FM 2014 TActic: 4-3-3 Offensive

The idea:

You have three strikers, give them the ball and they'll score! This tactic is an offensive tactic, you will create chances without leaking in the defense. The idea is actually to have a solid back four that wins the ball back and quickly provide long-balls for the strikers. Unlike Dutch 4-3-3 which is a possession based tactic this is purelt based on quick long-balls linking defense and atack as soon as possible. In the midfield it's a bit thin, therefor you need your only central midfielder to work hard as if you had two CM.

The core is though in the offensive. Three strikers with different roles gives you many dimensions. For the opposition it's hard to defend in all dimensions. The Target Man uses his aerial ability to start an attack, but if he is marked you have a Deep Lying Forward that can drop and receive the ball. Also you have an Atcking Forward ready to exploit the smallest mistakes by the opposition with his speed and runs behind the defensive lines.

Purple: The Deep Lying Forward is starting the attack from a very deep position.
Red: The two opposition Midfielder are tempted to press the DLF (purple)
Light Blue: Three players starts to run, especially on the flanks that are wide open

Red: The two opposition midfield went forward to press the DLF (Ibarra)
Black: The ball pathway exploiting the huge spae behind the two midfielder (in red)
Light Blue: Players running and exploiting the huge space on the flanks.
Result? Goal :)

Team instruction:

This is as the name suggest a 4-3-3 tactic. In the back four you will have a very ordinary defense, no Wingbacks just Fullbacks. In midfiels you have two on the flank and one box to box CM. In Atack there is one TM one DLF and finally a AF. Tactic is offensive and the fluidity is balanced..

Defensibly you need to win the ball back quickly, therefor you Hassle the opposition, have a high defensive line. With high defensive lines comes offside traps.

Offensively you want to start the offensive ASAP. To do so you cross the ball early, even though the players aren't ready to receive the cross. But you play with float crosses, this will give time for your player to be ready to receive the cross. It's also a high tempo to overwhelm the opposition defense.

Player instruction:

• Goalkeeper:
  Sweeper Keeper - support
  Instr. More Direct Pass, Take Long Kicks
  First of all, with a high defensive line sweeper keeper is a must. Remember Eccentricity is important here, 
• Defender Right/Left:
  Full Back - Defend
  Instr. Mark Tighter, Run Wide With Ball, Ease Off Tackles, More Direct Pass, Cross more often, Cross aim at Target Man
• Central Defender Right/Left:
  Ball playing defender - cover
  Instr. mark tighter, More Direct pass, Ease off Tackles
  They don't do anything stupid. They stay on their feet and keeps a solid defensive line. No risking here!
• Midfielder Right:
  Winger - Support
  Instr. Tackle Harder, Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Cross From Depth, Get Further Forward, Stay Wider, Shoot More Often, Cross Aim Target Man
• Midfielder Central:
  Box To Box Midfield - Support
  Instr. More Direct Pass, Close Down More, Tacle Harder, Mark Tighter, Roam From Position, Shoot More Often
• Midfielder Left:
  Wide Midfielder - Attack
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Cross From Depth, Stay Wider, Shoot More Often, Cross Aim Target Man
• Striker Central Right: Target Man - Support
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Roam From Position, Tackle Harder
• Striker Central:
  Deep Lying Forward - Support
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Roam from position
• Striker Central Right:
  Advanced Forward - Attack
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Hold Position, Tackle Harder, Move Into Channels

DOWNLOAD TACTIC HERE

FM 2014 TACTIC: Defending CORNER

Introduction:

It is one of the hardest part of FM throughout the game series as far as I can remember. This tactic is not a guarantee for keeping clean sheets from corners but more helping your chances. On the other hand this tactic is great to counter attack the opposition. Also you will find that this tactic spreads out the player more than the standard settings which reduce the risk of the ball bouncing into the goal because it's too crowdy.

