Hello again, some of you might remember me and mine Slix trio tactics from FM 16, I tried to lets say creae something of same quality this year...
When I started playing FM 17 with latest patch all I could see was that the only thing you fellas were playing is 3430, since I'm not big fan of Serie A and BBVA football and them strikerless things I went for rough standard English 451, well its based on a French fella who is in England for a long time, yup, you guessed it right, old senile Arsene is the man whose tactical ideas influence mine playing style. Arsenal are one of most famous clubs in world of football, and for a reason, they are probably first team that used quick short passes to offset defences around Premier League, the famous Bergamp Henry combo and the never forgotten Gilberto Silva - Patrick Vieira midlefield duo, well that's something I want to see from Arsenal even 14 years after their success, only thing I can do is see it on YT or see it in FM, I choose the latter, so lets get on to the tactic.
There are 2 tactics at the moment with plan for third one, these are both 4231 Wide while one could be called 2431 since it uses WB positions instead of FB ones.
View attachment 90864
First one is flat 4 in the back I intend to name this one away version, the answer why is that its better in keeping possession and WBs are in flat position which makes them less offensive and while you hold the ball they would advance further up the pitch, well thats what anyone would think, there is a little catch, although they are WBs in both tactics they act like WB to IWB hybrids, they defend your midlefield but make marauding runs when they see the space needed for them to work their magic, you will often see your LB and RB marauding and crossing low balls just from the edge of 16m box, reason for low crosses is mine main striker is Lacazette since Giroud has had few injuries his way.
View attachment 90863
The other version is the one I intended to dub the home version, its much more aggressive, ball is intented to be played quicker and supply your forwards, it still has the same instructions, well almost all the same as away version, the thing is positioning of players, if youmove your FBs to WB slots they also rise the bar of space for the mid duo, thus they make them go higher up the pitch and apply pressure sooner and also gives them the chance to be closer to your Attacking players enabling your BBM to pick them out or just supply AMC who will link the other 3 into play, now here come the WBs onrushing and swarming defence and this creates space for your players to unbalance the defence and make scoring chances, but, WBs higher up the pitch means they are more often ofset from their defensive position and makes you more vulnerable to facing counter attacks, thus this is Home version since its more aggressive than the other version.
Now I would be obliged to explain how all this works, the whole point is not a plug and play thing since there aren;t 2 of the same players in the world, first this tactic as all of mine I ever created need mental players, I like players who are high on Anticipation, Decisions, Off the ball and mid high on Teamwork, along with their positional attribute requiriments I dsire all mine attacking minded players to have all these attributes as highas I can get, I know this really narrows the pick of players who are suitable for the tactic.
As for defensive minded players (CBs BWM) I like to have Decisions, Anticipation, Concentration, Teamwork and Workrate, while I consider WBs the real magicians in the game of football I require of them set of both, they are your dynamos they run, they pass, they def, they cross, and then run to tackle or to mark their target, then they run again, so add Stamina to the list for these fellas. Thats how I like mine players in general.
The team is intended to work like a hurricane in offense, and like a Rock in defense, you will often see that your defenders have high interception count, for teams that play counter your CBs will cut most of the balls which are just plunged forward while BWMs and B2B will harass midfielders who try to work something out if they wait, for possession type teams your B2B BWM and AMC will harass middlefield while IFs watch out andcover mid space for onrushing FBs ,Striker will deal with CBs and DMs and apply pressure on them along with AMC, now the part where they shine is wide areas, WBs will get supported by IFs while CBs wont budge, its set that way so that they dont move, they wont close down, if there is a player they will hold their position until he is near them and then just pounce him and leave him on the ground, ofc sometimes a ball will find its way to your net, or sometimes Cech will make you want to eat some paper, thats just poor GK AI, atleast I think of it as that.
