The FM Champ Explains His Tactic

Summary

In this intriguing exploration into football manager tactics, Zealand dives deep into the methods of Indonesian manager Ixon, who led his team to victory at the first-ever Football Manager World Cup. With masterful use of tactics, Ixon showed originality and creativity, particularly with his unusual use of double defensive midfielders and tackle instructions. Zealand breaks down these approaches with insights from Ixon himself, offering a comprehensive guide to understanding and applying these innovative strategies in the game.

Highlights

• Ixon, the tactical mastermind from Indonesia, steered his team to World Cup victory with unconventional strategies. 🌟
• Double defensive midfielders on support roles provided balance between attack and defense, crafting a solid foundation. 🏰
• Ball-playing defenders equipped with 'Dribble More' instructions lead to creative breakthroughs during matches. 😲
• Playing fullbacks on attack with an emphasis on crossing from the byline maximized offensive threats. 🎯
• The combination of inside forwards on support with a detailed marking system refined their defensive contributions. 🛡️
• Flexibility in adjusting tactics on the fly ensured Ixon's team's adaptability to various game situations. 🤹‍♂️
• Emphasis on determination suggests that player mentality and attributes are vital in leveraging tactical setups. 🧠
• A practical application of Ixon's tactic resulted in an impressive Premier League finish for Wolves in a simulation. 🐺

Key Takeaways

• Indonesian manager Ixon won the first Football Manager World Cup using unique tactical strategies.🏆
• Ixon's tactic of using two defensive midfielders on support allows for an overload attack without compromising defense.🛡️
• Ball-playing defenders with 'Dribble More' can create unexpected opportunities when other players are marked.⚽
• Fullbacks on attack with 'Cross from Byline' exploited the advanced forward's position, minimizing offsides.📏
• Strategic use of inside forwards on support who mark specific positions enhances defensive discipline.🚧
• Ixon's adaptability is demonstrated by his dynamic changes in strategy when needing to score or defend.🔄
• The importance of player characteristics like determination is emphasized over mere tactic structures.🤔
• A tactic like Ixon's can dramatically improve team performance, as demonstrated in a simulation with Wolves securing 5th place.📈

Overview

Ixon from Indonesia showcased remarkable tactical genius by winning the first Football Manager World Cup. His team was distinguished by their unique use of a 4231 formation with double defensive midfielders, each having distinct roles that maintained defensive depth while enhancing attacking capabilities. Zealand dissects Ixon's approach, highlighting the importance of adaptable player roles within well-constructed tactical frameworks.

The creativity in Ixon's tactics is exemplified by his use of ball-playing defenders instructed to 'Dribble More,' which opened up play by dragging defenders out of position. His strategic deployment of fullbacks instructed to attack and cross from the byline further intensified his team's offensive dynamics, while his inside forwards took on disciplined defensive responsibilities, showcasing a comprehensive team structure.

