Dictate The Game
Latest Posts
FM21 – Championship Guide – Part 2
Part 2 of the Championship guide includes the remaining twelves teams not covered in Part 1. Each club info section contains an overview of the club, predicted finish, club vision and some key players, hot prospects and finally a suggested formation.
Making a Profit in FM21: Retraining, Free Agents & Affiliates
Struggling with your finances in Football Manager 2021? This guide will help you improve your finances which will effect your finances both short and long term. The best way I look at this is as simple as you’re generating the club money which will be invested back in to the club. These simple methods will have an impact on your club and potentially change your outlook on finances. Let’s just get on with it, making a profit in FM21. If… Read More Read More
Possession Football in FM21: A Tactical Counter
It’s an argument as old as football statistics: is it more important to play possession football, or can you get away with letting the other team control the ball, and taking your chances on the counter? If you’d asked me six months ago, I’d have said no. Possession football was a king in FM20’s match engine, making Tiki Taka and Control Possession enormously useful tactical styles. In FM21, though, I’ve found it’s quite possible to play well without controlling… Read More Read More
Physio Power in FM21
In a previous article, I mentioned how important a Physio could be in keeping your players fit, on the pitch and from being a waste of money. By preventing injuries and reducing the length of any that happen your Physio can really help make a difference to your FM21 game. There’s a reason why top-flight teams invest in the medical team. An injury crisis can cost a team on the pitch and on the books. In this article we are… Read More Read More
Zona Mista: When Catenaccio Met Totaalvoetbal
Different football styles inspire many things in us. There is Brazilian Jogo Bonito with its almost sexual joie de vivre. Makes you want to dance samba just watching it. Then there is German Gegenpress with its cold-blooded efficiency. And Italian Calcio which to me personifies romanticism of a simple bygone era. Also Italian football just made sense to me, even as teenager who knew little about football. Score goals and don’t let the other team do it. Actually Calcio from 70s-90s is one of the best jump in points to learn… Read More Read More
Football Manager Tactical Styles
Football Manager is renowned for giving its players a unique opportunity (among other things) to create tactics. Be that an experimental, never before seen inverted wingback diamond Christmas tree with 4 anchor men and 2 target men. Or a subtle tweak on everyone’s favourite Sunday league tactic; four, four, f**king two.But what about the tactical styles provided by our beloved game?
Winning titles with ‘unbeatable’ tactics, and how to get the most out of your FM21 saves.
Firstly, Happy New Year you Tactical Masterminds! I was really struggling for ideas; Christmas has been and gone, Coronavirus is apparently still and thing and is worse than ever in the UK, and New Years at Home seemed like hell on earth. I thought about making some stupid tactic using 6 midfielders or 2 defenders, “that’ll make for a funny article, that might even help some people”, I thought. But alas my horrific attempt of a “around the midfielder tactic”… Read More Read More
FM21 Training Features – Give Your Team the Edge!
When managing your team, they say the hard work begins with the basics in training. In Football Manager, this is no exception. It’s not always about picking a tactic you think will work and giving a team talk to your fledgling players. Below, I guide you through the Training Features available in FM21 and using them to your advantage to give your team an edge over the competition.
FM21 – Championship Club Guide
In this post we’ll be taking an in depth look at each club in the Championship, including an overview of the club, predicted finish, club vision and some key players, hot prospects and finally I’ll suggest a formation. Welcome to the Football Manager 2021 Championship Guide.
Arsenal FC Club Guide
So, you think that you can do better than Mikel Arteta? Of course you think that, and you are probably right as well. To help you achieve something other than mid-table mediocrity, here’s the Arsenal FC club guide for FM21!
How to deal with Football Manager frustration
It happened. You got scored on in the last minute of the final. Your team missed the last penalty of the shoot-out. Perhaps you simply lost it on goal average. Whatever it is, you’re angry, furious actually, and you wanna be rid of it all. Don’t! Here are five tips on how to deal with Football Manager frustration
Personalities to Look For and Avoid
Following on from my previous article: Personalities to Look For: 5 of the Best , I want to talk today about five Personalities it’s better to avoid. Once again, I’m focusing here on players in the main part of their career, not youth intake players. And I have deliberately eschewed the easy ones, such as Slack or Spineless. Without further explanation, let’s examine my five Personalities to look for and avoid.
