Creating a Powerful Attacking, but defensively sound Tactic

[trickydicky17]

So I've NEVER been any good at creating tactics in football manager, ever. With teams such as Utd, City, Chelsea and strong teams i can pick a formation, and use team instructions to some positive results. But now I'm currently anchorage of Aston Villa and I'm currently 10th in the League and the board are pleased with how I'm performing in the League. I am not!! I was 5th but a recent run of very very bad results seen me dropped to 10th and out of the league cup. Back to my point...

I have used other peoples tactics, and plug and play tactics and most seem to not have a any effect. I clearly am doing something wrong. So what i thought i would do, to learn how to really make/use tactics to the best of my ability is create a few tactics from scratch. I want to create a 'Home', 'Away', and 'Away(Big)'. Obviously the home and away are for what they say they are, but the away big is for when i play some of the big teams like Utd, City, Arsenal & Chelsea.

As i said in the Title, i would like to create a Powerful Attacking force, and a solid strong defence. I get, the better the players, the better the chances of this happening. But considering, Aston Villa have a bit of a strong team. i have an transfer update from just before Benteke signed for Liverpool. But with the Power of Benteke, the speed of Agbonlahor & Sinclair. And James Wilson(Loan) no more needs to be said about Wilson. They should score. Brad Guzan has been incredible for me. Even though he has conceded many goals.

So where to start? I'm looking for some help/advice on creating these tactics from the ground up. Like I've said I'm simply not good at them and for many years used plug and play tactics to get success.

Im bored just want me to be competitive this season and i currently "Untouchable" and thats after loosing 6 games and drawing 4 in the last 10. So I'm hoping the board keep me on long enough for me to get the last version of the tactics up and running for the start of next season where i hope to push on up the table.

So where to begin?

Home

So i guess i start with the Formation for my home tactic?

It would make sense i guess to take advantage of my attack when at home? Do i use the triplet threat attack of the powerful Benteke, the quick Gabby Agbonlahor, and the goal machine James Wilson?

Do i play 3 up top? or use 2 and use Gabby on the wing? Maybe use a 4-2-3-1? i have a few CMs that i can rotate between but the 4 id really use would be Delph, Westwood, Sanchez and Gueye. the Sinclair and Gabby on the Wings and then (maybe if i train someone) a shadow Striker and up top a deep-lying forward as the SS will push on and be the main goal threat.

So would this lead to 4 at the back? or is it worth as I'm at home in having 3CBs, WBs fill the midfield to control the middle of the park to dominate possession at home?

Once i tackle the home tactics ill move on to AWAY and AWAY(BIG).

So where do i begin, not only am i looking for your advice on which formation i should use, but how to set it all up from Mentality, Team Shape and Team instructions to individual roles & to set pieces.

What are your Opinions? id love to hear from you?

Teach me how to build a real tactic and hopefully it can help more people that just me.

 

[WJ]

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2015-tactics/328095-starting-new-club.html

That's what I do when starting at a club. I evaluate the squad and pick a formation based on the players I have. You really look at your squad and decide how YOU want to play.

I'd question the need for the 3 tactics. I'd also question why you think in terms of home and away. You're an average to poor Villa side. Rather think in terms of winnable games and tough, defensive games.

As for creating tactics, these are great basic guides to get you started:

How to Play FM: A Twelve Step Guide

Pairs & Combinations FM2015 - UPDATED

Think about space. Where will the space be? How will you use that? Think about attackers creating space by drifting wide or dropping deep and someone else exploiting that space.

Probably most importantly - WATCH the games to see if your tactic is doing what you wanted it to.

 

[trickydicky17]

Player Roles Mentality, Shape and Instructions...