Instructions & Requirements:

• Mark Far/Near post: Both post needs to be marked, it is important roles but in my opinion any player who are somewhat tall and okay in the air can mark these post. Don't wast your best aerial players for these role! Also as they don't really move a lot it doesn't matter if they have terrible seped stats
• Mark Six Yard Box: For this role you do not need a speedy player, however it is important that the player is competent in the air. Usually a slow Central defender
• Mark Tall Player: This role is the most important. For this role you chose your best defender. This role require he has good Air, Speed, Concentration and Marking stats. Also it's very important he is tall, 1,85 m tall or more.
• Man Mark: Someone with good aerial and defending stats. Especially important is obviously marking.
• Edge of Area: No need to waste a player with good aerial stats for this role. go for the best passer you have, speed and technical stats are a plus. This player is the one that that collects balls heading out and starts counters.
• Stay Forward: Very important role. He needs very good speed and attacking stats. Usually this is a role for a speedy striker.
• Go Back: Three of your player will have this role. It is for all the players left over that didn't get any other role, observe that this does not mean they are the worst in the air, or slowest just that they weren't cut out for the other roles.

Does it work?

At the end it all comes down to the result and Yes, I am confident that it works. Using this tactic I haven't even needed to set Match Training at "Def. Set Piece" and still I get good result. Mostly I'm proud of the number of counter attacks this defending corner tactic provides. Down below is the result from the previous 30 Matches (it's for that long I've been using this defending tactic).

Just to be clear, don't expect miracles. The best way to keep clean sheets on corners is still to have good players and set Match Training to "Def. Set Piece". With that said I don't wan't you to underestimate the benefit from a working corner tactic either.

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Aaron Leya Iseka

Name: Aaron Leya Iseka

Nationality: Belgium/DR Congo
Contract: Anderlecht
Age: 16
Value: 8,5k£
Salary: 50£/week
Position: ST

Summary: Another Belgian talent on the making. He is the younger brother of Michy Batshuayi who is already a recognized striker in FM and IRL (though I failed to find out why their last names differ, anyone who knows why please write in the comment section, I'd like to know). Aaron is only 16 at start of the game and you should view him as a future investment rather than a competent striker. His determination attribute is at maximum 20, this almost guarantees he will fulfill his potential. He is good in the air and can certainly be a target man, but looking through his development he could equally play as a complete or advanced striker, in my save he is even leathal as a Deep Lying Forward so don't get hung up about his aerial stats. This lad will in the future guaranty goals for every team, top class. The downside is, he isn't going to be world class. He will definitely be a good and even classy striker, but not enough to be a "world class" player. Still he is so cheap and he doesn't ask for much for a salary.
Recommendation: 9/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Hiroshi Ibusuki

Name: Hiroshi Ibusuki

Nationality: Japan
Contract: Valencia CF
Age: 22
Value: 350k£
Salary: 2000£/week
Position: ST

Summary: I'll admit, he isn't looking like a world class player at the age of 22. Hiroshi Ibusuki is one of the footballers that comes through huge academies (in this case Valencia's) but they aren't good enough for the first team, but they are still too good to just release. He is far from useless, in fact using him as a Target Man (like in my Modern 4-4-2 Tactic) can get the better of him. He is steady developing into a leathal striker. I would describe him as a very effective striker and gives good service for teammates with headers. He isn't a speedy striker so don't waste time if you need a striker to round goalie, Hiroshi plays best as Target Man. To be fair he isn't any way near world class. He will develop to a good striker eventually and I'm sure he will please the midtable teams or lower. For English teams (maybe others aswell) work permit might be a problem. Otherwise he is cheap both transfer and salary-wise. Cannot give him more than a 6 out of ten
Recommendation: 6/10

Note, I had a better screenshot of him when he was at his best at age 29, problem was that I had forgot to turn the language to English (as I play in Swedish). Two FM years has passed on since then and in this screenshot he has lost a little bit of  his aerial, just wanted to notify.

