How 'Football Manager' Created Will Still Managerial Style

Aged just 31 years old , Will Still is the archetypal new breed of football manager. A serial tactician and clear communicator, Still has belied his age and made an instant impression in France’s Ligue 1 as the head of Stade de Reims . As early as 2017, Still was handed the reins as caretaker manager of Belgian outfit Lierse . He impressed to such an extent that he was given the full-time role, but he had to give it up because he did not have a UEFA coaching licence. Nevertheless, Still attributes football management experience of another kind to his meteoric rise to stardom. He still believes that his many years of playing the PC game Football Manager gave him a surprisingly good grounding in real-life football management. Other real-life managers, including former Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær , have also praised the realism of the Sports Interactive-developed game. What has got the football world talking about Will Still’s management style? There is a reason why Vincent Kompany was keen to have Still on his coaching staff in his previous managerial role at Anderlecht . They shared a footballing philosophy and Kompany’s promotion-winning Burnley and Still’s overachieving Stade de Reims play a similar brand right now, showing the way for the next wave of young managers coming through. Perhaps the high press is the most important facet of Still’s approach to the game. Reims are one of the most intense teams to play against in Ligue 1 right now, with Still’s demands requiring supreme fitness to keep the game in their opponents’ half for 90 minutes. Ultimately, it’s all about pulling defences apart and creating wide overloads. The relationship between winger and fullback needs to be on point, but Reims has shown explosiveness on numerous occasions to expose fullbacks and get in behind teams. Where Still’s approach differs somewhat from Kompany’s style of play is possession. It’s rare to see Reims dominate the ball for 90 minutes; instead, they prefer to show ingenuity on the counterattack. They’re not afraid to mix it up either, with a nice balance between tiki-taka and direct passes to keep the opposition guessing . They also have a variety of corner routines, which they continue to exploit well. In terms of formations, Still has maintained a pretty consistent 4-2-3-1 for his Reims team. When they do look to play progressively through the thirds, this becomes a 4-1-2-3, as the inside forwards move forward to support the lone striker, and the single anchor has two options in advance of him with two mezzala-style midfielders who look to attack the spaces left by the inside forwards. Still is one of many young managers is carving a new ethos for athletic and bold front-foot football. All of this has been achieved without a UEFA Pro License. God bless Football Manager.

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