If you pack the middle with players, you probably want to play wider, to make sure they dominate and monopolise the ball in the middle. It would also help to drop deeper to stretch the pitch even further. With this setup, your players will be much further apart from each other, so there is more space to close down, so you should really order them to press. Order them to stick to position and perhaps be more disciplined to reduce waste and create triangles. Tempo should ideally be lower, so the ball is passed around with little risk of losing it, in the process making oposition chase it all over the pitch. Passes should therefore be shorter, and players ordered to retain possession aswell. This is suitable for a less agressive approach, or if you wish, a less agressive team mentality, because with it, defenders are ordered more direct passes, and forwards shorter. You can clear ball to flanks to initiate counters.
If you really want the defenders to keep the ball, you can switch to standard mentality, and order them to play out of defence. This is how tiki taka was born. You can perhaps exploit the middle in this case.
The opposite of all of this is opting not to pack the middle with bodies, like with a 4-2-3-1 Deep, or 4-2-2-2 DM Narrow, but in this case you should be playing more agressively and more compactly, to reduce your weakness in the middle. You can still make the defenders keep the ball, as more agressive team mentality makes them play shorter, but should ideally opt for more direct passess for your forwards. You will create a lot of space on the flanks, so you should exploit the flanks if using wingers and look for overlap if using sidebacks, and since you are so compact, you don't need to close down more. Roaming, creativity and running at defence is useful in this case, so this is really a tactic for best teams.
I have made three example tactics, one based on tiki taka, standard flexible approach, one based on more agressive, no CMs, fluid control style, and one counter tactic. I left the roles and duties as creator suggests, but feel free to edit these tactics in any way that will suit your team.
Cheers!
If you really want the defenders to keep the ball, you can switch to standard mentality, and order them to play out of defence. This is how tiki taka was born. You can perhaps exploit the middle in this case.
The opposite of all of this is opting not to pack the middle with bodies, like with a 4-2-3-1 Deep, or 4-2-2-2 DM Narrow, but in this case you should be playing more agressively and more compactly, to reduce your weakness in the middle. You can still make the defenders keep the ball, as more agressive team mentality makes them play shorter, but should ideally opt for more direct passess for your forwards. You will create a lot of space on the flanks, so you should exploit the flanks if using wingers and look for overlap if using sidebacks, and since you are so compact, you don't need to close down more. Roaming, creativity and running at defence is useful in this case, so this is really a tactic for best teams.
I have made three example tactics, one based on tiki taka, standard flexible approach, one based on more agressive, no CMs, fluid control style, and one counter tactic. I left the roles and duties as creator suggests, but feel free to edit these tactics in any way that will suit your team.
Cheers!
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