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Humam Tariq

Name: Humam Tariq

Nationality: Iraq
Contract: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Age: 18
Value: 250£
Salary: 425£/week
Position: AMC/AML

Summary: Don't you dare doubt Humam Tariq. Can you buy him, then do so because there is no way you could get disappointed. He is very chead, whatever you pay him will be a huge salary rise and you must almoast try to destroy his career on purpus if you don't want him to be a bargain. Very rarly I find world class wonderkid player but when I do they are usually very expensive, this guy isn't. IRL he is a huge talent, at the age of 18 he has already made 15 appearances and 3 goals for his national team! In Iraq were my parents come from the football society there consider him the biggest Iraqi talent yet, partly because he plays for an Iraqi football club he isn't as recognized around the world. Now you probably think, if he is as great super talent as you describe, why haven't any top football club signed him? Well he has actually been rumored that for example Manchester City, Feynoord and Lille tried to sign him but the problem is his nationality, he is Iraqi and therefor it's difficult to get a work permit and thats also a major problem in the game. To get him a work permit is a lot harder than you might think although it is not impossible to buy him and loan him to another EU-country if you have an afflicted club there. The thing is that I can't include the difficulty with the work permit in my recommendation rating, therefor I give this guy top recommendation. In my saved game he got an average rating of 7.03 in the Premier League. By the way IRL this guy eventually signed for a Dubai based club (Al-Ahli Sports) and I guess that alongside an emirate work permit he got a fat paycheck (I'm just guessing).
Recommendation: 10/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Alberto Brignoli

Name: Alberto Brignoli

Nationality: Italy
Contract: Ternana
Age: 21
Value: 550k£
Salary: 4800£/week
Position: GK

Summary: This guy is very special, he seems like an ordinary Serie B goalie but don't worry about what your scouts have to say about this guy. Alberto is like a secret wonderkid. I've never heard of him before, neither IRL nor in FM- world, which is why he is so important to bring up. First of all, he is playing in Serie B so he can't demand to much club reputation which helps if you try to sign him as a smaller team. He isn't asking for too much when it comes to salary and he isn't expensive to buy either. What you can expect from this guy is a cheap close-to-world-class-goalkeeper. He is very good at saving penalties (saved 4/5 penalties for me so far). He isn't bothering you at all, he is just a solid and great goalie. If there is one negative thing to say to this guy it is that he never really gets to be wold class. I recommend this guy, you won't regret buying him. He starts of with quit good determination stats and he is professional and therefor you can be safe to know that he will develop, all he needs is some match time. If only he could be a little better speed stats he would be a 10/10, but thats not the situation and I'm force to give this marvelous bargain a nine.
Recommendation: 9/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Dória

Name: Matheus Dória Macedo

Nationality: Brazil
Contract: Botofago
Age: 18
Value: 6.25M£
Salary: 5 750£/week
Position: DC

Summary: The easiest way to describe Dória is world class. He is absolute world class and would be a superstar wherever he goes. He is tall, strong and quick, anytime your defense is leaking you can be sure Dória has nothing to do with it. IRL this guy has already played a match for Brazil, at age 18! I can't say anything bad about him and he is a stable defender which mean bad form is a rarity. So what's the problem? Economical, He is already at start of the game a great defender and is valuated at 6.25M£, expect to pay far more than 6.25M£ and he isn't going to ask for a small salary. But at the same time the best thing with him could besides that he is a world class defender also be that his value is rising (as you can see on my save game he is valuated 27M£ in 2018). I doubted my decision to give him a 10 out of 10 but he is one of the few world class talents out there and he isn't that expensive either (we're not talking about a galactico buy here) so in the end he gets a tad weak 10/10.
Recommendation: 10/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Daniel Amartey

Name: Daniel Amartey

Nationality: Ghana
Contract: Djurgårdens IF
Age: 18
Value: 300k£
Salary: 1300£/week
Position: DC/DMC/MC

Summary: What is this guy doing in Sweden? Daniel Amartey is a great wonderkid playing in Swedish Djurgårdens IF. He is an all rounder defensively. He develops steady but needs to play and because he isn't world class at the start of the game. Given enough play time he will be a class defender. Very high lowest level, he has everything you could ask for in a defender. Even though he is great defender he will not be the world class type. What makes up for his limits is that he is cheap, you can easily get him for 1.2M£ at start of the game, I managed to get him after two seasons for 0,9M£ and he is a bargain. Daniel is not a risky buy, he will develop and he is also a fairly good defender at the start so no worries. As for the salary he is asking for small amounts around 5k£/week. I've seen him play IRL both in matches and in training (My younger brother trains with Djurgarden IF's youth academy, in the winter first and academy teams share the same ground) and to me it is only a matter of time until he moves to a bigger club, no mistake by SI-scouts here at all!
Recomendation: 8/10

