433 Attacking Wide - Centurion - over 100 games unbeaten (Version 2 added)

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eencae

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433 Attacking Wide - Centurion (v1.1 - P38,W35,D3,L0,F125,A7,GD118,P108)

Introduction

I've had great success with this tactic (with Chelsea) starting from the beta and continuing through the updates. I'm playing FM Touch and am well into the future (2028/29 season) so most of the players are now re-gens.

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The tactic is based on gegenpressing with the aim of winning the ball back as quickly as possible and then quickly countering down the flanks through the wing-backs, inside forwards and Mezzala's also pushing wide.

In possession:

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In transition:

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Out of possession:

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As you can see, the players are encouraged to play direct passes focussed down the flanks when in possession. This helps to get the ball upfield quickly. The keeper quickly distributes down the flanks when he receives the ball. Out of possession, the players push up and keep narrow, getting stuck in and marking their opponents tightly. Quick defenders are good to prevent being caught out on the break.

Results

Results have been excellent, the tactic gives some very big wins and is also very tight at the back.

Some big wins include 13-3 versus Barcelona (!). This was unbelievable and their defence had the worst game I've ever seen on 25 years of CM/FM!

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Also 7-1 versus Arsenal.

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There have also been plenty of others and I've hit double figures of goals a few times, particularly in European games, so I think it may be an issue playing teams whose leagues are not being fully simulated.

The tactic is very solid with my keeper keeping 43 clean sheets in 64 games.

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This has led to lots of success, an ongoing 102 game unbeaten streak and clean sweep of all competitions.

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I usually win the league with 100+ goals, 100+ points and 10-15 goals against.

Summary

This tactic has been excellent but I must stress I'm playing in 2028/29 with a very strong team and have spent lots of money (£1.5Bn! But received £2B through sales!) as well as having several wonder kids who also developed into world-class players. I have a world-class player in every position.

Since going through the 100 game unbeaten barrier, I've decided to quit this game and start a new one with the 19.1.2 patch and test the tactic with another team with 'real players'. I'm interested to see if this tactic is a genuine one or a result of match engine flaws and bugs from the beta as well as playing with mostly re-gens.

I'd be interested to see how others do with it.

File

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433 Attacking Wide - Centurion (v1.1 - P38,W35,D3,L0,F125,A7,GD118,P108)

2022/23 Update - VERSION 1.1 (24/11/18)

After a few seasons looking for version 3 and trying to make the tactic better, I gave up and went back to version 1. This coincided with the release of patch 19.1.5. I just made a few tweaks to set-pieces to try and make the most of the players I have (25 goals from corners, 5 from direct free-kicks, 10 from in-direct).

Results were brilliant. Scoring lots and keeping lots of clean sheets (including a run of 15 clean sheets on the trot), back to how it was in the original post. League Table is below.

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125 goals and only 7 conceded. I feel this could have also been better. This season is the one in which the World Cup takes place over winter. This resulted in a terrible backlog of games at the end of the season, with several games within a week, sometimes only a day apart. This meant I had to heavily rotate and play some youngsters. Hopefully this is just a bug in the game and not how the fixtures will be in real life

In the game, I'm now under transfer embargo ahead of a consortium takeover, so it seems like a good time to call it quits and do some tests with other teams. I have built a very strong team and could probably do very well with other tactics.

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File

Version 1.1 (set pieces changed): View attachment 29545


2nd SEASON UPDATE - VERSION 2 (12/11/18)

Despite the success of the tactic in the 19.1.2 test with Man Utd (unbeaten season), I wasn't completely satisfied and was a bit concerned about how easy the team could be carved apart on the counter. So in the 2nd season I thought I would make some tweaks to try and tighten it up as well as get some better performance from some other players. I was particularly annoyed at how poor Sergej had been since spending £100M in January. Pogba was very good at Mezzala and I wanted to get the same from Sergej. I was also annoyed (and have been for several versions of FM) at how Inside Forwards often end up playing like wingers and get to the byline and then end up having to cross on their weaker foot (assuming you play a right-footer on the left and vice versa).

Summary of changes

Players:

- Mezzala's now on attack duty to get further forward. They no longer run wide with the ball to encourage them to stay more central and get in the box.
- Wing-backs no longer cross from byline to prevent them getting too far up field and being caught out on the counter.
- Inside Forwards swapped for Trequartistas. Inside Forwards are told to cross less by default and no control is given over crossing. I therefore set the Trequartistas up as essentially Inside Forward clones by telling them to cut inside, but also cross more often and from the byline. I also started playing a left-footer (Asensio, £88M) on the left and right-footer (Martial with Rashford as backup) on the right. The idea being that they'll basically play like wingers, running with the ball from out wide, but then cutting inside to shoot, or else crossing on their stronger foot, hopefully to Pogba and Sergej pushing into the box.