Zealand's analysis includes simulation results, where Ixon’s tactics propelled Wolves to an impressive 5th place finish in the Premier League, underscoring the efficacy of Ixon's strategy. Emphasizing player characteristics such as determination over sheer reliance on tactics, Ixon's insightful approach redefines player and manager priorities in mastering Football Manager.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and World Cup Overview The chapter introduces the concept of finding the best tactics in the game 'Football Manager' by organizing a grand World Cup event. Various nations participated in extensive qualifying processes to select their best players. Indonesia emerged as the winner of the first-ever 'Football Manager' World Cup, with the manager Ixon, who shared the three tactics he utilized during the tournament.
• 01:30 - 04:30: Tactics and Strategies The chapter 'Tactics and Strategies' delves into the intricacies of a particular football tactic used primarily in a recent tournament. The focus is on the 4-2-3-1 formation, which despite its popularity, only a few managers utilized effectively in the Football Manager World Cup. This version of the 4-2-3-1 is described as unique and innovative, not your usual or conventional setup. It includes several clever player instructions that even seasoned analysts and enthusiasts found surprising. The tactics are highlighted as the 'Holy Grail' of football management due to their effectiveness and strategic depth.
• 04:30 - 09:00: Key Players and Roles The chapter titled 'Key Players and Roles' discusses the successful journey of Indonesia's team in a competitive tournament, highlighting their impressive achievements and close encounters in critical matches. They won multiple trophies across three seasons, including notable victories in the Europa League and an almost successive Champions League win, lost only in a penalty shootout despite dominating on expected goals (XG). The chapter might delve into the tactics and special strategies that contributed to such outstanding performance.
• 09:00 - 12:00: Tactical Adjustments The chapter discusses the importance of learning from others to develop personal tactics. The main focus is on Eon, a renowned figure, who shares his insights about tactical adjustments. Eon, who prefers communicating with the aid of translation, was approached for an interview to share his knowledge about tactical lessons. Despite his proficiency in English, Eon opted for written questions and answers to have ample time to construct his responses carefully. This approach ensures clarity and depth in the information he shares.
• 12:00 - 15:00: Defensive Instructions The chapter discusses the concept of defensive strategies in football management, particularly focusing on the role of defensive midfielders (DMs). The speaker expresses discomfort with granting players too much creative freedom and prefers having one defensive midfielder in a deeper role while allowing the other to play more aggressively. However, the strategy of playing with two DMs on support is highlighted, as Eon prefers it. The chapter ends with the note that one of the DMs is usually tasked with being a ball passer.
• 15:00 - 19:00: Philosophy and Mentality The chapter 'Philosophy and Mentality' discusses the role and strategies of defensive midfielders in a game. It highlights the contrast between typical Destroyers and more playmaker-oriented players. The text explains that Destroyers can perform attack overloads without worrying about counterattacks, aided by defensive support. However, those who are naturally inclined to advance in roles, like playmakers, will become more actively involved in offensive actions. Thus, rather than strictly adhering to a tactic for determining their roles, individual player characteristics are utilized in shaping their game involvement.
• 19:00 - 21:30: Wolves Simulation and Results The chapter focuses on the importance of selecting the right players to maximize the effectiveness of a tactic in football (soccer) management simulations.
• 21:30 - 25:00: Final Thoughts and Conclusion In the 'Final Thoughts and Conclusion' chapter, the discussion focuses on strategies for ball playing defenders with an emphasis on 'dribble more' and 'tackle harder' instructions. The concept is to leverage these defenders to create gaps and opportunities, even when all front players are tightly marked, drawing a parallel to a notable instance by Sula in a World Cup final.

