
Cracking tactic. As a title challenging team always always struggle at City and Liverpool away. Used the tactic today for the first time and won 1-0 at City away with only 1 shot to my name
I have. I found that the balance was messed up. It definitely has its merits though, if you’ve got an opposition AMC who’s playing balls through it’s a nice way to drop back and mop up.
Did you watch each element of the video? It's not a downloadable winning tactic, its to give you ideas to tweak your own tactic. The downloadable tactic will help you keep clean sheets, adopt a match plan like I mention and you can choose pockets within the game (when the match momentum is in your favour) to grab a goal
It’s certainly doable, depends on what formation. I had a really nice 4411 last year that was defensively solid and moved to a 4231 counter attacking tactic. Even with an AMC it’s still a 3 man midfield, just needs balance. You could have a CMs and DLPd in midfield with an AMs in front of them. I’d go for a DLP as the AM would be an outlet for attack/counter
Hopefully this longer form video is enjoyable, a LOT to take in. Importantly, let us know if you get any luck with the tactic or even applying some of the principles.
Brilliant video, the structure of the video and your explanation of each stage has given me a whole new perspective of FM despite being a 15 year veteran. Keep up the good work!
Thanks James! Lovely to hear. The beauty of the game is we’re always learning!
22:30 IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW
Love these in-depth tactical videos with explaining and examples. Well done boss!
Cheers Jordy! Very much appreciated 💙
Mate, this is incredible. I took over a dodgy Hearts side who were underperfoming and spent the majority of the rest of the season tinkering with formations, player roles and the duties. Fast forward to 15th May, in the "Relegation Group", I implement this, and keep my first clean sheet in 3 months. Unreal. Next game, same again, except we get one shot on target and score from it. You've saved my bacon. Looking forward to getting this locked down during a pre-season with some fresh players!
Ah mate, incredible story. Go and smash it next season
Come on hmfc
Also, we need a breakdown of 6:47 tactic as well! I want to set up not only this defensive tactic, but the attacking one as well.
Really good and well explained. It's all very logical when you think it through. The only thing I didn't get is the two central midfielders out of possession settings: trigger press more and mark tighter. Are they not contradictory as players will be leaving their tighter marking responsibilities to press?
I am late to the party, but this is an amazing video. Thanks so much!
Hey man, thank you 💙
Love this. I tend to play a very similar 4-3-3 tactic. I also have a chase game and kill game off version. So losing at end of game I use chase game which ups mentality, more direct, higher defensive line, etc
Then my kill game off tactic keeps same formation but slows play down, time wastes etc.
But I love this one you’ve created, which is much better than mine.
Funnily enough I was about to comment about why don’t you turn on play for set pieces. Goes hand in hand with time wasting for me.
Anyway I’m certainly going to try this. A very different and well thought out bit of logic. 👍👏👏
Sounds like you’ve got a great system already, David! We’re very similar. Thanks for the lovely comment 💙
Where can I download the game for free?
Nice video, great insight on defense!. I believe the purpose of football is scoring goals. Clean sheet is nice but than matches become really boring and without emotions. A 6-2 win compared to 1-0 is a much better experience in my small opinion. 7 goals scored in 14 matches in a video game means your supporters have high risk to fall asleep on their seats.. Also..best defense in football manager is made with a good ball possesion and offense. old rule..they can't score if you have the ball. Off course each team and situations need different approaches so understanding defense principles is crucial and you explained them perfectly.
I disagree. I’d much rather win 1-0 or 2-0. It’s not all about scoring goals. The best teams can always defend well. It’s a big part of the game and one of the big problems I have with the Knap tactics is the ridiculous amount of goals. It makes the whole game unrealistic.
I agree. Great defensive insight from the uploader, but I think this was just to show you how effective it is and defending, though I think it is good, there is no risk for the opposition to go all out attack, where they will score. You have to make some sort of attacking threat to keep the opponent honest.
