A Guide to Tactical Instructions

I’ve played this game since Steve bull was at wolves and I’m actually still very shit

i found some observations in this video that i discovered myself:

1-distribute to centerbacks / play out of defense: if your centerbacks are bad a passing and being pressed hard (against gegenpress-like tactics) they will lose the ball in your own box (because CBs get into the box to assist the GK), i avoid using this because has happened to me before

2-use offside trap: when the opposite team is finding space in like a 4-3-3 formation between your wingers and fullbacks and attempts long balls, for me offside trap is the way to go

3-distribute to fullbacks: if your thing is playing on flanks (what i personally like) a way to start rolling the ball down the flanks is this, also, when you distribute the centerbacks, the centerbacks get inside your own box to assist the goalkeeper for passing, posession that can be lost against a team that has the highest line of engagement, when you distribute to fullbacks, you push your lines higher up the pitch, reducing that margin of error

I had real problems with counter press in lower leagues. Found so many teams just playing long ball over the top as soon as they got the ball and my team just not dealing with it regardless of my defensive line, changed it to regroup but with triggering press more often and it seemed to help my players realise I want them to make sure they've got back into position before they press.

I would not say that there are correct tactical instructions, there are those that adapt to the situation.

What is the video where he explains the underlaps and overlaps?

Hold position but no time wasting also creates a "counter attack"

Defensive width actually relates to the shape of the whole team when out of possession. It has a lot of relevance to how you press. Generally, if you press intensely and or high, you should have a narrow or at least normal width. Think of it as compacting the team in to a solid unit, which is essential for a good press.
The team will move side to side without the ball so will still defend wide areas, it just means that your players will be closer together.

Everybody like this video because it's amazing

Testimonial: Mr Zealand, your videos showed me how FM2020 works. I since moved on from FM18 and started my first game with Darlington FC (Vanarama North). First season, I lost in the play off final but then went on a 62 game unbeaten league run spanning almost a season and half. I eventually lost to Dorking (rolls eyes). It wasn't easy, no name checked wonderkids or downloaded tactics or bs. But understanding how the game works? That's the ticket. Thank you from Darlington FC in the National Conference (for now!).

i personally find a very high line in combination with regroup to be working pretty good

Worth noting that you may want to turn off counter if you're looking to see out a game. Counter will increase the chances of you turning the ball over and presumably reduce player stamina also.

Question: I have slow and crappy defenders. I am reluctant to play a high line as I'm worried they'll get burned for pace. I doubt they have the ability to execute a coordinated offside trap too. Would you still recommend a high vs low line?

Is it possible to provoke a player into leaving the club?

When he says Hit early crosses is good if you've got a striker like Mitrovic and you just signed Mitrovic XD

Oh man, In this game I am like zidane😂..i win lucky and lose humiliated.
No tactics just luck😂

What, no throwing the ball over defence? :D

Hi sir I am Indian
My name Chaitanya

😂😂😂😂

Great video dude

Or hear me out, click all the pretty buttons and just insallah.

How to press while having another player under cover shadow? Like how Salah and Mane basically.. Pressing the CBs while blocking passing lane to their FBs.

I STILL CANT MAKE MY AMC TO WORK DAMN! 😠

play out of defence also causes your CMs (if you don't have a DM) to drop lower and help CBs with the build-up

Can someone recommend this guy for manny the guy needs help

Hi could you please make a video on how to make ur wingers actually do something? A lot of times my wingers are always at 6.6 or below and it pisses me off. It feels like i have 9players in my team cuz they usually dont do jack shit

Im fed up of this game. Doesn't matter if i have Bayern or a bad team or whoever, i lose i don't get it. tried everything.its 0 realistic.

Between 1992 hours in FM19 and 1888 hours in FM20 and who knows how many between 14-18 Ive finally figured out how to set a good tactic. For the first 10-15 games, hell for the first season, completely avoid individual instructions. Only when you start to understand your players and how they play only then should you think about individual instructions. I.E. you got a pacey midfielder who has a knocks ball past oppenent trait? Then consider giving him the instruction to get forward and so on. This has saved me so much frustration when seemingly good tactics start to fall apart for no reason.

its our guy zealand. thanks man for the great content. love your streams aswell. good luck to u and i look foward to your next.

