mariosharp
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Introduction
I have played FM since the CM series when and i have always loved the tactical side of football. It is probably the reason i am obsessed with and enjoy Italian football so much. And the last six or so years i have played most of my saves online with a good friend of mine.
Since the start of this FM i have been obsessed with getting a 3 man defense to work, with mixed results, ave been able to make Foggia a very strong side in Serie A taking them from the lowest divisions, on an online save. Yet i never managed to dominate at the highest level.
Now it that was based upon the 3-5-1-1 formation that Guidolin at Udinese. I found myself lacking defensively as i was never quite able to get the wingers to act the way i wanted them to. I never managed to perfect this formation, but i am sure i will try again in the future.
The idea
I then started another online game with a mate, and after 3 years of tinkering i was able to really implement my ideas, and take a very average side, to play and act as one of the top sides of the league.
I based my tactics on ideas i have gotten from Palermo in 2011, Napoli under Mazzarri, Barcelona, the smart and solid defensive play by italian teams over the decades, and my own idea of how i like football to be played.
I wanted the dynamic trio up top from the xmas tree, with the idea of Miccoli, Pastore and Ilicic in mind. I wanted the attacking winger/wingbacks of Napoli and Palermo's Maggio, Cassani, Zuniga and Balzaretti. The pressure of Barcelona and my own preference of controlling the game with possession, but not the tikitaka or endless passes for nothing. I want my team to keep the ball smartly, not excessively. And i wanted a smart, solid defensive unit whom i would be able to sit compact with and ride out 1nil's if i felt it necessary.
It took me 3 years in game to perfect my ideas, and the results have been better than i could have ever imagined. But with a team of younger players mainly around the age of 23. With not a single player bought for more than 4.6 million GBP, i was able to win the league, and champions league 3 years after perfecting my tactic, this with Hellas Verona. I won this by creating a hardworking, well organized and extremely cohesive unit. Proving that you dont need to buy the greatest talents in fm to achieve success.
Champions League winning side. There are no world beaters in this team. No super regens, in fact no regens at all.
The tactics
It's a mariolicious Xmas tree!
I wanted a 3-4-2-1 formation where the wings are heavily involved in attack, and the front 3 can create and roam into space for each other. I want a solid defense and a controlling midfield. This is how i achieved it. (some of the tactical pictures are taken from other saves, but it is still the same tactic with a lesser team.)
I do have 3 different versions of the same tactic, one is with high pressure and very offensive as this is when i am chasing goals or i want to catch my opponents by surprise. And i also have the same tactic set up much more defensively for me to hold leads or to grind out tough draws as a lesser side. Principles stay the same however, pressure to win the ball back, it is more the extent to how much and where on the pitch you are to keep the ball and control the game for, that i have these 3 variations of the tactic.
This is how the tactic is set up however.
My side is rigid, as i want a side to do exactly as told. I want my players to have a specific job to do at all times and i dont want them to stray from this. Every single player on the pitch has individual instructions and almost every single player has a different job to do from the next. My team is told to be more disciplined.
I chose control, as i feel this is a good mentality quite balanced, and allows me to bring players forward without over committing. I also feel it is a more offensive mentality which allows me to win the ball back high enough up the pitch so that I can keep control.
In order to make my team pressure high, and pressure in numbers, like Barcelona are known to do, i have us hassling opponents, marking tighter. As well as all offensive players being asked to tackle harder and close down more. I will also very often select the entire opposition side in the opposition instructions, and close down more on every single one of their players.
If i cannot win the ball back high, or quickly, I have set my team to drop deeper. My two wide CB's are told to close down more. This resulting in them helping my wingers to close down opposition wide players, making it a 2v1 on the flanks, while the remaining two CB's and winger cover. Defending set pieces is a huge part of making a solid defense and i have set up a very specific zonal marking system which drastically decreases goals conceded by set pieces. My offensive midfielders will track back and often times follow the runs of opposition wide players making it 3 players on one out on the flanks. This is because they are asked to tackle harder.
In order to keep possession and to strengthen my defense I play narrower, while retaining possession, passing it out from defense and short passes. We also play with a higher tempo, to keep the ball moving at all times, i only want players who are asked to keep ball, do so. My keeper is told to distribute to defenders and in order for my defense to be able to keep ball i have a central BPD, with the wide CB's asked to pass shorter. My two central midfielders are set as deep lying playmakers. One set to defend and the other to support. Both have instructions to close down more and to tackle harder, this is because i then get the behavior of ball winning midfielders, as well as the movement of the DLP's, whom both roam towards the ball, creating lots of passing options while a defender is on the ball anywhere on the pitch.
