A Quarterly Football Manager Magazine Issue 2 - December 2013

clearcutchance.com @ClearCutChance

Clear Cut Chance, a Contributor-led MagazineBy Jarrod Birch, Editor

I t is a little strange for me to write the Editor’s Notes for this edi-tion, because I have had such a backseat role that I’m almost in the boot. Not being able to directly contribute to the magazine this time has been sad but the fact that we have, in our eyes,

beaten the first edition in both length and content, is extremely pleasing. A happy by-product of my inactivity is that I can look at our content objectively, without fear of being seen as self-praising.

There is a great deal of helpful, thoughtful advice in the following pages. The changes to FM’s tac-tical interface - loved by some (including me), hated by many, discussed by nearly all - are pro-bably the most significant since the move to the Tactical Creator in FM10. It is only natural that this has created new challen-ges for managers. But as always, difficulty, ambiguity and change have brought new discussions, new ideas and new debates to the fore, many of which you will read in this magazine. There is something for everyone to learn, whether you hate the changes or not.

The way this second edition has turned out has proven to us so-mething that we believed long before the release of the first edi-tion on September 1st - that the FM community is a brilliant one. We always thought that if we could provide a platform for regu-lar FM players to talk about their views on the game - how they play and what they think - that they would take it. With a mam-moth 50-page edition, almost all of it by external contributors, we

think they’ve proven it. The first edition, though well-received and meticulously prepared, was dominated by the voices of the four-strong editor team and at that time, Clear Cut Chance was not truly the contributor-led ma-gazine that we envisaged. This time the community shines.

My personal thanks go to Cleon, Foxo and NakS for doing a ster-ling job without my help, but if you enjoy this edition of CCC, re-member that it is the community that drives us.

Merry Christmas.

Jarrod Birch

Editor’s note

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Clear Cut Chance, Issue 2

IntroductIon2. Editor’s note, Jarrod Birch

IntervIews4. A Blue Print for Success - Part One, Cleon Hobson

opInIons and thoughts9. Football Manager is not Random, Gareth Millward12. A world without sliders, RTHerringbone15. Officiating, Tim Brooks

career!18. Why be a journeyman, Acidmonkey21. Championship Manager, James Williams

poIntIng at the tactIcs board26. Universality versus Speciality - A FM discussion of philosophy, Liam Oliver28. The power of pace, Simon Boendermaker31. Is higher always better? Shrewnaldo34. Transitions, Jimbob38. Regista and Halfback - Illustrated Tactical Memo, NakS

Featured In ccc43. Book reviews, RTHerringbone48. Updating Football Manager should not be painful, Dave Murchison

about clear cur chance49. Contributors and information

Contents

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When playing Football Manager I like to have an element of realism to the game or follow a certain path. In recent ver-

sions of the game I’ve followed Bobby Robson career path and managed all the teams he did and in the correct order. I’ve also done the same with a few other managers too. Last year on FM13 saw me play as Ajax which was easy but I tried to follow the training module and the T.I.P.S system they use as closely as the game would allow. This was one of the most enjoyable saves that I’ve had in a long time due to the focus purely on youth development and controlling all teams.

For this years version of the game I thought I’d try something a bit different for how I normally play. I’ve decided to create my own team and have them start the game with no staff, no finances and no players. I’ve also gave them a very low rep and a tiny stadium that is not expandable. The reasons for this was to add a tier of difficulty to my games and make them more of a challenge so I will stick with it long term. Hopefully this will work out and allow me to play for 40+ seasons.

Not only have I created a side and placed them in the Brazilian 4th tier but I also decided it would be great to emulate a great young coach that I look up to and see if I could apply some of his logic to the Football Manager game. The person I’ll be basing my career on is no other than Gary J. White the Na-tional Team Head Coach at Guam Football Asso-ciation. For those of you who are not familiar with Gary here is a run down of his career so far;

A UEFA ‘A’ licensed professional soccer coach with FIFA international experience and is the current na-tional team head coach and technical director for the Guam Football Association who compete in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). In July 2012 White led «The Matao» Guam’s National Football Team to international success by comprehensively

being crowned the East Asian Football Cham-pionships winners of Round 1 after just 4 months at the helm.

In October 2011, he was hand selected as one of only sixteen (16) coaches globally by The FA to at-tend their new prestigious Elite Coaching License. This license is unique in world football and is the hi-ghest practical coaching award offered by The FA.

White is the former technical director of Washing-ton Youth Soccer & Sounders FC (MLS) elite player development program, prior to this role he was the head coach of the Virgin Islands and Bahamas na-tional football teams.

White has 10 years of FIFA International coaching experience competing in one of the most difficult World Cup qualifying confederations (CONCA-CAF) he is still one of the youngest national team coaches in FIFA history.

White also serves on both US Soccer’s National Coaching Staff and US Soccer’s player develop-ment task force. He has also worked on FIFA’s Tech-nical Study Groups & Coaching instructor staff.

He has one of the hardest jobs in football but is doing a remarkable job so far. In the last few weeks I was able to ask him a few questions about Guam and Football Manager to give a better insight into the man himself and his thinking.

CH: How did you feel when you was hand selec-ted by The FA to take part in a new scheme with 15 other hand chosen coaches for the two-year elite coaching development license programme? It must have been a great honour to be selected?

GJ.W: It was a very proud moment in my career as an englishman to be hand selected by the ol-dest FA on the planet as someone they regarded

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Interview

A Blue Print For Success - Part One: Gary J. White InterviewBy Cleon Hobson

as having the potential to be an elite coach. What made it especially memorable was the fact that it was Mr. Richard Bate who came up with the unique concept, directed the program and brought me in. So to be invited by Mr. Bate who I believe is a true mastermind of the game and the best coach/edu-cator I have ever worked with or witnessed was a fantastic honour. It was also a great opportunity to be in a select group of the best young coaches in the country, who will be shaping the way the game is played over the next several decades. CH: Did you do things a lot differently in terms of your approach and execution with regards to training before this? I asked the same question recently to another member of the Elite 16, Louis Lancaster, and he says it revolutionised his tactical thinking. What kind of impact has the experience had on your career so far?

GJ.W: In terms of on the grass training we were ex-posed to the most modern technical, tactical and physical training environments and topics available and this was in terms of both position specific and team tactical training. We were also placed under pressure to show evidence of our knowledge and understanding of these elements in front of our peers and key FA staff when we were given elite advanced topics to present at St Georges Park. This pro level license definitely assisted in developing my emotional and contextual intelligence in terms of management, coaching and communication, I feel I am now ready for any coaching challenge at any level.

CH: A lot of Football Manager fans like to do jour-neyman careers which see them experience many different leagues and clubs, as they try and build a club up before moving on to the next one. I’ve seen interviews in the past where you’ve men-tioned other countries you’d like to manage in; is this due to you wanting to experience different cultures and learn as much as you can? Or is it so-mething else driving you?

GJ.W: I believe to be a successful coach in the mo-dern game at the highest levels you need to have an elite understanding and knowledge of how to communicate using various methodologies to reach and convince your players of your philosophy. These players will have various backgrounds and come from many different cultures. In any given changing room in any top league in the world you will have in front of you players with vastly diffe-rent experiences and you will struggle to relate to them if you as the leader have no prior experiences of different environments to draw upon, you now need to be global. The more you travel the more you broaden your mind and see new and exciting ways of developing, younger coaches must get out of their comfort zone and see the world of football and challenge themselves. CH: How does coaching at youth level, club level and international level all differ from each other? As an outsider it would seem that international football would be harder because you have less time with the players; how do you make the most of the time and fit in everything you want to do? It does seem like it could be challenging at times.

GJ.W: Well, first of all, the most challenging coa-ching environment I have ever experienced was when I first started in my career and worked with elementary school kids; it was a brilliant foundation to work from and maybe the most rewarding. The international game is very interesting as you spend the majority of your time scouting and analysing current National Team players all over the world and also recruiting new players who may have the potential to make your squad. Then you spend a

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Gary J. White : english top coach (mirror.co.uk)

A Blue Print For Success - Part One: Gary J. White Interview

lot of time managing the players club coaches and sporting directors to create close relationships, so when you call players up for International duty the clubs support you rather than create obstacles. In terms of the team training, we will usually run trai-ning camps prior to the International competitions to allow everyone to get reacquainted and for me and my coaching staff to implement the strategies and tactics for each specific game. The time factor is a concern but you just have to make the little time you have with the players as efficient and impactful as possible. CH: On Football Manager I can focus on a player’s individual attributes or put him on one of the many role training which can be anything from a libe-ro to a false nine. But how realistic is this? I guess what I’m asking is - firstly how do you decide what position someone will play and secondly how do you decide what he needs to work on in terms of player development?

GJ.W: When we select players we profile them by position and in units to fit within our national playing philosophy’s technical script. These profiles are both detailed and flexible as players at the In-ternational level must be able to interchange po-sition and not be confined to a certain area of the field. The game in my opinion has to be dynamic and fluent if you are to break teams down. We will train the team utilising various training techniques and environments to meet our objectives including position specific, unit & group , phases, SSG and 11 v 11 depending what our priority is and who are opponents are.

CH: Let’s say you had a striker who was good but lacked finishing, would you then work on the skills he needs to become better at finishing? And if so, would this be extra training on top of what he nor-

mally does or would this be instead of?

GJ.W: Well we try to pick players who are currently having success in their positions for their clubs (this is the reason we would be looking at them to be called up to the National team). Even though our time is limited we will try to increase the players sharpness and work on exercises that will affect how they play and ensure they understand their role and responsibilities within the team concept CH: You were on a podcast I listened to a while back and you seemed so enthusiastic about Guam’s prospects. You wanted to make Guam the 5th best national team in EAFF. How exactly do you go about doing this?

GJ.W: Well the long term strategic plan we have put in place is named “The 5th element 2022” and the objective is to be the 5th strongest National pro-gram in our region of AFC, East Asia (EAFF) by 2022, which includes international power houses such as Japan, Korea & China. We have a comprehensive plan that includes the development of players, coaches, clubs, facilities and National teams. CH: You’ve already had some success and steered Guam to the highest rankings ever in their history, 178th. That’s quite an achievement especially as they were 195th before you took over 15 months ago. What’s the key to the success you’ve had so far?

GJ.W: It’s a simple formula = drive, desire, deter-mination combined with having confidence and self-belief. I have the knowledge and experience of working at the International level and I unders-tand what it takes to get the most out of what you have. The support I have from the GFA President and executive board has been imperative and es-sential, I am surrounded by great people of similar thinking. They want success as much as I do. Our next target is to break into the top 150 on the FIFA world rankings by the end of the year. CH: If you wanted a player to do a specific thing i.e

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When we select players we pro-file them by position and in units to fit within our national playing philosophy.

A Blue Print For Success - Part One: Gary J. White Interview

close down more, play wider etc how would you translate this to the player? Is it something you’d work on during the build up to the match in trai-ning? Or is it as simple as just saying ‘close down more’ to the player and then allowing him to make his mind up?

GJ.W: You must work with and believe in your players on and off the field and invest your time in them, so they want to do what you ask them to do and will run through a wall for you. This takes time, skill and management. If you can get to this point, the rest is easy. CH: You appear to be a very busy person - head coach, technical director and a member of the EAFF technical study group (TSG) for FIFA interna-tional competitions. Would all these roles at once be impossible to do if it was a club level side you was managing?

GJ.W: I am very gracious to have found my labour of love in football and coaching, so I really do not see it as being busy as I enjoy every minute of it. At the club level you need to be focused on your team, players, staff and your schedule 24 hours a day, so it would be more difficult to have too many roles but nothing is impossible… CH: What exactly does being a member of the TSG mean and what kind of things do you do?

GJ.W: The TSG is the Technical Study Group who are a selected group of technical experts and have the responsibility for writing an technical report on various FIFA sanctioned tournaments and compe-titions. You analyse every team in the tournament from a technical and tactical standpoint and then document the modern trends at the highest levels of the game. CH: Over the last few months I’ve spoke to hun-dreds of coaches at all levels, from Ajax, Reading, Watford, Cambridge University, Sheffield FC and so on and you all seem really helpful and when talking to you all, I feel a sense of enjoyment in

what you are doing and can see the enthusiasm. How important is it that you enjoy what you do on a daily basis? Without naming names there must be some people in the sport who don’t enjoy what they do and see it just as a job. Have you ever felt like this at any stage or would you walk away if your heart wasn’t in it any longer?

GJ.W: First of all, successful people in any given in-dustry give back to what has given them so much. There is no such thing as something from nothing, as the great author Napoleon Hill says. To do what you love every day to me is real success and I am sure that all the other coaches you have spoken to would agree with me when I say we are fortunate to have found what we love to do. When you love a thing whether it’s a person, place or possession you cannot hide your excitement and enthusiasm about it and you want to share your experiences with others. The great thing about working in professional and elite football is that sooner or later those who do not have the needed desire and motivation will be chewed up and spat out, so your heart must be in it. CH: How daunting was it when you were at British Virgin Islands and at the age of 24 became one of the youngest ever head coaches to take charge of a team in a World Cup Qualification match?

GJ.W: I wanted to be challenged and placed out of my comfort zone - that’s why I took the job. I knew the adversity would make me stronger in the long run. I never looked at the role in any other way but with excitement and I knew if I could get the players to enjoy my sessions and my character they would no longer look at me as a young or old coach but just as a good one that they wanted to work with.

Gary J. White is one of the best young coaches in world football in my opinion and is doing a great job that deserves high praise. It’s not an easy task to manage Guam and try and make them into one

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A Blue Print For Success - Part One: Gary J. White Interview

of the top sides in the EAFF by 2022. This is one of the reasons why I want to emulate his success but at club level rather than on the international stage.Troy Vipauro will be my in game manager whose career will be based on Gary J. White and he’ll be managing Lâminas Futebol Clube in the Brazilian 4th Division The Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.

This is the first part of a mini series and was a brief introduction to what I’ll be attempting and the career path I’ve chosen. The next part can be found in the March Edition and will bring you upto speed on my current position in the game and talk about how easy/hard I’m finding the challenge and dis-cuss my strategy that I’m using.

NOTE - Since writing this Guam have moved further up the FIFA rankings and as of 28/11/13 currently sit 169 in the world. When Gary first got the job they were 196th in the world. Gary is now hoping that they can break the top 150, that is his next goal for Guam. And considering they’ve moved up 27 places in the 2 years he has been in charge this is a real possibility.

Good luck Gary, I hope you can do it!

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A Blue Print For Success - Part One: Gary J. White Interview

C3

I love @Acidburn81. His epic career thread in Football Manager 2013 was a highlight in the year that I slowly got back into FM after a bit

of a hiatus. But when a seasoned vet thinks that the match engine (ME) is random, then Football Manager 14 has an image problem. It is, however, undeserved. FM is not random. Yet it does suffer from a woeful lack of meaningful feedback. This is why this edition could be the most challenging – and infuriating – yet.

