Until recently, Bayern Munich replicated the success that Pep Guardiola achieve with FC Barcelona, which led them to become the leading team in the German Bundesliga and one of Europe’s powerhouses.
Thanks to the incredible results achieved over the years, Bayern Munich won the hearts of many footballing fans not only in Germany but from all over Europe and the world. Today, many want to replicate their success and style of play in FIFA 22.
So, in this comprehensive Bayern Munich tactics guide, I will show you everything from the right formation to use to the individual player instructions you want to set for every player from your starting XI.
Squad Formation
Over the most dominant years of Bayern Munich, the club, which was predominantly managed by Pep Guardiola played under some of the best formations to dominate opponents in FIFA 22. Their formations ranged from 4-3-3, 3-1-2-1-3, 4-2-3-1, and more.
During the most successful years of the club, Bayern Munich played beautiful and attacking football under the 4-3-3 Attack formation, which is what we’re going to be sticking with today.
This tactic is similar to the 4-3-3 Defend, with the only exception that the midfield players are pushed further up the field.
Custom Bayern Munich Tactics
To replicate Bayern Munich’s success in FIFA 22, we need to break down their efforts into two categories – offense and defense.
Defense
One would think that with Neuer in net, no ball is going past, and while that was proven to be somewhat true over the years, to have that many clean sheets, Neuer receives a tremendous amount of support from all players starting from Lewandowski.
When defending, the entire German side squeezes together and moves as one – similarly to the Barcelona Tiki-Taka tactic, which allows the club to press high without leaving many gaps for counterattacks.
To replicate this playstyle into your own team, set your defense style to “Press After Possession Loss”. As for the width and the depth of the team while defending, set them to 40 and 70 respectively.
This will make your entire team move stick tightly together and move forward until they eventually suffocate the opponent and get the ball back in possession.
Offense
When attacking, Bayern Munich are notorious for their impressive build-up of play and chance creation. They rely on quick, accurate, and well-thought-out ball distribution to open up the play and create chances for one of the forwards to try and score.
Unlike in defense, Bayern Munich’s starting XI spread across the field much more widely as opposed to when they’re defending, which allows them to stretch out the field of play and find opportunities for passes and even shots towards the net.
To mimic Bayern’s attacking style of play, set the build up play to “Fast Build Up” and chance creation to “Forward Runs”. Set the width to 75 (it’s normally 40 when defending) and be sure to set the players in the box (during corners and free kicks) to whatever you feel is appropriate for your team.
For me, three bars for corners, three bards for free kicks, and six bars for players in the box sounded just about right.
Bayern Munich Player Roles
While Neuer remains the team captain (for obvious reasons), Lewandowski and Kimmich are responsible for virtually every set piece possible.
If you’re trying to mimic the Bayern Munich custom tactics for a team different to that of Bayern’s, then I’d recommend you have a striker to take up all the responsibilities for Lewandowski and a good CM with high passing to take up the responsibilities of Kimmich.
Custom Player Instructions
Like in any top team, every Bayern Munich player has their own set of responsibilities and instructions to follow from the manager. Below, I’ll show you the exact player instructions for the entire starting XI.
Note: Do note that the images do not show the entire player instructions as some positions have more than three sets of instructions. To find the exact instructions for every player, I’ll briefly describe them below each image for every position.
Another Note: I’ve only made one section for both wingers, center backs, and other duplicate positions as the instructions for both sets of players in those positions is pretty much the same. If not, I’ll make sure to let you know.
Striker
It’s no secret that the Polish national, Robert Lewandowski was single-handedly responsible for the large success that the German club has seen over the years.
From a relatively average player in his teen years to what the goal-scoring machine he has become today, the various managers that he’s played under have helped him tremendously in making him the player that he is today.
To replicate the success of Lewandowski for your team’s striker (be it Robert or someone else), set your striker’s supporting runs to “Stay Central”, attacking runs to “Mixed Attack”, interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”, and defense support to “Basic Defense Support”.
