Explore 7 tactical trends shaping the 25/26 season in Europe. Download the FM24 tactic that combines them all into one winning system.
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7 Tactical Trends to Look Out For in 25/26 | FM24 Tactic
As the curtains rise on the 25/26 season, analysts and football fans with a likening to tactics will be chomping at the bit to try and discover the latest tactical trends being set at clubs across the world. In this article, I’ll be showcasing seven tactical trends that are ‘trending’ in European football going into this new season, before demonstrating my tactical recreation of each of the seven tactical trends in one, singular tactic for you to download and play with on Football Manager 2024. Let’s begin…
Hybrid Marking & Pressing – The Rise of the Hybrid Press
In recent years, clubs in European football have been married to the idea of the ‘high-press’, with various different strategies being used to try and maximise the effectiveness of their high-press – this has seen the rise of ‘Gegenpressing’, used by the likes of Jürgen Klopp and Ralf Rangnick. Additionally, Gian Piero Gasperini popularised the idea of man-marking across the pitch with his success at Atalanta.
However, for those teams and managers preferring a more conservative defensive
approach, the 4-4-2 mid-block has recently made a return in European football,
with the likes of Mikel Arteta and Thiago Motta opting for this approach. So,
what is ‘Hybrid Pressing’ and why is it becoming the most attractive defensive
strategy for the elite clubs?
Well, to put it simply, ‘Hybrid Pressing’ is a strategy that situationally combines the ‘mid-block’ with the ‘high-press’, which is often dependent on either the ball’s position or the nearest opposition player’s position. To achieve this ‘Hybrid Pressing’, a team will begin in a ‘high-block’ – essentially a mid-block mentality, but positioned higher – before, depending on where the ball goes, springing into an intense, zonal-man marking system with ball-side priority. An example of this can be seen in the diagrams below:
Well, to put it simply, ‘Hybrid Pressing’ is a strategy that situationally combines the ‘mid-block’ with the ‘high-press’, which is often dependent on either the ball’s position or the nearest opposition player’s position. To achieve this ‘Hybrid Pressing’, a team will begin in a ‘high-block’ – essentially a mid-block mentality, but positioned higher – before, depending on where the ball goes, springing into an intense, zonal-man marking system with ball-side priority. An example of this can be seen in the diagrams below:
[Black Line – Pass; Blue Lines – Press]
[LST presses opp. GK, forcing wide – right-side players ready to press
closest opp. players] [Yellow Circle – Players Marked]
[RST engages to press opp. LCB; LST marks opp. GK to force wide – RW
ready to engage but holds narrow initial position to prevent
line-breaking pass into opp. LW. All central options marked]
[RW engages whilst RB marks opp. LW – force long ball]
The ultimate idea of the ‘hybrid press’ is to either force a mistake by the opposition or force the opposition into going long.
To recreate this in FM24, I instructed all three of our midfielders to tightly mark the players closest to them.
Roaming Full-Backs – Modern Full-Back Evolution in FM24
The idea of the ‘Roaming Full-back’ is to find pockets of space to move into, relative to their team-mates around them, with the eventual goal of crashing the penalty area as an extra goal-scoring option. Current real-world examples of this role would be the likes of Achraf Hakimi at PSG or Marc Cucurella at Chelsea. The benefit of this idea is that it directly counters the opposition’s aforementioned hybrid press, as the ‘Roaming Full-Back’ can remove themself from the equation in deep build-up to, instead, create situational overloads in specific zones and, ultimately, escape their marker.
Examples of the ‘Roaming Full-Back’s’ movement in various situations can be seen below:
[Roaming FB holds inverted position whilst RW holds width]
[Roaming FB holds width whilst RW inverts]
[Roaming FB inverts in final third to create 3-1-5-1 attacking
shape]
[LCM & ST attacks front post, opening space at back-post for
Roaming FB to crash into to score]
Touchline Full-Backs – Stretching the Pitch
The idea of a full-back holding the width isn’t new in football. However, this new iteration of the full-back operating wider, being popularised by the likes of Arne Slot and Hansi Flick, becomes an ‘Anchor’ in the team’s set-up as it creates favourable conditions to facilitate the players centrally to combine with one another. To put it simply, the touchline full-back is a decoy used by teams to stretch the opposition horizontally, creating gaps for line-breaking passes into central clusters. Additionally, by having a full-back operating wider rather than a winger, you allow your superior attacking players to get closer to the goal.
