The Byline

Imagine the following scenario. You’ve started a new FM22 career. During pre-season things went well, and now you’re looking to build on that for the season ahead. You’ve got to know the players, you know who you can count on and who needs a bit of help, you made your new signings, you’ve worked to get them settled and… it all starts going terribly wrong. Results are bad, but that’s not the worst part. The problem is you’re playing horribly; you can hardly keep goals out and your players seem to have lost all their footballing ability. At this rate, you’re going to get the sack rather than any Manager of the Month awards.

Sound familiar? I’m sure it does because we’ve all been there. Worry not, for help is at hand. You’re probably in need of a tactical overhaul and Rock’s End FM is on hand to show you how it’s done.

We’ve all faced that moment in a Football Manager career when it seems that everything is against you. If you’ve tried all you can think of and there still seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, you might need to make some tactical adjustments. It’s never too late to salvage the remainder of your season and Rock’s End FM explores some of the tools at your disposal.

In two previous pieces, we touched upon the attacking and defensive insights you can take from Football Manager 2022’s brand-new Data Hub.

As Football Manager players, we usually put a lot of thought into our tactical approach. Not just the formation, player roles and instructions, but also how and when to press the opponent (enhanced by FM22’s overhauled pressing system), if we should pass short or long and if certain roles should principally Defend, Support or Attack. It’s a beautiful thing when you are winning but it can be a nightmarish puzzle to solve when results aren’t going your way. 

The rapid rise in popularity of analytics in football is now reflected in-game through a variety of useful visualisations in the Hub. You can maximise this feature to give you deeper insight into how your team are playing in every phase of play and part of the pitch. This insight can help you not only identify gaps in your team’s performances, but subsequently identify who might be a good transfer target to come in and fill those gaps in your squad.

In this third part of his series, FM Stag explores how you can leverage the Data Hub to identify appropriate scouting targets from within your division to address potential tactical problems.

Many Football Manager players take the opportunity to start a new career when the Main Winter Update drops. January transfers and the real-life fortunes of clubs around the world open the doors to a whole new variety of adventure. It can be tricky to work out where to start, however, so we’ve put together a list of 10 of our favourite new challenges for you to take on.

The Main Winter Update is usually a big moment in every year for Football Manager fans. It’s a time when January transfers are registered and the ratings of thousands of players across the world are adjusted based on their performances through the first half of the season. We’ve dug through our database to pick out 10 of the best players who got a Current Ability upgrade in the Main Winter Update.

You might have thought that this year’s January transfer window was pretty quiet, bar an interesting Transfer Deadline Day. There was, however, some really clever business done across the footballing world, including several moves that definitely warrant the FM seal of approval. We’ve put together a list of 10 of our favourite deals that you might have missed. You’ll be able to guide all of these players to the top with their new clubs in the FM22 Main Winter Update.

Versus Mode is back, giving FMFC members the opportunity to challenge each other for the ultimate online bragging rights after returning as part of the FM22 (PC/Mac) Main Winter Update. 

Every manager wants to have the best players at their disposal. However, it’s not always possible. Whether you’re taking charge of your local lower league side or managing in an exotic location where you are unable to draw in the world’s top talents, you’ll have to make the best of the players in your squad and the signings you can make. That’s not always an easy task; players in lower reputation leagues haven’t always got the most complete skillsets and require careful managing to succeed. Rock’s End FM outlines some simple strategies to maximise the ability of more limited players.

The way you assign responsibilities to your staff can change the way you play Football Manager. Giving over more control to your Director of Football not only adds more realism to your game but also helps you get the best from your squad. Dan Gear explains how it’s done.

The Central Midfielder (Attack) has been getting a lot of love from our community this year and that’s no surprise. It’s an industrious, versatile midfield role that adds another strong goalscoring threat to your starting lineup. Here we’ll show you how to build a successful team around that specific role in FM22. 

There's arguably no position more important in football than central midfield. It's extremely tough to win matches without controlling the middle of the pitch; therefore, it's imperative that your midfielders perform the correct duties to suit your tactic and dominate the opposition. 

A common way to do that is with the 'double pivot', a term used to describe two central players who sit at the base of the midfield to offer protection for the defence. Choosing the right roles to use in your double pivot will depend on what you want them to achieve, but there are several ways to use them successfully. On The Break FM explains how to get the most from a double pivot in FM22. 

When Football Manager’s "In The Studio" feature showcase was released, something ‘Mr Transfer Deadline Day’ himself, Fabrizio Romano, said was quite striking: "Sometimes players are untouchable in June and on Deadline Day they're available on loan". 

Until now, common Football Manager wisdom said that you do your business early. Sign pre-contracts in January, make some smart deals that look like bargains in June and watch the world go crazy as the window draws to a close. That’s all changed now though, with Football Manager 2022's new Deadline Day feature opening up new possibilities. 

Whilst there are still benefits to be gained from moving quickly in the market, Rock’s End FM explains the advantages of getting your last business done as the final hours tick down.