4-5-1 Wingers High (or, 4-2DM-1-2-1: An Antidote to Opposition 4-2-3-1)

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rocheyb

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It’s season 2024/25 and my Southampton team has recovered from a heinous opening day 1-2 defeat to Fulham to now lead the Premier League table by 1 point, with 9 matches played by all.

Although we have won the Premier League twice during my save, we have finished 2nd, 3rd and 2nd in the last three seasons and twice missed out on the title on the last day of the season. Chelsea have won the last two titles and I am about to face them twice in succession; first in the 4th Round of the Capital One Cup at home, and then in the league at their new 65,000-capacity Cole Stadium.

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I have played Chelsea 32 times so far in my save and have only recently overtaken them in the Head-To-Head record by virtue of winning our last two meetings; 1-0 away in our 2nd league encounter of last season and then 2-0 in the Final to claim our 6th consecutive Capital One Cup. On both occasions, I played a formation that I had created specifically with them, and their 4-2-3-1 system, in mind.

So the purpose of this thread is to examine how this formation performs against Chelsea - still one of the best teams in Europe - in these two matches, baring in mind that some squad rotation will be necessary from the first match to the second.

My ‘4-5-1 Wingers High’ formation breaks down as 4-2DM-1-2-1, and lines-up like this:

(Individual Player Instructions set by me - not listing those that come automatically with the role)

Goalkeeper: Pass It Shorter; Distribute To Defenders
Full-Back (Right)_Support: Cross Aim Target Man; Pass It Shorter; Close Down More
Centre-Back_Defend: Pass It Shorter; Close Down More
Centre-Back_Defend: Pass It Shorter; Close Down More
Full-Back (Left)_Attack: Cross More Often; Cross Aim Far Post; Close Down More; Pass It Shorter; Cross From Deep; Get Further Forward
Ball-Winning Midfielder_Defend: More Direct Passes; Mark Tighter
Deep-Lying Playmaker_Support: More Direct Passes; Close Down More
Advanced Playmaker_Attack: More Direct Passes; Roam From Position
Winger (Right)_Attack: Cross From Byline; Cross Aim Target Man; More Risky Business
Inside Forward (Left)_Support: Cross Aim Target Man; Shoot More Often; Dribble More
Complete Forward_Support: Pass It Shorter; Move Into Channels; Shoot More Often

The team instructions are more offensive than you might expect from this defensive-looking formation (see screenshot), with the Mentality: CONTROL; Fluidity: BALANCED.

The now 29 year-old Luke Shaw remains a Saint in my universe and he is the one attacking down the left-hand side from Full-Back, with the right-footed Croatian Karlo Lulic (automatically) cutting inside further up the flank to create space for the overlap. A young Spanish winger called Francisco Javier Salinas provides the option to put an attacking winger on the left flank and convert Shaw to Full-Back_Support - which worked very well a couple of matches ago, switching on the hour mark to get a 1-0 win against Manchester City with the 64th minute winner set-up by Salinas. City used to line-up with 4-2-3-1 but Michael Laudrup has moved them to 4-4-2 most of the time, now.

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My Advanced Playmaker, Giammarco Stangoni, is one of the best players in the world; World Player of the Year 2021 and European Football of the Year for 3 of the last 4 seasons. So his ability to run at the opposition from deep and commit defenders to create space behind them is important to this formation.

Our first meeting with Jose Mourinho’s men is on a Tuesday, three days after our epic fightback from 0-2 down at half-time to beat West Brom 3-2, having started with my usually preferred 3-5-2 formation and switching to 4-4-1-1 at the break. The winner came in minute 90+1! I had rested a couple of players, including Stangoni, for that match so I have a strong squad to select from now.
 
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Preparation vs CHELSEA (h)

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Capital One Cup - 4th Round
SAINTS: Evens (Fav); Chelsea: 11/5; Draw: 11/5

My Opposition Scouting Report advises that we should train on Defending Set-Pieces ahead of our first meeting with Chelsea, this season, so that’s what we are doing. We beat the Blues 2-0 in last season’s Final of this competition and I’m hoping to keep our run going so we can claim the trophy for a record 7th consecutive time.

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Summary Screen: They favour the 4-2-3-1 formation, with a choice of Adnan Januzaj, Eden Hazard, Oscar or a 24 year-old, world class Italian playmaker called William Venera, who I was hoping to sign from Genoa last summer before Mourinho got him first for 27.5-million, to fill the dangerous No.10 role. The report says that they are weak against 4-4-2, but I know better from past experience! It also identifies their average height as a potential area of weakness, whereas we have several tall players who are good in the air in our squad. They score goals throughout matches but are strong in the 15mins after half-time, with assists from their left wing. They generally concede during the 16-30mins period, with assists coming from the opposition’s right. I have good attacking wingers to choose from on the right-hand side and our team is set-up to attack down both flanks and work the channels, too.

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Squad Depth: There’s not much to choose between the two teams according to the Squad Comparison screen; we perhaps have a slight edge but they are stronger defensively.

Goals: The Goal Analysis for Chelsea reveals that they are actually dangerous from all areas and throughout matches, and don’t concede very many at all. So we are going to have to be on our game and work hard from minute 1.

