Killer by Veez - 523 Counter

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veez

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After creating an awesome tactic with romian for the 14.1 patches in the form of the 3421 that you can find here: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/shar...922-3-4-2-1-no-striker-tactic-ccc-s-gold.html ; i became sort of obsessed with strikerless formations and the whole concept behind them, playing mostly counter-attacking football and passing into space behind oposition defensive lines. Unfortunately the latest patches hindered our initial tactics, and i've spent the past couple of months testing different variations of this concept. i must have tried thousands of combinations but unfortunately never found one that worked as well as the original tactic.

I'm happy to say that after a lot of testing, i've created a tactic that is as good, if not better, than our original tactic for the earlier patches. It took a great deal of work, but im really proud of it, and only hope that it can bring you as much success in this game as it has brought me.

I've decided to call it "Killer" because thats simply what it does. It kills off its opposition by sitting back and defending as a unit, trying to win the ball back and go forward with great speed, getting a lot of players in the final third to run onto through balls cutting into the oppositions defensive line. The number of CCC's it creates is simply immense, and normally this translates into a lot of goals scored, however, and unfortunately, the current ME is built so that we need more CCC's to score than the AI, so in some games you may have 7 CCC's and score one or two goals, when the opposition have 1 or 2 CCC's and score the same two goals. But there isnt really too much we can do about that, we just have to create as many chances as we can and defend as well as we can, and i believe that is exactly what this tactic does. Not only is it very prolific going forward, but it is also very solid at the back. However, you do need the right players for each position, because it is a tactic built around a lot of specialist roles.

the formation is a 523 with a Libero, 2 BPD's on cover, 2 Registas, 2 CWB's, 1 AP and 2 SS's.

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the fluidity is very rigid, as i want my defenders to stay back and my forward to stay up, especialy due to the counter mentality and the direct passing. with a more fluid approach we would have a hard time playing direct balls to out forward players as they would be sitting too deep and we probably wouldnt be able to get out of our own midfield. we play direct and focus passing down the wings with a high tempo, although we do try to play out of defence.

the libero acts as a sweeper when we dont have posession, however he quicly presses up the pitch too in certain situations to try and regain the ball. when in posession he will also act like a halfback, recycling and supporting posession in midfield.

the BPD's are on cover, mostly due to our high d-line, and because the team is set to tight marking, hard tackling and closing down, so i didnt want them to wander out of position and close down opponents a lot, as this is done by all the other players in front of them. they are set as BPD's so that they too can recycle posession and mostly play balls down the wings to our CWB's.

the CWB's are crucial, much like the Registas. because they are the transition players. they carry the ball forward. the CWB's are the feeders of our front 3 on the wings, however they also get into finishing situations and bag quite a few goals as well as assists. they need to be very well rounded players, because they are expected to perform all roles, defensive, support and attack.

the Registas too have to perform all roles, and they too have to be very well rounded. they act as a simbiosis of ball winning midfielders and box to box midfielders, carrying the ball forward and sending it wide or to our AP.

the AP is our prime creator. he sits in the middle of the SS's, a little bit deeper, so that there isnt too much space between midfield and attack, trying to minimise the amount of balls lost in the transition phase of play. he gets a ridiculous amount of key passes (as you can see in the screenshots), mostly hrough balls into the SS's. he is also the first player to defend and close down the opposition defence. this player will have a lot of assists but will also score quite a few goals.

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the SS's are our main goalscorers. they not only exploit space in the middle, but also on the wings, crossing for the AP in the middle or the other SS on the far post. they should be fast and agile finishers, but they must be able to create goals too. they also individually man mark the opponent full-backs

this tactic evolved from a deep 343 which i created when playing with liverpool. we won all 3 competitions we were in.

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it was very successfull and performed really well, but i felt it could be better. and in the final 15 games of the season i changed it to a 433 with a halfback in between two registas instead of DLP's. this gave the midfield much more amplitude and creative ability going forward. we went 12 games withought conceeding with this version and also played the cup finals with them.

