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Great Footballing Minds Combined – How I Almost Won the Premier League with
Crystal Palace in the FIRST SEASON on FM24!
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Recently, in my spare time, I decided I was going to start a quick rebuild save with Crystal Palace, after discovering that the club sit in 17th position in the Premier League, following an impressive end to the 23/24 season, where Oliver Glasner led the club to a solid 10th place finish. The aim of the mini-rebuild was to do one season with the Eagles and try to reach the European spots in the Premier League, whilst trying to force a completely modern and very demanding system onto the players – therefore, laying down the foundations for further success. In doing so, I created a tactic based around multiple different philosophies proposed by managers in recent Premier League seasons, and this is how I did it.
Build-up: Roberto De Zerbi
In the 22/23 season, Roberto De Zerbi introduced the Premier League to the idea of ‘baiting the press’ and using frequent ‘third-man combinations’ in a succession of shorter passes to eventually ‘beat the press’. For me, this is the most exciting and entertaining style of build-up play when it’s successful, so I felt it was crucial to implement this into my system. To do this, I applied the ‘Slow Pace Down’ team instruction and used a 4-2-3-1 formation – a formation he’s used successfully at Brighton and now Marseille. Along with this, I applied the ’Distribute to Centre-Backs’, ‘Play Out of Defence’ and ‘Take Short Kicks’ team instructions.
Possession: Pep Guardiola
Since Pep Guardiola’s arrival at Man City, the concepts of ‘Juego de Posición’ (Positional Play) have become the norm in the English tactical game and are commonly used in most teams in the Premier League. Despite the idea becoming rather predictable, I decided our chances of success would be amplified should we decide to follow the trend. To help implement this idea, I used specific player roles and combinations to help create a 3-2-5 shape in-possession. To make sure our system wasn’t too predictable, I applied the ‘Fairly Narrow’, ‘Be More Expressive’, ‘Run at Defence’ and ‘Pass Into Space’ team instructions – partly taking inspiration from Thiago Motta’s narrow possession focus and unpredictability from his time at Bologna, along with taking inspiration from Fernando Diniz’ Fluminese side and their ‘relationism’ approach.
Build-up Shape and Directness: Arne Slot
Whilst watching Liverpool games to collate my analysis for my Arne Slot tactic replication, I was truly enamoured by his idea of a wide back-four build-up shape in order to amplify the effectiveness of the midfield-three and emphasise the numerical superiority in the centre. Therefore, I decided that I would use this ideology in my team’s build-up shape. To do this, I used two ‘Full-Back’ roles to replicate the narrow back-four shape, however used differing mentalities to help create the 3-2-5 as previously mentioned. I was also fascinated by his marriage with directness, despite painting the picture of a manager that wants total control. I was particularly interested in the concept of direct passes from a centre-back into a winger holding the width, who is also a wide outlet. To help implement this in my system, I applied the ‘More Direct Passes’ player instruction to my right-sided centre-back, along with the ‘Standard’ passing directness, in order to provide a variety of different ways our team could attack (directness, shorter passes etc).
Transitional Game & Defending: Jürgen Klopp/Julian Nagelsmann/Marcelo Bielsa/Ralf Rangnick
Despite being a Manchester United fan at heart, Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool were one of my favourite teams to watch as their heavy metal, gegenpressing football really appealed to me. The idea of the counter-press being a ‘playmaker’ in the team was a very interesting observation by the German, however, it was an observation which I quickly agreed with, to an extent. When Liverpool were at their best under Klopp, they were truly terrifying – a feeling I know too well after the incessant thrashings against his Liverpool team down the years. This dedication to hard work, along with the exciting brand of transitional football, is the sort of football I love, and there was no doubting that I would apply it into my system. To implement this, I applied the necessary team instructions that would allow us to hold a very high line, close the midfield space, press very high and intensely and thrive in transitional moments, as seen below:
To compliment this style, I included Player Roles that would intensify our
press, such as the ‘Regista’ and ‘Pressing Forward’. To top it all off, I
used the ‘Attacking’ team mentality to help intensify the press and overall
play.
In this position, I wanted my ‘keeper to join the build-up play and to help play through the opposition press (De Zerbi); I also wanted him to always be available as a passing option (Pep). Finally, when we didn’t have the ball, I wanted him to be brave and to sweep high to deal with loose balls in-behind (Klopp). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect – no additional instructions.
