Top Eleven Be Football Manager – Ultimate Tactics / Management Guide

Guide to Tactics and Management

Tactics

Very important to identify or read your opponent’s tactics and adapt to his changes, because this allows you to control a match, dictate the tempo by counter his tactics and also, be on the match scenario.

Team mentality it’s about the space you want to give your opponent.

Defensive mentality

Players will be in their own half, but the offensive players will be positioned close to the center line in midfield.

When a team is defending, the purpose is to play like a short team by reducing the gaps between players, compact the lines, prevent counter attacks and start positional attack from a deeper position.

Good when the opponent is attacking you or has very well trained offensive players. The idea is to not let them pass that easily and find gaps in your formation. Your job is to find his weak points, position your players better on the field in order to absorb his attacking pressure and then controlling the ball as much as possible to have real chances to win maybe with more direct fast plays or a slow build-up phase.

When you play against an opponent using same defensive mentality and you are struggling to have shoots on target or having too many wrong passes with attacking mentality, then you need to reduce gradually your mentality. By doing this, you let his players to come forward from defense and will create gaps for your players to take advantage. Sometimes it’s better to proceed in this way than hard attack him non-stop and squeeze him in his own half, without having a single shoot.

Normal mentality

Players will be on both sides of the center line in midfield.

Good when you face a manager who’s

• Hard defending, because his players are so deep in his own half, he offers you deliberately control of the ball without pressuring your players. Having the ball so much in your possession means you will have many chances to find his goalkeeper net.
• Attacking, when you see your team can’t handle his attacking pressure with defensive mentality or you can’t a build a positional attack because your players make too many unforced errors, then you need to increase gradually your mentality to push the lines, by pressing his players and stop his build up phase from a forward position.

Not good against defensive mentality, because the opposing offensive players positioned close to the center line in midfield, will pressure your players in order to regain and control the ball.

Attacking/hard attacking mentality

Players will be in opponent’s half, but defensive players will be positioned close to the center line in midfield.

Positional attack starts in the middle from the defenders and the aim of this mentality is to press opponent’s players in their own half, by reducing the spaces of passing and force them to pass wrong, control the game, have the ball in possession as much as possible or to start a counter attack from defence phase animation.

Its good against weak or equal teams if you have strong and very fast defensive players to close the gaps you leave behind and perform the offside trap.

Attacking works with short balls for possession or long balls against crowded defensive formations.

Not good against tough players who can escape from your squzeeing with counter attacks or slow build up plays with possession that can by pass your pressing, due your weak and exposed defense(hard defending mentality).

Focus passing

Identify the areas where your opponent has weak player(s) or less players and start from there. To gain more advantage in a certain area, you can add more players to have a numerical superiority than your opponent or positioning the center player and winger closer to each other or to the flank you are focusing on. In match, pay attention to a player(or can be a second or third player having more assists) who offers assists, could be a good sign to focus the plays on him, in his area.

Another different approach can be when the opponent doesn’t have a player or players in a certain area or areas. Thus, you focus the passes on the crowded area, so that your player passes to the player or players who are left free or unmarked.

Passing style

Depends on what type of game you want to play

Mixed balls – it’s a 50-50 … keep in mind when the animation shows you a short “airborne” pass, don’t misinterpret it as a long pass and change the passing style to long, thinking the scenario is showing you what works.

Short balls – possession: requires very good players with high passing and creativity that are able to keep the ball and exploit the gaps in opponents formation.

Long balls – playing into space with fast plays: It’s different from the short pass, as it’s based to move the ball in the shortest time possible down the field via one long aerial kick from a player to an offensive player, with the ball generally bypassing opponents midfield or defence to catch his disorganized defense. Against good opponents you might lose possession and this can lead to counter attacks against you.

Force Counter-Attacks

OFF – Players will focus retain the ball, focus on possession and try to build a slow positional attack. It’s good when you are the stronger team. If you play with counter attacks ON against a strong team, you might lose possession and this can lead to counter attacks against you.

ON – Players will focus on exploiting the gaps that the opponent’s players have left in defense with more direct fast plays without having any concern about possession. Could work against weak teams and against teams that are attacking you with weak defensive players, because you need to exploit fast the space from his disorganized defense.

Pressing

The idea is to pressure the opponent’s player who have the ball with the intention of winning it back. Don’t confuse pressing with tackling.

Low pressing

• Against players who are very technically skilled and fast. Having high pressing against this type of players, you are exposed to an offensive player who can easily by pass a defender, which will leave him one on one with the goalkeeper;
• When your defensive players can’t keep up the fast tempo, this means having a weak link in your approach can be fatal;

High pressing

• Against players who are technically very poor and slow. You are trying to win the ball high up on the field, by pressing and forcing opponent’s players to make mistakes with wrong passes without allowing them to control possession.

