I wanted to basically create my ultimate system which supports the two different ideas of mindful defending and fluid attacking football. I realised that I wanted to be able to include a number of technicians in the middle of the park whilst being able to stretch my opponents. The natural decision was to use a Christmas Tree in a similar way to Carlo Ancelotti. I wanted to ensure that the fullbacks got forward a lot so I moved them up to become wingbacks. The defenders are set to avoid closing down until the opponents reach our penalty area, this gives opponents less chance of getting in behind and terrorising our keeper. The midfielders also tend to stand off and maintain their shape and the only players who press are the most advanced players, the two attacking midfielders and the striker. Defending deep runs the risk of leaving a large gap between defence and midfield; in order to counter this, I have a dedicated 'water carrier' in midfield who is set to simply close down when opponents are in our half, tackle aggressively and then pass it to the nearest team mate. The other two midfielders are mostly concerned with knitting things together. One is a deep-lying play maker who sits deep and covers the defensive players whilst also providing service for the attacking players. The other is a ballwinner who is encouraged to get forward a bit more, he is only instructed to close down in his own half in order to maintain the shape of the side but he helps to provide a more direct threat. The two attacking midfielders provide a similar quality but one is slightly more concerned with creating chances whereas the other is more concerned with scoring. The forward is basically a poacher with some added freedom and responsibility, but not too much. He needs to be scoring plenty because he's the only striker.
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The screenshot above was an earlier version of the tactic and the problem, as you can see, is that we were only the 4th highest scorer, which I didn't think was two impressive for a big fish in a small pond like Ajax. I was pleased that the title was won so easily as I holidayed the season so that the tactic could be judged independently from my FM knowledge of things like team talks. I made sure I was happy with my assistant first. When used with Porto, I adjusted individual players' mentalities in order to improve our defence and attack stats, both did improve after this. I do, however, feel that this will need tweaking depending on the league and the stature of the team. As well as the title, we also won the cup, but like AVB, it may not be as wonderful outside of Porto.
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I decided to make a similar tactic with a more common formation. As most teams have the players for 4-4-1-1, I thought that would work. I tried to maintain as many elements as possible, but a lot needed to be changed. The striker has similar responsibilities. The midfield pair consists of a deep-lying playmaker and a a very defensive ballwinner, who replaces the defensive midfielder. There are two wingers who roam and swap positions. The fullbacks have freedom to get forward but are less attacking than the wingbacks in the Xmas tree. The centre backs are exactly the same. It was originally used with Tottenham, then used with Madrid. These screenshots were taken from seasons in which I holidayed, so I think the performance would be improved when used by a competent FM player. I was merely trying to prove that these tactics stand up without any interference. As you can see, they are not wonder-tactics which will propel you to a league title with QPR but they will be a very good starting point for anyone who wants a balance between defence and attack. Used in this way they tend to keep a side on target.
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http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=6409
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=6410
View attachment 226227
The screenshot above was an earlier version of the tactic and the problem, as you can see, is that we were only the 4th highest scorer, which I didn't think was two impressive for a big fish in a small pond like Ajax. I was pleased that the title was won so easily as I holidayed the season so that the tactic could be judged independently from my FM knowledge of things like team talks. I made sure I was happy with my assistant first. When used with Porto, I adjusted individual players' mentalities in order to improve our defence and attack stats, both did improve after this. I do, however, feel that this will need tweaking depending on the league and the stature of the team. As well as the title, we also won the cup, but like AVB, it may not be as wonderful outside of Porto.
View attachment 226228View attachment 226229View attachment 226230View attachment 226231 View attachment 226640View attachment 226642View attachment 226643View attachment 226644
I decided to make a similar tactic with a more common formation. As most teams have the players for 4-4-1-1, I thought that would work. I tried to maintain as many elements as possible, but a lot needed to be changed. The striker has similar responsibilities. The midfield pair consists of a deep-lying playmaker and a a very defensive ballwinner, who replaces the defensive midfielder. There are two wingers who roam and swap positions. The fullbacks have freedom to get forward but are less attacking than the wingbacks in the Xmas tree. The centre backs are exactly the same. It was originally used with Tottenham, then used with Madrid. These screenshots were taken from seasons in which I holidayed, so I think the performance would be improved when used by a competent FM player. I was merely trying to prove that these tactics stand up without any interference. As you can see, they are not wonder-tactics which will propel you to a league title with QPR but they will be a very good starting point for anyone who wants a balance between defence and attack. Used in this way they tend to keep a side on target.
View attachment 226627View attachment 226628View attachment 226629 View attachment 226630View attachment 226631View attachment 226632 View attachment 226633View attachment 226634
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=6409
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/downloads.php?do=file&id=6410
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