Tales from the Isle of Dogs
Developing a high-scoring 4–5–1 tactic for Football Manager 20
After leaving Football Manager 20 inactive for a long time, recently, thanks to the considerable amount of free time I was given by this damn quarantine, I started to devote myself again to my beloved pastime with which, over the years, I developed a controversial relationship.
After a quick, one season only, save in France with Metz, I’m finally back to England, trying to turn Millwall into an established EPL team.
The first step to do this was, of course, to achieve promotion from the Championship.
Why Millwall? No one likes them…I hear you say.
I needed a minor club from London, a club with no trophies, a blue kit and a small but nice stadium.
The Lions met all of these requirements perfectly, as a bonus they’re the classic underdog, media predicted to finish 18th.
As you can see, I’m not one to choose teams at random.
My appointment as manager of Millwall was celebrated with the creation of a new logo for the team, this one below.
Beautiful, isn’t it?
The rules
I’m not a big fan of self-imposed rules in Football Manager, mainly because I like to change direction during a career, regarding the tactical aspect, however, I never change default set pieces routines, I think they are one of the weak points of the game, few changes can compromise and exploit the match engine.
Believe me, when at the end of the season you realize that you scored 30 or more goals from corners, it means that something is not properly working.
The market & the tactical plan
As revealed in the title the players available at Millwall work well in a 4–5–1, or 4–3–3 if you prefer, tactical asset. Some new faces were necessary to complete the team though, so I signed some interesting young players, some of them on loan while others joined permanently.
If you’ve already been here, you probably know that I like to achieve my goals by using players who are often underestimated and without great potential but who, if used in the right tactical framework, can integrate with the most talented players allowing the team to work perfectly.
Don’t forget that in Sacchi’s Milan, players like Van Basten and Maldini coexisted with water carriers like Angelo Colombo, Filippo Galli and Evani.
I’m going to follow once again that philosophy.
Fagioli (from Juventus), Baningime (Everton) and Curtis Jones (Liverpool) are all top youth prospects with agreed price clauses in their contracts, the others are good players with decent potential, ready for the Championship, a good mix of experience and rough talent.
The original plan was to adopt a balanced mentality, but very soon I realized the team was performing better when a more attacking mentality was employed, positive was the way to go.
The board asked for a direct and high pressing approach, more or less what I had in mind, vertical football without giving the ball away too much.
A standard line of engagement coupled with a similar defensive line will be the foundation of my medium block, having space behind the enemy line is vital for my pass into space instruction to work.
To be fair a quicker striker would be needed for this tactic, Tom Bradshow, my main forward, is not the fastest at this level, anyhow he will finish the season with 16 goals scored.
The halfback (instructed to take more risks) is another key role to balance this tactic, I use a creative player with good passing and vision skills here (Shaun Williams): 53 key passes overall, almost 2 per game.
Here I have an added third central defender always ready to step up and help the midfield when we begin to push the ball forward.
This tactic has been highly effective all the season long, we had the best scoring record of the league with 91 goals.
Was the season any good?
Yep, it was bloody brilliant with a terrific finale, we finished third and qualified for the playoffs, after two easy wins vs. W.B.A. we met Leeds United at Wembley for an intriguing final game.
An even and nervous match with few chances for both teams involved, 90 minutes were not enough to decide the winner.
Extra time.
111 min. Klich runs up to beat the penalty, a huge chance for Leeds…
…but Bialkoskwi reads the shoot well and saves the penalty!
118 min. After a nice one-two between Curtis Jones and Fagioli, Jones tries to shoot from a tight angle…
It’s a goal! 19yrs old Jones scores for Millwall, the winning goal of the match. Millwall are going up!!
Not a bad epilogue, right?
The narrative is always important in Football Manager, it’s not about winning or losing, it’s the way you win (or lose) that could keep you hooked into a savegame and this was surely an entertaining first season.
Notewhorty performers
I bet you want to know more about the players who led the team up there, many of them had an outstanding season, but above all four players emerged.
- Ben Thompson: dynamic midfield hammer capable of setting up goals, eradicating the ball from his opponents feet and even scoring some screamers.
A fucking machine. [7.42 Av.rat-6 goals-9 assists] - Connor Mahoney: keeping him injury free has been hard, but Connor is a gem at this level, a flamboyant winger with a bag full of tricks, a wizard on the right flank of my formation.[7.07 Av.rat-12 goals-14 assists]
- Jake Cooper: the rock of my defensive line, always reliable, the king of interceptions, 104 this season.
- Tom Bradshow: solid striker, with 16 goals my best scorer, probably a bit slow for the EPL in the lone striker role.