The FM Champ Explains His Tactic Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 how do you find the best tactic in football manager well there's a lot of ideas but one of them is you could host a giant bombastic over-the-top World Cup the first ever for football manager and then Crown a champion from a bunch of different nations that held really large qualifying processes to find the best player to represent them and then that Champions one tactic would be the best one right the nation that won the first football man ature World Cup was Indonesia and their manager is a guy named ixon and he uploaded all three of the tactics that he used for the
• 00:30 - 01:00 tournament we have our hands on all three including the main one that he used the most that is the Holy Grail of football manager there it is look at it are you really that surprised there were a few managers of this football manager World Cup and I'm not I'm not be I'm not joking only a few that used a 4231 primarily and this by far was the best one and this also isn't your daddy's 4231 there were a lot of sneaky player instructions in this that some of them even caught me by surprise and I'm somebody that just looks at this sort of
• 01:00 - 01:30 stuff all day if you didn't follow the tournament itself Indonesia had to start with sporting and in three seasons with sporting they basically won every single possible trophy they could win I think they dropped the League Cup somewhere in season two or season 3 but I'm talking Europa League champions league one consecutively the only reason they didn't win a Champions League twice in those three seasons is they lost the final on penalties in a match that they dominated on XG but what makes this tactic so speci special how can you use
• 01:30 - 02:00 it what lessons can we all learn from it to build our own tactics well I asked the man himself we will be receiving Knowledge from the mighty eonon and while Eon speaks English he used a translator at the football manager World Cup and he was asking if he could use a translator on the video so I told him I would just send him written questions and then he could send those written questions back with written answers so he'd have more time to you know think of the words and
• 02:00 - 02:30 language that isn't his native tongue those answers are what we call the holy football manager book of eon my first question why the DM on support I'm somebody that's very nervous leaving that much creative freedom up to the players themselves I like to have one defensive midfielder that's deeper and one defensive midfielder that is perhaps a little more aggressive but Eon obviously likes to go with two DMS on support the answer I choose double DM support with different ideas basically he says one is typically a ball passer
• 02:30 - 03:00 and one is a typical Destroyer so you can do overload attack without having to fear for the Counterattack because DM support will maintain your defense depth and will help attack if needed basically there is no tactical prerogative for these players to get forward but if you naturally have one of these players that's more of a playmaker and more of an offensive player they're going to find themselves more involved in those roles so instead of using the tactic to determine what these defensive midfielders on support are going to do he actually uses the player types all
• 03:00 - 03:30 the tutorials I've ever made I've never said that and it's genius and it just goes to show if you want to get the most out of a tactic signing the right players is always the way to go you need the right types of players you don't need them it's good to have the second question I had ball playing Defenders both of them on defend I have long been hesitant as my own personal scar tissue of playing both at ball playing Defender because they take a lot of risks and they turn the ball over more and I've been punished too many times by the turnovers leading to goals against me
• 03:30 - 04:00 the answer quite simply is ball playing Defender with dribble more wow I like it and that's right both of these ball playing Defenders are rocking a dribble more and a tackle harder don't worry we're going to come back to that tackle harder instruction cuz it's on literally every player on the field he said he can create gaps when all of your front players are marked and guarded by opponents he can create chances like Sula did in the World Cup final now I don't remember that specific instance from the football manager World Cup final but clearly when the rest of your
• 04:00 - 04:30 team is well marked a ball playing Defender with dribble more is going to pick that ball up and force somebody to defend them creating an opening but it only works if both center backs are ball playing Defenders obviously the third question tackle harder on every single player and I asked basically have Card issues ever been a concern have you ever let it go like taken off tackle harder and he basically said no I use this in conjunction with get stuck in use tackle harder or not your player will still get
• 04:30 - 05:00 a card so I prefer to use it to increase my chance of getting the ball my players are going to pick up cards anyways and clearly it ends up paying off a lot more than it hurts if his entire team is on tackle harder with get stuck in on as well his players are sending it to try and get the ball when they win it they can flip the play now my next question had to do with the fullbacks these are both fullbacks on attack which is fascinating by itself but fullback and attack has been invogue with a lot of the popular tactics on fm24 then you look at the player instructions and it
