Hello, folks. I'm new here and relatively new to Football Manager (I started with FM2011), but I have for you what I have seen many people searching for here: the false nine/false ten partnership most recently exhibited by Lionel Messi and Cesc Fàbregas at FC Barcelona.
First off, a quick introduction to the two roles.
A false nine is a striker (a "normal" nine) who doesn't quite play as a striker; rather than staying close to the opposition centrebacks and looking to get behind the defense for goalscoring opportunities, he drops a bit deeper into the midfield, acting almost as another midfielder, as opposed to a striker. The opposition centrebacks suddenly aren't sure whether they should go up the pitch to mark him, thus being pulled out of position, or leave him in space to dictate play and give him time to pass the ball. Its history tracks back to Roma, but Lionel Messi is, of course, currently the most-known player for this role.
A false ten is an attacking midfielder (a "normal" ten) who doesn't quite play as a playmaker; rather than staying in midfield to create chances for his teammates, he moves up the pitch, almost as a second striker, looking for shots and goals. Wesley Sneijder played this role at the 2010 World Cup, scoring the same number of goals as all of his more attacking teammates combined.
So how can it be a partnership?
Simply put, the false nine drops deep, pulling a centreback out of place. The false ten moves forward to take advantage of the space left by the false nine. After some passes, the false ten might be put through and he might score.
Now time to cut to the tactics.
As far as the tactics that I'm using, my formation is a 4-2-3-1 formation. Fluid, attacking, short passing, the works. But the two most important parts are the central attacking midfielder and the striker.
CAM: Attacking midfielder - Attack
ST: Trequartista - Attack
The trequartista's mentality is slightly lower than that of a striker by default, which means that he does not push up against the defense, and the lack of forward runs means that, well, he won't try to push up against the defense. He is, again by default, set as the playmaker when using an Attacking strategy, so players will try to find him as much as possible. The "Comes deep to get the ball" PPM is crucial for the false nine; he will, as the PPM says, come even deeper to get the ball.
The attacking midfielder, like a normal ten, will make through balls often and look to play others in, but he gets forward often, taking advantage of the false nine's leftover space and getting on the end of passes and look to score himself. Unlike the advanced playmaker, he makes forward runs often and is not automatically set as the team's playmaker. He will need good finishing to score the chances that he gets. The "Gets forward" PPM is useful here, but is automatically set in the player instructions anyway.
So here it is ingame. I'm in the year 2031 so the players are almost all regens (newgens?) which may make it harder to follow, but I've used colors to make things slightly clearer.
These screenshots are taken from el Derbi madrileño between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid (I am managing Real Madrid).
___________________
INSTANCE 1
View attachment 262323
Here we have a 4-2-3-1 vs. 4-1-3-2. Real's 4-2-3-1 features a false nine and a false ten. Alessandro (labeled) is the striker being used as a false nine and Leandro Robert (blue) is the attacking midfielder used as a false ten.
Acosta has the ball and is about to pass to Alessandro, who has dragged an Atlético centreback (red) out of the defensive line. Robert, who is being marked by Atlético's defensive midfielder (green), is readying himself to run into the space left by Atlético's broken defensive line.
___________________
View attachment 262324
Atlético Madrid's zonal marking system kicks in, and their defensive midfielder (green) runs over to close down the false nine, while their defense (red) gets back into place.
Alessandro nevertheless passes to Robert (blue), still making a run forward, who gets past a defender and takes a shot, which is well-saved by the goalkeeper from a narrow angle.
Real Madrid score from the resulting corner kick. 1 – 0.
___________________
INSTANCE 2
View attachment 262325
In an almost identical situation, Acosta has the ball and is about to pass to Alessandro, who has just dropped deep for the ball. Atlético's defensive midfielder Soriano (green) is once again tracking Robert (blue).
___________________
View attachment 262326
Alessandro gets the ball and is quickly fouled by Soriano, but the referee decides excellently to play advantage and not award a free-kick. One of Atlético's centrebacks come forward to get the ball, but Prado reaches it first and passes it through to Leandro Robert, who is once again making a run into the space left by the centerback. Robert cuts past the other defender and shoots directly towards the goalkeeper. The defense manages to clear the ball. Better luck next time.
_____________________
INSTANCE 3
View attachment 262327
Again, Acosta with the ball. Alessandro has dropped deep as a false nine, and Robert is moving forward as a false ten. Soriano (green) is marking the player whom he would naturally mark, who is Robert (blue). Atlético's centreback (red) decides to follow him as well, but is still too high up the pitch. Regardless, in doing so, he leaves Alessandro in acres of space to receive the ball and pick out a pass.
_____________________
View attachment 262328
With nobody goalside nearby to close down Alessandro, the Atlético centreback (red) decides to move up and close him down for himself. Alessandro once again threads a ball through to Robert, who has another shooting opportunity, but the goalkeeper makes another excellent save and parries the shot.
Needless to say, the goalkeeper was the Man of the Match.
Real Madrid completely dominated possession at 69%, and the false nine, Alessandro, made four key passes.
One could probably go even further and throw in more players in the attacking midfield spots, maybe as inside forwards (attack), which are nearly the same as attacking midfielders (attack) with the exception of making through balls "sometimes" rather than "often".