Criticisms of the ME are nothing new. For years I remember having heated discussions with GarryWHUFC about Superkeepers™, the ma-gical ability of the AI to score on every shot, and the “cheating” AI which could only win through “cracking” human tactics. At FM-Britain we often found that such complaints came from players who themselves were playing in rather unrealistic ways. Full backs with long arrows up to the AMC position; defensive lines higher than Simon Cowell’s trousers (is this still a reference the kids understand?), a do-gged devotion to the idea that teams play with “a tactic” (always, always singular), and that one plug-and-play system should conquer all. As it became more difficult to play in unrealistic ways, it became more difficult to make these arguments.

This evolution is mainly due to the diligent work and articulate evidence provided by the commu-nity. Special mention is surely warranted for Ri-chard Claydon (wwfan), Cleon, Rashidi, Matthias vom Brocke (The Next Diaby) and probably many others whom I have now forgotten. This was ac-celerated when the sadly departed experiment of

Football Manager Live ope-ned the eyes of Sports In-teractive SI to how humans really played their games. See AI tactics were designed by SI based on how they thought the ME worked and

what they considered to be logical strategies. These were then “soak tested” over several days of game play, pitting teams of varying strengths and tac-tics against each other. If, over the course of hun-dreds of thousands of games, the average shots, passes, goals, crosses, throw-ins, and everything else matched the averages for real-world soccer, then the experiments were a success. The ME was declared fit, and the game was rolled out. (My apo-logies, Paul Collyer MBE, for over-simplifying a very tiring and difficult process!)

The ME had become so complex and sophisticated that it didn’t fully work how SI expected it to. And humans are complex and sophisticated machines that don’t work how SI expected them to. Because humans do silly things. Bizarre things. Inventive things. For every “stupid” player who thought they should attack by putting 5 men up front, a “canny” player would pack all her midfielders into the centre of the pitch and exploit some ME weakness that had slipped through the testing process. When Football Manager Live went... er... live in late 2008, thou-sands of players started playing with these unfore-seen match plans. And the result was total chaos. Goals flew in everywhere. Any formation that won more than five in a row was considered a “cheat”. The ME simply looked awful. This wasn’t because it was a bad engine but because it was asked to do a job for which it was never designed. In my opinion, the post-Live engines (FM09 and beyond) are light years ahead of previous incarnations, even sup-posed classics such as FM06.

Richard (wwfan) didn’t make many friends when he suggested that a lot of the problems stemmed from unrealistic tactics. How dare he suggest a 4-2-3-1 wasn’t realistic! OK, it had weird arrows everywhere, and odd uses of closing down and man marking, but I’ve been using it since the days of ChampMan! I won the World Cup with Scotland with this bad boy! How dare you accuse me of cheating! But Ri-

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Opinions & Thoughts

Football Manager is not RandomBy Gareth Millward

chard approached the ME from a qualitative point of view rather than the statistical one. Whatever the soak tests might say, when you looked at the ME you could see the holes. Good AI managers couldn’t exploit them – good humans (or lucky humans who stumbled upon a formula) could. This broke the ME, leading to seemingly “random” results. Human tac-tics could, for example, be incredible in attack, but have fundamentally poor defence due to a player behavioural bug. However, if you watched games in detail and provided qualitative readings of the games to the development team, it would be pos-sible to iron out some of the creases at the micro level and maintain the statistical averages over the long-term. Once SI were convinced that this was a legitimate approach, things started to change.

There was uproar when Richard suggested that long arrows be removed. Even more when Ov Collyer, the lead developer on Football Manager Live agreed with him. For those of you new to the series, you used to be able to right-click on a player on the for-mation screen and drag him to a new position. This was used to allow full backs to run to the wing back position when attacking – or make a striker move laterally to the wing forward slot. What had hap-pened over many years, however, was that bizarre combinations had cropped up which effectively “broke” the engine. The arrows were removed, and things improved. Richard worked directly with SI to develop what became the tactics creator. As players began to think of tactics more in terms of strategy, relationships between players and using players in specific roles, human tactics evolved from code to beat the ME to strategies to outwit the enemy. The ME became the field of play, not the opponent sin qua non.

I remember one group of Russian FM fans who di-rectly blamed Richard for the death of the series. Removing such fine control defeated the point of a video game. The goal of FM was to beat the ME,

not to faff around with tactics and strategies. But I think his legacy is an important one. The tactical system we have today is much more refined, has its grounding in football rather than code, and is far more difficult to “game” than previous incarnations.

Which leads us back to the original premise of the article – the “randomness” of the current engine. What irked GarryWHUFC was that he was losing and could not explain it. This was cheating. It was random. It was the result of a broken game. But ask our Garry why he was winning. Was it his killer tactic? His transfers? His man-management? He’d probably say all three. But ask him why his killer tac-tic was so killer and you’d probably not get a cohe-rent answer that stood up to scrutiny.

I do not blame players for this. In my last save on FM13 I won the Copa Libertadores and the Premier League (not in the same season – that’s beyond even the greatest tactician). Ask me exactly how my system was successful, however, and I probably couldn’t tell you. Sure, I’d experimented with shouts to find ways of shutting down most of the gaps in my side. And I’d paid close enough attention to the formations I had faced to know when I was likely to need to change things up. But in terms of in-depth strategy (how to play a defensive side, a counter attacking side, a side using the wings and a tall stri-ker)? Meh, I wasn’t really thinking about that. I was winning. I need not ask why.

This version forces you to know why you’re winning as well as why you’re losing. Moreover, it forces you to acknowledge when you won despite your best efforts rather than because of them. As I write this, I have played six league games into my first year in the Blue Sq... sorry... Skrill North. We’ve won two – one in which we were genuinely dominant, the other in which we scored our good chance while they missed theirs. We could have lost that game on another day. Indeed, we did go on to lose our next game in very similar circumstances.

We have built up a culture in the tactics community of telling people to analyse their losses. This year,

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Football Manager is not Random

The ME became the field of play, not the opponent.

we need to tell them to analyse their wins.

This is because of the other side to Richard’s vi-sion. Adaptability. The tactics creator was designed as much so that the AI could react to the human player in a more logical way as it was a simplifica-tion for newer players. Allowing the AI to respond more effectively forces the human player to think more about contextual strategies rather than sim-ply finding “a tactic” that performs satisfactorily against all-comers in all game situations. It does so not by reading the human’s system and picking the tactics that best counter it – rather, it makes logi-cal changes based on the situation and where it is being hurt the most. This also allows the AI and the human to make changes, while the ME simply reads the inputs and pumps out the result. Perhaps worth stating in black and white for the umpteenth time – the ME does not know if you’re a human or the AI. Nor does it care. The AI has no special advan-tages in the ME. It does, however, adapt to game circumstances (which I know many human players, myself included, don’t always do). So it’s perfect-ly possible to be pumping the AI for 80 minutes; but if the AI finally gets its act together and makes some defensive and offensive changes, getting hit on the counter attack in the final 10 is a very real possibility.

And so, adaptability has become a core part of the game. The best managers do not succeed due to their bank balance alone. They know when to make subtle changes to avoid calamity. They don’t just adapt tactics from match to match – they make subtle but important changes during those matches. This season, FM players will have to pay attention not just to the formations and strengths of the teams they’re playing, but also the nuances in their ever-adapting tactical approach. This requires

a level of detail and analysis which has not been seen so far in the series. No doubt, with time and experience, it will become easier for all of us. But it will be a steep learning curve.

Ultimately, this has always been the problem with Football Manager. As good as the games have been, they have become more and more complicated and sophisticated. This new tactical system may give less fine control, but it asks you to be far more reactive to what is going on in the ME at any one time. All of this has been done to enrich the series – but there is no useful feedback in the game. Little is there to explain that this new approach might be necessary. Even the introduction of match plans in Classic mode is a little clunky, since one cannot tell in broad brush strokes which strategy to shift to wi-thout seeing what is unfolding in front of one’s own eyes. Without good assistant feedback or a clear indication after every game about what went right and what went wrong, people will believe the game is random, broken or both. For tactics nerds, this is a challenge, and one we’ll relish. But for the average player looking to win a few trophies with Bayern Munich it’s going to be a steep learning curve. My hope is that the tactical community will fill this feedback gap for those who want to seek out the information. And for those that don’t, I hope FM15 includes far more analytical tools of substance.

But let’s not end on a downer. As you can see, tac-tics have developed a long way over the past six years or so. The community has played a big part in that. As we’ve had our fine control taken away – first with the end of arrows, then with the addition of the tactics creator, and now with the elimination of sliders – the emphasis has moved from coding the ME to creating strategies with which to outwit the AI. This is a move that any football fan should welcome – providing it comes with enough feed-back to make best use of the tools we are given.

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Football Manager is not Random

This new tactical system may give less fine control, but it asks you to be far more reactive to what is going on in the ME at any one time.

C3

If I’m honest, very few of the early Football Ma-nager 2014 “features” caught my eye. We had new descriptions for existing things, general

User Interface amendments, and a plethora of minor nips, tucks and refinements. There was one hidden jewel; the new player Roles stood out and it was the first video looking at these Roles in early September which provided the big bang moment; Sliders were being removed.

Sliders were always the bane of my life; I abhor them and celebrate their demise. As a regular lurker, poster and student of the Sports Interactive Tactics & Training Forum, I know that much of the debate there stems from the ambiguity and nitpicking functionality of Sliders. Their removal will hopefully result in an era of pure tactical debate, rather than perpetuate a period of abstract interpretation.

What is the impact of the removal of Sliders? Well, we aren’t able to see Team and Player Instructions laid out uniformly before us:

• What will my Defensive Line look like? Don’t know.• What are the Wide Play instructions of my Inside

Forward? No idea.• How does my Deep Lying Playmaker Pass the ball?

Haven’t got a clue.

On the face of it, they are pretty seismic informa-tion gaps, but does it actually matter?

In the weeks sandwiched between the release of the video and the launch of the demo, some occa-sionally heated debate surfaced online discussing what Sliders did and didn’t offer. It was an indica-tion of the strength of feeling that the game im-bues, and as someone who doesn’t sit on the fence, it was an opportune moment to express my own opinions on the matter. There were a couple of schools of thought at the time, of which I belong to the second:

1. Sliders are a key part of the game. They are “real” and are the only way to truly control your Team and Players. Losing them is a bad thing.

2. Sliders have no contextual equivalent in “real” football, and the new Player and Team Instruc-tion layers will allow users to amend all of the “old” Slider categories in a realistic way. Losing Sliders therefore makes no real difference.

When the Tactics Creator first appeared I embraced its apparent simplicity, but came to realise that it is far from simplistic; it is an intelligent, responsive and intuitive window into the FM Match Engine. Tactics were now based around Roles, Duties, Phi-losophies, Strategies and Shouts. These are tan-gible things and that resonated for me. I’m a tactical novice and having the opportunity to interface with “real” concepts felt more intuitive than moving fa-celess Sliders up and down.

However, at the same time, I still used Sliders as points of reference so I could visualise that De-fensive Line, imagine those Wide Play Instructions and understand Passing traits of particular Roles. At that point in time, Sliders were familiar and reassu-ring. With anything new, it is nice to have a comfort blanket. Roles, Duties, Philosophies, Strategies and Shouts were strange, and I couldn’t trust them straight away.

Time marches on, and Football Manager and its Tactics Creator have evolved; the average users’ familiarity with the new terms and concepts has grown. Roles, Duties, Philosophies, Strategies and Shouts are therefore the barometers against which the new Instruction layers should be measured. Sli-ders are so far removed from the direction that the

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By focusing so much on the fa-miliarity of marks on lines, have we distanced ourselves from football?

Opinions & Thoughts

A World Without SlidersBy RTHerringbone

game is taking, and so far removed from football itself, that it is no longer appropriate for them to be used as reference points.

What does it matter if my Defensive Line is 5, 10 or 15? What does it matter if a setting is a quarter or half way up a scale? These are rhetorical questions, but what is the context of these abstract measures? By focusing so much on the familiarity of marks on lines, have we distanced ourselves from football? First and foremost, it is a football management simulation, not an exercise in trying to correlate notches on a Slider to a dynamic sport.

On the Sports Interactive forum, someone argued that there aren’t enough options for setting your Defensive Line any more. How many options do we need? In real life football, it is generally accep-ted that we have the Low, Medium and High blocks. That isn’t twenty options, it is three. How many Widths do we need? Twenty? I’d suggest that real life football sees just three: Wide, Narrow and Nor-mal. Notches in between are superficial and I doubt whether minor adjustments were even perceptible; Sliders were an addictive placebo effect.

By stepping back and thinking about real life foot-ball rather than the legacy of Sliders, we distill a possible four hundred Defensive Line and Width combinations, down to nine. Now what would you rather work with? Throw the various options for Passing, Shooting, Crossing, Creative Freedom and all the rest into the mix, and you realise just how unnecessary and awkward twenty notched Sliders were.

By applying generic, tangible logic such as Strategy and Philosophy, we have a subjective interpretation

of a Team template. Selecting generic, subjective player Roles gives us the foundation to build a cohe-rent combination of players. It is this base of sub-jectivity, I believe, which is the source of discontent among the pro-Slider community. They perceive it to force a lack of control; a subjective strait-jacket which restricts our ability to tailor a team in our own image; someone else’s ideas in our game.

Whether or not Sports Interactive’s interpretation of a Role, Duty or Strategy is precisely in line with our own expectations is by the by. We can change eve-ry element of the defaults, so It ultimately isn’t that important. What is important, is that the graphical representation of the Match Engine is sufficient-ly good enough to enable users to identify issues with their setup, and to tweak them accordingly via Shouts, Team and Player Instructions.

The fact that we can no longer make a 5% adjust-ment here and there is not relevant. A common pro-Slider statement is that “Sliders represent rea-lism”. I’m sorry, but that is absolute nonsense. Have you ever seen Klopp, Bielsa, Mourinho, Benitez or Guardiola ask a player on the pitch to do 5% more of x, and 15% less of y? Realism is a manager asking a player to Push Higher Up, to Play Narrower, to Hug The Touchline, to Mark Tighter. This realism is provided by the new Player Instruction layer at the same conceptual level as the Sliders of old, but in a more practical way.

Don’t like the settings of a Strategy? Do you per-ceive the Defensive Line of the out-of-the-box Counter Strategy to be a little deeper than would be ideal? Guess what? You can use a Team Instruc-tion to Push Higher Up. Issue resolved, and dyna-mically too.

Don’t like the fact that the new False Nine Role ap-pears to wander about a bit more than you would like? Guess what? You can use the new Player Ins-truction layer to instruct him not to Roam as much. Issue resolved; dynamically again.It is my opinion that the Tactics Creator enables dynamism and speed of thought. The tangled web

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First and foremost, it is a foot-ball management simulation, not an exercise in trying to correlate notches on a Slider to a dynamic sport.

A World withouth Sliders

of Sliders couldn’t easily be undone to react to a change in opposition shape, to a player sending off, to any of a number of variables that the game can produce.

We can now interact with a user friendly interface and ask our right-winger to Play Narrow by de-fault, to create space for the Complete Wing Back to overlap in. Is the movement of the Advanced Forward obstructing that overlapping Complete Wingback? Change his Wide Play setting to stop him from Moving Into Channels. Barring the incre-ments of change, which I have suggested are su-perfluous, how does this differ from the actions we would take in the Slider era?

