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FM19 Writers Cup | Season 1 | Introduction

Aug 02, 2019 Dictate The Game

First of all listeners of the podcast will know about this already but for those unaware we’ve created a way to finally decide who is the best at Football Manager; an FM19 writers cup.

José Mourinho Inter tactic tested in FM19

Aug 01, 2019 Dictate The Game

José Mourinho is now well known for his anti-football approach, and his mentality that if you don’t have the ball, you can’t make mistakes. Manchester United haven’t exactly been successful so far this season, sitting 7th in the table after winning only 6 of their opening 13 games. United have come under scrutiny for their defensive, lacklustre performances. Despite always being a pragmatist, Mourinho was not always this negative. This article will show a replication of Mourinho’s successful Inter Milan… Read More Read More

Running with the Wolves #2: Making sensible signings in FM19

Jul 31, 2019 Dictate The Game

Continuing my AS Roma series, I start second season with some clear tactic and transfer goals. Winning the Italian Cup, finishing 2nd in the league and qualifying for another season in Champions League (unlike our real life counterpart) are definite highlights. However here are some things that I am not happy with. Our chance to goal conversation rate is something that needs improvement and I will be doing tactical adjustments with that in mind. This article will serve as a… Read More Read More

Mason Bradshaw | Livin’ the Dream | #4

Jul 28, 2019 Dictate The Game

After shocking the world by becoming a manager at 24, Mason Bradshaw shocked the wrold again by retiring, but he’s back down under. Follow his journey in Livin’ the Dream

Mason Bradshaw | Livin’ the Dream | #3

Jul 28, 2019 Dictate The Game

After shocking the world by becoming a manager at 24, Mason Bradshaw shocked the wrold again by retiring, but he’s back down under. Follow his journey in Livin’ the Dream

Mason Bradshaw | Livin’ the Dream | #2

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mega Project was a unique Football Manager experience. It featured Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally, who attempted to climb the football ladder from the first job to becoming a world-class manager. Mega Project was something that was never been done before as we looked from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues, the world of football and more. Mason is now livin’ the dream down under as manager of Sydney FC.

Mason Bradshaw | Livin’ the Dream | #1

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mega Project was a unique Football Manager experience. It featured Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally, who attempted to climb the football ladder from the first job to becoming a world-class manager. Mega Project was something that was never been done before as we looked from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues, the world of football and more. Mason is now livin’ the dream down under as manager of Sydney FC.

Mason Bradshaw | Bradshaw’s Back | #4

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mega Project was a unique Football Manager experience. It featured Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally. He attempted to climb the football leader from the first job to becoming a world class manager. Mega Project was something that was never been done before as we looked from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues and the world of football. Mason retired from football management but is now back. Mason’s journey continues in Bradshaw’s Back.

Mason Bradshaw | Bradshaw’s Back | #3

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mega Project was a unique Football Manager experience. It featured Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally. He attempted to climb the football leader from the first job to becoming a world class manager. Mega Project was something that was never been done before as we looked from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues and the world of football. Mason retired from football management but is now back. Mason’s journey continues in Bradshaw’s Back.

Mason Bradshaw | Bradshaw’s Back | #2

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mega Project was a unique Football Manager experience. It featured Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally. He attempted to climb the football leader from the first job to becoming a world class manager. Mega Project was something that was never been done before as we looked from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues and the world of football. Mason retired from football management but is now back. Mason’s journey continues in Bradshaw’s Back.

Mason Bradshaw | Bradshaw’s Back | #1

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

After shocking the world by becoming a manager at 24, Mason Bradshaw shocked the wrold again by retiring, but he’s back. Follow his journey in Bradshaw’s Back.

