FM24 Treble-Winning Tactic – Antonio Conte’s Napoli

Unleash Conte’s Napoli tactics in FM24! Learn how his tactical masterclass led to a treble-winning season and download the tactic to replicate him.

Discover how Antonio Conte transformed Napoli with his bold tactical switch, leading them to dominate Serie A. Download the tactic now and recreate the magic!

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In the late days of March 2023, Antonio Conte was sacked by Tottenham Hotspur, following a 3-3 draw against Southampton which sparked a raging rampage in a post-match interview by the Italian, where he called out the club and its owners for the club’s recent failures. Conte didn’t return to management until the 5th June 2024, where he took over struggling Napoli – who'd just finished their title-defending season 10th in Serie A. Conte, however, has changed their fortunes and have currently got the club sitting pretty at the top of the Serie A table, on 26 points after 12 games. In this article, I’ll be going through my recreation of Conte’s tactics at Napoli and will providing my short analysis of the system, and how I let my findings influence my decisions in game. Firstly, let’s have a look at the core principles of this system.

Central Overloads

Throughout his managerial career, Antonio Conte has been married to the idea of creating wide overloads in his system, with heavy utilization of his wing-backs. This season with Napoli, however, he’s begun an affair with the idea of central overloads and it’s proving to be a wide decision so far, with players like Kvicha Kvaratskhelia, Romelu Lukaku and interesting summer signing Scott McTominay all thriving this campaign. The way Conte looks to create these wide overloads is through his wingers’ movements inside when the team is in settled possession. Politano and Kvaratskhelia will both look to move inside from wide positions in order to occupy the full-backs. This, in turn, leaves the side’s wing-backs with plenty of space on the flanks. It also creates a box inside the pitch, with Scott McTominay moving ahead of the wingers into a secondary striker position, next to Lukaku. From this shape, the team look to play passes centrally, and those creating the box look to link-up in the centre, before playing a third-man runner through on goal.

Unforeseen Formation Change

Another tactical concept Conte has been wedded to throughout his career has been various 5-back/3-back formations, regularly using the likes of the 3-4-3 and 3-5-2 formation. It looked like this would continue to be the case, as Conte set up his team in a 3-4-2-1 formation for their league opener against Hellas Verona. However, following an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against Verona, Conte adapted his shape and quickly settled on a 4-2-3-1 formation – a formation he has rarely used in his managerial career. This change has been a revelation for the team, as they’ve only lost once in the league since the change was made.

Continued Compact Defensive Shape

Whilst Conte opted for a different formation on paper, his side’s defensive shape hasn’t seen many changes. His Napoli side, like many of his previous sides, defend in a very compact 5-3-2 formation. And whilst his in-possession principles have been adapted, his out-of-possession principles certainly have not. In big games, his Napoli team almost never press high. Instead, he instructs his team to drop almost immediately into a mid-block. From here, his team usually look to force opponents wide and away from goal. This defensive compactness has proven to be very fruitful for his side, as they’ve only conceded 9 goals in the Serie A this season. For games against ‘beatable’ opposition, especially at home, Napoli do look to press high. However, if their press is broken, they’ll immediately drop into their 5-3-2 mid-block. Pressing high in these kinds of games has been rewarding at times for his team; on a few occasions, his team have taken advantage of opponents trying to play out from the back to a devastating effect.

READ ALSO: Recreating Rúben Amorim’s Tactics for Man Utd in FM24!

Let’s Break Down the Tactic

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• Disclaimer: 
• There are two versions of the tactic, the generic tactic and the big-game tactic. Both versions will be inside the file attached to the download link in this article. In this article, I’ll only be going through the generic tactic. If you have any questions regarding the big game tactics, feel free to message me on my X account: @AshtonGgmu.

Addressing the formation

As aforementioned, Napoli do set-up in a 4-2-3-1 formation. However, on the ‘Tactics’ screen on Football Manager, the formation displayed is actually portraying the shape your team takes up when out-of-possession. This shape can be manipulated in the match engine by using the player instructions ‘Mark Specific Position’, as I’ve tried to do, which you’ll see in the ‘Player Instructions’ section below.

