Le Professeur by Kyanite
This tactic is based on Arsene Wenger's new 4-2-3-1 approach which he has implemented at the Emirates for the 2012/2013 season. Arsene Wenger - also known as Le Professeur - is known for his 4-4-2 which proved incredibly successful for him at the beginning of his reign. He later started implementing a 4-3-3/4-5-1 at the Emirates up until the departure of Robin Van Persie & Alex Song. Come the start of the 2012/2013 Premier League season, Wenger has changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Please Note: Some may argue that Wenger still fielded a 4-2-3-1 at times last season, this depends whether you count the third midfielder as an attacking midfielder or as a regular center midfielder.
View attachment 273471
By switching to a 4-2-3-1, Wenger has moved what was a third center midfielder (the role occupied mainly by the now Barcelona player - Alex Song) to a more attacking role, playing behind the lone striker. This allows Wenger not only to play more offensively on the pitch (as we all know he loves to do), but to also add a third dimension of attack by now being able to play through the middle more often than before.
For those who have watched Arsenal play this season (2012/2013), it was clear that Wenger had kept his strategies similar to before by keeping passing short, playing out of the back & keeping possession whilst actually making use of it when the chance is made available. (Unlike Barcelona's tiki taka where passing and patience was preferred to actually having a shot on goal now and then...)
This tactic I believe has imitated it's real life counter part very well, racking up decent possession percentages and guaranteeing a solid handful of chances on goal per game. The key is to ensure 'passing triangles' are always present during matches. Every time someone get's the ball, they should always have at least ONE passing option which will allow them to play backwards and keep possession. More than often, players will have two passing options. It can be seen in the image below - which I am aware is not great as I am doing this on my laptop with a touchpad, but you get the idea - this is crucial for being able to play out of the back which is crucial as it draws the opposition into your own half, meaning once your 'Arteta' makes the crucial pass, you will have less opposition to deal with in the opposing half.
View attachment 273504
I tested this with Arsenal, and personally think it was incredibly successful. I won the Premier League, Carling Cup, FA Cup & reached the Champions League final. We suffered only 3 losses in the league. You might not believe me, but the two matches which we lost I believe were down to my terrible team talks. I am using a laptop, and my finger does tend to slip on the mousepad thus leading to the wrong team talk. The only matches which we legitimately lost with correct team talks were our Semi Final Champions League 1st leg against Bayern Munich (2-1 to Munich, went on to win second leg) and our second to last league game against Manchester United (2-0 to United, I was resting players since we had already won the league and wanted them to be fresh for the CL final). Which I deem to be pretty impressive & understandable.
I also tested my 'Park the Bus' tactic in all league matches, after the 75th minute. This worked well when wanting to hold onto a lead since this tactic can be leaky at times. After checking my team report at the end of the season, it turned out we conceded the least goals after the 75th minute, which indicates we defended well. A link to my 'Park the Bus' tactic can be found below.
The reason as to why this tactic can be leaky is simply because of how offensively great it is. If you feel like you are conceding too much, then simply set the Ball Winning Midfielder to defend instead of support.
View attachment 273507View attachment 273508View attachment 273509View attachment 273510
Proof regarding our treble is seen here:
View attachment 273518
I strongly believe we could have potentially won our Champions League final match, however we had a handful of key players out including Cazorla, Walcott, Hummels & Vermaelen. All four of them are normally in our starting line up.
Anyways, this tactic got the best out of everybody - literally.
View attachment 273533
As you can see, Podolski scored for fun, alongside Giroud who made Van Persie look like an amateur. Not only did Podolski grab 31 goals, but 17 assists too due to playing him on the left wing. Giroud scored one less than Podolski and also contributed to assists. Cazorla was outstanding, grabbing 21 goals alongside a whopping 24 assists! It's a shame he was injured in late April... otherwise he would have unlocked Barcelona, I'm sure of it. By clicking on the image above, you can see that everybody contributed their bit to goals... which is ideally what you want from any side one manages!
The final Premier League table looked like this:
View attachment 273540
My preferred XI looked like this:
View attachment 273550
If you are looking to implement this tactic with a team other than Arsenal, then the types of players you should be looking for are as shown below:
GOALKEEPER - DEFEND: Any solid goalkeeper will do, Szczesny was more than sufficient for this with Arsenal. Recommendations: Szczesny, Neuer, Casillas... any keeper will do.
LEFT BACK - AUTOMATIC: Baines, Gibbs, Olsson, Lahm, Cole... any left back which is decent enough.
