The Czech Republic is know for 3 great composers, Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana and the football pitch composer Tomas "Little Mozart" Rosicky. There have always been players who are underrated, the ones who played their hearts out on the field and produced the magic on the pitch. The hero of this thread/tactics was none other than Tomas Rosicky, the great midlefieder who played for Sparta Prague, BvB and Arsenal, perhaps he could have been the best no. 10 in world if not for that heavy injury which kept him away from pitch for a WHOLE 08/09 season, he had worst of luck, the injuries and he played at the same time as great mid playmakers like Xavi, Scholes, Fabregas and Toure, its hard to be the best among those, so atleast he can compose a little bit more trough these tactics, these 3 tactics were inspired by one of footballs most talented mid players in recent times. Little Mozart the stage is all yours again.
The first of 3 tactics that are going to be presented is a 451 possession based tactic utlizing Counter mentality, Very Fluid team shape normal tempo and shorter passing, it is something similar to Arsenal playstyle during the time when they used Song Fabregas and Rosicky.
451 DZONTRA:
View attachment 90235
The general idea is playing Left IF and Striker as main goalscorers while right CM the attacking one makes runs from deep to confuse defence and on top of that you have Marauding WBs from both sides.
Now Rosicky role in this one would be CM(A), he will pass he will run and he will make key passes and he will bag in few goals.
View attachment 90236
In TI we can see that team is playing narrow formation with slightly higher line which is protected by our HB so we don't get countered to death, tempo setting is normal, lower tempo makes fewer chances but keeps possession while higher tempo is a risky option, especially if you play EPL where anyone can surprise you, well almost anyone. the play out defence is active since the point is to approach goal via passing play not via long balls, we play ball into space to make most out of our attacking players mental stats and speed related attributes, as for defence we will shorten GK options and mark them tighter and also foul them harder to avoid risky counter attacks, now here come 3 settings which can be discussed upon.
The WORK BALL INTO BOX setting, it might seem that its best setting for possession play tho it might not be the case, if you use this the team takes its time to circle around the opposition box, that gives the opposing team time to set their defensive positions thus shortening gaps and by that you waste some pretty decent runs, I would use this setting vs Stronger teams or when you see that your players shoot mindlessly from 20m out, as for weaker teams I would tun it off and blitz them.
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he second setting worth discussing is FOCUS OF ATTACKS, personally I rarely use the middle option, team is already playing narrow as it is and has natural pairs on dual wide man which triggers native overlap, as for wide options they can be used and they can be very deadly, usually I watch the game for 10-15 minutes before I decide if they should push the focus on wings or spread it equally, why does it matter? If your teams attacks aren't channeled by specific way it makes them more unpredictable and harder to defend against, then on other case if opposing team has weak LB or RB its worth using focus of attacks. Also its an option to be considered when facing 4231 formations both narrow and Wide since they leave flanks open by marauding WBs.
Third option which can be discussed upon is LOOK FOR OVERLAP its easy to set overlaping by default, if your IF is supportive role use WB A behind him and vice versa, but what does this setting actually do if you already have it set? Well it actually makes your Wingers(Inside forwards) less attacking minded and it makes your FBs more attacking minded, the wingers will adapt more passive gameplay and wait for wingback to make a run for it and then search to put them into play, the pass for WBs doesn't have to be from winger, its a Team instruction, all of the team will watch for their runs and try to utilize them, the best situation to use these would be when facing various setups in which teams have 1 wide player or again hen your wingers aren't having best game of their lives, I would wait to see how wingers behave how they act on field and then decide if it should be used or not.
That being said you can combined all of the 3 above mentioned instructions(actually 4 since we have left side/right side exploit so that counts as 2), you can combine all of them, or use none of them, for most time since team uses normal tempo I find that Work ball into box is best option since it lowers tempo to some extent in final third and makes players search for best solution possible, you are free to combine these instructions and look to make most out of them based on your team and your opposition.
The mentions for TIs should also go to Roam from Position setting which I don't use since it pulls them away from their positions and makes it harder for you in defensive phase, as for Run at defence it can be used provided your wingers and more offensive players are capable in art of dribbling, it means you will loose more balls due to tackles, but it can also make more set piece opportunities, generally I avoid it since if they have got no ball they can't attack us....
