Where to start?
When building my tactics, the first thing I consider is my attacking movements. It is essential that my players to move into the right areas of the pitch to create some overloads and hence free up space for other players to attack. For that I relied on key principles and ideas from great managers namely Pep Guadiola and Mauricio Pochettino. Being a fan of possession with purpose and fast attacking, I wanted to incorporate these in my tactics. My choice was then to use a 4-2-4 as below.
How do I want to attack?
It is commonplace to see tactics with 3 strikers and to be honest they are quite successful as the AI is tricked. One principle here is that those tactics are very good at exploiting the space between the Center-backs and the full-backs just like Guardiola's City. For that to be possible, it means that I need to create width, again a principle of Pep Guadiorla. But at the same time, I want my players to be close enough to combine (one-twos) and unsettle the opposition (well executed by Pochettino's Spurs). So attacking wise, my team positional play is as follow:
As you can see, it is a joy for a good AP/DLP to have so many players to aim for. How does that work? Well, as my team plays wide it means that the two IFs start really wide so that they can attack the defenders at pace. But as I don't want them to be too wide in possession I instruct them to stay central forcing opposition fullbacks to stay central and creating space for bombing WBs. As AI tends to defend very narrow, it is a joy to see amazing wing play resulting in a cross with 4 players in the box.
I have also realised that AI can't cope with strikers on support duties so I decided to have both strikers on support duties. It helps combining with IFs and the AP.
So it is a really good unpredictable tactic because your double pivot (formed by the AP and DLP) can hurt the opposition with the right pass (behind the defence, on the flanks).
In Defence
Defensively, I think defending with a good-old 4-4-2 is awesome as it covers all key areas of the pitch. Is it perfect? Of course not. We all know the weaknesses of defending with a 4-4-2 namely the space between the back 4 and the midfield. I take care of that using TIs (higher defensive line+ standard line of engagement). This means that we stay compact and high on the pitch.
How does it look like in FM19?
Results
I have tested this tactic with Inter (a sleeping giant) in an online save. The results just speak for themselves. Good going forward and solid at the back. So why don't you try it?
Training
I can't stress enough how important training is for this tactic to be successfull. As mentioned earlier, your players need to understand wingplay, direct and patient attacking plans. I have attached my training schedules.
My training is spilt into 3 phases: pre-season, Phase 1(P1) and Phase 2(P2)
For a 5-week pre-season, I use the pre-season schedule for 2 weeks (no games during those weeks) and then switch to P1 schedules until the end of November. I then switch to P2 training till the season end.
Make sure that your games are played on wednesdays and saturdays (if not it is going to mess up the training schedules).
For wednesday and saturday games (in the same week), use 2 games schedule
For home Saturday games, use H saturday schedules
For away saturday games, use A saturday schedules
For home wednesday games, use H wednesday schedules
For away wednesday games, use A saturday schedules
For free week (international weeks), use either free week (P1) or match practice(P2)
Other issues to know
When you get a red card, take off the less performing striker.
I can't stress enough how vital it is to have pacey strikers (at least 15, think Callum Wilson), good AP with long shot and work rate (at least 15, think Bruno Fernandes), solid DLP with work rate (think Ndombele, Koke), good wing-backs with good crossing abilities (think Grimaldo, Mbabu).
Thanks for reading!
When building my tactics, the first thing I consider is my attacking movements. It is essential that my players to move into the right areas of the pitch to create some overloads and hence free up space for other players to attack. For that I relied on key principles and ideas from great managers namely Pep Guadiola and Mauricio Pochettino. Being a fan of possession with purpose and fast attacking, I wanted to incorporate these in my tactics. My choice was then to use a 4-2-4 as below.
How do I want to attack?
It is commonplace to see tactics with 3 strikers and to be honest they are quite successful as the AI is tricked. One principle here is that those tactics are very good at exploiting the space between the Center-backs and the full-backs just like Guardiola's City. For that to be possible, it means that I need to create width, again a principle of Pep Guadiorla. But at the same time, I want my players to be close enough to combine (one-twos) and unsettle the opposition (well executed by Pochettino's Spurs). So attacking wise, my team positional play is as follow:
As you can see, it is a joy for a good AP/DLP to have so many players to aim for. How does that work? Well, as my team plays wide it means that the two IFs start really wide so that they can attack the defenders at pace. But as I don't want them to be too wide in possession I instruct them to stay central forcing opposition fullbacks to stay central and creating space for bombing WBs. As AI tends to defend very narrow, it is a joy to see amazing wing play resulting in a cross with 4 players in the box.
I have also realised that AI can't cope with strikers on support duties so I decided to have both strikers on support duties. It helps combining with IFs and the AP.
So it is a really good unpredictable tactic because your double pivot (formed by the AP and DLP) can hurt the opposition with the right pass (behind the defence, on the flanks).
In Defence
Defensively, I think defending with a good-old 4-4-2 is awesome as it covers all key areas of the pitch. Is it perfect? Of course not. We all know the weaknesses of defending with a 4-4-2 namely the space between the back 4 and the midfield. I take care of that using TIs (higher defensive line+ standard line of engagement). This means that we stay compact and high on the pitch.
How does it look like in FM19?
Results
I have tested this tactic with Inter (a sleeping giant) in an online save. The results just speak for themselves. Good going forward and solid at the back. So why don't you try it?
Training
I can't stress enough how important training is for this tactic to be successfull. As mentioned earlier, your players need to understand wingplay, direct and patient attacking plans. I have attached my training schedules.
My training is spilt into 3 phases: pre-season, Phase 1(P1) and Phase 2(P2)
For a 5-week pre-season, I use the pre-season schedule for 2 weeks (no games during those weeks) and then switch to P1 schedules until the end of November. I then switch to P2 training till the season end.
Make sure that your games are played on wednesdays and saturdays (if not it is going to mess up the training schedules).
For wednesday and saturday games (in the same week), use 2 games schedule
For home Saturday games, use H saturday schedules
For away saturday games, use A saturday schedules
For home wednesday games, use H wednesday schedules
For away wednesday games, use A saturday schedules
For free week (international weeks), use either free week (P1) or match practice(P2)
Other issues to know
When you get a red card, take off the less performing striker.
I can't stress enough how vital it is to have pacey strikers (at least 15, think Callum Wilson), good AP with long shot and work rate (at least 15, think Bruno Fernandes), solid DLP with work rate (think Ndombele, Koke), good wing-backs with good crossing abilities (think Grimaldo, Mbabu).
Thanks for reading!
Last edited:
