4-4-2 tactic with Benitez flavour

How do you send images of tactics? any Help!

Take a set of screenshots (alt+F9) and then upload to an image hosting site?

There's not much point taking screenshots of a 4-4-2 though, and doing 12 screenshots of information screens seems a bit excessive for each variant :)
 
Can i use this tact with MAD or MAE in the position of MD or ME?
 
Can i use this tact with MAD or MAE in the position of MD or ME?

I've got the tactic set up so the player on the left hand side of central midfield is more attacking and the player on the right side of central midfield is more defensive. As long as the player can play in central midfield, you should be ok - obviously the better he's able to play in central midfield, the better he'll perform.
 
started a new game with bury and got promoted 1st season no problem. got over 100 points with a competely average team.. these tactics are unreal.

on another save i mixed in your tactics with lees and won the champions league. thanks so much.... have you got any improvements on the tactics or anything?
 
working excellent with torquay it hasnt even taken time to settle straight in there with a 3-2 win then a 2-0 win now a 1-0 win against league leaders. cheers buddy will keep you updated if anything goes wrong. i havent done any 'player instructions' would you recommend doing them or are they a waste of time?

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i think i jinxed it i just lost 1-0 whilst completly dominating the game, i started with standard then i dominated so changed to attacking then ultra attack for last 10 mins but the keeper came up for a corner and they countered to an open goal. i think i need to get some new strikers in i have 5 strikers and not one can finish. malcolm christie and stuart fleetwood, are my 2 new signing and they are awfull, shaun north said they are quality players and thier finishing is like 13 14 and they still cant score!
 
started a new game with bury and got promoted 1st season no problem. got over 100 points with a competely average team.. these tactics are unreal.

on another save i mixed in your tactics with lees and won the champions league. thanks so much.... have you got any improvements on the tactics or anything?

I'm waiting for 9.3 Dave as that may change some glitches in the match engine and allow me to set up the defensive line a bit better. Mixing it with Lee's Liverpool tactics should work quite well (edit: for teams capable of playing a system other than 4-4-2 that is) as they both use the same mentality system - glad that what I thought was true in theory is true in reality though :D

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Torquaylad - you definitely do need to tell your keeper not to go up for corners if you're going to use ultra-attacking frequently :) Go to the keeper's instructions and set him to 'default' for attacking corners.

Not sure what to say about your strikers. You do need to tweak the tactics to make them appropriate for your players. So check who you have as your target man, what are his skills? Is he able to win the ball in the air? If he isn't setting target man supply to 'head' isn't going to be much use. Is he able to control the ball and dribble it? If he isn't, then his supply shouldn't be 'to feet'. Is he fast in comparison to the defenders he's playing? If he isn't, then there isn't much point playing balls for him to 'run onto' unless the defenders are knackered and he's fresh. It's probably not the players at fault as the tactics do need to be changed for the players you have. Another thing to look at is how your wingers and attacking midfielder are playing - are they creating good chances? If not, how can you get them to make better ones? Really you want to create as easy chances as possible for your strikers. ;)

edit: Against teams you are dominating but not scoring, try the control tactics - they should help a bit.
 
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I tried the tactics with Juventus in Italy and the standard is of some use. The attacking formation doesn't work at all.
Have you tried your tactics in other leagues than english Zedebee? It's strange that while the player material at Liverpool and Juventus are similar superior the system works a lot better in my liverpool game..
 
Hi LFCForever - the game models countries' different approaches to football as well. I doubt a high tempo approach (ie the attacking) would work as well in eg Italy or Spain although it should work in eg Germany, Holland, Scandinavia. The level of pressing would also be an issue. Sacchi found this out with his Milan side in real life - high tempo and high pressing knackered his players out after just a couple of seasons. I've personally only tested these tactics at League 2 and below in England. I'd never recommend a 4-4-2 in the modern Italian game - at least not with a flat 4 in midfield. In southern European countries, the control variant would probably be the one I'd focus on tinkering around with if attempting to play these tactics there.

On a more general note, it should be possible using the 9.3 patch to now place the defensive line to the same level as the MCa's mentality (it's currently tied to the MCd's mentality) in attacking variants. I've not tested it extensively yet, but the added pressure does bring dividends at the usual risk of making you a little more vulnerable at the back.
 