In-Possession

Napoli tend to play out from the back; however, they aren’t completely reliant on it, and can look to play long-balls up to the striker/midfielder (Lukaku/McTominay). When they have possession, Napoli hold quite narrow positions – this encourages the central overloads. To amplify the central overloads, and to make sure their possession is intentional and penetrative, Napoli do look to play balls in-behind, especially into the wide channels. Finally, unlike in typical Conte systems, Napoli rarely look to cross the ball into the box. Instead, they look to work angles for cut-backs/low crosses into high xG positions. To recreate these things, I applied the team instructions pictured in the photo above.

In Transition

When Napoli lose the ball, they’ll usually look to counter-press. If they don’t win back the ball, however, they’ll very comfortably revert to their compact 5-3-2 mid-block. When they’ve won the ball back, whether in a counter-press or mid-block, they’ll almost always look to counter-attack immediately. Finally, as mentioned above, Napoli primarily look to build-up from the back. However, if the short pass isn’t on, they’re more than comfortable kicking it long towards Lukaku/McTominay, who both tend to dominate aerially. To recreate these things, I applied the team instructions pictured in the photo above.

Out-of-Possession

When the opposition have the ball, Napoli’s defensive strategy depends on the quality of the opposition. In games against strong opposition, Napoli will rarely press as they look to maintain a strong defensive shape. However, against inferior opposition, Napoli will be more aggressive and can look to squeeze high; this high-press can even see the team press the opposition’s ‘keeper and try to force a mistake. When the opposition are probing and trying to break down Napoli’s strong defence, the team will look to force the opposition into wide areas. From here, they’re more than comfortable to invite crosses if it means their compact 5-3-2 shape isn’t compromised. To recreate these things, I applied the team instructions pictured in the photo above.

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Player Instructions

Goalkeeper – Defend

The ‘keeper’s main job in this system is to stop shots from going in. Unlike in most modern systems, Conte’s ‘keepers hardly ever join teammates in build-up, and this is no different at Napoli. Therefore, I chose this role and duty. No additional player instructions.

Wide Centre-Back – Attack

The player in this role, usually Di Lorenzo, is the team’s primary right-back. However, due to the mitigations in-game as explained earlier in the article, I’ve had to settle with him being a right centre-back in a back-5. To get as close to a right-back position with the ‘Wing-Back’ role, I’ve had to bite the bullet and go with a Wide Centre-Back. Therefore, I chose this role and duty. No additional player instructions.

(DCL & DC) Central Defender – Defend

The primary centre-backs in this system, like the ‘keeper, mainly focus on the defensive fundamentals of their game. They will look to play out from the back more often, however, they don’t have a high onus on progression in their passing. Therefore, I chose this role and duty on both positions. No additional player instructions on either.

Half-Back – Defend

The player in this position, typically Lobotka, has the responsibility of dropping into the back-line to create a back-3 in possession. This allows the full-backs to push higher. Therefore, I chose this role and duty. No additional player instructions.

Defensive Midfielder – Support

When Lobotka drops deep to create the back-3 in possession, the midfielder next to him, usually Zambo Anguissa, becomes the side’s primary single-pivot. His responsibility, in this position, is to provide central defensive cover, and to offer a deep, central passing option. Due to Zambo Anguissa’s tenacity and energy, he can be used as the team’s main pressing outlet, alongside Scott McTominay. Finally, due to his dribbling ability, Zambo Anguissa can look to take matters into his own hands and carry the ball up field. Therefore, I chose this role, with the additional player instruction as seen below:

Wing-Back – Support

The left-back/left wing-back in this system, like the right-back/right centre-back, is the system’s width. Both players will mainly look to hold the width, whilst being given licence to get forward and sometimes offer overlaps. Therefore, I chose this role and duty. No additional player instructions.

