Hello all, this is my first post on here in ages! Most of you might not even know/remember me. 
Anyway, to the point. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading into Louis Van Gaal's managerial style since he's been linked with the Tottenham job (**** You United :'( ) and needless to say have been impressed. So I decided to emulate one of his tactical models in Football Manager 14. The model I chose was the 2-3-2-3 formation, which Van Gaal used during his time at Barcelona. To read more about it, you might want to check this out:
http://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/2014/03/what-life-would-be-like-under-van-gaal/
Just like Van Gaal, my aim was to create a tactic which would be fluid, have plenty of passes and a lot of effort put in by the players. I also experimented with the False 9-Shadow Striker combination, which was a successful attempt.
Below is an image of the formation, with the respective player roles:
View attachment 368269
Goalkeeper: Your standard solid keeper. You know the key stats required for this position. (Lloris, Mandanda, Enyeama, Patricio, too many to name.)
Fullbacks: Wingback - Attack is the role given to your fullbacks. Look for acceleration, pace, stamina and work rate. Should be decent both defensively and offensively. (Walker, Siqueira, Nyom, Cedric Soares etc)
Centrebacks: These are your no nonsense centre backs. Their job is to just defend. Tackling, Marking, Heading, Positioning, Jumping are just few of the important stats required. Decent passing is a plus but isn't really necessary. (Vertonghen, Vidic, Caulker, Rojo etc)
CDM: A regista does much more than your traditional defensive midfielder will do. He's the deepest of all your midfielders, and his primary job is to locate passes for your wingers and/or fullbacks, and spread the play out to time. The "Switches Ball to Flanks" PPM works very well in synergy with this role. Good passing is an absolute must for this player. (Sahin, Illarramendi, Nainggolan, Capoue etc)
CM: This is your box to box midfielder, basically your team's engine room. This player will work his socks off during the game, so naturally, a high amount of work rate and stamina is required. I used Paulinho in this position, and his knack of arriving in the box proved pivotal for me, with the Brazilian bagging some important goals for me. This player should be a jack of all trades basically, and should last all 90 minutes with the same tenacity with which he started. (Paulinho, Moussa Sissoko, Garmash, Vidal etc)
Wingers: Defensive wingers is a very underrated role in Football Manager 2014. Even though their role would suggest that they won't do a lot offensively, they in fact get into scoring positions a lot, and also get a lot of assists for your False 9. Dribbling, Crossing, First Touch, Technique, Quickness are the stats to look out for. Decent finishing does no harm as well! (Lamela, Wellington Nem, Tadic, Schurrle etc)
CAM: This is your Shadow Striker! With your False 9 dropping into midfield often, this player is your furthest forward. His intelligent runs beyond the opposition defence who has followed your False 9 higher up, wrecks havoc for their team, getting you several goals. I used Eriksen here, who might not be the best of finishers, so he couldn't really give me the goal tally I ideally would have wanted, but a player like Michu would be tailor made for this role! Finishing, Off the Ball, Passing, Creativity and First Touch are the key stats. (Michu, Sigurdsson, Hamsik, James Rodriguez etc)
ST: Your False 9, will often drop into midfield and hold up play waiting for your shadow striker or wingers to make runs in behind, but will also find himself a lot on the end of through balls and crosses into scoring positions. I used Soldado, who got me 31 goals in the league alone. Finishing, Heading, Strength, Off the Ball are the important attributes, coupled with a decent rating in Passing, Creativity and Teamwork. (Soldado, Bony, Finnbogason, Giroud etc)
Results:
As far as results go, well, I won the quadruple in my very first season as Spurs boss, with just two signings, Carlos Vela and Sead Kolasinac
.View attachment 368276View attachment 368275
Here are screenshots of a few game results too.
View attachment 368274View attachment 368273View attachment 368272
View attachment 368271View attachment 368270
So after pretty much winning everything in my first season with Spurs, instead of really continuing with the save, I decided to try test this tactic with a much smaller team, and see if it would give similar results. I chose Hertha Berlin, predicted to finish 16th out of 18 teams in the Bundesliga in Germany. With a very thin transfer budget (200k), I had to sell star player Adrian Ramos, to fund a move for Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason from Heerenveen, and it would be Finnbogason who would bag 22 league goals, on the way to my team finishing third in the Bundesliga, a massive achievement for a relegation threatened side. I have attached the league table and the division stats below. Do check out the distance covered stat, will tell you all about the dirty work done by each and every player on the pitch. This just proves how important work rate and stamina are, for this tactic to be successful. Also, I couldn't really find passing success rate stats, but I was often asked during press conferences the key for my team's very high passing success rate, which I assume to be a good thing.
