Football Manager is one of the best football management games for Windows and mobile devices. You can play Football Manager 2020 Mobile on Android and iOS tablets and phones. This game is retailing at $8.99 on both Google Play and the Apple App Store.
When you first start playing Football Manager Mobile, the game might seem a little complicated. It is a detailed football management simulator, and there are quite a few variables that can have an impact on your teams’ form. There isn’t necessarily a golden formula for the game, but the Football Manager Mobile 2020 tips below will give you a better chance of lifting the trophies.
Read also: 5 Great Forwards in Football Manager 2020 Mobile
1. Select the Pick Team option
If you’re not sure what your best 11 is (and you really should be), the Pick Team option will certainly come in handy. That option will automatically select the best 11 from your squad for you. You can select that option by tapping the Actions button and Pick Team on the Team Tactics screen. That option will come in handy when you’re not sure about the best players to select for a few positions.
The Pick Team option
2. Don’t include too many players in your squad
There are two good reasons not to include loads of players in your squad. The most important reason is about economics, as stuffing your squad with more players than you need will inflate your club’s wage bill. Nothing is more important for winning trophies than your club’s budget, which you can boost by keeping your squad size down.
Secondly, it’s harder to give all players in a larger squad a reasonable number of games during a season. Players who aren’t playing any games can get disgruntled, and might even request transfers. So, it’s easier to keep a smaller squad of players content.
A squad of players
The ideal squad size is about 22 players. Then you’ll have 11 first team players and 11 more backup players for all positions. You shouldn’t need more than 22 players. If you inherit a squad with more than 25 players, trim down your squad’s size during your first few seasons by selling some of the poorer ones or those who don’t fit within the team’s formation. Selling surplus players will increase your transfer budget in both the short and longer-term.
3. Rest players when their condition drops to 80 percent
It’s important to keep an eye on your players’ conditions during Football Manager seasons. When players’ conditions drop to about the 80 percent mark, they’ll be pretty tired. Football players will seldom play as well as they can when they’re fatigued. So, you should rest players when their conditions fall below the 80 percent mark to keep them reasonably fresh for most games during a season.
You can keep your players fresher for games by rotating your squad with greater regularity during seasons. If winning the league is more of a priority, consider rotating your squad for cup games to keep your first choice players fresher for league matches. Or if you really want to win a cup, such as Champions League, rest some of your players in league matches that are scheduled shortly before the cup’s games. Realistically, your team probably can’t win all three or four trophies in a season; and you can enhance your chances in one competition by rotating the squad for it.
Players’ condition values
4. Select a 4-3-3 or 4-1-3-2 team formation
The 4-3-3 is a widely played formation in the European game, and your teams can also win loads of trophies with that formation in Football Manager 2020. When playing 4-3-3, your team must include two top-class wing-backs (attacking full-backs) with high stamina, pace, tackling, and crossing attribute ratings. Make sure you select the left and right-side defenders in your team to play with wing-backs roles, as opposed to more defensive full-backs.
Add attacking midfield players to your midfield. I prefer to configure one midfielder to play as an advanced playmaker who will drop into holes left between the opposing team’s defense and midfield. The passing focus of your team also needs to be central for the 4-1-3-2 or 4-3-3, which you can configure with the attack tactic options.
I also recommend the 4-1-3-2 formation, which is a defensive variant of the 4-3-3, as one of my teams won 10 trophies (including five league titles) across eight seasons with it! The 4-1-3-2 is a modified 4-3-3 with one of the forwards swapped for a defensive midfield player. As 4-1-3-2 isn’t one of the default formations, you’ll need to select a 4-3-3 and pull one of the forward positions back into a defensive midfield slot as shown in the shot directly below.
The 4-1-3-2 formation
I don’t pretend the 4-1-3-2 is perfect, as I’ve found it’s not an especially high-scoring formation. However, it can be an amazingly strong defensive formation as you’ve got a defensive midfield player protecting the back four. In my best league season, my team conceded just eight goals in 38 games with the 4-1-3-2! If you want your team to score more goals, however, the 4-3-3 is a better bet.
A season played with the 4-1-3-2 formation.
5. Play the short passing game
The real-life Spain team dominated international football from 2008-2012 playing the Tiki-taka short passing game. I always prefer my Football Manager teams to play a short passing game comparable to Spain’s Tiki-taka, which emphasizes monopolizing ball possession. You can win lots of trophies in Football Manager by playing the short passing game to maintain greater possession. Your team’s short passing game can be more effective when you select the Through Balls attack option for the final third.
You’ll need to invest in players with high attribute ratings for passing, creativity, movement, and technique for your team to win trophies with short passing. Ideally, all your midfield players should have passing, creativity, movement, and technique ratings at 15 or greater. That’s just a minimum requirement, however, and it’s even better to have some forwards and defenders in your team with high passing and technique attribute ratings. Technique is a generally important attribute for short passing teams.
The Through Balls option
6. Make the most of your substitutes bench
Your substitutes bench is an extension of your first 11. With seven subs on the bench, you have 18 players for the match instead of just 11. So, make the most of your backup players by making at least one substitution in most of your matches.
The best time to make a substitution is when the match pauses for half-time, which is a good time to check your players’ performance ratings and conditions. Substitute players with lower match ratings and condition values. Bringing on a fresh player at half-time to replace one who is tiring and not playing that well can have a big impact on a match’s outcome.
Substituting players with greater regularity will also keep your first eleven a bit fresher. Making the most of your subs bench is another form of squad rotation. You’ll give your backup players more games if you bring one or two of them off the bench during matches. Your first choice players will also get rested more when you reduce their playing time.
A substitutes bench
Nothing is worse than having to select a substitute to play out of position when another player gets injured during a match. So, make sure you fill your substitutes bench with a good spread of players that can cover all, or most, of the playing positions in your team. Your subs bench should always include one goalkeeper, central defender, central midfield player, and forward. Add a few wingers and full-backs to the bench depending on your formation’s requirements. Then you’ll seldom, if ever, have to replace a player with one who doesn’t play in his position.
If you make some decent signings and stick to those Football Manager 2020 Mobile tips, you’ll probably win more trophies. Now you can give Guardiola, Klopp, Mourinho, Zidane, and co a run for their money!
