Next level Sh*t: SMW’s New Tactics

Soccerblog 6 Minutes

It’s the moment that Soccermanagerites all across the globe have been highly anticipating! We said that we were gonna level up SMW and here you have a sampler of what’s in store! 😃 👏

I’m quite certained that these new tactical instructions left some licking their lips and rubbing their hands like Birdman, while also leaving most overwhelmed wondering what the 🤬 are all these new shenanigans that have entered their SM Managerial brain… Rest assured mate, I’ve got you covered! 💯 

Alright, so here is the following improvements to the tactics area within Soccermanager Worlds if you’ve been living under a rock:

I’ll aim to explain all of the more advanced options via the use of varying images in addition to also skimming through the stuff we should already know (might reconsider the latter since you’re simply never smart enough to re-learn the basics). I’ll try to keep the explanations as swift and straight forward as possible! 🤞

For the illustrations, I’ll need to use a random ass starting XI… So, here’s our lucky volunteer:

Wanted to keep it random in order to showcase that any player can be placed within your tactical set up so long as it makes sense

And for even more clarity, here’s their respective roles within this 4-2-2-2:

GENERAL: Width

We start with the in-built width that will be utilized before you even get out a tactics board. A ‘Normal’ width bascially means that you’ll get the best of both worlds as your players seek to balance stretching the opposition as well as aiming to get into compact spaces. As the image above is showcasing, we have this starting XI representing what one should expect if we were to illustrate P.S.G’s 4-2-2-2 in possession against a 3-4-3 opposition (take extra note of each player’s position as well as who has the ball)
These new tactics are not here to make you burst your brain or feel inadequate. They’re simply needed in order to explain the subtle differences that make your system function properly. And here we have a representation of what the ‘Wide’ width option would do for your team in possession. Since we’re using this P.S.G starting XI, it would be counter productive to utilize this form of width since it goes against the strengths of players such as Kang-In Lee, Désiré Doué, and Ferreira Vitinha (with the Portugese favoring a system that allows him to be in closer proximity to his teammates which will get the most out of his best on the ball attributes)
It’s all about that attention to detail! 👌

As you can see, it’s pretty much the same base positioning with the sublety of every player now being closer to each other (and with that, it means slight tweaks to some of their movement, like Ousmane Dembélé, Vitinha, Renato Sanches, and Doué’s positions compared to the previous two illustrations )

NOTE: The width in which you decide to use will impact both in and out of ball possession. So, if I chose to play a Narrow width it means that we’d stay within this narrow shape even when we don’t have the ball. You can counter this by utilizing varying formations like playing a Narrow width with a 4-2-3-1B which allows for natural wide play due to the base positions of the No.7 and No.11 always being on the touch line, but that’s a topic for a future blog.

GENERAL: Formation Fluidity

Rather than keeping the same formula from above, we are aiming to utilize as many real life scenarios within today’s blog since not every opposition you come up against will aim to sit back and allow you to dominate. So, for this section, we’ll be explaining the various formational fluidity options against a team playing in a 4-3-3B who are pressing all over, aiming to tight mark P.S.G out of the game, with a high backline.

Disciplined means exactly what you think. Each player is instructed to stay within their base position for as long as possible. A very great fluidity option for anyone who likes to be more pragmatic and slightly defensive (which I have no problem with at all), but it will stifle this P.S.G XI since their attacking players and the 4-2-2-2 are not suitable for a disciplined approach
Rather than being the best of both worlds, normal fluidity is controlled by the players at your disposal and the formation of your choosing. If you were to choose the 4-5-1B then there wouldn’t be a lot of rotations happening within your team even if you have the likes of Foden, Bacorla, and Boniface!

For this XI, the normal fluidity allows for a bit more expression which we can clearly see with Lee dropping in to cause an overload on the right hand side, Sanches moving up the pitch to drag some oppostion players with him (remember his ‘B2B’ role), Gonçalo Ramos drifting a bit more towards the ball to potentially be a ‘Target Man’ option over the high press, with Doué picking up a position nearer to the D(R)

Adventurous

I’m certained that as soon as many of you saw this you immediately rushed to choose it, lol! Although it is the most attractive of the three options, we still have to take into consideration our overall style of play and the players at our disposal. It just so happens that this XI benefits  from this fluidity most. 😎

(This is a 2 part illustration) We immediately see the adventurous fluidity in action as Dembélé and Lee have swapped positions while everything else is quite similar to the explanations for the normal fluidity (but keep an eye on Juan Bernat, though 👀)…
Corrêa Marquinhos decides to trust his ‘D.L.P’ (Vitinha) and pass the ball to his feet knowing that the opposition’s pressure will be imminent. And here’s where the subtle changes occur: Sanches drifts slightly to his right thus dragging the ‘6’ with him, Ramos aims to ‘pin’ his D(C), while Doué makes an in behind dart as one of the ‘F.A.P’s’ between the D(R) and D(C). The Frenchman’s movement (in addition to everybody else already mentioned) causes a huge gap and space for the boroading Spainish DM(L) to receive the switch with time on the ball. Bare in mind that none of this would’ve occurred with a Discipliend approach, while the extra fluidity may have also been minimized with a Normal approach. Still doesn’t mean we should all be Adventurous, though! ⚠️

GENERAL: Creativity

“To play or not to play. That is the question at hand!”

Let’s see if I have an answer…

In order to truly explain this section, we’ll need some imagination (as well as some “watching real matches” experience). In the image above, the scenario is that Doué has the ball and is about to run at his defender. The opposition’s No.7 is slow to track back which means there’s a chance for an overlapping run by Bernat, but due to his Manager choosing a cautious creative approach, he’s reluctant to risk being out of position if Doué loses the ball which means that the Frenchman’s only other option is to wait for Sanches who is checking for a pass which will slow down the speed of the attack.

Again, not a bad approach, just ineffective based on this context!

Here is where we get a bit more of the best of both worlds… Both Sanches and Bernat are making slightly riskier movements to assist Doué which will effectively plant seeds of doubt within the opposition’s defenders that are behind the ball (take a good look at Nordi Mukiele as well on the other side)…
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL!

This creativity is the highest form of risk taking there is! It’s essentially saying, “I back my players so much that I’m willing to allow them to go above and beyond despite the potential of us losing the ball and being susceptible to the opposition’s counter”. And it’s not just Bernat whose overlap is the main difference between the three illustrations. Just take a look at Ramos, Dembélé, Lee, and Mukiele compared to the other two for a complete grasp of the subtle differences between each creative option

Here ends part 1… 🫣

I know, I know… Trust me bro, I know. But I have a responsibility to make sure that these blogs are capable of being read and re-read hundreds of times (which is something that won’t happen if I start making blogs that are 15 to 20 minutes long).

The one thing I want you to examine here more than anything else is how precise each variation is from the other. So, go over this as many times as you’d like to surely see the key differences and completely immerse yourself into some good’ol visualization with your favorite SMW club!

I’ll speak to you in Part 2, Soccermanagerite! 🤙

Unknown's avatar

Published by The Soccermanager Experience

This is the ONLY place where you can evolve as a Soccermanager player!

Published

One thought on “Next level Sh*t: SMW’s New Tactics”

  1. Pingback: SMW’s New Tactics (Part 2) – The Soccermanager Experience

Leave a comment