When commencing a new Career Mode, I consistently struggle with determining the tactical approach I should adopt. It’s always challenging for me to decide whether I should replicate a real manager’s tactics or create my own style according to the squad I have at hand.
Throughout my experience, I’ve experimented with various tactics inspired by real-life teams. In this guide, I aim to present five of my preferred tactics in EA FC 24. If you want to switch between these tactics as easily as I do, be prepared with plenty of FC 24 Coins.
1. Catenaccio
Commencing with the most defensively-oriented tactic, Catenaccio. I’ve selected one strategy representing each decade spanning the last 50 years. Hence, you’ll encounter diverse ideas aligned with the managerial styles that inspire you the most.
Let’s start off by looking at the Inter Milan 1960s tactic of Catenaccio. It means “Door Bolt” in English, and it really prioritizes having a really good defense and minimizing the amount of space the other team can attack into. You’ll probably want all 3 of your Defenders to have at least the Bock playstyle, even better if you can find 3 with the plus version. Or you can buy FC 24 boosting directly at IGGM.com to achieve this goal.
In my FC 24 Career Mode, I’ve gone with Araujo, Gvardiol, and Kimpembe, and this would make an absolute Elite Catenaccio-style team. You should also definitely have a sweeper keeper comfortable playing off his line. Di Gennaro did this in the Inter Milan team that we’re copying, and he was a big part of Italy actually going on to win the World Cup.
Having 2 ball-winning midfielders in the middle is also really important. If you can find someone like N’Golo Kanté or Sergio Busquets that just always seem to be in the right position, then there’ll be absolutely no space for the AI to attack into.
Finally, you definitely need to make sure you have a target man with some Aerial ability and stronghold at play. Marco van Basten was a really good example of this in a later Inter Milan team. But if you can find someone like Edin Džeko there that’s going to win almost every single header they go for, then you’re going to have the absolute ideal Catenaccio side.
This tactic will utilize a 5-3-2 formation focused on defensive counterattacking play, emphasizing a deep defensive line. Implement “Stay Back While Attacking” solely for the fullbacks to prevent them from advancing while employing a counterattacking strategy for other FC 24 players. Ensure that midfielders actively enter the box, keep the strikers consistently engaged in the offensive line, and prioritize having a sweeper keeper, ball-winning midfielder, and target man as pivotal player roles within your team.
As long as you have a compact defensive shape, disciplined defending, and focus on quick transitions with the fastest wingers you can find, then you have definitely got the Catenaccio style locked in on your save.
2. Total Football
While I really enjoyed playing defensively inside EA FC 24 Career Mode, I can see why a lot of people wouldn’t really be that interested in doing it. So, our next tactic is going to be the total opposite, Total Footbal, from a decade later in the 1970s. Of course, this tactic was inspired by Ajax and the Johan Cruyff team.
It’s really about collective movement and having FC 24 Players with really good positional awareness. Everyone can slot in every kind of area. You can play defenders up front, and hopefully, they should have the ability to play in that role.
This tactic works really well if you can find players with Incisive Pass or even the plus version playstyle on some of your deeper players and First Touch + or Press Proven + on your attackers. You’ll have lots of different runners, so someone like Kovacic, if they’re playing deep, can easily find the right through ball basically every time. If you have players with First Touch or First Touch +, then this basically lets you smash the ball at attackers in tight spaces. This unironically makes Marco Reus and Kai Havertz, two of the best total football players on the entire FC 24 Career Mode, despite some of their limitations in real life.
So, in general, make sure you sign some technically gifted defenders who are comfortable on the ball. People like Matthijs de Ligt, of course, coming through the Ajax Academy, are going to be very familiar with this style of play. Midfielders who have good stamina, work rate, and can also pass like Frenkie de Jong, another Ajax Academy graduate, are going to be super important as the 2 deeper players in your 4-3-3 formation.
Inverted wingers who can cut inside are also going to be very important. This is exactly what Johan Cruyff used to do when he was a player and not a manager. So, in your 4-3-3, you’re going to have a very possession-based fluid movement style of play.
When it comes to key instructions, I think a high defensive line is important, but so is pressing after possession loss. When it comes to player roles, have your defenders stepping up, make your midfielders be box-to-box, and make your wingers cut inside with an overlapping fullback.
If you can do all this, then I think the total football style of play can still live on inside FIFA Career Mode.
3. Tiki Taka
Of course, the total football style of play did actually live on beyond Johan Cruyff, being a player and becoming a manager, where it then evolved into something called Tiki Taka. This is the third tactic that I’m going to recommend you use, and it’s actually probably the easiest one to implement inside EA FC 24 Career Mode.
