First of all, sorry for my grammar since English is not my first language. After FM 2014 were released, I have tried several of the most successful tactics from this forum, without finding a tactic that would be stable and I could find success with (using other teams than the ones that usually qualify for Champions League).
I have changed between Newcastle, West Ham, Norwich and Nottingham Forest, and used strikerless tactics, tactics with all forwards being false 9's and high pressing tactics with defensive wingers. None of these has worked wonders for me. Therefore I set out to make my own tactic.
The thought behind the tactic was that it had to have good possession, that I could watch some nice combinations leading to goals and that there was a place for the most usual positions in a team. I didn't want to train a striker to play attacking midfield as the strikerless tactics make you do, but instead wanted positions and roles that would bring out the best in each player.
The team I used to build from were Nottingham Forest. Two central defenders, two complete wingbacks, one defensive midfielder (anchor), one central midfielder (box-to-box), one attacking central midfielder (advanced playmaker), one wing, one inside forward and one false 9 striker. It was set as fluid and control mentality. This tactic was very good in away games, but I had problems scoring at home. It was also very unstable, as I could go from an impressive victory to a 0-3 defeat in the next game. After the tactic got more fluid i saw more potential in the tactic and decided to tweak with West Ham and Norwich.
The result after spending a half season with each team and tweaking the tactic was that I pushed the defence further up, made the goalkeeper 'Sweeper keeper' and changed the forward to advanced forward instead of a false 9, as I didn't create enough with the forward coming back. I also made the player press more and made some other individal changes. I also changed to balanced fluidity. Finally I decided to use it from the start of a game, and chose Newcastle. The result: One loss in a training match to Inter and one draw against Manchester City in the first few months. Even using none from my first 11 in league cup games I beat teams like Arsenal. I have never had these good results using any other tactic, so that's why I present the tactic in this forum.
The tactic is made to make your team evolve and play attractive football which is nice to watch. It is also good when countering the opposition. As it tries to possess the ball, you need good ballplayers. In the start it can lead to some of your defensive players making mistakes with the ball at their feet leading to silly goals, but this will get better over time. I haven't tried the tactic with teams more suited to kick and run, so it may fail miserably with those kind of players.
The team and the player roles needed:
Sweeper keeper - just use your best goalkeeper
Central defenders - these are set to play it short and easy to a teammate, so you don't need exceptional ballplayers in this role
Complete wingbacks - pace, stamina, passing and crossing. If you have more fullback type of back you can retrain him to central defender, if he's good in the air. If you have players with wide midfield roles in your team you must decide if they should be retrained as more attacking or as complete wingback.
Defensive midfielder (anchor role) - this is a destroyer. His main purpose is to break down the oppositions attack. With the ball he should pass it short to a teammate, so he doesn't need creativity or very good passing skills. Strength, heading and tackling would be the main thing. If you have a defender with ok passing skills and is not very fast, but is strong and good in the air you can retrain him to this role. I did this with Jack Hobbs (Forest) with great success. Air strength is important as this player will potentially score a lot from corners in my corner setup.
Central midfield (box to box) - this one need to run, and must both be able to defend and to participate in attacks.
Attacking midfielder (advanced playmaker) - this player is set as support, so no need for him to be quick as he will sit in 'the hole' making things happen. He should have great passing skills and creativity. If you have a central midfielder which is best as advanced playmaker and not so good running, you should retrain him as attacking midfielder.
Right attacking midfielder (wing) . quick, good dribbling skills and crossing. Finishing is a bonus.
Left attacking midfielder (inside forward) - much the same as the wing on the right, but finishing and flair even more important. I haven't tried it, but if you have players that would make you switch the inside forward to the right and the winger to the left you could do that. But you would have to also switch sides for the box-to-box and the advanced playmaker (as those two are not in the center). You should also look in the player instructions for the wingbacks and change them (as the left wingback is more attacking). This is done because the inside forward makes more room for the wingback on that side.
Advanced forward - Just use your best forward and you should be safe.
Other:
Pitch size: If you have to choose, I would go for max size.
