by Louis Bent.
The full version of Football Manager 2024 finally reached its hotly anticipated release on Monday, with players around the globe ready to transition from those testing beta saves to pride and joy expeditions in the main game.
With a new edition of the game comes new ways to win, with different tactical styles and player roles set to make the human vs computer battle even more enticing.
So, after playing the early access version and subsequently the main version for a few days since, here are some tactical perks I’ve found in my own saves that you may find useful in yours.
Inverted Wing-Backs - Plural?
Call me Pep Guardiola for coming up with this one, joking, no seriously please do. But having double Inverted Wing-Backs proved largely successful in my early access save with Ajax.
In FM23 I found using the double IWB system made a system too narrow, with little width involved and too easily exploited by wide midfielders in opposition teams on the counter. Even one became quite taxing in the previous version of the game, I found a quick switch to be very difficult to contend with when the ball was played over the top of said IWB.
However, it appears that a slight tweak to the role has left it more useable in the current edition of the game. The IWB now appears to drop back towards a normal defensive shape a lot more fluidly in comparison to previous versions of the game, you could put that down to teams in the Eredivisie being slightly less incisive when moving forwards against a better side (us) but still I’ve seen a reduction in IWB’s being exposed.
IWB average position out of possession (red line) versus in possession (blue line)
Creatively, the IWB looks like a winner, just take a look at some creative and attacking statistics from Juan Miranda, who joined me as a smart pickup from Real Betis in the summer.
He not only blows the league average out of the water but has excellent long throws which proved very helpful in those games where we struggled to find an opener.
A Libero - but in Midfield?
With the new function of this role set to revolutionise the way that the Libero works, I certainly found that when trying it out during my Ajax save.
Kenneth Taylor was the guinea pig for this, with him able to play the role that I hoped to use against sides we were likely to beat.
Libero Kenneth Taylor against Napoli in the Europa League
He’d play on the right of a two-man centre-back pairing with those Inverted Wing-Backs on either side. It allows the midfielder ahead of him to have the Half-Back shackles taken off and move into a more advanced role. Taylor would move into midfield when in possession, giving us numerical dominance over teams but quietly slipping back into our traditional defensive structure when we lost the ball.
The role allowed us to completely control teams we were likely to beat, with there always being en extra man in the middle of the park to pick up possession.
With positional rotations a new feature in this game too, you could see good rotations between him and whoever would be in the Half-Back role. I’ll admit, I’m still getting the hang of using this one in my teams, but there are definitely benefits which are mainly constrained to games we dominate.
Double Mezzalas
Possibly my favourite player role so far in the game (and it’s clear that MaddFM is also a fan judging by recent podcast episodes), the Mezzala poses a completely different threat to the opposition, offering overlaps in the wide positions. Now think about that and double it, two Mezzala’s could change your system for the better.
I struggled to get Dutch football stalwart Stephen Berghuis to suit a winger role in my Ajax side, I tried him as an Advanced Playmaker, but there was no luck with that as he struggled to impact the game.
So why not combine a more attacking central midfield role with some of those wide midfield qualities that he possesses, so there came Berghuis the roving Mezzala.
We then became fairly one-dimensional, only having one side to play into (the left where Berghuis moved into), despite the former midfielder’s performances improving gradually.
There was another player who could undergo a similar transformation, a player struggling in an Advanced Playmaker role, unable to flourish as a Winger - but a good mix of those two roles.
Gabriel Misehouy, one of the club’s top prospects who I’d aimed to integrate into the first team had developed okay, with mainly upwards-facing arrows but there were far too many games in which he went missing and struggled to find space.
So I thought, let’s give them both a try together. We were up against Excelsior who were in the relegation zone, a game we were expected to win. I felt that with either Edoardo Bove or Andre in the Half-Back role behind them, the pair of them would be free to roam as they pleased.
As much as I was surprised by their effectiveness in the roles, I was also intrigued at their tendency to create underlaps in wide space, particularly when facing a low block.
Berghuis loves a run into this area when a wide player has the ball.
When a wide player has the ball, he waits until his full-back begins to press to make the pass to our underlapping Mezzala who rampages into a dangerous half space inside the box - he’ll then cut back the ball to a striker for a shooting chance.
Berghuis in advanced positions.
I’ve begun to use these roles in my 3-5-2 at Elche, with two Mezzala’s to supplement wing-backs - hopefully, it’ll work to a similar effect.
All in all, these roles and tactics might not work for everyone, it would be pointless trying someone like Rodri as a Mezzala because he's the best holding midfielder in the world and overlapping in wide areas wouldn't be one of his strengths.
The same could be said for trying a non-league centre-back with low composure as a Libero on support when he's better suited to a No-Nonsense Centre-Back on defend.
It's all about what works for you, and if you can find a balance in your team and the players to suit these particular roles, you might be in for a successful reign at your club.
Thanks for reading - feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below or @5StarPod on Twitter.
Louis.
This is Louis’ second guest article for 5 Star Potential following his excellent piece on Simplifying Player Roles in Football Manager - make sure you are following him on Twitter for more of his FM content!
Interested in being a guest writer for 5 Star Potential? Drop us a message on Twitter or reach out to MaddFM directly.
