[Tactical Discussion] Plug, Manage and Play

[justified]

First Season Results and New Approach Needed

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So the first season is completed with Marseille and we actually managed to grab some silverware! I was actually really surprised that our attacking brand of football would manage to win the French Cup. I did manage to avoid any of the big teams in France though and our last opponents ended up being Lens who hadn't been too impressive in the league so I felt fairly confident that we'd secure it. When Landre got sent off I got even more confident my lads would bring the trophy home.

However the downside of all this was our overall away record. It was shockingly bad and needed to be addressed for the next season. The home statistics I'm quite happy with, I'm quietly confident if I can work on the solidity slightly the home and away performances. Only 1 defeat at home (I think it was against Lille) and a record to almost match PSG is definitely not bad. Away however I'm still quite some distance off of the top teams. Now it must be said I'd been trying different roles/instructions up until Christmas so things could of been different but I do recognize that playing attacking every game for 90 minutes might be a bit too much.

When I look at the form at the Stade Velodrome and the top teams I can see that, apart from Lille, I won 2-0 against both PSG and Bordeaux and 4-2 against both St Etienne and Lyon. So the Furacão definitely has potential. The match against PSG was very pleasing as I don't remember them having much of the game, I think Ibrahimovic had one glorious chance to pull it back but Mandanda saved it. Ultimately we had to settle for our predicted 3 place in the league. I'm quite pleased with that, it gives us Champions League football so all the young and established stars are more then happy to stay. Even Thauvin and Alessandrini who wanted new contracts stopped their whining.

Addtional Match Tweaks

The conclusion is clear. The attacking approach is very naive away but at home it is perfect. For now I'm sticking with starting with attacking, it's the way Marseille have to play. Other teams just have to get used to the idea of us taking the game to them. Eventually they'll all back down and we'll penetrate with our attacking probing approach.

However it's when we get the lead I need to start thinking of reacting more. During the match I'd say I would go as far as pulling it down to Standard approach. So if I go 2 goals up I'll change our mentality to Standard. Too many times we were 2-3 goals up and the opponents came back or at least started to come back. In the last 10 minutes of the game I'll introduce a Defensive mentality to see out the game. The decision to do this is purely tactical. The 3 differences for the team is tempo, width and approach. So when we go 2 goals up we play a little slower, a little bit more compact and we take a 50/50 approach to Risk/Reward.

The last ten minute we'll play keep ball pulling the tempo back more and playing more compact and take a more 20/80 (the percentages are only a guesstimate) risk/reward approach. Players passing flips so the defenders go from short to more direct to get the ball quicker up the field and away from goal, attackers now play short to keep the ball in the opponents half and away from goal. The opposing team will start attacking as well, taking chances. This'll mean your players less risk attitude could pay off as spaces appear as the game goes further into the last 10 minutes. A more defensive mentality doesn't mean you won't attack anymore, actually in FM15 Defend/Counter are actually too over powering in terms of their defence/attack ratio.

 

[davidbarros2]

I agree. I've tried more risky passes on my AMR, but it's not effective, perhaps Quaresma (my AMR) is not a very good passer.
Regarding varations of the tactics,I always have 3 sets of the same tactic (Attack or conrol, standard and counter), which i rotate in some games and even in the same game. Would you change some TI in standard?
Would you mind sharing the goals and assists distributed to your squad?
PS: the MDC aka "the *******" is the best tweaked role i've come across. Lucas Romero (13 tackling) is a beast, and I can't imagine playing with wanyama or bender!

 

[justified]

Width, Runs From Deep and the "False 10"

View attachment 292656
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Right so "The Hole" in the 3rd is filled now we need to find the roles that will keep width and also the roles which will take the deep attacking runs from deep behind the opponents back line (4th line). These tasks are assigned to the wide positions and the more attacking MC. Earlier on when we went through the defensive unit I wrote that the Fullbacks are there to keep the width in the team. However the goal is to get the fullbacks to overlap on the outside to either take a run deep or cross into the box. The idea behind the flank positions is that they start wide but finish up going deep or narrow.