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #11

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #10

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #9

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #8

Jul 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

0 Shares Football Manager, Mason Bradshaw, Stories Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #6 Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #7

Jul 26, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project

FM Statistics Lab: Recruiting players embodying your club’s DNA in FM19

Jul 26, 2019 Dictate The Game

As mentioned in our previous post we are going to take a step away from the sterile lab setting (though we will be back) and look at some more natural data. Data that has been occurring in my saves. As a result we will be able to use statistics around key performance indicators (KPI’s) to actually determine what our club DNA should be for for each of our units: defence and attack. Recruiting players FM19. There are some great articles,… Read More Read More

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #6

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Making a profit in FM19: the importance of friendlies

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

I was actually amazed at how much money you can make from friendlies. This particular method is perfect for lower league clubs who would usually struggle with finances over the course of the season. In turn you will be making a profit in FM19. In this guide I will take a scenario where no friendlies are played after the season has started, and a club that play regular friendlies and look at the positives and negatives for both. I will… Read More Read More

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #5

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Managing semi-pro clubs in FM19 – Changing Professional Status

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Everyone always has the idea of having their dream football manager save with a team that are down at the bottom of the footballing ladder, this guide will (hopefully) help you convert your team into a force to be reckoned with. As well as changing their professional status. Managing semi-pro clubs in FM19? Read on! This changing your professional status guide will focus on these three components: Money Players Progression & Commitment

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #4

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Russell Osman Interview | Ipswich Town Legend

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Russell Osman was part of Ipswich Town’s most successful era as a football club. The club won the 1978 FA Cup and the 1981 UEFA Cup. Under the management of Sir Bobby Robson for the majority of his Town career. Dictate The Game were lucky enough to interview Russell Osman in January 2018… Russell Osman appeared in 1981 film, Escape to Victory, and we asked Russell why he appeared in the film, and the answer was an interesting one. Why… Read More Read More

Dictate the Game Podcast 11 | The FM Editor & DTG Cup

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

The latest DtG podcast is here, join the DTG crew and special guest, The FM Editor, for another fun-filled podcast.

Paul Mariner Interview | Ipswich & Arsenal

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Paul Mariner was part of Ipswich Town’s greatest day, playing for the Suffolk side during the 70s and 80s under Sir Bobby, winning the FA & UEFA Cup.

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #3

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Jordan Rideout Interview, Kansas City Player

Jul 25, 2019 Dictate The Game

Remember Paul Rideout? the only goalscorer in the FA Cup final where Everton lifted their most recent trophy. Well, it’s not only Paul who has been gifted with the shooting boots. Paul’s son, Jordan Rideout has followed his fathers footsteps in the World of Football. He currently plays for Oklahoma City Energy FC. We caught up with Jordan Rideout and asked him a few questions about his career so far and his plans.

DICTATE THE GAME | PODCAST

Jul 24, 2019 Dictate The Game

Learn all about the Dictate The Game Podcast

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #2

Jul 24, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Mason Bradshaw | Mega Project | #1

Jul 24, 2019 Dictate The Game

Mason Bradshaw has never played football professionally, and at just the tender age of 24, he’s shocked the world by announcing he is to become a football manager. Follow his journey in ‘Mega Project’

Alternative / Lower League teams to Manage

Jul 21, 2019 Dictate The Game

With the Football Manager winter update approaching in the coming weeks, and some saves going a little stale, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to suggest some ‘alternative teams to manage on Football Manager’. In this particular list I have chosen teams that aren’t in the biggest leagues, and more lower league standard. Every club has a unique selling point, some for their history, some for the decline in recent years and other clubs for many different reasons.

Moneyball in FM19: Part 4

Jul 17, 2019 Dictate The Game

After my first full season in the Premier League, we are back with another instalment of Moneyball. Last season we finished 15th, with data driven signings making a bit of an impact. This time around we’ll be taking a quick look at my scouting process, as well as all the ins and outs this summer, and preview the upcoming season. Moneyball in FM19.