So I've gone away and come back an hour later after fiddling around with formations and how player would line up like 1st XI and 2nd XI. i decided to maybe start with a 4-2-3-1 Wide formation as seen below

View attachment 238308

Position	Role	Reason
GK	Defend	Had no reason to change this at the beginning as, (for me) Sweeper keepers seemed to concede more.
Inverted Wing Back	Right Support	I went with inverted wing back as these seem more affective in the past, the duties of a full back that are pushed up that little higher on the pitch and constantly up and down the touchline. But they don't neglect the defensive duties either.
Inverted Wing Back	Left Support	As of Above
Ball Playing Defender	Centre-Right Stopper	I feel the 2 centre back positions go hand in hand with one another. the right side i have chose to be the stopper...
Ball Playing Defender	Centre-Left Cover	and the left to be that cover sweeping behind to pick up any loose balls that get past the right CB.
Deep Lying Playmaker	Centre-Right Support	I've just had more success with a DLP, than i have with any other position in a 2 man mid.
Ball Winning Midfielder	Centre-Left Defend	This says it all, it wins the ball in the middle of the park. Set to defensive it sits that little further back that it can bridge the gap between defence and attack. Meanwhile, it also offers that extra support for the defenders and the BWM has 1 job really, tack and pass a couple feet to playmaker.
Inside Forward	Right Support	With having the WBs i decided against more typical wide man. Using an inside forward offers that bit of support to the WB's in both attacking and defensive duties but when the WBs overlap the wide men, this then gives the chance for the attacker to cut inside and play in side the right channel, with he option to shoot, cross or even a cheeky little pass to a free man.
Shadow Striker	Centre Attack	Chose this from a combo of info i read in game that the shadow striker works best with a Deep-Lying Forward. They push on as the main goalscoring threat, and with my Strikers, this could take advantage of the power, speed and pure goalscoring threat of my attackers.
Inside Forward	Left Support	With having the WBs i decided against more typical wide man. Using an inside forward offers that bit of support to the WB's in both attacking and defensive duties but when the WBs overlap the wide men, this then gives the chance for the attacker to cut inside and play in side the left channel, with he option to shoot, cross or even a cheeky little pass to a free man.
Deep Lying Forward	Centre Attack	Works well with the Shadow Striker, will create chances for himself but mainly link up the play and hold the ball to provide for the SS.

Mentality	Team Shape
Control	Fluid

I went with a control mentality for that reason, i could use attack as this is for the Home matches and the fans would like to see attacking football at home. but i feel being Aston Villa it would be more beneficial to control the game, take my time and pick the right opportunities to attack. The team shape, i could go with standard Flexible, but i prefer to use a more fluid shape, players can cover and provide support in both attacking defence, but also that little structure to shape the team and stop the SS ending up trying to fill the defensive line.

So From this information, what would you change and edit?

Which leads to Team Instructions. Below is a blank team instructions view. from reading the tactics so far, what team instructions would you suggest. The ones id pick, i 'think' they make sense in my head. But may not work on the pitch, so from peoples experiences what instructions would you give for the players roles, mentality and shape.

Here is my instructions...
View attachment 238299

What would yours be if using my tactics ?
View attachment 238298


Again, Id love to here from you all and read your advice. I want to learn how to set up in the best way, so if you do suggest something, could you please give a reason. It would be so much appreciated and id be truly grateful.

Next... (I'll get round to showing) Set Pieces! any advice on these things to would be appreciated!!

 

[trickydicky17]

I'd question the need for the 3 tactics. I'd also question why you think in terms of home and away. You're an average to poor Villa side. Rather think in terms of winnable games and tough, defensive games.

The reason i decided on 3 tactics was i 'see' the 3 ways to play, the way teams play at home, more expressive more open for attacking and try to control the game for the home fans. Away, such as games against similar teams, in respect to where they were predicted to finish in the league. So away to these teams you would be a bit more solid in defence, you'd be that little more structured and defensive, you still want to attack and create plenty of chances but when defended you would sit back that little bit more. and for the BIG TEAMS you have to be more defensive, park the bus, as they say. more structured and very rigid, solid lines of defence and they you break on the counter attack and hope to knick that goal to come away with a surprise draw or maybe even a win. obviously the stronger my teams become and improve. Developing and progressing in the league, then this last tactic would be gradually become obsolete. eventually being ill be the best/strongest team and i just need to play one way and i brush teams aside.

That was a bit of a long explanation but it explains why i suggested 3 tactics. but if people recommend that having the 3 wouldn't work and to have 2 or even just the one, then ill look into doing that and seeing if that works

Cheers for the link I'm going to have a read of them now!

As to watching the games, i watch the key moments of the game, is that enough to see where the critical moments are in the gaming work around them or do i need to see more of the game?

