So I found myself wanting to create something of a Defensive / Counter style tactic taking inspiration from managers such as Antonio Conte , Walter Smith , Claudio Ranieri , something that says we want to be hard to beat but also wanted to have a bit of "guile"
I try to play the game with a sense of realism so if you are looking to win the league with Palace in the first season this is not for you.
I tested this tactic with Hamburg in Germany over two seasons as it is probably one of the most difficult leagues due to the strength and depth of the teams in the league with the likes of Bayern, Dortmund , Schalke , Wolfsburg , Leverkusen ,Etc ETC and this would allow me to see if the defensive side of the tactic would work.
my signings were based on what I imagined the targets for Hamburg would be, rather than just going for wonderkids and again to try and get the best out of the tactic.
The Tactics itself is made up of two formations one for games when we are going to need to be focused on the defensive duties and one for the more controlling side.
FORMATIONS AND ROLES
Defensive Games - ( HJM1 - download name ) Where you expect to be on the back foot more
View attachment 1076938View attachment 1076939
Control Version ( HJM2 Download Name ) : when you are the better side and expect to dominate
View attachment 1076952
View attachment 1076953
The thought process behind this is when we are out of possession that this becomes a bank of 5 and a bank of 4 making it harder for the opposition to break us down. The aim of the deep lying duo is to be able to spring a counter attack if win back possession and with the false 9 being available for the ball to take us through the transitions.
when we do not have the ball the tactic should look something like this
View attachment 1076940
When we win the ball the team should look to transition into something more like this
View attachment 1076941
The aim here is that the wing backs almost convert into midfielders and allow the midfielders to push higher up. with the wing backs higher up then they can take ball in at feet or offer the overlap for the wingers to then give us more bodies in the box with this being one of our main avenue's of creating chances and scoring goals.
TEAM INSTRUCTIONS
View attachment 1076942
The thinking behind this had quite a bit of tinkering during the first season and I know some of these seem counter productive to an extent like playing out of defence with a counter attack tactic but I didn't want to play too direct and end up giving the ball away and inviting the opposition into having more attacking opportunities.
PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS
From a shape / formation perspective there was only a few individual instructions
Goalkeeper:
The keeper only has a few instructions and that's to play the ball out short and quickly when available to give us the opportunity to start our attack quickly.
View attachment 1076944
Wingbacks :
We ask the wingbacks to play inside/ Narrower because naturally with the tactic they will still look for the overlap as that's what the tactic asks but with sitting Narrower this allows them to be available for the short pass as well from the creative middle.
View attachment 1076943
Wide Midfielder :
The WM is only asked to push further forward when we are in our attacking transition to allow us to have bodies to support the striker.
View attachment 1076945
False 9
The F9 not only has to be able to finish himself he also has to be able to put a shift in for the team and with him roaming from positions this should allow spaces and gaps for on rushing players to get past the opposition defence.
View attachment 1076946
TRAINING:
Preseason :
Always on More Match Training
Tactical & Teamwork ( High Intensity) - I want the players to Gel and get to know the tactic as well as they get to know each other
During first half of Season :
Defending & Defensive Positioning ( High Intensity) - The Aim here is to get really focused on "not getting beat" I want to ensure we have the best chance of picking up points in every single match.
*When the tactic is then fluid I then look at what my challenges are so normally Att. Movement or Att Set Pieces would be next on the list to ensure we are making the most of when we have the ball too.
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING :
All defensive players should be on defensive positioning and tackling if they are not above 15 for these as a starting point.
I would then suggest looking at off the ball work for the WB to make sure they are aware of their surroundings as there is quite a lot of emphasis on these in both Attacking and Defensive Transitions.
whoever you decide to be you DLP support you should look to get him on dictating the tempo of the game if they again have good Passing , Decisions , Flair , Anticipation.
Wide Midfielders we want to get them Moving into channels again to look to create space for the full backs. After you have focused on crossing and passing.
The F9 it is important that they you ask them to "place the ball into the corner of the net" as again when we get the ball into the opposition box we want to make the most of our chances and blasting the ball means we are more likely to score.
RESULTS OVER TWO SEASONS
Season 1
Media Prediction : 7th
Actual Finish : 4th
German Cup : 2nd round
View attachment 1076947
We had a horrible first half of the season when we were trying to find our feet with the tactic and there was a lot of experimenting going on but considering the tinkering I was happy with this qualification of the champions league.
Season 2 :
Media Prediction :6th
Actual Finish : 2nd ( Lost the title on goal difference to Bayern Munich!!!!
)
German Cup : Winners
Europa League : last 16
View attachment 1076948
View attachment 1076949
As you can see from our records we improved on a lot from the first season and again I do firmly believe this was down to trying to find the tactic and how it was going to work.