My wingbacks, are set to complete wingbacks, they are told to push forward more and close down more. For the reasons i want them to be like out and out wingers when attacking, and i want them to help get the ball back quickly.
My AM's are the main source of my attacks. And every AM and striker in my team is required to be able to play one-two's. This is so the attack can be as dynamic as possible and can penetrate any defense. My AM's are told to roam and shoot more, and one is told to get forward more often.
My striker is set as an AF, but is told to roam more, which makes him act kind of like a more goal-scorer determined trequartista.
This is how the formation looks when put to use.
How does it work?
I want my team to act like a machinery. It is one unit, where every single part has its own job and role to play. I dont need world class players, all i need is the right parts. And i base my teams on cohesiveness. The way I do this is by never changing up my roster too much. I will never play more than 2 new players at once, new players are slowly integrated into the team over the course of an entire season. Which allows me to train new players in the different PPM's I feel is necessary for certain roles in my team. I wont be going into specifics on all PPM's i like for each position, or all PI's or OI's. (not right now at least.)
We pressure high up the pitch, forcing mistakes and clearances. We will more often than not win the ball high.
- forcing the clearance
- winning the ball high
If the team is unable to win the ball high, my high pressure assures me that wherever the opponent is on the pitch, he will have at least two men pressuring him at all times.
- Here the AM(S) and the DLP(S) are both pressuring, and in this scenario will win the ball by interception. Players marked green are all standing by ready to pressure depending on where the ball might be played.
- In this picture the AM(S) is chasing down the RB pressuring him all the way into our own defense. The CWB comes to double up on the pressure.
- Now the ball is played forward, and immediately the LCB comes to pressure with the CWB. We win the ball back by forcing a bad cross into our DLP(S).
We defend narrow, as a unit, clogging up the center of the pitch forcing the opponents wide, where we can double up on pressuring to win the ball back. One of the CB's will always come forward to pressure while the other two cover for him.
-Here you can see how compact, and how many we are behind the ball, forcing our opponent wide.
Going forward the CWB's are my only source of real width. They are asked to go further forward, and act throughout a game more as wingers than defenders, which is the point. They help us keep possession as they are always available to receive. All though my AM's and AF also drift wide on many occasions creating 2v1 situations for us on the wing. When in possession there is always an open teammate, and with my attacking players all able to play one-two's i am able to get through tight, and tricky situations.
- here is one example of the amount of triangles there are at all times. The examples are many but here is one.
Now I have my defenders dropping deeper, this is to limit the over the top balls, and all though one might think it contradicting to the high pressure i play, it really is not. The 3 defenders are very rarely called into action having to pressure opponents in their half as everyone ahead of them do a great job of it already, and if they are, more likely than not it is to win a cleared ball from opponents defense, this giving them time to push a little forward to win the header. My two DLP's are both told to close down more and tackle harder, just as my AM's are asked to do, this means that once the ball is cleared up field or opponent manages to break free and counter, the entire midfield is sprinting back.
- That is 7 players in close proximity of the ball and opponents. While my AM's are on their way too.
Performance
On the picture i am set as Juventus, but i only took Juventus now in 2021. After getting fired at Verona due to internal issues between me and the Chairman.
- Here are my achievements at Verona.
Now, this formation was originally made for my Hellas Verona side, on an online game with a mate of mine. Hellas Verona are a newly promoted side when taking them over in 2013. It took me 2 years to get somewhere with it, but i managed around 13th for the first two seasons with the players at my disposal. At the end of the 2nd season I had found my way. And by the third season i was finally able to bring in a side that was capable of playing the way i wanted them to. Now, this were a lot of young players, at this time around their 20's but i was determined to playing them together building a cohesive unit over the next years.
- The 2016/17 season i was able to finish 4th, qualifying for my first European experience in the Europa League.
- The following season i bettered myself a little, and i got my first taste of Europe, where i would lose to PSG over two games, managing one draw at home, in the first elimination round. PSG went on to win it. And second place finish would ensure me a spot in the Champions League.
- With the addition of 3 players raising the standard in the team from the last year, i was able to better everything. My first time playing Champions League football. I won the league, and i won the Champions League with this side. Not a single player bought for more than 4.6 million GBP. I would like to add that my star player and the only one at that point i had bought for more than 4.6 million was Jorginho whom i had bough back from co-ownership with Napoli, left on a bosman at the start of this season, to rivals Chievo(the other human manger), wanting to play at a higher level.
- The champions league winning season fixtures.
- The game.
- The side that won it. No world beaters.
