4231 Gegenpress struggles

foreveryyoung

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Hi folks,

Im using this tactic (screenshot) and won the A-League pretty easily with Brisbane Roar, but i'm having trouble using it with VVV Venlo in the Eredivisie.

We always concede from wide counters where their wingers get behind my FBs and crosses to their striker who has a tap in. I've tried making the FBs press less urgently and be less attacking but it doesn't seem to work. When the FBs are more defensive they dont tend to cross when I want them to, and just dilly dally with the ball and end up getting tackled.

Also, this could be because VVV aren't very good, but we miss lots of very easy chances and can't seem to header the ball into the goal.

Any help would be appreciated,

Thanks guys
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Having attacking full backs is obviously going to leave you open to counters. You could put them on defend or support and tell them to cross more often and cross from deep.

What's the pace and acceleration of your defenders? How is their decisionmaking, positioning and anticipation?
 
I haven't bothered at all with transfers, this save is just to test the tactic for my full game save. The 3 I use most all have between 8-13 in those attributes.

Thanks for the reply
 
There are two things that stand out to me here. The first is that you have six players on attack duty. That's a lot, probably too many, even for an attack-minded tactic. You might change one or both of your fullbacks or your central midfielder who are on attack to support, particularly your left back, since there's less space for him to attack into with your winger staying wide. The second is that some of your instructions conflict. "Pass into space" doesn't work well with "work ball into box" and "shorter passing." You need to consider how you want to attack (presumably quickly in transition) and remove the instructions that don't fit.
 
I was using the Gegenpress with Dulwich Hamlet. It worked really well when I was in the Vanarama South (won the league by a mile) but when I got promoted, I was conceding a lot (1 win in the first 11 games). I changed the formation to a 3-4-1-2 (I think it's a 5-2-1-2 on FM) and I ended up losing only 1 out of the next 10 games and finished midtable. I'm about 10 games into my second season in Vanarama National and I'm in the playoff spots.
 
4231 Southampton Gegenpress

I've used the preset 4231 Gegenpress with my career with Southampton and it was a definite success winning the league in my first season with them. However, every time I have used the tactic the only negative that I have is that the ST never performs well.

Thankfully Nathan Redmond stepped in with around 20 odd goals as a Left-Sided Inside Forward, and also I have to acknowledge the signing of Lucas Paqueta for 15 Million.

Just wondering if anybody has any tips to improve the performances of my Striker.

(Also if anybody wants me to post any screenshots my career and signings then let me know)
 
I've used the preset 4231 Gegenpress with my career with Southampton and it was a definite success winning the league in my first season with them. However, every time I have used the tactic the only negative that I have is that the ST never performs well.

Thankfully Nathan Redmond stepped in with around 20 odd goals as a Left-Sided Inside Forward, and also I have to acknowledge the signing of Lucas Paqueta for 15 Million.

Just wondering if anybody has any tips to improve the performances of my Striker.

(Also if anybody wants me to post any screenshots my career and signings then let me know)

Can you post a screenshot of your tactic so we can see what your roles/duties/instructions are? It'll be easier to give advice about your ST issues with that information.
 
Its not very balanced at all. Your front 3 players who won't bother helping back at all. The wide defenders and one of your mids are primarily focused on attacking. So quite simply, you are giving up chances because you've told them to focus on being attacking and you are bound to leave space based on your shape and your duties.

Another factor with these tactical templates is that you need squads that are suited to it. Without going into the game, I expect VVV-Venlo are lower-half Eredivisie in terms of quality. So the players aren't going to be well suited to pressing hard and constantly. Teams that are filled with hard-working but fairly technical players who can run forever will do very well with it. Its why people are killing it using Gegenpressing with the likes of Liverpool and PSG. A squad like Southampton is less immediately suited, but still has plenty of players who are hard working but still technical. I expect running Gegenpressing with Cardiff would work far less effectively.
 
Ye VVV are predicted 15th out of 18 so I guess I'm doing alright. I realise using a poor team wont work as well as with Liverpool etc.

Thanks for the feedback guys!
 
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