This intuitive interface extends to Team Instruc-tions. Previously, if you didn’t use Shouts, the out of the box settings were restrictive, but we can now use Team Instructions to materially alter the Style of play from the defaults. Do you want to play high tempo, wide, direct, football, with a very high Defensive Line and focus your attacks down the flanks? You can. Conversely, do you want to drop very deep and play a slow, narrow, short possession game? You can! The polar opposites of all the Pos-session, Penetration, Shape, Defending and Gene-ral areas can all be set via the new interface.

Team and Player Instructions represent a huge step forward in the ongoing development of the Tactics Creator. Yes, we could always do these things with Sliders, but the point is that these tactical touch points are now brought together into a common package to form part of a more holistic and intuitive tactics module than ever before.

With or without Sliders, the core of the game re-mains the same. The fact that the quantum of adjustment has reduced does not mean that the game is “going down the Fifa Manager route”, nor is it “dumbed down”. Football does not exist in a world of 5% increments. As Rafa Benitez would say, that is a “fact”.

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A World withouth Sliders

C3

I thought about writing an article for Clear Cut Chance about a month ago but I don’t have the strong tactical mind like some of the other

people in the Football Manager world, I haven’t played above the high school level in the states so I can’t relate real world training to the Football Manager world. However, I did spent six seasons officiating high school games. I would still be wor-king games and maybe working college games but my wife’s career took off and I need to spend more time at home with my daughter since we have no family that lives in the area that could watch her. Now combine that with an unsympathetic game assignor, I was left with no choice to stop officia-ting.

However, I did allow me to now watch games from a different perspective. I spent my playing career as a goalkeeper which allowed me to watch the game built from back to front as see the whole field. That perspective helped me as an official be-cause I was already used to seeing the whole field not just where the ball was. Now when I watch ga-mes on TV, I’m watching all three teams on field (both teams and the four officials). I do the same with Football Manager and I have found the depth of the officials to be lacking. We really only see them on two occasions: 1) calling a goal off because of offsides and 2) The “player X hacked him down with two feet” straight red card. From time to time, we see a “player X elbowed player Y in the head” straight red card but it’s still a straight red card sce-nario.

Basically, I’d like to see a little more depth to the officials in the game. First, officials should be reti-ring from the game. For example, Howard Webb is 42 years old right now. However, I did a long term save in Football Manager 13 and got to the 2030-31 season. Webb was still working Premier League ga-mes....at age 59. I’m sorry not even the fittest man on the planet could still be officiating games at the

highest level. He would still be an official but not in the Premier League and/or Champions League. He would be falling through the divisions if he hadn’t retired from the game altogether.On the flip side, younger officials from the lower divisions should be working their way up the league ladder as the gain more experience and get used to the game being played at a higher level and speed. That’s the one thing that TV does not do justice. It doesn’t show the speed on the game. The game is fast even at the lower levels, it’s a fast game. It takes time to get used to as a player and as a of-ficial. That decision making process that we see coded in players as “decisions” usually increases as players age and they get more playing time. The same holds true for officials. They have to see the play, decide if there is a foul, and then decide to make a call. This all happens in a split second.

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Tottenham 2 Manchester United 2: Mike Dean awards a penalty to Manchester United. Good call. (AFP and EMPICS Sports)

Opinions & Thoughts

OfficiatingBy Tim Brooks

There’s a reason why the official has the whistle around his wrist and not in his mouth. They need that time to decide if there is a foul and if there is a foul do I blow the play dead or do I wait to see if there is an advantage and let them play? If they had the whistle in their mouth, the play would be blown dead more often than not. So, that’s one area I’d like to see improved with the officials. Have the current good to great officials retire or start to move down the divisions as they age and get re-placed with younger officials who can handle the pace of the game.

Another way, that the game could improve the offi-cials and make the game seem a little more realistic is having those officials “learn on the job.” Again, the lower level officials, I believe, are either young offi-cials coming up, veteran officials who are moving down, or veteran officials who aren’t good enough for the next level. There are two ways that officials “learn on the job:” 1) Application of the laws of the games and 2) Maintaining control on the field.

All officials have to test every year (at least in the states) in order to be able to officiate games for the coming season. Now the test isn’t hardest and the threshold to pass isn’t the highest. For example, a passing grade for high school games is 80% on a 100 question true/false test. In my area, where there is a shortage of officials, everyone passed the test. The test was done at one of the presea-son meetings as a group test. Now, I’m sure in Eu-rope, it doesn’t happen that way and the officials have to pass the test on their own merit. However, once they reach professional ranks, they are very knowledgeable of the rules but it is at this level is where the speed of the game catches up with some people. The speed hinders the decision making pro-

cess and the official who knows the rules, suddenly, is caught up in the speed of the game and, at times, doesn’t make the right call. This could be offsides, it could be a sliding challenge, or a handball.

I was talking to a fellow official a few nights ago and he was working a girls sectional semifinal game. He told me of a situation that his partner had (our area uses only two-person crews) where the ball bounced off about four players from both teams before falling to a player who was in an offside po-sition at the time of the kick. If it went from player A to player B, it’s an easy call. But the many deflec-tions confused the official because he had never seen that happen before and didn’t know what to do. He blew the play offsides. The opposing team comes down and scores two goals in quick succes-sion and goes on to win the game 5-1. After the game, he admitted to the my friend that, “I didn’t know what to call so I sided with defending team since that would upset less people.” These offi-cials know the rules but seeing game situations and knowing to apply the rules is just as important as knowing the rules themselves.

This ability to apply the rules feeds into the other area of maintaining control of the game. This control needs to be maintained both on and off the field. The easiest way to maintain control of the game is through the use of yellow and red cards. But there are other ways to maintain control. You can talk with the players before and during the game if the game is expected to be a chippy affair or turns into a chippy game. If the players continue with the chippyness after the discussion, then the official can start using their cards to gain control of the game. It’s a fine line that the officials have to toe here. Too many cards or whistles and they start to lose their effectiveness. Too few cards or whist-les and the players take control of the game away from the officials.

I can recall a junior varsity game than I worked and my partner was losing control of the game because she was a woman working a boys game and the players didn’t respect her. They thought that they

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The easiest way to maintain control of the game is through the use of yellow and red cards. But there are other ways to maintain control.

Officiating

could walk all over me as well. There was a player where one player of Asian descent held the jersey of his opponent so tightly that he tore the jersey. I called the foul for the hold and then one of the held player’s teammates commented to the player about his torn jersey. The held player replied, “It’s okay. His mom can fix it at the dry cleaners.” In the states, a lot of dry cleaners are run by people of Asian descent and there is a no tolerance policy of “racism/offensive remarks” made to players by other players at the high school level which I wor-ked. It’s a straight red card no questions asked. I gave the held player a straight red card for his re-marks. He tried to argue with me and I told him to go to the bench and I didn’t want to hear it. His coach asked what happened. I explained the situa-tion and he fully supported my decision and control was restored in the game.

Off the field, the fourth official spends most of his time dealing with the coaches and technical staff. The on-field officials don’t have much interaction with the coaches expect at the end of the game and at halftime.

Like application of the rules, this is something that is learned over time. It may seem like I’m a fan of experience for officials. Well, I am. Officials need to see game situations and how players, coaches, and fans react to their calls how to maintain control of the game and gain the players and coaches res-pect. Fan respect is hard to earn because every call an official makes ½ the people like the call while ½ the people don’t.

So, how can Football Manager make the officiating seem more realistic. I believe that they should have basic and “uneditable” ratings that can be seen by players because there are some that could base part of their game plan on who is officiating. I’m thinking a few rating categories.

Physical Categories:

• Speed: The center official and the linesman need to have speed to keep up with the play.

• Stamina: They have to keep up with the play for

the entire 90 or 120 minutes and they don’t have the ability to sub themselves out if they get tired.

• Eyesight: Not every official has 20/20 vision. They have good eyesight but there are subtle differences that could expressed through a ra-ting.

Mental Categories:

• Knowledge of the game: This should be a high rating for all officials since they all have to pass the same test. But some people do score better than others.

• Application of the Laws of the Game: This is one area where experience plays a part. Officials in the top tier will have higher ratings than officials in the lower divisions. Could have to deal with more missed calls in the lower divisions.

• Control of the game: Other area where expe-rience plays a part. Again, top tier officials have higher ratings compared to the lower division counterparts.

• Teamwork: Willingness to go to the linesman for fouls in the box that the center official can’t see. Working with the fourth official to control the touch line.

It may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people but to an ex-official like myself. It could only further add to the realism of Football Manager.

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Officiating

C3

A lot of people play Football Manager with just one team per save, and that’s fine. I don’t mind that but that style of play is not

for me, for me a single save gets a bit stale, a bit boring. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Jour-neyman save.

Well, first things first, what is a Journeyman save? Well, a Journeyman save is exactly what it says on the tin. It involves moving around from club to club. Normally a journeyman is used to describe someone who is competent but not a master. There are lots of different ways to do a journeyman save and if you intend to set out on one of these types of save it makes it easier down the line if you know what type you want to do. For me there are three main types:

• The Career save: The career journeyman save moves as if you were undertaking a real life career where you start unemployed or at a club in the lowest league in your chosen country. Moving club based on the wages and reputation of the offering club mo-ving to “progress your career.” For example, if you were Gateshead in the BSP, despite being top of the league, if the team in the upper eche-lons of the league above, or in a country with a higher reputation, you move or to a club offering more wages things any normal person would do in their career of choice.

• The challenge save: The challenge save involves following either a set guide (you can find these on SI games or Twitter @Acidburn81 raves about the Pentagon challenge of winning all 5 Champions League trophies with the same manager) or you can set the guidelines yourself as you move. For exa-mple, winning the top domestic title in your chosen country and reach a specific stage of the continental competition. Or even just to be pro-moted to the next division before moving on.

This has good longevity as you can continue to set challenges to any save.

• The International save: This one see the combination of both a Journey-man save and a one club. As the journeyman part of the game is dealt with solely in the inter-national arena, with challenges set within each national team or just use each one to be a ste-pping stone onto bigger and better things. The most obvious international version of the save is to work your way up the International ladder by winning each continents trophy.

Personally, I prefer to play a hybrid of the two. I set myself goals at the club on the first day and once I reach those I begin to look to move on normally to a different country and a new set of challenges. Or, if I take over at a club I really like, or see the club as having great potential, so that my journeyman save could turn into a one club save, normally if my be-loved Sunderland end up in the lower leagues the journeyman save stops as I go to the rescue. So it can quite easily switch from a journeyman.

So why? Why put yourself through the rigmarole of rebuilding multiple teams? Why drop yourself from the pinnacle in one country to the bottom of ano-ther? Well the challenge, managing at the top can get stale it can become a bit too easy and whilst many people like the fact they can build a domi-nating side I like to leave a club at what I consider

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Career!

Why Be A Journeyman?By Acidmonkey

caughtoffside.com

the top or as far as I feel I can take them. I enjoy the challenge of changing countries or divisions and trying to battle them and replace them as the do-minant force in football.So, in a journeyman save you’ve been around the block a few times, took that Austrian 2nd division side to the Europa league and moved to Iceland. But, what do you do on the first day at a club you have no idea on?

Well for me I do exactly the same thing weather it’s the bottom of the Scandinavian leagues the dee-pest darkest depths of South America or at the pin-nacle of the European game, the process is exactly the same.

1. Step one finances! You should have a rough idea what your finances will be like when you get offered the job, but this doesn’t tell you some of what I consider impor-tant things. You need to look at the balance from last season, check out your expenditure for last season and compared to this year. Look at the turnover, see what loans you have to take into account and what sponsor or TV Deals the club has. These can be crucial in deciding your trans-fer policy. Low turnover but a big transfer kitty? Don’t spend it all as you will have nothing the following year if the clubs balance will drop si-gnificantly. For example, you have a “projected balance” of £4m but have £3m transfer kitty, you spend all £3m you will be left relying on sales to boost that figure. Another big thing is to look at are wages, but before a bit of useful information. A lot of people don’t use or bother with Gate receipts! This is what the club takes in from at-tendances every home game. I always compare this number to what the club spend per season on wages, if you spend more on wages than you make in gate receipts in general, unless you are making a tidy sum in TV or European football, you will start financially on the back foot.

2. Next up the system. I normally already have a system in mind when I take over the club wether that’s a system I want to try for the country I’m in or the players I have

at my disposal. I 9/10 already know how I want to play, sorry but if you’re hoping for tactics here you are in the wrong place!

3. Training. This is the next big thing for me, you need to get the players developed from the off. I lean heavily towards things @Cleon81 has told me, I set each player up with their individual sessions. So, for example, my striker needs to work on his fini-shing, that’s what I set the focus to be and I train it heavy. The only exception is that of a player I’m trying to re-train to position where I’ll leave the focus blank till he becomes an expert in it. Then like the rest of the squad will get the speci-fic focus on what I want to target. Team training is all fitness based pre-season, I want the fitness as high as it can be and the tactics fluid heading into the first game of the season, but again @Cleon81 has covered all of that. Coaches I aim for at least 4* coaching so will generally look to improve the staff at the first opportunity.

4. Personal. This is the fun one for me, by now I will have my little note book with my formation on it and the players I have left. I will have ranked in order of preference for the position so 1. Would be starter 2. Back up 3.prospect. I have this for the entire team, players who don’t fit into the position or would be listed low down for example a five or six are automatically put into the reserves and transfer listed. The way I rank the players is by looking at the stats for the role I want to use him in. I then head to the player search screen and create filters for all the positions. Again, my handy note-book is brought into play to keep track of the at-tributes. I need to search for to set up the filters. I create filter for all the positions in my team but only really look for the empty space I need. I feel this helps keep a handle on the finances the first season by only buying what I need. Once I get through a season then I will move into expan-ding squads and replacing players.Once I have all the bids in for the players I want, I begin actively trying to get rid of my deadwood as this all helps to improve the finances and en-

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Why Be a Journeyman?

ables me offer better wages to those incoming.Staff is next, I look for as many coaches as I al-lowed by the board all fitting in with the well-known stats required by the stats to excel in the staff roles. I also like to have a full bank of scouts so I can expand my reach of players.

I think that covers everything that’s what I would do on the first day at a new club, but a lot of my friends don’t why I would then leave the club so the next major thing is this:

Why go through all the effort then move? Well, bar a few managers like the Wenger’s and the Fergu-son’s of the world, no manager stays at one club forever. I move to get a new challenge or try a new league. For instance, I like Japan and I like managing in Germany but I fancy managing in India as its new ground or get some of the leagues from the South America and Asia. So I do like to move around and head to different places.

The hardest part is where to go next and how to decide from the offers. I normally try to be as rea-listic as possible. For example, if I’m at the top of the Iranian leagues I’m not likely to move to a bottom tier Indian side but would be happy for a top tier Indian side or another top tier side from the “les-ser” nations unless I’m offered a large pay increase on what I’m currently on, as who in their right mind wouldn’t move jobs for more cash?