OI: None
Player sent off: Take off your inside forward. No need to change the mentality.
Corners and freekicks: I copied the defensive setup from Jassars thread (just one change from my original setup as I added a player to mark far post, and it made a huge difference), but the offensive setup is all mine, and it works very well, especially with a defensive midfielder who is good at heading.
Training:
Training in July: Fitness (very heavy) - Match prep with slider all the way to the left on tactics. I can add that I use 10-11 training matches to make the tactic fluid.
Training in August: Team cohesion (heavy) - Match prep the same as in July
Rest of the season: Ball control (average) - Match prep 20% (slider more to the right) set on attacking movements.
For the U18 team I let the U18-manager control match preparation. I use fitness very heavy in July, and then switch to Balanced average for the rest of the season.
Individual training: All players being trained in their respective role with workload 'heavy'. I don't care about the complaints, but if they need a rest you should give it to them. The exception is players under 23 years of age. I don't train this in specialist roles. Defensive midfielders is trained as 'defensive midfielder', central midfielders as 'central midfielder', attacking central midfielders as 'attacking midfielder' and forwards as 'complete forward'. When they are 23 I switch to anchorman, boxtobox, ap or advanced forward. The roles of winger, inside forward, central defender, complete wingback and sweeper keeper is the same for all ages.
Teamtalks:
Teamtalk before games: I use assertive and 'for the fans', and sometime 'show everyone what you can do' when I'm away.
Half break: If I lead "assertive you can do better". If I lead with more than 3 goals "cautious happy". If i draw "cautious show me something else" and if we lose "calm you've been unlucky". The last one is especially effective away. At home I may change to 'aggressive show me something else" if the opposition is weaker.
After game: If we won "passionate happy", if draw or lose either "cautious not good enough" or "cautious unlucky" or "assertive were some positives" or "assertive were the underdogs and put up a fight". Here you should look at the performance and the strength of opposition.
So there you go. This is a tactic for those who want to see their team play nice combinations and have good possession (in most games). This way the team can develop their skills over time. For me this tactic have made FM fun to play again, and I enjoy watching the games. Hope for positive feedback.
I have changed between Newcastle, West Ham, Norwich and Nottingham Forest, and used strikerless tactics, tactics with all forwards being false 9's and high pressing tactics with defensive wingers. None of these has worked wonders for me. Therefore I set out to make my own tactic.
The thought behind the tactic was that it had to have good possession, that I could watch some nice combinations leading to goals and that there was a place for the most usual positions in a team. I didn't want to train a striker to play attacking midfield as the strikerless tactics make you do, but instead wanted positions and roles that would bring out the best in each player.
The team I used to build from were Nottingham Forest. Two central defenders, two complete wingbacks, one defensive midfielder (anchor), one central midfielder (box-to-box), one attacking central midfielder (advanced playmaker), one wing, one inside forward and one false 9 striker. It was set as fluid and control mentality. This tactic was very good in away games, but I had problems scoring at home. It was also very unstable, as I could go from an impressive victory to a 0-3 defeat in the next game. After the tactic got more fluid i saw more potential in the tactic and decided to tweak with West Ham and Norwich.
The result after spending a half season with each team and tweaking the tactic was that I pushed the defence further up, made the goalkeeper 'Sweeper keeper' and changed the forward to advanced forward instead of a false 9, as I didn't create enough with the forward coming back. I also made the player press more and made some other individal changes. I also changed to balanced fluidity. Finally I decided to use it from the start of a game, and chose Newcastle. The result: One loss in a training match to Inter and one draw against Manchester City in the first few months. Even using none from my first 11 in league cup games I beat teams like Arsenal. I have never had these good results using any other tactic, so that's why I present the tactic in this forum.
The tactic is made to make your team evolve and play attractive football which is nice to watch. It is also good when countering the opposition. As it tries to possess the ball, you need good ballplayers. In the start it can lead to some of your defensive players making mistakes with the ball at their feet leading to silly goals, but this will get better over time. I haven't tried the tactic with teams more suited to kick and run, so it may fail miserably with those kind of players.
