Tactical help required

[Cookie1]

Hi guys. So, I am trying to create a tactic in which players play in a specific way, that is I want my players to do what I want. So far I have been unable to do so, so I was hoping that maybe you guysbcan help me. Right. So I will list my requirements and then I will tell what I came up with, so you can help me about it.

WHAT I WANT.

So here goes. I want a tactic that is solid defensively and does not allow opposition through very easily. I also don't want more than 4 players in the back line. I want my fullbacks to send in crosses when team is attacking and to help create an offside trap when in defense. In attacking sense, I want three attacking midfielders playing behind a striker and I want one attacking mid to be central while the other two are on each flank, creating a sort of a diamond. I want the wide attacking mids to act like attacking mids, not like wingers or inside forwards. I would also like my team to play a short and possession type of football rather than direct passing.

WHAT I CAME UP WITH.

So I decided that bearing in mind all the tactical requirements, a 4-2-3-1 wide should do well. In order to keep my tactic defensively solid, I decided that I should use two defensive mids instead of two central mids, so I changed my formation to a 4-2DM-3-1 wide. I set my tactic on control mentality and structured so as to help with my defensive requirements. I set the roles as follows.

Gk
Fb-s. Cd-d. Cd-d. Fb-s.
DM-s. A-d.

Ap.-s. Am.-s. Ap-s.
CF-a.

So far what I have managed to do is that my team keeps majority of possession but does not do much attacking wise except knocking the ball around. I will post screenshots with my TI and PIs shortly as I don't have access to my computer right now. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT: I am playing as Havre Athletic Club but I have tried to create this with Munchen Lions and Perugia and got sacked both times, winning a total of only 4 games in both saves. anyway, this is my tactic.:

 

[pawason]

I think it's a waste to have two wingers as advanced playmaker, at least set one of them to a more attacking duty. Advanced playmaker combined with full back on support duty makes your team lack of attacking movement and just focused on posession. Full back on attack duty os a good choice, they get forward to send some crosses to the box but still responsible for their defence. Good Luck Mate!

 

[Cookie1]

I think it's a waste to have two wingers as advanced playmaker, at least set one of them to a more attacking duty. Advanced playmaker combined with full back on support duty makes your team lack of attacking movement and just focused on posession. Full back on attack duty os a good choice, they get forward to send some crosses to the box but still responsible for their defence. Good Luck Mate!

What would you suggest other than AP on the wings? Because none of the other roles in my opinion fit what I want my players to do(Wingers, Inside forwards is not what I want.)

I dont use fullback on attack duty coz I feel that this will not give them enough time to get back and help in defense if the team is caught in posession(dont you think?) Thx for your reply btw.

 

[pawason]

What would you suggest other than AP on the wings? Because none of the other roles in my opinion fit what I want my players to do(Wingers, Inside forwards is not what I want.)

I dont use fullback on attack duty coz I feel that this will not give them enough time to get back and help in defense if the team is caught in posession(dont you think?) Thx for your reply btw.

I see so you want a trio like Coutinho - Firmino - Lallana, that could work just give them some attacking instructions like get further forward and shoots more often (if they have good long shots) to give your team more chances to score. About the Full back on attack duty, i used them in my career with Dundee United in scotland and i managed to win 7 and get 7 clean sheets from 7 matches. Just don't instruct them to get further forward or look for overlap then they still get back and help the defence quickly. They are really useful to help both of your advanced playmaker on the wing with their crosses and one-two passes.

 

[Cookie1]

I see so you want a trio like Coutinho - Firmino - Lallana, that could work just give them some attacking instructions like get further forward and shoots more often (if they have good long shots) to give your team more chances to score. About the Full back on attack duty, i used them in my career with Dundee United in scotland and i managed to win 7 and get 7 clean sheets from 7 matches. Just don't instruct them to get further forward or look for overlap then they still get back and help the defence quickly. They are really useful to help both of your advanced playmaker on the wing with their crosses and one-two passes.

Thx mate. Will definitely give the full backs a try on attack duty. About the attacking mids, i dont want too many long shots, so maybe you have any other ideas? thx.

