Thanks Marco, appreciate your input. A lot of what youve written are things I had no idea about and wished would have been included in the OP.
My line up is as follwing (right winger version)
Gk Bettinelli
Rb Odoi/Kalas
Cb (d) Sigurdsson
CB (s) Ream/Kalas
Vb Ream/Malone
W Ayite
Cm (s) McDonald
Cm (d) Johansen/Parker
Wm Cariney
DL Martin/Kebano
P Wells
Wells is as we all know a beast in this game and he loves this tactic. 16 goals in 14 games where 5 of them were all in the same match.
My top ratings:
Wells 14 games 16 goals 7.56
Ayité 13 hames 3 goals 3 assist 7.26
Cairney 9 games 2 goals 3 assisy 7.24
Kebano 10 games 1 goal 7 assist 7.14
Majority of my players ratings are all below 7.00.
Currently sitting 9th i the Championship after 12 games. 5 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses. 21 goals scoed, 17 conceded...
On first glances I'd say your CD(st) isn't aggressive enough. He needs spot danger early and deal with it. Ream has Heading (12), Aggression (12), Bravery (13), Anticipation (12), Jumping (12). Kalas' mentals are better but his heading is (11) and his Technique is (11) which means he'll spot the danger, probably get there but may not deal with it effectively. That's going to be a problem. If you may also find that their positioning is sometimes a bit off, this is because their Positoning attribute is quite low for a CB (13) & (11) respectively.
Your winger Ayite looks a bit defensively suspect. Remember you're playing 4-4-2, you don't have a DM, you're going to need midfield players who are willing to scrap and get back as well as attack. The main things that worry me about him are his low Teamwork (8), this means when a teammate needs support he won't be inclined to lend a hand. His Passing and Vision are also a bit low (12 and (12). If you find that he gets onto the ball fine, gets up the pitch into good positions fine but then doesn't do the right thing with it then this may be why. If you find that defensively you're getting exposed down that flank then it may be because of his low Teamwork.
Personally, I wouldn't be able to make Johanson or Parker work in the CM(d) as they're not the wall that I need. My CM(d) acts like an advanced CD(d). He's not chasing and harrying, he's acting like a fairly static destroyer. If you look at my heat maps you'll clearly see we have a real red spot where my CM(d) operates. He locks down that part of the pitch.
Let's take Johansson - Heading (11), Marking (10), Tackling (10), Anticipation (8), Concentration (8), Decisions (10), Positioning (10). That's awful. He can't be allowed to play anywhere in the defensive unit. Parker is a bit better Heading (11), Marking (14), Tackling (15), Anticipation (15), Bravery (18), Concentration (15), Positioning (14). That's all excellent. But...Acceleration (7), Agility (7). So he sees the danger, when he gets there he can deal with it but he's so slow and so immobile that he can't get there in time or if he does its all to easy for the attacker to use a piece of skill or movement to throw him off balance.
Again, in my opinion, I wouldn't be able to use either as my CM(d).
Lastly, Chris Martin is strong, and can definitely hold it up, but I'm not sure his Passing or Vision is particularly good. The vision stat indicates how many possibilities he will perceive. At 12, which is what I'm seeing I'm not sure he'll be finding many incissive passes to his strike partner. He'll most likely play it simple. Do you see Martin getting the ball and playing it sideways or back a lot? If so that could be your problem. You need someone who can get hold of it, look up, see the dangerous pass and pull it off.
That's just my 2c on your line-up.
Fulhamswede said:
What kind of attributes should I be looking for in my CM (d)?
I use a DMC who has a skillset very similar to a CD. Or you can use any large CM. I look for Heading. I looked for Anticipation. Concentration. Bravery. Determination. Positioning. All as an absolute priority. Good Aggression is a plus. I would always be suspicious of a player with low Acceleration, Agility and Stamina as well.
You really need to check out your squad analysis tab. That will tell you a lot. There you can see how your squad rates against the rest of the divison. That is the most important thing. It doesn't matter how you match up to Man Utd, you don't play them every week. It matters how you match up to the other teams in your division. I would guess that your current team selection doesn't measure up to the division averages very well at all, especially in terms of CD(st), CM(d) & DLP(s).
Fulhamswede said:
Looking at the OP again and his Villarreal team clearly isnt what you describe that the tactic needs, Marco.
His Cb stopper is Musacchio. His attributes are 17 aggression, 13 strength, 15 heading, 12 jumping. Solid attributes but deffo not "very strong".
His Cm d is Tiago. Deffo not a cb-like player by any means. 12 heading, 12 tackling, 12 strength, 13 work rate.
His DLF is Sansone. 8 (!) in strength, 12 vision, 13passing,
What gives?
First of all, again, attributes are relative. If you're playing in the Isthmian League then 12's across the board IS excellent. I never play as Spanish teams so my knowledge of Villarreal is not very good. I'm guessing that he has a better than average squad in the key areas. Its also possible that he plays the system in a slightly different way. Remember when I recommend how you should play the system I'm not saying its the only way just that given who you're playing as, in the league you're in, with the players that you have available then there's no point telling you to play in a silky, fluid way. Also when I said "Strong" I meant literally. Strength, Heading, Aggression, Bravery, Determination. He needs to be a powerhouse. If Musacchio goes into a challenge against a Messi or a Soldado, they are going flying, so it is sufficient. I'm trying to imagine your CD(st) going into challenges with the likes of a Nickolai Brock-Madsen, or a Kenneth Zahore, Lukas Jutkiawicz, Clayton Donaldson, Aaron Wilbraham, Milan Djuric, Chris Martin, Chris Wood, Rudy Gestede, Steve Morison, Cameron Jerome, Apostolos Velios, Matt Smith, James Hanson or Adthe Nuhui. These are Championship strikers 6ft+ with huge aggression, heading, bravery.etc This is who your CD(st) will be going into challenges with. Now look at your CD(st)'s attributes.
I hope this helps.
ps - always remember your mentals. Bravery, Determination Workrate tell you something about the individual. Are they going to get involved in play or go missing, if these are low then they are lazy and cowardly. Anticipation & Concentration is their awareness. If these are low then they don't really pay attention. Decision, Off The Ball, Positioing & Vision are their in-game intelligence. If these are low then you've got a player that doesn't understand the game of football very well. They don't know where to be, where to go or what to do when they get there. Aggression and Composure tell you what they're like under pressure. Low aggression means a player will be tentative in a high pressure situation, low Composure means a player will panic in a high pressure situation. Leadership & Teamwork tell you whether they let others make decisions and take the initiative or whether they will organise, alert and guide your team in what they are doing. If these two are low then you have a player who doesn't contribute to team play as much. They'll do their job but don't see it as their responsibility to help anyone else do theirs. Also check a player's Coach Report. you should be looking out for anything in the Right Hand Side column like "Dislikes Big Matches" or "Dreads Big Matches" or "Tends to be Low on Confidence" or a dressing room warning telling you that they don't fit in because of a difference personality. These all tell you that you have a player with character flaws. If they don't like big matches they will inexplicably under-perform just when you need them to good attributes or not.
Technicals and Physicals are all self-explanatory but the mentals are a huge factor that not enough people understand.
can't wait to test it myself(on two weeks holidays without laptop)