Trxstan

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First time uploading/presenting a tactic so please bare with me - I'll try my best! :)

Last FM I saw a tactic posted on the forums that had 4 wing backs in the same system, so I thought I'd try and re-create something similar just for the fun of it during the beta. The tactic I've ended up with has won me back-to-back promotions with Blackpool on a shoestring budget. I came 6th in my first season in the Premier League and have reached 2 CL finals in a row since that. Still yet to win the league title, but that's part of why I'm uploading this tactic here to see if anyone can do better/tweak it to be more viable at the top level.

I think that this tactic is most likely going to be an underdog tactic or a tactic best suited for lower leagues. I'm not amazing at creating tactics though and I heavily encourage people to tweak and find their own ways to make it better. The double wing backs are a bit of a novelty but I've found they get very good ratings alongside making squad rotation VERY easy without having to fork out millions on top class wide players/attacking midfielders.

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TRAINING:
- I left this completely to my assistant manager. I've not dived too in-depth with training whatsoever this year so create your own schedule for this or leave it to your assistant.

OIs:
- Haven't touched them at all. Assistant does not select them either, but you can do this on your own.

RESULTS:
- Season 1:
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During the first season I only signed 3 backup players on loan. Gedion Zelalem, Beni Baningime and Jake Vokins. I somehow managed to win the Carabao Cup during this season (through absolute luck).
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I can't show match stats from the actual matches themselves now - but just know that I haven't won a single cup competition since so do not expect the same level of success!

- Season 2:
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No cup success to speak of however our Europa League run had some pretty amazing results for a Championship side despite it being a complete pain in the *** for fixtures. This tactic has proven to be VERY good in European matches for me.

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- Season 3:
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No cup success to speak of but a very solid first season back in the Premier League.

- Season 4:
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This season is where I started to significantly increase the overall ability of my squad. Another successful European run.

- Season 5:
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Again, no league title. But an amazing run in European competition once again.

- Season 6:
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This is the season I spent really big to make my squad a proper title winning/CL challenging team, but alas I won neither of those titles. Some of the results as you can see in Europe though are nothing short of amazing.

This match for example vs Juventus shows what this tactic is about:
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Very low amounts of possession but a tonne of opportunities. You can see that Juventus fielded an incredibly strong team also. I am still yet to win a title or a European cup, so this makes me question whether this is just a fantastic lower league/underdog tactic or something that can be tweaked to get more consistent success over the course of a top tier season.

THINGS TO NOTE ABOUT THE TACTIC:
- You will get very low amounts of possession. I tend to average anywhere from 41-44% of the ball over a given season.
- At DR/DL, play your less creative/attack minded full backs. At WBR/WBL play your more creative, better finishing full backs. For example I have Alex Grimaldo at WBL, but Kolasanic at DL as he is not as good creatively as Grimaldo.
- The strikers will score a TONNE of goals. More or less every season one of my 2 strikers, or both of my strikers have scored 25-30+ league goals at every single level of the save. The pressing forward seems to get more clear opportunities, whereas the advanced forward creates more opportunities. I would advise using fast strikers as they chase a lot of long balls, but you can play more of a "complete" type of striker as the pressing forward as he gets more headed/clear cut opportunities.
- I am not sure what are the best PPMs. But "gets further forward" seems to be successful with the wide players.
- I have not added a complete corner setup to the tactic however you do tend to score quite a few goals from corners, due to getting a lot of corners. With a proper corner setup this would probably get very very good results.
- Use a DM that is well rounded in both attack and defence. The MC can be less defensive minded, but I would advise another good well-rounded player with good attacking attributes. The DCs are best when fast, but I have used slower ones to good success still. The goalkeeper can be a standard goalkeeper.

I hope that this opening post has been good enough - if you have any questions then I'll be free to answer them. I think that this style of having lots of players deep but counter attacking at pace can be very successful especially in the lower leagues, but I'd love to see tweaks that make it even better once you are a top side!

Here are some screenshots from my current season to better demonstrate the possession/chances created/crosses completed etc:
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EDIT: I think that using "balanced" instead of "attacking" away from home could be better for this tactic. If you check the posts below you will see that I had good success using this method in a test save with Newcastle United.

I think that this tactic will consistently work with lower predicted/lower league teams however I've definitely noticed struggle myself when playing with a top team. Usually you won't create anywhere near as many chances, meaning you'll struggle to kill games off. I think that tweaks to the tempo/defensive line could help with this. I'd love to see people tweak the tactic to suit a top team, as it's something I've struggled with a lot. Maybe it's not even possible when using 4 wing backs, but we can definitely try! :)
 
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looks interesting how you done 6 seasons in a week
 
Just giving the tactic a season with Newcastle United as I think they fit the underdog status quite well.