This information will obviously be the same prior to the second meeting, so my preparation for that game will be more of a reaction to the first game.

We beat Premier League strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 away with a weakened team in the 3rd Round, while Chelsea won 3-0 at perennial Championship mid-table dwellers, Nottingham Forest.
 
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Capital One Cup - 4th Round
SOUTHAMPTON vs CHELSEA
St. Mary’s Stadium, Southampton; Att: 35,332

Having rested players prior to this match, I’m now selecting the strongest team I can and I’ll deal with injuries and squad fatigue prior to the league meeting three days later as we get to it.

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I have Karlo Lulic cutting in from the left-wing with Luke Shaw coming up on the overlap, and I may be able to do the same switch I did against City to change our attacking dynamic later on. Sercan Calik gets the nod over Kabastanakis on the right-wing due to superior fitness. The Brazilian Full-Back Rodrigao is on support duty behind Calik. Our skipper, Giammarco Stangoni, is fully-fit in the Advanced Playmaker role. A few of the players in defensive roles are not 100% fit, but I will try to manage this situation with the next match in mind, too. We’re going well in our Champions League group, so if I have to play a slightly weakened team at Atletico Madrid in matchday 4 (having beaten them 5-1 in matchday 3), we should still be OK. Like Calik, centre-back Roel Rutten has been a World Cup and European Championship winner with Belgium. Sergey Radimov is one of those defenders that can play anywhere across the back-four. The world class keeper that I lucked into four years ago on a free from Barcelona, Abdel Aziz Ibrahim of Egypt, is my No.1. Christoffer Jorgensen leads the line as Complete Forward_Support. He only has 2 goals so far this season, but has been my top scorer for the last few seasons. James Ward-Prowse has only just recovered from injury so misses out. Jose Pinho, Francisco Javier Salinas and Yvo Lucas offer attacking options from the bench.

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Chelsea have lined-up as expected, with Adnan Januzaj in the No.10 and Rob Tokaya, a rather injury-prone right winger who is a rival of our own Kostas Kabastanakis in the Dutch national team. Likewise, Kyle Metcalfe is Luke Shaw’s rival for the England left-back slot and is a similar attacking full-back. Spanish striker Joaquin is a former Barcelona player and is another player, along with Venera, that Mourinho beat me to the punch in signing when I had him in my sights. Both of their wingers are playing on the same side as their preferred foot, so they will attack the byline and/or the channels rather than cut inside like Inside Forwards. Thibaut Courtois is still their goalkeeper.

In the Opposition Instructions, I see that Chelsea also have a few players at less than 100% fitness going into this game. I instruct… Closing Down: Always; Tackling: Normal; Show Onto Foot: Weaker Foot for all six of Chelsea’s midfielders and attackers. No instructions for their defenders. I manage to muddle my way through the pre-match Team Talk, thanks to the option to speak to the players individually, to get most of them into a positive frame of mind.

