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REVOTSEW FLUIDITY
So, on FM I've always struggled with getting teams to win how I want them to win. After a while, just winning isn't enough, you want to win a certain way. Whether it's defensive counter attacking football, or possession based patient football, we all have preferred styles and philosophies.
For me, I've always wanted to play attractive, possession based football but have never really been able to build a tactic that does that, so this time round I decided to put my time and effort in to doing that.
AN OVERVIEW
View attachment 321963View attachment 321965
As you can see, it's a very attacking formation. It initially started as a 4-3-3 with a flat back 4, but over a few seasons of tweeking has resulted in more players being pushed forward. The aim of this formation was to completely dominate every game and out-score than the opposition, much like the Brazil side of the early 2000's I loved watching so much, expecting to concede one or two each game - however I was pleasantly surprised when we kept 18 clean sheets in the league last season.
NOTE: I realise I didn't screenshot the mentality and team shape, it's set to control and very fluid.
TEAM INSTRUCTIONS
View attachment 321964
So as you can see, the aim is to press and win the ball high up the pitch, then patiently work the ball back up the pitch, allowing players to roam and find space in order to keep the ball and create chances.
RESULTS
Last season:
View attachment 321959
As I'm sure you'll notice, we scored a stupid amount of goals, 30 more than anybody else in the league. We also managed to concede only 37 goals, the second best defensive record in the league. We did, however, manage to lose 5 games, 4 of which were in the first half of the season! Some tweeks in January seemed to correct that though. But finishing with a goal difference of 92 was incredible.
This season (so far):
View attachment 321958
So this season, we're not on course to score quite as many, but with 3 games in hand over 2nd place and a goal difference of 19 more we're definitely dominating, and it's good to see the defence performing so well this season.
Big results:
View attachment 321957
This is really what this formation is all about. It's very rare that we have less than 30 shots and less than 60% possession. European teams especially seem to find it hard to cope with us, playing away at Porto and coming away with a 7-0 win was a great result.
View attachment 321956
Another example of how this formation really dominates even the bigger teams. This time we did have less than 30 shots, and still came away with a 4-1 win against Liverpool. I was slightly disappointed to concede against them when we only allowed them 2 shots, but overall I can't complain with a 4-1 win against one of the bigger teams in the league.
There are many more examples of how the tactic works, but didn't think I'd bore you with more pictures of individual results. If you wanna see more let me know and I'll post a whole bunch.
PLAYERS AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS:
I'm going to break this down slightly, and talk about each position in some depth.
Goalkeeper and defence:
Goalkeeper - sweeper keeper, support. Instructions: Slow pace down.
It's important that your goalkeeper is quick off his line. I use Oblak who's rushing out is 14 and I'd say that it's actually the position I'm weakest in. I'd also say to make sure you have a goalkeeper with good concentration.
Centre backs - central defender, defend. Instructions: Tackle harder, Pass it shorter.
All of my defenders are pretty quick. Playing a high line, I like to have defenders that can keep up/catch up with a striker if he does manage to get in behind.
Wing back left/right - complete wing back, attack. Instructions: Tackle harder, mark tighter, pass shorter, fewer risky passes.
Now, the wing backs are something I've been playing with for a long time and trying to get just right. Playing an inside forward on the left, it's important that your full back is good going forward so high crossing is needed, as he'll be providing the width on the left side of the pitch. He'll also have to deal with the opposition wingers to stop those pesky crosses getting in, so good stamina, work rate, pace and acceleration is important.
The right wing back is something I'm still not 100% about. With the right winger being able to provide the width on that side, I've toyed with the idea of using an inverted wing back and having him join the middle of the pitch and help out the centre midfielder. Perhaps if you're using this tactic, you'd want to play with both idea's and tell me which one works for you, they both seem to work for me! If you want to use the inverted wing back on the right, make sure you find someone that has good passing and vision. I've actually retrained Will Hughes to play right wing back.
The centre midfield partnership:
Defensive midfielder - deep lying playmaker, defend. Instructions: Tackle harder and pass shorter.
Don't expect many goals or assists from this guy, or a particularly high average rating. His job is to sit back and allow the players around him to push up and make sure that he's there to clear up any mess they might make. You want someone with high marking and positioning here, as well as good composure and decision making. Passing is of course a bonus, but not completely necessary here as he'll much more be winning the ball and laying it off to players close to him.
Centre midfielder - box to box, support. Instructions: Dribble less and tackle harder.
