English Style 442 - High Tempo, Flank based attacks - Season 1 Premier League Win

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Rosler71

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Greetings all,

After winning the Premier League with Tonbridge Angels in my 19th Season (after starting in Skrill South) I took a break from the game satisfied that I had achieved my main ambition. I had used all of my released tactics over the 19 seasons across 4 or 5 Match Engines and they had all been successful.

The team I actually support is Man City and their Premier League win inspired me to start a save with them, something I had previously avoided thinking it would be too easy.

Its turns out its not that easy as even 1 defeat or draw can be catastrophic to your chances of success as the expectations, self imposed and from the board are so high.

Additionally, some of my own tactics had become quite fanciful and I noticed the tactic boards were full of 4-2-3-1 Tiki Taka style tactic utilizing Complete Wingbacks and slow tempo in the Spanish/Barcelona model.

Call me a philistine but I cannot bear to watch this possession for possessions sake style of sideways and backwards passing, in real life or with FM. Its bores me rigid.

So I set myself some boundaries for my new Man City tactics which would ensure it was an antidote to the dominant 4-2-3-1 playing vibrant, quick attacking football.

These were my rules.

IT WILL BE A TRUE 4-4-2

IT WILL BE HIGH TEMPO

THERE WILL BE AN EMPHASIS ON WING PLAY

THERE WILL BE DIRECT ELEMENTS IN PLAY

IT WILL BE HIGH SCORING

A HIGH PERCENTAGE OF GOALS WILL COME FROM MY MAIN STRIKER

I WILL WIN THE LEAGUE IN THE FIRST SEASON WITH AT LEAST 85 POINTS



RESULTS

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All of the above objectives have been met. Comfortable League win with 87 points which is pretty good under 14.3.1 which as you know is a pretty moody version of the Match Engine.

Picked up the League Cup as well, got out of a tricky Champions League group before losing to Juventus in the quarter finals somewhat unluckily.

Aguero got his quota of goals.

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Conceded a fair few goals but that was always gonna happen without someone in the DM spot. Confident we were going to outscore our opponents most of the time.

Overall a very promising season with fantastic football played.


THE TACTIC

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HOW THE TACTIC WORKS.

The attacking system is a simple one, get the ball wide quickly to the Wingers who isolate the full backs one on one and beat them for pace and skill. If that's not on they can recycle possession back into center field or back to the supporting FB's who overlap or cross from deep depending on whats the best option. You will see some neat interplay and one - two's on the flanks.

Lots of goals come from crosses, headed as well as struck in from the six yard box. This is a real feature of the tactic and great to watch.

Sometimes instead of crossing the wide player will feed the runs of the supporting midfielders who will drill a shot or supply a through ball to the strikers.

Defensively we are pressing hard high up the pitch. We employ a defensive forward on defend duty who supports the midfield when out of possession, the DLP drops deep in defence and we effectively have a 4141 when out of possession.

The tactic is not based around defensive solidity but this system guarantees we dont get overrun very often.

Evidence of great wing play, Navas wasn't even my first choice Winger initially using Nasri at first, however it soon became clear Navas excels in this role and will be the archetypal winger for this tactic, very quick, good dribbling and crossing. If his finishing was a bit better he would be unreal but he still chipped in with 10 goals.


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MATCH ENGINE STUFF

There's no doubt about it, sooner or later you will get well and truly shafted out of the blue often when you are in good form. This season I beat Tottenham 7 - 0 and then lost 5 - 1 the Villa in the next game, the next game I won 3-0 and it was business as usual.

Sometimes, something in the background determines that your team will be unable to string 2 passes together and/or you will run into an opponent playing like Barcelona on speed.

We just have to accept it and move on. I don't bother to analyse those games as its pointless.


****IMPORTANT****

Due to the corner routine put ALL of your full backs as corners takers (and no one else!), regardless of corner attribute. All will become clear :)

Player descriptions will be vital and I will do them later as well as explaining more about the tactic.

Good luck and enjoy.


***** DOWNLOAD ****

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PLAYER GUIDELINES

The Defensive Forward/Defend

No team really ?carries? 2 strikers anymore. All teams defend from the front to one extent or another.

I am happy to leave our Complete Forward/Attack higher up the pitch, occupying the Centre Backs and giving us an out ball but we need our 2nd Striker to track back.