Non-League Legends: Total Football = Total Training
When I set out to recreate Maslov’s style of football with Notts County, it started as a long-term project of developing an effectively simple 4-4-2. I was looking for a formation that could be successful in both lower leagues and the elite ones. For this to work the concepts of intense pressing, strategic possession and constant ball movement had to be central as they were essential in Viktor Maslov’s own tactics. In many ways, Maslov’s tactical ideas contained quite a… Read More Read More
Five tips to awake a sleeping giant
The Sleeping or Fallen Giant save is the quintessential Football Manager save. Historic venues, black-and-white glory, missed opportunities, flawed heroes; it’s got it all. But no matter if you’re going for an exotic name from an unknown land or one of the traditional powers of the old continent, the question remains: how do we rise again? That the aim of these five tips to awake a sleeping giant on Football Manager
Making a profit in FM21: Friendlies & Contracts
Struggling with your finances in Football Manager 2021? This guide will help you improve your finances which will effect your finances both short and long term. The best way I look at this is as simple as you’re generating the club money which will be invested back in to the club. These simple methods will have an impact on your club and potentially change your outlook on finances. Let’s just get on with it, making a profit in FM21.
Personalities to Look For: 5 of the Best
One of the most important qualities a player can have in Football Manager 2021 is his personality. This label is the product of examining the seven hidden attributes that make up Personality (Loyalty, Professionalism, Ambition, Controversy, Sportsmanship, Temperament, and Pressure), plus Determination and Leadership. In this piece I’ll be looking at the top five Personalities to look for in a player.
Backroom Staff in FM21: The Team Behind The Team
A team is more than the sum of its parts. It is more than just the players on the pitch and the manager. For every Clough there is a Taylor. For every Ferguson a Jackal or a Phelan, or for every Big Sam a suite of analysts and happy looking agents. A club is supported and nurtured by the backroom staff. An even the lowliest coach or physio can contribute to the success of the club, and often for a… Read More Read More
Overloads Part 2: Harnessing Cautious Mentality in FM21
The following continues my guide on creating Possession-style tactics. My hope is that by putting it in a more systematic way, this process can be made easier. Creating Tiki-Taka or Total Football (The Holy Grail for us FM possession freaks!) tactics is never easy. Hopefully some of the tools and tips presented in this and previous articles, can make this process more intuitive and transparent. So read on if you want to learn how to create your very own Total… Read More Read More
Every Club Vision | FM21 | MLS
In this FM21 guide, we will be showing you every FM21 MLS team’s club vision. Club Vision is a vital part of Football Manager 2021 and underlines your time at the club for many years to come. Failure to meet the proposed club vision could lead to putting your job at serious risk! If you are managing in the MLS for the first time, why not check out our how to manage guide and our who to sign guide? Atlanta… Read More Read More
Touchline Instructions in Football Manager 21
Every manager in the ‘real’ world (we all know that exists, right?) has his quirks. Those little habits on matchday; from Antonio Conte maniacally thrashing his arms, or Neil Warnock being angry at, well just about everyone. Pep Guardiola’s sauve demeanor or Marcelo Bielsa’s superstitious bucket sitting. Well, they all have one thing in common, they all make tactical decisions. I’m talking in the moment, tactical decisions during a game of football, that influence the game. Funnily enough, Football… Read More Read More
FM21 Guides: Newgen Guide for Countries and Clubs
The FM21 Newgen Guide With the new installment of Football Manager, everybody wants to become the best manager of all time for club and country. That will naturally take time in game and requires lots of effort from players. This FM21 Newgen Guide will help you to accelerate this process whilst we do the leg-work for you. In this guide we bring you the top clubs and countries to scout to have the best chance of finding wonderkids in your… Read More Read More
Beginners Guide to FM21 – Day One
As a follow up to my previous Setting up a save in FM21, you now have your selected team and are about to start your managerial career… until you realise you don’t know what to do next! This beginners guide to FM21 aims to help you through Day One as manager, from the Club Vision to assessing your squad. As your game loads, click “Next” through the various screens showing your appointment as manager. The game offers you the chance… Read More Read More
The Beauty of Focus Play: Creating Overloads in FM21
The following article is Part 1 in a multi-part series of guides on developing Possession-focused tactic in FM21. It is inspired by Pep Guardiola’s style but is not meant to be an accurate recreation of Pep’s tactics. Instead the tactic in this guide is largely inspired by Total Football and continues my quest to bring this style in all of its beauty to Football Manager games. Read on if you love Total Football and would love to see how it… Read More Read More
Last Chance: Loïc Pelley | FM21
Last Chance: Loïc Pelley is a fictional story through the Football Manager world. You may remember our series Mega Project, where we followed Mason Bradshaw around the globe at various clubs. This Loïc Pelley FM21 story will be incorporating a narrative, guides and tips on how Loïc manages his life and club. This is a Football Manager 2021 journey not to be missed, and don’t forget, it’s access all areas so you will see what it’s really like to manage… Read More Read More
Manchester United Club Guide
Are you ready for a real “Sleeping giant” challenge? If the answer is yes, you’ve certainly come to the right place. A club with a great legacy, perhaps to the extent of it becoming a burden. Struggling to find a new identity to get back to winning ways, but equipped both with finances and facilities to turn things around. Welcome to this Manchester United club guide.