Here you want somebody that is very well rounded, someone that can bomb backwards and forward and really help with turning defence in to attack. Good passing is also important as this is the only position without the shorter passing instruction. If anybody is going to be picking out long passes up to attack, this will be the guy. They'll also be the only player shooting from range in this formation, but feel free to change that if you don't have a player there that has good long shots.
The front four:
Now this is probably the most important part of this formation. If done correctly, all of these players should be getting a lot of goals and assists. There will be a lot of movement between them all. I'll post a screen shot of each of my first choices.
Attacking midfielder - advanced playmaker, support. Instructions: Tackle harder, roam from position, pass it shorter, move in to channels.
View attachment 321952
Your attacking midfielder (along with the false 9) is the player with the most freedom in your team. You will find him sometimes dropping deep to collect the ball and occasionally roaming wide to help create chances. It's important here that you have a player with high passing and vision. You'll also find he'll push up and chip in with a few goals too, so finishing is a bonus.
Left winger - inside forward, attack. Instructions: Shoot less often, tackle harder, pass it shorter, sit narrower.
View attachment 321953
Your inside forward is your biggest goal threat. He will sit very narrow and actually be your most forward player. The false nine and advanced playmaker will both sit behind him and he will often get on to the end of crosses before anybody else. As you can see from last season, he got 51 goals and 18 assists in all competitions, scoring on average 1 a game in the league with an incredible average rating. I would encourage you actually retrain a right footed striker to play here, as the striker stats are the most important for this position. I must stress that right footed is important here, as he will be cutting in from the left.
Right winger - winger, support. Instructions: Shoot less often, tackle harder, hold position, pass it shorter, cross from byline.
View attachment 321951
Here you want a fast player with high crossing. He'll often be the first to pounce on rebounds and nab a goal (I'm not sure why, just turned out that way..) and will create a good amount from crosses. Again, you want to make sure that this guy is right footed.
Striker - false nine, support. Instructions: Tackle harder, roam from position, pass it shorter, run wide with ball.
View attachment 321950
Another player with a lot of freedom to drift wherever he needs to to get the ball and create a goal for himself or his team mates. It's important you have a player with good vision and decent passing, dribbling and first touch is important too, as you'll find he'll pick the ball up and run with it more than most of the other players. Finishing isn't the most important for this position, although it's a bonus.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Hope it works for you guys like it has me! Let me know how it goes!
REVOTSEW FLUIDITY
So, on FM I've always struggled with getting teams to win how I want them to win. After a while, just winning isn't enough, you want to win a certain way. Whether it's defensive counter attacking football, or possession based patient football, we all have preferred styles and philosophies.
For me, I've always wanted to play attractive, possession based football but have never really been able to build a tactic that does that, so this time round I decided to put my time and effort in to doing that.
AN OVERVIEW
View attachment 321963View attachment 321965
As you can see, it's a very attacking formation. It initially started as a 4-3-3 with a flat back 4, but over a few seasons of tweeking has resulted in more players being pushed forward. The aim of this formation was to completely dominate every game and out-score than the opposition, much like the Brazil side of the early 2000's I loved watching so much, expecting to concede one or two each game - however I was pleasantly surprised when we kept 18 clean sheets in the league last season.
NOTE: I realise I didn't screenshot the mentality and team shape, it's set to control and very fluid.
TEAM INSTRUCTIONS
View attachment 321964
So as you can see, the aim is to press and win the ball high up the pitch, then patiently work the ball back up the pitch, allowing players to roam and find space in order to keep the ball and create chances.
RESULTS
Last season:
View attachment 321959
As I'm sure you'll notice, we scored a stupid amount of goals, 30 more than anybody else in the league. We also managed to concede only 37 goals, the second best defensive record in the league. We did, however, manage to lose 5 games, 4 of which were in the first half of the season! Some tweeks in January seemed to correct that though. But finishing with a goal difference of 92 was incredible.
This season (so far):
View attachment 321958
So this season, we're not on course to score quite as many, but with 3 games in hand over 2nd place and a goal difference of 19 more we're definitely dominating, and it's good to see the defence performing so well this season.
Big results:
View attachment 321957
This is really what this formation is all about. It's very rare that we have less than 30 shots and less than 60% possession. European teams especially seem to find it hard to cope with us, playing away at Porto and coming away with a 7-0 win was a great result.
View attachment 321956
Another example of how this formation really dominates even the bigger teams. This time we did have less than 30 shots, and still came away with a 4-1 win against Liverpool. I was slightly disappointed to concede against them when we only allowed them 2 shots, but overall I can't complain with a 4-1 win against one of the bigger teams in the league.
