How to Use Carrilero on Football Manager

This Football Manager guide will give you an insight into the carrilero player role and how to use it.

This Football Manager guide will give you an insight into the carrilero player role and how to use it.

The Football Manager community members will be pretty familiar with some of the most popular player roles. We all know of the successes had by a good pressing forward, or inverted wingers, or the new wide centre-back role. This game guide relates to one of the most underrated roles of the game: the carrilero. This role is such an unsung hero, and used properly can be the difference between a good tactic and a great tactic.

What is it?

The best place to start is to properly describe what the carrilero actually does. The in-game description calls the carrilero a shuttler, linking the defence and the attacking sides of the midfield. The game also differentiates the carrilero from the box-to-box midfielder by emphasising lateral movement rather than vertical movement. To be honest, I find this description a little lacking. 

A good carrilero has a habit of popping up wherever he’s needed in the middle third of the pitch, defensively or attacking. I’ve found my carrilero covering spaces left by attacking wide players, or offering a passing option when they run into trouble. 

Defensively, they’re the first to close down opposition attackers on the flanks and again providing passing options for defenders once they’ve recovered the ball. In my mind, they behave more like a deep-lying playmaker than a box to box midfielder. Still, where a playmaker actively demands the ball and looks to dominate possession, a carrilero just makes sure he’s available when needed before moving the ball on. Being less ball-dominant makes the carrilero a crucial component in possession-heavy football, no matter what tempo you play at.

READ ALSO: How to Get the Most out of Wingbacks on Football Manager

What attributes are important?

FM highlights a total of 14 attributes as important to the carrilero, but when scouting, I tend to focus on three: off the ball, decisions and teamwork. Based on the description above, a carrilero needs to be intelligent enough to know where he’s needed in any situation. Good off the ball ratings mean your carrilero is adept at finding space to ensure he’s available for a pass, which is crucial to keeping possession. Teamwork is necessary to ensure he keeps the ball moving and shuttles from one phase of play to the next efficiently, while decisions makes sure he’s making the correct choices while on and off the ball. Teamwork also helps him to understand your tactic, and a better understanding of your tactic means he can provide better help to his teammates all over the pitch.

READ ALSO: Player attributes explained on Football Manager  

What tactics does it suit?

The in-game description of the carrilero states this is best used in a midfield three or in a diamond. There are two reasons for this: he’s useless if there’s a wide midfielder taking up his spaces on the flank, and he can leave gaps in the centre of the pitch. A flat midfield four already has a midfielder in the wide areas - the areas your carrilero wants to work in. While you want him to support wide players, you definitely don’t want him to crowd them, as this limits both players’ effectiveness. It’s fine if you’re using wide AMs, wing-backs, or attacking full backs - as these all attack the space ahead of them - useless if your wide players base position is on the same line as the centre midfield. 

In terms of leaving gaps, the carrilero has stay wider on as a player instruction. So while he’s wide supporting your wingers, you need to be careful there’s not a glaring hole in centre midfield. If you don’t watch out for this, you’re allowing the opposition an easy way to attack the centre of the pitch in transition. I like to play a DM behind a carrilero, to ensure someone covers that space in the centre of the pitch and guards against the counter-attack.

When used properly, you’ll see that a good carrilero is a crucial part of your midfield. Providing support all over the pitch, I hope this guide can help you to get the best out of your carrilero in future.