1st HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- 1sec: Southampton kick-off, attacking the Northam End to the left of the screen. Chelsea are in their darker changed strip.
- 1min: An early miss-placed back pass by Stangoni gifts the ball to Joaquin, but he is quickly smothered out of possession by the sheer weight of numbers in Southampton’s DM area.
- 3mins: Tokaya tries to launch a counter-attack for Chelsea but is robbed by Rutten’s strong challenge, 15 yards inside the visitors’ half. Karlo Lulic squares the ball to Saville while Stangoni, Jorgensen and Calik make forward runs. Saville finds Stangoni going through the middle, and he traps the ball to let Chelsea defenders run beyond him, before slipping a short pass to Jorgensen. Metcalfe somehow manages to stretch his lunging right leg around both Calik and Jorgensen to connect with the ball and Addai’s panicky clearance concedes a corner.
- 4mins: The corner is cleared but Saints work their way through a congested central midfield with short passes to create an opening for Jorgensen to shoot from outside the area, but it’s a comfortable save for Courtois.
- 5mins: Sercan Calik’s right-wing corner is sent wide of the far post by Roel Rutten’s glancing header. A bright start for The Saints.
- 6mins: A sloppy piece of play by Chelsea almost gifts Southampton the lead. From a goal-kick, Courtois passes out to Metcalfe at left-back and he exchanges passes with the centre-back Butler. The return pass is inaccurate and allows Calik to slide in and win the ball from Metcalfe before charging into the penalty area and, despite the attentions of Butler, shoot across goal and narrowly wide of the far post.
- 7mins: From a right-wing throw, Stangoni dribbles past two defenders on the right side of the box and turns inside a third to thread the ball to Calik. He shoots from a tight angle, striking the near post, Butler clearing upfield for a brief Chelsea respite. Then Pugliese tussles the ball away from Venera to feed Jorgensen through the middle, forcing Minchev into a well-timed sliding tackle.
- 9mins: Stangoni runs at Chelsea down the right-hand side again, and although his cross is turned away, it soon comes back for Calik to drive a low shot that Courtois has to push wide at the foot of his left-hand post. The corner is cleared but again, Southampton win the ball back and are quickly on the front foot, although on this occasion the ball out to the left-wing is too strong for Lulic to catch.
- 10mins: Momcilovic takes the throw from the Chelsea right, deep inside his own half. Lulic out-jumps Addai to head the ball forward to Jorgensen, who returns it to the Croatian on left angle of the area. He skips past Momcilovic and crosses to the edge of the 6-yard box where Jorgensen connects with a header but can’t get enough on it, the ball glancing wide of the far post. A great chance; he should have scored.
- 11mins: The goal-kick is again played out to Metcalfe but his ball into midfield is intercepted by Saville whose first-time pass finds Jorgensen 20-yards out with his back to goal. He feeds Calik on the right, who holds the ball up under pressure from two defenders long enough to play into the path of Stangoni’s run-from-deep. The Italian chips a shot from just inside the area towards the far top corner, but Courtois makes an acrobatic leap to push the ball over the bar. He catches the ball cleanly from Calik’s near-post corner from the left.
- 12mins: Chelsea can’t get out of their own half. Solga is dispossessed by Radimov on the Southampton right, 10-yards ahead of halfway. He passes forward to Calik who squares the ball to Lulic in the inside-left channel. He lays it on for the overlapping Luke Shaw and the England full-back’s cross is headed wide by Stangoni, with Jorgensen also queuing to get on the end of it. Another good chance goes begging.
- 13mins: Again, Metcalfe to Solga down the Chelsea left and The Saints take the ball back. A cross field pass is intercepted but Shaw tracks back and wins it from Tokaya before he can work up any momentum, passing infield to Saville - and Southampton are working their way forward again. A good sliding tackle by Momcilovic wins it back for Chelsea and his chipped pass releases Joaquin in the inside-right channel. He gets close to goal but Rutten slides in to divert the ball behind for a corner - which Saville heads away.
- 15mins: The Saints defend a throw on Chelsea’s right-wing, and Jorgensen brings the ball up to halfway before squaring to Calik on the far side of the centre-circle. He moves infield, into the Chelsea half, and feeds Lulic who is making a run up the Saints left. The Croatian goes past Minchev on the left side of the area and crosses from level with the 6-yard box. Stangoni traps the ball with his right foot and swings with his left, but is dispossessed by Minchev’s recovering tackle, sending the ball to the right corner of the 6-yard box where the unmarked Sercan CALIK fires home left-footed, just inside the right-hand post, beyond the diving Courtois. A well-deserved lead for the home side. 1-0.
- 22mins: Jorgensen goes back to defend a left-wing Chelsea free-kick, heading the ball out from the edge of the area. Calik heads it on over Januzaj and into the possession of Giammarco Stangoni just inside the centre-circle. With two defenders goal side of him, and several more trying to catch up, he runs at the Chelsea defence, moving from centre to inside-left as he goes. His momentum - a consequence of having begun his run from a deep position - enables him to float past Momcilovic and only a smart save by Courtois, low to his right, prevents the European Footballer of the Year from extending his side’s lead from just inside the area.
- 24mins: Luke Shaw shoots wide of the left-hand post with a 25-yard free-kick.
- 33mins: Southampton’s high defensive line enables Momcilovic to release Rob Tokaya on the right-hand side, but he can’t get away from Rutten, the Belgian defender blocking his attempt from the edge of the box, at the expense of a corner.
- 36mins: Solga gets away from Rodrigao on the Chelsea left, and then checks his dribbling run to cross from deep, midway inside The Saints half. The high angled cross bypasses the entire Southampton defence and Joaquin is clean through inside the area. He controls the ball on his chest to sidestep Ibrahim and shoot for a certain equaliser - but the Egyptian keeper makes an outstanding save, diving to his left to parry it; Tokaya’s follow-up is blocked by Shaw and Stangoni brings the ball out through the midfield, dribbling all the way to the left side of Chelsea’s penalty area. The move comes to nothing - but I hope you’re noticing how a confident and fast dribbler from central midfield is able to create attacking situations for my team.
- 37mins: Again, Stangoni picks the ball up in the middle of his own half and then runs past Addai and out to the left wing, midway inside Chelsea’s half. He turns infield and passes to the on-running Shaw. His first-time pass plays Lulic into space inside the area, and his right-foot shot to the far corner is brilliantly saved by Courtois, Minchev having to clear into touch.
- 42mins: With players spread across the midfield midway inside Chelsea’s half, The Saints work the ball out to Rodrigao on the right and he plays Calik in. The Belgian winger steps around Butler on his way to the near post, but Courtois saves and Metcalfe clears across his own goal for a corner on the left wing. From the corner, Calik plays the ball back to Stangoni, who glides past Venera on his way to the left side of the Chelsea box, before shooting across goal, through a crowd of players, forcing Courtois to make a diving catch to his left.
- 43mins: Pugliese’s drive from the D is blocked, after receiving a square pass from Shaw after a right-wing throw.

HALF-TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 1-0 CHELSEA

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I am amazed at Giammarco Stangoni’s half-time rating of 5.7. He has torn the Chelsea midfield apart with this attacking dribbles, pulled their defence all over the place and drawn two excellent saves from Courtois. And generally, the team’s ratings at the break do not reflect the dominance that they have exerted during the first-45. The Belgian goalkeeper has been Chelsea’s only decent player so far, but they are bringing on Gabriel Barbosa for Rob Tokaya. Barbosa is pacey but only 84% conditioned. They are keeping the same shape. I tell the players that they’re doing well but there is room for improvement and talk to them individually to get everyone motivated for the second-half.