So hopefully I’ve explained a little about how and why I play journeyman games on Football mana-ger, happy trails!

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Why Be a Journeyman?

C3

Championship Manager. Championship Ma-nager 93. Championship Manager 2. Cham-pionship Manager 3. Championship Mana-

ger 4. Football Manager 2005. Football Manager 2006. Ok you get the idea. From haranguing my folks to buy me a Commodore Amiga in 1991 in or-der to play an awesome game I had played round at a friend’s house, “Champ Man” or “Footy Mana-ger” has always been there. I grew up with the Do-mark versions of Championship Manager, falling out with friends who for some reason known only to themselves decided that Premier Manager was a better option. “You can build your own ground up” was their pretty poor argument. Needless to say they eventually seen sense and converted.

As I grew up, so did the game. Whilst I am still proud to this day of my all conquering Torquay United team on Championship Manager 93, to be honest it was a little bit too easy. Three consecutive promo-tions, then the league title, then European success came seamlessly to The Gulls with yours truly at the helm. Andy Frain, my first ever favourite regen went on to play more than 100 times for England. As a competitive teenager, it never became dull, steamrollering my way to honour after honour.

Championship Manager 2 came along with the Bosman rule and the introduction of foreign lea-gues. Imagine that, being able to manage in Italy

or Spain. Italy was the obvious choice as this was when Serie A was at the peak of its powers. My love of the game continued to grow, although I must confess that managing abroad wasn’t as much fun as I thought. To pa-raphrase Ian Rush, it

was too much like being in a foreign country.

Off to university I went, accompanied by a clunky desktop unit, a giant monitor and a copy of the newly re-leased Championship Manager 3. By the time of my third year at university I had ac-cumulated a group of equally football obses-sive friends, and we ended up living in a converted mental hospital. My chunky desktop was assem-bled in the living room, and a multiplayer game started. One game, four managers and two ob-servers. The game was started at the back end of September and I can safely say the computer was not turned off until the Christmas holidays arrived. It took three weeks to get through pre-season with all kinds of rules made up to try and speed things along. This wasn’t Champ Man in its purest form, but it had the added fun of four of us managing in the same league and it became pretty compe-titive. A personal highlight was when one of my fellow managers for some reason took a strop with Rio Ferdinand based on a real life performance and then sold him at a knock down price (to me) in the game.

Needless to say, this format was too slow, with va-rious schedules of lectures, nights out and occasio-nal essay writing left players hanging around too long. I took the huff and relocated the PC in my room and got back to the serious business.

Things continued as normal until ‘the split’ in 2005. Due to the release time of the game, it was always a present from mum. However one year I remember the mother asking me if I wanted Championship

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Career!

Championship Manager!By James Williams

Manager 5 or Foot-ball Manager 2005. Despite thinking that Championship Mana-ger 5 was the obvious reply, I thought I best check, and I am pleased I did, after finding out that Sports Interactive had taken the code and Eidos kept the name.

A brave new dawn had arrived, and the complexity of the game shot up. Mind games, the job centre, agents and a whole other raft of changes massively improved the rea-lism of the game. I played with the usual regularity despite somehow finding myself in a long term re-lationship. The new missus was as understanding as she could be, but never quite understood the fascination.

As per usual, I took charge of Newcastle United, my team for all their faults. They had a more than decent squad in the game, and with a few bob to spend, it was possible to achieve a modicum of success (unlike real life, before you say it). Howe-ver, I began to notice that my addiction levels were not what they once were. Often when I decided it was time for bed, it actually was time for bed and not time for one more match. I would sometimes wake up on a Saturday morning and not turn the PC on straight away.

I continued to buy the FM games, with FM06 through to FM13 sit-ting neatly lined up on the shelf. They were played regularly, yet I often found myself unable to get in to a saved game. I would start with Liverpool not make it past the end of September. For a

change I would go to Athletico Madrid or Parma, a challenge abroad in a different game. Again, I struggled and didn’t persist. Perhaps a lower league challenge would reinvigorate me? I tried my luck in the Conference, in the lower reaches of Germany and still nothing. From FM08 to FM12 I dare say I never played more than two seasons on any one save. I persisted, hoping to find the magic game that brought me back, but it never came.

I bought FM13 (apparently once you reach 30 you are too old to get computer games from your pa-rents for your birthday!) and soon found myself ha-ving the same issues. I started a game with Hauge-sund in Norway, a team I had managed in FM09 to promotion and stuck with for a while. The spark wasn’t there however, and it was soon abandoned in favour of an easy fix of FIFA13 on the PS3. Had I outgrown Football Manager? Was this even pos-sible? Perhaps a break would help? Perhaps we had grown too comfortable with each other and needed to bring back the romance?

A couple of months passed, and in that time I didn’t fire up FM13 once. I played FIFA a lot and spent even more hours on twitter than I did beforehand. Whilst reading through twitter I noticed a few Foot-ball Manager related accounts, and began following some of these folk. I gradually became a Football Manager voyeur, getting my kick from reading about other people’s games. I stumbled across FM Vete-ran and was soon finding myself reading backdated blog posts about Shrew Naldo’s career at Toulouse, more interested in that than I had been in any of my recent FM games. I checked his blog roll and found a wealth of information. Blogs on careers, tactics tips, kit designs and a whole lot more.

I spent hours poring over this information, ama-zed at the quality and quantity of excellent writing out there. It soon became apparent to me where

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I was thinking that I could play Football Manger 2013 like Cham-pionship Manager 93.

Championship Manager!

I was going wrong. I was thinking that I could play Football Manger 2013 like Championship Manager 93. I thought I could skip through the game qui-ckly, buy a striker with good stats for finishing, mid-fielders who could pass and defenders who could tackle well. I thought that I could pick a formation at the start and play it all season regardless of who I played against. I thought that training didn’t matter and was an inconvenience. After realising that I was a dinosaur trying old tricks in a modern world I set about rectifying this problem. I had identified the problem, now could I fix it?

The first thing to do was choose who to manage. As a sucker for starting a new game, I made a firm commitment that I would see this out, living and learning through any successes or failures. Whilst perusing the internet I stumbled across a website based on European football travel, and found my-self strangely transfixed by the modern stadium of Amiens SC, currently of the third tier of French foot-ball. Coupled with the fact that I was once dragged round the aforementioned town on a school trip back in 1994 I decided that this was the place for me.

I fired up the game, with a large database and only loaded the French leagues thinking that I wouldn’t have much scope for signing players from any far flung destinations to start with.

My old route would then have been to arbitrarily de-cide on which formation I wanted to play and then see how I could squeeze whatever squad players I had in to it. I would then trawl the free transfer market and make five or six signings based on the recommendations of my less than brilliant back room team, and then plough straight in to the pre season. However, I instead decided to have a good look through my squad, not just as positions but also mental attributes, work rate, stamina and other factors that I previously ignored. I must confess to once sorting players by value and picking my star-ting 11 based on that, on the assumption that they must be the best 11 players. Shame on me.

After a good look around the squad, including re-serve and youth team players, I was fairly happy with the resources at my disposal. I had two good loan players from Ligue 2 clubs and a blend of youth and experience. Amiens had just been rele-gated from Ligue 2 so in theory would have a strong squad for a crack at promotion.

I began to break down my squad on paper and ar-med with a shorthand notepad and a pencil I draf-ted squad profiles on all my players. It was at this point I thought I might be going too far the other way, but it was too late for those concerns. With some of the more technical attributes of my squad not too high, I decided that to look for strong men-tal attributes where available, especially the likes of teamwork and work rate. I chose to play a limited defender and a standard centre back at the heart of my defence. Previously I would have looked at the tackling attribute when choosing who to play there, but instead found myself looking at a wide range of factors. Player A scored two more for tackling, but player B has much better stats for anticipating, concentration, heading and jumping. Player B got the nod. I used this holistic approach when looking at the whole squad selection, whilst always paying attention to the mental attributes mentioned ear-lier.

After much deliberation I had myself a 4-3-3 with two fullbacks, a limited centre back, a centre back, three centre midfielders, an AML and AMR with a centre forward at the top. I then began to tweak the roles in order to get a good coverage of the pit-ch.

I constantly found myself checking different tactical blogs and also forum posts looking for inspiration and guidance on systems. My main aim here wasn’t

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I constantly found myself checking different tactical blogs and also forum posts looking for inspira-tion and guidance on systems.

Championship Manager!

to copy someone else for success; that wouldn’t have had any reward. I wanted to learn about the interactions between players, and the different functions of the roles. Would a deep lying play ma-ker just swan around in front of the back four trying Stevie G killer passes or could he be relied on to put his foot in when required? Does an inside forward tuck in to allow for an overlapping full back? How does a poacher differ from an advanced forward?

Without trying to extol the virtues of the CCC gaf-fers too much, I found a wealth of information on Push Them Wide and The Chalkboard Diaries. The depth of information continued to surprise me. As well as tactical guides I came across pieces on squad building, financial management, retraining players, wage structures and how to counter oppo-sition formations.

Counter opposition formations? Another new one on me. My old plan would be to play every game the same way regardless if I was playing at home or away, playing top of the league or rock bottom. Looking back now, it was all rather obvious, yet I was so stuck in my ways. Of course playing a strong team away from home would warrant a change in tactics. Of course I could get away with a more of-fensive team selection playing the whipping boys at home.

Season one progressed, and to pinch a horrible management speak phrase, I adopted an approach of continuous professional development, learning a little at a time rather than trying to change all my methods in one go.

I lost my first preseason friendly to top flight Lens 3-0, something that may well have led the old me to start a new game. However, the new me realised that Lens will have better players and an establi-shed manager where as I am an inexperienced En-glishman who doesn’t speak the language. For the first time ever (shame on me once again) I delved in to the analysis tab after the game to have a look what actually happened. I looked at how well my team passed the ball, the average positions on the

pitch and also how the opposition played against me. It soon became clear that my formation left too much space for the attacking midfielders of Lens to exploit. Also my full backs were guilty of giving the ball away, inviting pressure. Never had I been so excited about a 3-0 defeat. I could see what happened, I could see why it happened, and most importantly, it gave me an idea on what I could do to rectify things.

I continued this approach, playing the games, slowing the match speed down and actually watching what was happening. I used shout com-binations after reading a piece on the Chalkboard Diaries. I utilised training for the first time (yes, I know, shame on me) to improve certain aspects of a players game. My final preseason game was at home to Watford. In my previous two matches I had scored six goals, albeit against lesser opposi-tion. I was confident that my line up would give me a chance. Watford had two fairly slow full backs where as I had lightening pace on the wings. I would have a spare man in midfield and I was happy in the knowledge that my box to box midfielder could break through their rigid midfield to support my lone striker. Everything came together, and Amiens ran out comfortable 2-0 winners, and in truth could have had more.

I had cracked it; do a bit of research, look at the op-position, pick your team accordingly and wait for the results to flow. The first game of the season ar-rived a week later and we were on the road down to Champagne country to face Metz. Everything was in place, I had added a full back on loan who could actually pass a ball and the promotion bandwagon was ready to depart.

Metz 4-1 Amiens wasn’t part of the plan. Again, I del-ved in to analysis, and this time it took a little while to dis-cover the problem. Metz had played

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Championship Manager!

with what I assumed to be two bog standard central midfielders, yet one dropped off and one pushed on. They picked pass after pass, bypassing my cen-tral midfield three. The goals were all scored from central areas, their condensed formation making my wide players virtual spectators.

As it happened, Metz turned out to be one of the strongest clubs in the division, and they finished top of the league, ahead of Orleans. The third promo-tion place was taken by non other than Amiens SC, who despite a poor start under their new English manager managed to drag themselves in to the mix following a post winter-break charge that saw only one defeat between January and the season end. Twelve clean sheets from twenty one games was the foundation that was built on, although goalsco-ring continued to be a concern with my team never scoring more than three in a game, and only mana-ging that feat on two occasions.

I could ramble about this save for page after page, but that isn’t the premise here. You don’t want to hear about my promotion from Ligue 2 to the top flight in 2016/17. You don’t want to hear about my Coupe de la Ligue win in 2019, the first trophy in the club’s history. You probably don’t even want to hear about my consecutive title wins in 2022, 2023 and 2024 and I am sure you wouldn’t be interested in my unbeaten Ligue 1 campaign of 2022/23 which coincidently featured a starting 11 of acade-my players in the final game of the season (it fini-shed 1-1 and was nervy as hell).

The real story is the fact that the relationship was repaired through hard work. Things had gone stale; one partner was taking the other for granted. One partner had made changes to improve and the other didn’t notice these, thinking they could go on fore-ver how things were at the start. That partner has learned before it became too late and this beautiful

relationship will continue to grow and flourish.

With this in mind, along with the rest of the FM world I have been casting my thoughts toward the impending release of FM14, following the announ-cements of new features with equal excitement and cynicism of what exactly qualifies as a feature. One thing is for certain though; my approach will be a whole lot different from my first game on FM13. To demonstrate the new approach, even my club selection process has taken on a new dimension, with a short list of 22 being whittled down (current-ly standing at nine).

To say I am excited is an understatement (two days booked off work for the release date) although part of me has concerns that I might not get in to the save as much as I did with Amiens. My plan is to take a club of either a lesser stature or a fallen giant and progress through the leagues. I still made a number of mistakes with Amiens that I have learnt from, such as leaving contract renewals too late, not wanting to spend big money on players who would improve the team and holding on to players when exceptional offers were made for them. Whilst my game play has improved ten fold as a result of my recent enlightenment, I am still a long way from the finished article. Add to that the vagrancies of a new game with new quirks, features and match engine and I am sure I will need to continue to adapt and learn. I can’t wait.

If you want to read about my trials and tribulations then the place to do so is FMramblings.wordpress.com and follow @FMRamblings.

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The real story is the fact that the relationship was repaired through hard work.

Championship Manager!

Since FM13 smashed its match engine into our minds, making us all acutely aware that our simplistic and flawed approaches were no

longer going to work, we have collectively looked to improve our tactical knowledge to improve our prospects on Football Manager.

We had wwfan’s 12-step guide released to guide our tactical set-ups, a system that had general ideas that many of us were aware of, or did not realise the significance of – specialist roles, balance of du-ties, etc. So now we look back again at Philosophy, and it is time to relate it in new terms, not simply the misguided titles of “fluid” and “rigid”, but in that approach to tactical building that it is meant to – the debate of Universality versus Speciality. It is a subject that Jonathan Wilson describes superbly in “Inverting the Pyramid”, where he discusses Dyna-mo Kyiv’s legendary manager Valery Lobanovskyi, and his intensely team-orientated approach.

The old saying of a team being greater than the sum of its parts is highly prevalent in Universality. Universality in football is the aim of having a collec-tive team approach to playing, where all aspects of the game are the responsibility of all players on the pitch. That does not mean that the Centre-Forward should be trying to play the offside trap, or that your Full Back should be sitting on the shoulder of the opposing defence, but it strives towards the collec-

tive responsibility of everyone for each aspect of the tactical game. What is the point in your midfield working hard to press high, if your wingers cannot be bothered to do their bit? All that will happen is your opposition’s full backs will get time on the ball, while your midfield gets stretched and tired.