GK: best you can get, the worst position for me to pick someone, I usually go for scout report or for Rajkovic(fellow countryman and he knows how to keep)
LB(LWB): I already mentioned mine personal preference, it doesnt have to be it, I like players who are winger MC hybrids, something like Darijo Srna was at his peak, for existing players I picked Monreal simply cos he is insanely good in defending situations and he knows and isn't affraid to rush forward, as for backup I can suggest Coentrao, he is cheap for top teams considering Real M wants to get rid of him, as for lower tier teams which cant afford him I would suggest someone like: Andrew Robertson, Frederico Rica or Jonny
RB(RWB): same as above, I already spoke of it, here in Arsenal they have Bellerin, the light of hope for Gunners, Bellerin really looks like he will be a world star in coming years, as for backup I'm using Carmona, the players who can fit the role would be: Jonny(again he can play both sides), Hugo Mallo, Sidibe as for weaker budgets first one that comes into mine mind would be Nyom or Klosterman
CB: Now this is a tricky part, this is your defensive wall, along side with BWM but these guys need to be like a fortress, in mine Arsenal side I'm using Kosc, Mustafi, Paulista and Goldaniga, Goldaniga is doing good considering his age and stats, Gabriel Paulista gave me few good impressions, he even got MoM award for scoring in 2 games in a row, imagine that, as for recommendations I would pick Vallejo without a second thought, he got it all, in years t come you can develop some more speed for him and thats it, he can boss it, as for rest Pepe is nearing his contract end and would be pretty cheap, Khaceridi is beast this year, alongside with Jose Gimenez and Rugani sounds like a good pick, as for cheap recommends I think Jovanovic(Vukasin) would fare well, tho I usually invest into mine CBs first since the less I concede the more pts for the taking
BWM: Im a weird guy and on top of that Arsenal fan, that's double weird for ya The most defensive duty on the team other than CBs and he isnt just defender, to sum it up, this guy needs some passing ability, I'm not talking like make him Pirlo or Alonso, but some passing ability, for me Ive been using Maia, Coquelin and Elneny in this role and they have all 3 played good, you wontsee high rating from these guys since we all know how FM does their rating in weirdest possible way, the other fellas I could recommend would be Casemio(this year he is too good) and on other hand Ascacibar and late Cheick Tiote, they should be good for the role based on stats, it isnt htat hard to find hardworking leg breaker with some sense for pass, for weaker budgets Radoja should do the trick and I gotta honorary mention Camacho and Matic
B2B:This role can be changed round to DLP or RPM tho RPM sacrifices some of his defensive dutyes, as for this role I've been using Ramsey and Xhaka, I look forward to Nemanja Maksimovic joining with mine squad on the end of season since I can see amazing stuff coming from him thus I recommend him as a first, for top spenders there is no question on whom to ge for B2B role: Pogba(hate to say it he is good), Marchisio(old but gold), Vidal(he can also perform in BWM dty to some extent), Kimmich, Manu Trigeros should work good aswell, as for cheaper solutions Gudelj looks awesome on this year FM.
AM(BERGKAMP): This here fella is your link with attack and your presser in defence, he will make some neat passes some no look assists some awesome runs he will draw def to him he will supply link chain and do all the mgic, so thats why I proclaim this player here as Bergkamp, no more no less, the magician, Ozil is serving mine side in this position with Bernardo Silva while Ozil is on injury, Kuki has been perforimng well here aswell, as for recommends its not hard to find a good AMC out there, just take decisions, anticipation, off the ball, agility or balance and teamwork into consideration, he is your mental guy the mastermind which unlocks defences
IF: This role is self explanatory a "wrong" footet fella on a right side, so it would mean left fotted on right and vice versa, Alexis really shines for mine side, and Iwobi has been packing some really good games, while Im using Nelson as hot prospect(he even got MoM vs Wolves in FA cup), again for right side I got Bernardo Silva and Lucas on mine side, I would highly advise Andrija Zivkovic, he looks **** fine this year(he was out of price range for me ) its pretty self explanatory, look for Alexis look a like, he is tearing it down, he has awesome PPMs and awesome stats, anything near as that and you are set for good, same goes for other side.
CF:Here we come to striker, as a Arsenal fan Ive been looking foward to seeing Lacazette in North London(as Wenger is we might see some Myanmar wonderkid instead of Lacazette so I'm fullfiling mine dream in FM, take that Arsene), Lacazette has been serving me fine, he had 7 games and 7 goals in December in EPL, it took him some time to gel in, but now he is killing it, Giroud is fine in this role aswell, he tends to act more supportive than Lacazette, since he has more to his teamwork, but heplays others in really nicely and he gives you that insane height advantage(think of crossing types if you use Kane Giroud alike player), or striker I always look for Of the ball, anticipation, composure, some passing, some tehnical attributes, and strong mental image of a ruthless finisher who aint afraid to stick his head where no other would stick his leg (Dule Savic), here are so many good ST in the game this year, as for some help finding one, try looking for allrounder.
View attachment 90823
this is setup of instructions for away version, team should work ball into danger area fast and attempt to make space for your attacking players. Simple as that
View attachment 90861
I seems same as the away version, but it doesn't have work ball into box instruction, I want them to take more risks when they are home side, I want to utilize Ozil and RAmsey to max, no point in someone being open for their pass when they have the instruction to ignore him and play short passes between them and buff pass stats(yeah Uefalona that sucks), the passing is set to mixed in both versions, the shorter passing seemed to provide smaller number of chances than mixed ones.
Here are some screens of team performance this season and leagu table:
View attachment 90860View attachment 90859View attachment 90858
as for last match preps and training are done as always, try to have as many as you can with slider all left in preseason with atleast 3 days between them, I use team cohesion Very high in pre and team coh high in season, while I use Attacking movement during season(once all is gelled).
Feel free to tweak and tr the tactic, so far I have only tested it with Arsenal, the main problem I see in the tactic would be B2B role, Is it properly utilised by mineside since Ramsey ain't Vieira, as for rest I couldnt find too many complaints, feel free to ask questions and submit results.
I ain't gonna say its PERFECT DONIMATRIX DRAGON BREATH TACTIC WON ECL WITH PARTIZANI TIRANA!!!!11!! nopes, I won't say that. I'm just sharing a tactic I enjoy watching since it takes me back to the glory days...
View attachment 90870 Home
View attachment 90824Away
EDIT: The "Away" version had 2 wrong team instructions that shouldn't be there, guess I uploaded earlier version of the tactic, sorry for that. Ill make it up by an advice xD If your B2B finds himself struggling to provide and clusters with AMC who is higher than him on pitch and gets in his way, remove move into channels instruction, if it still occurs remove get further forward instruction from him as well, that way he will provide back pass option instead of blocking play which AMC intends to make, its fairly rarely that I see that happening tho it happens with attacking minded B2B(Ramsey style B2B)....
They say picture tells 1000 words, I wonder how many does video tell? This pretty much sums up what to expect of this, everything I wrote, everything I tried to explain is in this video:
[video]https://youtu.be/dyDSjadM6Lk[/video]
UPDATE: V2 of home and away version, the instructions are now the same, difference between the 2 is WB vs FB positions
View attachment 90618 Home version
View attachment 90617 Away version
That's it for this update, the next one will be when I'm done with tweaking the promised 451 tactic, and no worries you story lovers, that one has quite a story behind it
When I started playing FM 17 with latest patch all I could see was that the only thing you fellas were playing is 3430, since I'm not big fan of Serie A and BBVA football and them strikerless things I went for rough standard English 451, well its based on a French fella who is in England for a long time, yup, you guessed it right, old senile Arsene is the man whose tactical ideas influence mine playing style. Arsenal are one of most famous clubs in world of football, and for a reason, they are probably first team that used quick short passes to offset defences around Premier League, the famous Bergamp Henry combo and the never forgotten Gilberto Silva - Patrick Vieira midlefield duo, well that's something I want to see from Arsenal even 14 years after their success, only thing I can do is see it on YT or see it in FM, I choose the latter, so lets get on to the tactic.
There are 2 tactics at the moment with plan for third one, these are both 4231 Wide while one could be called 2431 since it uses WB positions instead of FB ones.
View attachment 90864
First one is flat 4 in the back I intend to name this one away version, the answer why is that its better in keeping possession and WBs are in flat position which makes them less offensive and while you hold the ball they would advance further up the pitch, well thats what anyone would think, there is a little catch, although they are WBs in both tactics they act like WB to IWB hybrids, they defend your midlefield but make marauding runs when they see the space needed for them to work their magic, you will often see your LB and RB marauding and crossing low balls just from the edge of 16m box, reason for low crosses is mine main striker is Lacazette since Giroud has had few injuries his way.
View attachment 90863
The other version is the one I intended to dub the home version, its much more aggressive, ball is intented to be played quicker and supply your forwards, it still has the same instructions, well almost all the same as away version, the thing is positioning of players, if youmove your FBs to WB slots they also rise the bar of space for the mid duo, thus they make them go higher up the pitch and apply pressure sooner and also gives them the chance to be closer to your Attacking players enabling your BBM to pick them out or just supply AMC who will link the other 3 into play, now here come the WBs onrushing and swarming defence and this creates space for your players to unbalance the defence and make scoring chances, but, WBs higher up the pitch means they are more often ofset from their defensive position and makes you more vulnerable to facing counter attacks, thus this is Home version since its more aggressive than the other version.