Finding the right tactic in FM19

Jul 12, 2019 Dictate The Game

In Football Manager 2019, I’ve predominantly focused on creating guides, instead of a story or tactical recreations. However, this article will be a combination of guides and tactics; a guide on tactics. Finding the right tactic in FM19. Now in my previous article on training (that can be found here:) FOOTBALL MANAGER 2019 GUIDES | TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION In Step 1, I talk about building your tactic first, and then your training. I decided to link a few articles from… Read More Read More

Tiki-Taka and One-Twos in FM19- Running with the Wolves

Jul 10, 2019 Dictate The Game

I have been playing Football Manager since 2013. Year after year I see the same questions pop up regarding Player Preferred Moves (PPMs or Player Traits). Why do they not work how they should? My player has “Plays with back to the goal” trait but I never see him holding up the ball? How come my centreback with “Brings Ball out of Defence” does not dribble more? The game engine must be broken right? Wrong, in case like this there… Read More Read More

5 Teams To Manage on FM19 using TheFMEditor’s Updated Database

Jul 08, 2019 Dictate The Game

With transfers already happening all over the World and databases being created daily, it’s time we discussed teams to try on Football Manager using TheFMEditor’s database. We take you through five teams to manage in FM19. I have seen a lot of tweets recently saying they are bored of this years FM and can’t really get in to a save, I hope this article can reignite that spark with Football Manager and you can enjoy the game before the new… Read More Read More

Scoring from corners without needing tall players in FM19

Jul 01, 2019 Dictate The Game

Scoring from corners and set pieces has always been one of my club’s philosophies in FM19. Why not tick that box? It can give you extra credit and doesn’t come in the place of another philosophy. Surely, banging in loads of set pieces is doable if you spend a bit of time on your tactic? It can be hard in some circumstances. You might like to buy younger players. You might prefer more technical or creative players than meatheads who… Read More Read More

Training Guide FM19: the next Generation

Jun 28, 2019 Dictate The Game

In my recent post about my Golden Generation at Red Bull Leipzig, I’m still churning through seasons at the club. I’m trying to make some progress but as a result of my endeavors, I’ve started to get to grips with the new training system implemented in this year’s Football Manager. Training guide FM19. After winning the league in my second season, we’re looking confident to challenge for the title again. After losing Marcel Sabitzer and Péter Gulácsi we signed Jadon… Read More Read More

Moneyball FM19: Part 3

Jun 26, 2019 Dictate The Game

Welcome back to the third post in my Moneyball FM19 series. If you’re new you can check out Part 1 Here. My first full season at Crystal Palace draws to a close, and with the end in sight, there’s time to reflect on a successful season in the Premier League. We’re going to take a look at how my signings performed in the second half of the season compared with other players in the squad, my results as a whole… Read More Read More

The importance of decision-making in FM19: FM Statistics Lab

Jun 24, 2019 Dictate The Game

Welcome back to the FM Statistics Lab. What’s the importance of decision-making in FM19? In our first post we covered how we set up our lab environment to give is as much control as possible over our variables, and we also dipped our toes into the statistical water by investigating what sort of impact the professionalism attribute can have on overall team performance. If you’ve not had a chance to read it you can find it here – spoiler alert… Read More Read More

Shadow Striker FM19 Guide: Striking from the Shadows

Jun 21, 2019 Dictate The Game

Last year I started to cover the more exotic player roles of Football Manager. Some of the roles I highlighted, like Raumdeuter, Regista and Trequartista, have been the staples of the game for years. While Pressing Forward and Wide Targetman have only been added in the recent entries. In that respect the Shadow Striker role is not new. It was one of the original roles from 2013. Then FM did its biggest tactical revamp by dropping the old sliders and… Read More Read More

Creating Overloads in FM19: A Guardiola Masterclass

Jun 14, 2019 Dictate The Game

There seem to exist many misconceptions out there about what exactly it means to overload in football and how to create overloads within football manager tactical engine. This article will present a step-by-step guide on on successfully creating overloads in FM19 with any team and at any level. It does not present an exploit win-all plug-in tactic. But it should hopefully make scoring goals, and winning, more consistent for your club.

Professionalism in FM19: Welcome to the FM Stats Lab!