Thank you for taking the time to look through this explanation, if not read it, and hopefully you have found it useful.
First off, a quick introduction to the two roles.
A false nine is a striker (a "normal" nine) who doesn't quite play as a striker; rather than staying close to the opposition centrebacks and looking to get behind the defense for goalscoring opportunities, he drops a bit deeper into the midfield, acting almost as another midfielder, as opposed to a striker. The opposition centrebacks suddenly aren't sure whether they should go up the pitch to mark him, thus being pulled out of position, or leave him in space to dictate play and give him time to pass the ball. Its history tracks back to Roma, but Lionel Messi is, of course, currently the most-known player for this role.
A false ten is an attacking midfielder (a "normal" ten) who doesn't quite play as a playmaker; rather than staying in midfield to create chances for his teammates, he moves up the pitch, almost as a second striker, looking for shots and goals. Wesley Sneijder played this role at the 2010 World Cup, scoring the same number of goals as all of his more attacking teammates combined.
So how can it be a partnership?
Simply put, the false nine drops deep, pulling a centreback out of place. The false ten moves forward to take advantage of the space left by the false nine. After some passes, the false ten might be put through and he might score.
Now time to cut to the tactics.
As far as the tactics that I'm using, my formation is a 4-2-3-1 formation. Fluid, attacking, short passing, the works. But the two most important parts are the central attacking midfielder and the striker.
CAM: Attacking midfielder - Attack
ST: Trequartista - Attack
The trequartista's mentality is slightly lower than that of a striker by default, which means that he does not push up against the defense, and the lack of forward runs means that, well, he won't try to push up against the defense. He is, again by default, set as the playmaker when using an Attacking strategy, so players will try to find him as much as possible. The "Comes deep to get the ball" PPM is crucial for the false nine; he will, as the PPM says, come even deeper to get the ball.
The attacking midfielder, like a normal ten, will make through balls often and look to play others in, but he gets forward often, taking advantage of the false nine's leftover space and getting on the end of passes and look to score himself. Unlike the advanced playmaker, he makes forward runs often and is not automatically set as the team's playmaker. He will need good finishing to score the chances that he gets. The "Gets forward" PPM is useful here, but is automatically set in the player instructions anyway.
So here it is ingame. I'm in the year 2031 so the players are almost all regens (newgens?) which may make it harder to follow, but I've used colors to make things slightly clearer.
These screenshots are taken from el Derbi madrileño between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid (I am managing Real Madrid).
___________________
INSTANCE 1
View attachment 262323
Here we have a 4-2-3-1 vs. 4-1-3-2. Real's 4-2-3-1 features a false nine and a false ten. Alessandro (labeled) is the striker being used as a false nine and Leandro Robert (blue) is the attacking midfielder used as a false ten.
Acosta has the ball and is about to pass to Alessandro, who has dragged an Atlético centreback (red) out of the defensive line. Robert, who is being marked by Atlético's defensive midfielder (green), is readying himself to run into the space left by Atlético's broken defensive line.
___________________
View attachment 262324
Atlético Madrid's zonal marking system kicks in, and their defensive midfielder (green) runs over to close down the false nine, while their defense (red) gets back into place.
Alessandro nevertheless passes to Robert (blue), still making a run forward, who gets past a defender and takes a shot, which is well-saved by the goalkeeper from a narrow angle.
Real Madrid score from the resulting corner kick. 1 – 0.
___________________
INSTANCE 2
View attachment 262325
In an almost identical situation, Acosta has the ball and is about to pass to Alessandro, who has just dropped deep for the ball. Atlético's defensive midfielder Soriano (green) is once again tracking Robert (blue).
___________________
View attachment 262326
Alessandro gets the ball and is quickly fouled by Soriano, but the referee decides excellently to play advantage and not award a free-kick. One of Atlético's centrebacks come forward to get the ball, but Prado reaches it first and passes it through to Leandro Robert, who is once again making a run into the space left by the centerback. Robert cuts past the other defender and shoots directly towards the goalkeeper. The defense manages to clear the ball. Better luck next time.
_____________________
INSTANCE 3
View attachment 262327
Again, Acosta with the ball. Alessandro has dropped deep as a false nine, and Robert is moving forward as a false ten. Soriano (green) is marking the player whom he would naturally mark, who is Robert (blue). Atlético's centreback (red) decides to follow him as well, but is still too high up the pitch. Regardless, in doing so, he leaves Alessandro in acres of space to receive the ball and pick out a pass.
_____________________
View attachment 262328
With nobody goalside nearby to close down Alessandro, the Atlético centreback (red) decides to move up and close him down for himself. Alessandro once again threads a ball through to Robert, who has another shooting opportunity, but the goalkeeper makes another excellent save and parries the shot.
Needless to say, the goalkeeper was the Man of the Match.
Real Madrid completely dominated possession at 69%, and the false nine, Alessandro, made four key passes.
One could probably go even further and throw in more players in the attacking midfield spots, maybe as inside forwards (attack), which are nearly the same as attacking midfielders (attack) with the exception of making through balls "sometimes" rather than "often".
Thank you for taking the time to look through this explanation, if not read it, and hopefully you have found it useful.