 

[amarsh95]

WJ if you think you're so clever and being smart on every post what successful tactics have you actually created?

 

[WJ]

Lots of questions.

1 - Why a Control (quite aggressive/attacking) mentality?

2 - Do you have solid reasons for choosing each TI? I think you've gone overboard or you don't realise that each mentality has its own default settings. Also, you'd be better off adding TIs if you need them rather than adding that many and having to figure out which ones aren't working.

Starting from the front:

3 - How does a DLF/A link up well with a S/S? The DLF starts deep and attacks the box with runs. The S/S does exactly the same.

4 - The 2x IF/S - They're supposed to sit wide and cutting inside, looking for shooting chances or passes. They're mainly forwards though. So both will be attacking the box where you already have a DLF and SS.

5 - You mentioned early on that you wanted to exploit the pace of Agbonlahor (and maybe even Sinclair) so how are you doing that with an IF/S role?

6 - You're going to have to accept that your tactic is aggressive defensively and an opposition player 'in the hole' could dominate against you because you have no midfielder sitting back, protecting the defence.


----


What exactly is the idea behind the tactic? Who are you looking at to score goals? Who will be the providers of those goals? How will they do that?

 

[WJ]

The reason i decided on 3 tactics was i 'see' the 3 ways to play, the way teams play at home, more expressive more open for attacking and try to control the game for the home fans. Away, such as games against similar teams, in respect to where they were predicted to finish in the league. So away to these teams you would be a bit more solid in defence, you'd be that little more structured and defensive, you still want to attack and create plenty of chances but when defended you would sit back that little bit more. and for the BIG TEAMS you have to be more defensive, park the bus, as they say. more structured and very rigid, solid lines of defence and they you break on the counter attack and hope to knick that goal to come away with a surprise draw or maybe even a win. obviously the stronger my teams become and improve. Developing and progressing in the league, then this last tactic would be gradually become obsolete. eventually being ill be the best/strongest team and i just need to play one way and i brush teams aside.

That was a bit of a long explanation but it explains why i suggested 3 tactics. but if people recommend that having the 3 wouldn't work and to have 2 or even just the one, then ill look into doing that and seeing if that works

I was just asking a question. People get too obsessed with 'what is best' and 'what is recommended'. So you'd go with a very attacking setup against anyone at home, whether they're Chelsea or Crystal Palace?

As to watching the games, i watch the key moments of the game, is that enough to see where the critical moments are in the gaming work around them or do i need to see more of the game?

If you're setting up a tactic, Comprehesive is the absolute minimum. Key highlights are useless as it doesn't show anywhere near enough detail to see if players are doing what you want them too, whether your players are in space and whether you're defensively good enough and have everyone covered.

 

[WJ]

WJ if you think you're so clever and being smart on every post what successful tactics have you actually created?

Don't derail his thread. I only make my own tactics and they're all very successful. I don't know what your point is. I'm getting people here to actually think about the tactics they create.

 

[trickydicky17]

So I'm reading the Pairs and Combinations pdf, its 40 pages!! i know i want to really learn with the tactics but i didn't really fancy sitting here having to read all the info, then try to implement what I've just read, when there is so much info. i don't know if its really worth that..

What i would like if people could and wouldn't mind, would be something like ...

"You should try and change ball winning midfielder to a box to box midfielder as they work better with a Deep lying playmaker, and change you CB from a Stopper to cover"

and something like ...
"in team instructions, under defending, the way you seem to want to play, you should have X,Y & Z selected because of ......."

.. that sort of thing, now don't get me wrong i will read the pdf, but getting through the 40 pages and interpreting the info into a successful tactic. its going to take time.

I get how it may look, i don't want it to be other people do the work for me, but tactics is just one thing i never got into as id always download them and just crack on

 

[WJ]

So you want people to spoon-feed you?

The point of that PDF is telling you what roles (and especially duties) work well together. It's dead easy if YOU have an idea of how YOU want to play. We can give you a lot of combinations - the same as the guide - but it's still up to you to decide. You're playing the game. You're the manager.

You should be thinking about space. Space is one of the most important factors in a match. Most of my questions relate in some way about space too and issues you'll have around that. Try and answer them at least?