True universality is the “Very Fluid” philosophical option in football, the idea that every player is part of a team set up, with equal creative and defensive responsibility, and because this responsibility is shared, this is why greater creative freedom is of-fered to the players, who in a more rigid system, would not be allowed to flourish in their own de-cision making. This is why specialist roles are re-dundant in a universal system; after all, why do you need a playmaker to focus creativity when your entire team is already responsible for it? If you feel your team needs to focus more on a specific player, then it is not looking at an entire team’s responsi-bility, it is looking at splitting responsibility – there-fore, Specialism.

Creative Freedom in specialist systems, i.e. “Very Rigid” & “Rigid” is reduced, because the players have specific tasks to do, and are not encouraged to perform other tasks – after all, another player is already responsible for that function. Your Anchor-man is not required to be sitting high up, playing a through-ball, it is what your Advanced Playmaker – a specialist – is there for.

So we come back into FM14, and our team selec-tion. The most important question once again is reared – how do you want to play? If you have spe-cific individual’s that you want to be responsible for specific aspects of play, then you need a more spe-cialist approach, if you want to focus on your team game and responsibilities, then you need a more universal approach.

There is of course a third way, the balanced ap-

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Pointing at the tactics board

Universality versus Speciality: A Football Manager PhilosophyBy Liam Oliver

Valery Lobanoskyi: Team cohesion and physical ethos. Dave Joy-ner/Popperfoto

proach, a way of providing a structure and team ethic, but allowing for a few individuals to empha-sise aspects of play, allowing maybe a destructive player, or a creative fulcrum to flourish, whilst still allowing the spread of creativity through-out seve-ral multi-focal areas of attack. Tactical selection is not simply about selecting a player’s best role – he could conceivably play a few other roles without any issues, but could improve the overall system.

A team can still have immense tactical variety wit-hin a universal system, aspects such as formation selection can significantly benefit how well the po-sitions on the pitch interact with each other. There are also several tactical roles, which add a very different dimension to a player’s performance, wit-hout disturbing the team game – an Inside Forward & Wing Back on the flank provides a vastly diffe-rent approach to a Full Back & Winger combination. A Complete Forward could offer some excellent creative nous within a team setting, without the team having a uni-focal point of attack.

It is common to get sucked into the idea that good football is played in fluid systems, with defensive or anti-football being played in rigid systems – the truth is very different. Fluid systems offer excellent team & combination play, whereas rigid systems al-low specialised combinations and roles to flourish instead, unrestricted by extra duties. So next time you begin designing your team’s tactical approach, start at the beginning; how do you want to play?

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Universality versus Speciality

It’s one of the easiest concepts to identify in a player because it is so obvious when a player has plenty of it or totally lacks it, yet just how

much of an effect does pace have on a match? The attributes of pace and acceleration are two that are usually highly sought by managers in the game, but depending on the level you play at, the effect of these attributes has a very different effect, and is a weapon to be employed in vastly different ways.

Traditionally at the lower league level, the poor technical attributes that players have can lead to a disproportionate value being placed on physical attributes by managers. Further, the lack of any real tactical complexity, particularly with the new “Route One” shout in FM14 means that quite often your most successful tactic is simply to try to lump the ball from your goal to the opposition’s and by playing a pure numbers game, scoring with one of your shots on target.

As such, having a player who is simply raw pace and nothing else isn’t going to be seen as a luxury by the LLM (Lower League Manager), in fact, players like this can often be used as the vital cog in a success-ful team. The ability to simply be able to run at a player and, by virtue of his pace, having a very good chance of beating him, contributes like I said to the numbers game element of lower league manage-ment, as the more times the marker is beaten, the more times a shooting opportunity can be crafted, the more chance there is that something can go in.

Equally, the lack of pace on the opposition side, usually, means that there is not as much of a requi-rement for a manager at a lower league level to look for the far more subtle “mental pace” in a player. Af-ter all, if there was no way to combat a player who is raw pace, then the likes of Theo Walcott should be scoring hat-tricks week in and week out in the Premier League, shouldn’t they? However, the fact

that they don’t means that at some point managers must find a way to counter-act raw physical pace in the game, and I will go on to explain how most top level managers do so shortly. However, at the lower league there is not as much value placed on this “mental pace” as the game is really far more simplistic.

As mentioned above, the “Route One” strategy that most managers favour in the lower leagues places a disproportionate value on physical attributes, the-refore a defender with a high anticipation and po-sitioning attribute who is ineffective in the air really won’t mean much. After all, there is a huge diffe-rence between being able to read a long ball lum-ped up from the goalkeeper and actually having the requisite aerial ability and strength to head it away. Whilst this does mean that there can occasionally be some hilarious errors, provided they’re done by the other team, at lower league level, they often go unpunished as strikers really lack the killer instinct to bury every half-chance they get, otherwise they wouldn’t be playing at that level, when you think about it…

So, in short, at the lower league the concept of pace is really just a bit of a hammer and anvil analogy, if you have a striker or player with exceptionally high pace and nothing else, he’ll create the plethora of chances your “less than gifted” strikers will need to score. But, since the method of getting the ball to these nippy players is basic to say the least, “mental pace” in the defensive unit is not as necessary as an ability to simply get their head in the way of that initial long ball, or a tackle in if the player does get it.

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Pointing at the tactics board

The Power of PaceBy Simon Boendermaker

The “Route One” strategy that most managers favour in the lower leagues places a disproportionate value on physical attributes.

At the opposite end of the scale, Rio Ferdinand once said that the pride of a top level defender should be ending the match with “a clean pair of shorts” and how fantastic it is that Rio was the one who came out with that, as he rather perfectly illus-trates what I mean by the concept of “mental pace.” Whilst the enhanced physical conditioning of the top flight means that defenders are often much quicker than players who play higher up the field in lower levels, the extremely quick nature of top level “pace players” and the natural lack of pace of some defenders, means there is still some disparity between defenders and attackers. However, since I stated above that Theo Walcott doesn’t find him-self banging in 30 goals a season, there must be a reason why this disparity is overcome at the top level, otherwise pace would be used as bluntly as it is lower down the pyramid.

The reason, in my opinion, why we do not see de-fenders getting skinned on a regular basis, is be-cause of that “mental pace” I mentioned above. At the face of it a 33 year old Rio Ferdinand last sea-son was probably not even as fast as some of the more averagely paced Premier League players yet was, when fit, an integral part of Fergie’s title-win-ning defence. So if he wasn’t able to keep up with the attackers he faced, there must’ve been a reason why Rio was able to keep his place in the squad. Well, yes, it was obvious that Rio wouldn’t be able to win any physical battle with a striker like Bale or Walcott (not necessarily strikers but bear with the example) so rather than waiting for the killer ball to be played in and having to lunge in, probably giving a foul away, if not looking very stupid on the floor as the goal was scored, Rio would often anticipate the move before it happened and attempt to cut it out at source. The same thing can be seen with Michael Carrick’s role in the side, perhaps not one of the most physically gifted players in the United side, but thanks to his great positional awareness, anticipation and concentration, he foiled many at-tacks by being able to simple intercept the pass be-fore it troubled United’s aging defence of Vidic and FerdinandSo, this is what I mean about the value of “men-

tal pace” at the top level, as the means of getting the ball forward are more…sophisticated…than that found at Grimsby, the means of stopping it are more varied as well. Just because a player lacks the physical capacity to keep up with the games fastest players doesn’t mean he can’t stop their threat, they just do it in a different way. Rather than lunging in and hacking a fast player to bits like in the olden days of football, or at lower league level, the way to deal with their threat is simply to stop them using their huge physical advantage by starving them of the ball. Players with good mentals will therefore be highly valued at the top level since they have a different sort of pace to prevent a raw physical dis-parity from being exploited in the way it would be in a lower league environment.

Does that therefore mean that pace players beco-me a luxury at the top level of the game? Well, no, but they can’t really be used in as blunt a fashion as they would be in the lower leagues. With players like Carrick in the very top squads you can’t rely on simply booting the ball up to your fastest player and expecting them to dribble through 5 players before slotting it in the top corner. Pace at the highest le-vel, like any attribute, becomes a tactical tool to be used effectively by a manager who can success-fully blend it with his other squad attributes. At the lower league level simply having the pace is enough to become a nailed on starter, but as anyone who watches top level football can tell you, raw pace on its own won’t get you far in a game.

Whilst it can be useful in its raw form when a defen-der has a howler, it’s not a reliable strategy for win-ning games. As I stated above however, the lack of raw pace in most defenders does mean that, even on the wings, when there is a raw one on one battle,

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The Power of Pace

Just because a player lacks the physical capacity to keep up with the games fastest players doesn’t mean he can’t stop their threat, they just do it in a different way.

having a very pacey player can make the difference as he can simply run past his man if he has to, and in the case of someone like Gareth Bale, that pace coupled with other attributes can be all that’s nee-ded to get goals.

However, even though the direct route still has some success at the top level, that is because of the other attributes of the pace player, rather than simply because of their ability to run at people, af-ter all, being able to beat your man doesn’t make a significant difference when you need to put the ball into the bottom corner after doing so. So what do the pacey players bring to the game at the top level? Well, aside from the very extreme examples of players like Theo Walcott pace has a far more dynamic role in the top flight, as I already said, the methods of getting the ball from one end of the pitch to the other and since every player on the pitch doesn’t have the rapid pace of players like Bale or Hazard, they serve a different purpose. No player on the field, or very few, have the ability to constantly harry a player with that sort of pace, so by consistently crossing between zones on the field different players have to pick up these fast players, opening up space for the other players to begin the team’s attacking moves.

Whilst this can be countered by some of the men-tally quick players like Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdi-nand so far this season has illustrated that a lack of mental agility, or even briefly switching off, can create a devastating consequence. Once the space is opened up by the quick player for a pass to be made, if it can find the quick player then we do sim-ply create the same scenario of the lower league, where, by virtue of his pace, a fast player can simply run past his man and then use one of his technical attributes to create or score himself.

So, in conclusion, at the most basic level the power of physical pace is the same at every level of the game, the central ability to beat whichever man is taking you on. However, whilst at the lower levels this is done by simply playing “route one” football to get it to the fast player to create those situations,

as the level increases there is more reliance for that player to contribute to the overall team effort, as the ball can only be played to him if he opens up the space to create the pass himself. This is because the concept of “mental pace” comes into play, as defensive players simply lack the physical capacity to win those one on one battles, they need to stop these fast players another way, and this is done through being mentally a step ahead of the opposi-tion, starving the fast players of the ball to prevent those situations from occurring, in effect the same as the role of the defender at lower league level, but rather than physically asserting themselves by stopping the ball with their size, the top players “keep their shorts clean” and use their mental pace to prevent the moves from having the same effect.

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The Power of Pace

More, more, more! Higher, higher, higher!! 20 is higher than 10, that means better right? It’s not a feeling that is limited pu-

rely to football management simulations, but hi-gher is often seen as better in the world of nume-rical attributes. A player with a finishing attribute of 20 is much more likely to score goals than one with, say, 12. Simple. Nothing more to say, right?

Well not quite. Is higher always better? Is a player with 20 in every attribute the perfect player and what we should all be aiming for? Or is there ever the possibility that a low attribute may be prefer-red?

For me, there are a few specific situations where less is actually more.

Of course, there’s the situation where a player’s at-tribute development is limited by an average CA/PA and so ensuring that some attributes stay low through lack of training encourages a more bene-ficial development in attributes which are more suited to his role within your team.

But more than that. There is the possibility that you could take two almost identical players, with only one attribute different between the two, and that the player with the LOWER attribute may prove to be more effective. It may seem a little odd but bear with me.

There are a number of attributes, pri-marily technical, where I don’t think there’s any argument that higher is better. I’m not going to try and claim that Hugo Rodallega’s finishing of 13 makes him a better striker than Di-mitar Berbatov with 15 but perhaps his teamwork, lower by 4 attribute points, would make him MORE EF-FECTIVE for your team.

And it’s the phrase in capitals which is crucial here - more effective. As I argued in the first edition of Clear Cut Chance there really isn’t such a thing as ‘better’ in Football Manager. Rather a player could be more effective than another in the role which you wish him to play and part of that effectiveness could be caused by his lower attribute.

I’ve quoted the teamwork attribute in the example above deliberately as this is the attribute I had in mind when I first considered this article. To unders-tand why, I guess the best place to start is to define exactly what teamwork is and what it does. The offi-cial online manual explains teamwork thus:

How well the player follows tactical instructions and works for and alongside his team-mates. A team full of players with a high rating here will work better as a unit. Players with lower ratings will slack off and not ‘buy in’ to the team ethos.

Jeez, that looks bad for our low teamwork players. They must all be cack then. Well, here’s a screenshot of the players with a teamwork attribute of 9 or lower in the starting database:

Huntelaar, Mandzukic, Balotelli, Pato, Mario Gó-mez... Neymar, Ronaldo. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that these lads are pretty handy.

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Pointing at the tactics board

Is Higher always Better?By Shrewnaldo

Of course, it’s not the low teamwork attribute which makes these players good but perhaps their combi-nation of technical, physical and mental attributes is complemented by a low teamwork attribute to make the player more effective.

Looking back at the quote from the manual there are a couple of key phrases:

...works for and alongside his team-mates...

...will work better as a unit...

This seems like the ideal, particularly in recent times where everyone seems to have bought into the possession football ethos and the whole team playing as part of a cohesive unit. I’ve no real pro-blem with that and it’s certainly one potentially suc-cessful way of playing the game but it should never be forgotten that an end product is required and, as many FM players will no doubt have experienced in the past, endless possession is utterly pointless without the goals to win games.

Occasionally a team needs a player to be selfish, to take a defender on instead of trying to pass around him, or put the blinkers on and take a shot. People may point to the example of Barcelona here - clear-ly a fantastic team built on a ‘teamwork’ ethos but there were many occasions under Pep and Tito Vil-lanova when the Catalan team struggled to break teams down if Messi was out. Even the masters of possession football need an individual from time to time.

And I wouldn’t say this is limited to the big teams who play possession football either. Consider the case of a small team who want to grind out results with a hard-working defensive team that create the cliché’d «two banks of four» and hit teams of the break. One cliché follows another and to go with the banks of four there’s usually a «mercurial» player that the team rely on to create a bit of magic and get those goals. A prime example of this, for me, would be Matt Le Tissier at Southampton.

As with every player, the decision as to whether you believe a low teamwork attribute would be benefi-cial should be entirely subjective. Personally, I don’t think I could see a situation where a central defen-der would benefit from an increased sense of indi-viduality, perhaps as we move through midfield the opportunities become more prevalent with certain types of strikers the best candidates for me.

To bring some clarity as to the ‘type’ of player that we’re looking at it here, the best place to start is to look at the players in the original database with low teamwork attributes and see if there is a trend in the results. Looking back at the screenshot above then it’s fairly clear that the results show, generally spea-king, two types of players: dribblers and finishers.

