Team can't create chances or score goals

Reeally Interesting to hear others thoughts. I have come up with something and would be interested to see what people think
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You didn't identify any areas of concern or issues you are seeing, which makes it guesswork. A few quick thoughts....

-pushing up the defensive line, more closing down, and a BWM at DM seems like a recipe for some counter attacks against you. The BWM will naturally chase the ball, leaving you without any defensive cover. Add in the closing down and you could have defenders moving away at bad times, leaving opposition players moving thru the channels too easily or putting in incisive thru balls. To me, a BWM is usually best if they have someone more static beside them so they don't leave you exposed. I would probably switch it to a DM-D, AM, or even a DLP-D, depending on exactly what you want out of them.

-the combination of passing, tempo, and passing into space seems like a recipe for turning the ball over a bit much. The tempo isn't high to be a real problem, but I might try dropping the Pass Into space. If you are trying to play a controlled possession game, I'm sure that combo is ideal.

-I don't really have a huge issue with the player roles. Already mentioned the BWM. The front 3 is very attacking and won't contribute much in defensive terms. If that's work well, no worries. But if aren't seeing the defensive solidity you want, switch one or both AM to support. As its stands, its almost going to function like 3 forwards.

-how is the F9 working? With two "almost striker" inside forwards and one "not fully a striker" striker, it would almost become a strikerless front 3 in a way. The F9 is about linking play. That's not a bad thing, but your two other players who are forward are very attack minded (so they will go for goal more than they simply retain possession) and your two CMs are both roamers who won't always be forward. I might suggest a DLF or a Complete Forward there.

-Work the Ball into the Box isn't as necessary as it used to be. Players don't seem to bomb long range efforts as often, unless you put them into consistent situations where they have no support. In this case, you might just be restricting your F9 even further. I would drop it and watch the results.

-Play out of Defense is interesting here. Its not unworkable, but like I mentioned to the OPer, you may be giving your defenders limited options. The DM will play the play (thought he's not seen as a direct outlet like a DLP would be), but your two CMs roam a bit (the B2B should be back quite often) and more worryingly, your two wide forwards are gonna be quite high usually. With short passing, they aren't going to be passing options for those defenders. Your two wide defenders have relatively conservative roles. Putting the AMs as Support will pull them back a bit. Another option is switching one or both FBs to WB-S, but I would probably only do that if the BWM becomes something else. But if you are watching the matches on full or comprehensive, pay attention for ineffective sequences of your defenders passing the ball amongst themselves. If you see that, they don't have enough options ahead of them and you want to adjust and drop that TI.

If things are functioning the way you want, then there really isn't need to tweak. But if you want better defensive solidity and/or to alter the way the forwards are combining, you can drop the Pass Into Space, Work Ball Into Box, and maybe even the Pass out of Defense, then adjust the BWM, the AMs, the ST, and maybe even the FBs. Its all guesswork without knowing what you are specifically trying to achieve and what problems you are seeing.

Think i've sorted it now to be fair. Won the last 5 on the trot including games against Lazio and Milan away.

Stuck with 4-2-3-1 on control, but have changed passing from short to more direct and experiencing much more success with it.

Short Passing can actually be limiting if you players don't have good options. Mixed is actually more effective than people seem to realize, as you aren't forcing the players to look at one option or another.

The key to tweaking is making small adjustments, watching for the effect, and making sure you know what the TI is going to do and how that fits your overall intent.
 
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