2nd HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- 51mins: Januzaj drifts an in-swinging free-kick to the far post from the right-hand side and William Venera steals in to get a free header on-target, but Ibrahim catches the ball on his goal-line.
- 52mins: Stangoni, Calik and Lulic play short passes in the inside left of Chelsea’s penalty area, with several lunging challenges by defenders risking a spot-kick, until Gabriel Barbosa concedes a corner.
- 53mins: Jason Saville, playing against his former club, climbs at the front post to head Calik’s corner goal ward, but it goes wide of the far post.
- 54mins: Saville squares the ball from left to centre, to Mario Pugliese. He finds Stangoni by the D and his short pass enables Calik to drive a left-footed shot for the far corner, but Courtois gets down to make the save.
- 56mins: Shaw cuts in from the right - due to his position on throw-ins - and his shot is blocked by one of his team-mates among a crowd of players. A tactical foul by Lulic prevents Joaquin from counter-attacking.
- 57mins: Gabriel Barbosa does well to take on Shaw and Pugliese, into the right side of Southampton’s area, before checking onto his left foot to chip a shot over Ibrahim towards the far corner. But Radimov and Rodrigao both read the danger, the Russian getting there first to head the ball off-the-line.
- 58mins: Stangoni trips his Italian international team-mate Venera to concede a free-kick on the edge of The Saints area. Januzaj’s effort is too high.
- 59mins: Jorgensen puts Minchev under pressure midway inside the Chelsea half, forcing the defender into a (unrealistic) panicky clearance for a Saints corner. Calik’s cross almost floats straight in, but hits the woodwork and goes behind.
- 61mins: Shaw tackles Momcilovic on the halfway line and then advances down the left-wing, burning past Butler on the way to crossing into the box where Christoffer Jorgensen again fails to get full force behind his header, glancing it wide of the far post.
- 62mins: Chelsea have replaced Adnan Januzaj with their England international academy graduate Harry Hodges.
- 63mins: Karlo Lulic shoots narrowly over from a 25-yard free-kick from the right.
- 65mins: Even though I think FM’s rating for Stangoni is just plain wrong here, I am bringing him out in anticipation of the next match, pushing Lulic into the Advanced Playmaker role to replace him and brining Francisco Javier Salinas on as an attacking Left Winger with instructions to Cross From Byline and Aim Crosses At Target Man. Luke Shaw reverts to Full-Back_Support. Jorgensen takes the captain’s armband.
- 67mins: Lulic shoots towards the top right corner from the left, from outside the area, but Courtois catches the ball. Then Calik puts Metcalfe under pressure and his cross-field clearance is intercepted by Salinas, requiring Butler to make a last-ditch sliding tackle to block the Spanish winger’s shot from inside the box…
- 68mins: …Calik stands the corner to the far post and Sergey Radimov climbs highest but can’t keep his header down.
- 74mins: Mark Ardean-Webb comes on for Jason Saville in the DLP role.
- 76mins: Pugliese and Lulic pick their way through a congested Chelsea midfield to move the ball into the feet of Jorgensen on the edge of the D, where Butler’s lunge concedes a free-kick. Karlo LULIC drives the ball over the 5-man Chelsea wall, beyond the outstretched hand of the diving Courtois and into the top right-hand corner, to send the St. Mary’s crowd into rapture. 2-0.
- 79mins: Barbosa and Solga are both closed down as they attempt to shoot from the edge of the area, but win a corner on the left.
- 82mins: After defending a Southampton free-kick, Ben Addai advances to halfway and hits a high pass into the path of Joaquin, who escapes Shaw to run through the middle of the Saints defence. His control brings him into the area, on his right foot, but Ibrahim makes another world class save at the striker’s feet to deny Chelsea a lifeline in this match.
- 82mins: Juan Carlos is coming on for Roel Rutten.
- 84mins: Salinas tries to run infield with the ball but is dispossessed by Momcilovic. He plays it wide to Barbosa who takes on Shaw before crossing to the centre. Harry Hodges gets above Juan Carlos on the 6-yard line but heads over the bar.
- 85mins: Pugliese’s shot from the edge of the box hits Radimov, after a Saints throw from the right is worked infield.
- 89mins: Salinas crosses from the left wing and Lulic flicks the ball into the 6-yard box where Sercan Calik slides in with Metcalfe, but diverts the ball wide in the process.
- 90mins: Mark Ardean-Webb wins the header from Courtois’s goal-kick. Jorgensen pushes the ball into the inside-left channel to put Salinas in on-goal, but his angled shot is parried behind by the Chelsea keeper.
- 90mins+2: Harry Hodges is shown the yellow card for a late tackle on Radimov, inside The Saints area. Kyle Metcalfe soon follows his team-mate into the referee’s notebook for a trip on Lulic, to the right of Chelsea’s area…
- 90mins+3: …and just enough time remains for Lulic’s cross to the far post to be headed home by Christoffer JORGENSEN. An emphatic 3-0 victory for The Saints!

FULL-TIME:

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MAN OF THE MATCH:
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KARLO LULIC (SOUTHAMPTON) - 9.1
Inside Forward (Left)_Support and then Advanced Playmaker_Attack: 1 goal, 2 assists.

