Arrigo Sacchi's 4-4-2 for FM14

Mate, if the tactic is 100% fluid, what's most suitable general training and match training?? And match prep. Is defensive pos. Or set according match opp. Scout ??
 
amazing tactic, i had lots of great results in many clubs, but since 14.2 it isnt working :(
 
Not sure if I liked it. I tried it with Villa, during preseason they didn't learn ANYTHING in the familiarity section (5 star training ground, epic tactics trainer) and lost 4 - 0 to WBA first match. This was strange as 1. I was playing my best squad, 2. I had a great run of form, beating Stuggart 4 - 2 with the tactic, and winning against some unknown clubs.
I think its the SK, For the Stuggart match I forgot to turn him to SK, and he did pretty well.
 
I seem to find i have far more success in matches if, after playing a match for 10 mins or less and the score is 0-0, rather than swapping shouts or dropping defence deeper or anything like that, i swap around the mentality of attacking unit and the 2 DM's untill i score a goal.

I had a lot of success applying this method to Seans tactic for fm2013 and it seems to be following the same trend for fm2014.

All i've been doing is exactly like Sean stated in the OP but switching either of the following things to get goals:

Wingers from attacking to support
Wingers to Wide Midfielders, Inside forwards or Defensive Wingers (which also give the option of defensive and automatic)
CF to trequartista and dropped to an advanced midfield position
CF to attack instead of support
DM's to Defence or support

If however the opposition team changes its formation, i dont change any of the above, but i change my formation to counter act this.

If the team changes its mentality (you will see a message saying something like "*** team are now operating more defensively"), i change mine to counter this also. In the previous example i would most likely change to "Overload".

Generally i tend to only ever use Attack at home, away vs weak sides or Home vs a strong side who swap to a defensive mentality, control away from home or vs stronger sides at home or overload against similar or weaker sides who swap to defensive at home and sometimes away matches depending on the other team.

But to spell things out, every time i go through a period of 10 mins of play with no goals, the way i see it is like this. The better your team is doing at putting the opposition under pressure, the closer you are to scoring a goal and you need to identify fewer things in your approach that need altering.

For example. Your playing a very poor side and your 1-0 up but yet regardless of the infinite amount of chances your creating, you cant make it 2-0 because their 10k valued keeper who is in the worst form of his life has suddenly become an unstoppable force of nature after conceding 1 goal, sound familiar?
Yet if you change something like both wingers to support instead of attack for example, you could get a 2nd goal. Now dont get me wrong, i am not saying that changing wingers to support will be the correct change to make each time as different teams will play different tactics against you. You just have to find the correct alteration that unlocks their defence. What i am saying, is this is a computer program and not real life, so when you make the correct change the computer will realise this and you will then score your 2nd goal. I personally have followed this method through all my 6 years of playing the football manager series and it always seems to work. If people wish to see some evidence, i can try to take some screenshots.

There is a downside to this method however. If you get the wrong change, it could potentially cause you to concede a goal. But if you figure out the correct changes, it can make your teams unstoppable regardless of who you are playing. Naturally against stronger opposition you will have to be a lot more careful with your changes as 1 wrong tactical decision vs Real Madrid for example, will cause you to have to pay for it dearly.

Ive only acquired fm2014 for christmas and not had a load of time to play it but randomly took on the job of managing AS Saint-Etienne in France and after 7 games, things are going pretty well considering ive only been able to spend 2.5M on 3 players, nick a good free transfer (who's now injured /sigh) and take on 3 additional loan signings.





Can post a few updates to show my progress as the season goes on
 
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I used this tactic with reading for two seasons... First season I finished 1st in the championship, matching the record high points, (set by newcastle) and then the year after in the premier league i finished second, (the tactic actually made me feel like i was cheating because its not realistic for reading) and i also won the Fa cup.

After updating to 14.2, Now, my big year in champions league is happening and my results have been very inconsistant. Beating FC Porto and Man United, losing terribly to tottenham and chelsea, Scraping through Villa and Brighton. its not a disaster sure, but its a wobble! maybe its a few changes that Ive made to the team, Huddlestone in the DM and trying to train Barkley for RM.

Either way, expectations are high from the new board after a takeover (not a oil merchant :( ). Top 6 is the aim,as well as progression to the knockout phase of Champions League! I cant get sacked after buying all of these young prospects!
 
It works good for my Ham-Kam team, won the league with 5 games left. I can take som pictures tonight when I have played the last games. Got the newest patch.
 
Alright lads, good to see people are still trying this and getting success. Though, since the latest couple of patches this tactic has not been as effective. I've created an alternative (deep 4-4-2 counter) and that is still solid, but again the last patch affected that and I've been tweaking / re-making tactics since then but nothing near public release as of yet. These tactics still work, they just won't work for every situation.
 
seanhrfc said:
Alright lads, good to see people are still trying this and getting success. Though, since the latest couple of patches this tactic has not been as effective. I've created an alternative (deep 4-4-2 counter) and that is still solid, but again the last patch affected that and I've been tweaking / re-making tactics since then but nothing near public release as of yet. These tactics still work, they just won't work for every situation.
Click to expand...

Hi seanhrfc, with your other tactic, the deep counter, i have made a few of my own tweaks and i am having great success. I moved to 2 DM forward but kept them on the same instructions. I also use an "away" tactic where the mentality is changed to counter. With this tactic i won the Scottish league 1 with Dunfermline, 10 points clear of Rangers, and currently half way through 2nd season in Championship, 4 points behind Hearts who are top, 8 points clear of third, 9 points clear of Rangers who are 5th.
 
parsdaft said:
Hi seanhrfc, with your other tactic, the deep counter, i have made a few of my own tweaks and i am having great success. I moved to 2 DM forward but kept them on the same instructions. I also use an "away" tactic where the mentality is changed to counter. With this tactic i won the Scottish league 1 with Dunfermline, 10 points clear of Rangers, and currently half way through 2nd season in Championship, 4 points behind Hearts who are top, 8 points clear of third, 9 points clear of Rangers who are 5th.
Click to expand...

If you would like to share your upload on the The Deep 4-4-2 Counter's thread please feel free to do so. I have adapted it as well, mostly with a high line and changes to set pieces etc.

Though at the moment I am working on a Stoke project with a 4-3-3 that focuses on attacking, possession football whilst developing youth. Stokelona ;)
 
Love this tactic. Works so so well in my European Alphabet Challenge. Won the Austrian 2nd Division and Austrian Cup in my first season. First season in the top flight won the league and cup again. Moved to Belarus, although I got 'relegated' with one team I took over after relegation was confirmed and left at the end of the season to take over a mid table club. Won the Belorusian cup with them. Moved to BATE won the cup with them, the league, supercup and my biggest achievement in this save to date. The Europa League with BATE in 2018. With the screenshot, it says 2017 champions because for some insane reason this screen has taken me winning the group as winning the Europa League.

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