View attachment 368268View attachment 368267
DOWNLOAD LINK:
Thing of Beauty 4-2-3-1 A - Download - 4shared
Attachment:
View attachment 620429
Anyway, to the point. Lately I've been doing a lot of reading into Louis Van Gaal's managerial style since he's been linked with the Tottenham job (**** You United :'( ) and needless to say have been impressed. So I decided to emulate one of his tactical models in Football Manager 14. The model I chose was the 2-3-2-3 formation, which Van Gaal used during his time at Barcelona. To read more about it, you might want to check this out:
http://www.thefightingcock.co.uk/2014/03/what-life-would-be-like-under-van-gaal/
Just like Van Gaal, my aim was to create a tactic which would be fluid, have plenty of passes and a lot of effort put in by the players. I also experimented with the False 9-Shadow Striker combination, which was a successful attempt.
Below is an image of the formation, with the respective player roles:
View attachment 368269
Goalkeeper: Your standard solid keeper. You know the key stats required for this position. (Lloris, Mandanda, Enyeama, Patricio, too many to name.)
Fullbacks: Wingback - Attack is the role given to your fullbacks. Look for acceleration, pace, stamina and work rate. Should be decent both defensively and offensively. (Walker, Siqueira, Nyom, Cedric Soares etc)
Centrebacks: These are your no nonsense centre backs. Their job is to just defend. Tackling, Marking, Heading, Positioning, Jumping are just few of the important stats required. Decent passing is a plus but isn't really necessary. (Vertonghen, Vidic, Caulker, Rojo etc)
CDM: A regista does much more than your traditional defensive midfielder will do. He's the deepest of all your midfielders, and his primary job is to locate passes for your wingers and/or fullbacks, and spread the play out to time. The "Switches Ball to Flanks" PPM works very well in synergy with this role. Good passing is an absolute must for this player. (Sahin, Illarramendi, Nainggolan, Capoue etc)
CM: This is your box to box midfielder, basically your team's engine room. This player will work his socks off during the game, so naturally, a high amount of work rate and stamina is required. I used Paulinho in this position, and his knack of arriving in the box proved pivotal for me, with the Brazilian bagging some important goals for me. This player should be a jack of all trades basically, and should last all 90 minutes with the same tenacity with which he started. (Paulinho, Moussa Sissoko, Garmash, Vidal etc)
Wingers: Defensive wingers is a very underrated role in Football Manager 2014. Even though their role would suggest that they won't do a lot offensively, they in fact get into scoring positions a lot, and also get a lot of assists for your False 9. Dribbling, Crossing, First Touch, Technique, Quickness are the stats to look out for. Decent finishing does no harm as well! (Lamela, Wellington Nem, Tadic, Schurrle etc)
CAM: This is your Shadow Striker! With your False 9 dropping into midfield often, this player is your furthest forward. His intelligent runs beyond the opposition defence who has followed your False 9 higher up, wrecks havoc for their team, getting you several goals. I used Eriksen here, who might not be the best of finishers, so he couldn't really give me the goal tally I ideally would have wanted, but a player like Michu would be tailor made for this role! Finishing, Off the Ball, Passing, Creativity and First Touch are the key stats. (Michu, Sigurdsson, Hamsik, James Rodriguez etc)
ST: Your False 9, will often drop into midfield and hold up play waiting for your shadow striker or wingers to make runs in behind, but will also find himself a lot on the end of through balls and crosses into scoring positions. I used Soldado, who got me 31 goals in the league alone. Finishing, Heading, Strength, Off the Ball are the important attributes, coupled with a decent rating in Passing, Creativity and Teamwork. (Soldado, Bony, Finnbogason, Giroud etc)
Results:
As far as results go, well, I won the quadruple in my very first season as Spurs boss, with just two signings, Carlos Vela and Sead Kolasinac
.View attachment 368276View attachment 368275
Here are screenshots of a few game results too.
View attachment 368274View attachment 368273View attachment 368272
View attachment 368271View attachment 368270
So after pretty much winning everything in my first season with Spurs, instead of really continuing with the save, I decided to try test this tactic with a much smaller team, and see if it would give similar results. I chose Hertha Berlin, predicted to finish 16th out of 18 teams in the Bundesliga in Germany. With a very thin transfer budget (200k), I had to sell star player Adrian Ramos, to fund a move for Icelandic striker Alfred Finnbogason from Heerenveen, and it would be Finnbogason who would bag 22 league goals, on the way to my team finishing third in the Bundesliga, a massive achievement for a relegation threatened side. I have attached the league table and the division stats below. Do check out the distance covered stat, will tell you all about the dirty work done by each and every player on the pitch. This just proves how important work rate and stamina are, for this tactic to be successful. Also, I couldn't really find passing success rate stats, but I was often asked during press conferences the key for my team's very high passing success rate, which I assume to be a good thing.
View attachment 368268View attachment 368267
DOWNLOAD LINK:
Thing of Beauty 4-2-3-1 A - Download - 4shared
Attachment:
View attachment 620429
Last edited: