“Football tactics are similar to puzzles. No matter how much or how hard you try, square pegs cannot go into round holes”: Shaheem Jackson (Your’s Truly)
With everything I do, I’m a big believer in finishing on a good note. It really helps me to make plans for the next phase ( whether it’s reading, doing homework, while on a date, listening to an album, or ending your soccer blog’s 3rd season… ). In the case of this blog, rules were meant to be broken I guess? 🤷♂️
In the final episode of this season, we’re going to be discussing some of the outrageous tactics within soccermanager that should never be seen EVER again! This one is for the die hard footy fans that don’t just watch a soccer match for entertainment only. It’s for the ones whose eyes are always on a swivel whenever watching a match live or on the tele. this is for the one’s who shit their pants when they’ve realized that they’re tight marking a team that has a front 3 of Mbappe, Koman and Mane. It’s (especially) for the ones who absolutely HATE seeing piss-poor tactics that will NEVER be seen in any real match of football.
Before I begin the slaugter, I have to make one thing very clear (and if anyone has direct contact to the creators of Soccermanager then please let them see this blog because I’m speaking for thousands of unheard voices here). I understand that this game is to us (the fans) a form of entertainment and to them (the creators) a form of business, but that doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be high standards associated with soccermanager gameplay. Users are literally being rewarded with mediocrity and it’s painstainskly hard to witness for us hardcore lovers of the beautiful game. Shit, if SM world’s is no longer a real priority why not come up with a method to give it to fans like me so we can get some say in how each gameworld is ran with the intent of displaying realistic type of footy for every user to enjoy. The lot that don’t understand the tactical aspect of soccermanager can find some blogger out there that’s dedicated to sharing knowledge on how the tactics within the game work and what different items go along well and what doesn’t (oh yeah….. wait……. THAT’S ME!!!!)
*YOGA BREATH*
Here is my view on the tactics within soccermanager that must be banned:
- DOWN BOTH FLANKS AND SHORT
Where do I start with this now? 🤔, Oh! *snaps fingers*
SJ: “Have you ever seen a team attempt a series of short passes around the corner flag?”
Newbie: ” Uhh, yeah, I probably have.”
SJ: ” When does this normally occur?”
Newbie: “Uhhh… Around the 95th minute of a match when a team is trying to hold unto a lead…..”
SJ: 😐
Here’s the problem with this tactic. When you are seeking to use the flanks as a form of passing the ball around you’re effectively making it easier for the opposition to set pressing traps against you as they will always have an extra presser no matter how much you try to overload the wide areas. Whose that extra presser? The Sidelines! This is exactly why Wingers play out wide, to use their skill and trickery to isolate their defender and get into more dangerous areas. The flanks were NEVER meant for possession based football. It was meant for speed, excitement and trickery. Leave the possession for the central areas of the pitch.
- ANY SYSTEM THAT PLAYS DIRECT PASSING WITHOUT A FAST TEMPO
Are you kidding me? Like seriously….. How does anyone ever think of this shit. The dictionary’s definition of the word direct is: ‘extending or moving from one place to another by the shortest way without changing direction or stopping.’ So, in football terms, get the ball from defence to attack in a swift manner with no intention of slowing down possession. Normal ,and slow tempos are based on CONTROLLING the tempo of a match by slowing down the pace of the game in order for more technical players to blossom in possession. Technical players can still be used with a irect style of passing but ALWAYS use a fast tempo. I rest my case.
- VERY ATTACKING MINDSET WHILE PRESSING IN OWN AREA; PRESSING IN OWN AREA WITH OVER 50% OF POSESSION
This is embarrassing… If you’re reading this and you’ve done this B.S before then I don’t blame you. Soccer manager’s creators have to take the blame for this one. Real quickly tho. Very Attacking means flooding the attacking third with as many players as possible. While own area pressing is the same as a ‘low block’ where you have every player within a compact space in your defensive third (starting to see how this sounds terribly embarrassing?). The only explanation I’d take from someone who plays like this is that they had the intention of sitting deep, soaking up pressure, then attacking in 6’s or 7’s, but this ain’t basketball mate. A soccer field is 120 yards in length and there’s a reason why a game only goes on for 90 minutes. It’s extremely tiring to constantly chase after a ball, keep an eye on your nearest opponent, while still having to play attacking football when your team wins back possession. Speaking of possession, Can someone explain to me how this:
Can end up with possession and attacking stats like this:
See what I mean? It’s IMPOSSIBLE for a team that is defending so deeply to have that much time on the ball. It literally defeats the laws of football, even worse, the laws of physics! It don’t matter if you’re playing with an attacking mindset or not, a low block is a defence first approach. So, please stop doing this shithousery.
- PLAYERS WHO ARE PLAYING IN A POSITION THEY’VE NEVER PLAYED IN REAL LIFE
Look, I’m not trying to be that guy who dosen’t have imagination and is telling you that you should solely stick to what you see in real life football, but there’s levels to this and some of the things I’ve seen is just downright shameful man. How could anyone get away with playing Jack Grealish in CM in a 4-4-2A, Marten Odegaard as a Right Winger in a 4-3-3A, Michal Antonio as a LCAM in a 3-4-2-1, or Messi as a Right Winger in a 4-2-3-1B (I mean, when was the last time Messi has actually played on the wing?!). Not only are these types of players being played terribly out of position, but some managers are also seeing output from them which is just bizarre! I don’t think this is fair soccermanagerite and you shouldn’t either.
- D.B.F AND LONG BALL
To end this post off we’re heading back to a style of play that makes my skin crawl. Do I really need to go over why this is utter nonsense? Okay… fine… Let’s remember that the main reason for a team playing a long ball style of play is to get the ball from defence to attack through bypassing the entire midfield at times. The key to playing the long ball is by having a Centre Forward who is tall, exceptional in the air and good at hold up play. Now, for a team to be constantly hoofing the ball towards the Wingers would indicate that they’ve got some 6’2” wide-men who possess the same attributes of a 6’2” Centre forward. Oh wait…. I just remembered….. THOSE KINDS OF WINGERS DON’T EXIST! So why on earth is a manager playing route one football towards the players who tend to be the shortest players on the pitch??? Sigh I’m gonna need some therapy after this….
Unfortunately, there’s more to add but I think that’s enough for today. Look, I, like many others, want to see this game become the greatest online soccer managing game ever. But these type of decisions made by individuals who are lacking on the tactical end just make it very frustrating to deal with. That’s one of the major reasons why I started writing these blogs as a form of knowledge in order for realistic attributes that this game desperately needs to come to the front and make it become even more popular. Sad that I had to end a fantastic season on a sour note, but if I didn’t say it, no one else will. Anywho… Stay tuned folks, as season 3 is just around the corner and I can promise you that it’ll be something you absolutely love. Until then, soccermanagerite!🤘
The Soccermanager Experience 