Non-League Legends: Magpies Take Flight
As you might remember last season, I extensively covered Total Football. Naturally, writing about highly technical, possession-focused system, inspired some complicated tactics. And the teams I tested with, while not world-beaters, were mostly in the higher end of the league pyramid. Leading an elite club has its challenges of course and winning any trophy is never a sure thing. Not even when you’re the top club in the country. With Lower League Management (LLM) the challenge becomes rather different in… Read More Read More
Transfer Window Winners: FM21 Wonderkids
The transfer window is, for any football fan, the most exciting time of year. Multi-million pound deals. Sometimes, it is superstars swapping cities in the hunt for glory and trophies. Sometimes, it is the next generation of talent making waves. These are the Wonderkids. The players that every Football Manager player wants to track down and develop. We spend hours every year developing the finest young talent, before PSG swoop in and pinch them: usually to sit on the bench…. Read More Read More
Setting up a save in FM21
So you decided the time is right to give Football Manager 2021 a try. Welcome aboard! When it comes to setting up a save in FM21, new players want to know the basics for setting up to play smoothly. That’s what this article is about, aiming to show you around setting up the game so it is suited to how you enjoy the game.
No One Likes Us | Part 2 | Defensive 4-4-2
Welcome back to “No One Likes Us”, if you haven’t read Part 1 you can find it here. We’ve had a decent start to our Championship season, and we’ve almost reached the January window. In this post I’ll outline the tactic I’ve settled on, a defensive 4-4-2, and explain the instructions and roles I’ve selected.
A guide to xG in FM21
xG in FM21 was the feature many of us nerds were waiting for. Here at DTG we’ve been messing around with manually adding stats like xG, xG against, xA and even received pass position since FM19. You can imagine our joy when we realised that with xG in FM21 we wouldn’t have to do this by hand anymore. After all it is an increasingly important statistic used by football clubs across the globe to improve their tactics and inform their… Read More Read More
Five Uncommon Fallen Giants for FM21
We’ve all dreamt of it. You take one of the oldest names in the sport and bring them back to the elite of football. But what if you want to manage outside the top 5 leagues in Europe? Take a look at these five uncommon fallen giants for an exotic FM21 save.
FM21: 10 Unusual Leagues for any Football Manager
This article is for people who want a fresh start in a new nation; take a vacation and enjoy the rest of the world! Here are top 10 Nations to try:
Goalkeeper Resiliency: Measuring Game Difficulty
One of the most interesting things available in Football Manager 2021 is the ability to track expected Goals, or xG. In combination with Pelham, I think I’ve worked out a useful way to measure what I’m going to call Goalkeeper Resiliency (GR), that is, the degree of difficulty that a goalkeeper is facing, relative to that normally faced by goalkeepers in their league.
Non-League Legends: Vik Maslov, Bobby Moore and The Birth of Modern 4-4-2
When one thinks of “simple” football, English 4-4-2 usually comes to mind. A long-time favourite formation in Albion, its origin was mistakenly, credited to Sir Alf Ramsey. It was also associated with the transition to modern football. A game that is currently, single-mindedly obsessed with possession, relentless pressing and teamwork. But what led us to the world where Gegenpress has become a household word? The answer is simple. It all began with Viktor Maslov and the Soviet invention of the… Read More Read More
How to Manage in MLS | FM21 Guide
FM21 Early Access is out. It’s time for your first FM21 save. Do you fancy a Football Manager 2021 journey to America? Don’t know how to manage in the MLS? Don’t worry, this FM21 Guide will show you how to manage in the MLS to make your Football Manager 2021 save perfect! Are you not sure who to sign in your MLS journey, see our guide on MLS players you should sign, here. What drafts do the MLS have? The… Read More Read More
Who to Sign | MLS Guide | FM21
Welcome to this Football Manager 2021 guide to help you to decide who to sign in MLS. In this FM21 post we save you clicking, searching and failing to find the gems to help you get to the top if you are starting the other side of the pond! If you’re also not sure on the rules of MLS in your FM21 journey in the states, check out our MLS Guide here This was done with Nashville SC in the… Read More Read More
Best Premier League Free Agents To Sign | FM21
Football Manager 2021 is finally here, and we have found the best Premier League free agents in FM21. If you are unsure what type of player you want to sign, we have you covered with various players from around the world. There are a few surprise names in here, who you would expect to find a club. Be quick, as I am sure these players won’t be around long. Will these be your FM21 free agent signings?
No One Likes Us | Part 1 | The Art of Pragmatism
Those of you who followed my Anti-Football posts last season will know that I’m not usually a lover of the darker side of Football. For me, football manager is a playground to experiment with wild and wacky tactics, to find new and interesting ways to play, or recreate great historic systems. This time round will be a little different. Those two seasons at Newport awoke something within me. My taster of the dark arts left me wanting more. I saw… Read More Read More
Dictate The Game OFFICIAL Football Tops – Purchase Now!
