Olly Bowes
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"I am a firm believer that if you score one goal the other team have to score two to win." - Howard Wilkinson.
Football is about winning, ultimately outscoring the opposition. Attack & Defence are equally important, so why have 4 at the back and only 1 or 2 up front? Surely it is better do have the same number of players in both areas, which is why I created this tactic the aim of which isn't to keep the opposition out but is intended to be the embodiment of the rare "we'll score man than you" attitude in football.
Team chosen: Everton
Number of seasons used: Into my 3rd.
Record: Pl 116 W76 D21 L19
Goals: GF 232 GA 108
Percentages: Possession AV 59% Win 65%
Silverware: 1st Season - 0 2nd Season - 3 ELP, LC, ECL. 3rd Season - 1 so far Euro Super Cup.
Ins & Outs 1st season:
IN
Chris Brunt - 3.5m
Shawcross - 6.5m
Eder Alvarez Balanta - 5.5m
OUT
Naismith - 4m
Coleman - 7.75m
Baines - 24m
Oviedo - 3.4m
Hibbert - 0.275m
Ins & Outs 2nd season:
IN
Gaston Ramirez - 6m
Otamendi - 12m
Gaston Gil Romero - 5m
Sergio Romero - Free
Carlos Fierro - 3.1m
Dusan Tadic - 5.5m
Honda - Free
OUT
Jelavic - 9m
Honda - 5m
Howard - 0.6m
Alacaraz - 0.2m
Kone - 2m
Gueye - 1.5m
Ins & Outs 3rd season:
IN - Werner, Shaqiri, 4 regens, Courtois, Alex Song
OUT - Heitinga, Gibson, Stones, Sergio Romero
The entire premise of the tactic is to create everything down the left handside by consistently outnumbering the opposition and for me it has worked.
I've made a tactic that was born out of a failed 3-4-3 diamond formation. It has been an extremely formidable tactic as it exploits one particular area of the pitch, I will explain why that is important in a moment. The tactic itself is based on my philosophy that a tactic must be completely balanced in terms of distribution of players on the pitch, by which I mean if you have 4 defenders, you should have 4 attackers as attack and defense are equally important for winning games. Of course, this isn't really feasible as that would leave the team tactically vulnerable in midfield. There is however a solution, 3 at the back and 3 up top. This is why I created my original 3-4-3 diamond. Unfortunately this was a very erratic formation sometimes yielding results against Arsenal winning 5-0 away, next game lost 4-0. I realised this was because the team was too diffused. Nobody could get the ball to the strikers consistently enough to make the tactic work and the defense as a result was constantly under threat.
I didn't want to sacrifice my 3 up top belief, as I felt this would really work so I moved a few things to the left and right until the tactic looked like this:
View attachment 337445
As you can see it looks like a 3-4-3 off kilter. I took the left striker of the top 3 and pushed him far out to the left to make him a Striker (Left) performing the role of a winger (S). While good the offensive side of the game it opened me up on the right hand side, so I moved the AMC a fraction to the right to compensate. The positioning of the players was now perfect, I will explain why.
The back 3 could handle a team that used 2 strikers and a man in behind them because the CDM (BWM) could deal with the AMC leaving the strikers to the defenders who outnumbered the strikers. If an opponent used wingers AML/R then my left and right midfielders could drop back to cover. My RM & LM are set as Wide Midfielders, the right man's role is (D) to cope with lack of numbers on that side of the pitch and the left man is Automatic.
The midfield is arguably the most important of this tactic. It prevents the defence from being too often exposed as well as allowing the attack to do their job, importantly supplying the in the process. The RM must be a workhorse and a good crosser, I had Chris Brunt there who seemed ideal and okay he didn't tear up trees he kept everything stable. I have now replaced him with K Mirallas this season who started slow but has now 3 goals & 4 assists in 6 games. The AMC is an important position, needs to have a reasonable work rate as well as being a little bit creative and a goal threat. I alternate between Ross Barkley and Gaston Ramirez, whilst neither are ideal for this position I don't want to sell Barkley for sentimental reasons (ridiculous I know) and Ramirez only cost 6m and has chipped in with a few goals & assists over the seasons.
