southampton

[theviper46]

What is the best tactic to use with southampton and i have 28 mil to spend but i dont know who to spend it on is there any recommended players that people can tell me plz

 

[rocheyb]

Hi Viper,

As a Southampton season ticket holder, I can confirm that in reality The Saints played with a 4-2-3-1 formation last season:

GK Artur Boruc - (right to left) Nathaniel Clyne; Jose Fonte; Maya Yoshida; Luke Shaw - Jack Cork; Morgan Schneiderlin - Jason Puncheon; Gaston Ramirez; Adam Lallana - Rickie Lambert

Boruc passes out short to the centre backs; the full backs raid down the flanks and cross high to Lambert; Lallana and Puncheon both cut inside and play one-twos; Cork is CM defensive with Schneiderlin box-to-box; Steven Davis can operate in any of the three central midfield positions; Jay Rodriguez is often sent on to play as an Advanced Forward, with Lambert dropping to Deep Lying Forward in a 4-4-2. Sometimes Rodriguez starts on the right. The team passes short and usually presses the opposition high up the pitch.

Dejan Lovren is a new signing at centre back, probably to replace Fonte. Wanayama has come in from Celtic so I would imagine there will be a higher rate of rotation for him, Cork and Schneiderlin.

I think Shaun Maloney would be an excellent signing for Southampton. I was really impressed with him last season, despite the fact that Wigan were relegated, and I think he is well suited to that style of play. Clint Dempsey would also have been a good signing, so I'm disappointed to see him going back to the US. If you want to develop a 4-4-2 system or introduce a Poacher, perhaps someone like Jermaine Defoe would be a good signing, particularly if partnered with Lambert. Though England's newest hero isn't getting any younger either, so you might try to tempt Benteke from Aston Villa (or Lukaku from Chelsea if they're crazy enough to loan him out again). Andrew Surman of Norwich City (MC/L + DL) might be a useful squad player and as an ex-Saint would be motivated to sign for the club. You might also consider James McCarthy of Wigan; Chris Brunt and/or James Morrison of West Brom; Josh McEachren from Chelsea. My dream signing for The Saints would be Bastian Schweinsteiger - but I'm not sure that even £28million would get him out of Bayern Munich!!

 

[rocheyb]

Check out this link for advice on how to play the 4-2-3-1 system in FM13:

http://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2013/05/fm-2013-tactic-review-4-2-3-1-deepfried-chicken/

I found that page online after making a bad start to the season with my AFC Bournemouth save, and took to the internet to try to work out where I was going wrong. The back four in particular has dramatically improved - and your Saints squad is well equipped for the various midfield roles. But that tactic works much better at home than away. On the road, I have started using this counter attacking 4-4-2:

http://www.footballmanagerstory.com/2013/06/fm-2013-tactics-review-deanos-4-4-2/

I have Mamady Sidibe on loan from Stoke City and he makes this system work by playing as a Target Man alongside an Advanced Forward. The wingers counter attack and play early, high crosses to Sidibe as the designated tactical target man. Brett Pitman/Matt Tubbs play off him for knock downs, flick-ons and through balls - but Sidibe is the team's top scorer at the moment.

My fortunes have improved since adopting these tactics, with an unbeaten streak of 6 matches in October lifting me out of the relegation zone and into mid-table. Might still be on for a play-off push if I can sign a decent CM on loan.

Rather than downloading the tactics as ready made files, I put the game into tiled window mode and painstakingly went through them tactic-by-tactic so that I really understood what each player was doing. This aided my understanding and enables me to make slight tweaks during the matches if I see an opportunity to exploit an area of strength/opposition weakness.

 

[theviper46]

Thanks for the help