CENTER BACK - COVER: You can slot any center back into this role really. I used Mertesacker at first, hence why I gave the cover role. Coincidently, Hummels also plays as a cover center back. However any good center back will do. This guy does what it says on the tin, he is a center back but only 'covers' and may wander off from time to time.
GOALKEEPER - STOPPER: This is your faster, more agile center back. Not your big & tall fighter. Think Terry, Ramos, Carragher types of defenders.
RIGHT BACK - AUTOMATIC: Again, any solid right back will do for the level at which your team will be playing. Recommendations: Sagna, Ivanovic, Dani Alves, Richards, Zabaleta... make sure they are good defensively and have good enough technical ability to push forward/overlap and make passes.
ADVANCED PLAYMAKER - SUPPORT: If you feel like you are conceding too many goals, you can set this guy to defend instead. However at support, it ideally mimicked Arteta's role at Arsenal in real life. A solid center midfielder to whom the team look to pass the ball to in order to make things happen. This is your Xavi, your play dictator, think Xavi, Iniesta, Arteta, Modric, Ozil, Sneijder, Silva, etc.
BALL WINNING MIDFIELDER - SUPPORT: If you feel like you are conceding too many goals, you can set this guy to defend instead. This guy has to be your Viera, your Yaya Toure, your Fellaini, your Tiote. Big, physical and a class center midfielder all at the same time. Enough said.
LEFT WINGER - ATTACK: Wenger opts to play Podolski as a left attacking midfielder. Podolski is left footed and therefore setting him as an inside forward would only confuse things, since inside forwards cut inside... and it is difficult to cut inside using your left foot on the left wing. So, setting someone on the left wing who is left footed as a winger is the same as essentially setting them as a forward. If that makes any sense? Ideal players here would be Podolski, Bale, Ronaldo, Griezmann, Ramirez, Nani, Ben Arfa etc.
ATTACKING MIDFIELDER - ATTACK: This player is very important in the team. They need to be a great all rounder just as Cazorla is. You need someone who is good physically & technically. The super player of your team who can make things happen, make assists and cause havoc for the opposition defence. Think Cazorla, Aguero, Hazard, Neymar, Ganso, Eriksen.
RIGHT WINGER - SUPPORT: The reason why my right winger is set as support is because I don't like having too many players set to be 'attacking' as it can leave holes in the defence. Walcott is your real winger. Pace, hugging the touchline and getting crosses into the box! Your left winger will be acting more like a second forward in this case, so pace and technical ability is important for this guy. Think Walcott, Ronaldo, Beckham (back in the day), Yarmolenko, Douglas Costa, Willian, and so forth.
POACHER - ATTACK: Your goal scorer. Giroud worked great in this role and I'm sure Robin Van Persie would have done too. Chamakh couldn't hit a barn door though, he kept getting into good opportunities but always seemed to lack something. I am yet to try a smaller striker in this role such as Chicharito, so I cannot guarantee you a smaller striker is suited. I will recommend a big striker with a physical presence who can score goals. Examples of these are Giroud, RVP, Torres, Rooney, Berbatov, Adebayor.
Use the MAXIMUM sized pitch you have as it will give the wingers and attacking midfielder a lot of space to do their stuff.
As for TEAM TALK, I just normally assertively tell them that I expect to win the game (if it is a realistic target), and then if some players do not react I speak to them individually and tell them I have faith in them and so forth. If you don't like doing team talks, then make sure your assistant manager has good man management, motivating & discipline attributes and then let him take care of them them.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that you use the following shouts during ALL matches:
- PLAY OUT OF DEFENCE
- PASS TO FEET
- RETAIN POSSESSION
LE PROFESSEUR by Kyanite - v1.4 - DOWNLOAD HERE
THE DOUBLE DECKER BUS by Kyanite - DOWNLOAD COMING SOON
I would love to hear how everybody does. I have only tested this with Arsenal, however it would be interesting to see how it does with other teams.
LIVERPOOL PLAY THROUGH 12.2.2
This tactic is based on Arsene Wenger's new 4-2-3-1 approach which he has implemented at the Emirates for the 2012/2013 season. Arsene Wenger - also known as Le Professeur - is known for his 4-4-2 which proved incredibly successful for him at the beginning of his reign. He later started implementing a 4-3-3/4-5-1 at the Emirates up until the departure of Robin Van Persie & Alex Song. Come the start of the 2012/2013 Premier League season, Wenger has changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation.
