3 at the back

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efcneilcawley

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[FONT=&quot]Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has had any success with 3 at the back but without any wing backs? I've already done 31411 with Koln and i really enjoyed it but i fancy a different formation with a different team in the Bundesliga?

Ideally i normally do low tempo, structured and retain possession and i dont make my team dribble (forgot the instruction name for that).

I am currently Werder Bremen but i'm playing 311221 (3 CB, CDM, CM, LM, RM, AMCL, AMCR, ST) but noticed that i'm not really keeping possession quite well.
I have the LM/RM as winger support and the AMCL and AMCR as Attacking Midfielders both on support. I seem to notice that my ST seems to be quite isolated so i could be going wrong perhaps on the player roles or perhaps my players dont suit the style of play.

Any tips really or ideas for possession tactic without any wing backs? Sorry if this makes not much sense, i'm not the best at writing things out!
Neil
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I was 2 points off 1st with Middlesbrough in my 3rd season playing 3421 then my computer broke!! I've tried to retrieve the tactic and found some screenshots on my steam acc but it's not as effective this time.
 
What exactly are you trying to accomplish with this formation? The winger role, even in support, will push the player higher up the pitch in possession. That puts them in almost the same amount forward as the attacking midfielders. That just leaves a crazy amount of space in the midfield and on the flanks that won't be used at all. The defenders will have a very easy job. You want to play possession football but this formation, to me anyway, looks like something you would try late in the game when you need a goal badly, with higher tempo and more direct passing. Doing that would push bodies forward quickly, as this formation is so VERY top heavy. The CM probably has no options when on the ball in your system and is getting very frustrated so he probably makes horrible passes or passes back to the defenders who also have no options and then hoofs it forward.

And why are you so against using wingbacks? In my current save, I decided to go to a 3 at the back formation in order to get my two best players in striker positions. I also had quality midfielders and average wingers. So I went with a 3 man flat midfield with 2 wingbacks. I didn't even use real wingbacks. I put my average wingers in the wingback role and they performed extremely well even though they didn't play the position before. They were only "competent" in the role by the end of the season yet both averaged 7+ ratings in league play.

So I played a 5-3-2 for the very first time and won the promotion via playoff for back to back promotions, definitely overachieving (Media had us coming in dead last at the start of the campaign).

Never having used wingbacks before, it took me half a season to figure out how to make it work with the personnel I had. What I learned was this. Wingback is a ridiculously demanding role, both physically and mentally. The fact is that most players, even ones that you would think are really great, won't be able to play it well. Not only do you have to be gifted physically, but you have to be mentally strong and know what to do and when to do it (notice Decisions is a main attribute for the role). There's nowhere to hide in this role. If a mistake is made, the team feels it and has to adjust a lot to cover.

I didn't have all around studs to play the role so I was very specific with instructions and tried to make the role a bit easier. Sometimes if I felt they were making too many mistakes, I would put them as fullbacks and just tell them to get forward more when on support. This allowed them to operate in ALMOST the same space, but limited the role to something that they could handle, instead of telling them to save the world or cure cancer without the ability to do it.

I've rambled enough, but the only other thing I could mention is that the other formation you mentioned is definitely more balanced. It has a diamond midfield which definitely creates more options for the midfielders when on the ball. They can create triangles easier, recycling with eachother until they see a through ball opportunity to the wingers and attacking players. Honestly I think even in that formation you would see better results if you used wingbacks or even fullbacks on attack duty.
 
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