FM24 VfB Stuttgart pt. II | Modelling Unai.
In case you missed the first part where I introduce the series, it’s handily linked here.
One of my favourite managers to watch in recent years, since his departure from Arsenal and subsequent arrival at Aston Villa has been Unai Emery. The Spaniard has been a familiar face on the continent for a long time, but after his ill-fated spell in North London he faced a rehab job when he took on Villa in 2022.
After just 12 months he has transformed Aston Villa from a side facing relegation to having qualified for the EUFA Conference League. This comes from Emery winning a higher percentage of games at Villa than he has at any other club — to the extent that since his arrival his points per game (1.975) is bested only by Klopp, Arteta and Guardiola — true managerial elites.
Emery’s tactic at Aston Villa.
Fundamentals.
The basic setup of Unai Emery’s system is that of a narrow 4-4-2, with his wingers enacting the role of ‘dual 10s’ more than out-and-out wingers. Not only does this allow the wingers to exploit half spaces it enables the supporting wing-backs to craft overloads along the oppositions flanks.
The diagrams above show how Villa transition throughout build up, as they use a dropping midfielder in Luiz to give the goalkeeper three passing options — allowing progression into midfield and attack as pointed in the left diagram.
In the right diagram you can clearly see how Villa aim to set up when enjoying the privilege of sustained possession. Similar to those previously mentioned in Arteta and Guardiola, Emery sets Villa up in a 3–2–5. This gives many options to recycle the ball amongst the backline and defensive midfield, whilst the fullbacks push high alongside one of the wide midfielders (the other dropping into defensive midfield) to give a breadth of attacking options.
In the attacking third.
You can see that outside of the fullbacks (Cash and Digne) all of the five central players are extremely narrow in attack. This allows for short passing combinations through the middle of the pitch, allowing Villa’s adept passers and runners to break defensive lines.
In the case that a defence does prevent this breakthrough, the wide fullbacks are ready to run rampant on the space left behind my the compacted defence. This would then allow late runners in McGinn or Luis, depending on what side the fullback is released, to present a fresh box-threat — exposing a defence with a clear route to a shot on goal.
I would highly recommend checking out Football Bunseki’s article on ‘Aston Villa Tactical Analysis 23–24', it’s a great explanation on Unai Emery’s system at Villa.
Translating to Football Manager.
Playing style.
Whilst the exact shape that Emery’s system will form will differ based on players available and the opposition they face, his style of play will remain consistent and in Football Manager this is defined by team instructions.
In possession — fairly narrow width, play out of defence, play through the middle, shorter passing and slightly higher tempo.
Quite self explanatory, and evident from the third diagram of Emery’s system, we want to play from the back three into a congested middle of the park, with short combination play in order to breakthrough the opposing defence.
In transition — take short kicks, distribute to centre-backs, counter, counter-press.
It’s nothing revolutionary, but it’s solid — in order to play out of our defence we need to give the ball to our centre-backs.
Out of possession — mid block, press more often, get stuck in.
The shape in defence, a deep 4–4–2, is standard for the Emery system, but due to the personnel available I have had to deviate slightly from the set roles Emery uses at Aston Villa to achieve his 3–2–5 in possession.
Whereas at Villa Park Boubacar Kamara is deployed as a ‘half back’, joining the back three when Villa have the ball, none of our players are capable of performing this, nor do I like how this plays in the FM24 match engine. I’ll instead be using the role of the ‘inverted full back’ to create a back three.
Since my left-back will not be part of the attacking movement, I have to change the left wingers role from a narrow one to a wide attacking position, replacing the width that Digne would create at Villa.
The double pivot is made of two midfielders who will stay central, minimising movement in a key central position and in theory, minimising our risk of being caught out of position.
In attack, the ‘inverted winger’ should create a central overload alongside the two strikers, whilst our right-back is playing the ‘wing-back’ role on attack, tasked with taking the wide game to the opponents backline.
Obviously, this tactic may change over time but for the moment it sticks. In the next part we’ll go over our first season, the new staff — as I may have given everyone the sack, and any tactical adaptations made in the first year.
