I see that not too many people play AC Milan, but I found a couple of interesting threads, including a challenge that pretty much instructs on how to win with Milan (original players and so on).
I am current in my third season with Milan, after having won quite some titles with Brazil and São Paulo (you can guess where I'm from). In the first season I only won the Italian Cup, but did a good job overall. After that I bought some pretty good players and on the second season I won everything but the Champions.
Now I have quite a decent team and I'm winning mostly everything. However, I still have some troubles in a few games, specially away games, and I want be 100% ready for the Champions so I don't get eliminated again.
Attackers: I have acquired David Villa (2nd season) and Dzeko (3rd) to improve my attack, but somehow Pato is managing to play as good as Villa during the season (although Villa is quite incredible). I sold Huntelaar and Inzagui, but kept Borriello, who plays surprisingly good.
Midfielders: Since Milan's MF is quite old, I got Gourcuff and Di Maria, and now Ronaldinho is a backup. Pirlo, Ambrosini and Gattuso still play constantly (although are getting quite old by now).
Defenders: With Thiago, Nesta, and Onyewu I did fine this far. I also got David Astori (was co-owned) and he's pretty good for his age.
Full-Backs: This is the worst side of Milan, so I got new players. Since I wasn't able to buy very good FBs/WBs like Maicon and Lahm, I'm doing what I can with average players and also adapted ones. Filipe (from Chelsea) is a Left Midfielder that quickly adapted (was trained) as a Left Defender and is doing quite well. Vanden Borre (from Genoa) developed into a good player also, and I'm training him as a Right Defender and he's doing well too.
Sorry for the delays, let's get into what matters here: Tatics. Last season I played a 4-3-1-2 with Pirlo, Gattuso and Gourcuff in the middle, Ronaldinho as AMC, and Villa and Pato attacking. I did pretty well. But since Ronaldinho was dropping his from quickly and I bought Dezko, now I'm trying a more offensive approach (4-3-3).
Current Formation (4-3-3):
Villa Dezko Pato
Gourcuff Gattuso Pirlo
Filipe Astori Thiago Borre
Although doing good, I want to check if duties and roles are ok, and if this formation works well. I leave Filipe and Borre as Full Backs/Automatic,. Gattuso is Central Midfielder/Defend. Pirlo is a Deep Lying Playmaker with Support Duties. Gourcuff is a Advanced Playmaker with Attack Duties. Villa is a Poacher or Advanced Forward/Attack, Dezko a Deep Lying Forward/Support and Pato a Complete Forward/Support (or Advanced Forward).
Main questions:
1) This forum suggests Villa as Poacher, but he plays much better for me as an Advanced Forward or Deep Lying. What's the verdict?
2) Should Gattuso/Ambrosini be Central Midfielder/Defend, or should they be Ball Winning Defenders? Should I bring them back from midfield and turn them into DMF? In my experience, having DMFs result in a lower possession...
3) I only leave one attacker (Villa) and one midfielder (Gourcuff) with Attack Duties. Some thread suggested leaving all midfielders with support, and at least 2 attackers with Attack. What do you think works best? When play home games I sometimes put pato as Advanced Forward/Attack and that works. Sometimes when playing away, I put Gourcuff as Support and leave only Villa Forward, and that helps too.
4) I'm winning a lot but my possession is not very high. Usually 55-56%. For my formation, is that reasonable? What can change that? Putting better ball winning midfielders (maybe taking Pirlo or Gourcuff off?)
5) Villa, Dezko and Pato (plus Borriello as a reasonable sub) is a good enough attack to keep 3 guys upfront, or should I got for a tatic with a stronger midfield (4-2-3-1)? I haven't liked the experience of playing with only 1 guy upfront this far, and although Pato has been trained as a AMC and Villa can also play there, I'm not sure it's worth bringing them back.
6) I rarely mess around too much with Corner Kick Settings, FKs, and so on. Should I? I've seen some interesting tatics that improve DC heading.
7) Everytime my assistant suggest a High Defensive Line and I put it, I concede a couple of goals. What do I have to do to make sure "Push Up" works well? For now I leave the DF Line only a bit to the right.
8) Should I play narrow, wide, quick, slow? Should I define passing style, creative freedom, and so on? I have tried doing it but didn't notice a lot of change.
And finally, is my squad good enough? Or should I go for a few reinforcements to better support my tatics?
