How to play Holding Midfielders

[gunnerjames]

Can anyone give me some advice on how to play the 4231 formation with two holding midfielders. I really want my central midfielders to sit in front of the back four and break up plays and then distribute the ball to the attacking players. I am playing with Arsenal and my favourite formation is really the 4231. I have tried playing the 433/451 but it does not feel right to me. My options in midfield are Song, Arteta, Ramsey, Frimpong and Caquelin. I am not sure about the ball winning midfielder because from what I read the ball winning midfielder presses and closes down leaving the central midfielder to chase the ball leaving a gap in central midfield. I want my central midfielders to stay and protect the back four.

So if anyone has any advice on hour to achieve this please let me know.

 

[Shiraz]

Maybe try both players on DLP - Defend/Support or like the Default 4-2-3-1 Deep on the game, use them as CM - Support

It actually uses two DM's on Support but you could move them up to MC

 

[Draigh]

I usually try to have a combination of a tackler and a passer in a double pivot. Use either a ball winning midfielder or a defensive midfielder in combination with a deep-lying midfielder. Personally I prefer to have my ball winner close down higher up the pitch (support duty) in front of the passer, while the passer (who is usually less mobile, less agressive and worse in the tackle) tries mainly to intercept hurried passes and cut off the angles - kind of like Manchester United operate in reality, with Fletcher or Anderson running around the pitch in front of Carrick or Giggs. Generally this would mean your playmaker is the deepest player in midfield, which should give him more space and time to distribute the ball around.

If you're playing a 4-2-3-1 with two CM's then perhaps keep the ball winner at defend as well, to make sure you always have two players screening the defence, especially if your playmaker isn't very good defensively or if you're frequently overrun in the middle.

 

[kieranjtaylor]

i've been using that formation as Newcastle i use ANC and DLP works well. ANC wins ball and keeps it simple DLP bridges the gap between defense and attack and drifts late to edge of box as well as winning the ball. im not sure about 2 DLP never tried it on FM but its a bad idea in real life one cancels out the other

 

[Montanaro]

use two def mids as dlps. cms will never sit in front of defense. even with the most defensive instructions, cms will be a liability

 

[jibbers]

Depends If on you're line and the football you want to play. If you want to win the ball higher up the pitch, I would advice the BWM and DLP at CMs. The High line means that any long ball is sweeped up by your CBs. IF playing very deep, you need a holding MF of some sort.