TESTING: 4-1-2-1-2 Goal Glut Diamond.. DOUBLE with Arsenal

[ShaGunner]

Hello guys, have had a lot of trouble with this FM14, a lot of the plug and play tactics not working the way I want them to, so I came up with this after tweaking after every 2-3 games.

It is a 4-1-2-1-2 Diamond formation.

View attachment 456737

EVERYONE in this tactic is heavily involved in the play and creation of goal-scoring opportunities.

The Regista for my 2013/2014 season stats:
View attachment 456724

As you can see, 9 goals 7 assists with 85% pass rate from that deep in midfield is very good, especially Ramsey is still quite young.

Now the main supply will come from your defensive wingers. Don't get it wrong though, just because they are listed as Defensive does not mean they will not go forward! The defensive winger role is amazing, they will go high up the pitch against the opponent full-backs and wingers, and steal the ball.
Imagine them as BWM (Ball-winning midfielder), except on the wings!

Here are the stats of one of the wingers:
View attachment 456720

4 goals 14 assists with 6.60 tackles won per 90 min. Having well-rounded midfielders with high work rate and defensive attributes are optimum for this role.

However, I have used Chamberlain, Candreva etc in this role (more attack minded) and it works out well.

The AMC in this role decimates opponents... Almost is always unmarked and has plenty of options to pass to; 2 wingers side of him, 2 forwards in front of him. The role is an attacking Advanced Playmaker.

My Mesut Ozil and Jack Wilshere relished in this role:
View attachment 456717

Obviously it is Mesut Ozil, you will always expect him to perform.. but this is extraordinary!
11 goals 22 assists, winning Man of the Match 11 times !!

Now to the focus of the Diamond, the two forwards.

The first forward is a supporting Defensive Forward. Very similar to the Defensive wingers, this forward will strive to win the ball as quickly as possible in the opposing half, whilst tightly marking the anchor-men or midfielders instead of the defenders. Getting a forward who is capable of passing, shooting, heading is ideal. Not a lot of pace is required.

The second role is an attacking Target Man. The wingers, full backs etc will look to supply in crosses to this lad, whilst he will also be looking to play on the forwards near him (AMC, and other ST).

Due to the fact that the front three are a combination of: Playmaker, Supporting Forward, Target Man, you can see that all three will be collaborating together.

Here are the stats for my forwards:
- Robert Lewandowski: 46 Apps, 28 Goals, 13 Assists
- Carlos Vela: 20 Apps, 8 Goals, 8 Assists (mainly used as a sub)
- Timo Werner: 26 Apps, 12 Goals, 5 Assists (mainly used as a sub)
- Olivier Giroud: 35 Apps, 24 Goals, 12 Assists

As you can see; big, lumbering forwards are great for this role. Carlos Vela didn't really perform well for me due to him being weaker on the ball and usually misses all his tackles (or ends up getting sent off).


Now... RESULTS:

**THIS TACTIC ISN'T VERY GOOD DEFENSIVELY, BUT IT CAN GUARANTEE GOALS**

You need players with good mental stats (WORK RATE, DETERMINATION, BRAVERY) because you will concede. Remember, the point of football is to OUTSCORE your opponent, not to park!

Against small team results:
View attachment 456700View attachment 456699View attachment 456696

Against similar teams;
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Fixtures that ran into me winning the EPL and FA CUP:
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Team Talks are normal, I get aggressive when we're losing and calm/cautious when praising the team if we win. When it's a draw it's usually Assertive.

** This tactic is not yet complete! I need suggestions and advice from those who try it out to help me complete the structure of the defence**

Try it out!! Please leave feedback so I can complete this further!


APPLY:

- If you are not getting 20+ shots against similar rated teams or lower, then change mentality from counter to ATTACKING.

- if not enough crosses are being supplied, change the defensive forwards to SUPPORT, or, change limited full backs to AUTOMATIC FULL BACKS.


**Edit:
Added off-side trap and higher defense.. working a lot better, conceding less goals but still maintaining amount of goal scoring opportunities.

Try 1ATK tactic.

** Screenshot of fixtures with 1ATK tactic.

View attachment 456530

Now... you will still LEAK a lot of goals. Just make sure your team is up for it! High morale, conditioning and fitness is a must!

- Additional Tips:

If you are a top club try and go for Robert Lewandowski, with a bit of haggling you can grab him for 15m pounds at the start of the season, and he is world-class.

If you don't want to spend, grab Leandro Daimao from Brazil league for under 4m pounds.

Leon Britton is good for the Regista role, and is very cheap purchase for all clubs.

 

[Conn]

Interesting

 

[RobertoNUFC]

I like the look of this!
Do you have any info on team instructions, playing style and players instructions? Cant downlad it right now but it looks intriguing!

 

[ShaGunner]

I like the look of this!
Do you have any info on team instructions, playing style and players instructions? Cant downlad it right now but it looks intriguing!

I tried to stray away from Tiki-Taka and instead invest into hard, direct football type of play.

Some of the important instructions for the team:
- Push Higher Up
This is crucial as I desire to win the ball in the opponent half and score within as least amount of passes as possible. Winning the ball in your own half isn't very viable for this tactic.

- Run At Defence
I am very comfortable with the prowess of my players, especially my wingers... so I know that they will have a high chance of beating an opponent in a one-on-one situation. Not very good if you have players who aren't creative on the ball.

- Pump Ball Into box
When you have big. strong players in the box (Target men, etc) you can guarantee that they will win the ball. This is very prevalent when I'm watching the game, as a massive cluster of confusion is activated when the ball is in the box. All players converge into one another, the opponents defense are taken out of position, etc. BUT, with my big forwards shrugging off players in the box, and technically brilliant play-makers lurking outside - it makes this instruction perfect.

- Hassle Opponents
I feel that this helps the urgency of winning the ball back. You don't want to give the opponent ANY time on the ball whatsoever. This backfires a lot though, especially if you have weaker, fragile players.


For player instructions:

They are mostly there to help what ever defence is left, for example;
Advanced Playmaker - set to Close Down More
Regista - is set to hold his position
Wingers - set to aim crosses at target man

I feel without the playmaker and DM holding down the opponent then I will most likely lose the game, as my four at the back cannot cope without the extra protection.

 

[RobertoNUFC]

Great explanations. I too liek the direct style. What do you have your mentality and fluidity set to?

 

[ShaGunner]

Since the player roles are very simplistic and not too complicated (i.e, Target Men, Def Wingers, Playmaker), I set it to Very Fluid. This works well as I want my players to add in their own creativity and style to the play, instead of sticking to single roles like they would if I set it to Rigid.

The mentality is Counter, but I feel that Attacking may be much better.

I have tweaked a little further with the mentality and full-backs to supply the forwards, try that download if you can guys.

 

[zinc1]

just tried this formation with liverpool and im sorry but it really aint working for me i lost 4.0 to chelsea in first game away then home to newcastle lost 3.1 then lost in carling cup to carlise 2.0

 

[ShaGunner]

just tried this formation with liverpool and im sorry but it really aint working for me i lost 4.0 to chelsea in first game away then home to newcastle lost 3.1 then lost in carling cup to carlise 2.0

That's no good! Sorry mate.

Which tactic did you try? Please try the 1ATK download for me, then tell me your results. I think I have fixed the defending issue.

However, did you manage to get clear cut chances and lots of shots in those games? Was the tactic fully fluid?

 

[zinc1]

do you know how to get a tactic fluid quickly because it takes ****** ages

 

[ShaGunner]

do you know how to get a tactic fluid quickly because it takes ****** ages

Set training to Very High, on Team Cohesion and drag the node all the way to the left, then play through match after match. I always set up the highest amount of friendlies possible so the tactic is fluid by the time the season starts.

 

[zinc1]

thanks mate will give that a go

 

[zinc1]

i have tried the new version and i am leaking goals for fun scoring them too but losing about 3 goals a game