With every new release of Football Manager comes an unspoken, yet extremely competitive challenge for the community: the hunt for the most “broken” tactic. This is where people poke holes at the match Match Engine (ME) to produce unorthodox strategies that attain unbelievably consistent results.
Although the developers at Sports Interactive aim for realism, the dedicated players of FM 26 are the ones who test the code to its limits. These experiments produce invaluable data, often unveiling unintentional flaws that make one type of play overpower every other. A few days ago, one fan conducted an intensive experiment that tested the effectiveness of the Head of Youth Development across 800 newgens.
Today, user u/gingercrash posted another test on the r/footballmanagergames subreddit to determine how broken a strikerless tactic truly is in FM26.
What Is The Strikerless Tactic?
A “strikerless” tactic is exactly what it sounds like: a tactical formation that has no player in the conventional striker position. Rather than relying on a dedicated number nine, the formation depends on the Attacking Midfield (AMC) roles like the Shadow Striker (SS) or Trequartista for offensive plays.
The reason this system is so successful in FM 26, and why the community considers it “broken,” lies in a defect in the defensive AI. The Centre-Backs are strictly programmed to mark players in the Striker position tightly. When this position is unoccupied, the Centre-Backs become “lost” or confused, mainly because ACMs arrive late into the box.
The lack of marking allows the Shadow Strikers and other roles to arrive in the final third like a “ghost,” scoring goals at an impossible rate. Players who use real-life football tactics ironically struggle, while these low-possession systems control the pitch.
The Experiment
To truly find out how effective a strikerless formation is, a Reddit user set up an experiment employing a tactic from FM Arena: Kickback (Strikerless) V7. The setup was explicitly designed to segregate the tactic’s impact by terminating the manager’s skill as an element.
The Reddit user created a 94-year-old manager named “Testy McTestTest” with intentionally low mental and coaching attributes. In addition to this, they place the save on perpetual holiday mode, making sure the manager makes no tactical changes.
The first test run was with Manchester City, an already dominant club in the Premier League. Although the results were as expected, with City winning the league, the first red flag was the low 41% possession. This showcases the tactic that emphasizes efficiency over control.
Shockingly, when the tactic was applied to Burnley, a club that was predicted to end up in last place, it ended up in 3rd place in the Premier League. Yet again proving that the system relies on rapid transitions, the average possession dropped to 38%.
The tactic was lastly tested in the lower leagues, with Berks County (Tier 10), producing unbelievable results. The team easily achieved promotion in the first season, impressive for such a low-level club.
The Takeaway
The outcome from this experiment is irrefutable: the Strikerless tactic is extremely broken if used correctly. If you aim to simply win silverware and dominate the competition for a couple of seasons, then this formation is made for you.
However, by using this tactic, you break the core competitive loop of the game; hence, if you play FM 26 for the challenge, you should completely avoid it. While the experiment proves the mechanic is broken, the community complains that these meta-tactics ruin the true essence of the game for some. In all honesty, we’d rather have variations of this tactic rather than tactics like the Gegenpress Meta.