Looking at the heat maps post game you will see him positioned only slightly advanced of our Box to Box midfielder almost occupying the MCR spot vacated by our DLP who has dropped deeper.

In essence we transform into an 4141 when we are out of possession.

Surely this must blunt his effectiveness as an attacking force? Well he certainly won?t get as many goals as your Complete Forward but one of the criticisms of all the support striker roles is that they don?t come deep enough, often enough. Our man will do that, linking play early in attacks then making late runs into the box which can be deadly. I?ve seen hatricks out of my DF/D on more than one occasion.

Attributes.

You won?t find Strikers with the tackling or marking attributes indicated for the role in game but I don?t think they are necessary. I believe you want a quick, powerful striker with a very high work rate and all our strikers need to be able to finish.

Negredo is a great option at City, the Ultimate would probably be Diego Costa.

Look for, Acceleration, Strength, Work Rate and Finishing



COMPLETE FORWARD/ATTACK

I find this to be the best role for bagging loads of goals. Pretty much a Poacher with a few more arrows to his bow. A very direct threat in his own right but more than capable of bringing others into play.

He will be your main goal scorer probably bagging around 40% of the teams goals. He will score lots of goals running onto crosses, a fair few headers even if he is small and not great in the air. He will also have the opportunity to run onto a lot of thru balls in and behind the defence out pacing the Centre Backs.

I like a small agile guy here, Aguero is perfect. I think you could also do well with someone powerful as long as they are skilful and quick. Dzeko filled in well for me on many occasions.

They need to be quick to keep up with our flying wingers.

Look for Finishing, Composure, Acceleration and Off the Ball.

I?d spend my money here!


WINGER/ATTACK
Not that fashionable anymore, or perhaps they are, we just call them by different names. I wanted classic wingers, Giggs in his youth, Overmars, Ginola, Kanchelskis, Pires, Matthews, Figo, Dzajic, Finney, Best, Garincha?..get my drift.

We want people who can run quickly with the ball at their feet, attack space and deliver pin point crosses and passes. Starting from a deeper position than the AMR/AML they will have plenty of space to attack. When attacks are forming on the opposite flank they will drift inside giving us another striking option in the penalty area so finishing ability is a great advantage.

You will likely need to retrain natural AMR/AML. Works well, Navas was ripping teams apart with his dribbling and crossing. My left flank was weaker with Silva & Milner filling in, next season I will look at someone like Marco Reus to fill that spot and he is a quality finisher as well as being a great winger.

Attributes, Acceleration, Crossing, Dribbling and try and get a Finisher as well.


BOX TO BOX/SUPPORT

Again, bit of a dying breed really. Most midfielders either ?sit in? or operate in an advanced role. We need our man to operate as a ?piston? moving up and down the pitch as the situation requires.

In possession we need our man to assist in building attacks before making late runs into the box. Out of possession we need him quickly behind the ball forming a defensive shield with the DLP in front of the back 4.

As such you need an all action midfielder with a great engine and good all round abilities. The Box to Box is the ultimate ?support? roll for midfield and carries a lot of responsibilities.

Good examples are a young Gerrard, Khedira, Pogba, Modric, Lars Bender, Gundogan, Schweinsteiger, Vidal and of course Yaya Toure.

Look for WORK RATE, STAMINA, PASSING, TEAM WORK


DEEP LYING PLAYMAKER ? DEFEND

As we have 2 wingers and 2 strikers committed to creating and scoring goals we can be fairly conservative with our midfield duo in particular the DLP well remain deep apart from during sustained pressure and attacks where he will advance forward to support attacks.

Our DLP has direct passing switched on. Ideally we are looking for diagonal balls crossfield into our wingers but unfortunately the ME doesn?t really go for that often. Our Complete Forward seems to be a more tempting option and you will see some nice 35 yard passes into him adding a nice direct element to play.

Our DLP is more involved in building attacks from deep often receiving the ball from our GK and Centre Backs before distributing and initiating attacks up the flanks. He is always available for an easy out ball should anyone run into a ?dead end? and he will patiently ?probe? and move until the ball moves up field.

A vital cog, although not one for grabbing the limelight.

Defensive qualities should not be ignored.

Look for, PASSING, POSITIONING, MARKING, TACKLING


FULL BACKS/SUPPORT

The modern 442 is pretty much built around the wide midfielders ?tucking in? and the Full Backs attacking, overlapping and getting very high up the pitch during attacks. At least down one of the flanks.

