Football Manager Analysis

[...] cover. Why do we need to add more defensive cover? Well, there are obvious gaps in our defensive line with a single centreback and fullbacks who are used more to add offensive width than [...]

[...] in to attack he would drift back to his own central midfield position leaving the defensive line unbalanced and further widening the gap left by Marcelo. As you can see above by moving out [...]

[...] the player in possession to drive closer and closer to their goal. Breaking Beyond the Defensive Line The second benefit of employing the linking midfielder is that he is able to create effective [...]

[...] the configuration of shout that I use are slightly different. I’ll instruct my defensive line to push up, in order to shrink the pitch and give my players plenty of passing options. [...]

[...] , a guest post. The author is Nick Davies who as of today is the proud owner of a brand new Football Manager forum having previously been an integral part of The Dugout. The new forum can be found at [...]

[...] to connect my attack in a higher position…wherein we can turn our attention (at last) to football manager. Connecting players don’t have to be your best or most talented player, they can also [...]

[...] way. I’ve seen people blame the match engine within Football Manager for their results and claim that it produces unrealistic football with incidents that you [...]

[...] developing the tactical intelligence to perform the role to near perfection for Ajax. In Football Manager the box to box midfielder role is designed to emulate this tactical trend with the [...]

[...] the moment of transition from defence to attack and lastly we will look at movement in the attacking phase and in particular the use of overloads to overwhelm the opposition. To look at these properly [...]

[...] to defend effectively. How did the game go? Our midfield diamond offers connections in the attacking phase that the Americans simply can’t deal with. De Rossi is in acres of space when he takes [...]

[...] attacking fullbacks and a marauding central midfielder it’s safe to say that in the attacking phase we are relying on the creation of overloads throughout the attacking phase. Above we have an [...]

[...] pivot. Above Ozil has collected possession again and this time we are in the initial attacking phase and as such the primary options for the connecting player are in the attacking strata with [...]

[...] in to. The other two passed that I have highlighted are the more common choices as both central midfielder are ready to take the pass. By feeding the ball to either central midfielder at this point [...]

[...] central strikers and an attacking midfielder in the pocket behind them followed by a single central midfielder and two defensive midfielders, originally we used two central midfielders and a single [...]

[...] connecting or reference player. I will look at using a centre back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder, attacking midfielder and striker in this manner and how best to set your team up to both [...]

[...] . We are obviously going for a highly attacking setup with three central strikers and an attacking midfielder in the pocket behind them followed by a single central midfielder and two defensive [...]

[...] example of our vertical movement in attack. In keeping with my relative obsession with Marcelo Bielsa and Jorge Sampaoli I like to have players quickly move forwards to support the man in [...]

[...] danger of becoming a football ‘hipster’ from my love of Borussia Dortmund and admiration of Marcelo Bielsa to my absolute certainty that Manuel Pellegrini will be a huge hit in Manchester I am a [...]

[...] Mauricio Pochettino who at least played for the Marcelo Bielsa when he was at Newell’s Old Boys. Arguably though there is one coach in football that truly [...]

[...] the entire midfield. That’s not to say that direct football is ineffective or negative. Marcelo Bielsa is widely regarded as one of the most progressive coaches in football and yet his teams play [...]

[...] and Creating Space One of the primary functions of the linking midfielder is to draw defensive players out of position and create space around him. It’s not specifically necessary for the player [...]

[...] is the secondary option as the pass to him is dangerous given the close proximity of defensive players. It’s at this point that we can see how all the other players tend to flow and move [...]

[...] in to areas that were heavily covered leading to a large amount of interceptions for our defensive players. Here’s an example of our movement in an attacking action. Gareth Barry has dropped deep to [...]

[...] does he offer us? Drawing Defenders and Creating Space One of the primary functions of the linking midfielder is to draw defensive players out of position and create space around him. It’s not [...]

[...] in each strata as your connecting or reference player. I will look at using a centre back, defensive midfielder, central midfielder, attacking midfielder and striker in this manner and how best to set [...]

[...] your team both for defending and attacking. Secondly you can ensure that you have a defensive midfielder that is content to sit and form a strong defensive triangle with your two centre backs. [...]

[...] position. For this reason I chose to manage Italy with their strong grounding in tactical football I should be able to switch systems easily. At this point I should acknowledge that [...]