Redesign Your Tactic - Stanimir Stoilov

Stanimir Stoilov is a Bulgarian former footballer and current manager of the Süper Lig side Göztepe. He has previously coached Levski Sofia, the Bulgaria national team, FC Astana and the national team of Kazakhstan.

In the bustling lands of Bulgaria, a young man named Stanimir Stoilov began his journey in the world of football. Although still at the beginning of his career, it was clear that he was destined for greatness.

Starting at the humble FC Haskovo, he honed his skills until he was ready to conquer bigger fields.

His first significant venture was with Levski Sofia, although he showed his prowess with a few spells at other clubs like Fenerbahçe and CSKA Sofia.

It seemed like Stoilov played everywhere – from Bulgaria to Portugal - but his heart always found its way back to Levski Sofia. By 2004, he wasn't just a player; he had put on the badge of a manager.

Now, Stoilov wasn't the type to settle for mediocrity. No, he had his eyes set on glory. Under his leadership, Levski Sofia didn't just compete; they conquered.

With Stoilov at the helm, they reached the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup and became the first Bulgarian club to get into the UEFA Champions League group stage. It was a time of triumphs, trophies, and tremendous pride.

Undeterred, Stoilov ventured into new territories, taking the reigns at Litex Lovech and winning the Bulgarian cup in 2009.

At the beginning of 2009, Stanimir Stoilov was announced as the manager of Bulgaria. Bulgaria under Stoilov did not qualify for the World Cup. After two draws with the main rival for the play-offs Ireland and a 2–0 victory against Cyprus, Bulgaria's job became even harder.

The team even suffered their first loss under the new boss, against Italy with 2–0. From that moment on everything for Stoilov stopped going according to plan and he recorded a disappointing loss to Cyprus with 4–1. Bulgaria finished the campaign with a 6–2 win against Georgia.

His quest for excellence continued as he took charge several clubs in the following years, including the Kazakhstan club, FC Astana, leading them to unprecedented victories and into the Champions League group stage.

Then, like a prodigal son, Stoilov returned to Levski Sofia in 2021, at a time when the club was in dire straits. With a snap of his fingers, he transformed the team, releasing underperformer players and bringing in fresh talent. His impact was immediate, and the team's performance soared, culminating in the Bulgarian Cup victory.

On the tactics part, Stoilov is known for his emphasis on possession football and nurturing young talents. He played a pivotal role in reviving players' careers and bringing new stars to the forefront.

Team pressing and playing on the counter are also part of his tactical arsenal. As a formation, he seems to prefer a 3-5-2 setup with a focus on a rigid and disciplined defence and a clinical attack.

This tactic helped my team dominated domestically in my save, but we will get to that shortly.

A sweeper keeper on defend duty was preferred in goal. Of course, a normal goalkeeper role would also work. Playing with a sweeper keeper one ensures that the goalkeeper will become a passing option should the defence need one.

The back three is made of three central defenders on defend duty. I preferred safety here rather than fancy roles and instructions.

The interesting part comes now. At first, I went for a more standard set of roles for the remaining positions, however, FM punished me for it.

The team played a bland style of football and we were overrun constantly. So, I found a way to confuse the game. However, I had to maybe sacrifice Stanimir Stoilov’s philosophy for it.

At this point, you have two choices. The first one is to try this formation. It’s a more standard 3-5-2 setup. It didn’t work for my team, but it doesn’t mean it’s not going to work for you.

The second choice is this setup. Starting with two inverted wing backs on attack duty. By selecting these two roles, we sacrifice wide play, but we overload the midfield areas.

By doing so, we confuse the opposition, as they will need to commit players to block our wing backs, thus compromising their defensive shape.

To protect our defensive line, I chose a defensive midfielder role on defend duty. In front of him, two mezzale one on support and one on attack were used.

And yes, the plural for mezzala is mezzale 😊.

Using these two roles, in combination with the inverted wing backs, forced the opposition to commit unconventional player roles to mark these 4 ones, thus surprising them.

No special player instructions selected for them.

A deep lying forward on support duty and a poacher were preferred in attack. The deep lying forward serves as a link between the midfield and the attack, while the poacher sits deep in the opposition’s defensive line, pushing them back and looking for opportunities to score.

As mentality, I chose positive.

In possession, fairly wide attacking width and play out of defence. Standard or slightly shorter passing directness and a standard or slightly higher tempo as they are translated with a positive mentality.

Work the ball into the box and play for set pieces.

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

And out of possession, a high press and standard defensive line. I know the lines are stretched in a setup such as this one.

But I found it that it works like this as the defensive will stay out due to the chosen roles, while the attack will always pin the opposition line back due to the poacher role.

And trigger press more often.

As mentioned earlier, this tactic helped us dominated domestically after a poor start, in my building a nation save in Poland, with Lechia Gdansk.

Even though we were knocked out of the Polish Cup in the semi-finals, we won the league title with a six points margin.

This tactic, a bit unconventional, played a smooth and a fun football in the game.

Stanimir Stoilov is a football manager who led a few teams so far, but each one of them was touched by his greatness. He managed 3 different top-tier clubs in Bulgaria, and he brought silverware to them.

His tactical mastermind is there, and each time may benefit from it in time. Thank you, Yasin, for pointing me into his direction!