 

[trickydicky17]

Setting up tactics, GOALKEEPERS ... Notes for others...

So what I'm doing is adding notes I've taken from the pdf 'Pairs and Combinations' from above.

The notes will be about selecting the roles and their duties, of the positions in the tactics I'm going to use. These can change over time if my formation isn't working for me, if you believe a certain formation will work better for me, please let me know?

People please add comments/replys and anything you may thing helpful to others. I am doing this so i can pass on what I'm reading to others so maybe making decisions for others can be easier than I'm having making them.

So to start

Im looking to build around a possible 4-2-3-1 formation

Goalkeeper

if you want to build up play from the back, having a creative outlet like Ball Playing Defender, Ball Playing Midfielder or Regista can create from deep and help maintain possession.
FB/WB have most space pass to, but have limited angles to build on from there.

It is considered LESS essential to have sweeper keeper if you are to have a defender with the 'Cover' duties or you have a sweeper/libero.

For a more direct or counter attacking option, having the keeper top utilise the quick throw opportunities to the FB/WB. Setting distribute to the flanks also helps the quicker/direct build up.

The long kick approach suits the taller, more physical options up the field, so having a target man or a wide target man, significantly improves your options.

Finally the keeper can control the tempo of the game as he can, when trying to slow the game down, hold onto the ball longer. On the other hand, continuing to apply more pressure when in desperate search of a goal, his distribution can be much quicker.

A sweeper keeper can utilise the space when a defensive line is pushed up higher.



My Decision...
As I'm considering having a defender(Cover) and/or midfielder(DLP) that will play from deep as i look to build up play from the back. I think i will benefit from having a standard GK


Goalkeeper - Defend
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????
??????????? - ???????

 

[trickydicky17]

So you want people to spoon-feed you?...

Not to spoonfeed me, no! i originally meant it as someone may advise me to use 2 strikers in a certain way to get goals, someone may suggest to play 3 CBs and WB's to be the most effective way to stop conceding goals, the plan was to hopefully be able to pull successful parts of others tactics and ideas and try implement them into a new formation/tactic that is crazily effective. it wasn't that i want people to spoonfeed me. i was hoping to take the best bits of others and try put them together.

And i get the point of the pdf, i guess i just wanted to take successful working sections to make an instant impact, where as using the PDF, its just time consuming to go through it

 

[trickydicky17]

Defence

​So I've decided I'm going to play with a central pairing. Choosing the combination that I'm choosing, i feel this will be the most secure and safest way to protect my goalkeeper and help keep as many clean sheets as possible.

So there is Central, Limited and Ball Playing Defenders with the duties of Defend, Stopper, Cover.

As i am not going to play using the offside trap, keeping that defensive line tight, together and inline, isn't so important to me. What is, is the roles of the defenders.

i take inspiration from one of Man Utd's best Defensive duo. I want a Vidic type player, and a Rio type.

My Vidic - So one central defender will be a Central Defender with the duties of Stopper. The Stopper duty aims to step up from the defensive line early, engaging the opposition soon as possible and quickly winning the ball back.

My Rio - This central defender will be my cool headed calm Ball Playing Defender with Cover duties. He will look to influence counter attacking opportunities by playing through balls into wide players or to players in front of himself. He can help maintain possession, will need good passing skills and quite creative, as you don't want to give up possession easily. Due to the creativity of a BPD he should only be partnered with a Central Defender. With his limited creativity, a Central Defender can easily maintain possession by using his more creative partner setting up attacking play. Have 2 BPD can see to much 'creativity' and attempt to many risky passes.

Together, i feel my Central Defending pair balance each others abilities and can, hopefully, avoid conceding many goals. Not playing a Offside Trap, my defence doesn't need to be so tight along back line, so this enables my CD(Stopper) provide the initial challenge and the space just in front of the defence is his and any ball in the air he will header, along the ground will plough straight through. If any balls get past the initial challenge, they then have to pass the BPD who has the space, time and (hopefully) ability to pick up anything that gets by and sweep everything up. Hopefully picking a pass to start an attack.


Next the RB and LB..