Wingers
During the strongest years of the Munich club, both winners had the same set of responsibilities – run on the wing and cross in the ball or cut in short to drag out of position the opposition’s defensive line. In other words, they were super aggressive in attack (as is the whole team) and take defense lightly (to preserve energy).
To achieve similar results, set your winger’s defensive support to “Basic Defense Support”, chance creation to “Balanced Width”, support runs to “Get In Behind”, support on crosses to “Get Into The Box For Cross”, and interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”.
Center Attacking Midfielder
Unlike most elite teams in Europe, Bayern Munich make use of a center-attacking midfielder rather than a center-defensive midfielder (hence the 4-3-3 attack formation – they’re literally all about the attack).
The CAM is probably the most exhausting position in the whole Bayern team as Gnabry is responsible for not only being one of the main playmakers and chance creators but also the player that is strongly encouraged to take shots from outside the goal. In other words, make sure you have a CAM with a lot of stamina and fitness.
To replicate the responsibilities of Bayern Munich’s center attacking midfielder, set his defensive support to “Basic Defense Support”, support on crosses “Get Into The Box For Cross”, positioning freedom “Stick To Position”, and interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”.
Center Midfielders
The midfielders play a vital role in the success of any club, not just Bayern Munich as we know them. What was different about Bayern Munich’s central midfield is that it was responsible for pushing the play upfield without losing the ball – hence the 4-3-3 attack formation.
Both midfielders follow the same instructions, which makes mine and your job a whole lot easier. To copy the real-life responsibilities of Bayern’s CMs, set the attacking support to “Stay Back While Attacking”, support on crosses “Stay On Edge Of Box For Cross”, interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”, positional freedom to “Stick To Position”, and defensive position “Cover Center”.
Full Backs
Pep Guardiola really made some magic when it came to making use of the fullbacks. We’ve seen it in Barcelona and Manchester City. We’ve also seen it in Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tactics. It works, and it works really well.
Rather than staying behind and waiting for the opponent to attack, which is what defenders are made, over the years, Pep Guardiola, has instructed his LB and RB to join the attack and even overlap the wingers.
This works so well because all essential forward players – including the midfield – are available for a cross-in or a pass. The more players upfield – the more chaotic it will be for the opposing defenders, which will make them a lot more likely to make a mistake.
To make your full-backs do exactly that, set their attacking runs to “Join The Attack”, interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”, run type to “Overlap”, and defensive position to “Stick To Position”.
Center Backs
The Bayern Munich central defensive line consisted of two players who would not move out of position regardless of whether the ball was in their possession or not. This allowed the team to gain structure from the back and reshape itself further up (should any Bayern player have to cover up for a teammate).
Having your center backs stick to their position also prevents gaps from opening up right in front of your keeper, which could be very dangerous.
To mimic the actions of the typical Bayern Munich CB, set your player’s attacking support to “Stay Back While Attacking”, interceptions to “Normal Interceptions”, and offensive position to “Stick To Position”.
Goalkeeper
Bayern Munich have one of the greatest goalkeepers the world of football has ever seen. Despite his great abilities with his hands, the Bayern captain is also great with his feet. And interestingly enough, Neuer plays a fairly important role in the distribution of the ball, especially when the defensive line is highly pressured or is busy spreading the width of play.
Aside from that, Neuer is also one of the most prominent sweeper keepers in modern-day football.
Note: For those of you that don’t know, a sweeper-keeper is a type of goalkeeper that likes to get out of position and play as close to the first line of defense as possible.
In order to make your keeper a sweeper keeper, simply set the staying outside box to “Sweeper Keeper”. As for saving on crosses, it’s up to you and how much risk you want to take. I like to keep everything balanced, as Neuer would.
Final Thoughts
Now that you have the exact formation, roles, team tactics, and individual player instructions in front of you, all there is left to do is implement and adjust the various tactics to that of the team that you’re using.
If you aren’t playing with Bayern Munich’s original squad, I’d recommend you to get your hands on one of the fastest strikers in FIFA 22. A quick striker will single-handedly help you score more goals than anything else in this year’s FIFA.
Aside from that, feel free to tweak certain bits and pieces until you find what works best for you and the team that you’re playing with.