Goodbye Inverted Full-Backs, Welcome Back Half-Backs
In recent years, the idea of the ‘Inverted Full-Back’, where a full-back would help to form a back-three by becoming a faux centre-back, has been the go-to for the elite managers in European football. However, with the rise of the ‘Roaming Full-Back’ and ‘Touchline Full-Back’, the idea of a midfielder dropping into the back-line to form a back-three has been revived, with the likes of Vitinha at PSG and Zubimendi at Real Sociedad/Arsenal leading the resurrection.
Emptying the Midfield – A New Take on Positional Play
With the rise of ‘Positional Play’ (‘Juego de Posición’), the idea of ‘emptying the midfield’ would almost be seen as a tactical sin by many. However, managers have now found ways to ‘empty the midfield’ whilst minimizing the risks of doing as such. Coaches such as Fabian Hürzeler and Luis Enrique are leading the charge, with both of their respective teams getting great success from doing so. In essence, ‘emptying the midfield’ consists of a team’s midfielders moving away from the centre to open up space centrally for others to drop/move into. One or two examples can be seen below:
[Midfielders abandon central zones, drawing opp. press higher &
create staggering, creating a central space for 1 of frontline to drop
into.]
[Re-enactment of build-up to PSG’s goal in 0-1 win vs Arsenal in 24/25
– DM & LCM draw opp. M2M press wide, opening a gap in centre for one
of the frontline to drop into]
Anchors + Floaters – Tactical Flexibility Explained
I’ll be doing a more in-depth piece on the ‘Anchors + Floaters’ theory, however, for a more concise break-down, I explained the theory in a segment of the recently published Manchester United 25/26 tactic article, which you can read here.
3-1-2-4 In-Possession Shape – Enrique’s Masterclass
In recent years, the most common in-possession shapes have been the 3-2-5 and 3-Diamond-3, as they allow teams to get a good number of bodies centrally, whilst creating overloads on the midfield and/or defensive line. However, Luis Enrique’s treble-winning PSG side have popularised the latest trend of tactical shapes emerging, with their flexible 3-1-2-4 in-possession shape ruling supreme in Europe.
The ‘3-1’ provides a solid rest-defence, whilst the ‘2’ in midfield provides
extra bodies and support, however, operating on a different vertical line.
Finally, the ‘4’ in attack naturally matches up against an opposition’s
back-4, often forcing the opposition to drop a player into the backline to
retain a +1 advantage – thus creating a 6v5 overload in deeper regions for
the Parisians, leading to them completely dominating the ‘possession’ stats
in most games, whilst being able to use their +1 advantage in deeper areas
to gain territory on the opposition. An example of this can be seen below:
[PSG 3-1-2-4 from 24/25]
FM24 Tactic Breakdown – How to Recreate These Trends
In Possession
When we have the ball, I want us to build-up from deeper positions, starting from the defence. From here, I want us to use shorter passes to be able to retain possession more effectively, whilst focusing play down the left to accentuate our idea of ‘emptying the midfield’, along with creating ideal conditions for the ‘Roaming Full-Back’, Molina, to work his magic off-the-ball. I ask the team to operate in a fairly narrow manner, wanting our team to pass centrally more often than into wide areas. From our possession, I want our players to pass into space often to find players making runs in-behind. Finally, once we’ve reached the final third, I want our team to work the ball into the box, working cut-back situations.
In Transition
When we’ve lost the ball, I want our team to aggressively counter-press in order to regain possession as soon as possible. If/when we regain possession, I want us to launch counter-attacks immediately. Finally, from goal-kicks, I want our goal-keeper to distribute short to our centre-backs and full-backs.