Now I would be obliged to explain how all this works, the whole point is not a plug and play thing since there aren;t 2 of the same players in the world, first this tactic as all of mine I ever created need mental players, I like players who are high on Anticipation, Decisions, Off the ball and mid high on Teamwork, along with their positional attribute requiriments I dsire all mine attacking minded players to have all these attributes as highas I can get, I know this really narrows the pick of players who are suitable for the tactic.
As for defensive minded players (CBs BWM) I like to have Decisions, Anticipation, Concentration, Teamwork and Workrate, while I consider WBs the real magicians in the game of football I require of them set of both, they are your dynamos they run, they pass, they def, they cross, and then run to tackle or to mark their target, then they run again, so add Stamina to the list for these fellas. Thats how I like mine players in general.
The team is intended to work like a hurricane in offense, and like a Rock in defense, you will often see that your defenders have high interception count, for teams that play counter your CBs will cut most of the balls which are just plunged forward while BWMs and B2B will harass midfielders who try to work something out if they wait, for possession type teams your B2B BWM and AMC will harass middlefield while IFs watch out andcover mid space for onrushing FBs ,Striker will deal with CBs and DMs and apply pressure on them along with AMC, now the part where they shine is wide areas, WBs will get supported by IFs while CBs wont budge, its set that way so that they dont move, they wont close down, if there is a player they will hold their position until he is near them and then just pounce him and leave him on the ground, ofc sometimes a ball will find its way to your net, or sometimes Cech will make you want to eat some paper, thats just poor GK AI, atleast I think of it as that.
GK: best you can get, the worst position for me to pick someone, I usually go for scout report or for Rajkovic(fellow countryman and he knows how to keep)
LB(LWB): I already mentioned mine personal preference, it doesnt have to be it, I like players who are winger MC hybrids, something like Darijo Srna was at his peak, for existing players I picked Monreal simply cos he is insanely good in defending situations and he knows and isn't affraid to rush forward, as for backup I can suggest Coentrao, he is cheap for top teams considering Real M wants to get rid of him, as for lower tier teams which cant afford him I would suggest someone like: Andrew Robertson, Frederico Rica or Jonny
RB(RWB): same as above, I already spoke of it, here in Arsenal they have Bellerin, the light of hope for Gunners, Bellerin really looks like he will be a world star in coming years, as for backup I'm using Carmona, the players who can fit the role would be: Jonny(again he can play both sides), Hugo Mallo, Sidibe as for weaker budgets first one that comes into mine mind would be Nyom or Klosterman
CB: Now this is a tricky part, this is your defensive wall, along side with BWM but these guys need to be like a fortress, in mine Arsenal side I'm using Kosc, Mustafi, Paulista and Goldaniga, Goldaniga is doing good considering his age and stats, Gabriel Paulista gave me few good impressions, he even got MoM award for scoring in 2 games in a row, imagine that, as for recommendations I would pick Vallejo without a second thought, he got it all, in years t come you can develop some more speed for him and thats it, he can boss it, as for rest Pepe is nearing his contract end and would be pretty cheap, Khaceridi is beast this year, alongside with Jose Gimenez and Rugani sounds like a good pick, as for cheap recommends I think Jovanovic(Vukasin) would fare well, tho I usually invest into mine CBs first since the less I concede the more pts for the taking
BWM: Im a weird guy and on top of that Arsenal fan, that's double weird for ya The most defensive duty on the team other than CBs and he isnt just defender, to sum it up, this guy needs some passing ability, I'm not talking like make him Pirlo or Alonso, but some passing ability, for me Ive been using Maia, Coquelin and Elneny in this role and they have all 3 played good, you wontsee high rating from these guys since we all know how FM does their rating in weirdest possible way, the other fellas I could recommend would be Casemio(this year he is too good) and on other hand Ascacibar and late Cheick Tiote, they should be good for the role based on stats, it isnt htat hard to find hardworking leg breaker with some sense for pass, for weaker budgets Radoja should do the trick and I gotta honorary mention Camacho and Matic
B2B:This role can be changed round to DLP or RPM tho RPM sacrifices some of his defensive dutyes, as for this role I've been using Ramsey and Xhaka, I look forward to Nemanja Maksimovic joining with mine squad on the end of season since I can see amazing stuff coming from him thus I recommend him as a first, for top spenders there is no question on whom to ge for B2B role: Pogba(hate to say it he is good), Marchisio(old but gold), Vidal(he can also perform in BWM dty to some extent), Kimmich, Manu Trigeros should work good aswell, as for cheaper solutions Gudelj looks awesome on this year FM.