I watched the video once its was released and to be honest I was not believing my eyes at all finally someone is talking about defensive football in FM and I have to say this this video is excellent and very informative too I still remember last year video about possession football 🔝🔝 before watching your video i was searching and gathering all avaliable informations try to replicate Otto Rehhagel Approach with Greece 2004 🇬🇷 I believe your video can be a hug help for sure keep the good work up and I hope you will always surprised us with a good quality work.
Quick question what are the Core Attributes for this Defensive Approach? Thanks in advance
Thank you very much for the lovely comment! If you mean player attributes, there’s a few key areas. Particularly mentals: positioning, decisions, composure, workrate. Start with these and then introduce some key physicals (agility, balance, stamina) and technicals (marking, vision, heading)
@@TheManagersSeat got it Thank you very much 🔝
Time wasting: I always put it at max. There's literally no reason not to do it. If you change the overall mentality, the actual usage of time wasting changes with it, so once you go to attacking, time wasting will drop to "never", even if the bar is full to the right.
Not only does time wasting over the course of a game mean fewer chances for the opponent to score, it also keeps your players fresher to press aggressively.
Also, a back 3 with 2 WB and a DM (anchor or HB) is just immediately more solid from my experience.
awesome video mate, had real issues with defense this year and this has helped out loads. im a football addict IRL and seeing how things i know about in real life like defensive fundamentals and principles are able to be translated into the game have helped a lot. have you got any advice on how to tweak this to make it better against smaller teams? what the changes will be when you're hunting a goal etc etc
Thanks for the lovely comment mate. You could flip the first part of the video - take your defensive structure and work through it making it a more attacking version. To do that I’d focus on; adding some creativity into the midfield via a playmaker. Getting your wingers more involved and ask them to act in a more attacking nature and make sure you’ve got players in the box - AF up top and a midfielder breaking into the box CMa or B2B. Then team instructions are key, push a higher line and press
excellent tips. ease off tackles on full backs and DMC are a stroke of genius. They cover space so well and offer a lot of opportunity for counter attacks when they intercept balls if you put it in team instructions.
Great explanation. I'm gonna try and replicate it, making tweaks as i go along, squad dependent, but the principles you've covered here are A1.
I have won the champions league with Shrewsbury, zaragoza, Leeds. Game is so easy if you attack and press high. I cant ever get success with a low block though, wish the game would allow defensive/counter tactics to work properly
Muy buen video muy bien explicado, lo aplicaré en mi guardado con Amiens, la afición y la directiva estarán contentos al ver jugar al equipo un fútbol sólido defensivamente, me estaba costando no encajar. Muchas gracias
Good in depth detailed description of tactics but you changed tactics about 55 times for that tactic 😂😂
Absolutely brilliant tactic.
I will use this tactic when my team is 2 goals up. If my team is 0-0 or losing by 1-0 down or more, I will use my primary attacking tactic. That would be my match plans
The perfect plan 👍
This is exaxly how Kopenhag played against Galatasaray and won, pain in the ass!
Tried it out with Luton, did some adaptions, finished 13th. 28 goals scored and 39 conceded.
Not bad at all! Considering they’re massive relegation favs. Tweak away until you get some more goals now, or just improve the team
What adaptations did you make?
thanks for video great stuff. How come the role ability drops? More role ability more higher performance from the player?
Great break down stinger. Never went into player instructions so much. Going to give it a go now. Cheers
I've had some intermittent success against big teams with lower defensive line, press less often, and counter attack tuned on. I only see tactics with Much More often pressing so I wanted to try something different. Can you try to make a lower defensive line, less often pressing tactic?
I did try. This tactic was from a LOT of testing. Dropping back deep with less pressing is just a backs against the wall 90 mins. Horrible to watch.
I am working on a counter tactic focussing on creating space to run into. So welcome an attack, absorb, welcome overloads and then break with numbers. Very up and down!
just found this and subbed brilliant vid and description always looking to keep things tight and just seem to fall short but this im hoping helps me a lot. Couple of things
1 the WM do you need capable players as my 2 wingers fall well short of the mark.