GK: On keeper position we have your standard GK, one that will keep the goal safe, I've been using Donarumma and Rajkovic and both are performing well;
CD: well you need some pace on these fellas, majority of your players will be on opposition half therefore they must be able to run if they make a pass and try to counter you, also they will need some aerial presence, they can cut long balls by jumping and by good decision making and anticipation concentration combo, they are set to close down less so that they can keep close to 16m box instead of chasing AMCs and rest around, perfect example of what you need is Mustafi, he has been amazing for me, Kosc isn't half bad either while I put mine faith in mine Goldaniga and Vallejo prospects for future, in terms of quality even Gabriel Paulista served me well until RM took the bait and bought him, so try to search for Mustafi alike.
LB, RB: Not much to say about these 2, Wingbacks are like little dynamos, pace, stamina, workrate, teamwork, passing, crossing and some dribling to help him venture and provide a cross for forwards, in terms of recommends I can highly recommend Carmona, Bellerin(if you got the cash), Coentrao, Tymons, looks for someone who can defend and attack and has good stamina and workrate.
HB: Think of him as your link, he is your 3rd man in defence, he will close down and shield CB line he is your Holding midfielder, I've been using Thiago Maia for this role and he is serving me good tho its mine 3rd year so he developed some attributes for the role, from good real life players I would say Casemiro is the one you want to look after, even Can should perform good in here. If you want to be more agressive you can opt to switch HB role to Defensive Midlefielder support and make him step into mid field and suplement to passing options your team has, tho beware DMS isn't a holding role and that makes you more open to counters, use it at your own risk.
CM(S): this fella here will act as your defensive support and as your creator to some extent in attacking phase, think of him as your deep lying playmaker without the playmaker tag, he will pass, he will run he will shoot from distance sometimes, mostly he will perform all and every task there is on the pitch, his position is set on hold duty so that he holds a bit of space on defense and he provides some extent of cover for marauding right WB. as for examples search for some deep lying playmaker with some extent of defensive capability, I'm using Maia, Rabiot, Neves in this position, from original Arsenal squad I think Xhaka and Elneny could pull it of to some extent, so search for Rabiot alike.
CM(A): This is the Rosicky role in this tactic, he will look to run forward, to pass the ball around to shoot and get into opposition box, think of him as your Advanced Playmaker, again without playmaker role, if you feel confident in his passing use more risky passes instruction tho that will give you less ball in your feet, I've been using Ramsey here until he declared that PSG is his future, never looked back on that, Maksimovic is performing wonders in this role and I feel like I'm watching Tomas all over again, and he is cheap too, I think 2m are enough to steal him from Astana, as for best of the best look for Delle Alli, he has it all and thats what you need.
IF(S) and IF(A): in short terms you need Alexis sort here, if I could I would have 4 of Alexis to fill each of mine forward roles, thats how much each of them suits him. He needs some workrate so he can help defensively, both IF are set with sit narrower instruct, its because of defensive shape aswell as close runs and offseting defense in tight space and making WBs and onrushing CM work. Left IF is set to attacking role, thats not mandatory, IF YOUR PLAYER IS STRUGGLING ON ATTACKING DUTY, USE SUPPORT ONE INSTEAD, but important fact is not to forget to pair corresponding WB role to him, so if you play both IF on support you can play both WB on attack, tho that gives more risks and more threat from counters from your opposition, if you decide to use 2 IF S just copy PI from IFS to IFA and from WBA to WBS.
DLF(A): This is your main outlet for goals and for most crative plays, you should spare no money here, along with CM(S) and HB this is most important position in team, tho in this years FM there is variety of players who can pefrorm it, even Giroud could use his height and Strength to dominate from here, as a result of mine DLF (Dybala) mine crossing is set to low crosses, if you play more Physical type of forward feel free to change accordingly.
I wouldn't try switching any of IF roles to winger ones, since wingers have innate stay wider PI and that would ruin your def shape, if you are inclined on using winger type of player try using WTM(S) and pair him with IWB(S) or ith WB(S) with narrower and cut inside PI, that would provide you defensive stability.
If you want a mirror version so that your IF(A) is on right side, don't forget to switch positions of CM(S) and CM(A) and WBS aswell, since CM acts as sot of cover for marauding WB.
If you are feeling your back is suffering adapt to situation and lower or rise back line and feel free to use other options which would correspond to your team, example: if I'm leading and want more possession and more patience I would use WORK BALL INTO BOX, OVERLAPING, LESS DRIBLING and I would probably remove PASS INTO SPACE instruction just for sake of less risky play.
This one uses NO OI's!
4231 RWBD:
View attachment 90234This is one is 4231 wide based, tho it uses a different pattern of attack, on left side you have standard IF WBA overlaping combo while on right side your WB(D) performs defensive dutyes while giving your team some width on offence, he will still cross but that happens rarely.