Just me venting my frustrations. Don’t mind me. Love your vids Zealand

Arguably one of the most shittiest games ive ever played in my entire life. I don’t even know why i want to try to create a tactic, why i watch through an entire match trying to figure out wtf is wrong with the tactic. In truth, not even changing the tactic works. No matter what you do the game just decides whether youre gonna lose or win. Once it decides that you’ll lose, all your players start playing like a bunch of dumb fcks, missing every single chance they can see in sight. One on ones, 1 yard chances, all the kind of clear cut chances you can think of. They will miss every single one of them. And then the opponent just throws one ball over the top and your supposedly “world class” defenders cant catch up to a 5 pace striker. Absolute. Bullshit. It comes to a point where i just give up and close the program w/o even caring anymore. And dont come at me with all the “your tactics are shite”. I might not be a master at making tactics but it doesnt take a bloody genius to c that this years game is broken.

Very informative video as usual. I would like to touch on the benefits of setting less team wide instructions and setting more individual instructions. For example setting the entire team to dribble more is generally not as good an idea as setting that instruction for individual players, I.e. players who can dribble well or ones you arent worried about giving up the ball in a dangerous area of the pitch. The same logic applies for things like passing directness etc.

It would be great to see a video on how to properly use AMC formations. It is something I have really been playing with as I'm used to a 433 and have struggled to get my 4231 working as well.

Can you please make a video of what to do when starting day 1, head coach attributes and how to allocate them. Thanks

great video man, real tight explanation! Keep up with the good video's :)

So playing against 4231 - should I have tight marking on? Is it a bad idea to tight marking 433? I am having trouble dealing with 442 since I usually play 442. Should I change my flat 442 to a diamond 442 to have CAM exploit the space behind the opponent’s midfield?

"A striker who is good at being big"

Sums up Peter Crouch's entire career.

I love the sketch’s just shows the effort he will go to for his fans to make it entertaining

You have a unique and interesting style which is very impressive 20 minutes is not long enough!

Florida is like most other states, they do the right thing after exhausting all other options....

"Play for Set Pieces" imo, will also delay the momentum of the game, whether it be from players forcing corners for your team or even the opposing team late in the game. I usually don't have it on because it's sort of a double edge sword. I may be completely wrong in this though

A few tactical thoughts from my FM20 experiences:

1) I really like combining Stay on Feet with More Urgent or Extremely Urgent pressing, especially on higher mentalities. The effect is that my players will pressure the opponent into making a poor decision or playing an impatient long ball without the risk that comes with lunging in for a tackle (exposed defense or cards). With the higher mentality, the other players will look to pick off a bad pass. You don't win the ball as quickly, but you keep your defense solid and still get plenty of transition opportunities.

2) I have one tactic where I turn Counter off and stick to Regroup. If I expect to dominate my opponent and I have a team full of good passers, I'll play a tiki-taka style 3-4-3. The only chances I concede in this tactic are counters to my counters. My team bombs up, we lose the ball, and suddenly we're exposed. So I ask my team not to counter and rarely concede a chance (again, this is only an approach I play against weaker teams). Otherwise....yeah, let's get after those counters.

3) Like the video mentioned, slightly compressed defensive formations (lower LOE + standard DL or standard LOE + higher DL) seem to be very effective against evenly matched or better opponents. You have stability and space to counter into without letting your opponent walk the ball into your box. If you can get them to start gambling and you can absorb it, you'll get opportunities.

Thank you Zealand. I can finally sort out my Leipzig tactics

Cuban sandwiches make me happy

Does anybody do tactical briefing before match? I don't know if that makes any difference or not but I wanna know that does it makes any difference if I do it or not???

Love it , so many simple things that when you say it it’s like obviously but tbh I have never realised it before. Quite amazing the amount of ppl take one meaning from the instruction and that’s it 🤣

There are many scenario when it's better to turn off counter. Most common one is when you're holding on to a lead.

Mitrović here

Regarding marking, it’s better not to use it at all as a team instruction or as a player instruction.
Dynamic runs are only a part of the problem. Counters are even deadlier, especially after set pieces if you tell your player to stay back and the player he’s marking goes back into his own box to defend the set piece. Then, if you lose the ball and the opposition starts a counter, your bloody stay-back player will completely disregard any opposition waiting for the ball upfront and just start running towards his player in the opposion’s box...
However, tight marking as an opposition instruction work well for me. It seems thar this instruction means “whoever is the closest to player X, mark that player”.