Because of the match engine this year, most people(including me) have been struggling with finding a solid tactic to work for their team. I've tried an assortment of downloaded tactics and only about 5% of those I've downloaded have worked, but none of them work for the latest patch(atleast for me).
So, I decided that instead of just trying a bunch of random settings and formations until I found something that worked(like I did on FM12) that I'd try to replicate the tactics of a real-life team.
Now, most people would go for Barcelona or Real Madrid type tactics when doing something like this, but for me the most impressive team this season is Bayern Munich. They have had the best defensive record in the Bundesliga this season as well as the second highest possession per game in Europe(after Barcelona). With the help of you guys if this tactic becomes good I will probably release it on this site.
The aim of this thread is to create a tactic similar to Bayern's in real life that would work in FM for not only Bayern but for other teams as well. With the help of you guys if this tactic becomes good I will probably release it on this site.
This is what I've done so far, it's not much but since I'm not a tactical genius I don't know what to do with several settings to get the desired results. I've tried to see as much of Bayern Munich's games as possible but I only get the Bundesliga highlights and not the full games on T.V. The exact tactics of real life teams may not work in FM so first we'll try to get as close as possible to the real thing and make some tweaks until we find what works.
The formation I've used is a 4-2-3-1. Some people might argue that Bayern play a 4-3-3 with Martinez as a DM and Kroos and Schweini as CMs, but most of the time I've observed that Kroos is behind Mandzukic in the hole rather than alongside Bastian so I've played him at AMC. Some of the roles I've set so far might be weird and some I'm not sure myself, so I need help here as well as on the player instructions.
RB, LB : Full Back(support) : Lahm and Alaba - From what I've seen they usually sit back and defend but burst forward and overlap with the wingers when the chance arises. For this reason I will probably use the "Look for Overlap" shout.
CBs : Central Defender(defend): Dante and van Buyten - I don't think any changes here are required but I might try playing a stopper-cover combo later in-case the defense is not solid enough.(What do you suggest?)
DMR : Defensive Midfielder(defend): Javi Martinez - I was not sure whether to play him as an anchor man or a defensive midfielder because he stays back mostly but for now I think defensive midfielder on defend would be the best because I want him to close down on opposition players.(W)
CML : Box to Box Midfielder(support): Bastian Schweinsteiger - Schweinsteiger is a box-to-box midfielder naturally but with the talented attacking quartet ahead of him he usually stays back, just a little ahead of Martinez and recycles possession when attacking. Not sure whether to play him as just a central midfielder instead of box to box.(W)
AMC : Attacking Midfielder(support): Kroos - I've set him to this role because he usually is already in the hole and doesn't burst forward from central midfield. I chose Attacking Midfielder over Advanced Playmaker because the player instructions for Attacking Midfielder on support says that he will sometimes come and help the defense as well which is what he does in real life.(W)
AML, AMR : Advanced Playmaker(attack): Ribery and Muller/Robben - This probably the setting that will bring the most discussion. Most people would play Inside Forwards here. You'd never consider Robben to be a playmaker, because he never passes! He also doesn't track back to help his full back, which is why Heynckes has preferred Muller on the right flank. Ribery has improved his attitude and work rate and so he is first choice as usual. I've tried playing Advanced Playmaker(attack) on the wings before and I've found that they drop deep to pick up the ball (and if they are deep they will naturally help defending, which is what they do irl). Secondly, while their default wide play is to cut in, they will also occasionally put in crosses(again, like they do irl). (W)
ST: Advanced Forward(attack): Mandzukic - This role I think is perfect for what Mandzukic does in real life. He leads the line but also crafts out chances at times and drifts out wide to chase loose balls.
(W): What do you think? When I've put this at the end of a paragraph that means I would like some suggestions and your opinion of whether this role or position is right for the player's role irl.
Team Instructions: Very Fluid - While defending the entire team presses the opposition for the ball so I've gone for this. I might consider toning it down to Fluid, but not sure at this point. (W)
Mentality: Attacking - They play an attacking game, but because of their possession this season control could be the right one.(W)
Passing: Default - They play a short passing game usually but the front four are pretty direct.(W)
Creative Freedom: More Expressive (W)
Closing Down: Press More, Tackling: More Aggressive - One of the key elements of Bayern's play is their aggressive pressing. They don't let the opposition keep the ball and so that's what I'm trying to do here with these settings.
Marking: Zonal - It's what they use in real life.
Crossing, Roaming, Width, Tempo and Defensive Line set to default.(W)(I don't know what to set for Tempo and Width, but I think I should maybe pull down the line by a few clicks?)
Focused Passing - I want the ball to go to the wingers a lot but since they will cut in, I don't know whether to set passing to the middle or to the wings for the ball to be passed to them.(W)
Play Offside - Yes
Playmaker - AMC(Kroos) - I'm not sure whether to have a playmaker or not but for now I've set it to Kroos. Need your suggestions here. (W)
Target Man - None - I think I might need to set Mandzukic as the target man, but again, not sure. Supply would probably be mixed to him since he's good with his head as well as his feet.
Player Instruction changes(so far):
- Wingers set to swap positions with each other
- All longshots turned off(players take plain stupid long shots in FM)
- Wingers set to cross to centre(I might change it to target man if I end up using one)
- Full backs set to cross to far post.
- DM's passing set to first click of mixed(even though Martinez does mainly short passes, I felt that the passing was too short)
- BBM's passing made 2 clicks shorter.
As I said before, I'm not a tactical genius(FM13 is only my second FM game and I only started watching football a lot from the start of the 2011/12 season), so I'd appreciate any suggestions or opinions to improve this tactic.
Also, English is not my first language so I apologize if I have made a few grammatical mistakes.
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The goal we conceded was due to a mistake by Dante - he ran forward to head away the goal kick when he should have been running backwards. Lewandowski got the ball and was clear through on goal and needless to say he scored :/ But tbf Robben did score his second goal from our own half so its alright 
The tactic was no where near fully fluid so I'm guessing this is a good sign. Using version 1.2 of this tactic, but still there is work to be done with the buildup of play from the CM/DM to the flanks. Using a DM instead of a CM is helping the defense but it means that the RDM will have to do a long pass to the right wing(passing is set to flanks) which he sometimes misses, causing our possession % to go down.