View attachment 90233
The TI are the same as in previous one but we have exception in terms of using TI's to max effect, in this case if you force Overlaping you may succumb easier, as for other TI explanation they are the same as for first one and since you will draw your RWBD out of his defensive position and thus ruin your defensive shape, also I feel like I don't need to explain why not to use exploit right wing except you are in real pinch and need of a goal. The roles are almost the same, in this case the left CM(S) is set as your holding one and protects some of your backside when LB marauds forward, while right CM(S) is set as a B2B runner and aims to provide some suplement in half space, since your RB won't be making too many forward runs, CM(S) will replace him to some extent, well its a bit different, he will look to overload the right side of pitch along with shift of play by Striker AMC and right IF, by doing that the defence gets drawn out and your team will have few options which to use as a goalscoring threat.
WB(D): For me mine standard RBs have been performing in this role and they are doing good, main reason for picking this wingback instead of other one for this role was Bellerins pace, even if he gets caught out of position chances are he will make it back in time since he is insanely fast, he even had a little race with Aubemeyang, Aubemeyang lost 7:0, or should I say BvB lost 7:0, use standard RB type of player here, just make sure he can pass around since his main role is to be a cover and a passer.
AM(A): its obvious that this is Rosicky role in this one, the AM will act pretty much as Advanced playmaker without drawing all the balls to him, he will run pass shoot, I think this role defines Rosicky the best since I think of him as Ozil before Ozil, so there you have it, I already mentioned above that I would like 4 Alexis like players in team, he would fit this role just fine aswell, since Ozil is unique in the game I can't really say look for Ozil allikes, tho I think Franco Vazquez could fit in really well in this role, so search for creative outlet, if you are looking for goal feel free to add More direct passes PI to him.
What to expect? Expect standard 4231 playstyle with much involment from CM AM CM triangle and you will often see LB in good positions since of tactics assymetry, as for right winger, again, if you feel you need more width, use WTM(S) since he won't stretch himself wider and leave you open during defence.
Other option of modification is using same PI on RB as on LB while changing right CM to CM(D) so he acts as a cover, its good option if you have a good holding mid and superb crosser on both WBs in that case the OVERLAP and EXPLOIT FLANKS options which I meantioned earlier become viable.
If you are feeling your back is suffering adapt to situation and lower or rise back line and feel free to use other options which would correspond to your team, example: if I'm leading and want more possession and more patience I would use WORK BALL INTO BOX, OVERLAPING, LESS DRIBLING and I would probably remove PASS INTO SPACE instruction just for sake of less risky play.
THIS TACTIC DOESN'T USE OI either!
451 PRESA:
This one is similiar to first one, but not quite, its control mentality one, although most of people would agree that defensive mentalityes work better on this year FMs I'm trying to prove them wrong, well atleast a bit since first 2 are counter based and suited to use by most teams.View attachment 90232
So what is different here?
First thing that meets the eye is complete symmetry on both sides except for CM roles, one of the CM is more defensive deep lying type of player while other is more offensive AP type of player, the latter one is your Rosicky, the roles and types of players recommended are the same as in previous one, everything is the same, the discussion the theory of using TI, well something has to be different right?
Let's take a look at TI's:
View attachment 90231
Immediately we acn see both OVERLAPING and WORK THE BALL is turned on and the Get stuck in is removed, the line is a notch higher this time, the reason? GEGENPRESSING!
For Gegenpressing to work you need to fullfil few things, one of the things is very fluid team shape, the reason is taht very fluid team shape will make them act as a whole and make collective responsibility when they concede mistakes, the other condition to meet is high Def Line, if you play lower line your space between lines will be left open, so you need higher line and that makes them press higher up the pitch from start, for the pressing to start high you need last condition, you need your players to stay around the ball and not behind it, thus the 3 conditions are met here, VERY FLUID, CONTROL(any attacking based mentality will work, tho attacking and overload are too risky of a approach) and Higher Def line, the line isn't set all the way up simply because it would expose you too much.
The TI Get stuck in is removed, the reason is foul count and card count, you don't want your players being sent off like mad, you want to disrupt play and take possession in high positions,as Klopp once said:"...No playmaker in the world can be good as counterpressing situation...". Following this rule we need totake ball higher up the pitch, and we need to hassle opponents to disable them from playing their game, the most numbers of 451 tactic are in middle, we have 3 mid players, and no HB doesn't count among them, the 3rd one is ST, he will drop deeper to close down oposing MCs and IFs being set to narrow as WBs will provide almost impenetrable Middle of the field, the flaw? If Mc finds space and time to pass and if that pass makes it to unmarked AML/AMR/ML/MR you will face opposition threat, for me personally, that many ifs are worth the risk, now this one is based on Klopps press in Liverpool in defence, but on possession system similiar to Arsenal/Barcelona attack, the bestposition to defend is near their final third that being said you need to know the 4 pillars of gegenpressing, some of you might have read mine discussion on attributes I look for in every player, the main 4 for Gegenpress are among mine favs aswell, they are Teamwork, Stamina, Workrate and Determination. Taking all 4 of these stats in consideration you can see why mine pick for all 4 front positions is Alexis like player, he has amazing stats in all 4 for a offensive minded player.
