First play-through. Season 1 completed and what a joy it was. Much improved Match Engine that feels more fluid and realistic. My players make mistakes as well as the AI's but they look and feel legit and believable. Quite happy with the feel of the game so far.

Results-wise, the game was easier than I figured. Having taken control of Ajax for this first save, I expected to dominate domestically and struggle in Europe. Well, we didn't fucking struggle in Europe...

I wouldn't call it clear sailing all the way but I think it's fair to assess we have been punching well above our weight here. While Barcelona, Zebre (ugh...) and Man Utd aren't arguably the best sides in Europe right now, they're hardly pushovers and possess stronger squads.

But hey ho, we squashed them. We also squashed them convincingly. Dominated possession, out-shot, out-xG'd (is that even a word?) and outplayed them. Good fun. All in a strikerless fashion obviously. I mean, it's not like Ajax had an Ajax striker I needed to get rid of.

A quick overview of my star performers would indicate that the effectiveness and interaction of attacking midfielders has improved. In a strikerless setup, naturally.

The tactic is well... probably something that wouldn't make sense at first glance but it does when you delve deeper.

Oh and for those who want to use it, go nuts. The instructions and everything are clearly visible on the screenshot. A downloadlink and article will follow.

Implied Zero (thanks @FMwkdsoul for the inspiration for that one).

Red squares upfront on the sides but I actually don't really care about those positions on the pitch. You can't score there and crosses from that far wide are generally ineffective.

The rest of the tactic makes sense in my demented mind and if you spare me a few tweets of your time (that's not an expression, is it?) I will elaborate. But first, let me show you what this bad boy can do.

I very much enjoy players making shadow runs or luring players out of positions. Through-balls are a delight to see.

And this brings back memories of my first forays into strikerless. Methodically dismantling teams through positional play. Somehow I wasn't quite able to get this magic going in FM20. FM21 seems better in that regard.

@TheFev @r4vjez @DeRaamFM @Kavinos @arcinho @tweakjur

Any Ajax fan I know would be salivating at such an attack in real life. Brings back memories of Frenkie and De Ligt and the nearly-final, doesn't it?

Anyway, the brief explanation of why I did the stuff I did. Withdrawn Targetmen are still not part of the game so the best I could do in that regard is an AP and no other playmakers in the team. The ball will automatically be played towards the AP more. Not pretty but effective.

Essentially a workaround solution, though I suppose using an Enganche in the past was the same solution to the same problem, just with a different name.

Anyway. It works. Lovely interaction with the SS and IW's.

Central midfield. Or the lack of one. The BWM roams. A lot. No steady presence. Fortunately, with the IWB's tucking inside, there's always a sturdy two or three-man block there, even if the BWM is drawn out of position.

The IWB's and IW's do not get in each others way. They do not cut inside at the same time. If one cuts inside, the other generally stays wide. So while it can get congested down the centre, you always have wide outlets.

That's probably it, for now, feel free to fire any questions my way and I'll answer those when I get to it.