APEX PREDATOR for 15.2. League = 102 points, 118 Goals.... playing 442 - Plug & Play

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Rosler71

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APEX PREDATOR for 15.2. League = 102 points, 118 Goals.... playing 442 - Plug & Play

Man City results season 1, original squad.

(+ De Natale as they don't have enough strikers for a 2 Striker formation)

QwIN021.jpg



West Brom result season 1 original squad.

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Tactic

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There were 2 main ideas i was trying to implement, a MASSIVE midfield press with AGGRESSIVE tackling never allowing attacks to build and winning the ball in dangerous positions.


Attacking wise I wanted the wide players to 'funnel' inside from the MR/ML, to create lots of central, vertical runners, we then focus passing through the middle to make use of that.


More later, for now here's the tactic


https://www.mediafire.com/?74olxo6i5f39bjz




Corners, SET YOUR STRIKERS TO TAKE CORNERS. (Don't question this ;))


NO OI'S

NO TWEAKS, PLUG & PLAY HOME & AWAY

TRAINING

Nothing fancy.

GENERAL TRAINING

Team Cohesion for 2 months then 'Balanced' all season.

MATCH TRAINING

Match Tactics till fully fluid then Weak Team= Defensive Positioning. Strong Team = Attacking Movement
 
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OK, some player information based on what i look for when building squads.

Just my ideas on the roles, do what you like!


ADVANCED FORWARD/ATTACK

Your key player and major goalscorer (although he'll get a lot of help from elsewhere on this tactic).

The one player on the team without much defensive responsibility, he offers you an out ball at all times. You'll often win the ball fairly deep and in these situation he'll be hovering around the halfway line, if a direct pass is on to him your players will take it even though we have the short passing team instruction. He rarely runs directly at goal in these situations preferring to dribble up the right touchline before putting in cross to your support Striker or the Wide Midfielders who will be busting a gut to get into the penalty box.

Outside of counter attacks he links well with his support Striker and will likely get a lot of assists as well as goals.

This role in this tactic suits a dribbler with good pace to compliment his goal scoring abilities, i'd look for;

ACCELERATION
DRIBBLING
COMPOSURE
FINISHING


COMPLETE FORWARD/SUPPORT

You have a lot of flexibility in this role with different types of strikers bringing different things to the table. You can go with another out and out goalscorer in this role or a very creative player, someone with Target Man attributes or a Defensive Forward type of player.

Your choice will influence slightly how the tactic play out but you can go with your preferred play style or just make the best of what you had in the squad.

Myself, i'd go with a Target Man profile in lower/mid level teams to bring some physicality to your forward line, with stronger teams i'd lean towards a creative hub. But its entirely up to you.

A few possible 'builds' below.


GOALSCORER

ACCELERATION
COMPOSURE
FINISHING
WORK RATE


CREATIVE HUB

VISION
PASSING
OFF THE BALL
TEAM WORK


TARGET MAN

JUMPING REACH
STRENGTH
WORK RATE
FINISHING


DEFENSIVE FORWARD

WORK RATE
TACKLING
AGGRESSION
DETERMINATION



WIDE MIDFIELDER/ATTACK

There will be times when these guys are your most advanced players. They get a lot of chances to score and assist, yet they have a key role to play in the success of the defensive set up. Ideally you would like hybrid players with balanced attacking and defensive attributes (Milner), they are difficult to find for most teams so you will likely end up with someone more attacking or more defensive.

I ran with Navas/Silva on the flanks for many games which added to my attack but detracted from defence. For tougher games i would often bring in Milner & Nasri who offer a bit more defensively. I'd be aware of striking the right balance, especially if you are a weaker team.


Ideally i'd look for basic attributes in the following areas, then tailor to suit your taste, i.e a good finisher or a big tackler etc.

WORK RATE
DRIBBLING
PASSING
STAMINA


BALL WINNING MIDFIELDERS/DEFEND-SUPPORT

The 'engine' of the team, we need 2 very hard working players here, were talking 16,17,18,19.....20 for work rate. As that's not a technical attribute these sorts of players are available at all levels.