There are a few anomalies in there - Akinfeev and Reina primarily plus Mandzukic who, for me, has been poorly represented in the database. But put-ting those anomalies to the side and assuming, not unreasonably, that the highest valued players will be the most effective (for the most part) then it’s clear that a low teamwork attribute seems to com-plement quick, high flair players who can dribble - Ronaldo, Neymar, Robben, Ribéry et al; or pure penalty box finishers like Mario Gómez and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

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Is Higher always Better?

This makes sense if you think about it - if you are going to focus on your individual ability rather than team play then you really need to be able to do something effective with the ball and, other than set pieces, shooting and dribbling are the most ef-fective individual skills a player can execute.

To add further support to this argument, it’s inte-resting to note that, within the starting database, of the top 10 players with teamwork of 19 or above only Mkhitaryan has a significant Flair attribute.

Let me be clear - I am NOT trying to argue that a low teamwork attribute is better than a high one. However, I do believe there is an argument to be made for individuality and that this individuality is created by deliberately selecting a player with a low attribute. In other words, higher is not always bet-ter.

What about other attributes? Is teamwork the only example? How about Flair? Or Aggression? Or maybe I’m just talking utter pap? I’d love to hear any thoughts you had, hopefully I’ve given you a little food for thought.

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Is Higher always Better?

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Tranisitions; The process of or a period of changing from one state or condition to ano-ther. The way in which a tactic moves from

the attacking phase of play to the defensive is one of the key parts of how succesful a particular sys-tem is, it is also one of the most commonly over-looked.

The movement of one phase of play to another can be a key difference in any game of football. A transition is best desrcibed as the moment when possession of the ball changes from one team to another and how the team reacts to this change in possession. Fast attacking transitions are most commonly associated with counter attacking foot-ball, its the management of this period of change that determines the effectiveness. Thats not to say transitions aren’t important in a more possession based tactic, it is simply that they are a lot more prominant in a fast paced counter attacking tactic. I will discuss both variations in this article and also the basic implementation of this style of tactic in Football Manager.

Quick Transitions

Fast transitions are commonly associated with counter attacking football. Quick movement of the ball vertically from a defensive position to an attacking one is a fast transition in its most basic form. Real Madrid over the past couple of season have mastrered the art of counter attacking foot-ball. This season Ancelotti has vowed to make Ma-drid more dominant and attacking, but throughout the Mourinho era La Galacticos main source of goals has been on the counter. The key to this counter attack is the way in which the ball is moved out of defence, it was commonplace to see the opposi-tion take a corner only to be almost instantly a goal behind.

An example I would like to point out is in the 5-0

hammering of Valencia last year. From a Valencia corner the ball falls to Ozil on the edge of the Ma-drid box, a smart turn and one quick ball away to Di Maria who is stationed high up the pitch and Madrid are away. In the end it leads to an easy tap in for Higuain.

Now there are three key moments in this goal, the first is Ozil’s (No.11) positioing. He is waiting on the edge of the Madrid box for the ball to fall to him, he easily turns away from his marker and that instatly leaves lots of space for him to run into.

The second key point is the position which Di Ma-ria(No.14) takes up from the corner. As a rule of thumb the main striker is usually the player who is left highest up the pitch when defending a cor-ner, in this case Di Maria is stationed the furthest forward. His pace on the break is second only to Ronaldo but given Ronaldo’s aerial ability it makes sense to leave him back, he makes a superb run in behind one of the Valencia defenders who cannot track him as Ozil needs to be closed down.

The third key point is Higuain’s(No.19) eagerness to get forward, his determination to get up the pitch as fast as possible is what draws the second defen-der away from Di Maria giving him time to look up and pick the perfect pass.

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Pointing at the tactics board

TransitionsBy Jimbob

In FM

The 4-2-3-1 is one of the most versatile formations in football and is what I will be using to demons-trate how I would set up a fast paced counter at-tacking tactic.

In Football Manager there is a ‘counter’ tactical op-tion, but I actually think this is the least effective way to set up a counter attacking tactic. A good strong counter requires fast movement of the ball from front to back, the ‘counter’ strategy sets the tempo quite low which isnt really what is required. The Attacking strategy on the other hand keeps the tempo quite high which is more akin to what is nee-ded, the attacking duty does tweak closing down and forward runs but I have manually lowered clo-sing down across all the back 6 so that they keep their shape and draw the opponent onto them.

The front four on the other hand are free roaming and fluid to try and pull the opposition defence out of position, the AMR has a support duty to try and get him to drop deeper and pick up the ball before turning and running at the defence whereas the AML is slightly more direct. The supporting Regista

is who I expect the vast majority of the play to flow through and he will ne the start of the vast majo-rity of the counters, the Ozil role in the Madrid exa-mple. He will pick the ball up in defensive areas and have the composure and technical ability to carry the ball out and play a defence splitting pass up the front men. You will notice I have the ‘Play Out Of Defence’ Shout setup, this is to try and cut down on long di-rect ‘hoofs’ forward and keep the ball on the floor and passed out of defence at a high tempo.

42:37. In this shot the opposition have just put in a corner which has fallen to Kheidra on the edge of the box, Isco breaks forward from the box and Di Maria has made himself available for the ball between the two defenders.

42:40. The ball is played to Di Maria and both defenders have moved over to cover in behind, Isco has broke into the space and is almost through on goal.

clearcutchance.com35

Transitions

42:37

42:40

42:48. Isco has broken all the way forward and into the box, a poor finish does not really do the move justice but the way in which a quick coun-ter can be quite easily setup is easy to see, with better finishing it could be deadly. In just over 10 seconds the ball has moved from one end of the pitch to the other and lead to a very good goalscoring opportunity.

Slow Transitions

Slow Transitions are usually associated with more possession based football, not that the player mo-vemement is slow but the movement between phases of play is more carefully considered. The prime example for Slow Transitions is Barcelona/Spain and the Tika-Taka model. When the ball is won during the defensive phase the Tika-Taka style usually plays out a lot slower and is a lot less di-

rect than its more fast paced counter attacking op-posite. To take Barcelona as an example when the ball is won they are usually more concerned with keeping hold of the ball than catching the oppo-nent off guard. There are two key things that occur when Barca regain possession of the ball, the full backs push very high up the pitch and stretch the play horizontally. More often than not Barcelonas full backs can be end up the highest and widest up the pitch. This creates width and space for the more dangeours attacking players to do what they do best. The other key movement is again in with the defenders, the two center backs drop wide almost into the full backs position and the defensive mid-fielder drops moves into the back three. All of this does happen at a more leisurly pace than a quick counter and the ball is moved a lot less directly.

In FM

The main points of a more slow possession based tactic are a DM dropping into the back three and the full backs pushing up the pitch. Thats why I have gone for almost a 4-1-2-2-1, on FM13 I would most definately have used a Libero over a DM but the new Half Back role replicates the way in which Bus-quets plays perfectly.

clearcutchance.com 36

Transitions

42:48

C3

The more fluid nature of the tactic is to encourage movement from positions to create gaps in the opposition defence and also to keep lots of passing options open to encourage ball retention. The Full Backs are set up to be extreamly attacking to provi-de width and stretch the defence. The two central midfielders, wide players and deep lying forward are all packing the middle of the pitch and helping to move the ball around centrally waiting for an opening. As I mentioned earlier I actually believe the Strategy options to be quite misleading and when playing a more possession based style of football I actually prefery the counter strategy, the slower tempo is much better for playing ‘Keep Ball’

30:28. Here Alves has won the ball back inside his own box. There are options available but he takes his time and picks a nice easy ball in to Messi on the half way line.

32:00. Messi picked up the ball and played it out wide to Iniesta. The players are almost strol-ling forward and there is no real urgency to get the ball forward and catch the opponent on the back foot.

34:00. Iniesta switched the ball to the oppo-site flank, Pedro takes it down the line and puts a dangeours ball into the box, which leads to a very good chance and the keeper making a good save. You can see from the time frames that the transitions between attack and defence are much slower but no less effective.

Transitions are a key part of a succesful tactic and the way in which the players move when the ball is won is what defines the way a team plays. At-tack and defence is similar for all teams, keep the ball out your own net and get it into the opposi-tions net. The ‘in betwen’ bits are what really sets a teams playing style apart, whether it be the leisurly pace of the Catalans are the out and out attacking nature of the Madristas’.

Thanks for reading, Jimbob (@FMManagers)

clearcutchance.com37

Transitions

30:28

32:00

34:00

Besides the removal of sliders, 8 new players roles were introduced in the tactical creator. Some were refinements of existing roles,

the Enganche being a more static version of the Trequartista or the Limited fulback being a more no-nonsense option in the mould of the limited centreback. But, some other roles were designed fully following the new tactical logic. The Regista could be seen as a deeper Trequartista, but lateral roaming could not be coded the same way as in AM strata. Another example is the halfback, that role needed a specific movement behavior to be coded in.

Indeed, for this specific halfback behavior to be im-plement without impacting other area of the game, roles have to take the lead on sliders. In others words, sliders were in FM13 universal tools which were assembled to create role. As a result, balan-cing the game on the whole while introducing new and particular behavior was going to be more and more difficult for the coding team.Now, some sliders are not universals anymore but could be relatives in some case. Some role may now trigger some specific reaction, a halfback is not dropping deep inbetween his centrebacks the same way the false 9 is dropping deep to connect play in the middle of the pitch. That step towards role isolated behavior is a huge step to further im-provements and role sophistication that would not have been possible keeping that restricted tool-box of sliders. Moreover, the coding team has now more control to spot and fix things without rewor-king other aspect as by-effect.

Even if sliders were conveying a false sense of full control on tactical behavior that I have always tried to dssmiss, they did were used as a rough guide-line and comparison mean to understand what was actually the difference between role in term of tendency. For example, a ball-winning midfielder role has less creative freedom that a regular central

midfielder. There was no need to know accurately how much it was but mainly about knowing he was given less tactical freedom. Another example, a playmaker role has a bit more tactical freedom than his regular counterpart. It’s not new that Sports Interactive are not keen to give great details in-game or in the online manual. I do feel the in-game tooltips may be not precise enough now we are more than enough relying on them to make first decisions before monitoring ga-mes to gather feedback on tactical decisions.

So, the following 4 pages are an attempt to sum-marize and provide more informations in a diffe-rent and hopefully, better way. It’s kind of a tactical add-on to this Issue 2 of Clear Cut Chance.You will noticed that I did not fully follow SI recom-mandation for key attributes. As I think anybody could see them in the game, I choose to pick my own set of key attributes based on what I have see and what I actually expecting from the role. It’s my interpretation, nothing more. I have added a player analysis to help you understand why I choose to pick some attribute over others.

I hope you enjoy and find it useful in your game. I am looking foward to hearing from you on twitter or on SI Game T&T forum.

NakS

NOTE - I have also added some blank space at the bottom and below attributes section as well if you want to print it and make notes. The layout is not exactly the same as the CCC magazine to make full use of an A4 page in landscape and portrait format, this intended.

clearcutchance.com 38

Pointing at the tactics board

Regista and Halfback - Illustrated Tactical MemoBy NakS

39

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

Role analysis.

Role use.

Typical players

Recommanded PPM

Key attributes

Illustration.

Personal notes

clearcutchance.com

The Regista is only available in defensive midfielder po-sition with a support duty. Of all defensive midfielders, the Regista is the most creative and the more technical one, sometimes at the cost of defensive abilities. It means that the Regista may require extra defensive protection when not in possession from central midfielders in from of him, from anchorman or back 3 behind him.

In italian, Regista means «director», as in «director of the orchestra» and is the fulcrum of the possession game. Given complete freedom to dictate play from deep posi-tion, the Regista will also look to make himself available on the whole pitch width from flank to flank, offering passing outlet to recycle possession. He may also slightly move forward to be just in close contact to play. The Regista pas-sing game is expansive, mostly adventurous and direct, always looking for teammate in advanced positions.

Endowed with supreme passing skills from all range, the Regista also needs great vision and willingness to play am-bitious and unexpected ball to unlock defense from deep. In defense, he is relying on his positioning to sweep behind a press and collect loose ball and interceptions.

The Regista is mostly used in possession based system where a deep creative fulcrum in space is needed. The Re-gista will need space to move laterally and several forward passing options to fulfill his playmaking duties

In the italian game, the Regista is usually operating in front of a back 3, relying on wing backs to spread the play and powerfull midfielders in front of him to connect with forwards. The Regista can also be used in a back 4 in narrow formations such as the diamond or the box midfied provin-ding defensive protection for him.

• Dictates tempo• Tries long range passes• Tries killer balls often• Likes to switch ball to other flank

• Andrea Pirlo• David Pizzaro• Emre Belözoglu

• Positioning + Concentration• First touch + Passing + Technique + Composure +

Creativity • Decisions + Anticipation• Teamwork• Flair• Off the ball

Regista - Support

40

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

clearcutchance.com

Regista - SupportPlaymaking skills: The Regista is the most crea-

tive deep-lying playmakers and could be seen as the equivalent of a Trequartista operating in deep posi-tions. Composure is definitely needed to control the flow of the game in front of the defense, any passing mistake in that position could backfire immediately and result in goals. Passing game should be tight and neat while first touch should keep ball in close control, ready to spread the play. Creativity is mandatory for such a playmaking role because he should be able to play it short and long depending on the situation and find that killer pass nobody is aware of. Technique is paramount to execute difficult and incive passes such a long range throughball, when switching play from flank to flank or passing through a press.

Analytical and decision making skills: In order for him to successfully reach advanced teammates, the Regista needs an excellent reading of the game to anticipate off the ball movements. He should not make many mistakes in his decision making because of his deep, although very creative, positioning.

Defensive and positioning skills: Regardless, the Regista is still a defensive midfielder although he is clearly not a towering, nor ball-winning midfielder. He is more suited to high-pressing system (or featuring

ball winning midfielder(s)) where he can sweep in behind first layers of closing down, making interceptions and cutting passing lanes. His defense is based on mental concentration, reading of the game and positioning intelligence rather than sheer brutal force.

Teamwork tendency: The Regista must use his individual brilliance to team’s benefits by ambitiously playmaking from deep. His added value is to break down stubborn defense by providing teammates with incisive balls.

Fantasista : It is my opinion that flair and flamboyancy are mandatory for a true Regista, a deep Fantasista supposed to make things happen. His supreme vision and proficient passing skills must be use to full power by having a high flair attribute. We are not talking about a clockwork-like deep-lying playmaker here, but about a player given full freedom to make play.

Offensive movements skills: The Regista should be able to make himself available laterally for teammates to recy-cle move deep and thus seeing a lot of the ball to influence the game from deep.

Preferred Moves: Andrea Pirlo is the archetypal Registal, He is dictating tempo, dropping deep to orchestrate the build up, always looking for the killer ball to open up defense and trying long range passes to unsettle opponent structure.

41

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

Role analysis.

Role use.

Typical players

Recommanded PPM

Key attributes

Illustration.

