Ukrainian-Canadian footy fan and tactics enthusiast, FM fanatic, writer
@dictatethegame
.com and SI Byline. Fulltime nurse (for real and not just nursing my ego)
My latest article
@DictateTheGame
is out! It doubles as my
#FM24
save reveal and a loveletter to my favourite FM club of all time. Because I'm a one-club man 😁 Check it out here, shares are welcome:
#WeAreTheCommunity
@LWarnstedt
@KyivIndependent
Most of those trolls don't understand what Ukrainians are going through. Or our historical experience for the last 30 years. Or last 500 years for that matter. It was momentous occasion for us to get our sovereignty in 1991. To compromise in any way on it is simply unacceptable
@IgorKossov
@lapatina_
This reminds me of stories I heard in Prague years ago. In 1945 its Russian "liberators" ripped toilets out of floor to take back home as loot. Thought they would work without pipes. Many Russians back then lived without any idea of indoor plumbing. Guess this hasn't changed much
@TorontoStar
So she illegally entered Canada and expected to get health care that the rest of us pay our taxes for? I'm sorry but why didn't she immigrate like myself and the rest of my family to have the right to said healthcare?
First tactic in
#FM24
Couldn't resist a fresh Braga save again. "Arsenalistas" squad appear even better in this FM version than last year's. I also couldn't resist improving it even more with some Mexican magic for only 500 000 euros 😃 Alvaro Fidalgo 💎💪
#WeAreTheCommunity
@IAPonomarenko
Woohoo!! That's almost 10 million US worth of military hardware! More than two modern Russian tanks. Simply abandoned. Putin might need to take out a bank loan to pay for his little "special operation".
Since FM14, my central trio went through countless role variations. But in all my tactics, one basic concept stayed the same. The three roles need to complement each other. Namely, you need one aggressive runner, one hardworking dynamo & one intelligent playmaker to dictate plays
#BattleofKyiv
We'll fight them in the streets, in apartment blocks, in backyards and shopping malls. With guns, bombs and bare hands. No surrender! No prisoners! Make
@Russia
remember Afghanistan. Chechnya. Georgia. Ukraine fights alone for ALL democracies. Watch and remember.
This is for those of you who are bored with their
#FM23
saves. There's a very good reason to stick with a club long-term. Mind you, Braga is known for its wonderkid factory. Still, 2 consecutive golden gens is really turning this save around for me!
#WeAreTheCommunity
@Kotsovasilias
@JonMaloy
@MMQWalker
One thing you clearly don't understand is that if Ukraine was accepted into NATO 15 years ago then we would have never had this war. Do you see Russia attacking a NATO member state any time soon? Don't think so. And your precious Madame Merkel blocked Ukraine's entrance into NATO
@hilde45
@davidfrum
Protecting liberty, humanity, democracy and just plain justice has no price. It's a matter of standing up to a principle. That's what we taxpayers in democratic states pay for. Do you want a tyrant to get his way and set a precedent for other simple-minded dictators to get ideas?
Reasons I like Sparta Praha as my club in
#FM23
Maybe ONE club save. It ✅some things I look for in a save. ✅Established academy ✅Squad suited to my tactic ✅Build up a nation potential ✅Professional B Team ✅Elite team that hasn't won a title in almost 10 years. Recipe for 🧨
The idea for my
#FM23
save starts to coalesce! Move from my long-running Total Football Journeyman series
@DictateTheGame
. A journey down the Danube. Where would Total Football be without Danubian and Hungarian schools of football? What if Empire never fell?
#WeAreTheCommunity
@karachiwala97
@michaelh992
No. What Russia is doing is a war crime. Ukrainians are simply defending their homes. Civilians choosing voluntarily to help their brave army cause NATO is too afraid to stand up to a bully and fight alongside them. F%ck alliances, this an existential assault on a democracy!
