The Byline

As most footballers will attest, there's quite nothing like the joy of representing your nation; every sweat-drenched shirt and every tear shed (of happiness or hurt) in the name of your country means more. Rock’s End FM breaks down international management in FM21, allowing you to lead your nation to glory and a place in immortality.

Central midfield is the battleground of this piece. It’s the area of the pitch where creativity stems, where defence transitions into attack, and where it can either go horribly wrong or wonderfully right. 

In recent decades football’s brightest minds have dabbled with two- and three-man midfields, and both systems have their merits. Which is better though? 

Sports Interactive's Andrew Sinclair and FM Grasshopper can’t hope to answer that, but they have done an experiment with two K-League 1 clubs to demonstrate two contrasting approaches to setting up your midfield, showing how they differ and offering insight into how the central midfielders complement your wider tactical approach. Andrew has implemented a three-man central midfield with Ulsan Hyundai, which caters for all kinds of offensive and defensive responsibilities. Meanwhile, FM Grasshopper has opted for the two-man dynamic with Suwon Samsung Bluewings - where being the shield and recycling possession are the primary goals.

It's an eternal debate among Football Manager tactics aficionados. Is it best to use a single playmaker in your formation or multiple designated playmakers? Do you use an Advanced Playmaker, Deep-Lying Playmaker, or a Wide Playmaker? Ihor Crusadertsar will tell you that the answer is not that simple. Unsurprisingly, it all depends on your desired tactical style and what you are trying to achieve with your tactics. Ihor explains both how to use playmakers in your team and to get maximum results from them.

Training is one of those areas of Football Manager that a lot of us look at, think about, and then leave to our assistant. Of course, if you have a decent assistant, your team will trundle along nicely through training, certainly not regressing, but definitely not excelling. Training not only sets your team up for future success by working on players' attributes but it can also be used to fine-tune your team for big games, improve team cohesion and turn an average season into a great one.

Watford’s Christian Kabasele is perhaps the greatest example of a professional player who loves FM as much as the sport it simulates. 

Discovering the wonderkids of tomorrow and overseeing the progression of your Newgens from the academy to the first team is integral to almost every Football Manager save. There really aren’t many better feelings in the game that seeing one of the prospects you’ve developed play a leading role in a cup or league triumph.

Training can often be overlooked in Football Manager. It’s understandable; it doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of developing a groundbreaking tactic, nor does it give the same adrenaline rush you get when making a top-quality signing. Nonetheless, it’s every bit as vital to your team’s success. Without the right training schedule, that revolutionary tactical style you’ve developed won’t work as it should and you won’t get the most from your stars. Rock’s End FM details how you can maximise training by developing your own custom schedules. 

The EFL playoffs always offer thrills, spills and and plenty of drama. For the fans of the clubs involved it brings all of the tension of the campaign to a dramatic conclusion – either the dizzying high of promotion or the crushing low of missing out having come so near.

To see what might lie in store for the 12 competing clubs over the next couple of weeks, we’ve simulated the playoffs across the three divisions and can reveal who we say will be celebrating at the end of it all. 
 

The Scouting Centre… it’s the place where legendary wonderkids are found and it’s the key to taking your squad to the next level. It’s also the place where many tenured FM players have seen their scouting instructions return strong recommendations, only for those players not turn out to be quite what they seemed. Will Goddard aims to rectify those issues, detailing what the Scouting Centre is, how it works in FM21 and how to maximise the assignments you use it to create.

FM21 offers the ultimate football management experience; tinker with your tactics, complete deals in the transfer market and revolutionise training schedules on your way to success. However, with so much immersion provided by the current game and so much detail at your disposal, it’s inevitable that even the most experienced player will have missed some of the tools and information in-game. Rock’s End FM details six that you might have missed.

One of the most appealing aspects of Football Manager is when the fictional players known as Newgens join your universe. For many players, that means scouring the globe for the wonderkids through the Player Search menu or trawling through the hundreds of international youth squads. For others, it can be rewarding to work with what you get from your own internal intake. Build a team of local lads and inspire them to stardom, taking your club forward with every well-worked goal scored and bit of silverware won. 

Dan Gear and FM Grasshopper, co-hosts of the GrassNGear podcast, are here to give you some tips and food for thought when training your Newgens. To illustrate our advice, we’ve simulated five years into the future, exploring what we’d do with three players at our disposal and why.
 

The term ‘Gegenpress’ first entered the public consciousness after Borussia Dortmund burst back onto the European stage with successive Bundesliga titles and a continental cup final appearance. Their playing style was intense and entertaining, later defined as ‘heavy metal’ football. It captured the imagination of fans and pundits alike. It was an obvious candidate for inclusion when tactical presets were added as part of Football Manager 2019’s tactics overhaul. But what does ‘Gegenpress’ exactly mean, and how can we translate this into FM? Rock’s End FM provides a detailed guide.