Football Manager 2023 is a game for all the footballing mad scientists out there, those who love to tinker with the formula until they get it just right. If you want to see what other mad creations your fellow tactical wizards have cooked up, you’re going to watch to check out the best Football Manager 2023 tactics and formations.
Make no mistake, Football Manager 2023 is a complex game, almost too complex for people who just want to dip in and out of it. The most complex thing about it? Managing to get the best out of the players at your disposal, just like in real life. You may have all the best players, but without the right tactics and formations to maxmimise them, you may as well be watching from the stands.
To help out new FM players, or even to suggest some experiments for seasoned pros, we’ve compiled the best Football Manager 2023 tactics and formations that you can easily try out for yourself. From the basic 4-4-2 formations to more complex 5-2-3 headaches, there’s lots to try out.
Bear in mind, though, that custom FM formations aren’t always plug and play, meaning that you have to tinker with them to suit your own players better. On top of that, don’t forget to have multiple formations trained at once; the AI will eventually figure you out if you keep playing the same formation with the same tactics for years and years.
The Best Football Manager 2023 Tactics
Midfield Beef 4-3-3
The Midfield Beef 4-3-3 really doesn’t overcomplicate things. Got three midfielders who you want to fit into your team, each with something slightly different to their game? Try this on for size and then absolute dominate the midfield.
The flat midfield three may look basic on paper, but the BWM helps to break things up while the AP provides the creativity and the BBM provides the legs. All of these players work together remarkably well to bring something different to the team.
With this custom tactic, players are implored to force player into the middle, which then brings them into the middle of a cluster of players, helping the possibility of a turnover and a quick break.
Get yourself some quick wingers to complement this style and watch the clean sheets and goals rack up. Personally managed a second place finish with Everton and an FA Cup with this exact Football Manager 2023 tactic.
Carloball
Carloball is a Football Manager 2023 tactic that’s an approximation of the football that the legendary Carlo Ancelotti used to play while in England, and it’s quite an effective one at that.
Requiring a tonne of discipline (so make sure you have a few players with good mental attributes), Carloball is a patient formation that’s basically meant to wear the opponent down with passing and gradually working the ball into the box.
The AP is super important to this formation, as that’s who most of the creativity comes from. Carlo loves his mercurial talents, so this formation will really click if you can land a James-esque player (easier said than done, of course)
Carloball is easily tweaked if you need to “go Italian” and play more passively, looking to frustrate your opponents. If Carlo can get a tune out of Everton playing this kind of football, surely anyone can give it a go.
Sexy Sheffield 5-2-3
Look, nobody said the best Football Manager 2023 tactics and formations had to make a lot of sense on paper. Looking at Sexy Sheffield is akin to peering into an Eldritchian void of nonsense. None of it should work.
And yet it does, to often confusing effect. While you will definitely need attacking wing-backs to make it work to the fullest, as well as someone crazy enough to be deployed as a libero, this FM 23 tactic is a bit of a hidden weapon.
So, why does it work? Well, the front three cause constant commotion across the backline, while the wing-backs are so high up the pitch that they act as basically wingers. Meanwhile, the midfield isn’t as weak as you might think thanks to the libero, and those WCBs plug in the gaps that the WBs leave behind.
It’s an absolutely barmy formation and tactic that might leak goals, but as long as you end up scoring more goals than the opposition (and you almost definitely will), the real winner will be entertainment.
442 Pie and Mash
While sometimes modern football can feel like a science, it really doesn’t have to be. Sometimes the classics still work just fine, and that’s fine with 442 Pie and Mash, a super straightforward FM tactic that strips away all that razzmatazz for a whole bunch of kicking.
Players in lower leagues often think they can become the Pep of the Vanarama, blowing opponents away with their tactical nous and skill. When you have players who aren’t exactly Kevin De Bruyne, you’re really not going to get the best out of them with super complicated, super intense tactics.
442 Pie and Mash aims to get rid of all the fluff with a tactic that just works down in the lower leagues. You get the ball, the ball goes up the pitch, you score a goal. The classics never go out of fashion.
Get yourself a target forward and a quick secondary striker to run off them and you will absolutely laughing from League One downwards.
Klopp 4-2-3-1
Feeling daring, are we? Fancy a 4-2-3-1 gegenpress, do we? Well, here’s the one you need.
This tactic has been outrageously strong in Football Manager for many years, and it’s still very strong this year, despite SI claiming they’ve nerfed it. Why? Because it’s still very strong in real life.
Even though it commits the cardinal sin of featuring two playmakers, the differences in each roles makes it still make sense. It’s all about the pressing and intensity here, though.
If you have a team of absolute athletes, this Football Manager 2023 tactic is simply hard to beat. Should it be again next year? Probably not.
4-3-3 Spalletti Structured
The 4-3-3 is the main alternative to 4-2-3-1 in Football Manager, though this formation and its tactics has a deeper midfield than the Midfield Beef tactic from earlier.
Based on Napoli’s Spalletti, this is an attacking tactic that will help you rack up a whole bunch of goals, which will of course make you a little bit more vulnerable at the back too.
4-3-3 Spalletti Structured works great in most leagues, though you may want to put less creative expectations on some of your ball players if you’re in the lower leagues.
How To Apply Downloaded Football Manager 2023 Formations and Tactics
The best way to download and apply Football Manager 2023 is when the Steam Workshop support is included for the full release of the game, which is on November 8th, 2022. Simply find the tactic you need, hit Subscribe, then load the tactic from your tactics screen in-game.
However, until then, you will have to use respected third-party websites to download custom FM tactics. Luckily, it’s incredibly easy to actually download and apply them for your saves.
The files you need will be in .fmf format. When you download the .fmf files for FM 23 tactics, save them to Documents > Sports Interactive > Football Manager 2023 > tactics.
Then, to use them in-game, go to Tactics on the left side. Above the pitch, select either the plus symbol or the current tactic, then choose Load and find the custom tactic in there.
All being well, you will now have custom tactics loaded for Football Manager 2023.
Football Manager 2023 is available for PC.
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