Escalier's Beautiful Flowing 4-3-2-1
I. An Introduction
Heya there!
This is my first ever post on the fm-base, and I'm pretty excited about it. I run two save files - one as a challenge (Tenerife in Spain's Div 2) and one for fun (The Arsenal). I'd love to post my Tenerife tactics here sometime - it's an extremely rigid 5-2-1-2 - but my Arsenal game has shown tremendous consistency and a knack for smothering big teams while smacking the smaller ones senseless.
So there's an incredible variety of great tactics out there and on this website. There's those that are rigid and effective, there's some classic 4-4-2's, variations of the modern 4-2-3-1 and even some that are wonderfully unique (I do love the 3-6-1). My 4-3-2-1 isn't exactly pretty to look at (sorry!) but what it can certainly give you is beautiful, flowing football and the results you want.
A quick note before we look at it: This isn't a plug and play set of tactics - it's not for every team. It doesn't work right away. I'll be sure to go over what kind of players its best suited for, but you have to understand that your team will need a few weeks of game time to really get into it. My suggestion for you is to always take your team and fine-tune it to your players. Got it? Good! Here we go!
II. My Experience with the Flowing 4-3-2-1
I played this tactic for an entire season and a half with Everton (I lost that game with my old netbook) - and won every tournament except the FA Cup. I won the League with some 95 points and with nearly as many goals scored. My season with Arsenal is progressing excellently, and putting aside an unlucky and unlikely penalty-shootout exit in the League Cup, looks set to be something special. There's plenty of screenshots below for your reference.
III. Inspiration
I love watching Arsenal and Barcelona play. Even after you put aside the universal acclaim they get for their free-flowing attacking play, their possession-based style of play is very effective as a defensive tactic. Your opponents see very little of the ball and often tire themselves out if they press too aggressively for too long.
Here's the latest league table in my Arsenal game to prove just that point. As you can see, I've conceded only 5 goals halfway through the season and of those, none have come at home:
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My Everton team that conceded just 12 goals the entire first season (just 2 at home, 10 on the road) - but that really boils down to them having a remarkable set of central defenders like Heitinga, Distin and Jagielka; with Baines and Rafinha (my only acquisition) doing well too.
IV. What it Looks Like
If you take the time to watch the tactic unfold (on Full Match or even Extended Highlights) you'll notice the following:
- The two central defenders play evenly up the pitch (not too high) and recycle possession well
- Wing backs bomb down the length of the pitch mercilessly - passing, crossing and beating opponents at will
- The midfielder at the heart of the central trio covers rarely ventures far beyond the central circle and instead acts like a central defender when the full backs lost possession up the field. Barca play similarly with Busquets dropping back between Pique and Puyol to create a 3 man back line. It's rather effective!
- The two midfielders playing beside him swap positions often but play disciplined short passes and easily accumulate 40-50 passes each - they find men sideways, backwards and forwards.
- Two attacking midfielders play just behind the striker. They're encouraged to play plenty of through balls but still focus on short passes. Surprisingly to some, they're allowed very little creative freedom.
- The striker is encouraged to drop deeper and be involved in build up play. Short / tall / strong / fast etc. doesn't matter because we're not looking to hold up the ball or break the offside trap. What's important is a focus solid teamwork, decisions and off-the-ball ability.
*The team as a whole ends up playing high possession football with an incredible amount of short passes between them. Every unit works seamlessly over time and goals come from players in every position in every form. It isn't luck or pure individual inspiration - it's a well-drilled system that is highly effective at blasting/boring your opponents senseless.*
Just look at these 2 beautiful passing maps for example; they're basically what you'll see every game once your team is gelling:
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V. The Core Tactics
The four cornerstones of the Flowing 4-3-2-1 are:
a) Squeezing opposition chances through 55%+ possession
b) A rigid defensive core capable on the ball (inspired by Barca trio of Busquets, Pique and Puyol)
c) A free-flowing balanced attacking capsule with goals from every position
d) Sticking to the essence of the tactics irrespective of opponent and situation
Let's look at how those work out:
a) Mantaining 55%+ Possession - A look at a 5 game sample (from games home, away, in the CL, versus better opposition):
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b) A Rigid Defensive Core - Pretty basic, a lot of tactics have ball-playing defenders. Once again, the key is the one Central midfielder who is obliged to not venture beyond the circle and drops back quickly. The three player's I've used interchangeably in that position have maintained high pass completion percentages (albeit average ratings):
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c) A Free-Flowing Attacking Capsule - A total of 21 games into the season has already seen 38 goals from 16 different goal-scorers with Arshavin (injured) and Bendtner yet to open their accounts. Assists have come from 14 different sources which is a fair indicator of the balanced, free-flowing nature of the attacking play:
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VI. Who and How to Use This Tactic
a) Your Players
It's quite simple. Physical ability matters very little for this tactic except for your wing backs who should preferably have a lot of pace.
Across the board we're looking at players strong ability in decisions, concentration, composure, teamwork and workrate. Technical ability is important to the level that a reasonable amount will suffice for every role. Look at Marouane Fellaini for a great example of a perfect player in this situation. Denilson is average physically, but does well too.
b) Ideal Teams
Great teams to use this tactic on include Arsenal, Everton, Aston Villa, Napoli, Fiorentina --- you can obviously use this on a lot of teams but these are just ideally suited to the idea. Everton will require a much better RWB for example, but the basic structure remains the same.
c) Match Instructions
I play with just the one enabled: Look for Overlap, but in certain situations Retain Possession, Pass into Space and Exploit the Middle are useful too. Be sure to make adjustments to play narrower or wider depending on the pitch and your opposition.
d) Issues
This tactic works well almost universally but there are two exceptions, one that you can adjust for and the other that you can really do little about.
The first is if your opposition plays two flying wingers high up the pitch - be sure to adjust your wing backs into closing down for only their area and give them more defensive roles.
The second is if your opposition plays two defensive anchormen in front of their original back line. This tactic has given my victories in those rare occasions but its just very difficult to pass your way through.
VII. Enjoy!
The tactic is here for all of you. Let me know if you have any questions, doubts, concerns or just comments about it. Try it for a few games and tell me if you managed to make it better, quicker or more effective!
DOWNLOAD: View attachment 115130
Have fun!
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... hope your tactic helps lot of ppl