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VERDICT:
My tactics worked a treat in the first-half, throttling Chelsea by not allowing them any time on the ball or any space in midfield to find their usual rhythm. Their only advances were from deep free-kicks, which we defended comfortably, and high balls into the channels when we occasionally held too hight a defensive line. We weren’t quite as effective at harrying them in the second-half, but we continued to dominate the play and create chances down both wings and through the middle, while they got down the sides of us a couple of times without hurting us. Our goalkeeper earned his money with two exceptional saves to deny Joaquin, but Thibaut Courtois was the busiest man on the park at the other end.

Look at the Match Stats screenshot. Although this 4-2DM-1-2-1 formation may appear defensive at first glance, with the right sort of players you can dominate even a top team like Chelsea. I expect to come up against a stronger Chelsea line-up for the Premier League match, though, and will have to manage my squad well to try and achieve a similar result. With the squad bordering on over-confidence, I limit the post-match team-talk to simple and calm “Well done”.
 
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Preparation vs CHELSEA (a)

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Premier League - Matchday 10
Chelsea: 13/8; SAINTS: 6/4 (fav); Draw: 2/1

We are currently 1 point ahead of Manchester United in the Premier League table, with Chelsea another point back in 3rd place, so a win at Cole Stadium against the reigning Champions could go a long way to cementing our challenge.

Giammarco Stangoni should be fit for the match in three days’ time, but Karlo Lulic’s conditioning is currently at 77% so he might have to settle for a place on the bench, if I include him at all, despite his Man of the Match display last time. There will be quite a bit of rotation but I do have good players waiting in the wings, as do Chelsea.

I was happy with Stangoni’s first-half performance so I still can’t believe the match rating he had, but hopefully he will achieve a better one this time. We were very effective at congesting the midfield when we needed to stifle Chelsea, and then passing our way through the bodies when we went on the attack. To exploit our height advantage, I am considering playing the 6ft4in Portuguese forward Jose Pinho up-front this time, with Salinas as an attacking left winger.

We are working on Defending Set-Pieces again, as per the advice in the Opposition Scouting Report. Jose Mourinho tries to upset our camp by identifying Jorginho as the weak link in our squad, but I bat his nonsense away during my follow-up press conference.
 
I win the October Manager of the Month for the first time this season. And we are drawn away to Manchester United in the 5th Round of the Capital One Cup. We would need to beat them 4-0 to draw level with them over 33 matches in the Head-To-Head record since the beginning of my save. They beat us 1-2 after extra-time in last season’s FA Cup Final.
 
Premier League - Matchday 10
CHELSEA vs SOUTHAMPTON
Cole Stadium, London; Att: 64,231

I thought I might have to replace Luke Shaw with Karim Ounnas at left-back, but Shaw is at 96% so gets the nod. But with Lulic less fit, I’ve got Salinas operating as an out-and-out winger ahead of him. Jose Pinho will play as Complete Forward_Support and Giammarco Stangoni gets another chance to take on Mourinho’s men. Kaminski, Westley and Kabastanakis rotate in, to replace Radimov, Pugliese and Calik respectively.

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Eden Hazard, Oscar and Paul Pogba come into the Chelsea side, and Gabriel Barbosa gets the start in favour of Joaquin, who drops to the bench along with Adnan Januzaj.

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I give the same Opposition Instructions as in the previous match and tell the players to pick up where they left off last time, talking to some of them one-to-one to get most of the players motivated to repeat or previous victory against these opponents.

1st HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- 1sec: Southampton get the match underway, attacking from right-to-left.
- 2mins: Rob Tokaya attacks down the right wing for Chelsea and crosses to the near post, but Ibrahim catches the ball before Barbosa can get his head to it.
- 3mins: Luke Shaw heads the ball down to Jason Saville on the Southampton left. His forward pass draws a sliding challenge from Venera which Stangoni glides away from in the No.10 area and releases Salinas in the inside-left channel. The winger shoots for the far post but Courtois pushes it wide of the near post. From the corner by Kabastanakis, Saville heads wide at the near post.
- 4mins: From a Southampton throw on the right, Paul Pogba hooks the ball forward to Eden Hazard for the home side, and Barbosa manages to receive the pass while wriggling away from Rodrigao on the left edge of the penalty area before playing it across the face of goal with Tokaya lurking at the far post. Shaw manages to divert it wide for a corner.
- 8mins: Rodrigao chips a pass forward from centre field to Giammarco Stangoni, who controls it 25-yards out before being clattered from behind by Alper Minchev - at the cost of a yellow card. Luke Shaw shoots over from the free-kick.
- 22mins: Yoro heads away a left-wing cross from Salinas but Jose Pinho keeps it alive by knocking it down to the on-rushing Stangoni. He hooks the ball from the left side of the area to the far post, where Courtois leaps to push the ball over the bar despite pressure from Kabastanakis.
- 23mins: Jose Pinho connects with Kabastanakis’s right-wing cross, but somehow manages to miss from 2-yards and the ball is cleared upfield.
- 30mins: From the right-hand side, Rodrigao sidesteps Venera’s tackle on the halfway line and passes infield to Stangoni. He passes into the inside-right channel to play Kabastanaskis in behind Metcalfe. Yoro leaves Pinho to close down the Dutch winger, inviting the square pass to the Portuguese forward whose thunderous effort from 17-yards is spectacularly saved by Courtois, pushing the ball high over the bar. Saville again meets the ball at the near post but heads wide.
- 40mins: The Saints play through the Chelsea midfield and Metcalfe brings down Saville in a central position, midway inside the home team’s half. Although it’s initially cleared, Rodrigao then feeds Kabastanaskis behind Metcalfe on the Saints right, to centre for Pinho, only for Courtois to make another sharp reaction save.
- 44mins: William Venera is booked for a foul on Stangoni just inside The Saints half. He then immediately commits another foul on Kabastanaskis, but escapes further punishment - for now!
- 45mins: Phillip Kaminski is the next name in the book for a trip on Gabriel Barbosa.
- 45mins+1: A kick from Pinho leaves Yoro requiring treatment.