 

[pawason]

Thx mate. Will definitely give the full backs a try on attack duty. About the attacking mids, i dont want too many long shots, so maybe you have any other ideas? thx.

Well just give them instruction to make some risky passes to unlock your opponents defence. It's better if one of your AMC have a Tries Killer Ball Often preferred move so they can give your Complete Forward (CF with good off the ball movement and anticipation) some good through balls. I hope it can help. Good Luck!

 

[Cookie1]

Well just give them instruction to make some risky passes to unlock your opponents defence. It's better if one of your AMC have a Tries Killer Ball Often preferred move so they can give your Complete Forward (CF with good off the ball movement and anticipation) some good through balls. I hope it can help. Good Luck!

Thanks for your reply. I will try this and let you know how it goes.

 

[rocheyb]

You can have a full back on Attack duty - especially with those two Defensive Midfielders shielding your centre backs.

I'd recommend having one full back on Attack (Cross From Byline; Aim Crosses at Target Man) and the Wide Man ahead of him on Support duty (Cross From Deep; Aim Crosses at Far Post). Then, on the other side, have the full back on Support duty (Cross From Deep; Aim Crosses at Centre) and the Wide Man ahead of him on Attack (Cross From Byline; Aim Crosses at Target Man). Instruct them to Whip Crosses. I'd go for Cross More Often for all four positions, too, but it sounds like that might be contrary to what you're trying to do. The Attacking full back will link with his wide man to play either one of them into a crossing position. The Supporting full back will only get involved in second wave attacks, by offering additional width when the first wave attack has broken down. If you don't encourage them to Cross More Often but do tell them to Work Ball Into Box, they will play across the outside of the penalty area - but they may show a tendency to overplay.

Ideally, the No.10 should be an Advanced Playmaker with strong dribbling and long range shooting abilities, as well as the passing ability to feed your front man in the channels. More Direct Passing and More Risky Passes will suit a particularly good passer.

The two DMs should have the Likes to Switch Ball to Opposite Flank PPM, so they can get your full backs and wide man into the game quickly. As you're playing a possession game, get your goalkeeper to roll the ball out to the full backs and reduce risky passes. Your team should play at a high tempo, to move the opposition defence around.

 

[xambo]

I agree with Pawasn that two wingers on playmakers is overkill. One is enough. I also see there is a big gap between your defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders which could cause a problem. You need more attacking depth so mix the mentality of some of your midfielders to atacking and defensive rather than all on support. There is a great video explaining all this. This will also help you in attacking movement which will then help you score more goals. good luck.

[video=youtube;qKjIT0r9_Ks]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKjIT0r9_Ks[/video]

 

[Cookie1]

You can have a full back on Attack duty - especially with those two Defensive Midfielders shielding your centre backs.

I'd recommend having one full back on Attack (Cross From Byline; Aim Crosses at Target Man) and the Wide Man ahead of him on Support duty (Cross From Deep; Aim Crosses at Far Post). Then, on the other side, have the full back on Support duty (Cross From Deep; Aim Crosses at Centre) and the Wide Man ahead of him on Attack (Cross From Byline; Aim Crosses at Target Man). Instruct them to Whip Crosses. I'd go for Cross More Often for all four positions, too, but it sounds like that might be contrary to what you're trying to do. The Attacking full back will link with his wide man to play either one of them into a crossing position. The Supporting full back will only get involved in second wave attacks, by offering additional width when the first wave attack has broken down. If you don't encourage them to Cross More Often but do tell them to Work Ball Into Box, they will play across the outside of the penalty area - but they may show a tendency to overplay.

Ideally, the No.10 should be an Advanced Playmaker with strong dribbling and long range shooting abilities, as well as the passing ability to feed your front man in the channels. More Direct Passing and More Risky Passes will suit a particularly good passer.

The two DMs should have the Likes to Switch Ball to Opposite Flank PPM, so they can get your full backs and wide man into the game quickly. As you're playing a possession game, get your goalkeeper to roll the ball out to the full backs and reduce risky passes. Your team should play at a high tempo, to move the opposition defence around.

Thanks mate, I will try out your suggestions and see if it works. The biggest problem however is to get the front four to work the way I want. Do you have any ideas how I can achieve that? thx.