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i started a new save with real sociedad with the intent of testing this new 433 version. it too proved very successful and we managed to win the league in our first season which is quite the achievement. although i think we only managed to do so coz we got kicked out of the cup and the CL, because our squad lacked quality and depth.

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i was very happy with these results, but once again thought it could be better, especially defending, coz we had a hard time against stronger opponents.

with this in mind i came up with the latest variation with a libero in between the two CB's and started our second season with real sociedad with this new variation.

we won all competitions, league, super cup, cup and champions league in an amazing effort from a very young squad. we managed some awesome results in the process too, and this latest version proved strong enough against the bigger teams in europe, both in our domestic league and in the champions league. we ended the season with the best attack and the best defence.

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here are some of the matches and results achieved:

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a few tips:

oi from an ast. manager with good defensive attributes, training team cohesion and att. movement

veez I have to say that overall v3 is the best I've used ith this year's game. I won the title and 2 cups with celtic first season, also got to the semi final of the champions league. my only real concern is that I can have a brilliant game where I have 10 ccc's, but then the next game at home against a very weak side will end as a boring 0-0 with very few chances...haven't found a solution to this, no even changing the mentality to attacking.

thanks mate! :D really apreciate it

i've experience this sometimes too. the trick isnt changing to attack, but control. you can also untick direct passing and add lower tempo. this will make ur team be more patient in build up play and break down the opposition. i will make a control version and upload later

Hey there veez. I became busy in the last moment and wasn't able to test out the tactic. :/ But I have some free time now, which is good. :D I noticed you mentioned that the Libero version was better than 3 CBs, but players who can play Sweeper(which is the position for the Libero role) are rare. I've made up a list of a few players who anybody wanting to test out the tactic can use. Most of them are accomplished(dark green?) in the role.

Raphael Varane
Gerard Pique
Leonardo Bonucci(Juve)
Jan Vertonghen(Tottenham)
Mateo Musacchio(Villarreal)
Anderson Martins(Al-Jaish)
Frickson Erazo(Flamengo)
Rodrigo Caio(Sao Paulo)

Then there are a few people who are competent(light green) at sweeper
Mehdi Benatia
Vlad Chiriches
Salvatore Bocchetti
Diego Godin
Luca Marrone
Marc Bartra
Martin Caceres
Vedran Corluka


Hope its useful :)

Hello lads: I am using the 4-3-3 version of this tactic and I can see some excellent potential, especially on the defensive end. However, I am not able to score for love nor money, just 17 goals in 15 league games with Spurs. With Lennon, Lamela and Nasri, scoring should be the least of my worries, so I'm wondering if anyone has any tweaks that might help the goals start to flow.

nasri and lennon arent the best type of player to use up front mate.

he middle SS needs to be like a complete forward. ideally, a strong, creative finisher. so, passing, creativity, decisions, composure, finishing, first touch, off the ball, technique, work rate, team work. think of a rooney type player.

the wide SS need to be fast creative finishers. so, pace, passing, crossing, flair, finishing, off the ball, dribbling, creativity. think walcott

DLP/Registas need to be all round strong box to box players. passing, decisions, anticipation, creativity, heading, positioning, marking, tackling, strength, team work, work rate, technique. think yaya toure

CB's just the normal stats, tackling, marking, anticipation, composure, concentration, bravery, positinoing, strength, heading. although it is very important that they arent slow (min 13 pace and accelleration) and that they can pass the ball

also, set traiining to att.movement on 50 %

veez don't you find it tough to break teams down when you're at home and are favourite to win?

sometimes, but most of the time we manage to bag a goal and after that we pound them. however it does take some patience sometimes. although if this does happen change mentality to control at around 60 mins (or before if you have very low posession and no chances whatsoever - but this is very rare). note: if you do change to control, keep an eye out for opponent through balls over the top, if they get a few, remove high d-line