Inverted Wing-Back – Attack

If I had the option to, Politano in this position would be an ‘Inverted Winger’ on the right side of a 4-2-3-1. This is because Politano regularly looks to move inside to create the box in attack. However, I’m playing the cards the game has dealt, and I felt this role and duty was the closest replication that I could get, given the mitigations. No additional instructions.

Central Midfielder – Attack

Again, like the Politano role just mentioned, I would’ve rather a different role and position. The ‘Shadow Striker’ role would be absolutely perfect, but to get the best of both worlds, I've had to go with this role. This is because McTominay will very regularly make box-crashing runs and will also look to play alongside the striker in possession. Finally, when Napoli have the ball, he can roam between the lines and into wide channels/half-spaces. Off the ball, McTominay drops into the midfield to form the midfield three with Lobotka and Zambo Anguissa. With the latter, he can look to press high and be a vocal point of the press. Therefore, I felt this role was as close to overall perfection as I could get, with the additional player roles selected, as seen below:

Trequartista – Attack

For ‘Kvaradona’ and his role, I felt this was the closest to a perfect recreation. This is because he doesn’t tend to do the hard yards off the ball, and is almost always in the front-two of the 5-3-2 defensive shape. In possession, he’ll look to roam on the left side, and this can sometimes see him and McTominay swap positions momentarily, and he’ll also move inside to form the attacking box. When he has the ball to feet, he’s incredibly creative and looks to run inside and at his opposing full-back, before either shooting or playing a risky ball into an advanced team-mate. This has seen Kvaratskhelia become the side’s primary creative threat. Therefore, it was only right that I chose this role, with the additional player instruction as seen below:

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• Disclaimer: 
• The specific position he’ll be marking is the ‘DCR’ position.

Target Forward – Support

Romelu Lukaku’s footballing love affair with Conte from Inter Milan has transferred over to Napoli, with the pair proving to be a dangerous combo. At Napoli, Lukaku has been given a refined role in this system, as the focus on central overloads amplifies his game. In this system, Lukaku’s strength and back-to-goal quality is coming to the fore and it’s seeing him becoming as much of a creative threat as he is a goal-scoring one. From here, Lukaku’s asked to hold-up play, before providing team-mates with penetrative passes in-behind. He mainly does this in the right wide channel or right half-space. This has seen him and McTominay form a deadly partnership, with the Scot’s off-the-ball ability being demonstrated on multiple occasions. Therefore, I believe this role with the player instructions seen below is the perfect option to replicate this role:

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• Disclaimer: 
• The specific position he’ll be marking is the ‘DCL’ position.

Results

I’ll be posting the individual match results on my Twitter/X account @AshtonGgmu.

However, let’s have a look at how well this tactic performed in a season on FM!

Serie A:

In this test, we won the Serie A in a RECORD-BREAKING season! We won 35 (!!!) of the 38 league games, losing the other three. We scored 109 goals, whilst only conceding 20. We were absolutely phenomenal, as you can see from the league table below:

Domestic Cups:

In the test, we ended up winning both domestic cups – the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa! In the former, we beat Bologna 1-4 in the final after beating Atalanta, Salernitana, Fiorentina, Torino and Cesena on our way to the final. In the latter, we beat Inter 3-1 in the final after beating Fiorentina in the semi-finals 3 days before.

TAKE A LOOK: Football Manager 2024 Tactic Centre

Conclusion

We may only be 12 games into the Serie A season, but Conte’s reinvigorated Napoli have already staked a strong claim for their second title in three years, and it’d be naïve to rule them out, especially given Conte’s managerial prestige in the league. In the summer just gone by, a rejuvenated Antonio Conte arrived in Naples, looking to prove a point to his haters – a motivation shared with a Napoli team just off the back of a humiliating title-defence. Now, combined, they look to sweep their rivals aside and win the league again, and are going about their efforts in sumptuous style; playing a brand of football rather uncommon with the manager, however, it’s working a tactical treat! In this article, I have shown you my tactical recreation of this Napoli team, and demonstrated the remarkable results the tactic achieved in testing. If you want a taste of this fabulous tactic, make sure to download the tactic using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves! Thanks for reading!