Really struggling to get success with my tactics, how can I improve?

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Hyphron

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I decided to employ a 4-2-3-1 tactic with QPR in the championship - a team projected for promotion. In the games that I play well, I dont take my chances well enough and end up losing by a small margin. In the games that I dont play well the most common goal from the opposition is from balls in behind the 2 center halves or set pieces. I'm left questioning whether simply my players are not good enough or whether theres something I could improve on my tactics. Below is a screenshot of 2 setups I have tried without success, I would appreciate it if you could tell me whereI'm going wrong and what I could do better! Thanks guys!

SETUP 1:

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What im trying to achieve with this tactic is attacking football. I would like the 2 holding midfielders to hold their position, one being responsible for being more defensive (protecting the backline) and one spraying passes out white or through to the attacking midfielder whilst still holding his position at the back and defending when necessary. The wingers just dont seem to be doing anything effective and the striker doesnt get very many opportunities.

SETUP 2:

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I tried this tactic mid season as an alternative but nothing really seems to be changing. The wingers dont do much and the striker gets pretty much no opportunities and when he does, he doesnt take them. In the majority of the games the deep lying playmaker performs the best but as a team we just generally play poor.

Summary

Sorry for the long post, I just wanted to make sure I provided enough detail for you guys to be able to understand what I want to achieve and what im doing wrong as in the past I've been guilty of making posts and not being clear enough. Thanks for all the help!
 
Hyphron said:
What im trying to achieve with this tactic is attacking football. I would like the 2 holding midfielders to hold their position, one being responsible for being more defensive (protecting the backline) and one spraying passes out white or through to the attacking midfielder whilst still holding his position at the back and defending when necessary. The wingers just dont seem to be doing anything effective and the striker doesnt get very many opportunities.
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That's half the plan. Do the wingers and attacking midfielder get the ball? If they do, what are you looking for them to do with it then?

What's the idea behind "Look For Overlap" but having an IWB?
 
Didnt even realise that was on! Changed it to full back now! I would like the attacking midfielder to look for a through ball to the striker and if not find a pass, but instead if they cant find a pass they all seem to shoot which leads to me always getting a large amount of corners and not a lot of goals. My shot on target percentages are very low.
 
Hyphron said:
Didnt even realise that was on! Changed it to full back now! I would like the attacking midfielder to look for a through ball to the striker and if not find a pass, but instead if they cant find a pass they all seem to shoot which leads to me always getting a large amount of corners and not a lot of goals. My shot on target percentages are very low.
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Okay, so that covers the attacking midfielder, now what about the wingers? What are they supposed to do?

So plan A is through balls from the AM/A to the striker to get goals. Is anyone else supplying the striker?

What happens if the striker has an off day or is marked out of the game? Who else should score and how will he do that?
 
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Didnt think of that, what would you suggest when using wingers in this formation? Is there a good way of opening goalscoring opportunities for them? What if I use PI's to tell them to move into the channels?
 
What do you want the wingers to do? And no, you can't use that PI, because they're already wide.
 
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Get dangerous crosses into the box for the forward and sometimes get in behind and look for a through ball from say the attacking midfielder or overlapping fullback
 
Hyphron said:
Get dangerous crosses into the box for the forward and sometimes get in behind and look for a through ball from say the attacking midfielder or overlapping fullback
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But they're not going to ever do either of those things? You've instructed them not to? You've asked them to hold up the ball and NOT make forward runs, so sit deep, because someone is supposed to overlap.
 
This is what I mean, i'm trying to understand how to do these things, could you help me with what I need to change to make this happen? Appreciate all this help btw!
 
Nothing in this system makes sense. You have 2 holding midfielders, which is fine considering it is a 4-2-3-1, but it seems you don't know why you have them. The point of them being so reserved is that it frees up the fullbacks to get forward, which they're not really doing on the support duties.

They may push forward late, but you have very, very little happening up front, especially with the wingers doing nothing.

I took that formation and just tried it with QPR. It took 3 minutes of watching the game on Full, to see that you have no penetration at all. You're "attacking" with 2 wingers who just sit there and you end up with 4 players against 8 or 9. There's no way that'll work. The fullbacks are very reserved and get forward too late.
 
Hyphron said:
This is what I mean, i'm trying to understand how to do these things, could you help me with what I need to change to make this happen? Appreciate all this help btw!
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I am telling you what the issue is? I've just told you that with your instruction, you've told the wingers not to do what you actually want them to do?
 
Thanks so much for the feedback. I'll give them both attack roles and see what happens.
 
What instructions should I add to ensure that the wingers do this more? Thats the main thing im confused about.
 
Hyphron said:
What instructions should I add to ensure that the wingers do this more? Thats the main thing im confused about.
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???

WJ said:
But they're not going to ever do either of those things? You've instructed them not to? You've asked them to hold up the ball and NOT make forward runs, so sit deep, because someone is supposed to overlap.
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What instruction did you set to do the quoted part (post #8) - surely you must know the answer to this?!
 
I havent given any instructions, I just set them to supporting wingers and added the look for overlap instruction.
 
Sorry if at any point im confusing you, I'm just trying to learn a bit more about the game. I havent added any instructions to do this, Im not sure how I can achieve what I said I want the wingers to do so im looking for advice on what I can do to make that happen because just like you said, at the moment there is no attacking penetration they just sit there and wait for the fullbacks.
 
What do you think the Look For Overlap instruction does then?
 
I understand now that that is whats making the wingers slow down and wait, but what can I do to bring them more into the game. If I take that instruction off then I lose the attacking threat of the fullbacks and the wingers still dont do enough. What about switching to an inside forward or an attacking duty? Could that make the difference?
 
Hyphron said:
I understand now that that is whats making the wingers slow down and wait, but what can I do to bring them more into the game. If I take that instruction off then I lose the attacking threat of the fullbacks and the wingers still dont do enough. What about switching to an inside forward or an attacking duty? Could that make the difference?
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If you want the fullbacks to bomb forward, why not just give them an Attack duty? Why is that not possible?
 
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