Another day theorizing about tactics to try in
#FM23
. Inspired by both Danubian School's Wunderteam and later Pozzo's Metodo 2-3-2-3 (natural follow up to Wunderteam). And somehow drawing a parallel with table football 😆Typical day waiting impatiently for Beta
#WeAreTheCommunity
I'm back! I had my guide published over
@FootballManager
site today. It's a little followup to my last Byline guide about the perfect False Nine. This one is about the myriad of tactical choices that can get the best of your Poacher star
#WeAreTheCommunity
Last night in
#FM23
my CM scored a hattrick from his withdrawn position. Last season he was my team's top scorer (and in the top5 for LaLiga). What tactical magic you might ask? Nothing special. Just time-tested TotalFootball concepts. The magic of good 433.
#WeAreTheCommunity
13 Reasons Why I Love My
#FM23
Save - Tactical Gymnastics. Lack of Natural Wingers? No Problem! Just hire a bunch of Brazilian players and coaches and let the Jogo Bonito goal-galore begin🎉And did I mention we still have 2 months of football left 🤔
#WeAreTheCommunity
@bwato122
Lol that's not a "little push". In Canada, in ice hockey we call that a hell of body check. But you would probably get thrown out of the game and fined for it. Hitting someone who doesn't expect it is not cool. No matter which sport.
Putting finishing touches on my next article this weekend😅Total Football Journeyman is back! Releasing this coming Monday Feb 22
@DictateTheGame
, "From Mighty Magyars to Flying Dutchmen" - a closer look at controlling the match through the half-spaces.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM21
442 Narrow Diamond - there are few advantages to using this tactic. Especially having 1) two good strikers, 2) tall CBs and 3) one creative
#10
. In 2026 Croatian National Team has all 3. 1st time I have been offered a national job in
#FM23
😃Challenge accepted!
#WeAreTheCommunity
@Dad_To_A_Girl
@WarMonitor3
Probably a bit of both. And also because Russians like to use 18-20 year olds as cannonfodder with barely 2 weeks basic training. While Ukrainian force is made up of veterans trained for years by NATO specialists with 1st grade Western weapons. And our lads have night vision 😉
Almost finished✍️follow up to my last article. Coming
@DictateTheGame
next Friday Nov 12. Revealing more of
#FM22
3-4-3 Diamond recreation. Will cover the formation's Mentality Ladder and its impact on build-up from the back, progressive possession and one-twos
#WeAreTheCommunity
Which classic real world tactic do you expect to do very well in
#FM23
? I put my money on Scolari's Pragmatic Football from 2002 World Cup. 20 years ago, Big Phil's Seleçao managed to combine a freeroaming attack trident & a surprisingly solid 3-in-back defence
#WeAreTheCommunity
Presently✍️Part2 of FM Primer
@DictateTheGame
A return to my favourite topic. You guessed it! Always a Total Footballer at heart, no matter which FM. Same with
#FM22
where I'll again celebrate the legacy of Cruyff's Dream Team and discuss the new Wide CB role
#WeAreTheCommunity
My 1st article on
#FM23
is coming today
@DictateTheGame
My love letter to the Belgian League, which is now fully licensed in FM😃 Those of you already managing in Belgium, what team you went with? And if you haven't done so then maybe my✍️will change your mind
#WeAreTheCommunity
Ahh.. the feeling of utter joy of sitting down to tinker around the very 1st tactic in my 1st save in
#FM23Beta
with Sparta Praha. October. The best time of the year. New FM, new squad, new possibilities. Must I add that I barely got through the preseason yet😄
#WeAreTheCommunity
My
#FM22
article plans for the next month
@DictateTheGame
BETA Period, October - The Invention of 3-4-3 Diamond and Wide Centre-back - Draft Completed!
FULL Release - Total Football Mentality Ladder - Guide to Team and Individual Player Mentalities in FM22
#WeAreTheCommunity
From Libero to False 9 - FM22 Tactical Experiment.