The attackers must be carefully selected as they require particular types of players. The STL, one of two men who makes this tactic to be honest must be a man who can produce magic consistently. In my first season I used Kevin Mirallas here and wow was he amazing. 40 apps, 13goals 28assists. In his second season 56 apps, 20 goals, 25 assists. He acted mainly however, despite his goal threat to create space for the two main strikers and create chances for them. The left of the two central strikers is a poacher, his role is obvious - to score but not prolifically. 1 in every two goals is ideal as the main goal threat is the man to his right - he must be deployed as a Defensive Forward. For poacher I tried a few players: Jelavic, Werner, Kone, Lukaku, Batshuayi (loan), Yilmaz (loan), Mirallas and Fierro. The two loan deals were a disaster, Kone was fairly poor Lukaku and Mirallas weren't bad but Jelavic and Fierro were extremely good. When Jelavic was at the club app 35, 14 gls, 11 assists. Fierro was even better app 51, 24gls, 14 assists. Currently giving T Werner a trial run as Poacher, too early to say how well he's doing. Finally the defensive forward is Lukaku and he's incredible, I tried Jelavic and Fierro briefly but both were quite poor. Lukaku season stats:
1st apps 41 goals 25 assists 7
2nd apps 59 goals 39 assists 17
3rd so far apps 18 goals 18 assists 1
I really want to know how this works for you guys or if there are any problems / questions. The team instructions and player roles are in the screen shot so just follow them. Player instructions are as follows:
GK
Distribute to defenders
Pass it shorter
D (CR) Needs to be RIGHT FOOTED
Close Down More
Tackle Harder
D (C) Must be good in air and tall
None
D (CL)
Close Down More
Tackle Harder
DM
Dribble Less
Pass it shorter
Get further foward
M (R)
None
M (L)
None
AM (CR)
Dribble Less
Mark Tighter
Tackle Harder
View attachment 337445
No instructions for strikers.
Good luck!
Please don't hesitate to give me feedback! I believe it can be improved a little more.
Screen shots of my successes below:
View attachment 337433View attachment 337432View attachment 337431View attachment 337430View attachment 337427View attachment 337426View attachment 337425
Football is about winning, ultimately outscoring the opposition. Attack & Defence are equally important, so why have 4 at the back and only 1 or 2 up front? Surely it is better do have the same number of players in both areas, which is why I created this tactic the aim of which isn't to keep the opposition out but is intended to be the embodiment of the rare "we'll score man than you" attitude in football.
Team chosen: Everton
Number of seasons used: Into my 3rd.
Record: Pl 116 W76 D21 L19
Goals: GF 232 GA 108
Percentages: Possession AV 59% Win 65%
Silverware: 1st Season - 0 2nd Season - 3 ELP, LC, ECL. 3rd Season - 1 so far Euro Super Cup.
Ins & Outs 1st season:
IN
Chris Brunt - 3.5m
Shawcross - 6.5m
Eder Alvarez Balanta - 5.5m
OUT
Naismith - 4m
Coleman - 7.75m
Baines - 24m
Oviedo - 3.4m
Hibbert - 0.275m
Ins & Outs 2nd season:
IN
Gaston Ramirez - 6m
Otamendi - 12m
Gaston Gil Romero - 5m
Sergio Romero - Free
Carlos Fierro - 3.1m
Dusan Tadic - 5.5m
Honda - Free
OUT
Jelavic - 9m
Honda - 5m
Howard - 0.6m
Alacaraz - 0.2m
Kone - 2m
Gueye - 1.5m
Ins & Outs 3rd season:
IN - Werner, Shaqiri, 4 regens, Courtois, Alex Song
OUT - Heitinga, Gibson, Stones, Sergio Romero
The entire premise of the tactic is to create everything down the left handside by consistently outnumbering the opposition and for me it has worked.