Please Note: Some may argue that Wenger still fielded a 4-2-3-1 at times last season, this depends whether you count the third midfielder as an attacking midfielder or as a regular center midfielder.
View attachment 273471
By switching to a 4-2-3-1, Wenger has moved what was a third center midfielder (the role occupied mainly by the now Barcelona player - Alex Song) to a more attacking role, playing behind the lone striker. This allows Wenger not only to play more offensively on the pitch (as we all know he loves to do), but to also add a third dimension of attack by now being able to play through the middle more often than before.
For those who have watched Arsenal play this season (2012/2013), it was clear that Wenger had kept his strategies similar to before by keeping passing short, playing out of the back & keeping possession whilst actually making use of it when the chance is made available. (Unlike Barcelona's tiki taka where passing and patience was preferred to actually having a shot on goal now and then...)
This tactic I believe has imitated it's real life counter part very well, racking up decent possession percentages and guaranteeing a solid handful of chances on goal per game. The key is to ensure 'passing triangles' are always present during matches. Every time someone get's the ball, they should always have at least ONE passing option which will allow them to play backwards and keep possession. More than often, players will have two passing options. It can be seen in the image below - which I am aware is not great as I am doing this on my laptop with a touchpad, but you get the idea - this is crucial for being able to play out of the back which is crucial as it draws the opposition into your own half, meaning once your 'Arteta' makes the crucial pass, you will have less opposition to deal with in the opposing half.
View attachment 273504
I tested this with Arsenal, and personally think it was incredibly successful. I won the Premier League, Carling Cup, FA Cup & reached the Champions League final. We suffered only 3 losses in the league. You might not believe me, but the two matches which we lost I believe were down to my terrible team talks. I am using a laptop, and my finger does tend to slip on the mousepad thus leading to the wrong team talk. The only matches which we legitimately lost with correct team talks were our Semi Final Champions League 1st leg against Bayern Munich (2-1 to Munich, went on to win second leg) and our second to last league game against Manchester United (2-0 to United, I was resting players since we had already won the league and wanted them to be fresh for the CL final). Which I deem to be pretty impressive & understandable.
I also tested my 'Park the Bus' tactic in all league matches, after the 75th minute. This worked well when wanting to hold onto a lead since this tactic can be leaky at times. After checking my team report at the end of the season, it turned out we conceded the least goals after the 75th minute, which indicates we defended well. A link to my 'Park the Bus' tactic can be found below.
The reason as to why this tactic can be leaky is simply because of how offensively great it is. If you feel like you are conceding too much, then simply set the Ball Winning Midfielder to defend instead of support.
View attachment 273507View attachment 273508View attachment 273509View attachment 273510
Proof regarding our treble is seen here:
View attachment 273518
I strongly believe we could have potentially won our Champions League final match, however we had a handful of key players out including Cazorla, Walcott, Hummels & Vermaelen. All four of them are normally in our starting line up.
Anyways, this tactic got the best out of everybody - literally.
View attachment 273533
As you can see, Podolski scored for fun, alongside Giroud who made Van Persie look like an amateur. Not only did Podolski grab 31 goals, but 17 assists too due to playing him on the left wing. Giroud scored one less than Podolski and also contributed to assists. Cazorla was outstanding, grabbing 21 goals alongside a whopping 24 assists! It's a shame he was injured in late April... otherwise he would have unlocked Barcelona, I'm sure of it. By clicking on the image above, you can see that everybody contributed their bit to goals... which is ideally what you want from any side one manages!
The final Premier League table looked like this:
View attachment 273540
My preferred XI looked like this:
View attachment 273550
If you are looking to implement this tactic with a team other than Arsenal, then the types of players you should be looking for are as shown below:
GOALKEEPER - DEFEND: Any solid goalkeeper will do, Szczesny was more than sufficient for this with Arsenal. Recommendations: Szczesny, Neuer, Casillas... any keeper will do.
LEFT BACK - AUTOMATIC: Baines, Gibbs, Olsson, Lahm, Cole... any left back which is decent enough.
CENTER BACK - COVER: You can slot any center back into this role really. I used Mertesacker at first, hence why I gave the cover role. Coincidently, Hummels also plays as a cover center back. However any good center back will do. This guy does what it says on the tin, he is a center back but only 'covers' and may wander off from time to time.
GOALKEEPER - STOPPER: This is your faster, more agile center back. Not your big & tall fighter. Think Terry, Ramos, Carragher types of defenders.
