Football Manager 2024 tactics are out there now – and FourFourTwo has the best FM24 tactics for you to download for free.
Every year, new updates mean that the game changes. Just like the real world, tactical tweaks come in and out of fashion, with the FM team adding in new roles and making the game more and more realistic.
Well, we've already got all the tactics you need. Here are some of our favourites – and remember, you can download all of these tactics here.
How to download and install Football Manager 2024 tactics
Inserting your own tactics into Football Manager 2024 couldn't be easier. Simply go to the tactics tab on the lefthand side and look to the top bar where you can have three individual slots for tactics.
If you're looking for a discount on FM24, there's a discount on preorder at Fanatical – by shopping via FFT, you can save an extra 5% off the game – making it 22% off overall. That reduces the final price to just £35.05, down from £44.99. When you head to the checkout, make sure to use the additional discount code 442FM24 to get the extra 5% off Football Manager 2024.
Click on the "+" symbol at the top where you can add another tactic and there you'll find 'Load Tactic'. The default folders are shown below – but you can load a tactic from anywhere on your desktop.
Though you can only have your club training tactics at once, you can download as many as you like to keep onto your desktop. You can also save your own tactics to use later, too.
The file sizes for each tactic are all under 50KB.
Find your tactics folder on Windows
- C:\Users\\Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2023\tactics\
Find your tactics folder on Mac
- Open finder
- Go – Go to folder – type in the path: Library/Application Support
- Click on Sports Interactive – Football Manager – Tactics
Manchester City 2023 Football Manager 2024 tactic
The style of play that won Manchester City their first Champions League title is now easy to implement into FM24, thanks to the new Inverted full-back role, added to the game this time around.
Setting up with a back four is easy enough, with two defensive-minded full-backs at left- and right-back. Then comes the exciting part: you can set one centre-back up as a Libero with the Support duty to wander into midfield and form a box midfield with your defensive midfielder, set to Anchor.
Should you want the 'Classic' Pep, of course, just use one inverted full-back, two ball-playing centre-backs and an inverted wing-back with a Support duty.
Liverpool 2019 Football Manager 2024 tactic
Liverpool have evolved in recent seasons but the 2018 to 2020 vintage Jurgen Klopp side is one of the finest in Premier League history. It's categorised by its compact midfield, its thrust from full-back and its false nine.
In our tactic, we've replicated the exact model of what Klopp did with his team back then, with a workmanlike three in the centre of the park and plenty of license given to both full-backs. Of course, the threat comes from your wide men, who will bag you 20+ goals each if you pick the right men for the task.
Good centre-backs are needed for this one. A high line and marauding full-backs can expose lesser defenders: you've been warned.
Ange Postecoglou 'Angeball' Tottenham Hotspur Football Manager 2024 tactic
His style of play has swept through the Premier League and it's perfect for FM24. Despite his laidback vibes (Aussies, eh?), this Angeball tactic is extremely balanced.
The LCM pushes forward to join the attack, meaning that the left-back inverts with a Support duty to cover space. On the other side, the RCM is the more conservative one, with the inverted right-back set to attack. There's an aggressive centre-back who steps to attackers, while the other drops and looks to be the last man.
It works with Tottenham, of course, but it's fitting for any high-tempo Gegenpressers in the game. Simply switch the dynamics to the opposite side if you need.
Classic Barcelona Football Manager 2024 tactic
Arguably the greatest club side of all time, this peak Barcelona 2011 tactic is a template that mimics the classic Guardiola side that perfected tiki-taka… while bringing it up to date for FM24.
The two key men in this system are whoever you play as your Lionel Messi and Dani Alves. The right-winger here is more central in a Trequartista role, while the right-back has the job of bombing forward and acting as a winger. Your DM is a half-back in the buildup, giving you six Attack duties in this tactic to overwhelm the opposition.
In a team like, say, Inter Milan, where two of your strongest players are Denzel Dumfries and Nicolo Barella, this might be a fun tactic to try. Your full-backs are going to love it – just be aware of the threat on the break and tweak whichever Attack duties you need to as games progress.
Arsenal 2004 Invincibles Football Manager 2024 tactic
Arsenal's Invincible side of 2003/04 was one of the most thrilling Premier League sides we'd ever seen. A lot of the principles of this team have since been modernised – but you can still rack up huge scorelines playing this high-octane, possession-controlling style.