I've made a tactic that was born out of a failed 3-4-3 diamond formation. It has been an extremely formidable tactic as it exploits one particular area of the pitch, I will explain why that is important in a moment. The tactic itself is based on my philosophy that a tactic must be completely balanced in terms of distribution of players on the pitch, by which I mean if you have 4 defenders, you should have 4 attackers as attack and defense are equally important for winning games. Of course, this isn't really feasible as that would leave the team tactically vulnerable in midfield. There is however a solution, 3 at the back and 3 up top. This is why I created my original 3-4-3 diamond. Unfortunately this was a very erratic formation sometimes yielding results against Arsenal winning 5-0 away, next game lost 4-0. I realised this was because the team was too diffused. Nobody could get the ball to the strikers consistently enough to make the tactic work and the defense as a result was constantly under threat.
I didn't want to sacrifice my 3 up top belief, as I felt this would really work so I moved a few things to the left and right until the tactic looked like this:
View attachment 337445
As you can see it looks like a 3-4-3 off kilter. I took the left striker of the top 3 and pushed him far out to the left to make him a Striker (Left) performing the role of a winger (S). While good the offensive side of the game it opened me up on the right hand side, so I moved the AMC a fraction to the right to compensate. The positioning of the players was now perfect, I will explain why.
The back 3 could handle a team that used 2 strikers and a man in behind them because the CDM (BWM) could deal with the AMC leaving the strikers to the defenders who outnumbered the strikers. If an opponent used wingers AML/R then my left and right midfielders could drop back to cover. My RM & LM are set as Wide Midfielders, the right man's role is (D) to cope with lack of numbers on that side of the pitch and the left man is Automatic.
The midfield is arguably the most important of this tactic. It prevents the defence from being too often exposed as well as allowing the attack to do their job, importantly supplying the in the process. The RM must be a workhorse and a good crosser, I had Chris Brunt there who seemed ideal and okay he didn't tear up trees he kept everything stable. I have now replaced him with K Mirallas this season who started slow but has now 3 goals & 4 assists in 6 games. The AMC is an important position, needs to have a reasonable work rate as well as being a little bit creative and a goal threat. I alternate between Ross Barkley and Gaston Ramirez, whilst neither are ideal for this position I don't want to sell Barkley for sentimental reasons (ridiculous I know) and Ramirez only cost 6m and has chipped in with a few goals & assists over the seasons.
The attackers must be carefully selected as they require particular types of players. The STL, one of two men who makes this tactic to be honest must be a man who can produce magic consistently. In my first season I used Kevin Mirallas here and wow was he amazing. 40 apps, 13goals 28assists. In his second season 56 apps, 20 goals, 25 assists. He acted mainly however, despite his goal threat to create space for the two main strikers and create chances for them. The left of the two central strikers is a poacher, his role is obvious - to score but not prolifically. 1 in every two goals is ideal as the main goal threat is the man to his right - he must be deployed as a Defensive Forward. For poacher I tried a few players: Jelavic, Werner, Kone, Lukaku, Batshuayi (loan), Yilmaz (loan), Mirallas and Fierro. The two loan deals were a disaster, Kone was fairly poor Lukaku and Mirallas weren't bad but Jelavic and Fierro were extremely good. When Jelavic was at the club app 35, 14 gls, 11 assists. Fierro was even better app 51, 24gls, 14 assists. Currently giving T Werner a trial run as Poacher, too early to say how well he's doing. Finally the defensive forward is Lukaku and he's incredible, I tried Jelavic and Fierro briefly but both were quite poor. Lukaku season stats:
1st apps 41 goals 25 assists 7
2nd apps 59 goals 39 assists 17
3rd so far apps 18 goals 18 assists 1
I really want to know how this works for you guys or if there are any problems / questions. The team instructions and player roles are in the screen shot so just follow them. Player instructions are as follows:
GK
Distribute to defenders
Pass it shorter
D (CR) Needs to be RIGHT FOOTED
Close Down More
Tackle Harder
D (C) Must be good in air and tall
None
D (CL)
Close Down More
Tackle Harder
DM
Dribble Less
Pass it shorter
Get further foward
M (R)
None
M (L)
None
AM (CR)
Dribble Less
Mark Tighter
Tackle Harder
View attachment 337445
No instructions for strikers.
Good luck!
Please don't hesitate to give me feedback! I believe it can be improved a little more.
Screen shots of my successes below:
View attachment 337433View attachment 337432View attachment 337431View attachment 337430View attachment 337427View attachment 337426View attachment 337425
Last edited: