Introducing the " Half- Back" - Tactical Talk

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LoCalXt

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In-Game description
The half back looks to serve a role somewhere between that of an aggressive sweeper and a defensive midfielder. With a Half Back, the central defenders themselves will push higher up the pitch while the Half Back drops deeper than a standard defensive midfielder and, in addition to his defensive duties, looks to offer an outlet for quickly recycling possession when the team's attacking play breaks down.
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He is PERFECT for replicating a Pirlo, Lucas Levia , Xabi Alonso or Sergio Biscuits.
In defence he drops deep to support the centre-backs ( Very critical if you are playing 3 CB's at the back , as he will join and make a secure back four. Also, if you play with attacking wing backs or complete wing backs like Evra or Daniel Alves who boom forward , the Half Back sits deep to cover.

I am trying my tactic out with a low status team in Hull. Luckily I adjusted my budget and sweet talked Honda to come in as a free agent. For such a creative midfielder , I had to give him space and time to operate. To do so, I assigned Tom Huddlestone in the half back position. He doesn't have great defensive skills but he does have some GOOD passing. (Makes me wonder how an elite player like Pirlo or Xabi Alonso will do in this role. )

I will show you a play as it develops, same play has happened several times during the season.

View attachment 452797
Half back during a defensive kick-out by the keeper , this showcases his defence work when the opposition has the ball , he drops deep to help the back line. In the attack he pushes up into the central undetected because he gets confused with a CB who posses no immediate threat.

Now lets watch the smooth counter attack. (6)
View attachment 452796View attachment 452795View attachment 452794View attachment 452793View attachment 452792

There you have it folks , the greatness of utilizing a Half-back properly. Still tweaking my tactic so I wont release it yet. I can confirm that Hull City is playing beautiful possession football and sitting in 5th so far.
Mistake I made was putting all my money in Honda and not buying centrebacks ( some silly mistakes , especially when defending corner)
But overall enjoying the season , if you guys want I can show off more plays like this as they come along. This is the closest I have come to creative a realistic scenario on FM.

Feedbacks and experience with Half-backs are welcomed.
 
Ive found that using a half back is also good when playing a back four with attacking fullbacks.As they bomb on he drops deep to make a back 3. Perfect gor turning a 4-3-3 into a 3-4-3 a la Barca. Probably my favourite new role in the game.
 
Micky979 said:
Ive found that using a half back is also good when playing a back four with attacking fullbacks.As they bomb on he drops deep to make a back 3. Perfect gor turning a 4-3-3 into a 3-4-3 a la Barca. Probably my favourite new role in the game.
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Exactly what I do, and have been wanting to do for the last few FMs. Always had to use an Anchorman, but it isn't really the same. To be honest though, if you are looking for the Alonso or Pirlo role, I think Regista is closer to what they do.
 
A half back applies to Busquets not Alonso or Pirlo.

Alonso and Pirlo would be registas, not halfbacks.
 
Im torn with the regista role TBH. The description reads more like the Xavi role, but the position is too deep. In the ME it plays like it too. I think Pirlo is somewhere in between that and DLP. I dont know if you can alter the individual instructions to play riskier passes which may get you somewhere near. IMO the best example of a Half Back is Busquets. No question
 
Looking forward to your tactic mate. Being a Hull City fan myself im also playing as them and have experimented with 3 at the back & a regista (Huddlestone).

I never bought Honda as i spent all my money on Doria & Balanta.
 
Great screen shots, mate...
Out of the top of my head, Roman Neustader of Schalke, Javier Mascherano of Barca, Martinez of Bayern Munchen fit the fill.
If I have to recommend someone for this role in general , it must be a guy who can play DC, DM and MC with DM being his natural position.
 
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De Rossi and Busqets are half backs. Pirlo is regista. Alonso is more of a deep playmaker in a duo mid, while Xavi a deep playmaker in a trio mid.

De Rossi and Busqets give freedom to the full backs as they form a back 3 with his dropping.
Pirlo does not cover much. His work rate is still decent, especially with the positioning, but his physic is poor to tackle. He operates from deep, giving a lot of long and ambitious passes. He has 3 in the back to cover and 2 in front of him to run a lot and help him with spreading the ball.