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a perfect example of being patient. we started off very slowly. very few shots, but not giving away any too. slowly started to build up and gained control of the game and started to have chances, especialy after an assertive team talk. conceeded from a f-kick, which was their only shot on target. very unfair as we had a few chances by now. changed nothing until the end of the match, got an equaliser soon after their goal and continued to press on. bagged the winner at 92 mins with my CB playing as CWB lol. this tactic gives me a lot fo confidence, first because it is solid at the back, and second coz i always believe it can cause damage, so i rarely change anything, unless we are simply sitting too deep against a weaker team, where i change to control, but this is very rare. dont even change to attack when i need to score. and in the majority of cases, we do score, and get the results. the rest of the tima we just smash other teams :P

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patience once again. by 60 minutes i was losing 1-0, in the only real chance they had, i only had 2 shots and about 35% posession. they were controlling the game and were cutting off our counters. looked doomed. we then got a break and equalised on 62 mins, and from then on it was chance after chance until we built a comfortable 3-1 win. changed nothing throughout the match, only subs. the moral is, even in really tough games where it seems you are having no chances, as long as the opposition isnt having a lot of chances, despite dominating, stick with it, coz this tactic is always looking for a chance to pounce on the opposition and do some damage. although obviously, you wont win them all :P

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here is a different case, when compared to the previous ones. i should really be winning and dominating at home to valladolid. however, by 30 mins we had very low posession and no chances. this is due to the opposition playing too deep, and as we play counter we play very deep to. in these cases, change to control mentality, this will push the team up and they will play a more patient game instead of trying to go forward instantly. when you change to control though, remove "high d-line" otherwise they will play too high and you will get hit by through balls over ur defence. we quickly gained control of the game and had 7 CCC in the last 2 thirds of the match. the ones we gave away, including their goal were from through balls over our defence. if these persist, drop deeper. when you get a 2 goal lead, if they put you under pressure, change back to counter, and you will defend bettr and be more dangerous going forward too.

**** Veez, you did it again...

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I see your name already watched on SI's agenda for stopping succesful tactics!

Have slotted another one with Control mentality and drop deeper to get fluid, won't need it to often though as we're the underdog in 80% of the matches. But who knows how long this will last if we go on like that! :)

Again, as in my Bayern save, I found to have best finisher on the right, and best creator (good passing, creativity) in the middle works wonders for me.

beginning of the season very high fitness and tactics on 50%

mid-way through friendlies change from fitness to team cohesion

when tactic is fully fluid change to att. movement on 50%

if anyone has any more questions or doubts feel free to ask! :)

here is the tactic:

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LATEST TEST VERSIONS ON PAGE 10 POST #98 (!!!)

NEW 343 VERSION ON PAGE 23 POST #222 (!!!) - Think this is the best version of the Killer so far (bit working on making it better :P)

very important! when playing against formations that dont use full-backs, you must remove individual man marking from both the SS's!

im currently testing a verison where i have removed the "direct passing" from the team instructions. if testing keeps up i will udate the OP with the new tactic. this variation gives us more control of posession against bigger teams, as we normally only have around 35% posession sometimes and get put under pressure. the 2-0 win against bayern in the final of the champions league was played with this version. im very confident that removing direct passing is the way to go against stronger opponents, however i havent tested it enough against weaker opponents. will do so asap!

i will also update the OP with some player filters as soon as i can.

hope i havent forgot anything lol if i did i know a couple of you that will quickly remind me :P

hope you all can enjoy this tactic as much as i do! :D

cheers

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LATEST TACTIC - DIRECT FLUID CONTROL 3412 by VEEZ ---> page 43 post #425

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tactic: View attachment 641983

Training: 50% Att Movement & High Team Cohesion

Tips:

Substitute players with yellow cards

If you go a man down, remove CB and bring wing-back down to full-backs

Change to counter when you want to defend a result and teams are catching you out on the counter

Give the tactic quite a few games to become fluid, as it plays a very high d-line and you may concede som stupid goals in the first few games
 
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I am testing your test version with Hull. Beisdes can you tell you the players requirements?
 