Teamwork is needed so that the players can help each other and take that collective responsibilitty;
Workrate is needed to make them cover most of the ground and be avtive and not lazy about it;
Stamina is needed to perform such a feat for full 90 mins and finally
Determination is a players mental level(sort of) more determined player will look to do what he is instrcted and he will strive to perform even after conceding, he will simply be determined to do it his way(in this case teams way)
Having all this here I should show you the final piece, defence is Klopp based since he used it first(well Dutch national team did back in 70's but who remmembers that?) but someone else did the fine tunning and turned his side into pressing machine, yeah his name is Diego Simeone, I don't like the fella, but he knows how to defend.
So the final piece are set of OI's:
View attachment 90230
what are the benefits? No team will get trough Mid field, well you will get FMed from time to time, I gotta be honest. what are drawbacks? you are leaving wide players open, its not a bad thing, but it can turn into a bad thing, the whole point of not getting stuck in is not to get cards simply cos we will tackle the S***T out of wide players, we will leave him open and them try to pressure him to pass to marked player and turning possession our way, or we will try tackling him and taking the ball directly from him, how to describe the bad situation?
Oh look CR7 is unmarked, "oh look he got the ball here comes the pain", and the your wide players misses the tackle, and leaves CR7 unmarked and free to go wide, good thing is most of best wide in game players will look to cut inside where you have heavy numbers, and if they use wingers it will leave space for you since they are awful at tracking back this season, so taking all into consideration its much more benefit than risk for your side.
AFTERWORD:
Why aren't there DLP AP F9 B2B CF RMD BPD roles? Simple, those are specialist or half specialist roles, the roles used here are generic ones, the roles that can be heavily modded to suit your playstyle and use specific set of instructions you ask them to perform, the generic roles have slider somewhat similiar to team shape while Specialist roles are already set on some sort of role to perform and default level of creativity which works bad when combined in very fluid team, as for a rule Very Fluid should be used with 0-1 specialist role and in these formation there is 0 of those. Why 0? Why not atlest that 1? Well if you switch Winger for WTM(S) you will have specialist role, so thats the cap, why DLF instead of F9 in PRESA tactic? simple, F9 acts in a weird fashion when performing defensive dutyes. The same goes for RWB in second tactic, I consider IWB a specialst role and WB a generic one which can be modified to greater extent, for greater defensive role use FB same modifing cappabilitty.
Player PPMs and PI influence generic roles to great extent so beware which PPMs and roles you add to your player.
Thats it from me, I hope to get alteast some feedback Ill leave you few screen shots of games played tho they were played with each of these 3 depending on rooster availible and on opposition.
Results:
View attachment 90229View attachment 90228View attachment 90227View attachment 90226View attachment 90225View attachment 90224
Tactics are used from the start of mine 3rd season with exception of 4231 which was used in some games in mine second season, tho it wouldn't be fair to post those screens since I'm not sure in which game it was used...
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
4231:View attachment 90221
451 PRESA:View attachment 90220
451 DZONTRA:View attachment 90219
EDIT:
If you are facing the weaker opposition who are parking a bus set Def line to sligthly lower.
Explanation: earlier I said gegenpressing works if 3 conditions are met, well that is true if we are talking about 2 normal teams, ie. Arsenal playing vs Tottenham, in that game its hard to see bus parked on the 16m box, but when you are playing lets say Millwall and they park the bus on 16m box, your players will cluster there and achieve nothing, why is that? Well for a chance to be created you need to have on rushing players, on rushing player is a player who goes trough the lines of opposing layers of defensive setup, for example mine midfielder running past opposition DM and creating surplus on CB position by his movement, to trigger that movement vs PARK THE BUS you lower your def line, gegenpressing will still work since its made on high line vs normal teams who play open game(there is screenshot vs Tottenham who thought they can play open flow game vs mine side in one of the comments), as for defensive setting of opposition, as much as Mourinho would like to have 9 parked on the line in FM its not possible unless you push them thre by your offensive players, if you draw the line they will spread out and open the space for your players to work in, by opening that space they will try to ensure that your players don't get the ball, and with highly mobile tactic like this one where overlaps and runs are pretty much turned on all the time that is a defensive disaster, if you aren't following what I tryed to explain in this little EDIT feel free to ask me further in comments or apply it in game and see the change in the oppositions behaviour. Cheers and once again I'm sorry I left this part out
The first of 3 tactics that are going to be presented is a 451 possession based tactic utlizing Counter mentality, Very Fluid team shape normal tempo and shorter passing, it is something similar to Arsenal playstyle during the time when they used Song Fabregas and Rosicky.