Out of Possession
When we don’t have the ball, I want us to be protagonists on the pitch, pressing very high and aggressively – I ask our defence to hold a very high line to supplement our high press. Additionally, I ask our defence to step-up higher. From our press, I want our team to force the opposition into wide areas.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Sweeper Keeper – Support
In this position, I want Oblak to be fairly active in build-up, providing a back-up option for our team to pass to, situationally forming a temporary back-three with our two centre-backs. When we don’t have the ball, I want Oblak to be proactive in sweeping and claiming loose crosses. Therefore,
I felt this role was perfect. No additional instructions.
Full-Back – Attack
To recreate the ‘Roaming Full-Back’ role, I ask Molina to ‘Sit Narrower’, before running into central areas with the ball to recreate the ‘Roaming Full-Back’s’ central positioning – the ‘Full-Back’ role recreated this best, whilst the ‘Attack’ duty allowed Molina to crash the box and reach the last line of attack at times. Additional instructions below:
(DCL & DCR) Ball-Playing Defender – Defend
With the ‘Half-Back’ dropping centrally to create a back-three, I want our centre-backs to be the ones to progress play from our back-three, using progressive passes and carries. Finally, I want our two centre-backs to move much wider to occupy the half-spaces from deep. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions which are the same for both positions’ roles:
%20Ball-Playing%20Defender%20%E2%80%93%20Defend.png "(DCL & DCR) Ball-Playing Defender – Defend")
Wing-Back – Support
To recreate the ‘Touchline Full-Back’ role, I ask Galán to stay wider in order to remain on the touchline. Additionally, once he has the ball, I want Galán to progress play from this wider position, using more direct passes and carrying often. Finally, from this position, I want Galán to take more risks often to help break down the opposition. The added instructions allow us to recreate this role:
Half-Back – Defend
In this position, I want Llorente to drop deep and form a back-three with the two centre-backs. When we don’t have the ball, I want Llorente to mark the player closest to him tightly, whilst tackling harder. Therefore, this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Deep-Lying Playmaker – Support
In this position, I want Barrios to move deeper to become the single-pivot in our 3-1-2-4 shape. From here, I want him to be the metronomic central hub of our play – this role is perfect to allow that, with the added instructions:
Central Midfielder – Attack
In this position, I want Gallagher to regularly make runs in-behind off-the-ball, contributing to emptying the midfield. Additionally, I want him to situationally move into the frontline. When we have the ball, I want Gallagher to move wider to further contribute to emptying the midfield. Therefore, I felt this role was most optimal, with the added instructions:
Inverted Winger – Support
In this position, I want Simeone to use his flexible positioning to dictate the movement of Molina, the ‘Roaming Full-Back’, behind him. If Simeone holds the width, I want Molina to invert and vice versa – to encourage this flexible movement, I want Simeone to roam from his position, but initially positioning himself wider. Therefore, I felt this role was ideal, with the added instructions:
Inside Forward – Support
Like with Simeone, I want Alvarez to initially hold the width to create wide overloads near the touchline. From here, I allow him to roam from his position to add fluidity to our play. Finally, when we have the ball, I want him to situationally make runs in-behind. Therefore, I felt this role was most optimal, with the added instructions:
False Nine – Support
In this position, I want Griezmann to be the player to most often drop from the frontline to receive between the lines and create for the players around him. I also want him to move into the channels to create situational overloads in certain zones, such as the half-spaces. Finally, when we don’t have the ball, I want him to lead our press. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
FM24 Tactic Test Results – Atlético Madrid & Borussia Dortmund
I did two season tests with this tactic, using both Atletico Madrid and Borussia Dortmund – here were the results in both tests!
Atletico Madrid
- La Liga – Champions
- Supercopa de España – Finalists
- Copa del Rey – Champions
- UEFA Champions League – Champions
Borussia Dortmund
- Bundesliga – Champions
- DfB-Pokal – Second Round
- UEFA Champions League – Quarter-Finalists
Conclusion
The 24/25 season saw the introduction and resurrection of some very intriguing trends of tactical ingenuity, with multiple ideas, including roles and shapes, being set in European football. Now, as the 25/26 season commences, there’s real reason for excitement that we could see the most in-depth tactical battles for a long time on display week-in week-out. If you want a taste of this riveting tactic, make sure to download the tactics using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves!