 

[rocheyb]

Thanks mate, I will try out your suggestions and see if it works. The biggest problem however is to get the front four to work the way I want. Do you have any ideas how I can achieve that? thx.

Tell me what you want each player to do. I know, for example, that you don't want wingers going to the byline, so what would you have them do instead?

Oh yeah, I should have also recommended CONTROL and FLEXIBLE for your team's approach, which gives you room to switch to ATTACK + FLUID or DEFEND + STRUCTURED when you are chasing or defending a lead.

 

[Cookie1]

Tell me what you want each player to do. I know, for example, that you don't want wingers going to the byline, so what would you have them do instead?

This picture shows what I want with my front four. The yellow lines show how I want my front four to form a sort of a diamond.

Oh yeah, I should have also recommended CONTROL and FLEXIBLE for your team's approach, which gives you room to switch to ATTACK + FLUID or DEFEND + STRUCTURED when you are chasing or defending a lead.

wouldn't changing it to structured or fluid when I have trained my team on flexible mentality make the tactic less fluid??

 

[Cookie1]

I agree with Pawasn that two wingers on playmakers is overkill. One is enough. I also see there is a big gap between your defensive midfielders and attacking midfielders which could cause a problem. You need more attacking depth so mix the mentality of some of your midfielders to atacking and defensive rather than all on support. There is a great video explaining all this. This will also help you in attacking movement which will then help you score more goals. good luck.

[video=youtube;qKjIT0r9_Ks]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKjIT0r9_Ks[/video]

I am aware that when you look at the tactic, it looks like there is a gap between the DMs and the AMs but when I play the match, I am not told by the assistant manager that there is a big gap between the midfield and attack, nor do I feel that there is a gap there that can be exploited. I can upload a pkm if you want? So you can see exactly whats happening. (I dont know how I upload the pkm though. Do i upload it the same way as I upload the screenshots? )

Do let me know if a pkm is required and do please clarify how there is a gap between DMs and AMs. Thx.

 

[WJ]

I am aware that when you look at the tactic, it looks like there is a gap between the DMs and the AMs but when I play the match, I am not told by the assistant manager that there is a big gap between the midfield and attack, nor do I feel that there is a gap there that can be exploited. I can upload a pkm if you want? So you can see exactly whats happening. (I dont know how I upload the pkm though. Do i upload it the same way as I upload the screenshots?

There won't be much of a gap as the AM has a Support duty. Whatever the Assistant says doesn't matter, because you can see it yourself easily.

 

[WJ]

This picture shows what I want with my front four. The yellow lines show how I want my front four to form a sort of a diamond.

The picture shows a diamond. It doesn't show what you actually want from the players. Are they just going to sit there? No goal threat at all?

In every tactic you need players making runs who will be a goal threat at some point. Who is it going to be in yours?

You said you want the wide AMs to behave like attacking midfielders, but what does that mean?

 

[Cookie1]

The picture shows a diamond. It doesn't show what you actually want from the players. Are they just going to sit there? No goal threat at all?

In every tactic you need players making runs who will be a goal threat at some point. Who is it going to be in yours?

You said you want the wide AMs to behave like attacking midfielders, but what does that mean?

The picture has some text written on the top left corner, telling what I want from the front four. I want each of my four players to be the goal scorers. However I will describe individually what I want from each of my players.

CAM . I want this guy to play through balls to the striker or either of the two wide attacking mids, so as to send them clean through and have a shot on goal. Else I want him to overlap through the centre and get clean through himself by playing a one-two off one of the other players in the diamond.

RAM. Same as the CAM.

LAM. Same as the CAM.

ST. I want this guy to do a bit of everything really. I would like him to make runs through the centre, come deep to link with the other players, get on the end of crosses etc.

What I mean by the wide attackers to behave like attacking mids is that they act the same way as the CAM, but they stay in a wider position rather than more central. So I basically want three attacking mids, one central and one on each flank.

I can also upload a pkm if it is required to show what my current tactic is actually doing on the field. (However, I dont know how I upload it. Do I upload it the same way as uploading screenshots? Do tell me if a pkm is required.)

