BRILLIANT Carlo Ancelotti Tactic

What if I told you that this tactic won us the league title in a league dominated by PSG?

Well, yes it did. And not only that. We had the highest goalscoring tally – with 97 goals scored, averaging 2.85 goals per game.

We had the most chances created in the league, with 189. And 18.26 shots per game. Miles ahead of the second placed team in this category.

But whose tactic is it?

Carlo Ancelotti is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Real Madrid. Nicknamed "Carletto" in Italy and "Don Carlo" in Spain, he is regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time.

Ancelotti is the most successful manager in UEFA Champions League history, having won the trophy a record five times, and two more as a player. He is also the only manager to take part in six Champions League finals. Liverpool had other plans in 2005.

As a player, he won two European Cups with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, making him one of seven people to have won the European Cup/Champions League as both a player and a manager.

Carlo Ancelotti is also the only manager to win league titles in all of Europe's top five leagues.

He has won the FIFA Club World Cup three times and has won the UEFA Super Cup five times, a record for a manager.

But, then again, you want to know more about this tactic, right?

At Real Madrid, Carlo Ancelotti drew praise for his versatility; he modified the team's 4–2–3–1 formation, which had been used under José Mourinho, to a 4–4–2 formation, before settling on a 4–3–3 formation, in which the Argentine former winger Ángel Di María was converted to a left-sided central midfielder, while Cristiano Ronaldo was played in his preferred free role on the left wing rather than as a striker, as Ancelotti had initially intended.

In addition to his tactical prowess and adaptability, Ancelotti has also drawn praise for his kindness, good humour, and his calm, balanced approach as a manager, as well as his ability to motivate his players and cultivate a good relationship with them – which transpired a couple of seasons ago.

Recently, he became well known for asking and listenting to his players’ adivce on in-game tactical changes.

“The most important role is never that of the coach. I am very clear that there are two types of coaches: those who do nothing and those who do a lot of damage. I try to be in the first group. The game belongs to the players and you can tell them a certain strategy, convince them, but then the determining factor is their quality and commitment. A coach has to focus on making the group understand the importance of teamwork." – Carlo Ancelotti.

During his second spell at Real Madrid, he implemented a more simple but effective counter–attacking style with the team and won the La Liga–Champions League double.

During the past two seasons he used a 4–3–1–2 without a genuine forward, in order to compensate for the departure of striker Karim Benzema. Jude Bellingham served as a goalscoring attacking midfielder, with additional creative and defensive responsibilities, acting almost as a false-9 or second striker at times, and playing behind Vinícius Junior and Rodrygo – normally wingers – upfront in free roles.

This season, he kept the same tactical approach, but added Kylian Mbappé up top, replacing Jude Bellingham. While the English player took on a more attacking midfielder role, playing behind Kylian Mbappe.

I hear something, can’t you hear it? Oh yes, you want me to detail the in-game tactic. Fair enough!

As mentioned, the formation is a narrow 4-4-2 or a 4-3-1-2.

The goalkeeper is a sweeper one on defend duty. In Carlo Ancelotti’s tactic, the goalkeeper doesn’t go out of his way to have the possession of the ball, but he is there if his teammates need another passing option.

The back four is made of a full back on support duty, two central defenders on defend and a wing back on support.

The wing back could also be on attack, but I think Ferland Mendy has a balanced approach, so I kept the duty a support one.

Take more risks, get further forward and tackle harder for the full back. Take fewer risks for the central defenders and stay wider for the left one. He must do that, as the wing back will go up the pitch when the team is in possession.

And dribble more for the wing back.

The midfield diamond is made of a defensive midfielder on support, a box-to-box midfielder, a mezzala on support and an attacking midfielder on attack.

I have seen Real Madrid play in a standard midfield four as well, so the setup can differ from game to game.

The defensive midfielder is on support duty as he must prioritize screening the defence and recovering the ball. But when the play allows him to, he becomes a passing option if his attacking teammates must recycle the ball.

More direct passes, take more risks and tackle harder.

The box-to-box role was chosen having Federico Valverde in mind. The position can also be moved to the wing and Arda Guler or Rodrygo can be played.

When used as a box-to-box midfielder, the player here must go up and down the pitch, arriving late in the opposition area.

No player instructions for him.

The left-sided central midfielder is a mezzala on support, but I don’t think there is a role in Football Manager that could define how Edouardo Camavinga plays.

He seems to have the potential to become the best midfielder in the game. In an era when Toni Kroos fulfilled this role in the best way possible for Real Madrid.

I chose the mezzala role as it gives the player the instructions of going wide when needed. Something that Camavinga does a lot. He also goes up in the attack.

As player instructions, take more risks was used.

And when I chose the attacking midfielder role, I had Jude Bellingham in mind. He is the type of player that could create a lot of goalscoring opportunities for his teammates.

But he can also take on the opposition and try to score himself.

Dribble more and move into channels as player instructions.

And the striker are an advanced forward and a complete forward on attack duty.

The advanced forward was chosen having Vinicius Junior in mind. And stay wider was chosen as player instructions.

I tried the trequartista role, but the player in my save seemed to not be as incisive as Vinicius Junior is for Real Madrid.

But you can try both roles and choose the best one for your team.

Kylian Mbappe is a complete forward in my opinion. He is there in the box to finish off chances, but he can also drop deep, help the possession game and arrive in the opposition’s box to score when needed.

As mentioned, Real Madrid’s tactical setup is not this simple. There were games in which they played in a 4-2-3-1 formation, others where the 4-2-2-2 formation was used.

I see this formation being very flexible and if your squad resembles the Los Blancos one in terms of player positions, go ahead and use a setup that fits your team best.

As mentality I chose positive. As Real Madrid seem to be calm and composed on the ball.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width and pass into space. Play out of defence, shorter passing directness and a slightly higher tempo. And run at defence.

In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute the ball to the defence through short kicks.

And out of possession, a mid block and a standard defensive line. Trigger press more often and prevent the goalkeeper short distribution.

Even if the mid block is used, the players will trigger the pressing game as soon as the opposition approaches the midfield area of the pitch.

This tactic was very fun to play with, especially with a team like Olympique Lyon.

Carlo Ancelotti seems to be the cool guy that everyone gets on with. But his tactical brilliance is almost unmatched. And this is shown in everything he does with and for Real Madrid.

Use this tactic wisely and adapt it to your own team and players.