The reason why I attached the picture of the Real Madrid trio of last year is because it's exactly the way these three players should play. Ronaldo was on the left, Bale on the right and Di Maria played in the middle with Modric. I cast you back to last years Champions League final where Real lined up with Casillas; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Coentrao; Khedira; Modric, Di Maria; Bale, Ronaldo; Benzema. Take our Benzema and you have exactly the way this tactic should play out. Benzema doesn't fit in as False 9 as he likes to run off the last man. Interestingly enough after Benzema came off, that's when they started scoring. Go figure.

Winger Support

In FM12 when I experimented making a 4-3-3 I'd originally have two Inside Fowards on attacking duty in the wide positions, the goal was simple, just run into the space the False Nine had made and score goals. Back then the AI was very incapable of handling this so ultimately the Inside Forwards would continuously run from deep, into the centre, and score. It was great, but repetitive. I crave a little more variation. It lacked some crossing and width so I hoped that a classic winger could bring some different build up to our play. Also I studied, having the match on Comprehensive Highlights, the runs of the players in midfield. No matter what role I gave the MC(a) in midfield he would just halt halfway through the attack outside the box.

The reason the MC would do this is because two Inside Forwards on attacking duty and a False9 would occupy all the space in the middle and somewhat "lock" the 3rd/4th line for the MC to run into. The same happened if I played a winger on attacking duty. However with a support duty he limits his runs and this then creates space for the MC(a) to run into.

I play the Winger on the AMR spot because my MC(a) plays in the MCR position, this is so they don't "bump" into each other. As with the False Nine I want there to be great movement off the ball so Roaming is enabled for the winger. Normally you'd play a right footer in a wing position but you can actually play a left footer there as well so he acts a little more like an inside forward. Both can be used! Personally I prefer left so there is natural room for the right Fullback.

• Dribble More
  
• Run Wide With Ball
• Cross More Often
• Stay Wider
• Roam From Position

Central Midfielder Attack (False 10)

This is the first of two roles who works to make runs from deep. His role in this tactic is to run forward from his deep MC position, past the False Nine and hopefully create goalscoring opportunities or score himself. He will play exactly the role Di Maria played last season for Real Madrid. He plays direct and dynamic, drive with or without the ball from midfield and put in players with direct passing.

Obviously the demand of abilities is quite great on this player where he has to be a good passer, he must have great pace and stamina. Good dribbling and finishing is required too. He must move freely in the middle of the park which puts greater emphasis on his skills without the ball, work rate and teamwork. So all in all we're looking for an extremely complete midfielder who can excel in many offensive fronts. Something between a Roaming Playmaker and a Shadow Striker playing in a MC position. I guess you could call him a "False 10".

Unfortunately at Marseille I don't really have that kind of player. I tried to play Ayew there but he's not really creative enough and then Imbula played there but his finishing is not great. I do have a youngster from Partizan called Danilo Pantic who'm I hoping I can train into that role. He lacks a little work rate and speed but hopefully through training we can get those figures up.

• Dribble More
• Get Further Forward
• Roam From Position

Inside Forward Attack

Lastly, but not least, the Attacking Inside forward. Just like a pudding, I left the best for last. He is the fundamental reason why I've decided to create The Furacão. The whole idea was based on the False 9 dropping deep leaving space behind which'd be filled by two players taking attacking runs from deep. The attacking Midfielder fills one of those responsibilities and now the Inside Forward fills the second attacking run but from a wide position. The Inside forward drives in from wide with the ball to put himself or others in goalscoring opportunities. He doesn't have as much to do defensively like the attacking MC does so he is a little more selfish in his thinking. The requirement for Teamwork, Work Rate and Stamina are less but he does need to have more Flair and be more clinical.