In this position, I wanted a more conservative role which could help to form a back-three in a 3-2-5 in-possession shape (Pep). Of course, the ‘Inverted Full-Back’ role could’ve been used, however, I preferred the ‘Full-Back’ role on the ‘Defend’ duty to form the back-four in first phase build-up (Slot). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect with the added instruction:
In this position, like with the other centre-back, I wanted a role with ball-playing abilities (Pep/Slot/RDZ). However, I wanted the slight differentiation of ‘More Direct Passes’ (Slot/Klopp), a player instruction you are unable to apply to a ‘Ball-Playing Defender’ in-game. Additionally, I wanted the two centre-backs to hold wider positions to become available for bounce-passes by the double-pivot in midfield (RDZ). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added player instructions:
As with the right centre-back, I wanted a ball-dominant role that was comfortable in-possession (All 4). Considering the left centre-back in this system will be the widest centre-back on the left, I wanted this role to be more adventurous than its partner. From here, I gave this role the licence to carry the ball forward (personal preference). This could also help to draw out the opposition press and create more bounce-pass and third-man combination opportunities to attempt to beat the press (RDZ). Finally, like his partner, I asked this centre-back to hold a wider position to create angles for bounce-passes from the double-pivot. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
I chose this role at left-back as I wanted to create a 3-2-5
in-possession. Of course, I could invert him into midfield, however, I
felt the disorganisation in the counter-press and defensive transitions
would be too risky and could see us leak chances down that side.
Therefore, I chose a more conventional role instead. To help create the
3-2-5, I asked the left-back to hold the width, allowing the winger ahead
to invert into the half-space. Seeing as the player in this position would
be playing like a winger in-possession, I gave him licence to be very
aggressive both with and without the ball. This would see the left-back
carrying the ball forward often, whilst trying to reach the byline for
cut-backs to generate high-xG chances.
In this position, on the left side of midfield, I wanted a player who could balance the defensive responsibility on the left side, with the absence of the left-back a risk. Choosing a ‘Support’ duty, in this instance, would also position the holding midfielder slightly higher in first-phase build-up, allowing further bounce-pass and third-man combinations to occur between the lines. To encourage this, I applied the ‘Pass it Shorter’ player instruction. This will also balance out the midfield, considering his midfield partner is more progressive. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
In this position, I wanted to take a lot of the progressive burden off of the right-back, allowing the right-back to focus on his defensive responsibilities. I also wanted a progressive/playmaker option in the centre, to encourage central focus further. To help aid midfield progression, I applied the ‘Dribble More’ player instruction, in the hope the player in this position will look to carry the ball forwards as another way to progress our possession – possession (Pep/RDZ) with a purpose (directness ~ Slot/Klopp). Finally, I chose the ‘Regista’ role instead of the ‘Deep-Lying Playmaker’ role as I wanted our high-press to be as intense and aggressive as possible. To aid this, I applied the ‘Tackle Harder’ instruction, along with these added instructions:
In this position, I desired a role that would replicate a classic ‘Playmaker’ role, without the movement towards the side of the ball that you can see with ‘Playmaker’ roles in-game. In this position, I wanted a central figure point of our attack, who could roam freely, however, would have the responsibility to move into the right half-space (3-2-5 creation ~ Positional Play – Pep). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
In this position, I wanted a very similar role that could roam at times, but mainly sat narrower to occupy the half-space in a 3-2-5 (Pep). For the same reason as the AMC, I didn’t want to use a ‘Playmaker’ role, and considering Ebere Eze would be our left-winger in this system, I actually wanted a role that would encourage him to utilise his incredible dribbling ability in these central pockets. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
In this position, I wanted someone who’d mainly focus on holding the width. From here, the half-spaces would open up and could be occupied by attacking midfielders. Ultimately, I chose the ‘Attack’ duty as I wanted this player to be an outlet for our transitions, along with a wide outlet for a switch of play – taking inspiration of Klopp and Slot’s usage of switches of play, especially towards Salah on the right flank. Finally, when this player was on the ball, I wanted him to reach the byline and create high-xG chances through cutbacks. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect with the added instruction:
In this position, I wanted Mateta to be the main central vocal point. A big part of this was through the flexibility in his role to either hold-up play and lay off the ball to a more creative player (Eze/França), or to carry the ball and drive the team up the pitch. Finally, I wanted the striker in this system to lead our aggressive press, and to chase down loose balls. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Having had strong success in a season at Crystal Palace, I thought I’d try the tactic out at a random Premier League team, by using the ‘Pick the Team For Me’ feature at the start of my save - it ended up picking Chelsea. Therefore, I did a one-season test of the tactic at Chelsea, and ended up winning the QUARDUPLE!
However, let’s have a look at how my short stint at Crystal Palace ended, when using this tactic!