There are many more examples of how the tactic works, but didn't think I'd bore you with more pictures of individual results. If you wanna see more let me know and I'll post a whole bunch.
PLAYERS AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS:
I'm going to break this down slightly, and talk about each position in some depth.
Goalkeeper and defence:
Goalkeeper - sweeper keeper, support. Instructions: Slow pace down.
It's important that your goalkeeper is quick off his line. I use Oblak who's rushing out is 14 and I'd say that it's actually the position I'm weakest in. I'd also say to make sure you have a goalkeeper with good concentration.
Centre backs - central defender, defend. Instructions: Tackle harder, Pass it shorter.
All of my defenders are pretty quick. Playing a high line, I like to have defenders that can keep up/catch up with a striker if he does manage to get in behind.
Wing back left/right - complete wing back, attack. Instructions: Tackle harder, mark tighter, pass shorter, fewer risky passes.
Now, the wing backs are something I've been playing with for a long time and trying to get just right. Playing an inside forward on the left, it's important that your full back is good going forward so high crossing is needed, as he'll be providing the width on the left side of the pitch. He'll also have to deal with the opposition wingers to stop those pesky crosses getting in, so good stamina, work rate, pace and acceleration is important.
The right wing back is something I'm still not 100% about. With the right winger being able to provide the width on that side, I've toyed with the idea of using an inverted wing back and having him join the middle of the pitch and help out the centre midfielder. Perhaps if you're using this tactic, you'd want to play with both idea's and tell me which one works for you, they both seem to work for me! If you want to use the inverted wing back on the right, make sure you find someone that has good passing and vision. I've actually retrained Will Hughes to play right wing back.
The centre midfield partnership:
Defensive midfielder - deep lying playmaker, defend. Instructions: Tackle harder and pass shorter.
Don't expect many goals or assists from this guy, or a particularly high average rating. His job is to sit back and allow the players around him to push up and make sure that he's there to clear up any mess they might make. You want someone with high marking and positioning here, as well as good composure and decision making. Passing is of course a bonus, but not completely necessary here as he'll much more be winning the ball and laying it off to players close to him.
Centre midfielder - box to box, support. Instructions: Dribble less and tackle harder.
Here you want somebody that is very well rounded, someone that can bomb backwards and forward and really help with turning defence in to attack. Good passing is also important as this is the only position without the shorter passing instruction. If anybody is going to be picking out long passes up to attack, this will be the guy. They'll also be the only player shooting from range in this formation, but feel free to change that if you don't have a player there that has good long shots.
The front four:
Now this is probably the most important part of this formation. If done correctly, all of these players should be getting a lot of goals and assists. There will be a lot of movement between them all. I'll post a screen shot of each of my first choices.
Attacking midfielder - advanced playmaker, support. Instructions: Tackle harder, roam from position, pass it shorter, move in to channels.
View attachment 321952
Your attacking midfielder (along with the false 9) is the player with the most freedom in your team. You will find him sometimes dropping deep to collect the ball and occasionally roaming wide to help create chances. It's important here that you have a player with high passing and vision. You'll also find he'll push up and chip in with a few goals too, so finishing is a bonus.
Left winger - inside forward, attack. Instructions: Shoot less often, tackle harder, pass it shorter, sit narrower.
View attachment 321953
Your inside forward is your biggest goal threat. He will sit very narrow and actually be your most forward player. The false nine and advanced playmaker will both sit behind him and he will often get on to the end of crosses before anybody else. As you can see from last season, he got 51 goals and 18 assists in all competitions, scoring on average 1 a game in the league with an incredible average rating. I would encourage you actually retrain a right footed striker to play here, as the striker stats are the most important for this position. I must stress that right footed is important here, as he will be cutting in from the left.
Right winger - winger, support. Instructions: Shoot less often, tackle harder, hold position, pass it shorter, cross from byline.
View attachment 321951
Here you want a fast player with high crossing. He'll often be the first to pounce on rebounds and nab a goal (I'm not sure why, just turned out that way..) and will create a good amount from crosses. Again, you want to make sure that this guy is right footed.
Striker - false nine, support. Instructions: Tackle harder, roam from position, pass it shorter, run wide with ball.
View attachment 321950
Another player with a lot of freedom to drift wherever he needs to to get the ball and create a goal for himself or his team mates. It's important you have a player with good vision and decent passing, dribbling and first touch is important too, as you'll find he'll pick the ball up and run with it more than most of the other players. Finishing isn't the most important for this position, although it's a bonus.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Hope it works for you guys like it has me! Let me know how it goes!