Your FM tactic,
on a real board.
Lay your Football Manager tactic out on the position grid you already know from the game, give every player his role, and add the shape you defend in. The Studio builds it into an animated tactics board you can edit, send as a link and export as a video.
Free to start. Works with every edition of the game, because it reads nothing from it.
With the ball4-2-3-1
How it works
Three steps, about a minute, and it is a board.
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01
Pick your shape
Start from 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, 4-4-2, 4-1-4-1 or one of 5 more, then tap a player and an empty square to move him. The shape's name updates as you go.
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02
Give every player a role
Pick from the usual roles for his position, like mezzala, inverted full-back or false nine, or type your own. Roles go into the board’s notes, one line per player.
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03
Add how you defend
Add a second shape for when you do not have the ball. The board gets a phase for each, and Play moves every player from one to the other.
Find it on My boards: Import, then From Football Manager.
Two shapes, one team
With the ball and without it.
A modern tactic is two shapes. Build the one you attack in, then the one you defend in, with the same eleven players. The board gets a phase for each, and Play walks every man from one to the other, so you see the movement and not just two pictures.
Pick a start point for the second shape and the builder moves each player the shortest sensible way into it. Wide men stay wide, so your full-backs stay full-backs and your wingers drop into midfield rather than swapping jobs with somebody.
A 4-2-3-1 with the ball, and 4-4-2 picked as the start point without it. Who the builder moves:
- DM DMCL → MCL
- DM DMCR → MCR
- LW AML → ML
- AM AMC → STCL
- RW AMR → MR
- ST STC → STCR
Everyone else holds his position. Move anyone else with two taps, then build the board.
The grid, translated
Every FM position, and what it becomes on the board.
The twenty-four squares of the grid, back to front, with the label each counter gets and the roles offered for it. The counters use the names coaches use on a training ground.
| FM position | On the board | Roles to pick from |
|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | ||
| GK | GK | Goalkeeper, Sweeper keeper |
| Defence | ||
| DL | LB | Full-back, Inverted full-back, Wing-back, No-nonsense full-back |
| DCL | CB | Centre-back, Ball-playing defender, Stopper, Cover, Wide centre-back, Libero |
| DC | CB | Centre-back, Ball-playing defender, Stopper, Cover, Wide centre-back, Libero |
| DCR | CB | Centre-back, Ball-playing defender, Stopper, Cover, Wide centre-back, Libero |
| DR | RB | Full-back, Inverted full-back, Wing-back, No-nonsense full-back |
| Defensive midfield and wing-backs | ||
| WBL | LWB | Wing-back, Complete wing-back, Inverted wing-back |
| DMCL | DM | Holding midfielder, Anchor, Deep-lying playmaker, Regista, Ball-winning midfielder, Half-back, Segundo volante |
| DMC | DM | Holding midfielder, Anchor, Deep-lying playmaker, Regista, Ball-winning midfielder, Half-back, Segundo volante |
| DMCR | DM | Holding midfielder, Anchor, Deep-lying playmaker, Regista, Ball-winning midfielder, Half-back, Segundo volante |
| WBR | RWB | Wing-back, Complete wing-back, Inverted wing-back |
| Midfield | ||
| ML | LM | Wide midfielder, Winger, Wide playmaker, Defensive winger, Inverted winger |
| MCL | CM | Central midfielder, Box-to-box, Mezzala, Carrilero, Advanced playmaker, Deep-lying playmaker, Ball-winning midfielder, Roaming playmaker |
| MC | CM | Central midfielder, Box-to-box, Mezzala, Carrilero, Advanced playmaker, Deep-lying playmaker, Ball-winning midfielder, Roaming playmaker |
| MCR | CM | Central midfielder, Box-to-box, Mezzala, Carrilero, Advanced playmaker, Deep-lying playmaker, Ball-winning midfielder, Roaming playmaker |
| MR | RM | Wide midfielder, Winger, Wide playmaker, Defensive winger, Inverted winger |
| Attacking midfield and wide forwards | ||
| AML | LW | Winger, Inside forward, Inverted winger, Wide playmaker, Raumdeuter |
| AMCL | AM | Attacking midfielder, Advanced playmaker, Shadow striker, Trequartista, Enganche |
| AMC | AM | Attacking midfielder, Advanced playmaker, Shadow striker, Trequartista, Enganche |
| AMCR | AM | Attacking midfielder, Advanced playmaker, Shadow striker, Trequartista, Enganche |
| AMR | RW | Winger, Inside forward, Inverted winger, Wide playmaker, Raumdeuter |
| Strikers | ||
| STCL | ST | Striker, Advanced forward, Poacher, Target forward, Pressing forward, Deep-lying forward, False nine, Complete forward |
| STC | ST | Striker, Advanced forward, Poacher, Target forward, Pressing forward, Deep-lying forward, False nine, Complete forward |
| STCR | ST | Striker, Advanced forward, Poacher, Target forward, Pressing forward, Deep-lying forward, False nine, Complete forward |
Then it is a board like any other
Take it further than the game can.