In the Premier League, we unfortunately bottled the Premier League title late on as a 2-1 away loss to Man City and a dramatic 2-2 draw against Everton, in-between an undeserved 0-1 loss at home to Spurs ended our hopes of Premier League glory. In the end, we finished 5th, despite holding a top-4 position for an incredible 33 of the 38 matchweeks – 21 of which we were in the top-2. Even though a 5th place finish is still an overperformance, the xG table suggested that we should’ve finished 2nd! We ended up scoring the most goals in the league (75) and conceding the 2nd least (33).
Whilst we may have bottled league success, cup success was right around the corner as we ended up winning the Carabao Cup, following a 0-2 win against Bournemouth in the final. On the way to Wembley, we beat Man City (4-2), Aston Villa (3-1), Chelsea (2-2p) and Spurs (1-2). Unfortunately, that same success didn’t follow us to the FA Cup, as we were knocked out by Man Utd in the 5th Round, after a loss on penalties followed a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
One night in the past couple of days, I discovered that Crystal Palace, who beat Manchester United and Champions League-qualifying Aston Villa 4-0 and 5-0 respectively 7 months prior, were sat ever so slightly above the relegation zone in the Premier League. So, in FM, I decided that I was going to do a one-season rebuild at Crystal Palace, where I’d try to steady the ship and lay down the foundations for future progression and eventual success. In this rebuild attempt, I implemented a system that resembled/replicated parts of systems that have seen success in the Premier League in recent years, hoping that success would project onto this Crystal Palace side.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
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- DISCLAIMER:
- All team instructions in the tactic are listed in the sections above. ↑
READ ALSO: FM24 Arne Slot Liverpool Tactic
Player Roles
Sweeper Keeper – Attack
In this position, I wanted my ‘keeper to join the build-up play and to help play through the opposition press (De Zerbi); I also wanted him to always be available as a passing option (Pep). Finally, when we didn’t have the ball, I wanted him to be brave and to sweep high to deal with loose balls in-behind (Klopp). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect – no additional instructions.
Full-Back – Defend
In this position, I wanted a more conservative role which could help to form a back-three in a 3-2-5 in-possession shape (Pep). Of course, the ‘Inverted Full-Back’ role could’ve been used, however, I preferred the ‘Full-Back’ role on the ‘Defend’ duty to form the back-four in first phase build-up (Slot). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect with the added instruction:
Central Defender – Defend
In this position, like with the other centre-back, I wanted a role with ball-playing abilities (Pep/Slot/RDZ). However, I wanted the slight differentiation of ‘More Direct Passes’ (Slot/Klopp), a player instruction you are unable to apply to a ‘Ball-Playing Defender’ in-game. Additionally, I wanted the two centre-backs to hold wider positions to become available for bounce-passes by the double-pivot in midfield (RDZ). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added player instructions:
Ball-Playing Defender – Defend
As with the right centre-back, I wanted a ball-dominant role that was comfortable in-possession (All 4). Considering the left centre-back in this system will be the widest centre-back on the left, I wanted this role to be more adventurous than its partner. From here, I gave this role the licence to carry the ball forward (personal preference). This could also help to draw out the opposition press and create more bounce-pass and third-man combination opportunities to attempt to beat the press (RDZ). Finally, like his partner, I asked this centre-back to hold a wider position to create angles for bounce-passes from the double-pivot. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Full-Back – Attack
Furthermore, I wanted to take
another leaf out of Arne Slot’s book with his Trent Alexander-Arnold role
at Liverpool, where the Englishman is encouraged to play risky, direct
passes in-behind for Salah to chase. In this case, the idea is that
Mitchell would spray a direct ball into Mateta, who is occupying the
channels. From here, the Frenchman can look to use his strength to hold-up
play and lay the ball off to a more creative player between the lines
(Eze/França), or he can choose to carry the ball up the pitch to generate
a quick attacking transition. Finally, the use of the ‘Full-Back’ role, as
opposed to the ‘Wing-Back’ role would help us to create our Slot-esque
back-four in build-up. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the
added instructions:
Defensive Midfielder – Support
In this position, on the left side of midfield, I wanted a player who could balance the defensive responsibility on the left side, with the absence of the left-back a risk. Choosing a ‘Support’ duty, in this instance, would also position the holding midfielder slightly higher in first-phase build-up, allowing further bounce-pass and third-man combinations to occur between the lines. To encourage this, I applied the ‘Pass it Shorter’ player instruction. This will also balance out the midfield, considering his midfield partner is more progressive. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Regista – Support