HALF-TIME: CHELSEA 0-0 SOUTHAMPTON

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Despite being the home side, Chelsea have not managed a single shot in the match yet, but so far Courtois has been more than equal to the three we have managed to get on-target. We are the better team and are dominant in the air, as expected. Jose Mourinho obviously is not happy with his team’s first-half showing because he is brining on two substitutes at the break, with Joaquin and the German attacking midfielder Julian Brandt coming on for Oscar and Rob Tokaya.

2nd HALF HIGHLIGHTS
- 46mins: Chelsea restart the match and almost take the lead straight away, with the two substitutes linking up from the left-hand side for Joaquin to shoot over the bar from a tight angle.
- 53mins: Momcilovic crosses from the right-hand side, after a Chelsea throw, and Joaquin gets goal side of Kaminski to head at goal from close range, but Ibrahim makes an excellent save.
- 54mins: Yellow card for Aleksandar Momcilovic. Christoffer Jorgensen comes on to replace Jose Pinho up-front for Southampton.
- 55mins: Kabastanakis’s left-wing free-kick is met by Westley but Yoro charges his shot down. Stangoni lets fly from 25-yards and Saville diverts it towards goal from the left, but Courtois catches the ball at close range.
- 56mins: Yellow card for Chelsea’s Kyle Metcalfe.
- 57mins: Shaw, Saville, Stangoni and Jorgensen combine on the left-wing before Shaw crosses from deep for Francisco Javier Salinas to head for goal but he can’t keep the ball down.
- 60mins: Salinas latches onto Stangoni’s pass to cross from the left and Jorgensen’s near-post header pulls another save from Courtois. Then Salinas heads wide from the near-post corner from Kabastanakis.
- 61mins: Karim Ounnas replaces Luke Shaw at left-back for The Saints.
- 63mins: Stangoni initiates a counter-attack on the Southampton right, that goes via Kabastanakis and Jorgensen, in the centre-circle, on the way to releasing Salinas on the left-hand side. With Momcilovic and Minchev giving chase, Salinas squares to the corner of the 6-yard box where Stangoni shoots but Yoro throws himself in the way to divert it wide for a corner.
- 64mins: Phillip Kaminski’s back-post header from the corner by Kabastanakis beats Courtois but Minchev is on the left-hand post to knock the ball over for another corner.
- 65mins: Roy Vullings replaces Yoro at centre-back for the home side.
- 66mins: Yellow card for Rodrigao for a foul on Venera. The ball is cleared from the free-kick and Salinas quickly wins a corner on the left-hand side, with Pogba tracking back to deny the Spanish winger space to shoot.
- 70mins: Kabastanakis shoots narrowly over with a free-kick from 20-yards, right of centre.
- 71mins: Karlo Lulic comes on to replace Salinas on the left, to operate as Inside Forward_Support. Ounnas switches to Left-Back_Attack.
- 74mins: Brandt gets the ball into The Saints net, but Joaquin was in an offside position during the build-up.
- 81mins: Roel Rutten has to make a well-timed sliding tackle to prevent Joaquin running through in the inside-right channel. Then Momcilovic and Venera work the ball into the middle for Eden Hazard. He finds Brandt just inside the area and the German dribbles around his compatriot Kaminski before shooting narrowly wide of the left-hand post. A let-off for the visitors.
- 82mins: I switch Ounnas back to support duty because Chelsea are starting to find spaces in our third of the pitch. The left-back receives the ball short from a right-wing throw and squares it to Shane Westley just inside the D. His low shot is turned into the et by Kaminski - but the offside flag rules the goal out.
- 84mins: Pogba passes to Venera in midfield, and he chips the ball to Barbosa on the Chelsea right. The Brazilian gets above Ounnas to knock it down for Hazard who lets fly from 20-yards, but the shot sails over.
- 90mins+3: The full-time whistle is blown. A goalless draw at Cole Stadium.

FULL-TIME:

View attachment 344173 0-0View attachment 344172

MAN OF THE MATCH:
GIAMMARCO STANGONI (SOUTHAMPTON) - 7.7
Advanced Playmaker_Attack: 0 goals; 0 asissts.