• 05:00 - 05:30 gets pretty crazy take more risks cross from by line cut inside with the ball which is one you don't necessarily expect to see stay wider and Tackle harder these two you would expect to be almost contradictory but what it means essentially is the player is going to stay wider at the start once they have the ball they will eventually look to cut in and drop it off this is the sort of forcing Defenders to pass one ball carrier off that can mess with the defense it works really well in football manager my question specifically was about why have cross from the by line on
• 05:30 - 06:00 and Eon said because I have an advanced forward who may be ahead of the opposing Defender so crosses from the touchline will minimize offside because the ball reaches the front first and increases your Striker's chance to score bro that's so freaking smart dude if the fullback is able to get all the way to the by line to cross the ball you're not going to have anybody getting offside and Advance forwards are prone to offside the way they're pushing the back line I also asked about the cut inside you knew I was going to ask about the
• 06:00 - 06:30 cut ins side on a fullback on attack Eon said this will help me in terms of overload attacks especially in the opponent's Penalty Box the stay wider instruction will keep him outside when he gets the ball he will try to go inside so I'm glad I at least wasn't surprised by all of the things he said that doesn't mean it's still not completely an utterly genius and something that I definitely don't do in my tactics yet but there was something else that was curious that jumped out at me the moment I looked at this tactic and that was that for some reason I plugged it in with the team at wolves the reason I've done that is because
• 06:30 - 07:00 wolves according to our testing is the worst team in the Premier League with a data update on football manager and so at the end of this video we're going to sim a whole season with Wolves where this is the only tactic that they can play obviously the other thing that jumped out to me right when I saw this tactic is that both inside forwards are on support I usually or almost always have at least one Winger that is on attack no matter what their role is having both of them on support was fascinating to me eon's response his job is only to support the attack unless he
• 07:00 - 07:30 gets a chance to shoot because in the player's instructions I told him to guard the opponent's fullback so he doesn't get carried away in the attack and must be disciplined with his job description and that is true if you go into his inside forward positions you can see a mark specific position instruction that is for the opponent's fullback on that particular side this is something that I almost never incorporate my game specifically because of what Eon is talking about when you have your your Wingers or any other
• 07:30 - 08:00 member of your team specifically marking a position on the other team they have to really be focused on their defensive discipline and particularly with Wingers they're not going to stay in good attacking positions they have to recover into them but while you're looking at this you might notice a couple of other weird things like hold up ball as an instruction and it is on both of the inside forwards in this tactic so I asked about it and the answer very simple to hold the ball up and wait for the fullback to help the attack this will confuse the opposing player because
• 08:00 - 08:30 the Winger should be the one to attack but he holds the ball up and waits for the fullback to support the attack so if you're on a quick Counterattack the Wingers are not going to be a part of that they're going to grab the ball they're going to wait for the fullback to get there and create the overload on the wings with those fullbacks on attack Wingers on support with defensive responsibilities if they do get the ball in those countering situations they wait and chill but the concerns I just was telling you about that when you are marking the opposing fullback with your Winger you can't keep pressure on the OPP position you just have your advaned
• 08:30 - 09:00 forward and your attacking midfielder up there so I asked how he keeps pressure on the opposition marking the opponent's fullbacks the Winger's job description the opponent's Wing will still be guarded by our fullback remembering we have a DM there who will maintain the depth of Defense he seems remarkably unconcerned with the type of problem that I'm raising and the more I think about it it's because the fullbacks are very typically the outlet for the Press breaking in the first place if your Winger is specifically marking them they have to outlet the ball through the Middle where they're going to run into those two DMS on support if you have
• 09:00 - 09:30 your back line up high which in this tactic of course it's a good tactic he has step up more and a high press overall so they will be there another instruction on the inside forwards is to sit narrower in the tactic that you have available to download one is set to sit wider I have since confirmed with him that both inside forwards are set to sit narrower so they they kind of scrunch in towards the Middle where they hold the ball up to allow the fullback to start in that wide position and either go and
• 09:30 - 10:00 cross from the by line or dribble their way in with the ball start dragging those Defenders all over the place but in my next question I return to the fullbacks because now that we've fleshed out what the inside forwards are doing the fullbacks with their cut inside with the ball had me really curious because I wanted to know what the attack looked like when it was fully developed when it was all the way up to 10 when you've had the ball for a while and everybody's up the field which player ends up where when the attack is fully developed ion's answer this is the answer to points for five six and seven and upon further