Making final editing touches 😀. Another Total Football Journeyman guide coming
@DictateTheGame
very soon.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM22
@dustave
@UAWeapons
Didn't try. They fired purposefully to annihilate the cowards. After the APC was disabled. The invader cannot hide from Ukrainian justice. We fight like lions
@TorontoStar
I'm sorry but when you jump on a train without buying a ticket, then you cannot get a refund because the train does not take you to where you wanted to go. Break law at your own peril.
I'm excited that for the 1st time since April 14, I started✍️another FM tactical guide over on SI forum. This time, it's meant to transition from my
#FM23
save to
#FM24Beta
save. The tactic? 433 of course.
#WeAreTheCommunity
Follow it here :
Wanted to apologize to my readers for missing my article deadline last week. To make up, I've been ✍️overtime to present my Cruyff's 343💎 recreation in full on Mon, Nov22
@DictateTheGame
I'll also drop a hint of my next "Project". Its a blast from the past 😉
#WeAreTheCommunity
@Davemaster84
@IAPonomarenko
One of my favourite folk songs that Ukraine and Poland share. Here is the Ukrainian version of "Hej Sokoly!" Our brave cossack warriors shall prevail! Slava Ukraini!
My NEWEST Total Football Journeyman Article
@DictateTheGame
The beginnings of Total Football. I examine Ernst Happel's 433 and its influence on Dutch football. Also, a recreation of the most basic Total Football style in
#FM22
#WeAreTheCommunity
@TTuristi
@IAPonomarenko
It's a whole battlegroup. So in the thousands. If Ukrainians successfully complete the encirclement & cut off supplies then it could be the biggest cauldron encirclement for Russian army since 1941. Allegedly the encircled Russians are already suffering from frostbite and hunger.
It is finished! The next Total Football Journeyman is coming next Monday, Jan 10th
@DictateTheGame
. Check it out if you are at all interested in the forgotten story of Ernst Happel and the birth of Total Football.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM22
Working on NEXT part in my "One-Club Man"
#FM24
series. I'll closely examine my squad's "DNA" to see how it fits my Possession football ideal. Closer look at my Real Sociedad's tactics evolution to where they are after one season. Some setbacks & some successes
#WeAreTheCommunity
While still a few weeks from the printing press, the next ✍️is coming together nicely! Another manager, another story in Total Football Journeyman saga
@DictateTheGame
This time I'm excited to take a look at the Future of Totaalvoetbal. Total Football 2.0
#FM22
#WeAreTheCommunity
After long break, I finally got back into
#FM22
& ✍️. So if all goes well, will have something for you guys sometime next week. Expect more Total Football ramblings. Possibly inspired by a bald man equally obsessed with Total Football. And no, not Pep this time
#WeAreTheCommunity
Two
#FM23
saves, two very different 433 systems. Tactic needs to fit your team, not the other way around or you end up with a less-than-effective tactic that's forcing role behavior upon your players for which they aren't suited. In short, build your own 433 around your squad.
TOMORROW
@DictateTheGame
I will be debuting 1st article in new step-by-step tactic creation guide about ZONA MISTA: Lost Dark Art of "disruptive" counter-attacking football.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM21
Thursday
@DictateTheGame
I'll debut my flagship series for
#FM22
. BETA isn't out, so it's purely theoretical piece that'll hopefully set the tactical context for what I want to achieve in FM22. In fact it's a universal guide to recent FMs(since FM14 at least)
#WeAreTheCommunity
@StillDelvingH
@TimothyDSnyder
In Putin's "soviet" mindset "nazy" is closer to word "nationalist". It was a bad word during Soviet Union time as it labelled anyone who believed in a state or ethnicity other than Soviet. Basically if you said you were Ukrainian or Armenian, ect you were imprisoned and "purged"
@Gerashchenko_en
Any negotiation with Russia that involves ceding of territory is unthinkable. Shouldn't even be contemplated. If we allow Mad Dog Putin to think that he can "win" by keeping the land bathed in the blood of my people will set an unacceptable precedence that acts of terrorism work
My NEXT Article in Total Football Journeyman series is
Sir Alex's Strikerless Masterclass.