451 DZONTRA:
View attachment 90235
The general idea is playing Left IF and Striker as main goalscorers while right CM the attacking one makes runs from deep to confuse defence and on top of that you have Marauding WBs from both sides.
Now Rosicky role in this one would be CM(A), he will pass he will run and he will make key passes and he will bag in few goals.
View attachment 90236
In TI we can see that team is playing narrow formation with slightly higher line which is protected by our HB so we don't get countered to death, tempo setting is normal, lower tempo makes fewer chances but keeps possession while higher tempo is a risky option, especially if you play EPL where anyone can surprise you, well almost anyone. the play out defence is active since the point is to approach goal via passing play not via long balls, we play ball into space to make most out of our attacking players mental stats and speed related attributes, as for defence we will shorten GK options and mark them tighter and also foul them harder to avoid risky counter attacks, now here come 3 settings which can be discussed upon.
The WORK BALL INTO BOX setting, it might seem that its best setting for possession play tho it might not be the case, if you use this the team takes its time to circle around the opposition box, that gives the opposing team time to set their defensive positions thus shortening gaps and by that you waste some pretty decent runs, I would use this setting vs Stronger teams or when you see that your players shoot mindlessly from 20m out, as for weaker teams I would tun it off and blitz them.
T
he second setting worth discussing is FOCUS OF ATTACKS, personally I rarely use the middle option, team is already playing narrow as it is and has natural pairs on dual wide man which triggers native overlap, as for wide options they can be used and they can be very deadly, usually I watch the game for 10-15 minutes before I decide if they should push the focus on wings or spread it equally, why does it matter? If your teams attacks aren't channeled by specific way it makes them more unpredictable and harder to defend against, then on other case if opposing team has weak LB or RB its worth using focus of attacks. Also its an option to be considered when facing 4231 formations both narrow and Wide since they leave flanks open by marauding WBs.
Third option which can be discussed upon is LOOK FOR OVERLAP its easy to set overlaping by default, if your IF is supportive role use WB A behind him and vice versa, but what does this setting actually do if you already have it set? Well it actually makes your Wingers(Inside forwards) less attacking minded and it makes your FBs more attacking minded, the wingers will adapt more passive gameplay and wait for wingback to make a run for it and then search to put them into play, the pass for WBs doesn't have to be from winger, its a Team instruction, all of the team will watch for their runs and try to utilize them, the best situation to use these would be when facing various setups in which teams have 1 wide player or again hen your wingers aren't having best game of their lives, I would wait to see how wingers behave how they act on field and then decide if it should be used or not.
That being said you can combined all of the 3 above mentioned instructions(actually 4 since we have left side/right side exploit so that counts as 2), you can combine all of them, or use none of them, for most time since team uses normal tempo I find that Work ball into box is best option since it lowers tempo to some extent in final third and makes players search for best solution possible, you are free to combine these instructions and look to make most out of them based on your team and your opposition.
The mentions for TIs should also go to Roam from Position setting which I don't use since it pulls them away from their positions and makes it harder for you in defensive phase, as for Run at defence it can be used provided your wingers and more offensive players are capable in art of dribbling, it means you will loose more balls due to tackles, but it can also make more set piece opportunities, generally I avoid it since if they have got no ball they can't attack us....
GK: On keeper position we have your standard GK, one that will keep the goal safe, I've been using Donarumma and Rajkovic and both are performing well;
CD: well you need some pace on these fellas, majority of your players will be on opposition half therefore they must be able to run if they make a pass and try to counter you, also they will need some aerial presence, they can cut long balls by jumping and by good decision making and anticipation concentration combo, they are set to close down less so that they can keep close to 16m box instead of chasing AMCs and rest around, perfect example of what you need is Mustafi, he has been amazing for me, Kosc isn't half bad either while I put mine faith in mine Goldaniga and Vallejo prospects for future, in terms of quality even Gabriel Paulista served me well until RM took the bait and bought him, so try to search for Mustafi alike.