The team and the player roles needed:
Sweeper keeper - just use your best goalkeeper
Central defenders - these are set to play it short and easy to a teammate, so you don't need exceptional ballplayers in this role
Complete wingbacks - pace, stamina, passing and crossing. If you have more fullback type of back you can retrain him to central defender, if he's good in the air. If you have players with wide midfield roles in your team you must decide if they should be retrained as more attacking or as complete wingback.
Defensive midfielder (anchor role) - this is a destroyer. His main purpose is to break down the oppositions attack. With the ball he should pass it short to a teammate, so he doesn't need creativity or very good passing skills. Strength, heading and tackling would be the main thing. If you have a defender with ok passing skills and is not very fast, but is strong and good in the air you can retrain him to this role. I did this with Jack Hobbs (Forest) with great success. Air strength is important as this player will potentially score a lot from corners in my corner setup.
Central midfield (box to box) - this one need to run, and must both be able to defend and to participate in attacks.
Attacking midfielder (advanced playmaker) - this player is set as support, so no need for him to be quick as he will sit in 'the hole' making things happen. He should have great passing skills and creativity. If you have a central midfielder which is best as advanced playmaker and not so good running, you should retrain him as attacking midfielder.
Right attacking midfielder (wing) . quick, good dribbling skills and crossing. Finishing is a bonus.
Left attacking midfielder (inside forward) - much the same as the wing on the right, but finishing and flair even more important. I haven't tried it, but if you have players that would make you switch the inside forward to the right and the winger to the left you could do that. But you would have to also switch sides for the box-to-box and the advanced playmaker (as those two are not in the center). You should also look in the player instructions for the wingbacks and change them (as the left wingback is more attacking). This is done because the inside forward makes more room for the wingback on that side.
Advanced forward - Just use your best forward and you should be safe.
Other:
Pitch size: If you have to choose, I would go for max size.
OI: None
Player sent off: Take off your inside forward. No need to change the mentality.
Corners and freekicks: I copied the defensive setup from Jassars thread (just one change from my original setup as I added a player to mark far post, and it made a huge difference), but the offensive setup is all mine, and it works very well, especially with a defensive midfielder who is good at heading.
Training:
Training in July: Fitness (very heavy) - Match prep with slider all the way to the left on tactics. I can add that I use 10-11 training matches to make the tactic fluid.
Training in August: Team cohesion (heavy) - Match prep the same as in July
Rest of the season: Ball control (average) - Match prep 20% (slider more to the right) set on attacking movements.
For the U18 team I let the U18-manager control match preparation. I use fitness very heavy in July, and then switch to Balanced average for the rest of the season.
Individual training: All players being trained in their respective role with workload 'heavy'. I don't care about the complaints, but if they need a rest you should give it to them. The exception is players under 23 years of age. I don't train this in specialist roles. Defensive midfielders is trained as 'defensive midfielder', central midfielders as 'central midfielder', attacking central midfielders as 'attacking midfielder' and forwards as 'complete forward'. When they are 23 I switch to anchorman, boxtobox, ap or advanced forward. The roles of winger, inside forward, central defender, complete wingback and sweeper keeper is the same for all ages.
Teamtalks:
Teamtalk before games: I use assertive and 'for the fans', and sometime 'show everyone what you can do' when I'm away.
Half break: If I lead "assertive you can do better". If I lead with more than 3 goals "cautious happy". If i draw "cautious show me something else" and if we lose "calm you've been unlucky". The last one is especially effective away. At home I may change to 'aggressive show me something else" if the opposition is weaker.
After game: If we won "passionate happy", if draw or lose either "cautious not good enough" or "cautious unlucky" or "assertive were some positives" or "assertive were the underdogs and put up a fight". Here you should look at the performance and the strength of opposition.
So there you go. This is a tactic for those who want to see their team play nice combinations and have good possession (in most games). This way the team can develop their skills over time. For me this tactic have made FM fun to play again, and I enjoy watching the games. Hope for positive feedback.
