Managers
The gaffer in the dugout
Once your XI is locked in, you draft a manager. Each one carries a single signature trait that gives your team an identity — here's what every trait is about.
Why your manager matters
A manager is more than a name on the touchline. Every gaffer you can draft brings one signature trait that colours how your team feels and when it’s at its most dangerous. The trait won’t rebuild your squad, but it gives your run a personality — and choosing one that fits your formation and your style is a quiet edge many players overlook.
Total Football
The purest expression of attacking football — width, movement and relentless forward intent. Managers in this mould want the ball high up the pitch and trust their side to overwhelm opponents with sheer ambition. It is football played as a statement.
In the game: Pep Guardiola, Jürgen Klopp, Arsène Wenger, Luis Enrique
Iron Curtain
Discipline, structure and a back line that simply refuses to break. These are the drill-sergeants of the dugout, obsessed with shape and organisation, and perfectly happy to make a match ugly if that is what the night demands.
In the game: José Mourinho, Diego Simeone, Antonio Conte, Fabio Capello
Cup Specialist
Some managers are just built for the big occasions. Cool under the floodlights and unflappable once the bracket begins, they seem to save their very best for the matches that matter most. The bigger the stage, the more at home they look.
In the game: Carlo Ancelotti, Zinédine Zidane, Ottmar Hitzfeld
Giant-Killer
The underdog's champion — a manager who relishes facing the favourites and fears no reputation. There is a defiance to their teams, an appetite for the upset and an unshakeable belief that the form book counts for nothing once the whistle blows.
In the game: Sir Alex Ferguson, Roberto Di Matteo, Vicente del Bosque
Ice Cold
Nerves of steel when a tie hangs by a thread. These managers stay calm while everyone around them loses their heads — exactly the personality you want in the dugout when a knockout is heading towards its most dramatic possible conclusion.
In the game: Rafael Benítez, Otto Rehhagel
Picking the right one
There’s no wrong choice, only different flavours of a run. An attack-minded gaffer suits a front-loaded shape and a bold plan; a defensive one rewards patience and a compact formation; the cup-night and underdog specialists come into their own deep in the knockouts. When the manager wheel stops, think about where your run is likely to be decided, then read the tipsfor how to build a squad that makes the most of the dugout you’ve been handed.