I tried to ?force? this action making the wide midfielders sit narrow on support duty, setting the DR/DL left to attack and adding ?stay wider? to their instructions. It just wouldn?t work. The FB?s seemed unable to overlap the wide midfielders with any regularity at all. It was as if they were unable to move into the AMR/AML ?zone? as it was already occupied and they tended to stay deep.

At this point I decided it was far easier to use my wide midfielders as ?wingers? (attack) and use them as the focus of my attacking down the flanks. I then put the FB?s onto a support role expecting them to provide good defensive cover and cross from deep. The weird thing is they overlap more on ?support? duty than they do on ?attack?? Perhaps it because my MR/ML vacate space more readily leaving room for my FB?s to run into.

A common attack is the FB?s passing from the byline to your wide midfielder just inside the penalty area who lays the ball back to a striker. So 2 lateral passes instead of 1 cross. Much more accurate.

Attributes, POSITIONING, CROSSING, TACKLING, WORK RATE



CENTRE BACKS/DEFEND & COVER

Pretty obvious stuff here, these guys don?t need to be footballers. Just a short pass to the DLP or FB?s and that?s pretty much as far as it goes. Some recycling of the ball during sustained pressure but there is always an easy pass on.

Just make sure one is quick and use him on the ?cover? role DC/L. They must be good in the air for set pieces and obviously firm in the tackle.

Look for, JUMPING REACH, TACKLING, MARKING, POSITIONING and that at least one is quick.


GOAL KEEPERS

Again use you scouts and follow the star ratings to get the best you can.

Look for Aerial Ability, Reflexex, One on One?s and Handling.

Lots of good keepers in the game.
 
Good to see you back mate, have you tested it with any other team
 
jasonbhoys said:
Good to see you back mate, have you tested it with any other team
Click to expand...

No, kind of at the stage now where I want to spend 10 years at City building a team of mega stars picking up a load of trophies.

Obviously lots of tactical set ups will work with Man City but this one was about getting a solid 442 going with flying wingers and a high tempo which is the kind of football I like to watch. Not this tiki taka rubbish!

Would be interested to see how anyone goes with a weaker team, you'll likely concede a lot but I"d also expect you to score a lot.
 
cant find a top defensive striker im in year 2020
 
Hi Rosler, how do you set match preparation and training?
 
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Used from East Fife onwards.

Did not buy anyone according to your specifications and used what I have (2nd season).

Don't have any "real wingers", only CM/AM that can half play there.

Media pred. 8th, really nice tac, despite conceding 1~2 CCC's per game (in average), I had like 3~5 in mine. Perhaps in the lower leagues you'll always have a shady defense.

Thanks mate.
 
Yep, NO OI's

Training - full match on tactics only.

General training on 'team blend' until end of October (UK timings)

Once tactic fully fluid set 40% match training on attacking movement, leave general on balanced.
 
Some over on the SI forum has just won Skrill South with Concord Rangers, media prediction 20th.

Looks like its good for lower league & weak teams.
 
Looks good can the support stk role b changed without affecting the tactic?
 
rammie2011 said:
Looks good can the support stk role b changed without affecting the tactic?
Click to expand...

It would alter the tactic. Dont be frightened by the defensive forward/d position. I played Suarez there for a full season with Aguero as the complete forward/attack. Suarez outscored Aguero and was the leading goalscorer in europe playing as a defensive forward.
 
Plugged it into my Marseille save - which I'm still really early into (Oct 2013), started off brightly but the last 4 matches were horrible so I'm about to see if this sparks off a run of form.

I myself prefer a traditional 442 setup as well, but I've found it difficult to create in this FM. Had some good success in my Feyenoord save with one I made myself, but I was in the year 2020+ and I had some ridiculous players so it doesn't really count, haha.

Anyway, Marseille look like they have the makings to fit around this tactic perfectly. A. Ayew, Thauvin, Valbuena and Payet are all very good wingers with pace so I'm well stocked there, and Gianelli Imbula is a potential beast for the B2B role. Got some solid players for every other position, apart from ST where I'm really light at the moment with Jordan Ayew out on loan, who I think would have been great for the CF role.

I'll update you when I finish my season, as I would like to build my team around this impressive looking tactic :)
 
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