I try to play the game with a sense of realism so if you are looking to win the league with Palace in the first season this is not for you.
I tested this tactic with Hamburg in Germany over two seasons as it is probably one of the most difficult leagues due to the strength and depth of the teams in the league with the likes of Bayern, Dortmund , Schalke , Wolfsburg , Leverkusen ,Etc ETC and this would allow me to see if the defensive side of the tactic would work.
my signings were based on what I imagined the targets for Hamburg would be, rather than just going for wonderkids and again to try and get the best out of the tactic.
The Tactics itself is made up of two formations one for games when we are going to need to be focused on the defensive duties and one for the more controlling side.
FORMATIONS AND ROLES
Defensive Games - ( HJM1 - download name ) Where you expect to be on the back foot more
View attachment 1076938View attachment 1076939
Control Version ( HJM2 Download Name ) : when you are the better side and expect to dominate
View attachment 1076952
View attachment 1076953
The thought process behind this is when we are out of possession that this becomes a bank of 5 and a bank of 4 making it harder for the opposition to break us down. The aim of the deep lying duo is to be able to spring a counter attack if win back possession and with the false 9 being available for the ball to take us through the transitions.
when we do not have the ball the tactic should look something like this
View attachment 1076940
When we win the ball the team should look to transition into something more like this
View attachment 1076941
The aim here is that the wing backs almost convert into midfielders and allow the midfielders to push higher up. with the wing backs higher up then they can take ball in at feet or offer the overlap for the wingers to then give us more bodies in the box with this being one of our main avenue's of creating chances and scoring goals.
TEAM INSTRUCTIONS
View attachment 1076942
The thinking behind this had quite a bit of tinkering during the first season and I know some of these seem counter productive to an extent like playing out of defence with a counter attack tactic but I didn't want to play too direct and end up giving the ball away and inviting the opposition into having more attacking opportunities.
PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS
From a shape / formation perspective there was only a few individual instructions
Goalkeeper:
The keeper only has a few instructions and that's to play the ball out short and quickly when available to give us the opportunity to start our attack quickly.
View attachment 1076944
Wingbacks :
We ask the wingbacks to play inside/ Narrower because naturally with the tactic they will still look for the overlap as that's what the tactic asks but with sitting Narrower this allows them to be available for the short pass as well from the creative middle.
View attachment 1076943
Wide Midfielder :
The WM is only asked to push further forward when we are in our attacking transition to allow us to have bodies to support the striker.
View attachment 1076945
False 9
The F9 not only has to be able to finish himself he also has to be able to put a shift in for the team and with him roaming from positions this should allow spaces and gaps for on rushing players to get past the opposition defence.
View attachment 1076946
TRAINING:
Preseason :
Always on More Match Training
Tactical & Teamwork ( High Intensity) - I want the players to Gel and get to know the tactic as well as they get to know each other
During first half of Season :
Defending & Defensive Positioning ( High Intensity) - The Aim here is to get really focused on "not getting beat" I want to ensure we have the best chance of picking up points in every single match.
*When the tactic is then fluid I then look at what my challenges are so normally Att. Movement or Att Set Pieces would be next on the list to ensure we are making the most of when we have the ball too.
INDIVIDUAL TRAINING :
All defensive players should be on defensive positioning and tackling if they are not above 15 for these as a starting point.
I would then suggest looking at off the ball work for the WB to make sure they are aware of their surroundings as there is quite a lot of emphasis on these in both Attacking and Defensive Transitions.
whoever you decide to be you DLP support you should look to get him on dictating the tempo of the game if they again have good Passing , Decisions , Flair , Anticipation.
Wide Midfielders we want to get them Moving into channels again to look to create space for the full backs. After you have focused on crossing and passing.
The F9 it is important that they you ask them to "place the ball into the corner of the net" as again when we get the ball into the opposition box we want to make the most of our chances and blasting the ball means we are more likely to score.
RESULTS OVER TWO SEASONS
Season 1
Media Prediction : 7th
Actual Finish : 4th
German Cup : 2nd round
View attachment 1076947
We had a horrible first half of the season when we were trying to find our feet with the tactic and there was a lot of experimenting going on but considering the tinkering I was happy with this qualification of the champions league.
Season 2 :
Media Prediction :6th
Actual Finish : 2nd ( Lost the title on goal difference to Bayern Munich!!!!
) German Cup : Winners
Europa League : last 16
View attachment 1076948
View attachment 1076949
As you can see from our records we improved on a lot from the first season and again I do firmly believe this was down to trying to find the tactic and how it was going to work.