Football Manager 2019: 10 New Features To Be Excited About

If you're the kind of football supporter who thinks that tactics are low-calorie mints, Football Manager isn't for you. Strategy and footballing philosophy are the lifeblood of FM, and in this year's instalment, Sports Interactive has ensured that's truer than ever.

In FM19, SI has beefed up the array of tactical options at your fingertips. For starters, you'll find that some of the most famous playing styles from the real-life game, such as Gegenpress and Tiki-taka, have made their long-awaited series debut.

Managers can now set instructions for three phases of play - when your team has the ball, when they're transitioning between attack and defence, and when they don't have possession. This means there are dozens of new orders to get to grips with. Counter-press, for example, encourages your side to launch an aggressive bid to reclaim possession, while Re-group will safeguard you against counter-attacks.

Remember the old system comprising Contain, Counter, Control and Overload? Well, it is no more, and has been replaced by Very Defensive, Cautious, Positive and Very Attacking, which gives players a much clearer idea of what each style entails. If counters are your thing, you can still set that in the Transition instructions.

Throw new player roles, new goalkeeper distribution options and a broader range of pre-match briefing instructions into the mix, and Football Manager 2019 is shaping up to be the most-strategically rich instalment to date.