Struggling with possession

[Scoteeh]

Okay, with my current Liverpool squad i'm really struggling to get 60%+ possession.
I'm playing 4-5-1 (the barcalona style one).
Im using fluid, slow tempo, short passing, more expressive etc and i'm really struggling to get a good amount of possession vs any team.

My midfield consists of lucas leiva (holding cdm), gerrard and charlie adam as playmakers, montillo as a L/AM and downing/kuyt as a R/AM and suarez as a trequartista.
I don't want to download other peoples tactics, id rather have the feeling of satisfaction when my own tactic finally comes to work. But that might sound contradictory as i'm asking for help but i honestly don't know what else to do.

 

[alicwkd]

If you purely want possession, try reducing creative freedom. Also Gerrard and Adam like to spray long range passes to wide positions which obviously has more margin for error than a short pass. In terms of actual effectiveness of the tactic however, removing those two and/or reducing creative freedom could well have an adverse effect, so it really depends on what your priorities are

I used Liverpool and my possession stats were decent (by decent I mean usually between 55-60, nothing insane) That was with a control strategy and high pressing (obviously combined with high D-line and quick CBs), so try that if you aren't already as pressing will force the opposition to lose the ball

Also I fielded Agger as a BPCB- I must shamefully confess that I don't know if a BPCB helps or hinders amount of possession tbh so this could be completely irrelevant

 

[Scoteeh]

I believe a BPCB is a ball playing centre back. I will try what you've suggested, however i'm not entirely sure who's best to replace charlie adam (passing wise).

 

[5uare2]

Ball-Playing Centre Backs generally play a more expansive passing game than the other types of centre backs (with limited defenders being the most prone to just hoofing the ball clear). Agger's up there as a good ball playing centre back, and I usually play him as that. But if you're really keen on possession you might try changing him to a normal central defender and seeing if that helps; but like alicwkd said, it's about what you want - having him as a ball player does give you that one more player who can help set up an attack.

For your midfield, you can try Jordan Henderson - alternatively, have Jay Spearing as your holding CDM and move lucas up next to Gerrard. He's no Stevie, but Lucas isn't the worst passer around either. But Adam and Gerrard can be made to work together, you just need to limit the creative freedom of one of them. Jonjo Shelvey's probably not ready yet, but keep giving him games and he'll be class.

Also, just curious about how you're playing Downing and Kuyt on the right? I.e. does Downing play as an Inside Forward and Kuyt as a winger? If not, I'd look into doing that, or send Downing back over to the Left if you want the Right-sided player to only be a Winger.

Hope that helps =^)

 

[Raikan007]

hey mate, set all your attacking players to run from deep always and play through passes, move into channels, roam from position, set gk distribution to a Cb that drops deeper, no running with the ball, once they have passed (with the settings in bold, they will make forward runs into space to receive the ball again) also make the one player you want to get most of the ball the Playmaker and add another 2 like Adam/Gerrard to the list as well
I am working on a possession tactic at the moment and the 1st game I used it this is what I got:

Still working on it though but a decent start vs a very good team!
View attachment 199648View attachment 199649


here are the instructions I use but it all goes down to PI"s, try and test different instructions until you see a difference practice makes perfect mate good luck and feel free to ask anything on this thread below:
View attachment 199647

http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...n007s-tactical-discussion-help-thread-11.html

 

[Scoteeh]

Thanks guys, cheers Raiken, i'll look into that. My team instructions layout looks completely different to yours, and how did you get those arrows? Cheers.

 

[Raikan007]

Thanks guys, cheers Raiken, i'll look into that. My team instructions layout looks completely different to yours, and how did you get those arrows? Cheers.

hey bud possession is about passing and moving into space which in turn creates triangles! the overlapping runs of your fullbacks are also very important for scoring goals as they create chances and provide a little bit of width as well the arrows are there as it is a classic tactic I suggest looking/downloading this tactic here to assist you http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/football-manager-2012-tactics-training/85231-short-sweet%99.html