FMCatenaccio

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First Creation
I started to analyse Football Manager like this mainly because I’ve always had a huge passion for both the game and the hidden art they call Scouting and analysis so I decided to combine them both together and get to work. I found the more in-depth I got with analysing real-life matches, the more I wanted to analyse Football Manager and dig deeper into the tactical side. Now I can’t sit here and say that I’ve read many books and written many articles about tactics or football in general but I can say my passion for the sport & Football Manager makes up for this which certainly helped out when writing this. So let’s get started!

Creating Art Down The FlanksFor me the wingback role is one of my absolute favourites to play with on Football Manager, it can be an absolute beast if executed correctly and with the right balance, it can cause a lot of damage.
Watching your Inside forwards tuck inside creating space for an overlap has to be one of the best feelings when you see it work in front of you. That’s why I decided to analyse these positions more & to see them in action.
Wingbacks have come a long way over recent years, from being your standard side back to being a vital piece in the attack It has now become a pivotal weapon to use in a game.
exploiting the wings using Wingbacks allows your Wingers/IF to focus more on occupying the Centre backs rather than the fullbacks and sitting closer to the striker which can create an overload for the two/three centre-backs.



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An overload on the right wing caused by my IF cutting in and creating space for my WB.


I like to set my Wingbacks up on Attack simply because I love how they both bomb on down the wings with zero care in the world and create chaos either by exploiting the space created by the wingers tucking inside or by overloading the flank with the winger.



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Wingbacks have pushed on high up the pitch looking to exploit the channels.



Above you can see the huge importance to why the wingbacks have evolved over the years and why more and more managers are starting to use these roles. Pushing higher up the pitch relying on the 3 man pivot and the strong centre-backs to hold it together while allowing your wingbacks to push on. They add great width and can quickly add another dimension to the attack.The Balancing Pivot



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Above you can see the importance of the 3 man pivot & the towering CBs that I have created to allow my wing backs to bomb on down the wings. By having this in place it allows you to control possession with short passes minimising the risk of losing the ball and getting countered down the wings.
Imagine how Barcelona set up, Always having a fantastic foundation to build on, With Busquets sitting in the Pivot controlling the middle and two playmakers in front.All three players are extremely comfortable on the ball which is the perfect foundation to have when building a tactic that requires your wing backs to attack.



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Here you can see the 3 man Pivot holding together the foundations while my wingbacks push high up creating space



Another benefit to having your wingbacks so high up that they are nearly touching the Wingers/Inside Forwards is that it helps overload the opponents FB, With this I found that my winger/IF got huge amounts of goals and assists but my WBs weren’t, Don’t worry though, This is simply piecing the puzzle together, WBs get the ball and quickly lay it off to the Winger/IF who would do the rest so don’t worry if your Wbs aren’t getting the number of assists that you would have hoped.ConsNow using Wing backs is certainly a dangerous weapon to use when attacking but it can be exploited for obvious reasons, For example pushing your defenders up above the halfway line is kinda asking for trouble in many ways and you should fully expect a long balls over the top and get countered, that’s just football I’m afraid. I’m not saying I can help you completely stop this but I hope I can help you control this better.



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The opposition wins the ball in the middle creating a counter attack. My Wbs have left huge gaps and there is no Pivot to shield the defence.



This is where the 3 man pivot and the two centre backs are crucial. they will control the game as much as possible, using small triangles between them getting out of danger and spraying the ball wide to either the wing backs or wingers/Inside Forwards but that doesn’t mean it is going to work all the time, You need to understand your team and the balance your team has when defending and attacking. This is where stop-starting comes in handy, you can check where your players are positioned when you lose the ball and also when you win back possession and you can adjust the player roles to help this.

The way I analyse my games on Football manager is to simply play it slowly and watch what is happening in front of you. I stop-start my games a lot to see what positions my players are picking up and what players are making the movements that I have asked them to do, you can find out a lot just by pausing the game quickly.




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Wingbacks are high up the pitch creating more space to play out from the back.


Thank you for reading my first ever article & I hope you enjoyed itYou can find me on Twitter @FMCatenaccio
Or check out my website - https://fmcatenaccio495007826.wordpress.com/


 
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I really like this gameplay and description of it. I would love to see how you set up your team to play like this ( tactic? ).
 
Agree with Punt. Would love a more in-depth article related to the entire tactic you're using here, how you make it all work and how it's all set out. I think it'd make for a very interesting read.

Great article dude.
 
Agree with Punt. Would love a more in-depth article related to the entire tactic you're using here, how you make it all work and how it's all set out. I think it'd make for a very interesting read.

Great article dude.

Thanks mate! Please Follow me on twitter @FMCatenaccio for more details.
 
I use a 4-3-3 with a DMC and 2x IF, so found this really interesting, my only query is does playing so high not leave you open to counter teams?..and if so do you have any suggestions on trying to deal with this?
 
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