• 10:00 - 10:30 assessing the holy Football manager book of eon I determined that this instruction cut inside with the ball means that for the vast majority of the time those fullbacks are wide and looking to get to the by line to cross only in rare instances when they're dwelling on the ball a little bit will they carry that ball inside and start dragging those Defenders but on to the instructions and there are a couple of things that obviously will jump out to you as stuff that people with good tactics do all the time slightly higher Tempo slightly lower passing you you've got Focus play down the wings you've got
• 10:30 - 11:00 underlaps we're going to get to that in a second there's one you might have missed and that's the play for scent pieces normally in these types of high futin tactics you don't see play for set pieces ticked but Eon a very simple reason we have good players in that have good jumping reach and heading for the player who's passed and have good Crossing and corners for the Slinger one of the most devastating things from a lot of the teams in this tournament the football manager World Cup was amazing setpiece tactics obviously Ean and team Indonesia were no different they had those great play and so as much as
• 11:00 - 11:30 Football manager is a game that you're trying to manipulate if you have good players on set pieces playing for more set pieces is the way to go endorsed by the literal world champion and back into the instructions I'd always understood that narrow attacks had the opportunity to mess with defenses more wide attacks were something that you were supposed to use in in specific circumstances but a lot of great tactics for a long time have been narrow all the way to the left but with sitting narrower in side forwards
• 11:30 - 12:00 and all the way narrow attacking with I just wanted to ask why narrower attacks there is chaos in their Midfield but our fullback stays wider to be able to overlap if there is a chance and Cross by line the narrower the team gets the harder it is to Mark individual Runners cuz they're all sandwiched next to each other especially when the stay wider fullbacks keep dragging markers out wide when you think about it it creates more man-on-man situations in that narrow part of the field where you're closer to the goal but only when it works in conjunction with that width in the
• 12:00 - 12:30 fullbacks there's also runit defense ticked and this is something that I don't see ticked in all of the great tactics of the world so I asked I mean that that's what we're doing here we're asking the guy that won everything and this seemed more like a spot call in the tournament itself which is fascinating that you can have this great tactic but you know it's not just a plug-and-play thing once you get the right players that you are still feeling out one or two or three different options based off who you have said simply I think our players needed to run
• 12:30 - 13:00 more often and the composure and dribbling attributes are really needed for this obviously but looking at the way the team's playing he wanted his players to pick the ball up and run more use your brain people use your eyes and your brain let's leave those crazy offensive instructions behind you know like low crosses and underlaps and all that stuff let's get into the defensive instructions for the real connoisseurs and there is one thing that jumped out to me instantly and that is invite crosses to which the answer was once again remarkably simple to the point
• 13:00 - 13:30 that made me feel a little bit stupid why invite crosses well because we play in narrow shape our players are more concentrated in the middle so we forced them to invite crosses basically saying that your team's already narrow your team set up to play in a narrow way we don't want to make them try and run all the way out to prevent crosses we're going to try and defend from the inside out and invite those crosses better than allowing stuff to come down the middle and honestly it works wonderfully clearly I am sure you would not want to do this if your center backs were short but as they've already talked about they
• 13:30 - 14:00 like to build a team that has good jumping reach and set piece attributes hence the play for set pieces and so having to deal with a lot of balls in the air in the box is not something the team's particularly concerned about so that combined with the already narrow shape you're good it's also worth noting on the defensive side of things the backline is not all the way up at much higher it is just at higher and the world didn't end everything didn't explode it's obviously a an aggressive pressing tactic with man marking on the pullbacks but it's not over the top it
• 14:00 - 14:30 it is allowing a little space for things to breathe here and not giving so much room to run in behind but once we broke down the actual specifics of a lot of the tactics and instructions going on here I wanted to ask some more broad conceptual questions about the team the first one being what type of player suits this tactic best but the answer I got wasn't necessarily a direct answer to that question and more a philosophy of what type of players to look for that smashes a lot of the things I believe in
• 14:30 - 15:00 I want to be very clear I I agree with this more now than I used to the answer I always prioritize players who have high determination I made an out Infamous video a couple of years ago talking about how determination did not have a serious impact on Player Development we did a whole breakdown of Player Development and there are a lot of things that have an impact on it determination has a very minor impact on development according to those tests but over the couple of years since then if you've watched the streams on Twitch which if you haven't I'd recommend it I've been playing crusader Kings the last couple of weeks it's been great but
