We all do it, right? The tactic is working well enough for you that you decide to watch the game on Key Highlights or even just the goals. I’ve been a bit guilty of it as late as the team is performing above expectations in the league and now I just want to see how these young players are going to develop.

After a game where we dominated possession (72%) and had an endless number of shots (35) but only won 1-0, I decided to watch my team more closely for the following game and see if there were any improvements to be made.

For clarity, here is my formation. We’ve been controlling the possession in games and out shooting the other teams regularly, even conceding the lowest number of goals in the league last season. I’m not looking to make sweeping changes to the formation or style of the team but see if I can tweak things here and there.

We come to the game and inside the first 10 minutes I start noticing something that doesn’t sit well with me, my fullbacks weren’t where I wanted them to be.

As a team that is so careful with the ball I’d like to see my fullbacks providing my wingers with more support. You can see below that number 5 & 12 are both off the pace of the play and not really providing any value.

Player number 5 is more of a CB or No Nonsense Fullback (don’t’ hate on the left back playing with a number 5 on his back) so I’m not wanting massive things out of him. A change from NFB to FB/S means he’ll get into the play more often and give my winger an outlet if he’s in trouble.

Player number 12 is a long way back for the space that he could take advantage of. See in the example below, a well timed run and ball over the top could really open this team up.

I’ve switched number 12 from a FB/S to a FB/A, this might be the tiniest change but will affect the game but providing me 2 attacks that lead to goals plus many more opportunities.

Note the changes… From the original tactic.

In the following images you will see how much more advanced the FB/A is playing. Every one of these images is followed by the ball being played to the fullback.

It’s easy for me to tell you to watch the games more but I hope you’ve seen from this post how much a small change can make to a game. For me, seeing the opportunities that were available to me and making the change was one thing. The team following through and providing me entertainment, via the changes I made to the formation, was very rewarding. It’s easy to skip over the small things and details in Football Manager at times but sometimes you’ll make that one decision or have that one game that will live in the memory for some time.