In trying to emulate Guardiola what can I learn from Ferguson?
Coming
@DictateTheGame
on Monday
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM20
Happy Holidays guys! I for one am happy to have more free time to✍️my next Total Football article
@DictateTheGame
. Expect this one to be a doozie. Going back to basics of Totaalvoetbal. Inspired by the "weird Austrian" who conquered Europe. Coming early in 2022
#WeAreTheCommunity
Little preview of what to expect from my next "One-Club Man" blog
@DictateTheGame
A mid-block, low intensity, defence-focused, minimalist tactic in
#FM24
? And doing rather well 😮For those tired of seeing constant Gegenpress META tactics
#WeAreTheCommunity
So I am working on a new installment in my long-running series Total Football Journeyman. I won't put it out until after 3rd part of Zona Mista guide. But in meantime thought I would do a quick index of all my Total Football articles
@DictateTheGame
, since FM19
#WeAreTheCommunity
Part 2 of
#FM21
Overloads Guide coming tomorrow
@DictateTheGame
The full tactic is included this time for your analysis. I will also discuss the importance of mentality in possession tactic creation. You can check out Part1 here:
#WeAreTheCommunity
1. With all the news of
#FM23
coming, wanted to give you guys a little update on what I have been✍️. Working on something special for this Fall. It started as
#FM22
article but gradually grew into a meta-guide to all recent FMs.
@orchidmx
@lapatina_
Negotiate how exactly? By giving him Mariupol and Kherson and adding even more to the Ukrainian land that he already illegally claimed? Negotiating with terrorists never works. It's a fact
@karachiwala97
@michaelh992
More than the fate of Ukraine is at stake. On principle the West has to make Putin pay. Only language he understands is that of force. If NATO doesn't fight him now then they'll fight him in 2 years in Estonia. Or Latvia. Don't let Ukraine become a martyr in footnote of history!
On Monday, I continue to chronicle how I set up my ideal 4-3-3. I examine the back four roles, their attributes and traits. Also I take a look at how someone like Quincy Promes can bring your Total Football tactic to next level. Tomorrow
@DictateTheGame
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM20
Tomorrow
@DictateTheGame
I'm releasing Total Football Journeyman: Le Carré Magique. This time examining how to create possession with intent using a narrow formation a la France 1984.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM21
Here is a little article that I wrote for the byline. In case you were wondering how to build a simple 4-2-3-1 tactic around a few key players.
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM21
13 Reasons Why I Love My
#FM23
Save
Golden Generation in 1st Season - when a club is good at developing its own talent, it's REALLY good. And Braga is one of the best. When it rains it pours 😁
#WeAreTheCommunity
While awaiting
#FM21
I did a teaser article on inspirations and plans for my FM21 Series Non-League Legends. Continuing same mix of history and tactics but with focus on Sleeping Giants, obscure, forgotten football & simple tactics. On Friday
@DictateTheGame
#WeAreTheCommunity
Snippet from my next article, bridging gap between
#FM21
&
#FM22
"It's been my long-time intention to write an utimate guide, transferable from one version of FM to another. The idea was born during FM19 days when I first started writing for
@DictateTheGame
"
#WeAreTheCommunity
After a long pause, I am working on something special for you guys. My Swansong
#FM21
guide
@DictateTheGame
I'm hoping that it'll transfer nicely to eventual FM22. Specially the theoretical bits. Inspired by one of my favourite saves from FM14 & Antonio Conte
#WeAreTheCommunity
Another pro of 433 is its three attackers in front of the midfield. The 3-Men midfield, allows the attacking trident to run wild. Even if two aren't strikers, it's still an advantage over a442. Making 433 a great tactic to counter those pesky parked buses.
