Team Shape, Roles and Duties Guide

[damien rice]

Team Shape

Highly Structured:
Defenders are responsible only for the defensive phase.
Midfielders are responsible only for the transition phase.
Forwards are responsible only for the attacking phase.

Structured:
Central defenders are responsible only for the defensive phase.
The full backs and more defensive midfielders are responsible for defensive and transition phases.
The wingers and more attacking midfielders are responsible for the transition and attacking phases.
The forwards are responsible only for the attacking phases.

Flexible:
Defenders and more defensive midfielders are responsible for defensive and transition phases.
More attacking midfielders and forwards are responsible for both transition and attack phases.

Fluid:
The team is split into broad attacking and defensive units with the more creative players responsible for the attacking phase and the more defensively disciplined players responsible for the defensive phase. However, players from both units are responsible for the transition phase when the right opportunity comes.

Very Fluid:
Attackers must be able to defend and defenders must be able to attack, with players relying on the reading of the game and each other’s movement to shift in and out of each phase at the right time.

According to these descriptions:

	Highly Structured	Structured	Flexible	Fluid	Very Fluid
GK	defense	defense	defense	defense transition	defense transition attack
SW	defense	defense	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition attack
DC	defense	defense	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition attack
DRL	defense	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition attack
DMC	defense	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition attack
WBRL	defense	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition	defense transition attack
MC	transition	transition attack	transition attack	transition attack/defense	transition attack defense
MRL	transition	transition attack	transition attack	transition attack/defense	transition attack defense
AMC	transition	transition attack	transition attack	transition attack/defense	transition attack defense
AMRL	transition	transition attack	transition attack	transition attack/defense	transition attack defense
ST	attack	attack	attack transition	attack transition	attack transition defense

Player Roles and Duties

1.
"Attack" duty corresponds to attacking phase
"Support" duty corresponds to transition phase
"Defend" duty corresponds to defensive phase

2.
GK SW DC DRL DMC WBRL are inherently responsible for defensive phase
MC MRL AMC AMRL are inherently responsible for transition phase
ST is inherently responsible for attacking phase

For example, if we choose Deep-lying Forward (Attack), he will be only responsible for attacking phase.
However, if we choose Deep-lying Forward (Support), he will be responsible for both attacking phase and transition phase.

Suitable Player Roles and Duties in each Team Shape:

	Highly Structured	Structured	Flexible	Fluid	Very Fluid
GK	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty
SW	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty
DC	Limited defender	Limited defender	Central defender	Central defender	Ball-playing defender
DRL	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty
DMC	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Regista (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support)	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Regista (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support)	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Regista (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support)	Regista (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction
WBRL	Roles with "Defend" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty
MC	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Box-to-box midfielder (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support)	Roles with "Attack" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty Roles with "Defend" duty	Box-to-box midfielder (Support) Roaming playmaker (Support) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction
MRL	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Wide playmaker (Support)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Wide playmaker (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Wide playmaker (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Roles with "Defend" duty Exception: Wide playmaker (Attack)	Wide playmaker (Support)/(Attack) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction
AMC	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Trequartista (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Trequartista (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Trequartista (Attack)	Trequartista (Attack) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction
AMRL	Roles with "Support" duty	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Raumdeuter (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Raumdeuter (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Raumdeuter (Attack)	Raumdeuter (Attack) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction
ST	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Complete forward (Attack) Trequartista (Attack)	Roles with "Attack" duty Exception: Complete forward (Attack) Trequartista (Attack)	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Complete forward (Support)	Roles with "Support" duty Exception: Complete forward (Support)	Complete forward (Support)/(Attack) Trequartista (Attack) Because these roles have "roam from position" instruction Defensive forward (Defend)

"Roam from position" instruction corresponds to the philosophy of the Very Fluid team shape: "with players relying on the reading of the game and each other’s movement to shift in and out of each phase at the right time."

 

[shaggy31]

Fair play this must have taken ages!

Would you recommend that if I play with say flexible for instance should I pick all my players from the recommended roles? Sorry to sound like a dunce but im losing the will to live with this game I've followed loads of guides on here that other people are no doubt having success with but im just having my **** handed to me every game.

 

[damien rice]

Fair play this must have taken ages!

Would you recommend that if I play with say flexible for instance should I pick all my players from the recommended roles? Sorry to sound like a dunce but im losing the will to live with this game I've followed loads of guides on here that other people are no doubt having success with but im just having my **** handed to me every game.

yes just choose those recommended roles

 

[Igneos79]

sticky please!

Great job dude!

 

[Igneos79]

Oh, I would also advise editing the post a bit...where transition is, there should be a support role, right? And for mc flexible, you only have two attack roles, there should be support roles aswell. usually there is more then one player there, and they share responsibilities.