- After the winning the Champions League and League in 2019 i then won the league again in 2020, i also won the Italian cup for the first time, as well as the supercup in italy, and the supercup in Europa vs Bayern. Came second in the WC for clubs to add. I went out in the Champions League in the second knockout round to Marseille, who would go on to win it.
I did this with an unchanged side what so ever from the season before, and my defense bettered it self tremendously.
In 2021, i was fired from Verona after disagreements with my chairman, i had one loss in the league and one in the cup after 24 games, cruising the league in front of 2. place by 7 points. Shocking decision by the Verona chairman, Verona would go on to win nothing.
http://i.imgur.com/RXIkFDI.jpg - Season up until my firing.
http://i.imgur.com/r984D0E.jpg - Verona's season after my firing.
Now i am currently managing Juventus, planning on winning the league and champions league, for me then to journey to another country and do the same hopefully. My tactic stays the same as with the best players in the world nearly i am cruising, and no one are really able to touch me. And as the pictures show, i am well on my way.
- Current league standing
- Fixtures til now
And ill add here some pictures of the stats from some games with different teams using this formation
http://i.imgur.com/I0lGEXF.jpg - verona
http://i.imgur.com/dt9bkqD.jpg - verona
http://i.imgur.com/F5jsH7o.jpg - atalanta
http://i.imgur.com/ER0RI8x.jpg - atalanta
Conclusion
"You have broken FM". Is the quote from my mate whom i play these online games with, i dont think its quite so drastic, but i have however found a tactic that is able to get the most out if its players, make them work as a strong cohesive unit able to take on any side in the world. Given, you have the right type of players. It is a tactic that works for lesser sides without the need for fantastic players around the pitch to dominate for you. Which is something i feel is not really around anywhere. Maybe i have not looked well enough for it just.
It does work as a plug and play tactic as i have now entered into multiple online games with strangers where this tactic is proving fruitful. But it is not the reason i posted this. I am proud of it, and i wanted to share my ideas and thoughts. And hopefully give others some ideas like i have been given reading threads like this in the past.
Download link added for anyone who wants to try:
http://www.speedyshare.com/KAzKh/its...ee-3-4-2-1.tac
http://www.mediafire.com/download/g5hueetsg7us1fe/its+a+mariolicious+xmas+tree+3-4-2-1.tac
Let me know how you get on!
mario milanista.
I have played FM since the CM series when and i have always loved the tactical side of football. It is probably the reason i am obsessed with and enjoy Italian football so much. And the last six or so years i have played most of my saves online with a good friend of mine.
Since the start of this FM i have been obsessed with getting a 3 man defense to work, with mixed results, ave been able to make Foggia a very strong side in Serie A taking them from the lowest divisions, on an online save. Yet i never managed to dominate at the highest level.
Now it that was based upon the 3-5-1-1 formation that Guidolin at Udinese. I found myself lacking defensively as i was never quite able to get the wingers to act the way i wanted them to. I never managed to perfect this formation, but i am sure i will try again in the future.
The idea
I then started another online game with a mate, and after 3 years of tinkering i was able to really implement my ideas, and take a very average side, to play and act as one of the top sides of the league.
I based my tactics on ideas i have gotten from Palermo in 2011, Napoli under Mazzarri, Barcelona, the smart and solid defensive play by italian teams over the decades, and my own idea of how i like football to be played.
I wanted the dynamic trio up top from the xmas tree, with the idea of Miccoli, Pastore and Ilicic in mind. I wanted the attacking winger/wingbacks of Napoli and Palermo's Maggio, Cassani, Zuniga and Balzaretti. The pressure of Barcelona and my own preference of controlling the game with possession, but not the tikitaka or endless passes for nothing. I want my team to keep the ball smartly, not excessively. And i wanted a smart, solid defensive unit whom i would be able to sit compact with and ride out 1nil's if i felt it necessary.
It took me 3 years in game to perfect my ideas, and the results have been better than i could have ever imagined. But with a team of younger players mainly around the age of 23. With not a single player bought for more than 4.6 million GBP, i was able to win the league, and champions league 3 years after perfecting my tactic, this with Hellas Verona. I won this by creating a hardworking, well organized and extremely cohesive unit. Proving that you dont need to buy the greatest talents in fm to achieve success.
Champions League winning side. There are no world beaters in this team. No super regens, in fact no regens at all.
The tactics
It's a mariolicious Xmas tree!
I wanted a 3-4-2-1 formation where the wings are heavily involved in attack, and the front 3 can create and roam into space for each other. I want a solid defense and a controlling midfield. This is how i achieved it. (some of the tactical pictures are taken from other saves, but it is still the same tactic with a lesser team.)