Team:

- A bit shorter passing to try and reduce the amount of lost possession through longer, direct balls.
- No longer pass into space for the same reason as above.
- Lower tempo to just calm things down when countering and helping players make better decisions.
- Keeper distributing to full-backs instead of down the flanks to try and reduce wasted possession.

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Results

Won the league with 103 points and 103 goals, conceding 27. Lost 3 games, City (Home) and Saints (Away) both rather unluckily after dominating. Also Spurs (Away) in the last game with the league in the bag and playing youth and reserve to rest players for the FA Cup final. Won everything else (inc. Champions League fairly easily).

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It is also worth pointing out that possession actually went down and it was quite common to have only 40% of the ball yet win easily while dominating in terms of shots etc. I guess the lower tempo helps players translate the rather limited possession into shots and chances (and hence goals) more efficiently.

Pogba and Sergej both had great seasons (20 goals/10 assists in 44 games and 24 goals/6 assists in 37 games respectively) so that change worked very well.

Lukaku was a monster with 37 goals in 40 games with 16 assists (top scorer in league, 2nd most assists, highest average, most POM's). This was an unexpected and unplanned outcome.

Asensio and Martial were also very good as Trequartistas (17 goals/19 assists in 35 and 16 goals/15 assists in 36 respectively). I am very happy with this. I have played Inside Forwards for the last few versions of FM, but this will give me something different to think about going forward. Inside Forwards cannot be customised very much whereas Trequartistas (and Advanced Playmakers) can be. You lose the pressing with the Trequartista role, but you can still get results. The usual behaviour is to play an Inside Forward on the flank opposite their strongest foot, but I feel this leads to too many occasions of them being pushed out wide and having to put poor crosses in using their wrong foot. Playing them on the side of their strongest foot and telling them to cut inside allows them to still shoot and score but then also play crosses and pull-backs using their stronger foot.

These changes were all done iteratively over the course of the season before settling on them in the 2nd half of the season and results were very strong. I imagine playing with the tactic for a full season will result in better performances and results. I am planning on doing a 3rd season to test and then starting a new game with a weaker team.

Version 2 download: View attachment 30989

1st SEASON UPDATE

Won the league unbeaten. 100 points and 101 goals. All the strikers and inside forwards scored plenty with lots of assists, wing-backs also chipped in with a decent number of assists. Pogba as Mezzala was a beast. Disappointingly Sergej was very poor after spending £100M in January, hopefully he will improve next season as has been a complete flop so far. De Jong has been great as the deep-lying playmaker, keeping Matic out of the team.

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Despite this, the tactic shipped 28 goals, much worse than it has done in the previous save with Chelsea. The defence is definitely more vulnerable to counters, not sure if caused by worse players than previously or the update to 19.1.2. Needs some thought going forward.

Won the Carling Cup on penalties against Arsenal, knocked out of FA Cup by City. Despite beating Barcelona quite comfortably in the First Knockout Round of the Champions League, I was disappointed to be knocked out by Napoli in the Quarters after 3-3 at home, conceding 3 from just 4 shots after dominating the game, highlighting the vulnerability to counters.

Although the tactic is not as commanding as on the Chelsea game, it still seems to be very good.
 
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dear Eencae,
Thanks for sharing your tactic. I'm a big Chelsea fan and I'm trying to find a tactic that fits into my current squad (I've just bought the game so I'm still in my first season with almost all the original players).
I've been using your tactic for some matches already, and I'm struggling to get the right results. As the tempo that your tactic dictates is quite fast, plus you focus on long passes through the flanks plus not working the ball into the box, my players waste many occasions and I can't retain the possession. Also, my defensive line is being caught up-field every single match, and I concede way to many goals by long balls to the back of my down four.
Please, can you indicate me what the **** I'm doing wrong?
 
JaimeTheLionCFC said:
dear Eencae,
Thanks for sharing your tactic. I'm a big Chelsea fan and I'm trying to find a tactic that fits into my current squad (I've just bought the game so I'm still in my first season with almost all the original players).
I've been using your tactic for some matches already, and I'm struggling to get the right results. As the tempo that your tactic dictates is quite fast, plus you focus on long passes through the flanks plus not working the ball into the box, my players waste many occasions and I can't retain the possession. Also, my defensive line is being caught up-field every single match, and I concede way to many goals by long balls to the back of my down four.
Please, can you indicate me what the **** I'm doing wrong?
Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for trying the tactic. I don't always get the majority (>50%) of possession in games, playing direct passes into space for players to run onto means that the passes are often intercepted and opposition recover possession. The whole idea is to just get the ball forward as quickly as possible and hit teams on the counter (like Leicester in the title-winning season). Counter tactics often have less possession that the opposition, the key being the fast transition when you win the ball back.