Jun 12, 2019 Dictate The Game

Statistics and myth-busting are the aim of the game in our FM Lab. We have set up a database and league to let us test what impact changing certain variables have on the actual game, to gather lots of data, and then test it statistically at the end. Specifically Professionalism in this first post. If like me you like seeing simulations and experiments, but also like me you want more hard figures then this is the experiment series for you…. Read More Read More

How to make your team a goal-scoring machine around a false nine in FM19

Jun 10, 2019 Dictate The Game

You want to know how to score goals with a false nine in FM19? Most people would show you their 4-3-3, spearheaded by an advanced forward or poacher. Those guys don’t get in my team. I don’t know about you, but if I try using a tactic that I would never set up manually, it never works. It might work for a few games, but then problems arise. I don’t know how to fix them.

Wide players in FM19: How to harness them in your ball-hogging side

Jun 10, 2019 Dictate The Game

Like watching your wingers and wide players bomb up and down the touchline, getting crosses in? Or your full-back beguiling the entire opposition, manoeuvring his way into the box unmarked? Well stop reading right here. Wide players in FM19. We’re looking for passing and moving, people. No player can move without passing first. That’s how I developed this spectacular tactical system My tactic with wide players Did you think any of that was true? It couldn’t have been further. If… Read More Read More

Moneyball in FM19: Part 2

Jun 05, 2019 Dictate The Game

First I want to start out by saying thank you to everyone who read Moneyball Part 1. The response was really overwhelming and while I tried to respond to most comments, there are undoubtedly a few I missed. As promised, in this post we will be looking at my January Transfer Window activity, the stats for the players I signed, and a closer look at my KPIs and statistical setup. Moneyball in FM19.

Dynamo Project: Mourinho’s Porto in FM19

May 29, 2019 Dictate The Game

2019 will likely be know as the year of the Underdog. With Ajax’s fairy-tale Champions League run, lovers of the beautiful game will have great moments to remember. Who can forget the time that we saw European lightweight Ajax thump Real Madrid’s Galacticos 4 goals to 1? For me the giant-killer stories of football’s Davids beating the game’s Goliaths are always the most satisfying to read about. It is even more rewarding to experience them yourself with your favourite club…. Read More Read More

Finding young players in FM19: Lucky Leipzig’s Golden Generation

May 27, 2019 Dictate The Game

To add a bit of context to this piece, I’m currently managing RB Leipzig and I’m in my second season. After finishing a respectable 4th place in the league and reaching the Europa league final (but losing to PSG) I made some good additions to the squad including a transfer listed Reuben Loftus-Cheek, Benjamin Henrichs from Monaco and Donny Van de Beek from Ajax. Finding young players in FM19. After the summer we set out on another season in the… Read More Read More

FM20 features: what we’d like to see.

May 22, 2019 Dictate The Game

With any annual sports game, the Football Manager franchise always seems to hit a slight dip around this time. And usually over the summer interest is restored due to lots of people having time off of work and/or school. However it’s usually around this time that we start to review the current game after a fair amount of game time. As the 7th most played game on steam with around 60,000 players daily; we’ve definitely had a chance to enjoy… Read More Read More

How to defend with a high line in FM19

May 20, 2019 Dictate The Game

It looks like you’ve got enough men back. The next thing you know, someone ends up ghosting behind your flabbergasted defence. Your first instinct is to blame your players, but the game’s animation often makes players look slower, or less alert, than they actually are. High line in FM19 Your next instinct might be to change your centre-backs; either in personnel or roles. Nothing wrong with this at all. That said, without suitable protection, isolated centre-backs in a high line… Read More Read More

A Different Way to Look at Camera Angles in FM19

May 17, 2019 Dictate The Game

Within Football Manager you can select a number of camera angles, which you think suits you best. These reasons could be to allow close-action game play or an angle which covers the whole pitch so you can see what players are doing what and when. Camera angles in FM19. This is something that I haven’t really seen many guides on, but I have always wanted to write about. Camera Angles: sounds fun, right? Well, I personally use two camera angles… Read More Read More