I do have 3 different versions of the same tactic, one is with high pressure and very offensive as this is when i am chasing goals or i want to catch my opponents by surprise. And i also have the same tactic set up much more defensively for me to hold leads or to grind out tough draws as a lesser side. Principles stay the same however, pressure to win the ball back, it is more the extent to how much and where on the pitch you are to keep the ball and control the game for, that i have these 3 variations of the tactic.
This is how the tactic is set up however.
My side is rigid, as i want a side to do exactly as told. I want my players to have a specific job to do at all times and i dont want them to stray from this. Every single player on the pitch has individual instructions and almost every single player has a different job to do from the next. My team is told to be more disciplined.
I chose control, as i feel this is a good mentality quite balanced, and allows me to bring players forward without over committing. I also feel it is a more offensive mentality which allows me to win the ball back high enough up the pitch so that I can keep control.
In order to make my team pressure high, and pressure in numbers, like Barcelona are known to do, i have us hassling opponents, marking tighter. As well as all offensive players being asked to tackle harder and close down more. I will also very often select the entire opposition side in the opposition instructions, and close down more on every single one of their players.
If i cannot win the ball back high, or quickly, I have set my team to drop deeper. My two wide CB's are told to close down more. This resulting in them helping my wingers to close down opposition wide players, making it a 2v1 on the flanks, while the remaining two CB's and winger cover. Defending set pieces is a huge part of making a solid defense and i have set up a very specific zonal marking system which drastically decreases goals conceded by set pieces. My offensive midfielders will track back and often times follow the runs of opposition wide players making it 3 players on one out on the flanks. This is because they are asked to tackle harder.
In order to keep possession and to strengthen my defense I play narrower, while retaining possession, passing it out from defense and short passes. We also play with a higher tempo, to keep the ball moving at all times, i only want players who are asked to keep ball, do so. My keeper is told to distribute to defenders and in order for my defense to be able to keep ball i have a central BPD, with the wide CB's asked to pass shorter. My two central midfielders are set as deep lying playmakers. One set to defend and the other to support. Both have instructions to close down more and to tackle harder, this is because i then get the behavior of ball winning midfielders, as well as the movement of the DLP's, whom both roam towards the ball, creating lots of passing options while a defender is on the ball anywhere on the pitch.
My wingbacks, are set to complete wingbacks, they are told to push forward more and close down more. For the reasons i want them to be like out and out wingers when attacking, and i want them to help get the ball back quickly.
My AM's are the main source of my attacks. And every AM and striker in my team is required to be able to play one-two's. This is so the attack can be as dynamic as possible and can penetrate any defense. My AM's are told to roam and shoot more, and one is told to get forward more often.
My striker is set as an AF, but is told to roam more, which makes him act kind of like a more goal-scorer determined trequartista.
This is how the formation looks when put to use.
How does it work?
I want my team to act like a machinery. It is one unit, where every single part has its own job and role to play. I dont need world class players, all i need is the right parts. And i base my teams on cohesiveness. The way I do this is by never changing up my roster too much. I will never play more than 2 new players at once, new players are slowly integrated into the team over the course of an entire season. Which allows me to train new players in the different PPM's I feel is necessary for certain roles in my team. I wont be going into specifics on all PPM's i like for each position, or all PI's or OI's. (not right now at least.)
We pressure high up the pitch, forcing mistakes and clearances. We will more often than not win the ball high.
- forcing the clearance
- winning the ball high
If the team is unable to win the ball high, my high pressure assures me that wherever the opponent is on the pitch, he will have at least two men pressuring him at all times.
- Here the AM(S) and the DLP(S) are both pressuring, and in this scenario will win the ball by interception. Players marked green are all standing by ready to pressure depending on where the ball might be played.
- In this picture the AM(S) is chasing down the RB pressuring him all the way into our own defense. The CWB comes to double up on the pressure.
- Now the ball is played forward, and immediately the LCB comes to pressure with the CWB. We win the ball back by forcing a bad cross into our DLP(S).
We defend narrow, as a unit, clogging up the center of the pitch forcing the opponents wide, where we can double up on pressuring to win the ball back. One of the CB's will always come forward to pressure while the other two cover for him.
-Here you can see how compact, and how many we are behind the ball, forcing our opponent wide.
Going forward the CWB's are my only source of real width. They are asked to go further forward, and act throughout a game more as wingers than defenders, which is the point. They help us keep possession as they are always available to receive. All though my AM's and AF also drift wide on many occasions creating 2v1 situations for us on the wing. When in possession there is always an open teammate, and with my attacking players all able to play one-two's i am able to get through tight, and tricky situations.
- here is one example of the amount of triangles there are at all times. The examples are many but here is one.