EDIT: I once faced an Inter team, managed by Luciano Spaletti in my AC Milan save, and they played like this against me. That's where I got this idea from and that's how I want to play. If the AL managed to play this way against me, then I am sure that there is away to play like this using the Match Engine.

 

[Cookie1]

There won't be much of a gap as the AM has a Support duty. Whatever the Assistant says doesn't matter, because you can see it yourself easily.

I changed the CAM to AM-Attack, and even then, there is no gap.

 

[WJ]

The picture has some text written on the top left corner, telling what I want from the front four. I want each of my four players to be the goal scorers. However I will describe individually what I want from each of my players.

CAM . I want this guy to play through balls to the striker or either of the two wide attacking mids, so as to send them clean through and have a shot on goal. Else I want him to overlap through the centre and get clean through himself by playing a one-two off one of the other players in the diamond.

RAM. Same as the CAM.

LAM. Same as the CAM.

ST. I want this guy to do a bit of everything really. I would like him to make runs through the centre, come deep to link with the other players, get on the end of crosses etc.

What I mean by the wide attackers to behave like attacking mids is that they act the same way as the CAM, but they stay in a wider position rather than more central. So I basically want three attacking mids, one central and one on each flank.

I can also upload a pkm if it is required to show what my current tactic is actually doing on the field. (However, I dont know how I upload it. Do I upload it the same way as uploading screenshots? Do tell me if a pkm is required.)

I read the text, yes, but reading it, I had no idea why you chose playmakers? They will... make plays for the others. They sit deep, so will very rarely attempt the runs you want and they will very rarely shoot.

What's wrong with an Inside Forward? Maybe even with the added PI of Sit Narrower?

Or, since you want 3 central AMs, why not use 3 central AMs?

You upload it like any other file. It's not really required though.

EDIT: I once faced an Inter team, managed by Luciano Spaletti in my AC Milan save, and they played like this against me. That's where I got this idea from and that's how I want to play. If the AL managed to play this way against me, then I am sure that there is away to play like this using the Match Engine.

Of course. They use the same tools that you do.

 

[Cookie1]

I read the text, yes, but reading it, I had no idea why you chose playmakers? They will... make plays for the others. They sit deep, so will very rarely attempt the runs you want and they will very rarely shoot.

What's wrong with an Inside Forward? Maybe even with the added PI of Sit Narrower?

Or, since you want 3 central AMs, why not use 3 central AMs?

You upload it like any other file. It's not really required though.



Of course. They use the same tools that you do.

I know that playmaker is not what I want but chose to go with playmakers because there is no other role available in that position, that is closest to AM.

I did not go for Inside forwards because whenever I have used them, they do almost nothing else except that when they get the ball, they dribble, cut inside (if they dont lose the ball while dribbling) and blast it over the bar or hit it straight at the keeper.

I can go for three CAMs in the 4-2-3-1 Narrow formation as well, but I figured out that they would get in each others way as I want the same from every one of them.

 

[WJ]

I did not go for Inside forwards because whenever I have used them, they do almost nothing else except that when they get the ball, they dribble, cut inside (if they dont lose the ball while dribbling) and blast it over the bar or hit it straight at the keeper.

But as I said, I think you can alter their shooting tendencies and risky passes via PIs? Don't have the game open right now.

Most of the AML/R roles involve dribbling often. If you don't want that, then you should really then look to either drop them back a strata or use central AMs.

Support Advanced Playmaker is probably the worst of the roles you could have chosen if you also expect them to make runs and share goal scoring duties. They're not aggressive enough. The Attack duty version is maybe worth a shot to see if it's what you want, but again, they will be playmakers. They'll receive the ball more and they'll look to supply rather than score for the most part.

I can go for three CAMs in the 4-2-3-1 Narrow formation as well, but I figured out that they would get in each others way as I want the same from every one of them.

Maybe that's the main problem here. Variation is good, don't forget.

Remember what you're asking your players right now. You're asking all 3 midfielders to remain narrow and sit next to each other. That's making it dead easy to defend. Especially when 2 of the 3 won't really be looking to make runs either.

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I don't understand why you have Retain Possession though? You didn't select it to reduce through balls, because you added that back with Pass Into Space and you didn't select it for the Shorter Passing, because you already have Play Out of Defence and Shorter Passing.