• Dribble More
• Cut Inside With The Ball
• Cross Less Often
• Get Further Forward
• Roam From Position

 

[justified]

I agree. I've tried more risky passes on my AMR, but it's not effective, perhaps Quaresma (my AMR) is not a very good passer.
Regarding varations of the tactics,I always have 3 sets of the same tactic (Attack or conrol, standard and counter), which i rotate in some games and even in the same game. Would you change some TI in standard?
Would you mind sharing the goals and assists distributed to your squad?
PS: the MDC aka "the *******" is the best tweaked role i've come across. Lucas Romero (13 tackling) is a beast, and I can't imagine playing with wanyama or bender!

I personally don't like Control or Counter. They're possession types of mentalities and because I don't want this to be a possession type of tactic I avoid them. This is primative Attack - Standard - Defence stuff.

No I'll stick with the TI's as they are because width and tempo already adjust accordingly so no need to change anything else.

Yeah "The *******" is incredible. Romao ended up with 11.50 TPG for the season. Incredible!

Well interestingly enough Payet and Imbula had the best assists in the team despite them not have "More Risky Passing" selected. But that just shows how direct a player on a attacking role in a attacking mentality is. False 9 with the best striker, Inside forward second and the Winger was second. Could also be because I kept on switching in midfield and couldn't originally get the MC role right.

 

[askebp]

Test

Hey, I'd like to come up with a more atypical test. I´d like to test your tactic with a middle seeded team in the Danish 1st division (the 2nd best league in Denmark) called Vendyssel.

- But I´d like to know if you got a direct plug-n-play download link you want people to use, or how does it work?

 

[justified]

Hey, I'd like to come up with a more atypical test. I´d like to test your tactic with a middle seeded team in the Danish 1st division (the 2nd best league in Denmark) called Vendyssel.

- But I´d like to know if you got a direct plug-n-play download link you want people to use, or how does it work?

Version 1 of Furacão should be up either tonight or tomorrow morning so if you wanted to try you'd have to wait until then.

 

[Crusadertsar]

Just played alot of friendlies with Real to get the tactic fluid as fast as possible. Haven't lost a single one (thats in 7 friendly matches, strong showing against Celtic and Santos). But real brilliance is starting to show with the first 2 competitive matches. 2 clean sheets so far. 2:0 win in European Super Cup and an astounding 6:0 against a good Athletico Madrid team. That one had alot of nice goals, particularly a marvelous hat trick from the man himself Ronaldo with F9 and Bale assisting on all of those. Sure this is Real Madrid we are talking about but still I'm very impressed with the beautiful soccer we played. Will post screenshots next week as we play more. Can't wait to play around more with this tactic

 

[justified]

I think Marseille have started to understand La Furacão ! Testing some new tweaks/ideas in the second season and this recent result looks good:

Nice to see FM hasn't lost it's sense of humour:

 

[justified]

Just played alot of friendlies with Real to get the tactic fluid as fast as possible. Haven't lost a single one (thats in 7 friendly matches, strong showing against Celtic and Santos). But real brilliance is starting to show with the first 2 competitive matches. 2 clean sheets so far. 2:0 win in European Super Cup and an astounding 6:0 against a good Athletico Madrid team. That one had alot of nice goals, particularly a marvelous hat trick from the man himself Ronaldo with F9 and Bale assisting on all of those. Sure this is Real Madrid we are talking about but still I'm very impressed with the beautiful soccer we played. Will post screenshots next week as we play more. Can't wait to play around more with this tactic

Thanks for the feedback, nice to see the Galacticos are enjoying the tactic. Out of curiosity, how is the MC(a) performing?

 

[Crusadertsar]

Thanks for the feedback, nice to see the Galacticos are enjoying the tactic. Out of curiosity, how is the MC(a) performing?

