Introduction
Welcome to the FM26 Tactics hub! I know, I know, how much has the user interface changed? It’s growing on me though and given us plenty of opportunities.
It’s always exciting when a new football manager is launched and FM26 is no exception. The problem is that when we first start up a new game, we feel a bit lost.
Anyway, we are here to talk about tactics, and in FM26 we have something new. In possession and out of possession tactics, which obviously adds another dimension in our tactical thinking. Don’t fear though, we are here to help you out!
What Are FM26 Tactics and Why They Matter
So as we all know FM26 tactics are the life blood of your team, they are the identity and strategy you plan to use for your success. Tactics are the instructions that we give our players to contribute to the overall strategy.
Tactics in FM26 are now getting more complicated with a number of moving parts starting with mentality, formation and ending with player roles and team instructions. Each decision you make will affect your tactic in one way or another.
FM26 tactics look to be so much more fun with the in possession and out of possession. You are in for a treat if you follow us this year with some wild, but effective formations.
The Best FM26 Tactics for Every Play Style
As you have seen there are a number of play styles in FM26 ranging from Parking the Bus to the old faithful Gegenpress. We will look at every each tactical style and how you can use it, what the best players are and formations.
Each playstyle brings it’s pros and cons, which will be exaggerated by your players and their skill. As well as this there are a number of variables which can make your tactics work even more effectively.
A lot of the playstyles are results of how you want to score goals and then the strategy is built around it. Look at wing play for example, if you have a target man you want to make use of him. Got some great crossers get them feeding him, wing backs are better? Get them to overlap.
Essentially what we do is work back from the result that we want and keep working it until it works like clockwork.
So whether you are a counter attacker, a gegenpresser or a person who parks buses, we’ve got you covered!
How to Build Your Own FM26 Tactic
We aim to help you build your FM26 tactics with our sound and practical methods. We do this by taking a look at the expectations of the board and the supporters. Then we look at the strength of the first and the squad, which then gives us a good idea of shape and depth.
We then use that information to build our formation, which will be out of possession to start with. We then look at how to transition the out of possession into a lethal in possession tactic. So far this has been really fun in the beta with so many options available.
Once I have built the tactic using the data available I will test the FM26 tactic with 3/5 mid table teams across the top 5 leagues. The reason for the midtable team is that top teams hide any weaknesses and bottom clubs are the other extreme.
There is so much I could write here, but it would fill the page. Basically I have a process in building FM26 tactics which evolves all the time through good ideas.
I have a number of “how to” guides which can help you achieve the success you want.
Download Tested FM26 Tactics
We have a number of tactics already available, both standard and wild combinations. To be honest the earlier tactics have been built for a specific team to try and break the game. We then build great tactics that follow certain objectives like scoring record breaking amounts of goals or conceding the fewest.
The downloads section will be populated more over time, but we have to start somewhere and we only want the most effective tactics on the site.
These tactics will be linked to the related team guide and recruitment strategy. Here are a few of the best examples:
- 7 Man Overload – “7th Heaven” – Has been tested with Werder Bremen, who are a relegation candidate, we finished 4th with them. Impressive.
- 6 Man Attack – “Madrid Diamond” – has been tested with Rennes and West Ham. Rennes were two points from winning Ligue Un in season 1 which is impressive.
Tactical DNA and Player Roles
On FM24 we used to have the ability to export data from the player search. I would then run that through my models in R and that highlighted a number of strengths and weaknesses. Some of the revelations were that RW was the strongest position, the 4231 with MCs was more effective than the 4231 with DMs.
One of the best things that we could do was the correlation between roles which helped us define which roles worked together. Either way we hope that they do introduce the ability to export data again so I can give you some other fun combinations and FM26 tactics.
Conclusion
As you can see we have a lot to offer, whether pre-built tactics for your favourite FM26 team, super tactics or even bespoke guides for positions or roles. Whatever floats your boat, we will have the answers for you over the next year.
I do tend to lean towards scoring more and more goals, but from time to time I will take a different approach I have stumbled on.
However you wish to play the game have fun and enjoy it. This is a learning curve and enjoy the journey.
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