Rafael Benitez's 08-09 Liverpool

[tomfmlfc]

Hi guy's, am currently trying to emulate Rafael Benitez's 08-09 tactic.

This is the impression that I can gather from the information I've researched.

Sweeper Keeper
Attacking fullback
Central defender
Ball playing defender
Attacking fullback
Anchor man
Deep lying playmaker
Defensive winger
Shadow striker
Winger
Poacher

These are my team instructions :

If anyone has any further input/criticism please let me know.

 

[pala]

Well, yeah. To really emulate benitez's tactic, you need a player different to lucas in the anchor role, similar to mascherano... Like lars bender for example. It's important as you want that player to stay completely deep and break any movement / win the ball back. Lucas wont manage to be that effective in that role and will be a complete waste in that role.

positions somewhat seems spot, except maybe the kuyts position might be too high ( need to see movement and involment), and alonso's position is too deep, he was somewhat our playmaker with gerrard been a second striker sometimes.
Tactic wise - he used a more direct approach, there have been a lot of long balls / fast and direct movement to torres / attacking positions.

 

[eddow]

Rafa Benitez is my favourite coach in world football. I'm a total fan of his tactical methods, and have read a lot about it. Therefore, I'm happy to give you some advice for emulating his Liverpool 4-2-3-1 tactic.

In terms of team instructions I think you nailed it. Rafa Benitez lets his team defend intensively and proactively (at least when he is playing weaker teams) as a whole. As a Sacchi admirer, he also wants his team to move the ball fast, over the ground. That's why I think shorter passing is ok. It also helps keeping your AMC in the play. Usually the defensive shape under Rafa is more like a 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 so I would suggest that you would set your striker to player instruction "close down less" so he will form a line of 4 with your 3 AM's in def. Maybe you can also tick the team instruction "drill crosses" on.

Now there are some notes I have to note in terms of player roles.
Firstly, I think Mascherano was more of a ball winning midfielder with a defend duty. He was a real pitbull in defence. Next to him was Xabi Alonso in a Regista role. That role suits your intense defending strategy better than a deep lying playmaker anyway in a sense that he is more aggressive.
I would say Gerrard played in AMC as an attacking midfielder (attack). He made rushes forward but in my opinion he was still a more of a midfielder than a second striker.
In attack, Torres was a complete striker (suits Suarez perfectly). I would give him a support duty since Gerrard already has an attack duty and to allow interplay between the Gerrard and Torres. Oh man, I miss that partnership!
Finally I would put my full backs on an automatic duty for balance, or at least the one behind an attacking winger. I know Aurelio and Arbeloa regularly reached the byline but they will still do when the opportunity arises. Your wingers can then have a support or attack duty depending on the duty of your fullbacks.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[jeid]

Tom. Been trying to create this tactic for the past few days and failing. Getting a bit closer now though.

I've gone for pretty much the same roles as you. I however kept my goalkeeper on GK Defend.

I have (as eddow said above) set the "Mascherano" role to BWM defend and the "Gerrard" role to AM Attack. I put my left winger to Winger Support and my right winger to DW Support, althought when I play Sterling there, he plays as a Winger Support. I set my two deeper midfielders higher up in the more traditional 4231 position. With the BWM defend, he drops deeper anyway so to me, it makes no odds to have him further back. I've got my DLP on Defend. He pushes forward from time to time but covers my defence a bit more than a support role, which I need since my full backs are attacking minded.

My team instructions are very similar. I've not got Higher Tempo or push higher up. But I do have work ball into box because my strikers are taking silly shots from far away. Play wider and exploit the middle have helped from time to time as well.

Gonna try my forward as a Complete Forward now, DLF is just getting in the way of the AM. Keep this updated, would like to see how you progress.

View attachment 453285

 

[jeid]

I should say, my central defenders are covering the full backs really well. Skrtel and Agger are coming across and putting in vital tackles. They've never done this when my DR/L were set to Wing Backs

 

[Miiksern]

I created a deep 4231 on FM13 based on Rafa's 5x5 tactics theory from the TT&FM and it actually worked quite well. Would be fun to see if it's possible to recreate on this version aswell.

5?5 Theory
Manager Type: Rafa Benitez
Although Benitez doesn?t come immediately to mind as a Libertarian, his structural approach to tactics is a simple one, relying on five players to defend and five to attack. Although he has transformed Liverpool into a team that is very difficult to break down, criticisms remain with regard to his attacking intentions and lack of width. In typical Spanish manner, Benitez wants his front five to play with creativity and flair, unlocking opposing defences via quick-fire passing interchanges. Without players who have the vision and touch to unlock defences in tight areas this translates into many efficient but dour matches. However, with the right players and creative freedom allowances up front, scintillating attacking play will complement resolute defence.
GK: 8
DC: 8
FB: 8
MCd: 8
ML/R: 12
MCa: 12
FCs: 12

Obviously the Mentality settings are now outdated but the rest of the tactical theory is still relevant.
The way I read it, although I may be wrong, is that a Benitez system played in a 4231 would have 5 players on defending duty and 5 on attacking to get the mentality split required?

If so a formation like this would be the right build? Unless you want to pull the CM back to and make him a regista although i'm not sure he'd be offensive enough to make it work?

View attachment 453251

I'm insure about what shouts would make the team play like a Rafa side, play narrower is definatly one, the other I don't know. I guess for the most parts it'll be alot of individual attacking instructions for the attacking players so the formation isn't too stale.

 

[jeid]

I created a deep 4231 on FM13 based on Rafa's 5x5 tactics theory from the TT&FM and it actually worked quite well. Would be fun to see if it's possible to recreate on this version aswell.


Obviously the Mentality settings are now outdated but the rest of the tactical theory is still relevant.
The way I read it, although I may be wrong, is that a Benitez system played in a 4231 would have 5 players on defending duty and 5 on attacking to get the mentality split required?

If so a formation like this would be the right build? Unless you want to pull the CM back to and make him a regista although i'm not sure he'd be offensive enough to make it work?

View attachment 422634

I'm insure about what shouts would make the team play like a Rafa side, play narrower is definatly one, the other I don't know. I guess for the most parts it'll be alot of individual attacking instructions for the attacking players so the formation isn't too stale.

I think you're maybe taking the "5 defenders/5attackers" thing a bit literally there. There's no support play going on so I imagine that tactic would struggle. Fluid is the best way for Rafa's teams as he likes his whole team to attack and defend. Your positioning could work well I think. Try the instructions that myself and Tom are using. I'm still experimenting with mine to try and get the best out of the players I have. With Sturridge though, I'm really struggling. His long shot PPM is killing me and I've tried getting him to unlearn it, but fail.