Cant get any formation working with wingers??

[UKscottUK]

Since ive started to play this game i have never been able to get any formation to work consistently with wingers . I can only ever get formations that include just midfielders like the 4 1 3 1 1 to work and its getting boring .

I try using stuff like this

View attachment 89951

or this

View attachment 89946

I mess around with tempo , I change from short passing to direct all the team instruction combinations that you can think off , The opponent will have like 1 or two good chances that they will obviously be as clinical as ever being the AI i will always have more shots and shots on targets , Not really enough clear cut chances and i have no idea why i cant get consistant results with this.

End up going back to the 4 1 3 1 1 because its the only thing that ever works for me.

Any advice? ty.

 

[martyb36]

It's hard to get tactics with wide mids/forwards working as well as narrow formations this year but it's definitely possible.

Firstly make sure the MR/ML/AMR/AML are inside forwards or wide midfielders that stay narrow and cut inside.

Defence.
Looks good, although I try to get risky passing on every player so I usually have BPD as centre backs.

Midfield.
Have a BWMs and a BBM and try a SS in the 4231. And probably a DLPs BWMs and BBM in the 433. Since your full backs are auto and your mentality is standard you could probably get away with no defensive minded midfielder.

Attack.
I usually go for support role strikers. Maybe a DLFs. You want him to occupy the middle of the pitch to allow space for the wide guys so I would avoid move into channels.

TIs.
Narrow as possible to keep the team as a unit
Short or mixed massing.
Tempo low for now. (Play around with this)
Play out from defence
Close down more

PIs.
Put hard tackling on all players. Take it off when they get a yellow.

Watch the game.
Most importantly, Watch a full match or 2 or 3 and see if any players aren't acting as required or are being wasted. Then tweak accordingly. Usually takes a few runs through to get it ticking right.

 

[UKscottUK]

It's hard to get tactics with wide mids/forwards working as well as narrow formations this year but it's definitely possible.

Firstly make sure the MR/ML/AMR/AML are inside forwards or wide midfielders that stay narrow and cut inside.

Defence.
Looks good, although I try to get risky passing on every player so I usually have BPD as centre backs.

Midfield.
Have a BWMs and a BBM and try a SS in the 4231. And probably a DLPs BWMs and BBM in the 433. Since your full backs are auto and your mentality is standard you could probably get away with no defensive minded midfielder.

Attack.
I usually go for support role strikers. Maybe a DLFs. You want him to occupy the middle of the pitch to allow space for the wide guys so I would avoid move into channels.

TIs.
Narrow as possible to keep the team as a unit
Short or mixed massing.
Tempo low for now. (Play around with this)
Play out from defence
Close down more

PIs.
Put hard tackling on all players. Take it off when they get a yellow.

Watch the game.
Most importantly, Watch a full match or 2 or 3 and see if any players aren't acting as required or are being wasted. Then tweak accordingly. Usually takes a few runs through to get it ticking right.

Thanks for the reply .

I managed to tweak a few things in the end and come from 7th in the league to 1st , Dont really understand why this worked but it did

View attachment 89808

Still not convinced on any formation with wingers as off yet , It just seems to feel so unbalanced.

Here is another save that i am having trouble with.

This team suits having wingers yet i cant get no joy with it even with my changed formation
View attachment 89807

Yet i can play this formation and it gets good results . but i find it boring and want to get wingers to work ...

View attachment 89806

 

[Scwiffy]

I've had same problem. Its also very disappointing that all the same roles appear to dominate others - DLFs, SS, BBM & BWM to name but a few. I tried to build an old fashioned crossing tactic but only way to get it working was with overlapping FBs/WBs. Even then my forward struggled to put away chances. I don't mind all the lovely narrow and strikerless tactics this year but its shame you can't get other things to work as well.

 

[martyb36]

I suppose classic wingers running down the touch line and crossing it to the big guy has been phased out for the most part in successful football teams so I can understand why this isn't as effective.

However wide players cutting in and acting as some kind of inside forward is very much a commonly used role, and one that is still very effective in this year's FM.

The issue is that the inside forwards can perform well and get many goals and assists but you lose out on having two players in the centre of the pitch who can help keep possession and win the ball back. These narrow formations work better for this reason.

Its worth mentioning all the narrow strikerless tactics that are floating around are almost in that game breaker range and you can't get a wide formation to match it, however you can still make very strong tactics using wide players where you can eventually win everything with a strong enough team. If you like wide formations stick with it, I used one with Coventry and got all the way up to winning the treble after 9 seasons (took a while to knock United off top of league!).

 

[Zenzi Sage]

I was having considerable success with wide player tactics. Managed to get Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus on the cheap, and still have Sanchez, Ox and Iwobi in my Arsenal squad. Now starting my fifth season in the game and all my wide player tactics are being thrashed. Forced to use effective but counter intuitive wingerless strategies until I see that my profile doesn't have wingers as my preferred style, and all my favorite wingers are now left collecting dust.

 

[Samaroy]

Wingbacks help overload wings which helped you win

Title suggests what im about to say but i think that helped you win due to the flooding/overloading of the wings which would have given you more open un-closed-down crosses which are more accurate and would have lead to more goals
My personal thoughts on using wingers is they must be accompanied by IWB or custom WBs that cut inside and have a strong opposite foot to the side they are on. This will lead them to cut inside forcing the opposition fullbacks to shrink inwards and narrow to block the space that the IWB penetrate leaving the wingers space on the wings

More often than not if the fullbacks shrink narrow the wingers will have a ton of space to exploit on the edge leading to a successful penetrating dribble and pass/shot to goal or a successful cross.

IF you observe during the game that the IWBs penetrate the inside space and the opposition fullbacks stay wide on the wingers then you should look to add a BBM or CMa bombing forward into the box to create an overload inside - this will give you 3 attackers penetrating the gaps between 2 Central Defenders which if your IWB have an appropriate level of vision and passing should lead to a ton of goals


The nature of the advice iv just given you will be more suitable to the top top teams who are controlling games. As playing with IWBs and Wingers on support or attack with only 2 defenders and a holding midfielder will give the opposing team plenty of space operate counter attacks. If you do feel vulnerable to the counter try switching to a 4-1-2-3 and apply the same philosophies just have a DLPs instead of your attacking midfielder. That way you will have 4 men back instead of 3 and your central midfielders can close down the counter attack while the back 2 run back to the box to defend the keeper.

Hope this helps with your future tactical strategy