When you are playing as Benfica and just won Europa League... 😅 Sure going to be a tough summer trying to keep hold of all that "wanted" talent
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM20
This upcoming Wednesday I'm doing a follow-up to my last piece
@DictateTheGame
about 451 formation. This time it will be about creating perfect role partnerships in
#FM21
For this I will examine some classic teams and players from early 2000s
#WeAreTheCommunity
@mattcarin41
@IAPonomarenko
It doesn't matter. They are defending their homes, children and land. It's easy for Western woke philosophers to lecture and moralize from behind their high horse. But these people are actually giving their blood for the so-called Western values. More than I could say for NATO
Part 2 of my Running with the Wolves AS Roma Series.
Taking possession to a whole new level with 2-7-2 formation, and summer transfers
#WeAreTheCommunity
#TheItalianJobFM
My latest entry in Total Football Journeyman series is coming today
@DictateTheGame
Read it if you are interested in recreating tactics of the Magician himself, Arrigo Sacchi and harnessing the power of versatile players in
#FM21
#WeAreTheCommunity
My new article coming Monday
@DictateTheGame
Young Devils 👹 and Total Football collide. I will go into more detail on how I use Club DNA to redefine
@ManUtd
in
#FM20
and make them play Bielsa-ball.
#WeAreTheCommunity
Panache, Power and Playmaking - Crafting The Perfect Attacking Trident.
My NEW Article and direct follow-up to the last Effective Partnerships piece is coming today
@DictateTheGame
#FM21
#WeAreTheCommunity
My 1st great newgen, Lorenzo "Il Magnifico" Antonelli! 4 goals in 1 game! And 7 in 6 games so far. 1st perfect 10 rating in FM22. Product of my 1st intake at Torino. Hoping he'll be 1st piece in resurrecting Grande Torino. What are your fave newgens in
#FM22
?
#WeAreTheCommunity
@IAPonomarenko
So what happened to those Russian Spetznaz super soldiers who were holed up in the center of town? Are they having lunch with Stalin and Lenin right now?
Part 1 of my
#FM24
series is releasing
@DictateTheGame
today. My first blog since going on writing hiatus in April. Hope you guys like it, it's a bit of a passion project, long in the making.
#WeAreTheCommunity
I was able to finish my Total Football Journeyman article early, so I will be releasing it Today
@DictateTheGame
Check it out if you are interested in breaking down parked bus defences by Total Football. I will present my final 343 tactic, with a twist
#WeAreTheCommunity
#FM20
Total Football Journeyman: Basque Christmas - NEW article
@DictateTheGame
where I reveal my favourite FM save of all time. I also share my Christmas Tree 🎄3-4-3 Diamond
#FM22
recreation. Tactic download included!
#WeAreTheCommunity
Who said that Total Football was not possible in
#FM23
? Was bored so decided to try out a crazy dream tactic with my Total Football dream team. This was the result. Who needs defending when you packed the midfield and have 80% possession?
#WeAreTheCommunity
To me a well-balanced 433 is like FM comfort food. I tend to come back to this simple to set up yet hard-to-master formation in every iteration of the game, going back to FM14. Stand out feature of any 433 is that it allows for very effective midfield control with its three CMs
Speaking of Spalletti's Roma for those not familiar with that historic experiment. In 2006, it happened purely by chance when Roma manager ran out of options for his central striker spot. So he tried something different. Thus 4-6-0 and modern False9 was born
#WeAreTheCommunity
As an aside from Total Football Journeyman series (no worries still ✍️ my Future of Totaalvoetbal piece) I'll release a little passion piece that was in works since FM21. Coming on Monday
@DictateTheGame
my tribute to Special One and Pragmatic Football on
#FM22
#WeAreTheCommunity
When my article, comes out today, some of you may notice the series title reverting to "Total Football Journeyman". It's to differentiate it from upcoming parallel series that I'm writing alongside my Total⚽️stuff. It's a return of an older passion "project"😉
#WeAreTheCommunity