2 would this work in a 4231 or does it have to be 4141
i love the concept ideas and find it very Simeone A Madrid style keep em coming
Hey man, thanks for the lovely comment. WM would need to have attributes that will work in a defensive shape (concentration, work rate, positioning etc) I wouldn’t expect them to have 15 tackling as that’s not realistic. They’d be a support role to the defenders so just need to be in the right places.
4231 could work, it’s an attacking formation but no reason why in defence the shape can’t change. I had a 4411 that transitioned to a 4231 in attack, you could adopt something similar
@@TheManagersSeat awesome thanks for the prompt reply will have a tinker with the 4231 and let you know how it goes KUTGW
Can we also have the tactic before adjustment ? (denmark save)
Yeah I can do that mate, you in our discord? @ me in the tactics chat
This might not be effective against teams who are good at playing out of press. I am looking forward to an underdog tactic :)
True, it’s certainly not a one size fits all approach. That villa result echoed that, 424 counter was tough. Underdog tactic could be a winner 👍
Great defensive vid mate. Would you also give an anchor the ease off tackles PI? Compared to the halfback you showcased he's more cautious regarding pressing and tackling i guess.
Thanks mate. Yeah as a deeper role they may find themselves the last line of defence. If there’s cover I’d ease off to make them pass wider
@@TheManagersSeat Like you I don't have neither press much more often (only more often) nor i don't have get stuck in either, so my anchor isn't aggressive in any way, just focussing on anchoring the defence, so I don't believe it will get better with ease off tackles then? Because with that role he can also bee TOO passive....
@@TheManagersSeat So with that you'll highly recommend to use "trap outside", to be more compact centrally and make the opponent playing more in wide areas, if my back 4 is too leaky in defence?
@@TheManagersSeat I'm playing a 4-4-2 so not that compact around the central defence and areas
What. A. Video! Top drawer as always!
Thanks Drew! Appreciate the kind words 💙
File to download?
Cracking tactic. As a title challenging team always always struggle at City and Liverpool away.
Used the tactic today for the first time and won 1-0 at City away with only 1 shot to my name
Superb
Could this be used with a top team with top players ?
Of course, it would work even better
I'm gonna try applying this to my save, I like the ideas you've got here. Quality video.
Thank you very much, good luck with the tactic!
how is it
How about central defender instructions?
Can’t remember off the top of my head, maybe check the download. Ease of tackles and maybe that’s it
Any OI on this tactics?
guardiola city tactic pls
None at all, but adapt when in game 👍
thank you so much. as someone who knows how to set up is team for attack but always struggles with defense this really helped me a lot
Great to hear! 💙
Is it a good tactic to start a match? Or do you suggest to switch to this tactic in order to secure a win?
What about CB pi's ? Any ?
Depends on the formation, generally low risk and sensible play from them
JD you hero. I needed this 🤝
Thanks mate, hope it helps
Have you experimented with setting CBs to 'Cover' when defending like this?
I have. I found that the balance was messed up. It definitely has its merits though, if you’ve got an opposition AMC who’s playing balls through it’s a nice way to drop back and mop up.
Bro, how do you plan to score a goal with this tactic?
Did you watch each element of the video? It's not a downloadable winning tactic, its to give you ideas to tweak your own tactic. The downloadable tactic will help you keep clean sheets, adopt a match plan like I mention and you can choose pockets within the game (when the match momentum is in your favour) to grab a goal
Thanks for the video. Do you know how to tweak it to fit in an attacking midfielder? Or do you think the 3 in midfield is key ?
It’s certainly doable, depends on what formation. I had a really nice 4411 last year that was defensively solid and moved to a 4231 counter attacking tactic. Even with an AMC it’s still a 3 man midfield, just needs balance. You could have a CMs and DLPd in midfield with an AMs in front of them. I’d go for a DLP as the AM would be an outlet for attack/counter