FM21 AS Monaco tactic and team guide. Club culture and board requirements, tactics, key players, youth prospects and potential transfers.
Football Manager 2021 AS Monaco tactic and team guide. Club culture and
board requirements, tactics, key players, youth prospects and potential
transfers in FM21.
About the club
Monaco are a professional football club that ply their trade in Ligue 1. The club was founded in 1924 and play their home games at Stade Louis II. Though they’re based out of Monaco they play in the French League and have achieved relatively good success.
They have won 8 League titles, 5 Coupe De France (French Cup) & 1 Coupe De
La League (French League cup). They have also finished as runners up in the
UEFA Champion’s League, Europa League and the UEFA Cup winner’s cup.
Monaco most recently won the league title in 2016-2017 with an amazing
emergence of youngsters who were eventually sold for a lot of profit.
Monaco have been off the pace in the league for the past couple of seasons (by their standards) . They managed to finish 9th in the league in 2019-2020
The board is very ambitious despite below-average performances over the last 2 seasons. The requirements once you take over will be;
1. Make the top 3 of Ligue 1 (Automatic UEFA Champion’s League qualification)
2. Make the semi Final of the Coupe De France (French Cup)
You will additionally be required to sign high reputation players, develop players using the club’s youth system and sign young players for the future.
Monaco have top class training facilities and one of the best youth setups to match the ambitions of the board. You will learn to heavily rely on these once you stabilize yourself at the club to meet the club’s ambitions.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Starting Transfer Budgets
Monaco have a versatile squad where you can deploy multiple tactics and still find success, however, my suggestion will be to go with the vertical tiki-taka style of football to make use of their slick passing and fast wingers. You can also go with fluid counter-attacks, especially for tough away games.
A 4-4-2 is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This also helps them maintain the width and releasing the ball quickly to counter opponents.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-4-2 formation is as follows;
Benjamin Lecomte as a sweeper keeper.
Axel Disasi & Benoit Badiashile as the 2 centre backs, Badiashille to be played as a Ball Playing defender.
Ruben Aguilar & Djibril Sidibe as a fullback and wingback respectively.
Florentino Luis as a ball-winning midfielder & Alexandr Golovin as a deep playmaker on support duty as the 2 central midfielders.
Gelson Martins & Henry Onyekuru as the 2 wide players. Martins as an inverted winger and Onyekuru as an inside forward.
Wissam Ben Yedder & Kevin Volland as the strikers, Volland as a deep-lying forward and Ben Yedder as an Advanced Forward.
Monaco have a lot of versatile players and you can play with a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 by moving Golovin into an attacking midfielder’s role.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Tactics
Golovin is a versatile attacking midfielder. The young Russian is technically very good and his performances are very important in securing good results.
Ben Yedder is the club captain and is a prolific goalscorer. He scored 18 league goals for Monaco last season in just 26 appearances and will largely be responsible for shaping your season.
Volland is the new signing at Monaco and is extremely underrated. He is very versatile and is also a natural in front of goal.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Best Players Shortlist
1. The quality of backups in the squad especially in defence may not be up to the quality and could prove fatal if your squad is affected by injuries.
2. You run the risk of some talents being poached by other clubs especially in search of higher wages as in the past.
3. The club’s ambitions may be really lofty considering the quality of the squad.
Monaco are not the best squad in the league with respect to squad depth, these players could be welcome additions to the side.
· Maxence Caqueret
· Adil Aouchiche
· Boubakary Soumare
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
· Guillermo Maripan
· Caio Henrique
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,
Despite being just 19, Badiashile is a very important player for Monaco already and with experience will only get better. He is also a threat from set-pieces and is aerially a very strong defender.
Recently promoted to the Monaco main squad from Monaco 2, Tchouameni can he a leading player for the club in the future and is an excellent team player.
Musaba is currently on loan at Cercle Brugge and has the ability to be a prolific winger for Monaco in the future. His versatility and pace make him a very dangerous player and is on the cusp of breaking into the main team.
RELATED: Best Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids
To Summarize, Monaco are a very exciting team to manage for most FM21 managers. They have one of the best youth systems and so many promising youngsters rising up through the ranks. However, keeping bigger clubs from poaching them and meeting the board’s lofty ambitions may be a real challenge, are you up for it?