This tactic is essentially a 4-2-3-1, using high-flying wide players and an asymmetrical balance to reimagine Arsene Wenger's classic lineup. The Dennis Bergkamp role is reimagined as an Attacking Midfielder with a sturdy double-pivot of deep-lying playmaker and box-to-box midfielder behind. Two inverted wide players are used, too, with the Thierry Henry of this system tucked over on the left to combine with the inverted winger nearest.
A lot of it still holds up in the modern game – though this team don't press high or particularly care about playing out from the back: instead, they create their own transitions from a midblock and counter when necessary. Implement this style at a midtable side if you have two strong midfielders capable of that dynamic and goals will start raining.
Leicester 2016 Football Manager 2024 tactic
If you're managing an underdog on FM24, you can't go too far wrong than copying perhaps the greatest underdogs in Premier League history. Claudio Ranieri's Leicester City were a counter-attacking storm that rode the wave of an improbable victory against all odds but the formula works for anyone.
This FM tactic is part 4-2-3-1, part 4-4-1-1, with a lopsided right-winger, hard-running attacking midfielder and a solid DLP/B2B midfield double-pivot that you can't really go too far wrong with. The left-winger on the opposite side – Marc Albrighton in the Foxes' case – can even be switched to a wide midfield role in order to bulk out the midfield.
Essentially, if you have three stars like Leicester did, this is the perfect setup to take games to bigger teams. Just ask your scouts to find a Vardy, a Mahrez and a Kante.
Aggressive box midfield Football Manager 2024 tactic
The box midfield is well and truly in vogue at the moment, used by Pep Guardiola, Mikel Arteta, Xavi and Jurgen Klopp as a means to pack out midfield and place creative players between the lines. The wide centre-back role made it possible to replicate in FM – though it's not for the faint-hearted.
This particular iteration is best used by the elite: this is the kind of formation you can use to kill off teams when you're going for the title, not so much when you're looking for promotion out of the National League. This tactic is set to press high and hard, waste time if necessary – just to get your team back into shape in transition – and the two attacking points and defensive points of your box have alternating mentalities to stagger that midfield.
It's a bold strategy that worked wonders in FM23 with giants. Use it wisely in FM24.
'Conteball' Antonio Conte Football Manager 2024 tactic
Antonio Conte may have burned out in his second season at both Chelsea and Tottenham but take that as more of a reflection of his man-management than his tactical ingenuity. His 3-5-2/5-3-2 is legendary – and this is the FM reflection of what he wants his sides to do.
Wing-backs are vital, of course. A three-man midfield relies on the No.8s for thrust in what becomes a front six at times, because really, not all back three formations are defensive. This is a tactic that Conte has used to batter teams at his best and it can deliver 15+ goals per striker in your squad.
A solid base is preferable, while the DLP can be moved to No.10 if you're feeling bold. Conte himself never does that by choice, mind.
Spain Euro 2012 Football Manager 2024 tactic
With David Villa injured for Euro 2012 and Fernando Torres out of form – thanks to insisting on playing with an injury at the World Cup two years prior – Vicente Del Bosque was left to defend his title without a reliable striker. He chose to play a now-iconic 4-6-0, with Cesc Fabregas in a false nine role.
Fabregas's interpretation of the position was the least a striker had ever been involved in, well, striking. This FM24 tactic reimagines the idea for the modern day with three attacking midfielders tasked with SS roles behind a possession-heavy midfield. We've set the Alvaro Arbeloa in this system to the new inverted full-back position, moved the Xavi into a Mezzala role to get involved and given the left-back free reign like Jordi Alba had, with a pass-happy double-pivot in midfield ahead of a three-man defence on the ball.
The result doesn't take to every team – but you can strangle your opposition like this on the ball. High lines hate it, while your three attacking midfielders will all chip in with goals. It's weird but it works.
Real Sociedad diamond midfield Football Manager 2024 tactic
Last season at Real Sociedad, Imanol Alguacil employed David Silva as a No.10 behind a front two, taking a diamond midfield to the Champions League. The system worked by allowing La Real's attackers to overload central areas and use interplay with one another, rather than looking to exploit space out wide.
This tactic takes a little inspiration from Alguacil, while referencing what he's doing with Mikel Oyarzabal in the forward role post-Silva. In this tactic, your false nine drops out of the box, allowing two SSs to push on ahead: the final third becomes overloaded with attackers and width is provided by the full-backs.