 

[damien rice]

Oh, I would also advise editing the post a bit...where transition is, there should be a support role, right? And for mc flexible, you only have two attack roles, there should be support roles aswell. usually there is more then one player there, and they share responsibilities.

because MC is inherently responsible for transition phase
no matter what roles we choose, MC is still responsible for transition phase
when we choose central midfielder (support), he is responsible for transition phase only
but when we choose central midfielder (attack), he is responsible for BOTH transition and attack phase

 

[Igneos79]

because MC is inherently responsible for transition phase
no matter what roles we choose, MC is still responsible for transition phase
when we choose central midfielder (support), he is responsible for transition phase only
but when we choose central midfielder (attack), he is responsible for BOTH transition and attack phase

I agree, but what happens to holding mid in lets say 4-4-2? You would put two CMa there? Or 442 must be fluid then?

 

[Igneos79]

So, let me get this straight: a highly structured team shape means defenders defend, central mids support, and attackers attack. Everyone has just one duty, be it defending, transition, or attack. It would mean we would create a large gap between players, so if we don't want to cut off anyone, we should be using a more layered formation, like assymetric ones or 4-1-2-1-2, for example. We don't see sliders anymore, so I have no idea if creativity is increased with it or decreased now?

 

[Igneos79]

oh, and in highly stuctured, midfielders are supposed to transition. Isn't DMC also midfielder and should transition, instead of defend?

 

[damien rice]

I agree, but what happens to holding mid in lets say 4-4-2? You would put two CMa there? Or 442 must be fluid then?

it can be highly structured

 

[damien rice]

oh, and in highly stuctured, midfielders are supposed to transition. Isn't DMC also midfielder and should transition, instead of defend?

as DMC is parallel to WBRL
i would consider DMC as defenders

 

[damien rice]

So, let me get this straight: a highly structured team shape means defenders defend, central mids support, and attackers attack. Everyone has just one duty, be it defending, transition, or attack. It would mean we would create a large gap between players, so if we don't want to cut off anyone, we should be using a more layered formation, like assymetric ones or 4-1-2-1-2, for example. It would be unsuitable to keep possession, as everyone would look to go forward, meaning it would better suit an attack mentality, rather then defend, as used to be the case so far. We don't see sliders anymore, so I have no idea if creativity is increased with it or decreased now? If I was right in my own guide earlier, which I deleted, it would mean Tactic creator is now looking for balance, or better put, we should be using a more agressive TI's and more agressive team mentality with a more structured team shape. Which would actually make a tactic with attack mentality and agressivness that goes with it perfect for LLM. Combined with your suggested player roles, we could make a tonne of perfect tactics...

1. i think any team shapes could be adopted to any formations
a highly structured 442 is just like the traditional british 442
so i don't think it is a problem

2. i think mentality and team shape don't have any causal relationships
i would consider mentality as the "tendency to take risk"
it really depends on your team's strength comparing to the opposition team

 

[Igneos79]

I tried playing a highly structured 442 with 2 CMs and 2 adv forwards. The adv forwards got cut off. Even the assistant suggested changing mentality in that window during the match. I was right, flat formations require a more fluid and more agressive approach, and I have just written my own guide about it, and written why this is so. I also linked this thread there, hope you don't mind.

 

[Igneos79]

well, you were right about DMC, he does need to be on defend.

 

[shaggy31]

Do you think its possible to create a tiki taka type tactic on fm15? I've had loads of different advice on here about creating one and it seems to work for the first 5-6 games and things go pear shaped. I can understand people telling me that other teams get used to the way I play but I think its a bit unrealistic that one minute im flying then the next im being given the boot. Honestly this game is driving me nuts I always struggle at the beginning when the game comes out but after a bit I find a system that works reasonably well. Sorry to whinge but im really struggling this year and you 2 seem to know what your talking about.

 

[damien rice]

I tried playing a highly structured 442 with 2 CMs and 2 adv forwards. The adv forwards got cut off. Even the assistant suggested changing mentality in that window during the match. I was right, flat formations require a more fluid and less agressive approach, and I have just written my own guide about it, and written why this is so. I also linked this thread there, hope you don't mind.

you are right and i think it depends on the arrangement of AMC,MC and DMC

 

[damien rice]

Do you think its possible to create a tiki taka type tactic on fm15? I've had loads of different advice on here about creating one and it seems to work for the first 5-6 games and things go pear shaped. I can understand people telling me that other teams get used to the way I play but I think its a bit unrealistic that one minute im flying then the next im being given the boot. Honestly this game is driving me nuts I always struggle at the beginning when the game comes out but after a bit I find a system that works reasonably well. Sorry to whinge but im really struggling this year and you 2 seem to know what your talking about.

you can try very fluid system with those recommended roles

 

[shaggy31]

I'll have a go cheers. Im Liverpool so I should have a good chance of having a good crack at it cheers for your help

 

[123hello]

Haven't you got Structured and Highly Structured the wrong way round?

 

[Igneos79]

Haven't you got Structured and Highly Structured the wrong way round?

I asked myself the same question. With highly structured, you should be able to use fancy roles, and simple ones with very fluid, but then again, you should be roaming with very fluid, and stick to position with structured, so I think he is correct.

On the other hand, if you play a structured, less agressive approach, and defend deep and close down less, you should have decent defenders with great composure, that know how to keep the ball, and he suggests limited ones...