Remembering Kevin Francis - Direct Target Man 442 Tactic - 117 points Birmingham 1st Season

Remembering Kevin Francis - Direct Target Man 442 Tactic - 117 points Birmingham 1st Season 2

I tried this with Hearts. Got off to a great start, including 2 wins over Celtic. But struggled for consistency and I'm 4th halfway through the season. Inconsistency due to being weak on the wings and not having an appropriate player for the AP/RPM role.

I think it's a good tactic and I like the old school style and feel of it.

I was sold on it after seeing a tactic with Nuhiu scoring a hattrick.
yeah i love seeing a tactic getting the big men involved up front
 
Has anyone made any adjustment to make it more stable?
 
Noticed you said Bellingham was wasted, I re-trained him as a winger in my Leeds save, he's dynamite - I'd give that a go if I were you (y)
 
1581281500647.png


Ran a quick holiday test with Boro - I think it went quite well!!
 
First game using this tactic ??
 

Attachments

  • 39E0C27F-1A4E-4C7A-B2A8-64D3097636A7.jpeg
    39E0C27F-1A4E-4C7A-B2A8-64D3097636A7.jpeg
    2.4 MB · Views: 1,161
Ran another quick holiday test with Liverpool - I know they don't have a target man so I brought in Zlatan from LA for 500k.

Here are results:

1581331027503.png


Player stats:

1581331083540.png



Obviously it would be better if I rotated squad etc but I think its quite a good tactic to be fair, few things could do with tweaking here and there but nothing too major, I love that I can finally use a target man!!

LONG LIVE THE NUMBER 9.
 
Tried another quick holiday test, this time with Brighton.
Things didn't turn out well... sacked before Christmas :(

1581339586166.png


I don't think the team were particularly suited to it, thought I'd try it though.

I'm tempted to try a holiday test with Barca and buy Matt Smith or Rudy Gestede as a TM ?
 
I was willing for this to be so much better with Barca... I bought Ibra again as he did so well in Liverpool test.

1581353011044.png


1581352977182.png


I mean again things could obviously always be better with a proper test with squad rotation etc.

Few things I take from looking through the tests would be:

- Corners need to be improved - only 3 scored in a full season.
- Full backs could do with some tweaking - only 6 assists between them in the league.
- You really need a PROPER NUMBER 9.
- Playing against lower opposition you can dominate, beat one team 10-0! - it is much better to play as a top team rather than underdog.

I am not saying I am the man to rectify any of this but just saying what I've seen.

I love the tactic and how it play's but I think there needs to be some tweaks before it can compete with the big boys.

All the best!
 
Hey @thedude1979

I ran another test with Liverpool:
I bought Gestede for the TM role - He performed well.
I changed the roles of the full backs to attack no real change at all - 8 assists between them for the year.
The major change which paid dividends was the change to the set pieces - I used TFF's - 21 corners scored.

More interestingly after looking at the results:

1581371798998.png


On the face of it, it looks like quite a dreadful season... here's the home table though...

1581371833116.png


The home form is incredible!!

Here's the player stats for the season:

1581372027426.png



I'll run another holiday test with the changes already I've made and change mentality to positive - maybe it will work, maybe not.
I've never perservered so much with a tactic not made by myself before... but I love the old fashioned style it brings so I will continue the work... sorry for hijacking the thread!!
 

Attachments

  • 1581371998954.png
    1581371998954.png
    294 KB · Views: 566
Goooooooooooood Morning!

So as I said above, I was going to make some changes to the tactic and have another run through:

Here are the results:

1581387269105.png




Baby we did it!

Here is the team stats:

1581387299882.png


You'll see a marked improvement on the assists for the full backs too!

Here are the changes made:

1581387407806.png


Basically as mentioned before, I changed mentality to positive and a few minor tweaks here and there, mainly changing the full backs to CWB's.

I also used TFF's corner routine - that mustered up 13 goals from corners this time around.

The change in mentality seems to have worked wonders defensively... nearly halved the amount of goals conceded.

Also one final point - We didn't lose in the league from September till the end of the season, we went 32 games unbeaten - incredible.

Here's the other tournement outcomes:


1581387702182.png


Anyhow, I'm now off to bed - thanks @thedude1979 its been a pleasure.

If you'd like my twist on this already great formation and idea, give me a shout :)




P.s I think we'd of done even better if I didn't go for a big ol' lump like Rudy Gestede - he did ok though ;)
 
Goooooooooooood Morning!

So as I said above, I was going to make some changes to the tactic and have another run through:

Here are the results:

View attachment 483958



Baby we did it!

Here is the team stats:

View attachment 483959

You'll see a marked improvement on the assists for the full backs too!

Here are the changes made:

View attachment 483960

Basically as mentioned before, I changed mentality to positive and a few minor tweaks here and there, mainly changing the full backs to CWB's.

I also used TFF's corner routine - that mustered up 13 goals from corners this time around.

The change in mentality seems to have worked wonders defensively... nearly halved the amount of goals conceded.

Also one final point - We didn't lose in the league from September till the end of the season, we went 32 games unbeaten - incredible.

Here's the other tournement outcomes:


View attachment 483961

Anyhow, I'm now off to bed - thanks @thedude1979 its been a pleasure.

If you'd like my twist on this already great formation and idea, give me a shout :)




P.s I think we'd of done even better if I didn't go for a big ol' lump like Rudy Gestede - he did ok though ;)

Good work! I shall look forward to testing this myself! I've been unable to spend much time playing of late. It's great to see someone like you dedicate so much time on tweaking and stabilising the tactic. Cheers sir!
 
Good work! I shall look forward to testing this myself! I've been unable to spend much time playing of late. It's great to see someone like you dedicate so much time on tweaking and stabilising the tactic. Cheers sir!

Hey @thedude1979 , I'm just a bored dude with loads of annual leave left at work :D

Currently doing one last test with Norwich then I promise I will leave your thread :D - I think we may have stumbled across a gem here...
 
Hey all,

I've done a few other bits and bobs to the tactic - nothing too major.

Ran a holiday test with Norwich - predicted 19th.

No transfers (wish I did so I had a TM)

Patrick Roberts broke his leg in feb and got sent back to city, which is annoying as he was performing VERY well.

Here's the results:

1581424844283.png


Quite impressive I believe.

Also got to 2 cup finals and lost them both :(

1581424888873.png


Here are player stats:

1581424913224.png



All in all a very good season I think.

You'll see the assists for the full backs has dramatically improved - Aarons & Lewis got 17 between them - I can only imagine it would be more with someone to aim at.

Again @thedude1979 sorry for hijacking - I'm finally happy with a style of play that I love and for that I thank you.
 
Hey all,

I've done a few other bits and bobs to the tactic - nothing too major.

Ran a holiday test with Norwich - predicted 19th.

No transfers (wish I did so I had a TM)

Patrick Roberts broke his leg in feb and got sent back to city, which is annoying as he was performing VERY well.

Here's the results:

View attachment 483970

Quite impressive I believe.

Also got to 2 cup finals and lost them both :(

View attachment 483971

Here are player stats:

View attachment 483972


All in all a very good season I think.

You'll see the assists for the full backs has dramatically improved - Aarons & Lewis got 17 between them - I can only imagine it would be more with someone to aim at.

Again @thedude1979 sorry for hijacking - I'm finally happy with a style of play that I love and for that I thank you.
Can you post the final tactic used? It would mean a lot:)
 
Top