This is something we have been working on in the past couple of months, and something we’re incredibly proud to publish to you. When we originally set this fan site up, we never thought it would impact so many of you – this has motivated massively. Dictate The Game are proud to officially announce our own football shirts in partnership with Victory Kits. We have negotiated a fantastic price, and a very good minimum order so that we can get as… Read More Read More
Non-League Legends: Introducing Future FM21 Series
Welcome back readers! Hope everyone had a productive off-season. Some might know me as Crusadertsar over on SI Games forums and Twitter. In short, I’m just another guy who spends a bit too much time playing Football Manager. I also double as a bit a sports history aficionado, and like to sprinkle in my research into my tactical musings. You may recognize my ramblings from Man United-focused series Young Devils which debuted on our site last year. And there was… Read More Read More
Football Manager 2021 – FM21 Wishlist
Football Manager 2021 Wishlist, we had to create one. In this article we cover the various feature wishes we want to see in this years edition of Football Manager. Hopefully we see some of these in game, and get to try them out. We have varied this up and tried to look at realistic options, as well as options which would add to the game, but wouldn’t be the biggest factor. We hope you like this FM21 Wishlist article, and we’d… Read More Read More
FM Experiment – Gareth Bale’s return to Tottenham
Gareth Bale’s return to Tottenham has made them a very interesting choice as a club for FM21. It’s been a while since Spurs had a major star partnering Harry Kane, so all bets are off as to what Jose Mourinho can achieve with them… or are they? Maybe Football Manager can give us some clues as to what to expect. Let’s hop in the time machine and take a look!
Mirror the Magic – 4 – Park Ji-sung
In this series, I highlight a much-loved and talented footballer from the past. I’ll tell you a little bit about what I think their key qualities were that made them so special. We’ll go on to look at how best to re-live that legend in Football Manager, by naming a few current players who may be able to ‘mirror the magic’ of the superstar and potentially become your new FM20 hero. So far, we’ve had Juan Román Riquelme, Ronald Koeman… Read More Read More
Playing time and player development on FM20 – Part 3
To play or not to play, that is the question for many FM20 managers. Especially when it comes to developing young players. U18 players highly value training, while older players need playing time to keep developing. Playing time alone isn’t enough though, as a manager you need to provide your player with games at the right level. The level needs to be challenging, but not too difficult. The optimal level will vary based on age, current ability and potential ability…. Read More Read More
The Football Philosophy Index
Introduction I wrote this article last year on something at the time I called The Football Philosophy Index, while playing FM19. It was originally on my site FMStag.com and was picked up by a couple of community sites. Ridiculous title aside, I thought I’d bring it back with some updated advice. I know we all have our different ways of doing this, but this is how I export FM attribute data to Excel in order to drive immersion in my… Read More Read More
Total Football Journeyman: Jogo Bonito Benfica
The advantage of using world-class team in FM20, is in the variety of tactics you can try on season-to-season basis. I started out my Benfica save attempting a more patient possession approach, reminiscent of Guardiola’s Barcelona. Yet as my campaign continues, I find myself experimenting with more adventurous tactics. So in 3rd year with the Portuguese giant, I attempt to show that Total Football does not necessarily equal boring possession-focused football. It can also be an exciting attacking style. In… Read More Read More
Aswijan Play Guide (Part 2 of 6)
There’s a new country in Europe, and it’s called Aswijan. Created by @chilled_moose, it provides 64 teams in three leagues, three cup competitions, and about 6000 created players. The teams vary widely, from fallen giants Hesef to world-class titans like Aswijan Mailkiy. This will be a guide to playing in Aswijan, in six parts. Each part will examine half of one of the three leagues, continuing today with the lowest league, Liga Dukh. This league is comparable in quality to… Read More Read More
Three Strikers: Breaking open defences in FM20 with a battering ram
Three strikers might seem an extreme way of going about things but there are many ways to break down a defence. Sometimes the creation of space, overlaps and overloads are less about tactical refinement and more about brute force. We don’t all manage a team of La Liga or top-flight superstars so sometimes a more direct approach is needed to force the issue for smaller lower league sides operating on a budget. In this article, we float the idea of… Read More Read More
Five English Teams to Manage with Updated Database | FM20
It is that time in the cycle where people are wanting the next edition of Football Manager, but we all have to wait. In this article I discuss five teams to manage FM20, and more specifically with an updated database. I have tried to mix it up so that the teams aren’t always the most obvious ones. We all know that this is the perfect time to start a new save, just to keep things fresh and with pr0 Transfers… Read More Read More
Mental Health and Football Manager
Over the last couple of months there has been a rise in Mental Health awareness in the Football Manager community. With many communities now opening spaces for their members to talk about the subject and several respected creators discussing these issues, we asked specialists on the matter for their take.