Tactic is so great for this at times to just completely stifle the opposition.

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No signings. Almost had a similar result against Manchester City but missed chances :(

EDIT: Red card 33rd minute as well which is important to note!

Also noticing that changing from attacking to standard for away games seems to work quite well, at least for this Newcastle team.
 
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Finished off my test season with Newcastle.

Here are some screenshots:
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Here are some notable fixtures:
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Player ratings:
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Things to note:
- This test was done purely using instant result and resting players between games, with my assistant controlling training. This led to quite a lot of unhappiness among players, as well as injuries which could be better prevented with proper management control.
- The team creates a TONNE of chances and mainly through crossing. I would advise finding players with good crossing ability out wide, as well as strikers capable of converting crosses consistently.
- As you can see in the notable fixtures, most of the big wins are at home. I don't think this is surprising, however it has made me change the tactic to BALANCED for away games. That was the only change I made and we started to perform much better away from home once I did this, at least in terms of results.
- I got to the semi-final of the FA cup also.
- The team makes a lot of tackles all around the pitch so players with good defensive attributes will help a lot to regain possession. This is especially important as you will not have much possession with this tactic.

I think that 4th is a very respectable finish for Newcastle and I perhaps could have done even better. If you check the game status screenshot you'll see the whole season only took me 2 hours - that's how little I micro-managed, I am sure you can achieve much better than myself!
 
I haven't bought FM 19 yet, but on the basis of FM 18 I will tell here that: if you play through Instant result, look at first at skills of your ***.managare. It is necessary for you that his skills "tactical knowledge" and "man management" were not lower than 14, and it is better 15 and high. If they don't correspond to it, results of team will be always below true opportunities even at strong squad, if these skills correspond, then with good squad and tactics you can not lose during the season at all. Try to sign such assistant, or edit his skills with the in-game editor and compare results.
 
- As you can see in the notable fixtures, most of the big wins are at home. I don't think this is surprising, however it has made me change the tactic to BALANCED for away games. That was the only change I made and we started to perform much better away from home once I did this, at least in terms of results..
!
so for away just put balanced?
 
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been using it i like the way you hit them with the early cross

To be fair I think you can take that off and change to things like work ball in to box, go for overlaps etc. The goal output doesn't seem to be the problem it's just defensively suspect at times. I've tried multiple times with Man City/my Blackpool side to get very consistent results with a top club and it doesn't seem to be the most effective right now - maybe just a good idea to use to become a CL side and then swap it for something else haha.

Will keep trying to make it better for bigger teams but the solution is probably to just use wide midfielders and lower the tempo.
 
I really like the look of this tactic. Ive been using one that wins loads. Which is good, dont get me wrong. But winning 18/20 games will get boring very quickly and we are still in beta. What i like is that you dont seem unbeatable with your team, will defo use this for the next team i take over in my save.

I also use insta result and i'm not looking for the perfect tactic, just one that offers realism.
 
Just looking at the player roles, have you tried to change one of the two central midfield players for a more defensive role? You might be leaving the defence unprotected. I might try adding a b2b for the Vol when I get home from work tonight and see what happens.
 
Just looking at the player roles, have you tried to change one of the two central midfield players for a more defensive role? You might be leaving the defence unprotected. I might try adding a b2b for the Vol when I get home from work tonight and see what happens.

Tried a lot of changes and honestly the only time I struggle is when I am using a top team. When I was in the lower leagues/an underdog team I way overachieved, but now that my Blackpool side is very good I struggle a lot. Haven't used it in a while, but I changed multiple times to an anchor, 2 DMs, 2 MCs, box to box/playmakers to slow things down etc. Just have to find a balance haha.
 
Some good results thus far. Took up a job offer in Uruguay with Wanderers. Only 6 games into the closing stage of the season and pulled off some pretty solid results. 4 wins a draw and one loss. Not bad at all, i'm impressed :D

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I have 2 profiles running in the same game, i'm almost tempted to use it for both, but we will see lol
 
Some good results thus far. Took up a job offer in Uruguay with Wanderers. Only 6 games into the closing stage of the season and pulled off some pretty solid results. 4 wins a draw and one loss. Not bad at all, i'm impressed :D

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I have 2 profiles running in the same game, i'm almost tempted to use it for both, but we will see lol

Nice haha, I think the tactic works best when you have fast players and teams try to attack against you. Score literally tonnes of goals from long balls/counter attacks, probably why it doesn't work so well when you are the favourite. Can still get 80+ points in a 38 game season but will get a few stupid losses/draws along the way.
 
Shame i cant import it to my FM mobile save :(
 
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