Personal notes

clearcutchance.com

Halfback - Defend

Halfback role is only available in defensive midfielder strata with a defend duty. When defending, the halfback is like other regular defensive midfielder roles, protecting the central defense, marking player, dropping deep to provi-de extra cover or moving up to meet counter attack. When possession is regained deep, or the ball is played to centre backs, the halfback will drop in-between centrebacks who will move a bit wider. As a result wingbacks can move hi-gher up the pitch without compromosing passing options.

The Halfback is making himself available to facilitate building move from the back and provide more passing op-tions deep to escape opponent’s press. Once the ball reach more advanced players, the Halfback move up to position himself again in a standard defensive midfielder position, shielding and protecting the defense.

The Halfback not only need usual defensive midfielder abilities, he must be composed on the ball and possess safe passing skills so as not to lose the ball in a very deep posi-tion. He must read the game well to know when to move back or forward without compromising defensive structure and have the engine to perform this shuttling role.

Halback role partly allows to free-up wingbacks by dropping deep into the D-line to help out building from the back when possession is regained, or recycled, deep. This role will result in short shifts from back 4 to back 3 when moving the ball forward. Halfback role fits well with a deep-lying playmaker to form a passing central diamond.

This role is suited to possession orientated system based on building from the back with short passes while allowing sooner and higher positioning of offensive wingbacks. He could be a lone holder in 433 or the pivot in dual DMC.

• Sergio Busquets• John Obi Mikel• Claudio Yacob

• Comes deep to get the ball• Tries to play way out of trouble• Plays short simple passes• Likes to switch ball to other flank

• Positioning + Concentration + Marking + Tackling + Strenght

• First touch + Passing + Composure • Decisions + Anticipation• Teamwork• Stamina + workrate

42

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

clearcutchance.com

Halfback - DefendDefensive and positioning skills: The Halfback

is a specific kind of defensive midfielder but, in defen-sive phase, he is acting like a regular defensive midfiel-der. He must able to shield the defense and forming a defensive triangle if he is a lone holder. The Halfback should be able to mark tightly an opponent to prevent him finding room to operate. He should also be able to win the ball back by tackling, making interceptions behind his midfield or protect the defense by good po-sitioning. The Halfback should also be able to establish himself with strength to guard powerful forwards or at-tacking midfielders. Last but not least, he must be very focused on his defensive game and shuttling move-ment for the whole game despite tiredness. One little mistake in this area could result in a goal opportunity.

Passing skills: The Halfback will drop deep in-between centreback to provide a deep passing outlet, allowing wingbacks to move higher up the pitch. He should thus be able to bring the ball forward with neat and accurate passing skills. Even if he is not expect to playmake, he must be safe on the ball and should not put himself in trouble with a missed first touch. He must be composed on the ball when facing an intense press.

Teamwork tendency: The Halfback is playing a key role in building offensive moves from the back, re-

cycling possession and he must then serve the team as best as he can. Moreover, his teamwork behavior is important to make him efficient in shuttling between his centre back and defensive midfielder position.

Analytical and decision making skills: In order for this shuttling move to be efficient without compromising the whole defensive structure, the Halfback should always know when to drop deep, move up quickly to regain a shielding position, meet a counter-attack to play his defensive midfielder role or stay in deep position if he feels the defense needs extra-cover. Decision making is critical for this role to shine as well as having a good reading of the game to anticipate things and consolidate decision making process.

Physical abilities: The Halfback is shuttling between the D-line and a regular defensive midfielder position, he must have the willingness to do so but also the stamina to carry out this role. Moreover, he must not be get tired too quickly for his decisions making skills to be sharp enough the whole game despite tiredness.

Prefereed moves: Sergio Busquets is the archetypal creative halfback. He is playing short and simple passes without booting it high up the pitch. He is always staying in defense to allows wingbacks more freedom to move forward and does not unnecessary run with ball.

Besides the removal of sliders, 8 new players roles were introduced in the tactical creator. Some were refinements of existing roles,

the Enganche being a more static version of the Trequartista or the Limited fulback being a more no-nonsense option in the mould of the limited centreback. But, some other roles were designed fully following the new tactical logic. The Regista could be seen as a deeper Trequartista, but lateral roaming could not be coded the same way as in AM strata. Another example is the halfback, that role needed a specific movement behavior to be coded in.

Indeed, for this specific halfback behavior to be im-plement without impacting other area of the game, roles have to take the lead on sliders. In others words, sliders were in FM13 universal tools which were assembled to create role. As a result, balan-cing the game on the whole while introducing new and particular behavior was going to be more and more difficult for the coding team.Now, some sliders are not universals anymore but could be relatives in some case. Some role may now trigger some specific reaction, a halfback is not dropping deep inbetween his centrebacks the same way the false 9 is dropping deep to connect play in the middle of the pitch. That step towards role isolated behavior is a huge step to further im-provements and role sophistication that would not have been possible keeping that restricted tool-box of sliders. Moreover, the coding team has now more control to spot and fix things without rewor-king other aspect as by-effect.

Even if sliders were conveying a false sense of full control on tactical behavior that I have always tried to dssmiss, they did were used as a rough guide-line and comparison mean to understand what was actually the difference between role in term of tendency. For example, a ball-winning midfielder role has less creative freedom that a regular central

midfielder. There was no need to know accurately how much it was but mainly about knowing he was given less tactical freedom. Another example, a playmaker role has a bit more tactical freedom than his regular counterpart. It’s not new that Sports Interactive are not keen to give great details in-game or in the online manual. I do feel the in-game tooltips may be not precise enough now we are more than enough relying on them to make first decisions before monitoring ga-mes to gather feedback on tactical decisions.

So, the following 4 pages are an attempt to sum-marize and provide more informations in a diffe-rent and hopefully, better way. It’s kind of a tactical add-on to this Issue 2 of Clear Cut Chance.You will noticed that I did not fully follow SI recom-mandation for key attributes. As I think anybody could see them in the game, I choose to pick my own set of key attributes based on what I have see and what I actually expecting from the role. It’s my interpretation, nothing more. I have added a player analysis to help you understand why I choose to pick some attribute over others.

I hope you enjoy and find it useful in your game. I am looking foward to hearing from you on twitter or on SI Game T&T forum.

NakS

NOTE - I have also added some blank space at the bottom and below attributes section as well if you want to print it and make notes. The layout is not exactly the same as the CCC magazine to make full use of an A4 page in landscape and portrait format, this intended.

clearcutchance.com 38

Pointing at the tactics board

Regista and Halfback - Illustrated Tactical MemoBy NakS

39

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

Role analysis.

Role use.

Typical players

Recommanded PPM

Key attributes

Illustration.

Personal notes

clearcutchance.com

The Regista is only available in defensive midfielder po-sition with a support duty. Of all defensive midfielders, the Regista is the most creative and the more technical one, sometimes at the cost of defensive abilities. It means that the Regista may require extra defensive protection when not in possession from central midfielders in from of him, from anchorman or back 3 behind him.

In italian, Regista means «director», as in «director of the orchestra» and is the fulcrum of the possession game. Given complete freedom to dictate play from deep posi-tion, the Regista will also look to make himself available on the whole pitch width from flank to flank, offering passing outlet to recycle possession. He may also slightly move forward to be just in close contact to play. The Regista pas-sing game is expansive, mostly adventurous and direct, always looking for teammate in advanced positions.

Endowed with supreme passing skills from all range, the Regista also needs great vision and willingness to play am-bitious and unexpected ball to unlock defense from deep. In defense, he is relying on his positioning to sweep behind a press and collect loose ball and interceptions.

The Regista is mostly used in possession based system where a deep creative fulcrum in space is needed. The Re-gista will need space to move laterally and several forward passing options to fulfill his playmaking duties

In the italian game, the Regista is usually operating in front of a back 3, relying on wing backs to spread the play and powerfull midfielders in front of him to connect with forwards. The Regista can also be used in a back 4 in narrow formations such as the diamond or the box midfied provin-ding defensive protection for him.

• Dictates tempo• Tries long range passes• Tries killer balls often• Likes to switch ball to other flank

• Andrea Pirlo• David Pizzaro• Emre Belözoglu

• Positioning + Concentration• First touch + Passing + Technique + Composure +

Creativity • Decisions + Anticipation• Teamwork• Flair• Off the ball

Regista - Support

40

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

clearcutchance.com

Regista - SupportPlaymaking skills: The Regista is the most creative deep-lying playmakers and

could be seen as the equivalent of a Trequartista operating in deep positions. Compo-sure is definitely needed to control the flow of the game in front of the defense, any passing mistake in that position could backfire immediately and result in goals. Pas-sing game should be tight and neat while first touch should keep ball in close control, ready to spread the play. Creativity is mandatory for such a playmaking role because he should be able to play it short and long depending on the situation and find that killer pass nobody is aware of. Technique is paramount to execute difficult and incive passes such a long range throughball, when switching play from flank to flank or pas-sing through a press.

Analytical and decision making skills: In order for him to successfully reach ad-vanced teammates, the Regista needs an excellent reading of the game to anticipate off the ball movements. He should not make many mistakes in his decision making because of his deep, although very creative, positioning.

Defensive and positioning skills: Regardless, the Regista is still a defensive mid-fielder although he is clearly not a towering, nor ball-winning midfielder. He is more suited to high-pressing system (or featuring ball winning midfielder(s)) where he can sweep in behind first layers of closing down, making interceptions and cutting passing lanes. His defense is based on mental concentration, reading of the game and posi-tioning intelligence rather than sheer brutal force.

Teamwork tendency: The Regista must use his individual brilliance to team’s be-nefits by ambitiously playmaking from deep. His added value is to break down stub-born defense by providing teammates with incisive balls.

Fantasista : It is my opinion that flair and flamboyancy are mandatory for a true Regista, a deep Fantasista supposed to make things happen. His supreme vision and proficient passing skills must be use to full power by having a high flair attribute. We are not talking about a clockwork-like deep-lying playmaker here, but about a player given full freedom to make play.

Offensive movements skills: The Regista should be able to make himself avai-lable laterally for teammates to recycle move deep and thus seeing a lot of the ball to influence the game from deep.

Preferred Moves: Andrea Pirlo is the archetypal Registal, He is dictating tempo, dropping deep to orchestrate the build up, always looking for the killer ball to open up defense and trying long range passes to unsettle opponent structure.

41

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

Role analysis.

Role use.

Typical players

Recommanded PPM

Key attributes

Illustration.

Personal notes

clearcutchance.com

Halfback - Defend

Halfback role is only available in defensive midfielder strata with a defend duty. When defending, the halfback is like other regular defensive midfielder roles, protecting the central defense, marking player, dropping deep to provi-de extra cover or moving up to meet counter attack. When possession is regained deep, or the ball is played to centre backs, the halfback will drop in-between centrebacks who will move a bit wider. As a result wingbacks can move hi-gher up the pitch without compromosing passing options.

The Halfback is making himself available to facilitate building move from the back and provide more passing op-tions deep to escape opponent’s press. Once the ball reach more advanced players, the Halfback move up to position himself again in a standard defensive midfielder position, shielding and protecting the defense.

The Halfback not only need usual defensive midfielder abilities, he must be composed on the ball and possess safe passing skills so as not to lose the ball in a very deep posi-tion. He must read the game well to know when to move back or forward without compromising defensive structure and have the engine to perform this shuttling role.

Halback role partly allows to free-up wingbacks by dropping deep into the D-line to help out building from the back when possession is regained, or recycled, deep. This role will result in short shifts from back 4 to back 3 when moving the ball forward. Halfback role fits well with a deep-lying playmaker to form a passing central diamond.

This role is suited to possession orientated system based on building from the back with short passes while allowing sooner and higher positioning of offensive wingbacks. He could be a lone holder in 433 or the pivot in dual DMC.

• Sergio Busquets• John Obi Mikel• Claudio Yacob

• Comes deep to get the ball• Tries to play way out of trouble• Plays short simple passes• Likes to switch ball to other flank

• Positioning + Concentration + Marking + Tackling + Strenght

• First touch + Passing + Composure • Decisions + Anticipation• Teamwork• Stamina + workrate

42

Clear Cut Chance - Tactical Memo

clearcutchance.com

Halfback - DefendDefensive and positioning skills: The Halfback is a specific kind of defensive

midfielder but, in defensive phase, he is acting like a regular defensive midfielder. He must able to shield the defense and forming a defensive triangle if he is a lone holder. The Halfback should be able to mark tightly an opponent to prevent him finding room to operate. He should also be able to win the ball back by tackling, making interceptions behind his midfield or protect the defense by good positio-ning. The Halfback should also be able to establish himself with strength to guard powerful forwards or attacking midfielders. Last but not least, he must be very fo-cused on his defensive game and shuttling movement for the whole game despite tiredness. One little mistake in this area could result in a goal opportunity.

Passing skills: The Halfback will drop deep in-between centreback to provide a deep passing outlet, allowing wingbacks to move higher up the pitch. He should thus be able to bring the ball forward with neat and accurate passing skills. Even if he is not expect to playmake, he must be safe on the ball and should not put him-self in trouble with a missed first touch. He must be composed on the ball when facing an intense press.

Teamwork tendency: The Halfback is playing a key role in building offensive moves from the back, recycling possession and he must then serve the team as best as he can. Moreover, his teamwork behavior is important to make him effi-cient in shuttling between his centre back and defensive midfielder position.

Analytical and decision making skills: In order for this shuttling move to be efficient without compromising the whole defensive structure, the Halfback should always know when to drop deep, move up quickly to regain a shielding position, meet a counter-attack to play his defensive midfielder role or stay in deep position if he feels the defense needs extra-cover. Decision making is critical for this role to shine as well as having a good reading of the game to anticipate things and conso-lidate decision making process.

Physical abilities: The Halfback is shuttling between the D-line and a regular defensive midfielder position, he must have the willingness to do so but also the stamina to carry out this role. Moreover, he must not be get tired too quickly for his decisions making skills to be sharp enough the whole game despite tiredness.

Prefereed moves: Sergio Busquets is the archetypal creative halfback. He is playing short and simple passes without booting it high up the pitch. He is always staying in defense to allows wingbacks more freedom to move forward and does not unnecessary run with ball.

clearcutchance.com 43

Featured in CCC

Book reviewsBy RTHerringbone

This is the One: Sir Alex Ferguson: The Uncut Story of a Football GeniusTaylor, Daniel343 Pages, £7.19 (paperback)

Whether or not you like Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson, or indeed the media circus which follow the pair, this book is insightful and compulsive reading.

Daniel Taylor and his journalistic peers trekked to and from press confe-

rences with Sir Alex Ferguson every week, never sure whether they were going to be warmly embraced or cruelly dismissed. Covering the rollercoaster 2005/6 and 2006/7 seasons, this book offers a brutal, honest and occasio-nally emotive account of events at one of the worlds’ biggest football clubs, and of the aura behind the man at the helm.

In a diarised format, Taylor leads the reader through the trials and tribula-tions of 2005/6, including the epic falls from grace of Roy Keane and Ruud van Nistelrooy. This contrasts with the euphoria of 2006/7, with the league title wrestled from the grasp of Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea. We find ourselves at matches, at Press Conferences, before, during and after Ferguson’s occasional-ly explosive appearances; it is a fascinating read.