FM 2014 STAFF TO HIRE: Dave billows

Name: Dave Billows

Contract: Unemployed
Job: Fitness coach
Best training category: Strength & Aerobic
Best Raiting: 10 (5 Star)

Summary: Immense fitness coach. Having experience from David Moyes long spell in Everton he is a real world class fitness coach. Not only is he already world class but he is also not that old, only 41. Not that it matter because he doesn't have too much room for improvement but seriously he is a 5- star coach, what improvement is needed. However what is important with his relatively young age is that he has many years to come and still remain as world class fitness coach. The negative side is that he is very hard to recruit but not impossible, always worth a try for this man. It does make it easier to hire him as he is unemployed. Otherwise he is willing to work for about 1,200£/week and a must to recruit if you are a top side team!

Recomendation: 10/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Jerome Williams

Name: Jerome Williams

Nationality: England
Contract: Crystal Palace
Age: 18
Value: 89k£
Salary: 800£/week
Position: DL

Summary: In Crystal Palace there are two Williams, one is named Jon Williams the other Jerome Williams. Jon is in the first team, Jerome plays for the reserves. Jon is worth 3.1M£, Jerome is worth 89k£. Jon is the star youngster and scouts report that this is a promising four star talent, Jerome usually has no scouts on him, but when he has they give him no more than two and a half stars. But believe me, Jon is not even half the talent of Jerome. I've had Jerome in my team for six years or something and never have I had any problemn with him. He is a very offensive lefb back, I though converted him into LWB which suited my tiki taka tactic more. Anyhow he is developing steady, just be patient with him. As I stated earlier he is a very talented player but tutoring is strongly recommended to help him reach his potential. Try not to have too high expectations on him in the beginning as he is a slow bloomer. In my game he is making huge improvements even though he is 24, let him develop in his own pace. One special thing I love about this guy is unlike many other full/wingbacks good with his head but at the same time technical. When he is fully developed you will see him as an allrounder. His asking price isn't too high and initially in the game he ask for a very small wage both big plus.
Recomendation: 8/10

Update

Sorry for the lack of updates, I've been busy with a lot of things. To make it up for it I've got some big news coming up. New tactics, new players, new coaches and some surprises.

During the past week I've been skiing in the foggy swedish mountain :-)

Stay tuned for updates

MY FM 2014 CAREER: Wolves Resumé

I never intended this type of articles because it hasn't got anything to do with the guide, but since I've had a couple of request I can't see why not.

I would love to have told you a continuous story about my career but I've already played until 2020 therefor a recap would be the right way to go. 

So I started as Wolves in League One (English third division) and the whole club was a mess. The biggest problem I had was the minimal budget and to make matters worse I had a lot of poor players with very high wages and long contracts, a total nightmare. I sold what I could and bought what was available, I ended up having an okay but very young squad. To get the most out of the players I implemented a tactic that I thought would fit the squad, I choose a Tiki Taka Tactic but I would lie to you if I told you it worked out smoothly. In fact I had to adjust the tactic numerous times and in the end we found a working tactic. We cruised up the table and secured promotion with a couple of matches left to play. The season goal was fulfilled: we got promoted and furthermore we won League One which was the icing on the cake.

Now we were playing in the Championship. League One was a piece of cake, we probably were the big favorites but to be promoted again in the first season in Championship? No the media though we would end up at the 13th place, but seriously who cares about the media! In pre-season I figured out that Tiki Taka isn't to any good if I don't construct a plan B, therefor I developed a Gegenpressing tactic. I knew the club was poisoned with bad highly paid players so I wanted to redo almoast the whole team if we were to have any chance of success. In total I released or sold 27 players and I loaned out 10 players so in total 37 players left the club either permanently or temporary. At the same time I brought in 8 quality players, you call me mad for letting go of 37 players and bring in 8? Well we shocked everyone as we not just got the right results but also we won the whole Championship in big style, even though we probably had one of the thinnest budget in the whole league.