We want these 2 guys all over opponents in possession, if an opponent lifts his head to pick a pass, we want our guy in his face biting his ears off.

We are seeking to snuff out attacks at source, turning over the ball as early and as high up the pitch as possible.

When they are not winning the ball, Ball Winning Midfielders are surprisingly capable of building, linking and finishing attacks. The one on 'support' duty will contribute a good number of goals and assists, Toure managed 20 goals despite spending half the season injured.

I would concentrate on getting the base attributes as high as possible but as you improve your squad try getting some good attacking ones in there as well, it will help greatly, good passers here are fantastic and if you have someone with good Longshots in the support role you will reap the dividends.

But don't compromise the defensive requirements.

WORK RATE
TACKLING
AGGRESSION
DETERMINATION


FULLBACK/SUPPORT

Our Full Backs are fairly conservative although with our wide midfielders cutting inside they will overlap when the right situation arises. They do not have an onus on them to attack so we can concentrate on balanced attributes. First and foremost we want them to be solid in defence, GK will often distribute to them so they need to be comfortable on the ball and good passers, beyond that anything else is a bonus.

I would look for;

POSITIONING
PASSING
MARKING
TACKLING


CENTRE BACKS/DEFEND - COVER

Nothing out of the ordinary here, they are not required to do anything other than bog standard defending. Pace is always welcome, we have a high'ish line so that will help us out if a ball is pinged over the top. Put your quicker guy on the left spot (Cover).

JUMPING REACH
MARKING
TACKLING
POSITIONING


SWEEPER KEEPER/DEFEND

We want to give our man the freedom to leave the penalty area to 'sweep up' if required although he rarely ever does it. I use 'star ratings' a bit more in this position and just get the best Keeper I can get ensuring there are no major weaknesses and that he is strong in the following areas.

ONE ON ONE'S
REFLEXES
HANDLING
AERIAL ABILITY
 
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Looks good, I like good old fashion 4-4-2 tactics so will give it a whirl later tonight. Will post some SS if I get chance.
 
Managing Montrose, and using this and Trophy Whorder 433 depending on the fitness of my forwards and wingers. I beat Hibs 8-0 and Rangers 6-1 in the Training Cup using Apex and Whorder respectively, and just went 23 games unbeaten in the league, scoring 130 goals for the loss of 9. Did lose 2-1 to Hearts in the Scottish Cup, and 3-2 to Aberdeen in the League Cup using Apex and Whorder, but considering those teams are decent and I', a part-time outfit predicted to finish bottom, that's hardly a disgrace. These tactics are a marvel in the lower leagues.
 
Any SS of your results
I'm already in 2018 with my Ferencváros team so it would be pointless. but here it is
I play the young reserve players in the hungarian league cup

QUDnRw3.jpg


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Very good tactic. Very consistent. The mentality can be changed to suit the situation. Used overload when 2-0 down and won 4-2. Only missed 1st friendly with it.
 
Hi mate, according to me this tactic is amazing! are you working to improve it? if possible...bye
 
Hi mate, according to me this tactic is amazing! are you working to improve it? if possible...bye

Hi, don't think i can improve it to be honest.

Working on a 4132 but can't get near the 442 results at the moment.
 
what pitch size would u recommend using for this tactic with a league one side ?
 
Trying this tactic out with Duisburg in the the German Third Division, will let you know how it works out! The only problem I'm having is that the team have no one who can play complete forward at all. On top of this, I've been scouting around desperately but can't find anyone who I could sign for the role either (limited scouting network does hinder this). Any recommendations about what to do for this? I played one of my strikers there in my first game who's 'awkward' and he rated 7.1 in my first league game. So this could get me by for a while but if you had any recommendations about any other possible roles for that position it'd be much appreciated!
 
Hi Bailey50, dont get too hung up on the search for a Complete Forward.

The Complete Forward 'role' is just a set of behaviours and player instructions you would like you striker to follow, it doesn't mean you need to find the 'finished article' in the lower league's as you wont be able to.

Have a look at the player description in my second post.

Look for a player good at the following (relative to your level)

WORK RATE
DRIBBLING
PASSING
STAMINA

If you can't get all 4 attributes prioritise Work Rate & Passing
 
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