Now I have my defenders dropping deeper, this is to limit the over the top balls, and all though one might think it contradicting to the high pressure i play, it really is not. The 3 defenders are very rarely called into action having to pressure opponents in their half as everyone ahead of them do a great job of it already, and if they are, more likely than not it is to win a cleared ball from opponents defense, this giving them time to push a little forward to win the header. My two DLP's are both told to close down more and tackle harder, just as my AM's are asked to do, this means that once the ball is cleared up field or opponent manages to break free and counter, the entire midfield is sprinting back.
- That is 7 players in close proximity of the ball and opponents. While my AM's are on their way too.
Performance
On the picture i am set as Juventus, but i only took Juventus now in 2021. After getting fired at Verona due to internal issues between me and the Chairman.
- Here are my achievements at Verona.
Now, this formation was originally made for my Hellas Verona side, on an online game with a mate of mine. Hellas Verona are a newly promoted side when taking them over in 2013. It took me 2 years to get somewhere with it, but i managed around 13th for the first two seasons with the players at my disposal. At the end of the 2nd season I had found my way. And by the third season i was finally able to bring in a side that was capable of playing the way i wanted them to. Now, this were a lot of young players, at this time around their 20's but i was determined to playing them together building a cohesive unit over the next years.
- The 2016/17 season i was able to finish 4th, qualifying for my first European experience in the Europa League.
- The following season i bettered myself a little, and i got my first taste of Europe, where i would lose to PSG over two games, managing one draw at home, in the first elimination round. PSG went on to win it. And second place finish would ensure me a spot in the Champions League.
- With the addition of 3 players raising the standard in the team from the last year, i was able to better everything. My first time playing Champions League football. I won the league, and i won the Champions League with this side. Not a single player bought for more than 4.6 million GBP. I would like to add that my star player and the only one at that point i had bought for more than 4.6 million was Jorginho whom i had bough back from co-ownership with Napoli, left on a bosman at the start of this season, to rivals Chievo(the other human manger), wanting to play at a higher level.
- The champions league winning season fixtures.
- The game.
- The side that won it. No world beaters.
- After the winning the Champions League and League in 2019 i then won the league again in 2020, i also won the Italian cup for the first time, as well as the supercup in italy, and the supercup in Europa vs Bayern. Came second in the WC for clubs to add. I went out in the Champions League in the second knockout round to Marseille, who would go on to win it.
I did this with an unchanged side what so ever from the season before, and my defense bettered it self tremendously.
In 2021, i was fired from Verona after disagreements with my chairman, i had one loss in the league and one in the cup after 24 games, cruising the league in front of 2. place by 7 points. Shocking decision by the Verona chairman, Verona would go on to win nothing.
http://i.imgur.com/RXIkFDI.jpg - Season up until my firing.
http://i.imgur.com/r984D0E.jpg - Verona's season after my firing.
Now i am currently managing Juventus, planning on winning the league and champions league, for me then to journey to another country and do the same hopefully. My tactic stays the same as with the best players in the world nearly i am cruising, and no one are really able to touch me. And as the pictures show, i am well on my way.
- Current league standing
- Fixtures til now
And ill add here some pictures of the stats from some games with different teams using this formation
http://i.imgur.com/I0lGEXF.jpg - verona
http://i.imgur.com/dt9bkqD.jpg - verona
http://i.imgur.com/F5jsH7o.jpg - atalanta
http://i.imgur.com/ER0RI8x.jpg - atalanta
Conclusion
"You have broken FM". Is the quote from my mate whom i play these online games with, i dont think its quite so drastic, but i have however found a tactic that is able to get the most out if its players, make them work as a strong cohesive unit able to take on any side in the world. Given, you have the right type of players. It is a tactic that works for lesser sides without the need for fantastic players around the pitch to dominate for you. Which is something i feel is not really around anywhere. Maybe i have not looked well enough for it just.
It does work as a plug and play tactic as i have now entered into multiple online games with strangers where this tactic is proving fruitful. But it is not the reason i posted this. I am proud of it, and i wanted to share my ideas and thoughts. And hopefully give others some ideas like i have been given reading threads like this in the past.
Download link added for anyone who wants to try:
http://www.speedyshare.com/KAzKh/its...ee-3-4-2-1.tac
http://www.mediafire.com/download/g5hueetsg7us1fe/its+a+mariolicious+xmas+tree+3-4-2-1.tac
Let me know how you get on!
mario milanista.
Last edited:
Very detailed, informative and could almost feel your passion on the journey. You say your AM's track back? So you have them on tight marking or something?
Listening to him while playing is an experience itself