In this position, I wanted to take a lot of the progressive burden off of the right-back, allowing the right-back to focus on his defensive responsibilities. I also wanted a progressive/playmaker option in the centre, to encourage central focus further. To help aid midfield progression, I applied the ‘Dribble More’ player instruction, in the hope the player in this position will look to carry the ball forwards as another way to progress our possession – possession (Pep/RDZ) with a purpose (directness ~ Slot/Klopp). Finally, I chose the ‘Regista’ role instead of the ‘Deep-Lying Playmaker’ role as I wanted our high-press to be as intense and aggressive as possible. To aid this, I applied the ‘Tackle Harder’ instruction, along with these added instructions:
Attacking Midfielder – Support
In this position, I desired a role that would replicate a classic ‘Playmaker’ role, without the movement towards the side of the ball that you can see with ‘Playmaker’ roles in-game. In this position, I wanted a central figure point of our attack, who could roam freely, however, would have the responsibility to move into the right half-space (3-2-5 creation ~ Positional Play – Pep). Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Inverted Winger – Support
In this position, I wanted a very similar role that could roam at times, but mainly sat narrower to occupy the half-space in a 3-2-5 (Pep). For the same reason as the AMC, I didn’t want to use a ‘Playmaker’ role, and considering Ebere Eze would be our left-winger in this system, I actually wanted a role that would encourage him to utilise his incredible dribbling ability in these central pockets. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
Winger – Attack
In this position, I wanted someone who’d mainly focus on holding the width. From here, the half-spaces would open up and could be occupied by attacking midfielders. Ultimately, I chose the ‘Attack’ duty as I wanted this player to be an outlet for our transitions, along with a wide outlet for a switch of play – taking inspiration of Klopp and Slot’s usage of switches of play, especially towards Salah on the right flank. Finally, when this player was on the ball, I wanted him to reach the byline and create high-xG chances through cutbacks. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect with the added instruction:
Pressing Forward – Attack
In this position, I wanted Mateta to be the main central vocal point. A big part of this was through the flexibility in his role to either hold-up play and lay off the ball to a more creative player (Eze/França), or to carry the ball and drive the team up the pitch. Finally, I wanted the striker in this system to lead our aggressive press, and to chase down loose balls. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instructions:
READ ALSO: FM24 Hansi Flick Barcelona Tactic
Results
Having had strong success in a season at Crystal Palace, I thought I’d try the tactic out at a random Premier League team, by using the ‘Pick the Team For Me’ feature at the start of my save - it ended up picking Chelsea. Therefore, I did a one-season test of the tactic at Chelsea, and ended up winning the QUARDUPLE!
However, let’s have a look at how my short stint at Crystal Palace ended, when using this tactic!
Premier League
In the Premier League, we unfortunately bottled the Premier League title late on as a 2-1 away loss to Man City and a dramatic 2-2 draw against Everton, in-between an undeserved 0-1 loss at home to Spurs ended our hopes of Premier League glory. In the end, we finished 5th, despite holding a top-4 position for an incredible 33 of the 38 matchweeks – 21 of which we were in the top-2. Even though a 5th place finish is still an overperformance, the xG table suggested that we should’ve finished 2nd! We ended up scoring the most goals in the league (75) and conceding the 2nd least (33).
Domestic Cups
Whilst we may have bottled league success, cup success was right around the corner as we ended up winning the Carabao Cup, following a 0-2 win against Bournemouth in the final. On the way to Wembley, we beat Man City (4-2), Aston Villa (3-1), Chelsea (2-2p) and Spurs (1-2). Unfortunately, that same success didn’t follow us to the FA Cup, as we were knocked out by Man Utd in the 5th Round, after a loss on penalties followed a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
Conclusion
One night in the past couple of days, I discovered that Crystal Palace, who beat Manchester United and Champions League-qualifying Aston Villa 4-0 and 5-0 respectively 7 months prior, were sat ever so slightly above the relegation zone in the Premier League. So, in FM, I decided that I was going to do a one-season rebuild at Crystal Palace, where I’d try to steady the ship and lay down the foundations for future progression and eventual success. In this rebuild attempt, I implemented a system that resembled/replicated parts of systems that have seen success in the Premier League in recent years, hoping that success would project onto this Crystal Palace side.
In a shocking turn of events, we ended up almost
going all the way in the title race, and had we not let it slip late into
the season, we could’ve maybe won the entire thing! In this article, I
have broken down the tactic in segments showcasing my analysis of several
systems by several managers, before demonstrating the unpredictable
results the tactic achieved in the season with Crystal Palace, and a
separate test with Chelsea.
If you want a taste of this overachieving
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!