Board Requirements
Monaco have been off the pace in the league for the past couple of seasons (by their standards) . They managed to finish 9th in the league in 2019-2020
The board is very ambitious despite below-average performances over the last 2 seasons. The requirements once you take over will be;
1. Make the top 3 of Ligue 1 (Automatic UEFA Champion’s League qualification)
2. Make the semi Final of the Coupe De France (French Cup)
You will additionally be required to sign high reputation players, develop players using the club’s youth system and sign young players for the future.
Monaco have top class training facilities and one of the best youth setups to match the ambitions of the board. You will learn to heavily rely on these once you stabilize yourself at the club to meet the club’s ambitions.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Starting Transfer Budgets
Squad, Formation and Tactical Style
Monaco have a versatile squad where you can deploy multiple tactics and still find success, however, my suggestion will be to go with the vertical tiki-taka style of football to make use of their slick passing and fast wingers. You can also go with fluid counter-attacks, especially for tough away games.
A 4-4-2 is probably the best-suited formation to the available squad of players. This also helps them maintain the width and releasing the ball quickly to counter opponents.
A rough example of what your line-up would look like in a 4-4-2 formation is as follows;
Benjamin Lecomte as a sweeper keeper.
Axel Disasi & Benoit Badiashile as the 2 centre backs, Badiashille to be played as a Ball Playing defender.
Ruben Aguilar & Djibril Sidibe as a fullback and wingback respectively.
Florentino Luis as a ball-winning midfielder & Alexandr Golovin as a deep playmaker on support duty as the 2 central midfielders.
Gelson Martins & Henry Onyekuru as the 2 wide players. Martins as an inverted winger and Onyekuru as an inside forward.
Wissam Ben Yedder & Kevin Volland as the strikers, Volland as a deep-lying forward and Ben Yedder as an Advanced Forward.
Monaco have a lot of versatile players and you can play with a 3-5-2 or 4-2-3-1 by moving Golovin into an attacking midfielder’s role.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Tactics
Key Players
1. Alexandr Golovin
Golovin is a versatile attacking midfielder. The young Russian is technically very good and his performances are very important in securing good results.
2. Wissam Ben Yedder
Ben Yedder is the club captain and is a prolific goalscorer. He scored 18 league goals for Monaco last season in just 26 appearances and will largely be responsible for shaping your season.
3. Kevin Volland
Volland is the new signing at Monaco and is extremely underrated. He is very versatile and is also a natural in front of goal.
RELATED: Football Manager 2021 Best Players Shortlist
Weaknesses
1. The quality of backups in the squad especially in defence may not be up to the quality and could prove fatal if your squad is affected by injuries.
2. You run the risk of some talents being poached by other clubs especially in search of higher wages as in the past.
3. The club’s ambitions may be really lofty considering the quality of the squad.
Potential Transfers (in)
Monaco are not the best squad in the league with respect to squad depth, these players could be welcome additions to the side.
· Maxence Caqueret
· Adil Aouchiche
· Boubakary Soumare
Potential Transfers (Out)
These players may be surplus to requirements at the club or may not be of the expected quality.
· Guillermo Maripan
· Caio Henrique
Youth Prospects
There are a few exciting young prospects in the ranks who have the potential to be some of the best players in the league. A few examples are,
1. Benoit Badiashile
Despite being just 19, Badiashile is a very important player for Monaco already and with experience will only get better. He is also a threat from set-pieces and is aerially a very strong defender.
2. Aurelien Tchouameni
Recently promoted to the Monaco main squad from Monaco 2, Tchouameni can he a leading player for the club in the future and is an excellent team player.
3. Anthony Musaba
Musaba is currently on loan at Cercle Brugge and has the ability to be a prolific winger for Monaco in the future. His versatility and pace make him a very dangerous player and is on the cusp of breaking into the main team.
RELATED: Best Football Manager 2021 Wonderkids
Summary
To Summarize, Monaco are a very exciting team to manage for most FM21 managers. They have one of the best youth systems and so many promising youngsters rising up through the ranks. However, keeping bigger clubs from poaching them and meeting the board’s lofty ambitions may be a real challenge, are you up for it?