LB, RB: Not much to say about these 2, Wingbacks are like little dynamos, pace, stamina, workrate, teamwork, passing, crossing and some dribling to help him venture and provide a cross for forwards, in terms of recommends I can highly recommend Carmona, Bellerin(if you got the cash), Coentrao, Tymons, looks for someone who can defend and attack and has good stamina and workrate.
HB: Think of him as your link, he is your 3rd man in defence, he will close down and shield CB line he is your Holding midfielder, I've been using Thiago Maia for this role and he is serving me good tho its mine 3rd year so he developed some attributes for the role, from good real life players I would say Casemiro is the one you want to look after, even Can should perform good in here. If you want to be more agressive you can opt to switch HB role to Defensive Midlefielder support and make him step into mid field and suplement to passing options your team has, tho beware DMS isn't a holding role and that makes you more open to counters, use it at your own risk.
CM(S): this fella here will act as your defensive support and as your creator to some extent in attacking phase, think of him as your deep lying playmaker without the playmaker tag, he will pass, he will run he will shoot from distance sometimes, mostly he will perform all and every task there is on the pitch, his position is set on hold duty so that he holds a bit of space on defense and he provides some extent of cover for marauding right WB. as for examples search for some deep lying playmaker with some extent of defensive capability, I'm using Maia, Rabiot, Neves in this position, from original Arsenal squad I think Xhaka and Elneny could pull it of to some extent, so search for Rabiot alike.
CM(A): This is the Rosicky role in this tactic, he will look to run forward, to pass the ball around to shoot and get into opposition box, think of him as your Advanced Playmaker, again without playmaker role, if you feel confident in his passing use more risky passes instruction tho that will give you less ball in your feet, I've been using Ramsey here until he declared that PSG is his future, never looked back on that, Maksimovic is performing wonders in this role and I feel like I'm watching Tomas all over again, and he is cheap too, I think 2m are enough to steal him from Astana, as for best of the best look for Delle Alli, he has it all and thats what you need.
IF(S) and IF(A): in short terms you need Alexis sort here, if I could I would have 4 of Alexis to fill each of mine forward roles, thats how much each of them suits him. He needs some workrate so he can help defensively, both IF are set with sit narrower instruct, its because of defensive shape aswell as close runs and offseting defense in tight space and making WBs and onrushing CM work. Left IF is set to attacking role, thats not mandatory, IF YOUR PLAYER IS STRUGGLING ON ATTACKING DUTY, USE SUPPORT ONE INSTEAD, but important fact is not to forget to pair corresponding WB role to him, so if you play both IF on support you can play both WB on attack, tho that gives more risks and more threat from counters from your opposition, if you decide to use 2 IF S just copy PI from IFS to IFA and from WBA to WBS.
DLF(A): This is your main outlet for goals and for most crative plays, you should spare no money here, along with CM(S) and HB this is most important position in team, tho in this years FM there is variety of players who can pefrorm it, even Giroud could use his height and Strength to dominate from here, as a result of mine DLF (Dybala) mine crossing is set to low crosses, if you play more Physical type of forward feel free to change accordingly.
I wouldn't try switching any of IF roles to winger ones, since wingers have innate stay wider PI and that would ruin your def shape, if you are inclined on using winger type of player try using WTM(S) and pair him with IWB(S) or ith WB(S) with narrower and cut inside PI, that would provide you defensive stability.
If you want a mirror version so that your IF(A) is on right side, don't forget to switch positions of CM(S) and CM(A) and WBS aswell, since CM acts as sot of cover for marauding WB.
If you are feeling your back is suffering adapt to situation and lower or rise back line and feel free to use other options which would correspond to your team, example: if I'm leading and want more possession and more patience I would use WORK BALL INTO BOX, OVERLAPING, LESS DRIBLING and I would probably remove PASS INTO SPACE instruction just for sake of less risky play.
This one uses NO OI's!
4231 RWBD:
View attachment 90234This is one is 4231 wide based, tho it uses a different pattern of attack, on left side you have standard IF WBA overlaping combo while on right side your WB(D) performs defensive dutyes while giving your team some width on offence, he will still cross but that happens rarely.
View attachment 90233
The TI are the same as in previous one but we have exception in terms of using TI's to max effect, in this case if you force Overlaping you may succumb easier, as for other TI explanation they are the same as for first one and since you will draw your RWBD out of his defensive position and thus ruin your defensive shape, also I feel like I don't need to explain why not to use exploit right wing except you are in real pinch and need of a goal. The roles are almost the same, in this case the left CM(S) is set as your holding one and protects some of your backside when LB marauds forward, while right CM(S) is set as a B2B runner and aims to provide some suplement in half space, since your RB won't be making too many forward runs, CM(S) will replace him to some extent, well its a bit different, he will look to overload the right side of pitch along with shift of play by Striker AMC and right IF, by doing that the defence gets drawn out and your team will have few options which to use as a goalscoring threat.