I am testing your test version with Hull. Beisdes can you tell you the players requirements?

veez said:
nasri and lennon arent the best type of player to use up front mate.

he middle SS needs to be like a complete forward. ideally, a strong, creative finisher. so, passing, creativity, decisions, composure, finishing, first touch, off the ball, technique, work rate, team work. think of a rooney type player.

the wide SS need to be fast creative finishers. so, pace, passing, crossing, flair, finishing, off the ball, dribbling, creativity. think walcott

DLP/Registas need to be all round strong box to box players. passing, decisions, anticipation, creativity, heading, positioning, marking, tackling, strength, team work, work rate, technique. think yaya toure

CB's just the normal stats, tackling, marking, anticipation, composure, concentration, bravery, positinoing, strength, heading. although it is very important that they arent slow (min 13 pace and accelleration) and that they can pass the ball

also, set traiining to att.movement on 50 %

veez said:
need to find sweepers or train your defenders to play in that position. neeed great all round players for WB and RG roles that can both defend and attack. wide SS should be your best finishers , they should be fast with some passing and crossing. AP should be a great passer of the ball and a good finisher.


I think I remember him saying the Libero needs typical CB stats but with slightly more emphasis on passing and acceleration/pace.
 
The number of Clear Cut Chances this tactic creates is mindblowing...just make sure you have some good finishers at AMC.
 
I am testing your test version with Hull. Beisdes can you tell you the players requirements?

how is the test version working out? think its an improvement on the original?
 
good job veez. Incredible results for me with version v2. :)
 
Hey Veez, a very interesting concept.

Would you say that the defensive stability of the tactic is also one of its best features?

I was thinking about the role of Libero and CDs with an off-side trap. I will plug it in my next season of journey man career (since I never use a test save nor multiple careers).

Shall be using it without offside trap in an attempt to give Libero more freedom to provide cover and sweep through balls. I think the D will be more susceptible to through balls from opponents wingers between FB's and CDs if they try to step up in order to maintain the offside trap.

But then again, its FM... what doesn't make clear conceptual sense can do wonders for you and you, the tactic creator, have ofcourse done some valuable testing.

I am planning to plug it in along with TFF9's unreal and Locksmith tweak of TFF9's weirdo. I won't be posting results though since its 2023 for me and people will just forget that it is still challenging to manage a 5th predicted Sevilla in Spanish League in your 3rd year at the club as part of your journey man career.
 
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good job veez. Incredible results for me with version v2. :)

do you mean v2 of the libero counter 523 that i posted on the previous thread? or this test version of killer that im using?
 
Hey Veez, a very interesting concept.

Would you say that the defensive stability of the tactic is also one of its best features?

I was thinking about the role of Libero and CDs with an off-side trap. I will plug it in my next season of journey man career (since I never use a test save nor multiple careers).

Shall be using it without offside trap in an attempt to give Libero more freedom to provide cover and sweep through balls. I think the D will be more susceptible to through balls from opponents wingers between FB's and CDs if they try to step up in order to maintain the offside trap.

But then again, its FM... what doesn't make clear conceptual sense can do wonders for you and you, the tactic creator, have ofcourse done some valuable testing.

I am planning to plug it in along with TFF9's unreal and Locksmith tweak of TFF9's weirdo. I won't be posting results though since its 2023 for me and people will just forget that it is still challenging to manage a 5th predicted Sevilla in Spanish League in your 3rd year at the club as part of your journey man career.

the defensive stability is definately one of its best features! but i love the offence too :) i did test without off side trap, but remember thinking it wasnt as good. however, it could have just not worked in that particular instance. no such thing as too much testing, so i really apreciate you taking the time to do so.

i agree sometimes people arent simpathetic towards long term saves as they think everyone has world class teams, but that shouldnt discourage you form sharing your results and insight! what's important is that you enjoy your save games, not that anyone else aproves of it. and i for one would love to see your results and read any feedback you might have towards making this a better tactic. so plesse do post! if not, PM me with a few screenies and feedback, i wont judge :P

cheers mate
 
do you mean v2 of the libero counter 523 that i posted on the previous thread? or this test version of killer that im using?
No,433 deep v2,no libero.With Half-Back.
 
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