Goalkeeper	Defend
Central Defender	Stopper
Ball Playing Defender	Cover

 

[WJ]

Not to spoonfeed me, no! i originally meant it as someone may advise me to use 2 strikers in a certain way to get goals, someone may suggest to play 3 CBs and WB's to be the most effective way to stop conceding goals, the plan was to hopefully be able to pull successful parts of others tactics and ideas and try implement them into a new formation/tactic that is crazily effective. it wasn't that i want people to spoonfeed me. i was hoping to take the best bits of others and try put them together.

And i get the point of the pdf, i guess i just wanted to take successful working sections to make an instant impact, where as using the PDF, its just time consuming to go through it

And you think pasting bits and pieces together from everyone's suggestions will take less time? Finding something that works that way will probably be more difficult. A good defence is a lot more than just getting the 3 or 4 defenders' roles 'correct'. The same can be said for your attack/forwards. How the tactic operates as a whole is extremely important.

You're going to try and piece together little bits of info and that'll be difficult if you have no idea WHY the setups work. Pairs & Combinations could have been a page or two long if it didn't explain the concepts to you. Once you understand things, it's all logic from there.

I said this earlier, but there is no 'best'. There are a lot of options that work very well - but you have to think of the tactic as a whole. I could tell you, for instance, that a 3-man defence works for me. That forces you now to play without AML/AMR players, which if you wanted to use, you can't now. It's utterly pointless. Set up your midfield properly, in a 2-man or 3-man defence, and it'll help immensely.

Do you just have no idea how you want to play? You still haven't answered my questions. Answering them will already help you getting your tactic sorted. Anyway, you're creating tactics and you haven't even seen them in action. You should really create one and post if you have issues and what they are. You wont learn if everything is just given to you.

Last point, if you want something that's 'crazily effective', go download an exploitative tactic. It won't help you in the long run (and this is why you're stuck now) but it might just be crazily effective, allowing you to just close your eyes and press Continue ad infinitum.

 

[WJ]

I like the posts you're doing now. You're thinking about your team. Always consider the players you have and whether they can do the job asked of them and NEVER forget the tactic as a whole. Good going so far.

EDIT: By the way, sorry if the previous posts sound harsh. It's more frustration at the laziness of posts in general here, not specifically you. Your recent posts show that you're at least using your brain a little now. Put that tactic together, watch it and post about any issues you have and I'll be glad to help.

 

[Conflictinbanno]

It's all about analysing your squad.

Do you have a lot of really good strikers? If so then you might want 2 strikers to utilise this as you can use them well. Do you have a lot of strong CB's? If so it could be worth looking into a 3 CB formation to get them in your squad.

I'll use an example for my save on how I ended up choosing a formation I've never used before. Using the team report ratings from my assistant I noticed the main players who were highly rated currently were Lingard, Berra, Chambers, Steele and McGoldrick. So I thought, they are probably all going to be in my first team, so I put them in the best positions I could see. Steele GK picked himself, Berra and Chambers partnering in CB, McGoldrick up front. Lingard was the one I couldn't decide on, my assistant said he was best as an Inside Forward, but I didn't have any other decent AM's to play out wide, so I checked over Lingard's positions and start and found he would work well as an AMC on an Advanced Playmaker role so I slotted him in there.

Then I had to choose on either a 3rd CB/Wingbacks/Fullbacks/Midfielders. I only really had 2 other CB's I felt would feature so that immediately ruled out 3rd CB. I looked at my Fullbacks and the right back was fantastic at everything, my main left back however seemed better going forward than defending, I also had a very strong defensive midfielder so I placed the full backs in and put the DM in. I noticed the DM could be pretty solid defensively so I used a half back so I could utilise the full backs being good at going forward, I opted against using them as wingbacks/limited full backs/conplete full backs for the reasons I felt their stats didn't suit those roles. So I used normal Full backs but had them on attack, which would only really work with a half back as he sits like a 3rd CB when they venture forward to protect counters. Then I had enough CM's to finish off my tactic and keep it balanced. So I used a BWM as both my CM's look good at tackling and one as a DLP as again good defensively but had a decent creativity level looking through his stats, so that almost picked itself. My backup CM was a good DLP, so I had faith that if I brought him on, then either of the other CM's could be the BWM.