WB(D): For me mine standard RBs have been performing in this role and they are doing good, main reason for picking this wingback instead of other one for this role was Bellerins pace, even if he gets caught out of position chances are he will make it back in time since he is insanely fast, he even had a little race with Aubemeyang, Aubemeyang lost 7:0, or should I say BvB lost 7:0, use standard RB type of player here, just make sure he can pass around since his main role is to be a cover and a passer.
AM(A): its obvious that this is Rosicky role in this one, the AM will act pretty much as Advanced playmaker without drawing all the balls to him, he will run pass shoot, I think this role defines Rosicky the best since I think of him as Ozil before Ozil, so there you have it, I already mentioned above that I would like 4 Alexis like players in team, he would fit this role just fine aswell, since Ozil is unique in the game I can't really say look for Ozil allikes, tho I think Franco Vazquez could fit in really well in this role, so search for creative outlet, if you are looking for goal feel free to add More direct passes PI to him.
What to expect? Expect standard 4231 playstyle with much involment from CM AM CM triangle and you will often see LB in good positions since of tactics assymetry, as for right winger, again, if you feel you need more width, use WTM(S) since he won't stretch himself wider and leave you open during defence.
Other option of modification is using same PI on RB as on LB while changing right CM to CM(D) so he acts as a cover, its good option if you have a good holding mid and superb crosser on both WBs in that case the OVERLAP and EXPLOIT FLANKS options which I meantioned earlier become viable.
If you are feeling your back is suffering adapt to situation and lower or rise back line and feel free to use other options which would correspond to your team, example: if I'm leading and want more possession and more patience I would use WORK BALL INTO BOX, OVERLAPING, LESS DRIBLING and I would probably remove PASS INTO SPACE instruction just for sake of less risky play.
THIS TACTIC DOESN'T USE OI either!
451 PRESA:
This one is similiar to first one, but not quite, its control mentality one, although most of people would agree that defensive mentalityes work better on this year FMs I'm trying to prove them wrong, well atleast a bit since first 2 are counter based and suited to use by most teams.View attachment 90232
So what is different here?
First thing that meets the eye is complete symmetry on both sides except for CM roles, one of the CM is more defensive deep lying type of player while other is more offensive AP type of player, the latter one is your Rosicky, the roles and types of players recommended are the same as in previous one, everything is the same, the discussion the theory of using TI, well something has to be different right?
Let's take a look at TI's:
View attachment 90231
Immediately we acn see both OVERLAPING and WORK THE BALL is turned on and the Get stuck in is removed, the line is a notch higher this time, the reason? GEGENPRESSING!
For Gegenpressing to work you need to fullfil few things, one of the things is very fluid team shape, the reason is taht very fluid team shape will make them act as a whole and make collective responsibility when they concede mistakes, the other condition to meet is high Def Line, if you play lower line your space between lines will be left open, so you need higher line and that makes them press higher up the pitch from start, for the pressing to start high you need last condition, you need your players to stay around the ball and not behind it, thus the 3 conditions are met here, VERY FLUID, CONTROL(any attacking based mentality will work, tho attacking and overload are too risky of a approach) and Higher Def line, the line isn't set all the way up simply because it would expose you too much.
The TI Get stuck in is removed, the reason is foul count and card count, you don't want your players being sent off like mad, you want to disrupt play and take possession in high positions,as Klopp once said:"...No playmaker in the world can be good as counterpressing situation...". Following this rule we need totake ball higher up the pitch, and we need to hassle opponents to disable them from playing their game, the most numbers of 451 tactic are in middle, we have 3 mid players, and no HB doesn't count among them, the 3rd one is ST, he will drop deeper to close down oposing MCs and IFs being set to narrow as WBs will provide almost impenetrable Middle of the field, the flaw? If Mc finds space and time to pass and if that pass makes it to unmarked AML/AMR/ML/MR you will face opposition threat, for me personally, that many ifs are worth the risk, now this one is based on Klopps press in Liverpool in defence, but on possession system similiar to Arsenal/Barcelona attack, the bestposition to defend is near their final third that being said you need to know the 4 pillars of gegenpressing, some of you might have read mine discussion on attributes I look for in every player, the main 4 for Gegenpress are among mine favs aswell, they are Teamwork, Stamina, Workrate and Determination. Taking all 4 of these stats in consideration you can see why mine pick for all 4 front positions is Alexis like player, he has amazing stats in all 4 for a offensive minded player.