As long as you’ve got a 4-3-3 (False 9), you do a lot of possession quick passing style of play, then you’re pretty much set up. The tactic is all about doing this kind of intricate passing and keeping the ball but also making good chances.
Of course, Tiki Taka + is by far the best playstyle for this tactic, and if you can find a few players with the plus version, you can basically pass the ball around any AI team first time every single time. Gavi, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong all have either the plus version or the regular playstyle, so Barcelona are already set up to dominate if you decide to use them as your Tiki Taka side. What are you still hesitating about? Use your EA FC 24 Coins to buy these players now!
Outside of the midfield, False 9 is also very important. Lionel Messi was an important part of the team, but a goalkeeper that can rush out with a high defensive line is also super important. Victor Valdez has saved probably 5 to 10 goals a season by rushing out, whereas a goalkeeper like David De Gea might save more shots, he would probably cost more goals over the long term just because he wouldn’t really work in this style of play.
Attack-minded fullbacks are also very important to your wingers and midfielders all trying to get close to each other to pass the ball. Having width from people like Albert and Daniel Alves, this was a big deal for the Tiki Taka sides that Barcelona were putting out about a decade ago.
To get Tiki Taka put straight into your Career Mode, make sure you have short passing as your buildup style. Make sure you’re possession-based and have a really high defensive line. Make sure you have a playmaker dropping back in the False 9 position. You have a couple of ball-playing midfielders behind them, and you have your fullbacks getting forward whenever possible.
For tactics, make sure you’re just doing a lot of quick First Touch passes with FC 24 Players constantly moving, doing one-twos, and patient buildup. Don’t just rush the ball into the box. You can pass around the edge of the box because with Tiki Taka play, you’re not really going to be able to get pressed by the AI.
4. Counter-Pressing
Pressing, of course, is a massive deal in football at the minute, though, and especially since 2018, I think Liverpool has been one of the best examples of it.
With their 4-3-3 Gegenpress style of play, which emphasizes relentless pressing to win the ball back as quickly as possible, they make a lot of chances just by winning the ball as high up the pitch and transitioning into attack as fast as possible.
This tactic is all about having as many relentless midfielders as possible. Because if you have Relentless +, you can play constant pressure the entire match. The AI this year really does struggle with pressing. If you get all up in their faces, they’ll eventually pass the ball back to their defense, and eventually, they will just smash the ball as far as they can down the pitch. If you have 2 rapid center backs who are also really good in the air just like Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konaté, you’re going to win almost every single header, and you can then quickly transition with the fastest wingers that you can possibly find.
It’s also super easy to put in the game. If you have as many Relentless players as possible, you can go constant pressure. But if not, just do Pressure on Heavy Touch. So, if you have enough FUT 24 Coins, you don’t have to worry about this problem.
Make sure you’ve got some high work rate forwards on aggressive interception. Make sure you’ve got ball-winning midfielders also on aggressive interceptions. Also, make sure your fullbacks are getting forwards from the defense. Both Trent and Andrew Robertson and even James Milner were really good at getting forwards and getting as many crosses in, and this was actually a big part of Liverpool’s threat, but I think was pretty underrated.
5. Cruyff’s Diamond
Now, I think one of the most underrated teams when it comes to tactics is probably AC Milan from the late 1980s. They used the Diamond Formation, which is the 4-4-2 Diamond when it comes to FIFA, but this tactic really did encourage a lot of fluid attacking movements with players interchanging positions.
You can see that it’s Cruffed inspired because there were a lot of similarities when it comes to Total Football when it comes to this kind of Diamond Formation.
If you look back at some of the highlights of the AC Milan team from this era, you’ll see a lot of box-to-box midfielders that can both play attacking and defensively, such as Frank Rijkaard. You’ll find attacking midfielders with Flare and vision like Roberto Baggio that also put in a shift and are willing to defend. But you also find Marco van Basten, one of the best poachers of all time, with some of the best finishing and off the ball movement possible.
In my opinion, from what I’ve seen, Marco van Basten is a top 3 number 9 of all time. His finishing and his movement were so important to how this tactic played, and he was so good at doing both of them.
I think as long as you’re building up through the central diamond with quick transitions and overlapping fullbacks, then you’re pretty much getting the tactic spot on. You go with Balanced width and Free Roam for your central midfielders because there was a lot of creativity in there. You can see them popping up all over the pitch from the left to the right, dropping back into defense to win the ball, and then pushing forwards beyond the strikers. And that’s a big part of this almost Total Football Diamond that AC Milan played in the 1980s.
All in all, those are my 5 favorite tactics in EA FC 24. If you want to shine in different modes of FC 24, then you may wish to take a look at IGGM’s FC 24 Boosting services. The professional boosters here will tailor a powerful solution for you according to your requirements! Action is worse than excitement!