Hi LFCForever - the game models countries' different approaches to football as well. I doubt a high tempo approach (ie the attacking) would work as well in eg Italy or Spain although it should work in eg Germany, Holland, Scandinavia. The level of pressing would also be an issue. Sacchi found this out with his Milan side in real life - high tempo and high pressing knackered his players out after just a couple of seasons. I've personally only tested these tactics at League 2 and below in England. I'd never recommend a 4-4-2 in the modern Italian game - at least not with a flat 4 in midfield. In southern European countries, the control variant would probably be the one I'd focus on tinkering around with if attempting to play these tactics there.

On a more general note, it should be possible using the 9.3 patch to now place the defensive line to the same level as the MCa's mentality (it's currently tied to the MCd's mentality) in attacking variants. I've not tested it extensively yet, but the added pressure does bring dividends at the usual risk of making you a little more vulnerable at the back.


playing a high tempo in leagues like serie A etc does'nt work i tried it with ac milan and by half time my players condition was like 60%-70%.

maybe a slower but more direct playing style would work
 
maybe a slower but more direct playing style would work

I think that personally I'd be tempted to move to a defensive control variant as my standard formation, lowering the tempo and the pressing as you say and then switching up to a high tempo variant for 10 minute spells every now and again to get the goal. It seems to be the only way to get teams to play in an Italian or Spanish style in FM as the players won't do this by themselves like in real life :D
 
Zebedee- thanks for your work and posting this tactic. I have read the TT&F document, but its quite complex and not that user friendly when it comes to actually creating a tactic from scratch. Mine so far have failed!

I am on my third season as shrewsbury town so these tactics should suit- i will let you know how i get on.

ps have you noticed any changes for 9.3 that should be applied?
 
Hi beardeye. The tactics work as they are, although they are probably a little too defensive now for most teams as the defence sits a little too deep for 9.3. You could try moving the defensive line to the same level as the mentality of the MCa for better overall results, although beware of pacy forwards. ;) Otherwise, as long as you are willing to tweak to the strengths of your players, the overall framework should serve you well. Good luck.
 
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this tactic is awesome, finish 7th in second season with birmingham in premier, and won Carling Cup.


my team at the start of third season is



Ochoa (8M)
Fazio (13M)
Gerard Piqué (19M)
Stefan Radu (4M)
Alan Hutton (17M)
Axel Witsel (4M)
Yermolaev (Free - Regen)
Miguel Veloso (12M)
Marquinhos (11M)
Keirrison (4M)
Bojan (Free)


the key is buying cheap wonderkids and selling them one year later, my team average age is 23 years
 
I'm glad you're enjoying using the set of tactics nickoh_lvp. I think you might find yourself having even greater success if you start to limit players coming in and out of the club - the squad gelling part of the game can have a huge impact on your results. If you've also got two or three old heads in the team, that will also help your youngsters - older players don't get as despondent when a goal is conceded and their influence will lift the whole team.
 
I'm glad you're enjoying using the set of tactics nickoh_lvp. I think you might find yourself having even greater success if you start to limit players coming in and out of the club - the squad gelling part of the game can have a huge impact on your results. If you've also got two or three old heads in the team, that will also help your youngsters - older players don't get as despondent when a goal is conceded and their influence will lift the whole team.

My team is complete now, my first team is under 24, i am thinking of selling witsel in a future (this season i rejected offers of 25M) and buying Messi.


before that buying or getting on loan and experienced central midfielder for replacing Yermolaev who isn't the best CM that i can get.


i
 
Once that squad gels I think you'll be challenging for big prizes nickoh_lvp. Good luck :)
 
Just started using this tactic with my Huddersfield team in the first season. We were tipped to get a top half position at the start of the season, and midway through we were 8th. The problem I was having was that I was going 2 or 3 goals up, but then the opposition just started bombarding me and usually pulled it back to at least a draw. I tried shifting formation, mentalities etc, but to no avail. Since I've switched to this tactic, i'm currently on an 11 match unbeaten run. I tend to start off with the standard variant depending on the opposition, then tweak it in game. If the game is not going to well, I switch to either the control or defensive variants to bring a bit of stability, then switch back to standard. I try to get a 2 goal cushion then swiitch back to control to close the game.

So, thanks for sharing!
 
Glad the terriers are benefitting from it. All the best with them Sam.
 
My team is doing it well at premiership, we are 2nd and we play 16 matches

bojan has 11 goals in 15 matches, and Keirrison 9 goals in 14 matches

Yermolaev has 8 assists (top assist)


we pass the group stage in UEFA
 
I'm very impressed by your achievement Nickoh. Very happy the tactics with your tweaks are working so well in the Premier League. :)
 
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