Teamwork is needed so that the players can help each other and take that collective responsibilitty;
Workrate is needed to make them cover most of the ground and be avtive and not lazy about it;
Stamina is needed to perform such a feat for full 90 mins and finally
Determination is a players mental level(sort of) more determined player will look to do what he is instrcted and he will strive to perform even after conceding, he will simply be determined to do it his way(in this case teams way)
Having all this here I should show you the final piece, defence is Klopp based since he used it first(well Dutch national team did back in 70's but who remmembers that?) but someone else did the fine tunning and turned his side into pressing machine, yeah his name is Diego Simeone, I don't like the fella, but he knows how to defend.
So the final piece are set of OI's:
View attachment 90230
what are the benefits? No team will get trough Mid field, well you will get FMed from time to time, I gotta be honest. what are drawbacks? you are leaving wide players open, its not a bad thing, but it can turn into a bad thing, the whole point of not getting stuck in is not to get cards simply cos we will tackle the S***T out of wide players, we will leave him open and them try to pressure him to pass to marked player and turning possession our way, or we will try tackling him and taking the ball directly from him, how to describe the bad situation?
Oh look CR7 is unmarked, "oh look he got the ball here comes the pain", and the your wide players misses the tackle, and leaves CR7 unmarked and free to go wide, good thing is most of best wide in game players will look to cut inside where you have heavy numbers, and if they use wingers it will leave space for you since they are awful at tracking back this season, so taking all into consideration its much more benefit than risk for your side.
AFTERWORD:
Why aren't there DLP AP F9 B2B CF RMD BPD roles? Simple, those are specialist or half specialist roles, the roles used here are generic ones, the roles that can be heavily modded to suit your playstyle and use specific set of instructions you ask them to perform, the generic roles have slider somewhat similiar to team shape while Specialist roles are already set on some sort of role to perform and default level of creativity which works bad when combined in very fluid team, as for a rule Very Fluid should be used with 0-1 specialist role and in these formation there is 0 of those. Why 0? Why not atlest that 1? Well if you switch Winger for WTM(S) you will have specialist role, so thats the cap, why DLF instead of F9 in PRESA tactic? simple, F9 acts in a weird fashion when performing defensive dutyes. The same goes for RWB in second tactic, I consider IWB a specialst role and WB a generic one which can be modified to greater extent, for greater defensive role use FB same modifing cappabilitty.
Player PPMs and PI influence generic roles to great extent so beware which PPMs and roles you add to your player.
Thats it from me, I hope to get alteast some feedback Ill leave you few screen shots of games played tho they were played with each of these 3 depending on rooster availible and on opposition.
Results:
View attachment 90229View attachment 90228View attachment 90227View attachment 90226View attachment 90225View attachment 90224
Tactics are used from the start of mine 3rd season with exception of 4231 which was used in some games in mine second season, tho it wouldn't be fair to post those screens since I'm not sure in which game it was used...
DOWNLOAD LINKS:
4231:View attachment 90221
451 PRESA:View attachment 90220
451 DZONTRA:View attachment 90219
EDIT:
If you are facing the weaker opposition who are parking a bus set Def line to sligthly lower.
Explanation: earlier I said gegenpressing works if 3 conditions are met, well that is true if we are talking about 2 normal teams, ie. Arsenal playing vs Tottenham, in that game its hard to see bus parked on the 16m box, but when you are playing lets say Millwall and they park the bus on 16m box, your players will cluster there and achieve nothing, why is that? Well for a chance to be created you need to have on rushing players, on rushing player is a player who goes trough the lines of opposing layers of defensive setup, for example mine midfielder running past opposition DM and creating surplus on CB position by his movement, to trigger that movement vs PARK THE BUS you lower your def line, gegenpressing will still work since its made on high line vs normal teams who play open game(there is screenshot vs Tottenham who thought they can play open flow game vs mine side in one of the comments), as for defensive setting of opposition, as much as Mourinho would like to have 9 parked on the line in FM its not possible unless you push them thre by your offensive players, if you draw the line they will spread out and open the space for your players to work in, by opening that space they will try to ensure that your players don't get the ball, and with highly mobile tactic like this one where overlaps and runs are pretty much turned on all the time that is a defensive disaster, if you aren't following what I tryed to explain in this little EDIT feel free to ask me further in comments or apply it in game and see the change in the oppositions behaviour. Cheers and once again I'm sorry I left this part out
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