Right Mentality.. simple rule of thumb?

[vanspike]

I don't know if I am the only one who finds this, but more often than not it is the choice of mentality for a tactic that I spend most time over deciding what I think is the best one for what I want to achieve with a tactic.

There are some great guides out there which I have read and I understand the principals behind Defensive, Attacking etc but I still find it hard to nail down what I think would work best. So I was wondering if people have created their own very simple 'rule of thumb' when it comes to deciding what you start with as a base before changing individual roles.

For my current tactic I want to create chances, play great to watch attacking football and be aggressive / pressing off the ball. But in possession I want my goal scoring oppurtunites to be by clever passing and movement. So pulling defenders out of position for someone to find the space.
So I find myself at odds where an attacking approach fits the 1st part of the above by stretching play, pressing, higher line but then defensive would give me a base of taking time, slower transition to pull opposition towards you which may allow gaps to be developed by movement.

If it helps my current formation is a take on 3-4-3
2 CB'S
Half back sat in front.
2 WB'S
2 CM'S
A front 3 - currently going for 2 SS with a TREQ in the middle.

Appreciate any tips that people give themselves in deciding what to go with.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[WJ]

Think of Mentality as levels of risk. You can be attacking with a Defend mentality, for instance. So it depends how much risk you want your players to take.

It's not just Mentality, but Roles and especially Duties too that will determine how attacking you are. You can use a Mentality with high levels of risk (Control and up) so you'll have the pressing etc, but they will take risks in possession too and you'll need to be careful with your duty allocation. With a safer Mentality, you can be more adventurous with Duties and if Closing Down is too tame, increase it via TIs and even PIs.

 

[vanspike]

Thanks WJ - seeing it as risk is a nice way of looking at it and one I ha
d not thought about.
So with the roles I mentioned, the CB and HB are defend. WB are attack initially (will change to support if flanks look exposed) The 2 CM'S are a playM support and a CM attack. And then front 3, SS att and TREQ support.

So from what u say I am probably already pretty attacking so choosing the higher risk mentalities will only emphasise it. And might be why I am not finding holes as there limited patience and the players go for the risky pass

Does that sound about right? Thanks for your help, apreciated.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[WJ]

Thanks WJ - seeing it as risk is a nice way of looking at it and one I ha
d not thought about.
So with the roles I mentioned, the CB and HB are defend. WB are attack initially (will change to support if flanks look exposed) The 2 CM'S are a playM support and a CM attack. And then front 3, SS att and TREQ support.

So from what u say I am probably already pretty attacking so choosing the higher risk mentalities will only emphasise it. And might be why I am not finding holes as there limited patience and the players go for the risky pass

Does that sound about right? Thanks for your help, apreciated.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

That's a very aggressive duty setup. So yeah, may be worth going for a safer mentality, at least initially. This is based on having a balanced setup. If you go for something riskier, it'll be more and more attacking, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

 

[iamauser]

I usually start on Control mentality and see how the first 15-20 minutes plays out. If we are dominating possession I leave it how it is, if we are having less possession I normally change it to counter. If we go a goal down I change it to attacking.

 

[Shyftyy]

I have an idea in my mind of how I want to play and then I check:

The Mentality Ladder: A Practical Framework for Understanding Fluidity and Duty

This tells me how players will behave with a specific mentality. For example:

For fluid-attack:

MC: Spearhead Attacking Moves Closer to Defence
Box to Box Midfielder: Create Chances Patiently
Deep Lying Playmaker (All Duties): Keep Possession Under Pressure
Defend Duty (All Other Roles): Shuttle Ball
Support Duty (All Other Roles): Create Chances Urgently

ML/R: Penetrate Gaps Intermittently
Defend Duty (All Roles): Isolate Advancing Midfielders
Support Duty (All Roles): Force Half Chances When Necessary

AMC: Penetrate Gaps
Advanced Playmaker (All Duties): Create Chances Urgently
Enganche: Force Half Chances
Shadow Striker: Penetrate Gaps Persistently
Support Duty (All Other Roles): Force Half Chances
Trequartista: Force Half Chances

AML/R: Penetrate Gaps Persistently
Advanced Playmaker (All Duties): Force Half Chances When Necessary
Defensive Winger (Defend): Isolate Holding Midfielders
Support Duty (All Other Roles): Force Half Chances Without Hesitation

ST (Lone Striker): Draw Off Defenders
Attack Duty (Multiple Strikers): Overload Defenders
Defensive Forward (Defend - Lone Striker): Hassle Dawdling Defenders
Defensive Forward (Defend - Multiple Strikers): Isolate Advancing Midfielders
False Nine (Lone Striker): Force Half Chances
Support Duty (Lone Striker): Test Defence With Precision
Support Duty (Multiple Strikers): Force Half Chances When Necessary
Trequartista (Lone Striker): Force Half Chances
Trequartista (Multiple Strikers): Force Half Chances Without Hesitation


I like how the MC's can be set-up to create chances and that AMCs(especially your SS) will try to penetrate gaps. You can see that your treq would force half chances as soon as they get them which is a shame because it could be a CCC with one more pass to your penetrating SS: