After a string of poor performances and results in my first season back in the championship as Wolves, I decided I'd had enough with my fullbacks, despite both being considered 'decent premier league players' and barely getting ratings of 6.0.
As most of you already know, the fullbacks in the game are pants. I got away with it last season, but the championship was proving a tougher challenge. I'd usually play a fairly direct 4-4-2 formation, but after a few games of having very little possession and chances, I decided to get rid of my fullbacks and go for a 3-5-2. As you can see from the results it had an immediate effect.
View attachment 460806
It's the closest I've got to a good 'possession' tactic in this game and although the centre backs aren't exactly perfect themselves, the team seems a lot more defensively sound in games. All the games that we drew away from home started out with us going ahead and then getting unusually complacent/ opposition getting some mad comeback boost and scoring, but we were still seeming to be the team looking more likely to go on and win.
View attachment 460780
It's still a work in progress but the kind of philosophy you'd expect from a 5-man midfield tactic; try and congest midfield and pass the ball around the opposition, which does work well for me so far. The wingers set to support do seem to track back well enough to hold off crosses and give your defenders time to organise themselves, as well as put in the crosses at the other end.
There are a few things to take into consideration with this formation:
- Play wide depending on the size of the pitch you're playing on.
- If you're playing in bad weather or against other 5-man midfield's and you're struggling to keep possession, you may want to drop 'work ball into box' and 'lower tempo', perhaps 'hassle opponents' too.
- Arrange your CB's depending on what they're coming up against, if you have one that is quicker than the others then have him on the side that will be dealing with a fast winger, have a taller one in the middle to nod crosses away, etc.
- Try to stay clear of players with the 'shoot from distance' PPM, especially if they haven't got the long shot stat to warrant it (15+ at least I'd say). This patient build up will encourage a lot of short passing in and around the oppositions area, if you've got a player who will constantly pop shots off in that situation it could spoil the move and leave you open to counters too.
- Assign the attacking CM role to your midfielder with the highest finishing stat.
There is probably a lot more that can be done with this tactic but at least, for now, it has made the game a lot less frustrating for me. I hope this is of some use to you folks!
As most of you already know, the fullbacks in the game are pants. I got away with it last season, but the championship was proving a tougher challenge. I'd usually play a fairly direct 4-4-2 formation, but after a few games of having very little possession and chances, I decided to get rid of my fullbacks and go for a 3-5-2. As you can see from the results it had an immediate effect.
View attachment 460806
It's the closest I've got to a good 'possession' tactic in this game and although the centre backs aren't exactly perfect themselves, the team seems a lot more defensively sound in games. All the games that we drew away from home started out with us going ahead and then getting unusually complacent/ opposition getting some mad comeback boost and scoring, but we were still seeming to be the team looking more likely to go on and win.
View attachment 460780
It's still a work in progress but the kind of philosophy you'd expect from a 5-man midfield tactic; try and congest midfield and pass the ball around the opposition, which does work well for me so far. The wingers set to support do seem to track back well enough to hold off crosses and give your defenders time to organise themselves, as well as put in the crosses at the other end.
There are a few things to take into consideration with this formation:
- Play wide depending on the size of the pitch you're playing on.
- If you're playing in bad weather or against other 5-man midfield's and you're struggling to keep possession, you may want to drop 'work ball into box' and 'lower tempo', perhaps 'hassle opponents' too.
- Arrange your CB's depending on what they're coming up against, if you have one that is quicker than the others then have him on the side that will be dealing with a fast winger, have a taller one in the middle to nod crosses away, etc.
- Try to stay clear of players with the 'shoot from distance' PPM, especially if they haven't got the long shot stat to warrant it (15+ at least I'd say). This patient build up will encourage a lot of short passing in and around the oppositions area, if you've got a player who will constantly pop shots off in that situation it could spoil the move and leave you open to counters too.
- Assign the attacking CM role to your midfielder with the highest finishing stat.
There is probably a lot more that can be done with this tactic but at least, for now, it has made the game a lot less frustrating for me. I hope this is of some use to you folks!