View attachment 344171 View attachment 344170 View attachment 344169

VERDICT:
We were the better side for most of the match, but Chelsea looked the more likely during the last 20 minutes. Perhaps I should have started with Lulic on the left and brought on Salinas later, rather than the other way around, and Jose Pinho didn’t have the impact I thought he would. They struggled to play their way through us again, relying more on looping balls into the channels when we stepped up. We had some good chances and forced some smart saves, but a point away to the reigning Champions is not to be sniffed at.
 
Last edited:
Our match was the lunchtime match for SkyTV. In the evening match on BTSport, Norwich City do us a massive favour by beating Manchester United 2-1, so despite dropping two points at Chelsea, we end the weekend in a slightly better situation than we started it. And we remain unbeaten in 9 Premier League matches:

View attachment 344168
 
Experiment over: What have I proved? Chelsea are still a top team in my game and we have frustrated them and prevented them from scoring in 180+ minutes of League & Cup football. I’m slightly disappointed not to get the 3 points in the Premier League, but as I said, we were away to the reigning Champions and limited them to scraps.

So, I’ll leave this thread here for other FMers to consider incorporating this formation into their own tactical set-ups, and to modify as you see fit and hopefully improve upon it.
 
Dannybell2010 said:
i dont understand the purpose of this?
Click to expand...

To understand someone else's thought process going into a game.

Don't be such a ****, just because it isn't a tactic and it isn't a tactic on a silver plate.
 
i bet it`s a good/awesome tactic but i`ve already build a fantastic 4-4-1-1 tactic after your post trying to help that guy with his saints save.. it fastly became my favorite tactic for fm14..

rocheyb said:
I've been enjoying an epic save with The Saints - although it took me several seasons to start winning trophies. I began my game the day FM14 came out and have obviously had the same database ever since. I see yours is updated.

I started with my FM11 favourite formation of 4-5-1 Assymetric but I'd recommend you go straight to 4-4-1-1 (as I eventually did) with James Ward-Prowse and Morgan Schneiderlin operating as DLP_S and BWM_D respectively. You can rotate Schneiderlin into the DLP role and bring Wanyama into the BWM position. You'll likely be offered big money for Wanyama early on from Real Madrid or someone, and I'd take it to reinvest in the squad - he's a yellow card magnet, anyway. You should still have Jack Cork, who can do a good job in midfield and at right-back until you're ready to bring in a top player to improve beyond him.

Tom Ince was brilliant for me as my first signing at M/AM_L, but I got him from Blackpool. His stock has probably risen in your database so he'll be more difficult to get - and you've got Tadic who I think plays on the left-wing anyway.

Train Jay Rodriguez to play in the Shadow Striker role. His height, creativity, shooting ability, pace etc make him ideal for this position and he was my star player for several seasons, scoring goals galore:

JAY RODRIGUEZ - GOALS BY SEASON (ALL COMPETITIONS)
2013/14 - 7 goals (playing mostly as Shadow Striker in 4-5-1 Assymetric formation)
2014/15 - 18 goals
2015/16 - 12 goals
2016/17 - 14 goals
2017/18 - 22 goals (this was the season I switched to 4-4-1-1; won Golden Boot at 2018 World Cup with 6 goals)
2018/19 - 24 goals
2019/20 - 32 goals (thirty-two! One of my DLF's also got 32 goals in this season)
2020/21 - 25 goals
2021/22 - 3 goals (long-term injury limited him to 7 starts, 5 subs)
2022/23 - 4 goals (1 start, 9 subs - due to emergence of younger players)

You need a Deep-Lying Forward_Support in front of an SS, and I don't know whether Osvaldo or Pelle would be better - so try them out and see what happens. Gaston Ramirez blows hot and cold but is quite versatile and capable of the occasional spectacular goal. If you want to keep him, train him to play from the left but you can also use him in the No.10 position as either a Playmaker or a Shadow Striker, or to deputise in the DLP_S role, but don't expect him to survive a tackle. If you like Inside Out wingers, he can play form the right as a left-footer (but not in a 4-4-1-1, obviously).

Team Instructions
- Retain Possession
- Shorter Passing (except Ward-Prowse and Schneiderlin whose preferred moves include long-range passes; they are both excellent at switching the play and picking out men in space)
- Work Ball Into Box
- Play Out of Defence
- Float Crosses
- Exploit the flanks
- Play Wider
- Hassle Opponents
- Get Stuck In

Mentality: CONTROL; Fluidity: BALANCED.

(Reserve the Push Higher Up; Higher Tempo and Be More Expressive options for when you are chasing a goal or the opposition are down to 10 men, and switch to Mentality: ATTACKING; Fluidity: FLUID).

Get your keeper to pass the ball short to defenders, to encourage ball retention. Defenders pass short; Ward-Prowse and Schneiderlin go more direct, as I said; check out your wingers' creativity and tell the better one to play More Risky Passes; SS and DLF play short passes - both Move Into Channels - SS Shoot More Often.

Put James Ward-Prowse on set-pieces. Schneiderlin as captain to begin with, but JW-P can take over in future.

Fonte's a bit of weak link; if Tin Jedvaj is available, get him. Clyne's not really a left-back; see how Matt Targett is doing among the reserves (if you don't already have Ryan Bertrand on loan from Chelsea). Otherwise, you might be able to get Daley Blind from Ajax - I did, but I still have Luke Shaw so Blind never really made much of an impact before I sold him to Fenerbahce.

