(UPDATE: SUMMER 2025) Hey there, Soccermanagerite! Welcome back to another bonanza as we continue our look at every role found within Soccermananager. In episodes 26 & 27, we were introduced to the first two types of ‘Target Man’. And in today’s episode, we’ve saved the best for last since we’ll be going over the kings of this role: The ‘Technical Target Man’
The role of the ‘Techincal Target Man’ provides us with some of the best players within the entire game since they are so brilliant at what they do. These players have the ability to literally win a match on their own due to them possessing an all round centre forward game that no other type of striker has (UPDATE: ‘General Forwards’ be looking at me sideways… 🤨).
‘Technical Target Men’ are exceptional on the ball, have incredible movement, and are one of the most intelligent players within the entirety of soccer. Whenever you’re watching a real match and you hear a commentator states that a centre forward seems to always “know where the ball is going to land within the box”, I can guarantee that they are talking about a ‘Tehcnical Target Man’ (yeah, let’s just pretend that I didn’t say that… 😅) and it’s no fluke either, since they anticipate what will happen a few moves prior by using imagery to “paint pictures” within their minds based on their soccer knowledge and experience (which is very similar to what ‘playmakers’ and ‘classic no.10’s’ like to do; well, I got this point spot on, but that first point was absolute shyte! 🤦).
Let’s not forget about how deadly they are in front of goal either, and although they tend not to be the quickest players, any lack of speed is made up by their incredible off the ball movement around the attacking third.
ATTACKING PHASE
If you’re someone who is currently playing with a ‘Technical Target Man’ within your starting X1 then count your blessings since you have a player who can single handedly win an entire match by himself at your disposal.
When on the attack, ‘Technical Target Men’ like being involved in the game, so they will drop deep to get a touch on the ball, drift outwide to link up with their wide teammates, and show-off their great passing abilities (especially when your team is on the transition or if your ‘Technical Target Man’ has the ball around the 18 yard box) via spraying it around with accuracy & precision. They also possess great movement in the box, and, since most ‘Technical Target Men’ aren’t the quickest, they like to use their innate hold up play ability to play one-twos with teammates, as well as perform flicks around the corner, back heel passes, using their technical dribbling skills to “spin” their D(C) in order to get into better attacking positions, and so on.
DEFENSIVE PHASE
Unlike the other players within roles that have massive technical abilities (‘Technical Wingers’ and ‘Classic no.10’s’), ‘Technical Target Men’ are actually pretty decent defenders. This is down to the fact that their position on the field forces them to defend intelligently since they are always the first line of defence. The majority of ‘Technical Target Men’ prefer to sit on the opposition’s deepest midfielder in order to stop him from getting on the ball, but there are a few ‘T.T.M’s who have incredible Workrate even if that normally isn’t the case.
The take away point is that you can expect to get some form of good defending from your ‘Technical Target Man’ no matter what your pressing scheme is.
POSITIONAL TRAITS
Since the ‘Target Man’ is a specialist role, they generally operate only within the F(C) position, but because of how good they are with the ball at their feet, some ‘Technical Target Men’ can play as an AM(C) which puts them in the same ball park as a ‘Deep-lying Forward’ (more on this role in a later episode).
Of course, always remember that it is IMPERATIVE that you tick the ‘use target man’ box as this is how you unlock the full potential of every type of ‘Target Man’ (Say ‘Yes’ to ‘T.M’s’, I guess…).
KEY ATTRIBUTES (From SM26 and beyond)
The following are the Key Attributes that every ‘Technical Target Man’ possesses:
Positioning Movement Finishing Dribbling Long Shots Control Passing Creativity Aerial Ability Strength Composure Leadership
BEST PLAYERS OF ROLE IN SOCCERMANAGER WORLDS
UPDATE: My most anticipated list of 15 forwards up to this point. Like I’ve been banging on all episode, there’s some seriously proper ‘Technical Target Men’ within SMW and it gives me great pleasure to list the current best 15 of the entire lot! (updated style! 😉)
Harry Kane 🏴
Lautaro Martínez 🇦🇷
Karim Benzema 🇫🇷
Robert Lewandowski 🇵🇱
Alexander Isak 🇸🇪
Gerard Moreno 🇪🇸
Gabriel Jesus 🇧🇷
Mehdi Taremi 🇮🇷
Ivan Toney 🏴
Gianluca Scamacca 🇮🇹
Gonçalo Ramos 🇵🇹
Raúl Jiménez 🇲🇽
Luuk De Jong 🇳🇱
Joshua Zirkzee 🇳🇱
Hugo Ekitiké 🇫🇷
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Wout Weghorst 🇳🇱
Benjamin Sesko 🇸🇮
Alexandre Lacazette 🇫🇷
Dušan Vlahović 🇷🇸
Joaquín Correa 🇦🇷
The Soccermanager Experience 