• 15:00 - 15:30 we're starting a new football manager Save By the time this comes out cuz fm24 forever for Life # life with a why or something but I've been saying that high determination players have been playing really well for me I don't think determination has a lot to do with development I think High determination just makes them better on the field that is something that Ean is backing up here but also no tactic especially at the level that the football manager World Cup was played at stays static forever obviously things like run at defense because he felt like his team needed to
• 15:30 - 16:00 run at the defense more those are things that you add so I wanted to ask what's the first thing you change when it's not going well and you need a goal and Eon provided me with a very simple three-step process and it has to do with the striker who we haven't really talked about much so far it's just an advance forward with tackle harder on the first step is Striker activate roam from position so come in here and have Rome from position on to try and separate from whatever marker is keeping that Striker quiet second option is to switch
• 16:00 - 16:30 to a complete forward instead of an advanced forward again just trying to free the strikers so that they can find some room to operate and the Third change is right here a switch to go to a double Striker turning the tactic into a 424 to go for it late what he doesn't want to give up is the structure of this kind of back eight and just wants to mess with the two most primary offensive options to pursue a goal it's worth mentioning the attacking midfielder has Ram from position move into channels and of course tackle harder on so that's already a very fluid position at the 10
• 16:30 - 17:00 kind of plays as a double Striker once you get uh enough possession anyways now the pairing of the double Striker will be Advanced forward or pressing forward combined with a complete forward so that there is some stagger in their movement not a fan of going with just the double Advance forward and it's clear based off those answers that the belief here is that the most important thing to being able to score more goals is being able to separate your forwards from the mark that is ruining them or the player positioning that is not allowing them to get but of course there's a flip side to
• 17:00 - 17:30 that question which is what do you need to change when you want to defend more and that was a very simple answer slow down the tempo and up time wasting that's it I usually get fancy with it and I take off counter press and stuff but Ean does not go for that does not want to change the way this tactic is playing too much just wants to change the pace that the ball's being played up the field but past that I zoomed it out even further to the the mentality of the entire team which is on attacking in the base tactic I usually start my tactics on positive unless we're playing a team
• 17:30 - 18:00 that we believe ourselves to be way better than then I'll leave it on attacking so I asked why the thought process behind starting with attacking and this is where you get that kind of Jose Mourinho sauce from ixon who swaggered all over this tournament by the way showed up to the tournament and told them he'd only been playing for a year and then after he won the tournament he said n that was a lie I just wanted to mess with you guys ixon has some swag and the whole philosophy is I instruct my players to score first that the game goes according to our wishes this a team score as many goals
• 18:00 - 18:30 as possible you can seed three but you score four you still win the game so go out there and attack and we believe we're going to be able to score more goals than you're going to be able to score against us and that's a pretty hard bar that's a pretty solid mic drop but I wanted him to give us one more nugget of knowledge for all of the people out there that aren't just going to copy this tactic but want to take this knowledge and try and create their own that best suits their team and that answers coming after we see what this you know this does with Wolves cuz I I can't wait any longer I want to see what happens let's sit the season shall
• 18:30 - 19:00 we the simulation is done wolves a team that in our 10 simulations of this updated 2024 2025 database finished in the relegation Zone in our tests ended up finishing fifth by far the highest finish that we'd seen on that record like by far using this tactic yakob strand Larson won the Golden Boot by the way with 25 goals out of erling Holland and Oly Watkins so yeah the tactic is good we already knew that though what does on have to say about how to make
• 19:00 - 19:30 your own good tactic one word one word was the answer knowledge really makes you think it's what football manager always comes down to playing and playing and playing and trying things and playing and learning and trying things and playing and then a little bit of luck here and there and you're good to go now if you want to follow Eon for more stuff like this or just to actually watch him play football manager he's started making YouTube videos and tweeting and posting stuff on Instagram he's starting up a Pentagon challenge soon and if you want to keep track of
• 19:30 - 20:00 all of that stuff all of his links are right at the top of the description I know I for one will be keeping an eye on what Eon gets up to thank you to Eon for getting back to me and obviously congratulations to him again for winning the football manager World Cup if you want to see how to actually set up your save so you can get to the point where you're plugging in tactics then that video is one that you should be able to check out and I'll see you guys on stream bye