Okay i was the hero, we won against all odds everybody is happy. But now we are in Premier League and to summarize a couple of seasons: we have done very well. The first season was the most difficult because we were predicted to be demoted, but you can now guess that it didn't happen. At the same time we got a bigger budget, but even if it was bigger than before it was one of the smallest budget in the league. The thing is I had done miracles with small budget before and for the first time I could sign player I really wanted. Later after the first season I started to lap the wholes from the devastating time in the League One and Championship. The youth academy was a mess I rebuilding it wasn't going to be easy and it took time. But I managed and besides I even managed to rebuild the stadium. 

Among others there are some people I wanted to highlight that really helped me through my career. These players have followed me for a long time very loyally, some even from the start when we played in League One:

 
 

 FROM LEFT TO RIGHT ALI ADNAN, DAVID DAVIES,
 MEMPHIS DEPAY, WAYNE HENESSEY, ZELI ISMAIL

I've continued the hard work throughout the seasons, and each season we ended up at a higher place than the previous. I've been runner up for the Premier League's Manager of the Year Award twice and once I came in third place for the award. Next time I'll write about the season I'm in at the moment and to finish this Resumé here is a full list of the awards::

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Zeli Ismail

Name: Zeli Ismail

Nationality: England/Albania
Contract: Wolverhampton Wanderers
Age: 19
Value: 220k£
Salary: 500£/week
Position: MR/AMR

Summary: Ever heard of this guy? No? Well he isn't the most famous player in neither the real world nor in the FM communities. But this guy isn't nobody, he has represented England U16 and U17 and is about to break through in the lower divisions as a 19 year old talent. In FM this guy starts off as a pretty poor player, I am not going to lie to you, when I managed Wolves in FM 2014 the only reason I kept him was because of the lack of alternatives. Zeli Ismail isn't the biggest talent in the game but he isn't that bad either, he develops ok and he has some potential, never world class but he'll be a descent midfielder in the Premier League. He is quick and strong with an okay technique. I schooled him to be an AML were he plays as an inner forward, that way I believe you get the most out of him. The thing is if you have a very tight budget and can't get those supertalents, you might be looking for this guy because he is very cheap and he is willing to leave his League One team. Unfortunately he isn't top class or even close even when he reaches his top potential, but as I previously wrote he is a good signing if we are talking about really stretched budgets.
Recomendation: 5/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Memphis Depay

Name: Memphis Depay

Nationality: Holland
Contract: PSV
Age: 19
Value: 2,7M£
Salary: 4800£/week
Position: AML/AMR/ST

Summary: Great player overall for his position. Like many wonderkid he starts off pretty decent but even at start you can pretty much guess what his strong abilities will be: Set piece. This guy is all you need for your set piece. I signed him pretty early in the game and now he is imensive as a free kick and corner taker but since I've used my my corner tactic this guy scores a lot of assists. I use him on the left side as an inner forward and that role suits him perfectly. Though I recommend you to use in as a inner forward in a AML position I must make it clear, he is fully capable playing on the right side and as striker but the risk is you won't use his full capacity. He is a weaker version of Cristiano Ronaldo if you ask me. This guy is otherwise all-round good only one thing he lacks: defending abilities. But even if you ignore his defending stat which most of the time isn't used by him if you position him right, the biggest problem for this guy is that besides free kicks and corners he hasn't any other specialties. He is absolutely on of the top offensive wingers in the world if he reach his potential but we aren't looking at any miracle player here, he is one in the line in a top club. He always produce assists and goals, but we aren't talking about a goal machine, more a safe card. In other words he always gets assists and goals every season, but is never the player of the year for your team. He isn't a bargain, be prepared to pay something in the region of 9M£ early in the game and more if youy attempt later, still he is good enough to be worth every penny.
Recomendation: 7/10

I mean look at his free kick stats in 2019: 20 FK, 18 Long Shots. Perfect guy for the job!

