Solid 4-4-2

[grantjb]

Hi All,

Confession here, I am a long time player and haven't been much of a sharer, anyway I feel it is time that I share some of my success with the community.

This is a tactic that I have been working on for quite some time and has now got me some excellent results.Most recently I have got Bournemouth up to the championship with the existing squad and a few loan deals and free transfers.

The basic idea of the tactic is for the full backs and wingers to get the ball into the final 3rd as quickly as possible and for the forwards to press and keep the ball there. Similar in some respects to Stoke the full backs and wingers look to get early crosses and through balls into the area.

I am not saying that this is a game beating tactic but I believe that it is a solid foundation to build your team around. The most important thing is not to put round pegs in square holes. Also I monitor the game stats closely and change my mentality often. For example, if i see that the opponent is starting to sit off I will change to overload and attacking for the next 10 -15 minutes. I feel that the change of tempo between different mentalities can often lead to openings.

If I am winning I may ease off and play more defensive but essentially I always stay within the framework of tactic.

The results with this tactic have been great and as you can see results in a very low goal concession.


Formation & Instructions:
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Touchline Shouts:

I occasionally use hassle opponents if I feel I am not winning enough balls in the opponents half but I tend make any changes by changing the mentality of the team

Opposition Instructions:

I dont use these unless I feel that the opposition has a very specific threat that I can counter by these instructions but if the opponent has a holding midfielder with low composure I will make sure that he is closed down and moved on to his weaker foot.

Match Prep:
For match prep - home games - attacking movement away games - Defensive positioning

For training I have 50% of the time spent on match training and default focus for general training as balanced. During the season I have this on an average Intensity.

Results

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Download link:

As soon as this has been moderated I will post the link

Thanks for downloading and any comments are appreciated - I will try and answer any questions.

 

[hiphone]

link?

 

[grantjb]

Waiting for it to be approved, will update the post when it has been added to the tactics page

 

[Leydorf]

Great post. I play a Pressing/Rigid 4-4-2 with Everton with less creative freedom and it's working brilliantly. I use Fellaini as a Box to Box Midfielder and instruct him to run from deep often and have Ruben Jennssen as DLP support. I originally thought that without a BWM set to defend would cause problems in the middle of the pitch, it had the opposite effect - it caused more problems and opened up the flanks for the wingers (Wellington Nem on the left and Gabriel Torje on the right). I'd suggest changing to Rigid philosophy and changing the CMR's role to run from deep more. Just my thoughts.

 

[Leydorf]

One more thought, have you tried swapping the wingers? I found that to be helpful as well.

 

[grantjb]

Might try a more rigid philosophy in the championship, as I have no money to improve the squad! Will give it a try and see how I get on : )

 

[grantjb]

Download link -


GrantJB Solid 4-4-2 - Downloads - Football Manager 2013 Tactics, Wonderkids & Cheats