In my Chelsea save I had very fast defenders. I always try and buy defenders with 16+ pace so they can recover and run back quick when I get countered! If you don't have quick defenders (although I seem to recall that Azpilicueta and Alonso are relatively quick) then it may be a risk. You could remove the 'cross from byline' from the wing-backs so they don't get as far forward. Christensen and Rudiger are fast though, so may be a decent pairing at centre-back (I sold Christensen on my game after a few seasons to Man Utd for £100M!) You could also try and drop the defensive line a little so they don't push up as much and/or get the defenders to press less.

I also could never prevent players taking many shots. I did not use 'work ball into the box' as that seems to slow the play down and I wanted them to get forward as quickly as possible.

I've just started a new game with Man Utd. Results have been promising in pre-season, but not played any league games yet so can't comment how it is doing on a fresh game with 19.1.2.
 
who handles opposition instructions?? also i have tried this tactic 6 games in with an amazing team. although i have won every game,its usually 2-0 3-1 not had a huge win like you have. overall good tactic
 
It is very early days, but it seems to be doing pretty well on a new save as Man Utd. Tough start to new season with Liverpool (Home), Chelsea (Away) and Spurs (Home). Won all games (despite a few injuries), 4-2, 2-1 and 3-2. Although Azpilicueta was sent off for Chelsea after only 25 minutes. Definitely look vulnerable when countered though and have conceded a few when hit on the break. Although I've scored quite a few on the counter, so its swings and roundabouts! Looks like it needs tweaking a bit, may try dropping the defence back a bit and see if it makes me less vulnerable.
 
just tried it with my Sporting Lisbon save, 1st game beat AEK in Europa 8-0!
 
louis emina said:
who handles opposition instructions??
Click to expand...

I don't bother with them. I play on FM Touch and backroom staff handle them. Very rarely I may mark someone, tackle hard, show onto weaker foot etc. if they are causing problems.
 
49arsenal said:
just tried it with my Sporting Lisbon save, 1st game beat AEK in Europa 8-0!
Click to expand...

Interesting!

I take it you don't simulate the Greek league? I've had some crazy results in Europe, usually when playing teams from leagues I do not simulate. This leads me to suspect that players in teams from these leagues do not have proper morale/match fitness etc. and so you can get some decent results in Europe.

Unsurprisingly I've also destroyed some teams from lower leagues that are not simulated in domestic cup competitions. Although you'd suspect this when a big team plays a lower league team, I often score 10+ goals.
 
eencae said:
Interesting!

I take it you don't simulate the Greek league? I've had some crazy results in Europe, usually when playing teams from leagues I do not simulate. This leads me to suspect that players in teams from these leagues do not have proper morale/match fitness etc. and so you can get some decent results in Europe.

Unsurprisingly I've also destroyed some teams from lower leagues that are not simulated in domestic cup competitions. Although you'd suspect this when a big team plays a lower league team, I often score 10+ goals.
Click to expand...

I've just smashed Young Boys in Europe 8-0, albeit playing against 10 men for 45 minutes.
 
Tried it in my Man UTD save. First game lost 2-0 away to Monaco and played very poor.
 
0widowmaker0 said:
Tried it in my Man UTD save. First game lost 2-0 away to Monaco and played very poor.
Click to expand...

I'd maybe give it a bit more time, I'm in February with Man Utd and have only lost once, away at Atletico in Europe (0-3). Unbeaten in league, 8 points clear after 23 games. 60 goals, 13 against.

It is a bit risky for away games so could lower the defence and stop playing direct into space.
 
I don't even know why i posted after one game. Will run a 6 month test. Thanks
 
Seems a nice tactic to push a result when needed. IF you drop the defense with this, you may stretch the team in the field and loose the pressing.

I will try will less faster defenders (12-14) and see how it works.

Congrats on the results!
 
tt95 said:
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First game with this tactic against R.Madrid.
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Good result! Glad others are having some success! What version are you playing, 19.1.2? I don’t feel it’s as good on 19.1.2 as it was on the beta and 19.1.1.

It is very strange in European games, as I showed above, I beat Barcelona 13-3 in one game! Tend to get bigger victories in European games compared to league games. Makes me think there is something strange going on.

I bet Hazard can be very good in this tactic, I’d sold him in my Chelsea game before I came up with this tactic. Had tried 4-1-4-1, 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-4 and had never really got anything special out of him.
 
Hey bro, so first of all. Lovely tactic, congratulations for this nice work, its working great for me!
I'll leave here some stats.They speak for themselfs.
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The losses that i've had till the moment;
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So, 3 losses. One for UCL, one for League and one for the League cup.
However they dont kill this tactic vibe, really nice (H)

I'll give some reports in the end of the season.
(19.1.1 patch).
 
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