Instructions wise I've only added one for my team, retain possession (this is purely because my chairmen wanted us to play possession football). Player instructions again I only have the one, my keeper to distribute to those attacking full backs.

I started off using a Counter mentality as I was expected to finish mid table, this has however moved to Control as I'm top of the league and I felt my team could control the games.

Basically look at your team and see what players stand out, obviously Benteke will stand out, maybe Gabby too, but it's all about picking the formation that suits them and the roles to get the best out of them, while still keeping yourself balanced. If you are expected to finish mid-table, I personally wouldn't use a Control mentality even if I was at home, unless I was playing someone I could beat, based on their league position/players etc.

Take the time to look at your players stats and build your formation round this, mentality I think picks itself more so on where you are expected to finish as I wouldn't expect a team to finish in mid-table to try and control games unless they were playing teams you'd expect to see in a relegation battle. It can sometimes however work by doing something people don't expect you to do, but the AI will eventually catch you out (like you said where you had a bad run, it could be that the AI have seen how to catch you out and because your team isn't as strong as yours, they are fully capitalising on this).

EDIT: Just seen some of your updates and as WJ said it's good how you are looking at this. As I see you've gone from originally having two BPD in CB to one on CD and one on BPD, which is good as you've maybe seen not both of them could play that way.

 

[WJ]

I'll add that the AI isn't clever enough to specifically design their tactics to combat yours. They go more defensive or more attacking, yes, but those are general changes in reaction to the match situation. At best, they use the TI 'exploit flanks', for instance, if you only have 2 wide players (1 per flank).

 

[trickydicky17]

I like the posts you're doing now. You're thinking about your team. Always consider the players you have and whether they can do the job asked of them and NEVER forget the tactic as a whole. Good going so far.

I think I've come across the wrong way, as i didn't every want to have things done for me. id say go back to my original post, i did, and thats what i wanted. i wanted to learn how to create working effective tactics that i know WHY it works and How its working so if i need to change things id know what needs changing a why. I'm working my way through the Pairs and Combo PDF and slowly building the most effective team for me.

What i want & how i want to play?
Well what i want is to be able to create chances. At home, i want for the team to be able to create and provide chances for Benteke and/or Wilson, cause if they are in front of goal, they tend to score. So what i need to do is create chances, Obviosly at home i want to create many chances, control the game and retain possession. Ok i don't have the players that will be able to out pass the likes of Chelsea and City, but when it comes to WBA or Stoke, at home i need to be able to control the game and attack them...
On the other hand when I'm Away at the smaller clubs, i want to counter attack, sit back that little bit and pass and try to keep the ball. i don't need to create as many chances as i would at home, but i still want to be able to create chances, wether that is working the ball into the box, gradually. Or by crossing the ball for my strikers to attack.
On the other hand When i play the 'Big 6', with the quality of players i have, for now i think it would be worth sitting back, absorb there attacks and park the bus as they say, then boom! a counter attack here or there and i knick a goal. then i shut up shop and don't push my luck. in the future as my team develops and improves as i work my way up the league, ill look to controlling the games more and retain possession. Create many chances and take it to the other team wether its Burnley or Barcelona(champions league).


here are my best players that can fit into a numerous roles on the pitch to fill a formation. Ideally id like to play Benteke & Wilson in some form wether thats 2 strikers or 2 in a triplet of forwards. I hope to keep Wilson, wether on loan again or hope my board can put up the cash to sign him! he is incredible!

GK - Brad Guzan

Defenders - Micah Richards(CB), Jores Okore(CB), Kieran Richardson(LB), Leandro Bacuna(RB)

Midfield - Idrissa Gueye(CDM), Carlos Sanchez(CDM), Fabian Delph(CM), Scott Sinclair(ML, AM[RCL], ST) Gabby Agbonlahor(M/AM[RL], ST), Ashley Westwood(CDM), Jack Grealish(M[RL] AM[RLC])

Strikers - Christian Benteke(ST), S.Sinclair, G.Agbonlahor, James Wilson(ST)


So i just need to decide on what formation will work best with my Players. i think I'm going with...

4 Defenders
?? Midfielders
at least 2 Strikers

 

[WJ]

Saying you want to create chances means nothing though. HOW are you going to create them?