Its hard for me to judge so far. Initially I was afraid that I didn't have players with enough pace and acceleration for that position (really missing DiMaria at this point ) so I had to rotate James Rodriguez and Luka Modric in that position. Both of them managed to score 2 neat goals from free build up play and not as result of a set piece. So there is hope! I would like to see MC get involved more in the play in the future though and charge the box with even more aggressiveness. And I was hoping I could make more use of those players (James and Luka) incredible creativity though. Did you ever experiment with roaming playmaker in that position or would that be too specialized for the fluid mentality? I think having a DLP and RPM in the middle would be a wicked combo. Especially with False9 up top

 

[justified]

Its hard for me to judge so far. Initially I was afraid that I didn't have players with enough pace and acceleration for that position (really missing DiMaria at this point ) so I had to rotate James Rodriguez and Luka Modric in that position. Both of them managed to score 2 neat goals from free build up play and not as result of a set piece. So there is hope! I was hoping I could make more use of those players incredible creativity though. Did you ever experiment with roaming playmaker in that position or would that be too specialized for the fluid mentality? I think having a DLP and RPM in the middle would be a wicked combo. Especially with False9 up top

Yeah it does help massively if that MC(a) does have pace, the opposition defence most of the time will have no idea what happened. You could always be cheeky and retrain Bale as a MC. Might take a while but he'd probably flourish in that role. Jst stick "Hamez" on the right. Worth trying? Or just train Odegaard on pace so when he's ready just chuck him in at MC.

I did experiment last season with a RPM, sadly the attack was too impotent. There was only one real runner getting into the box. I suppose if you played with an attacking duty on the right wing it could work. Or playing more direct, higher tempo and removing WBIB might work too but it's just not my style.

 

[Crusadertsar]

You could always be cheeky and retrain Bale as a MC. Might take a while but he'd probably flourish in that role.

That was my initial thought too. I think once accomplished in that role, he would be extremely deadly. I'm just hesitant that playing him in unfamiliar position now would make him really under-perform and drag down the whole team. But I'll give it a try. And Odegaard will own that position eventually

 

[davidbarros2]

More than pace, i found the MC (R) it's a must have off the ball skills. The PPM "gets forward whenever possible" helps too!

 

[justified]

Move Into Channels and Get's Into Opposition Area are also really handy. Forget Shadow Striker, this guy will be a Ninja Striker.

 

[Crusadertsar]

https://cdeekyfm.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/utilising-the-central-winger-on-fm15/

I've heard the description of a central winger pop up more and more. Is this basically what we are looking for from MC A? An aggressive CM with the most vertical movement possible.

 

[justified]

https://cdeekyfm.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/utilising-the-central-winger-on-fm15/

I've heard the description of a central winger pop up more and more. Is this basically what we are looking for from MC A? An aggressive CM with the most vertical movement possible.

The role is modeled on Di Maria of last year at Real so yes that's basically what we're looking for. However I've now removed the "Dribble more" PI. I feel that I'm forcing him to run with the ball instead of leaving it up to him to decide whether to lay off or dribble. The MC (a) is playing much better now with the ball.

 

[Chelski Shogun]

Wow! Just finished reading the thread justified and it's safe to say I'm looking forward to seeing the tweaks you've implemented in your second season. Excellent stuff, keep it up mate.

 

[davidbarros2]

I removed the Dribble More PI as you said, now i'm liking even more. More movement with and without the ball, the wingers are more involved in the game. Tried the Gets forward more often PI (or something similar, i play FM in portuguese) on the W (S) and i'm liking what i'm seeing. It absolutely the same but i do often get some 1x1 situations with the keeper by through pass of the F9.

 

[justified]

I removed the Dribble More PI as you said, now i'm liking even more. More movement with and without the ball, the wingers are more involved in the game. Tried the Gets forward more often PI (or something similar, i play FM in portuguese) on the W (S) and i'm liking what i'm seeing. It absolutely the same but i do often get some 1x1 situations with the keeper by through pass of the F9.

You mean something like this?:

[video=youtube;cNv07xmL5gY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNv07xmL5gY[/video]

 

[davidbarros2]

ya, something like that! But i also saw some glimpses of that play even without that instruction... But the MC (R) and the instruction to run with ball, or the lack of that instruction, is crucial. My wingers and DLP are flying high with assists now!