Out here in the real world, Ward-Prowse is already established as a 1st team player and Matt Targett, Sam Gallagher, Lloyd Isgrove, Jack Stephens, Harrison Reed and Sam McQueen are regarded as the pick of the next batch of youngsters (or future Liverpool players, before anybody else says it!), but it remains to be seen how well that is reflected in your FM database. I'd be inclined to give them a look during pre-season and use the best of them to aid your squad rotation and provide some back-up. Remember it's important to have homegrown players when you get into Europe and also for your Premier League squad and having a lot of U21s who don't have to be named in your squads provides extra depth.

Artur Boruc is alright in goal, but if you have loads of money from the sale of all our best players, then see if you can get Jack Butland or somebody better. I actually signed Fraser Forster from Celtic first - art imitating life - but then replaced him with Butland three seasons later, which was an improvement.

Right-wing is probably your biggest problem position. I think Isgrove can play there, but if you have cash available then I'd scour the U21 squads of all the best teams in Europe and find a player who can improve with the squad over the next few seasons. You can usually sign Dutch, Serbian or Scandinavian players easily enough if they are not already with top European clubs. Check their contracts to see if they have minimum fee release clauses that you might be able to trigger. In particular, keep a close eye on youth products coming out of FC Utrecht in the Netherlands and Genk in Belgium and remember that signing a young player and loaning him back to his original club for a season can help his development and help you to manage the contracts of outgoing players.

Look at the Serbian, Adem Ljajic. He's quite a versatile and skilful attacking player that I always wanted to sign but by the time I could get him he was too old. You might have more joy. I guess he's about 23 or 24 in your game and you could retrain him to play at M/AM_R, because he's right-footed. That reminds me, I did exactly that with Jonjo Shelvey and he was quality for me for several seasons - another versatile player and good in the air. Also, very distinctive during the match animation with that bald head!

Some screenshots from my game (now up to 2024/25) to support my many and varied claims:

View attachment 668096 View attachment 668099 View attachment 668105 View attachment 668101 View attachment 668102View attachment 668107 View attachment 668110 View attachment 668113
Click to expand...
 
I'd be interested to try this... what are your team instructions? I got everything else from your pics.
 
Crane said:
To understand someone else's thought process going into a game.

Don't be such a ****, just because it isn't a tactic and it isn't a tactic on a silver plate.
Click to expand...

It just didnt make sence its showing games against chelsea so is it showing us how to play them?
 
Dannybell2010 said:
i dont understand the purpose of this?
Click to expand...

The purpose is to demonstrate a tactical system that is effective in taking on the top teams who play 4-2-3-1. The pre-amble describes all of my thinking that goes into preparing for the matches and why I made certain decisions, armed with information from the Scouting Report, for example, and the match minute-by-minutes show the 4-5-1 Wingers High formation in action.

In the first match, we dominated Chelsea and they couldn't even get out of their own half for a long period of the first-half. The second match was a more even affair but we were still the better team and certainly earned our point at the home of the reigning Premier League Champions to retain top spot in the current table, albeit with some fortune with Manchester United losing ground due to their defeat at Norwich.

I intend to use the same system against United's 4-2-3-1 when I play them in the Capital One Cup and in both league meetings to come, in the belief that I will win more points/matches than I'll lose - which hasn't always been the case against the very best teams.

I'm not recommending that anybody makes this their preferred tactic, but that they consider it as a way to tackle sides like Chelsea and United and some other top European teams who play in a similar way, as one of their three sets of tactics.
 
Dannybell2010 said:
It just didnt make sence its showing games against chelsea so is it showing us how to play them?
Click to expand...

The fact that my fixture list contained two consecutive matches against Chelsea - who have won the Premier League in the last two seasons - was what prompted me to take such painstaking detail over it and post this Thread. Had it just been the Capital One match and then a trip to West Brom or something, I wouldn't have bothered. The double-header, home-and-away, gave me a chance to put the system under the microscope against my fiercest domestic rival.

Of course, I decided to do it before I played the matches and compiled the minute-by-minute into a txt file during the animation, so I didn't know what the results were going to be. Had I lost both matches, I would not have posted - I'd just have gone back to the drawing board. But I think I can say that I "got a result" in both matches, with the Premier League return at St. Mary's to come later in the season.

Though, if you're regularly beating Chelsea, Man United and City - who I beat 1-0 recently playing the same way - then you probably won't get anything from it. Otherwise, enjoy.
 
stitty7 said:
I'd be interested to try this... what are your team instructions? I got everything else from your pics.
Click to expand...

There's a screenshot in the match report showing the Team Instruction selections. The Player Instructions are also important, as listed in the Opening Post.
 
I still use the 4-4-1-1 as well, Rapydystu. A few matches ago, I started with 3-5-2 at West Brom and was 0-2 down at half-time. Then I switched to 4-4-1-1 and won 3-2 with a stoppage time winner. Also beat Atletico Madrid 5-1 with 4-4-1-1 in my 3rd Champions League Group match and I play them next in the return, for which I'll use it again.

Don't be a slave to my ideas, though. Understand the strengths of your players and tweak it here and there to get the best out of them - and let me know if you reach any breakthroughs.
 
looks great, well thought out and a lot of work into it, but no DL link? supply one please
 
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