FM 2014 TACTIC: ATTACKING CORNER

This has been one of the hardest part of Football Manager 2014, how to get a good working corner tactic. I should remind you that a corner tactic and especially this corner tactic is laying importance in whether the corner kick taker is right or left-footed, but if you're luck you'll have a corner kick taker that can play with both his feet :-)

Corner kick taker

Aim?

Aim for the Far post, but just because you aim for the far post doesn't mean you will score goals at the far post. Depending on how elevated the ball is there will be a chance for players to head it along the way to the far post, in fact it is more common to score anywhere but the far post than the far post using this tactic.

Right or Left?

Use you're right footed corner kick taker on the left side. For the left footed use them for corners on the right side. If you are lucky your best corner kick taker can use either feet which makes him a candidate for both right and left side.

What stats should I be looking for in a corner taker?

This is VERY important. There are two very common mistakes when people look for a corner kick taker. The first mistake is some people only look for the corners stat but that isn't the only stat to consider in a corner kick taker. The second common mistake is that people consider a taker based on three stats: corners, crosses and passing. If you don't have a corner tactic where the player needs to either pass or cross then you don't need both. In this tactic you aim for the far post and there is no way you can pass the ball to the far post, you will always need to cross the ball if you aim for the far, therefor the only stats you should be looking for in this corner tactic is corners and crossing.

A corner taker cannot challenge goalkeeper at the same time

When you have a player taking the corner he cannot have another role in your corner tactic. To prevent this problem you can do like this: If your two best corner taker usually plays as ML and MR, the give both ML and MR the role forward or default that way if he is taking the corner there won't be a player missing for an essential role.

Instructions:

• Challenge goalkeeper:Someone with okay physical stats and heading stats.
• Attack far post: Someone with both good speed and heading stats. Often receives the ball after a flick or if the corner is slightly missing it's trajectory, then this guy will be coming with speed towards the ball. 
• Stand on far post: This role requires both good heading and physical stats. It.s usually this player the taker aims for, but most of the time the ball is headed somewhere along the way to this player, but sometimes it actually is this player that heads the ball and in that situation you need someone that is strong and just gets his head on the ball.
• Near post flick on: Here you should only look for good heading stats. This guy sets up good scoring opportunities for his teammates.
• Attack ball from depth: Good speed but only okay heading and finishing stats is required. This guy has somewhat a similar role as the Attack far post guy but the difference is this guy comes to the rescue when the corner has seriously missed it's trajectory.
• Lurk outside area: Put in a player that is good on long shots and passing. This role is important and prevent many counterattacks after a failed corner, besides it happens that this player can shot from long range and score just after the opposition heads it out.
• The rest? 
  Some of them should stay back if needed, some you could just set on default or go forward, you should use go forward or default for the positions your corner takers usually play so that none of the roles above are missing when your taker sets up a corner.

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Rodrigo Gómez

Name: Rodrigo Gómez

Nationality: Argentina
Contract: Argentinos
Age: 20
Value: 1,1M£
Salary: 1900£/week
Position: AMR/MC/MR

Summary: At start he is already 20 years old, very mediocre stats and playing for Argentinos a team usually at the bottom half.of the league Doesn't sound like a world class talent? Well Rodrigo Gómez is a world class talent. Playing for Maradona's old team Argentinos he is available for a bid around 3M£. What happens to this 20 years old midfielder is a mystery because his development is as fast as it gets on FM. Give Gómez regular match time and he'll do the rest and become the best talent from Argentinos since Diego Maradona. You will end up with a midfielder that is good allround except for his Aerial stats which are very poor and he is a very short (165 cm, which is exactly Maradona's height) player. To compensate his poor aerial stats he is outstanding when it comes to speed and technique. The only negative thing about Gómez is his age wich means he cannot wait at all to get rugular match time and a season long injury at start could be fatal for Gómez's career as a top-side footballer.
Recomendation: 9/10