Tackling

Easy

• Against well trained players with high dribbling, speed, passing(fast tempo), because you want your “poor skilled” players to stay on their feet and not make unnecessary slides without winning the ball.

Normal

• Is 50-50, players will decide how to tackle opposing players.

Hard tackle

• Against weaker and slower players.
• When your defensive players have high tackling, positioning against “low” skilled dribbling players.

Marking

Always zonal marking

• Because defender will cover a specific area and mark the player that moves into his area.

Man2Man

• Practically, a defender has to follow the opposite player everywhere, in each area, regardless if he’s in possession or not for 90 minutes, which leaves gaps in defense and can be exploited this weakness.
• Can try to play man marking with hard tackling against short passing, only if your players are more skilled than his.

Offside trap

Off

• When the opposing offensive players are faster and have better positioning(skill and placement on the field) than your defensive players. Having offside trap ON against this type of players, you are exposed to an offensive player who can run behind the defenders without being caught in offside and receive a long ball pass which will leave him one on one with the goalkeeper.

On

• When your defensive players are faster and have better positioning(skill and placement on the field) than his offensive players.

Note

• What you need to understand is that in certain scenarios imposed by the match, you can choose other combinations than the ones written.
• When you see a mentality not working as you want, then change it by increasing or decreasing. If you wait for a miracle without doing any changes, won’t happen. There’s always a solution for anything, you need to be active during a match.
• When you have a lot of chances on target, but either your players miss or his goalkeeper saves, then your players are blocked/marked efficient(change the placement or/and arrow) or the mentality(space) can be the cause.
• When you have few chances on target, then your players are weak in terms of white skills.

Management

Contract

When the contract expires(1 year left), don’t renew the contract of your well/power trained player or players. During maintenance he/they will become free “from the contract”, resulting the overall Quality of the team will be much lower and you will be able to manipulate the draws in an “aggressive” way.

Market value
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For managers who have a higher level and don’t know how to spot a fast trainer, the clue that tells you that a regen player is a fast trainer is its value.

To find out the maximum value, simply go to the auctions, spend some time until you find out, and then look for the 18 years old players who have this maximum value. For 19 year old players, its value will be -1M.

The 15% rule
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I use this rule to find out what type of player he is. In general, a few higher white skills will tell what kind of player he is(playmaker, goal scorer, who assists and so on).

Academy

Academy players, besides the fact that there’s nothing to recommend them, have some advantages in constancy than those that are just “fast trainers” for increased efficiency on green packs. It requires testing to understand the concept.

Players from academy joining your team, untrained or trained(don’t recommend assign any coach), won’t increase the overall Quality of the team during the maintenance of the new season, because they become Free “agent” and won’t affect the draws.

Negative skills

As well as white skills, have been limited at a positive capped, where the player is no longer advantaged by negative numbers on grey skills.

Fast trainers test

For testing Special Ability or Role, it doesn’t matter which very hard drill(Sprint, FCA or Gym) you use for testing, because the training session is affected by the “%training effect” of the very hard drill, not by the number of skills the drill has.

Power Training Drill Sequence

GK

• Defending crosses
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Hold the line
• Wing play
• Goalkeeper training
• Gym
• After all of this drills, give importance to: communication, reflexes and agility

DR/DL

• Carioca with Ladders
• Press the Play
• Piggy in the Middle
• Video Analysis
• Use your Head
• Stop the Attacker
• Shuttle Runs
• Defending Crosses
• Set-Piece Delivery
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Gym
• Slalom Dribble

DMC (start 2nd role DC and pause it at 48/49)

• Video Analysis
• Use your Head
• Piggy in the Middle
• Press the Play
• Warm Up
• Gym
• Stop the Attacker
• Fast Counter-Attacks
• Set-Piece Delivery
• Shuttle Runs
• Carioca with Ladders

MC

• Video Analysis
• Use your Head
• Piggy in the Middle
• Stop the Attacker
• Shuttle Runs
• Pass, Go and Shoot
• Set-Piece Delivery
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Gym
• Shooting Technique
• Carioca with Ladders

AMR/AML (start 2nd role MR/ML and pause it at 48/49)

• Pass, Go and Shoot
• Shooting Technique
• Fast Counter-Attacks
• Wing play
• Set-Piece Delivery
• Skill Drill
• Video Analysis
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Long Run
• Gym
• Piggy in the Middle
• Warm Up

AMC

• Pass, Go and Shoot
• Shooting Technique
• Wing play
• Set-Piece Delivery
• Fast Counter-Attacks
• Skill Drill
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Long Run
• Gym
• Warm Up
• Carioca with Ladders
• Video Analysis

ST

• Pass, Go and Shoot
• Shooting Technique
• Fast Counter-Attacks
• Wing play
• Set-Piece Delivery(to get 340% on shooting)
• Skill Drill
• Video Analysis
• 1-on-1 Finishing
• Stretch
• Piggy in the Middle