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Animate it
Pose the next phase and press Play. The movement between the two is worked out for you.
Read how → -
Send it as a link
Seven characters that open on any phone, with no app and no account.
Read how → -
Export it
A video for a story or a group chat, a picture of every phase, or a PDF to print.
Read how → -
Talk them through it
Record your voice over the board as you step through it, and send one link.
Read how →
Not just Football Manager
Bring every board with you.
The same Import window opens files, backups and links. Every board comes in as a new board of yours, and nothing you already have is changed.
Coming from another tactics app? Those keep their work in formats only they can open, so there is no file to bring across. Rebuild the shape here on the grid in a minute, or start from one of our formations.
Read the guide-
An editable file
Download any board as a .tfs file, from My boards or from Export. Send it to another coach or keep it. Import opens it as a new board of theirs, fully editable.
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A link someone sent
If they left Let them save a copy on, press Save a copy on their link and the board is yours to edit, signed as yours. Theirs does not change.
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Everything at once
Back up every board you own as one .zip, a folder for each of your folders. Import it on any account to bring them all back. On every plan, including the free one.
Questions
About import.
Football Manager tactics, files, links someone sent you, and backing everything up.
All questions → Can I turn my Football Manager tactic into a tactics board?
Yes. Import on My boards has From Football Manager: lay the tactic out on the same position grid as the game, give each player a role, and add the shape you defend in if you want one. You get a board with a phase for each shape that moves every player from one to the other, ready to edit, share and export. Nothing is read from the game or its files, and Total Football Studio is not affiliated with Sports Interactive or SEGA.
Can I save a board as a file, and import it again?
Yes. Download file on My boards, or Export then Editable file in the studio, saves a board as a .tfs file. Import on My boards opens .tfs files, a backup .zip, or a link somebody shared with you, and adds each one as a new board of yours; nothing you already have is changed. Player photos, your club, your crest and your signature never go into a file, so the coach who opens it signs it as theirs.
Can somebody save a copy of a board I send them?
Only if you let them. When you share a board, the switch Let them save a copy is on unless you turn it off. With it on, anyone who opens the link can press Save a copy and get their own editable board in their studio, signed as theirs, while your board and your link stay exactly as they are. With it off, they can watch and print it, but not keep a copy. Links you sent before this switch existed stay watch-only until you open Share on that board again.
Can I back up all my boards?
Yes, on every plan. Import on My boards has Back up everything, which downloads every board you own as one .zip of .tfs files, with a folder for each of your folders. Import that zip on any account to bring them all back. Boards you restore count towards your plan’s board limit like any other.
Can I import boards from another tactics app?
Not as files. Other tactics boards save their work in formats only they can open, so there is nothing a different app can read. Rebuilding is quick: pick a formation and pose each phase, or lay a shape out on the Football Manager grid in Import. Boards made in Total Football Studio move freely between accounts as .tfs files.
Football Manager is a trademark of Sports Interactive. Total Football Studio is not affiliated with Sports Interactive or SEGA, and reads nothing from the game or its files.