 

[trickydicky17]

Deciding On the Wide Men

Wide Men


So deciding on wide men is crucial to how the team will set up, deciding on wether i want to play FB's give me the option to play wingers or Wide Midfielders.

Ill go through the decision as they appear in the PDF and then ill explain the decision I've come to for my team.

Dominate Midfield, Come inside
So first, they give you the combination of wide men that enables the wide men further forward are able to move inside centrally to help midfield dominate.

You could use...

• Full Back(Attack)
• Wing Back(Support/Attack)
• Complete Wing Back(Attack)

With

• Wide Midfielder(Support)
• Wide Playmaker(Support/Attack)
• Advance Playmaker(Support/Attack)
• Inside Forward(Support/Attack)
• Raumdeuter(Attack)

So these combination of wide men, give you that ability for the midfield wide man to move inside to help dominate and retain possession.

You could use the exact combination of

• Inverted Wing Back(Support) & Winger/Wide Midfielder(Attack)

This specific option also gives the ability for the wide man to move inside to help with possession and dominate Midfield.

Use the Overlap
The next set of combinations allows for the pair of wide players to stay wide and take full advantage of the overlap to create space down the flanks. Be sure to use the correct Team Instructions to help take the full advantage of the overlap.

You could use...

• Full Back
• Wing Back
• Complete Wing Back

All these positions are with the Attack Duties. They need to be attacking as they need to get forward to overlap the man infront. Which means the wide man from midfield, his duties need to be set on support.This is so he doesn't push to far forward and leaves space for his wing partner to get by on the overlap. These roles are..

• Wide Midfielder
• Winger
• Defensive Winger
• Wide Target Man

Like i said all duties are set on support for these wide men. This will cause the naturally deeper player (DR for Example) to overlap the normally more offensive player(MR for example), which creates space and passing options.


Attack Attack, Defence Defend!
Provide Width, Attackers Attack, Defenders Defend
A more typical wide pairing, based solely on helping your team provide width, with offensive players responsible for more penetration, and defensive players to provide the out-ball and solidity could be used, such as...

• Full Back(Support)
• Wing Back(support)

With

• Winger(Attack)
• Wide Midfielder(Attack)

So I need to decide on what i want..

ok so what do i want? deciding on my wide men can decide on over a third of my team and in turn decides how the rest of the squad will start to process and build up.

Naturally i want to play attacking possession beautiful football. But i also have to be realistic! Im Aston Villa in my first season and i need to 'compete' in the league. I'm 10th at the moment. My board confidence is 'Untouchable' so i know i have time to find. how exactly we are going to play. but for now, at home. i want to keep hold of the ball, i have some good passers in my team and they are getting better at retaining possession. SO do i Use the wide men to come inside and increase my numbers in the middle of the park, hopefully giving me control of the game and control the middle of the game.I could look to work the ball through the middle of the pitch to take advantage of the numbers.

I think ill go with a Wing Back that has Support duties, In attack he must be prepared to run at his man. In midfiled help win the possession battleWhile in defence, close down opponents, block crosses and win back the ball when possible.
While with the Support duty checked, the Wing Back aims to provide angled through balls from out wide, although still provide crosses when opportunity arises.

Now the question is what sort of player do i play in front of the wing back. I have a decent choice with this option, its just deciding which best suits my players. I have players who can play out on the wing without a problem. Personally, id like to see a wide playmaker(Support/Attack) or an advanced playmaker(Support/Attack). With either option i can vary the duties i can change on a game by game basis. I can also change the duties of the wing back(Attack) which allows me to use winger(support) and take advantage of the overlap and create space. or use a winger(attack) and a wingback(support). i guess it also falls down to who I'm playing and how they are set up for the fixture... so for the more creative playmaker roles, Jack Grealish and Joe Cole could be effective for me and maybe using wingers to take advantage of the speed of Gabby Agbonlahor and Scott Sinclair.

Goalkeeper	Defend
Wing Back	Support/Attack
Central Defender	Stopper
Ball Playing Defender	Cover
Wing Back	Support/Attack
Advance Playmaker Wide Playmaker Winger	Support/Attack
Advance Playmaker Wide Playmaker Winger	Support/Attack