RIGHT BACK - AUTOMATIC: Again, any solid right back will do for the level at which your team will be playing. Recommendations: Sagna, Ivanovic, Dani Alves, Richards, Zabaleta... make sure they are good defensively and have good enough technical ability to push forward/overlap and make passes.
ADVANCED PLAYMAKER - SUPPORT: If you feel like you are conceding too many goals, you can set this guy to defend instead. However at support, it ideally mimicked Arteta's role at Arsenal in real life. A solid center midfielder to whom the team look to pass the ball to in order to make things happen. This is your Xavi, your play dictator, think Xavi, Iniesta, Arteta, Modric, Ozil, Sneijder, Silva, etc.
BALL WINNING MIDFIELDER - SUPPORT: If you feel like you are conceding too many goals, you can set this guy to defend instead. This guy has to be your Viera, your Yaya Toure, your Fellaini, your Tiote. Big, physical and a class center midfielder all at the same time. Enough said.
LEFT WINGER - ATTACK: Wenger opts to play Podolski as a left attacking midfielder. Podolski is left footed and therefore setting him as an inside forward would only confuse things, since inside forwards cut inside... and it is difficult to cut inside using your left foot on the left wing. So, setting someone on the left wing who is left footed as a winger is the same as essentially setting them as a forward. If that makes any sense? Ideal players here would be Podolski, Bale, Ronaldo, Griezmann, Ramirez, Nani, Ben Arfa etc.
ATTACKING MIDFIELDER - ATTACK: This player is very important in the team. They need to be a great all rounder just as Cazorla is. You need someone who is good physically & technically. The super player of your team who can make things happen, make assists and cause havoc for the opposition defence. Think Cazorla, Aguero, Hazard, Neymar, Ganso, Eriksen.
RIGHT WINGER - SUPPORT: The reason why my right winger is set as support is because I don't like having too many players set to be 'attacking' as it can leave holes in the defence. Walcott is your real winger. Pace, hugging the touchline and getting crosses into the box! Your left winger will be acting more like a second forward in this case, so pace and technical ability is important for this guy. Think Walcott, Ronaldo, Beckham (back in the day), Yarmolenko, Douglas Costa, Willian, and so forth.
POACHER - ATTACK: Your goal scorer. Giroud worked great in this role and I'm sure Robin Van Persie would have done too. Chamakh couldn't hit a barn door though, he kept getting into good opportunities but always seemed to lack something. I am yet to try a smaller striker in this role such as Chicharito, so I cannot guarantee you a smaller striker is suited. I will recommend a big striker with a physical presence who can score goals. Examples of these are Giroud, RVP, Torres, Rooney, Berbatov, Adebayor.
Use the MAXIMUM sized pitch you have as it will give the wingers and attacking midfielder a lot of space to do their stuff.
As for TEAM TALK, I just normally assertively tell them that I expect to win the game (if it is a realistic target), and then if some players do not react I speak to them individually and tell them I have faith in them and so forth. If you don't like doing team talks, then make sure your assistant manager has good man management, motivating & discipline attributes and then let him take care of them them.
It is VERY IMPORTANT that you use the following shouts during ALL matches:
- PLAY OUT OF DEFENCE
- PASS TO FEET
- RETAIN POSSESSION
LE PROFESSEUR by Kyanite - v1.4 - DOWNLOAD HERE
THE DOUBLE DECKER BUS by Kyanite - DOWNLOAD COMING SOON
I would love to hear how everybody does. I have only tested this with Arsenal, however it would be interesting to see how it does with other teams.
LIVERPOOL PLAY THROUGH 12.2.2
View attachment 274509View attachment 274510View attachment 274511View attachment 274512View attachment 274513View attachment 274514View attachment 274515
- Played up to 30th October 2011, unbeaten.
- No transfers brought in, used only the existing Liverpool players. Imagine how well it could perform if you made signings?!
- I would recommend you bring in a taller & more physical striker, then possibly use Suarez as one of the wingers.
- Henderson & Downing were superb!
- I also recommend you sign a center back. Someone who is BIG & Physical.
- Played up to 30th October 2011, unbeaten.
- No transfers brought in, used only the existing Liverpool players. Imagine how well it could perform if you made signings?!
- I would recommend you bring in a taller & more physical striker, then possibly use Suarez as one of the wingers.
- Henderson & Downing were superb!
- I also recommend you sign a center back. Someone who is BIG & Physical.
Last edited:
well done!