It works nicely against 4-4-2s, high lines or defences that have you man-marked. It's a variation on a traditional diamond – and just like the real Real, you can always move those two SSs out to each wing.
Champagne asymmetrical 4-1-4-1 Football Manager 2024 tactic
No one really plays like this, do they? There's a little influence from Guardiola's inverted full-backs and using Julian Alvarez as a SS but it's kind of unique.
While it looks silly though, in possession, it makes total sense. The half-back drops between the centre-backs to form a back three, one full-back shuffles into midfield while the other bombs on ahead to get involved in the attack. It's a kind of 4-2-4 that can pull the opposition apart, able to rack up big scorelines against lesser teams… but not the kind of style you'd take to a title clash, given how open the midfield can be in transition.
There are two tactics in one, with this file – one for the left and one for the right.
90s 4-4-2 Football Manager 2024 tactic
4-4-2. The greatest formation ever. And no, we ain't biased.
This particular style is so old-school that it only works on a desktop computer and not your laptop (probably). A winger and a wide playmaker are there to supply a big-man-little-man front two, with balance across the two blocks of four behind. A box-to-box midfielder and a ball-winning midfielder? Football 'eritage.
If you can win the league like this, hats off to you. But this is a lower/lesser league formation that when organised well, can take points off anyone you face. You don't need too many big stars.
Marcelo Bielsa style expressive 3-3-3-1 Football Manager 2024 tactic
Football should be played like this. Aggressive, attacking, with a front six and sturdy four behind.
Some formations morph into this in attacking phases but formations are usually named after how they look off the ball. Be aware of that when employing this tactic, which can be used to finish off teams or grab a goal when chasing a win. It's high-risk, high-reward.
But if you insist on using this shape without the worry of behind exposed out wide…
Pragmatic 3-3-3-1 Football Manager 2024 tactic
While the more expressive 3-3-3-1 insists on six attackers and four defenders, this more practical version flips that dynamic, to give you a back three and three more defensive players ahead of them. Not that Pep has ever played it – but it's the kind of sensible silliness we reckon he'd appreciate.
The wingbacks, of course, invert in possession, while that front four are press-happy off the ball. Transitions are natural but with enough cover, this is a formation that can suit a team challenging for continental football, since you're going to score plenty and exploit space.
If you can train your midfielders as full-backs (or vice versa), it complements the more expressive 3-3-3-1 formation. Or if you're feeling more conservative, drop that AM in alongside the DLP to form a 3-5-2. It's a flexible tactic.
Double false nine Football Manager 2024 tactic
When Guardiola lost Sergio Aguero, he reshaped his side with false nines, more often than not building play with a double-pivot ahead of a back four and two midfielders tasked with box-crashing. This has some of those principles… but it throws the rest out of the window.
You'll need two four-star CBs here, as they're building up alone. The full-backs invert into midfield; the midfielders push on into the halfspaces. You're basically forming two triangles of six players in attack and suffocating the opposition. There's a reason we used this tactic with Bayern Munich.
This is a style which will see plenty of runs from midfield, plenty of slicing open defences and plenty of chaos. But use the right players and this is a deadly formation that will yield big wins.
Mauricio Pochettino's Tottenham-style wing-back-heavy 4-2-3-1 Football Manager 2024 tactic
Squint and the shape of this team resembles a 3-4-3. Yet it's actually a 4-2-3-1. Mauricio Pochettino used both formations at Tottenham – and this is essentially a combination of the best bits of both.
The centre-backs look a little exposed but they have help from two half-backs ahead in defensive midfield who drop in to help with build-up and cover on the counter. The two wingbacks play high and provide the width; the three men behind the striker sit narrow and create.
It looks strange but it strangely works, with your full-backs getting tons of assists from being quite so involved.
More Football Manager 2024 stories
The Football Manager 2024 beta is out now – and we have the beginner's guide for the game.
New features have beeen teased ahead of the game's drop. Netflix is set to carry the game, while FFT's list of the wonderkids to watch out for is also out already.
Miles Jacobson of Sports Interactive, the team behind FM, has spoken to FFT about the introduction of the Japanese J-League, how realistic the Saudi Pro League is in the new game and how set pieces have improved – he's also revealed that the FM team are constantly playing catchup to the great Pep Guardiola.
We also have a list of the best teams to play as in FM24 and a surefire way to pick the perfect underdog, along with a list of cheats – we also have a guide to every tactical role in the game.