Thanks!
Bodao ("Big Goat")
I am current in my third season with Milan, after having won quite some titles with Brazil and São Paulo (you can guess where I'm from). In the first season I only won the Italian Cup, but did a good job overall. After that I bought some pretty good players and on the second season I won everything but the Champions.
Now I have quite a decent team and I'm winning mostly everything. However, I still have some troubles in a few games, specially away games, and I want be 100% ready for the Champions so I don't get eliminated again.
Attackers: I have acquired David Villa (2nd season) and Dzeko (3rd) to improve my attack, but somehow Pato is managing to play as good as Villa during the season (although Villa is quite incredible). I sold Huntelaar and Inzagui, but kept Borriello, who plays surprisingly good.
Midfielders: Since Milan's MF is quite old, I got Gourcuff and Di Maria, and now Ronaldinho is a backup. Pirlo, Ambrosini and Gattuso still play constantly (although are getting quite old by now).
Defenders: With Thiago, Nesta, and Onyewu I did fine this far. I also got David Astori (was co-owned) and he's pretty good for his age.
Full-Backs: This is the worst side of Milan, so I got new players. Since I wasn't able to buy very good FBs/WBs like Maicon and Lahm, I'm doing what I can with average players and also adapted ones. Filipe (from Chelsea) is a Left Midfielder that quickly adapted (was trained) as a Left Defender and is doing quite well. Vanden Borre (from Genoa) developed into a good player also, and I'm training him as a Right Defender and he's doing well too.
Sorry for the delays, let's get into what matters here: Tatics. Last season I played a 4-3-1-2 with Pirlo, Gattuso and Gourcuff in the middle, Ronaldinho as AMC, and Villa and Pato attacking. I did pretty well. But since Ronaldinho was dropping his from quickly and I bought Dezko, now I'm trying a more offensive approach (4-3-3).
Current Formation (4-3-3):
Villa Dezko Pato
Gourcuff Gattuso Pirlo
Filipe Astori Thiago Borre
Although doing good, I want to check if duties and roles are ok, and if this formation works well. I leave Filipe and Borre as Full Backs/Automatic,. Gattuso is Central Midfielder/Defend. Pirlo is a Deep Lying Playmaker with Support Duties. Gourcuff is a Advanced Playmaker with Attack Duties. Villa is a Poacher or Advanced Forward/Attack, Dezko a Deep Lying Forward/Support and Pato a Complete Forward/Support (or Advanced Forward).
Main questions:
1) This forum suggests Villa as Poacher, but he plays much better for me as an Advanced Forward or Deep Lying. What's the verdict?
2) Should Gattuso/Ambrosini be Central Midfielder/Defend, or should they be Ball Winning Defenders? Should I bring them back from midfield and turn them into DMF? In my experience, having DMFs result in a lower possession...
3) I only leave one attacker (Villa) and one midfielder (Gourcuff) with Attack Duties. Some thread suggested leaving all midfielders with support, and at least 2 attackers with Attack. What do you think works best? When play home games I sometimes put pato as Advanced Forward/Attack and that works. Sometimes when playing away, I put Gourcuff as Support and leave only Villa Forward, and that helps too.
4) I'm winning a lot but my possession is not very high. Usually 55-56%. For my formation, is that reasonable? What can change that? Putting better ball winning midfielders (maybe taking Pirlo or Gourcuff off?)
5) Villa, Dezko and Pato (plus Borriello as a reasonable sub) is a good enough attack to keep 3 guys upfront, or should I got for a tatic with a stronger midfield (4-2-3-1)? I haven't liked the experience of playing with only 1 guy upfront this far, and although Pato has been trained as a AMC and Villa can also play there, I'm not sure it's worth bringing them back.
6) I rarely mess around too much with Corner Kick Settings, FKs, and so on. Should I? I've seen some interesting tatics that improve DC heading.
7) Everytime my assistant suggest a High Defensive Line and I put it, I concede a couple of goals. What do I have to do to make sure "Push Up" works well? For now I leave the DF Line only a bit to the right.
8) Should I play narrow, wide, quick, slow? Should I define passing style, creative freedom, and so on? I have tried doing it but didn't notice a lot of change.
And finally, is my squad good enough? Or should I go for a few reinforcements to better support my tatics?
Thanks!
Bodao ("Big Goat")
