Everyone remembers the success of Osram's Bayern in 2012-2013. They were playing the most modern football and they won. Everything. But was Osram's tactic perfect? My personal opinion is that it could have been better.
I kept thinking about his style of play, and how great and genius it was, so I tried to replicate it. And got decent success. People that tested my tactic, ended up first with Bayern and in top five of their leagues with other teams.
But, some things kept bugging me. I always try to be the best and improve myself, and it is my opinion the world would be a better place if everyone did that. In FM terms, that means I kept fiddling.
So, as I analysed his formation, I found out he was giving to little space to his flanks by using a shadow striker in AMC position. The hole is where the flanks should go in, but it is already populated with a shadow striker and a defensive foward. And then I remembered Pep switched to 4-1-4-1, and used a CM to also attack the hole.
Anyway, this is turning out to be a load of text, so I'm going to shorten things up. I think the best formation is
4-5-1. Unlike Osram's 4-2-3-1 deep, it doesn't leave the middle of the pitch to opponent, but instead packs it with bodies, much like Barca style.
However, unlike Pep's 4-1-4-1 style, it features two flanks in AMRL positions, where they can make the most damage and cut inside. The hole remains open for all players to attack.
Again, unlike Pep's style, I think Osram was right not to exploit the middle, but instead exploit the flank and clear ball to flank. If any opponent tried to press our back line, we would easily dispose of it, and initiate a counter attack. GK gives the ball to fullback, he releases his flank into space, and half of the job is done in matter of seconds.
So if we are going to use a 4-5-1, (or a 4-1-4-1 for that matter) it would normally require a creative midfield, like in Barca for example, but if we are clearing the ball to flanks, the midfield trio requires no creativity. They need to be ball wining midfielders, physicall players that keep things simple. That was exactly the type of player Osram built his team on. Physicall, robust, tall, strong and perhaps mean
The creativity is gained from a creative right wing that does everything. Cutting inside, crossing, runing at defence, wining throw ins, being the engine and probably your most important player.
Since Osram's idea was to use heavy high presssing, it meant squishing the play, and playing it narrow, so an inside forward is required on the left flank, and a defensive forward in attack. The striker presses the opponents dlp if any, and keeps things simple and brings others into play.
So basically, in my tactic, I kept most of Osram's ideas and ingenuity, but instead of 4-2-3-1 deep, and giving the middle to opponent, opted for a 4-5-1 formation.That is what Pep should have done, IMHO.
If you want to test this tactic yourself or have suggestions on improving it, please download it or comment here.
I kept thinking about his style of play, and how great and genius it was, so I tried to replicate it. And got decent success. People that tested my tactic, ended up first with Bayern and in top five of their leagues with other teams.
But, some things kept bugging me. I always try to be the best and improve myself, and it is my opinion the world would be a better place if everyone did that. In FM terms, that means I kept fiddling.
So, as I analysed his formation, I found out he was giving to little space to his flanks by using a shadow striker in AMC position. The hole is where the flanks should go in, but it is already populated with a shadow striker and a defensive foward. And then I remembered Pep switched to 4-1-4-1, and used a CM to also attack the hole.
Anyway, this is turning out to be a load of text, so I'm going to shorten things up. I think the best formation is
4-5-1. Unlike Osram's 4-2-3-1 deep, it doesn't leave the middle of the pitch to opponent, but instead packs it with bodies, much like Barca style.
However, unlike Pep's 4-1-4-1 style, it features two flanks in AMRL positions, where they can make the most damage and cut inside. The hole remains open for all players to attack.
Again, unlike Pep's style, I think Osram was right not to exploit the middle, but instead exploit the flank and clear ball to flank. If any opponent tried to press our back line, we would easily dispose of it, and initiate a counter attack. GK gives the ball to fullback, he releases his flank into space, and half of the job is done in matter of seconds.
So if we are going to use a 4-5-1, (or a 4-1-4-1 for that matter) it would normally require a creative midfield, like in Barca for example, but if we are clearing the ball to flanks, the midfield trio requires no creativity. They need to be ball wining midfielders, physicall players that keep things simple. That was exactly the type of player Osram built his team on. Physicall, robust, tall, strong and perhaps mean
The creativity is gained from a creative right wing that does everything. Cutting inside, crossing, runing at defence, wining throw ins, being the engine and probably your most important player.
Since Osram's idea was to use heavy high presssing, it meant squishing the play, and playing it narrow, so an inside forward is required on the left flank, and a defensive forward in attack. The striker presses the opponents dlp if any, and keeps things simple and brings others into play.
So basically, in my tactic, I kept most of Osram's ideas and ingenuity, but instead of 4-2-3-1 deep, and giving the middle to opponent, opted for a 4-5-1 formation.That is what Pep should have done, IMHO.
If you want to test this tactic yourself or have suggestions on improving it, please download it or comment here.
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