Alonso and Xavi drop deeper from a central midfield position and while Alonso tries more ambitious passes sometimes, Xavi just controls the tempo at this age and keeps possession.
 
Am using a 4-5-1 aka 4-3-3 formation with a halfback. But seeing how the defence pushes up and how close it is to form a 3 man defence it got me thinking to change to a stopper cover defence with the halfback performing like a libero.

This way it will become a
GK
DC(S) ---DC(C)
CWB(A)--HB(D)--CWB(A)
------BWM(S)--DLP(S)------
--------------AP(A)------------
---------F9---------AF(A)------
 
fanks said:
Am using a 4-5-1 aka 4-3-3 formation with a halfback. But seeing how the defence pushes up and how close it is to form a 3 man defence it got me thinking to change to a stopper cover defence with the halfback performing like a libero.

This way it will become a
GK
DC(S) ---DC(C)
CWB(A)--HB(D)--CWB(A)
------BWM(S)--DLP(S)------
--------------AP(A)------------
---------F9---------AF(A)------
Click to expand...

Do you find with a HB in front the 2 CB seem to play alot further apart? mine moved into FB territory the first time i tried to play a HB in there.. i mean obviously they need to accomodate him but god, might as well play one CB and LB /RB lol.

Will the HB slip into a LB / CB / RB defence to make a flat 4 or does the engine fail at this?
 
wkdsoul said:
Do you find with a HB in front the 2 CB seem to play alot further apart? mine moved into FB territory the first time i tried to play a HB in there.. i mean obviously they need to accomodate him but god, might as well play one CB and LB /RB lol.

Will the HB slip into a LB / CB / RB defence to make a flat 4 or does the engine fail at this?
Click to expand...

Not really but the 2CB and HB are playing pretty close together. Probably because Carrick has the come from deep to get ball ppm. And i'm finding i'm conceding very very little goals playing with a HB. I reckon it's an idea though.
 
fanks said:
Not really but the 2CB and HB are playing pretty close together. Probably because Carrick has the come from deep to get ball ppm. And i'm finding i'm conceding very very little goals playing with a HB. I reckon it's an idea though.
Click to expand...

I'm in preseason, i'll d/l a few tactics on here that use the HB and see how i fair. I have a shortage of CB's but an abundance of DM's so hoping to cover one with the other.
 
Thanks for the input guys.
In game however , Huddlestone plays a combination of I would say De Rossi + Pirlo when playing as a Half Back.
The way he defends but at the same time serves as a play maker for my team is amazing. If I have time I will show more of his great command in midfield.
 
I too use a half back in my bilbao game i use carlos gurpegi in the role who is not a world beaters but still averaged 8.56 tackles a game in that role and 83% pass completion and with only passing 12/11 thats pretty good in my experience when in possession with a ahlf back the two CB's sit wider like full backs stretching the line like when barcalona play 343 but when you lose the ball they pull close together the fullbacks drop back and the half back steps forward to close down the attackers. its a system that works very well for me to the point that after switching my ball winning midfielder to a half back i wont be switching it back as a half back offers so many more dynamic options in the game to a ball winning midfielder whose only two jobs are win the ball and lay it off with no real movement a half back to me is much more useful
 
To be honest, I feel the half-back role is far superior for incorporating any kind of DLP or Regista player. I mean, in reality, those are three very distinct roles and have merit, but from testing, I've yet to see any merit of using DLP or Regista (especially Regista, its been a let down for me) over a half-back when wanting a secure deep lying passer of the ball that conducts from the back.

For me, Regista needs a slight tweak in the ME, as its not representative of real-life. At least, not from what I've seen.
 
My point exactly ! I know the definition of HalfBack doesn't suit a real life Pirlo or Xavi but that's how it plays in this current ME
 
Love the half back. I?ve been using it since the game came out. Its exactly what busquets does. Positioning and Anticipation are key stats for the role. But positioning mostly.
 
To add to the obvious candidates for half-back, some lower budget ones are:
- Strootman (15m or so after 1 season)
- Jucilei (5-10m or free 18 months in)
- Mikel (often transfer listed)
- Marrone (sometimes listed for around 5-7.5m)
- Romulo (around 5-6m after a season or so)
- Ignacio Camacho (for mid-table teams, he's the best value for money at between ?1.5-3.5m)
 
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