Where the book excels is in its portrayal of the Jekyll and Hyde characters of Ferguson. Journalists experience first-hand the highs and lows of developments at a football club, and Taylor successfully conveys the former Manchester United managers’ unwavering dedication to the club, and his contempt for those who tried to desta-bilise it.

It reminds the reader of the pressure Ferguson was under in that 2005/6 season, and of the dogged determi-nation he and his players’ demonstrated to reverse their fortunes.

Often offensive, frequently amusing and always captivating, this book is highly recommended. 8/10

clearcutchance.com 44

Futebol: The Brazillian Way of Life Bellos, Alex432 Pages, £9.99 (paperback)

Alex Bellos’ anecdote laden account of Brazil’s obsession with football do-cuments not only the sport itself, but the way in which it culturally and emo-tionally dominates the nation.

Rather than focusing solely on top level football, Bellos introduces the rea-

der to some colourful characters; corrupt club presidents, beauty queens and players searching for glory – in the Faroe Islands.

There are, of course, chapters dedicated to giants of the game. Socrates’

diagnosis of a period of limited Brazilian national team success is insightful, as is a later appraisal of the “Ronaldo affair” at the 1998 World Cup. However, it is the parallels drawn between Garrincha and Pele which resonate the most. Whilst Pele is highly regarded, it is Garrincha who clearly captured the hearts and imagination of the people.

Domestically, wherever Barros looks at Vasco da Game and their ex-Pre-

sident Eurico Miranda, the corruption and chaos that used to be rife in the National and State Championships is revealed. They are fascinating sections,

arguably the most enticing of the entire book. There are occasions where the book strays into the dangerous world of “filler”. As an example, the Peledao (Big

Kickabout) is an amateur football tournament held in the Amazon. It is a great example of the quirkier side of the Brazilian football obsession, but it dominates sections of the book, and it loses momentum as a result.

Overall, it is an enjoyable overview of many facets of football and life in Brazil, and it is recommended as a result.

6/10

Superclasico: Inside the Ultimate Derby (90 Minutes Shorts) Richards, Joel53 Pages, £1.53 (Kindle)

Occasionally, it is nice to remind yourself that there are football rivalries outside of Europe. In Argentina, River Plate vs. Boca is a monumental-ly fierce and occasionally violent match up, and Joel Richards summarises their rivalry in this concise book.

Richards briefly details the history of both clubs, with River Plate being

the merger of the Los Rosales and Santa Rosa clubs, with their name being taken from a European container ship which arrived at the La Boca docks. Boca Juniors were formerly Indepencia Sur, and their kit colours are based on the Swedish flag adorning another boat which pulled into port at La Boca.

Argentine football has a legacy of combustible characters and mercurial

talents, and most of them have been involved in these matches at some time or another. Boca’s more recent roll-call of players includes Maradona, Caniggia, Riquelme, Palermo, Samuel and Tevez; River can offer Batistuta, Crespo, Ortega, Salas, Aimar and Falcao

It is a very short overview of a rivalry which could easily justify a more

sizeable tome. What is included is good, but there remains an overriding sense of what could have been. 5/10

Book Reviews

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The Football Men: Up Close with the Giants of the Modern Game Kuper, Simon362 Pages, £6.29 (paperback)

Citing inspiration from Arthur Hopcraft’s 1968 book, The Football Man, the author here profiles some of (generally) Modern football’s true legends.What defines a “legend”? Featured players include Cruyff, Matthaus, Bergkamp, Seedorf, Maldini, Romario, Xavi and Cantona. It is truly an all-star cast.

The book also engages with a range of variably qualified managers at va-rious stages of their managerial journey; Passarella, Maradona, Wenger, Hid-dink, Mourinho, Guardiola and Capello are all profiled, with varying impres-sions left for the reader to consider.

It is not a shallow, tabloid-esque attempt to unearth scandal, sensation or controversy. Instead, it is a considered character assasination, supplemented by the author’s own well reasoned assessments as to the merits or otherwise of each individuals’ persona or career achievements. Highlights include the strange world of Lothar Matthaus, the interview with Glenn Hoddle, and a cri-tique of the auto-biographies of Messrs Cole, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher.

The Football Men is a collection of more than ten years of Simon Kuper’s newspaper articles, and as such it is very much coffee table material. The nature of any compilation of articles, is that the book as a whole lacks cohe-sion, but then it is never really intended to be read as a novel.

Simple to read, often insightful and rarely running out of steam, The Football Men earns a creditable 7/10

Football Manager Stole My Life Macintosh, Iain; Millar, Kenny; White, Neil260 Pages, £9.09 (paperback)

Championship Manager and the subsequent Football Manager series have been annihilating spare time for over two decades now, and this book contains fond memories from fans, scouts, Sports Interactive staff, real life players and “celebrity” gamers.

Whilst it is interesting to see the origins of the game, including a series of handwritten storyboards from the Collyer brothers, it is the anecdotal pieces which best encapsulate the spirit of the franchise, and the dedicated following it attracts.

A great addition to the book are the interviews with past legends of the game; interested in seeing what the likes of Cherno Samba, Mark Kerr, Kenne-dy Bakircioglu and Tonton Zola Moukoko went on to achieve in the game? It’s all in here.

Humour is a consistent theme throughout, and the contributions of Iain Macintosh are a particular high point; “I once wore a suit and played Abide

With Me through Spotify before managing a team in an FA Cup final.”

This is reminiscing at its best. You won’t emerge a changed reader and you won’t learn much of substance, but once you finish reading, a few long-forgotten memories of your own will resurface. Best of all, it manages to convince you that you aren’t alone, and that a legion of like-minded FM obsessives have grown up with you, and will continue on the journey with you. 5/10

Book Reviews

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Champions League Dreams Benitez, Rafa306 Pages, £6.47 (paperback)

Champions League Dreams is a detailed journey through the Mersey-side clubs seasons of Champions League football under Rafa Benitez’ astute control. It reveals the meticulous attention to detail that Rafa and his team of backroom staff put into each and every game. Indeed their preparation is evo-cative of that employed by the much lauded Pep Guardiola, and it is a shame that outside of the red half of Liverpool, Rafa Benitez was rarely afforded the respect he deserves in English football.

As well as reviving memories of that extraordinary comeback against AC Milan in Istanbul, and successes against Real Madrid, Chelsea and other no-table European triumphs, the book charts the escalation of political breakdown at the club under the ownership of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Throughout the book, Benitez’ strategic plans and his quest for continuous improvement stand out, although it does inevitably tend to focus on the achievements rather than the setbacks of his spell at Anfield. If more content relating to the challenging era of American ownership was included, a far more rounded read would have resulted.

It is clear from the outset that Benitez and his family developed (and retain) a strong bond with the city, the club and its people. It is an emotional link which endears the Spaniard to the reader, and is perhaps at odds with the of-ten cold depiction of him in the media. Benitez tends to polarise opinions, and the tabloid press played a significant part in shaping the public perceptions of him.

Tactically it is enormously insightful, and this is possibly the critical element for the neutral Football Manager player. Benitez details the approach to key games, changes of system (including the half time at Istanbul) and this is all supported with useful graphical tactical boards. The detail he provides is sufficient to allow the reader to apply real-life footballing methodology to Football Manager; it is frankly quite disturbing!

Humour inadvertently creeps into the book, and there are a few “Alan Partridge” moments, where we learn about his desk, the colour of the Anfield office doors, and what he eats for breakfast.

Champions League Dreams offers varied content, tactical masterclasses and insight into the day to day running of a national institution. It comes highly recommended. 8/10

Book Reviews

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Pep Guardiola: Another Way of Winning: The Biography Balague, Guillem256 Pages, £5.08 (paperback)

Guillem Balague’s biography of the enigmatic Pep Guardiola is a triumph. It chronologically tracks Guardiola’s career from his football roots in his home vil-lage through to La Masia and then his metronomic playing days as fulcrum of Cruyff’s Dream Team. Once his playing career at Barcelona ended somewhat acrimoniously, we learn briefly of the painful experience Guardiola endured in Italian football.

Following the end of his playing days after spells in Qatar and Mexico (which thankfully aren’t dwelled upon), Guardiola returns to Spain to take up the reins of Barcelona B alongside Tito Vilanova and embark on a remarkable coaching career. It is this period where Guardiola’s main managerial influences (Cruyff and Bielsa among others) really support and catalyse Guardiola’s own footbal-ling ethos, and his self-critical nature reveals a sensitive side to the cool facade so often portrayed to the World’s press.

Balague writes fluently and passionately about the fragile genius of the now Bayern Munich manager, and provides enormous insight into key turning points and influences in Guardiola’s life, what he learned from those expe-

riences, and how they have helped to shape the man we see today. He highlights the importance of men such as Vilanova, and it will be interesting to see how Pep’s onward career in Germany unfolds without the trusted support of his right-hand man.

There are fascinating details about the politics behind Spanish football, and indeed the politics within the Bar-celona dressing room. A current player and his tactical role are hugely influential in the recent transfer strategy at Camp Nou, and details like this really highlight the ego massaging that is now a vital part of the modern manager’s armoury. Remember Samuel Eto’o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Barcelona? The stories behind their arrivals and depar-tures are captured from the perspective of Guardiola and the players themselves.

Whilst Balague is an Espanyol rather than Barcelona fan, his Catalan roots do lend a touch of bias and romanti-cism to the book. That aside, the book portrays Guardiola as a mentor, an inspiration, an innovator, a reluctant idol and a true gentleman. Hugely impressive book. 9/10.

NOTE - Prices on Tuesday, Dec. 17, december 2013. Click on book image to be redirect to Amazon affiliate links.

Book Reviews

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Featured in CCC

One of the worst things about playing Football Manager, is that the data gets out of date very quickly. Manager sackings, players leaving and

coming in on loan, board takeovers, football doesn’t stick to yearly release dates like the game does, but thankfully we have people out there who pour over the newspapers, and the most hidden away corners of the internet sniffing out this information and compiling it all into a data update.

These poor souls spend more time adding changes via the editor than they do playing the game, glued to Sky Sports on transfer deadline day, crossing their fingers that for the first time ever, nobody buys anyone. Spen-ding weeks collating every move, meticulously adding them via the editor for people to use in their game.

Perhaps it’s time that all changed.

We need one central place where everyone can post transfers or changes that they know of, keeping it constantly up to date. We need a team of people on-hand to verify that the information submitted is correct, then making the file available to download. We need a community effort that removes the reliance on one person to maintain one file.

Fansites around the world harp on about how nobody helps each other out anymore, and I believe that some of the websites dedicated to the game are nothing more than a way for those running them to measure their own self-worth. They have no interest in helping someone out unless they get something in return.

Well, now there is an opportunity for the community to come together.

http://liveupdate.me is a web based editor for Football Manager, allowing people to submit changes to the da-tabase that comes with the game. Not only can people post confirmed transfers or manager sackings, but as soon as it gets approved they can download the up-dated file, and use it in their game.

The website itself has been on the go since the FM2014 Beta was released, and at last count had over 4,000

changes approved from over thirty contributors. The aim is to be the first place people go to in order to get the latest data update for their game, and one of the most accurate.

The fact that Ian Holloway was sacked, and 5 minutes later people could download an update to include that, is fantastic!

With the Steam Workshop, we finally have a central place to go to get our content. Logos, faces, skins & data updates will all be there. Not so great for the fansites that try to make a living off hosting these things, but perfect for the rest of us who now have a reliable loca-tion we can go to get these things.

Whilst there will be numerous data updates on the Workshop, they usually all have release dates, meaning it could be weeks before you see a newer version with the latest transfers. http://liveupdate.me - whilst also on the Workshop can keep itself updated with the Win-dows app we’ve created. Running in the background, it’ll fetch the latest file every 30 minutes (or longer, if you prefer), meaning when you start a new game you know you’re going to have the latest changes.

I urge everyone who wants to keep Football Manager up to date to have a look at this project, and contribute if you can. People have been bleating on about the com-munity not helping each other for so long, now here’s your chance to do something about it.

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Updating Football Manager shouldn’t be painful.By Dave Murchison

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About CCC

Contributors and informationClear Cut Chance, Issue Two

Contributors and CCC TeamCleon Hobson, Editor - @Cleon81 – The Chalkboard Diaries, . Cleon is an FM veteran who has been involved with the FM community for over ten years. Nowadays he runs his own blog, The Chalkboard Diaries and mode-rates the official Sports Interactive Forums.

Jarrod Birch, Editor - @PushThemWide – Push Them Wide. Better known as Jad, Jarrod makes up one half of the FM tactics blog Push Them Wide, where he writes frequent posts about tactics, training, team building and FM management.

Matthew Fox, Deputy Editor - @matthewrfox – The Away Stand. Foxo is one of the owners of FM forum The Away Stand and frequently writes tactical articles on TAS and Push Them Wide.

NakS, Deputy Editor, Graphic Design and Layout - @NakSFM - FMEurope. NakS is the man behind the beau-tiful design of CCC. He has also established himself as one of the most knowledgeable sources of information on tactics and training in the FM community.

Shrewnaldo - @Shrewnaldo – Football Manager Veteran. A long-time writer at The Dugout, Shrewnaldo has gained greater exposure in the last year thanks to his tremendous blog, FM Veteran.

Simon Boendermaker - @Sibo373 - The Away Stand.. Simon spends much of his FM time on The Away Stand, where he is well known for his strong opinions and unshakeable tactical philosophy.

Gareth Millward - @MillieQED. One of the leading figure of FM-Britain forum and main contributor of TT&F 10 with wwfan. Although more in the background since, he is still monitoring the FM scene.

Reggie Herringbone - @rtherringbone – When Seagulls Follow The Trawler, SI Games T&T forum. Recently appointed tactical moderator for FM14 on SI official forum, RTHerringbone is a true FM and tactics enthousiast.

Tim Brooks - @FMAmerican – FM American blog.

Acidmonkey - @Acidphire21.

James Williams - @FMramblings – thefmramblings.wordpress.com.

Liam Oliver - SI Games T&T forum. Better know as LIma3 on officials forum where he is a regular and quality contributor on all tactical related topics. Be sure to check out his work there.

Jimbob - @FMmanagers – The Football Manager Blog.

Dave Murchison - @FMUpdateLive – FM2014 Live Data Update. Owner of FM2014 Live date update website, Dave is running one of the most ambitious community-based project to provide regular database update.

Special thanks to:G. J. White – @GaryJWhiteTD

Contact usFollow us on twitter - @clearcutchanceWebsite - clearcutchance.com

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Disclaimer

Clear Cut Chance Magazine is intended for education and entertainment and is not affiliated with Sports Interactive, Football Manager or SEGA. Sports Interactive, the Sports Interactive logo, in-game generated images and any other Football Manager related items are registered trademarks and/or copyright material owned by Sports Interactive, or their respective trademark and copyright holders.SEGA and the SEGA logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of SEGA Corporation. Football Manager, Sports Inte-ractive and the Sports Interactive logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Sports Interactive Limited. All rights reserved.

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