lessthanjake
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Ever since FM10 (the first FM I played), I have played a 4-2-4 almost exclusively. It works extremely well; you can get an insane amount of goals and actually let up surprisingly few goals. However, I still feel as though there is room for improvement in the tactics I use because the midfielders do not seem to be playing up to par with the rest of the team. They always end up having the lowest average ratings on my team and they contribute to surprisingly few goals.
For instance, for fun I made a Barcelona save where I cheated and bought up the perfect set of players for my system (players like Robben and Rooney and Evra who I wouldn't be able to get for real) and played a season. The team finished with 174 goals in La Liga. However, with Xavi and Cesc switching off as Advanced Playmaker (attack) CMs and Mascherano and Busquets switching off as Deep Lying Playmaker (defend) DMs, my midfield only scored 8 of those goals, while assisting only 25 (and a significant portion of those assists were off corners). My entire midfield only got Man of the Match 3 times out of like 65 wins.
I feel like I should be able to get a better showing than this. Granted, my 4-2-4 has Inside Forward AMR/AMLs and this limits the ability of the midfield to get goals and assists. What ends up happening is the two midfielders are outnumbered in midfield and have to pass off to the inside forwards to keep possession. The inside forwards cut inside and end up being the playmakers instead of the midfielders. At the same time, I play a Very Rigid style, so the midfielders don't make tons of runs into the box. Still though, for a team scoring 174 goals, more than 25 of those goals should be assisted by the midfielders and 8 goals from 2 midfielders is definitely poor.
How can I get more from my midfielders without compromising the effectiveness of the tactic? I've used enough quality midfielders over the years in the 4-2-4 that I am pretty sure it's not the players, but the tactic. Do people get better production out of their midfielders in similar 4-2-4 tactics (like il devasto)? Ironically, the only success I've really had is in using Lampard and Gerrard for England as CMs set as AP (attack) and Box to Box respectively. However, I suspect the success I found with them is down to their unique goalscoring abilities even amongst elite midfielders.
For instance, for fun I made a Barcelona save where I cheated and bought up the perfect set of players for my system (players like Robben and Rooney and Evra who I wouldn't be able to get for real) and played a season. The team finished with 174 goals in La Liga. However, with Xavi and Cesc switching off as Advanced Playmaker (attack) CMs and Mascherano and Busquets switching off as Deep Lying Playmaker (defend) DMs, my midfield only scored 8 of those goals, while assisting only 25 (and a significant portion of those assists were off corners). My entire midfield only got Man of the Match 3 times out of like 65 wins.
I feel like I should be able to get a better showing than this. Granted, my 4-2-4 has Inside Forward AMR/AMLs and this limits the ability of the midfield to get goals and assists. What ends up happening is the two midfielders are outnumbered in midfield and have to pass off to the inside forwards to keep possession. The inside forwards cut inside and end up being the playmakers instead of the midfielders. At the same time, I play a Very Rigid style, so the midfielders don't make tons of runs into the box. Still though, for a team scoring 174 goals, more than 25 of those goals should be assisted by the midfielders and 8 goals from 2 midfielders is definitely poor.
How can I get more from my midfielders without compromising the effectiveness of the tactic? I've used enough quality midfielders over the years in the 4-2-4 that I am pretty sure it's not the players, but the tactic. Do people get better production out of their midfielders in similar 4-2-4 tactics (like il devasto)? Ironically, the only success I've really had is in using Lampard and Gerrard for England as CMs set as AP (attack) and Box to Box respectively. However, I suspect the success I found with them is down to their unique goalscoring abilities even amongst elite midfielders.