AM(BERGKAMP): This here fella is your link with attack and your presser in defence, he will make some neat passes some no look assists some awesome runs he will draw def to him he will supply link chain and do all the mgic, so thats why I proclaim this player here as Bergkamp, no more no less, the magician, Ozil is serving mine side in this position with Bernardo Silva while Ozil is on injury, Kuki has been perforimng well here aswell, as for recommends its not hard to find a good AMC out there, just take decisions, anticipation, off the ball, agility or balance and teamwork into consideration, he is your mental guy the mastermind which unlocks defences
IF: This role is self explanatory a "wrong" footet fella on a right side, so it would mean left fotted on right and vice versa, Alexis really shines for mine side, and Iwobi has been packing some really good games, while Im using Nelson as hot prospect(he even got MoM vs Wolves in FA cup), again for right side I got Bernardo Silva and Lucas on mine side, I would highly advise Andrija Zivkovic, he looks **** fine this year(he was out of price range for me ) its pretty self explanatory, look for Alexis look a like, he is tearing it down, he has awesome PPMs and awesome stats, anything near as that and you are set for good, same goes for other side.
CF:Here we come to striker, as a Arsenal fan Ive been looking foward to seeing Lacazette in North London(as Wenger is we might see some Myanmar wonderkid instead of Lacazette so I'm fullfiling mine dream in FM, take that Arsene), Lacazette has been serving me fine, he had 7 games and 7 goals in December in EPL, it took him some time to gel in, but now he is killing it, Giroud is fine in this role aswell, he tends to act more supportive than Lacazette, since he has more to his teamwork, but heplays others in really nicely and he gives you that insane height advantage(think of crossing types if you use Kane Giroud alike player), or striker I always look for Of the ball, anticipation, composure, some passing, some tehnical attributes, and strong mental image of a ruthless finisher who aint afraid to stick his head where no other would stick his leg (Dule Savic), here are so many good ST in the game this year, as for some help finding one, try looking for allrounder.
View attachment 90823
this is setup of instructions for away version, team should work ball into danger area fast and attempt to make space for your attacking players. Simple as that
View attachment 90861
I seems same as the away version, but it doesn't have work ball into box instruction, I want them to take more risks when they are home side, I want to utilize Ozil and RAmsey to max, no point in someone being open for their pass when they have the instruction to ignore him and play short passes between them and buff pass stats(yeah Uefalona that sucks), the passing is set to mixed in both versions, the shorter passing seemed to provide smaller number of chances than mixed ones.
Here are some screens of team performance this season and leagu table:
View attachment 90860View attachment 90859View attachment 90858
as for last match preps and training are done as always, try to have as many as you can with slider all left in preseason with atleast 3 days between them, I use team cohesion Very high in pre and team coh high in season, while I use Attacking movement during season(once all is gelled).
Feel free to tweak and tr the tactic, so far I have only tested it with Arsenal, the main problem I see in the tactic would be B2B role, Is it properly utilised by mineside since Ramsey ain't Vieira, as for rest I couldnt find too many complaints, feel free to ask questions and submit results.
I ain't gonna say its PERFECT DONIMATRIX DRAGON BREATH TACTIC WON ECL WITH PARTIZANI TIRANA!!!!11!! nopes, I won't say that. I'm just sharing a tactic I enjoy watching since it takes me back to the glory days...
View attachment 90870 Home
View attachment 90824Away
EDIT: The "Away" version had 2 wrong team instructions that shouldn't be there, guess I uploaded earlier version of the tactic, sorry for that. Ill make it up by an advice xD If your B2B finds himself struggling to provide and clusters with AMC who is higher than him on pitch and gets in his way, remove move into channels instruction, if it still occurs remove get further forward instruction from him as well, that way he will provide back pass option instead of blocking play which AMC intends to make, its fairly rarely that I see that happening tho it happens with attacking minded B2B(Ramsey style B2B)....
They say picture tells 1000 words, I wonder how many does video tell? This pretty much sums up what to expect of this, everything I wrote, everything I tried to explain is in this video:
[video]https://youtu.be/dyDSjadM6Lk[/video]
UPDATE: V2 of home and away version, the instructions are now the same, difference between the 2 is WB vs FB positions
View attachment 90618 Home version
View attachment 90617 Away version
That's it for this update, the next one will be when I'm done with tweaking the promised 451 tactic, and no worries you story lovers, that one has quite a story behind it
Last edited: