The Palace Project -Setting up a tactic for specific players and circumstances

[Malarkey]

With palace on the latest patch, just stick Vaughan and iversen upfront with zaha as backup and cadogan on the wing, and you're good to go.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

With palace on the latest patch, just stick Vaughan and iversen upfront with zaha as backup and cadogan on the wing, and you're good to go.

You are probably right although the purpose of this thread is to show how I make a tactics based on the players, not just how to plug and play by using a some holes in the ME ( read quick Fcs and complete Fcs)

 

[TheBetterHalf]

The Wingers




OLIVIER KAPO – WINGER

This free transfer is perhaps the best winger in the team and he can be used both on the left and the right flank. Due to his fetidness, his settings will be ever so different. As you see, he is left footed and left footed only.

Here, you find the settings when he is on the right flank. As he likes to run with the ball, and will do so using his left foot, he will cut inside with the ball. As he will do this with the ball, the wide play can be changed to move into channels. To make sure that he does not look for crosses, moving down the line, his crossing is set to rarely

When playing in this flank, we actually want him to make crosses so they are set to often instead. He is also set to hold up the ball here, awaiting the right moment to cross or await his teammates in midfield. Again, he moves into channels as he has the quality to do so

 

[TheBetterHalf]

KIERON CADOGAN - WINGER

Here, we have a player similaire to Kapo only this time, he is much weaker and not as intelligent. He has a rather poor off the ball stat and its crucial that he gets trained so it gets better. In short, he is not as good as Kapo. He has one specific competence though, and that’s pace. As he can be used as a striker to, I will get back to those settings later on

The setting I would like to give him are almost the exact of Kapo with one major difference. He should never hold on to the ball as he is not strong enough for it and lacks decision on what to do with the ball. He should just make crosses from one flank, and go straight at goal form the other, that simple.

Nex Player

DARREN AMBROSE - WINGER

Haha, an almost 2-footd player that likes to cut inside and that have great movement ( off the ball) and knows how to score. Me Likes .

Here, I would play him the same way regardless of flank. He should get inside the area by moving into channels and from there, go straight at goal. The cut inside part then ? . Well the ppm will take care of that but the important thing here is that when he does, he can make a quick turn, ghost passing his defenders and going on the outside instead by using both feet.

 

[Striker122]

good read so far really good ideas on how to produce roles to fit the players you have, normally i buy players to fit roles clearly in the lower leagues that is harder to do looking forward to see the forward settings and any other posts after

 

[Shaneckham]

Great stuff mate, great detail, I'm loving it. Just wondering I have hulk. Would you play him on the right wing moving into channels as he has cut inside ppm. And I have Neymar same question for him? I normally play them as inside forwards, cheers mate!

 

[TheBetterHalf]

good read so far really good ideas on how to produce roles to fit the players you have, normally i buy players to fit roles clearly in the lower leagues that is harder to do looking forward to see the forward settings and any other posts after

Thanks ! I will have the rest of the team up tonight along with the overall tactical approach. After that, i will report from the matches that I have played and how and why I tweaked the settings for the players

Great stuff mate, great detail, I'm loving it. Just wondering I have hulk. Would you play him on the right wing moving into channels as he has cut inside ppm. And I have Neymar same question for him? I normally play them as inside forwards, cheers mate!

I will post these suggestions after I have made some posts about my team

 

[GodCubed]

It seems you've inadvertently got what Darren Ambrose does in real life spot on.

Great read, can't wait to see more.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

It seems you've inadvertently got what Darren Ambrose does in real life spot on.

Great read, can't wait to see more.

Thanks

 

[I3east]

I have just read through it all and i must say it is a great read ! Good signing in McCann btw, he rejected me (swfc) for WBA.

EDIT: When will the strikers be up mate? And do you think Easter is good enough ?

 

[TheBetterHalf]

THE STRIKERS

When playing with a lone Forward, its important that he can actually play the part. A average striker without any specific competence will underperform big time in a “451” formation, especially in one without a supporting AMC, like the one I am using.

The player does not have to posses great pace and be a great poacher, nor be highly intelligent and creative along with a good movement. The important part is that he has one specific competence without a major flaw that undermines this skill, like a player that has great pace but really poor movement, anticipation and first touch. Like I have written before, its important to take the ppms into account when setting up a player, but when it comes to forwards, its crucial. A player set up as a poacher in a lone FC formation that has the ppms comes deep to get ball will drop deep, get the ball and then have a run at goal from deep. As he will consider himself to be at the end of the move, he will rarely look for a passing option. This is all fine and dandy but when he has dropped deep, he will have to beat 3 or 4 men before having a chance to put the ball away and this will only lead to long shots taken from bad angels, in haste, or when actually having managed to beat the defenders, after a long run with the ball. Here, he will fail to score. When setting up a player that should act as a linkman, dropping deep, holding on the ball and make short passes to a midfielder, one has to make sure that the player will actually drop deep. If the player has the ppm “gets forward”, run with ball through the center and/or takes first time shots all instead of get deep to get ball, he will still hold up the ball, but this time, when in an advanced position. Here, he will have very few short passing options and instead he will go straight at goal, making the flow of the game ever so different from what one wanted.



Just like in midfield where I described how I like to setup the players within a 4321 Formation I have a preferred style upfront as well and just like in midfield, these settings have to be tweaked to suit the players at hand without stepping away too much from what actually suit the general approach. In short, the team still have to function as a whole as a group. These are the roles that I like to use.


A Quick Poacher – A player that plays on the shoulder of the last defender and moves into space, going straight at goal

A Complete Linkman – A strong and intelligent player dropping deep, acting as a linkman before moving forward into the box

A Deep Lying Forward – Placing him self deeper to collect the ball before moving forward with it, setting up a team mate, not doing anything fancy on the way


NEXT, THE SETTINGS OF THE STRIKERS

 

[TheBetterHalf]

JAMES VAUGHAN - QUICK OR DEEPLYING FORWARD

For playing in the CCC, this guy is a monster. He is fast with great movement. He is also a Team player that never gives up. On downside, his lack in tackling, decision and somewhat even in anticipation, along with the fact that he likes to dive into tackles, makes him a security risk if being asked to close down much. He is just too aggressive without being good enough for it. If he had been a strong DMC, one could have argued whether it could have been worth it having him close down everything and everyone but as his a forward, the risk is bigger then the reward. He is also onefooted and will miss some of the easy chances when getting the ball on his left foot.


Here, I am using him as a mobile and quick poacher something that will be great against teams playing with a higher then average d-line. He is to look for space and when he finds it and with the ball, he is to go straight at goal. He is set to play a direct game so that he either makes a pass to a team mate or go straight at goal. If he had been on short passing, he would probably not have found that option with the central mids being too far behind, only going for goal and ignoring the wingers but now, he uses that option to


Setting for the Quick Poacher role

Here, I am using him as a deep lying Forward, being limited, acting more like a linkman between the defensive and the midfield strata, lying in the hole. This is mostly against teams dropping or sitting deep. He should still look for space and move into channels
The reason for me to not using him as a more Complete Linkman coming deep is just because he wont come deep from an advanced position as its not in his nature. He is also not creative enough to be playing such a big part of the build up. Instead, using these settings, we make use of his movement and pace rather than his intelligence


Setting for the Deep Lying FC role

 

[TheBetterHalf]

STEFFEN IVERSEN - DEEP LYING FORWARD

Firstly, have a look at his stats. Isn't this player just slightly overrated on FM11 ? He is actually almost as good as Berbatov ( screenshot further down) although much slower. Whilst Berbs could have been used in a complete Linkman role, coming deep from an advanced position, Iversen should play deeper and should be given lots of ball played to his feet. He could actually be used both as a target man set to feet or a TQ. When putting the following stats together…

- High Creativity
- High Decision
- High passing
- High Technique
- High Flair


…It makes him the perfect player to act in a transition phase. He comes up with a lot of ideas that very few players would think of. He is also smart enough do d decide when to make that trickier t-ball and as he has got good passing and technique, he will also pull it of.

Here, we are using his as a more deep lying forward and to be sure not to restrict him at all, he is given mixed in all settings, hold up the ball and a free role. He is also asked to move into channels. When looking at his ppms, you see that he plays with his back to the goal. This makes him even more suited for acting as a playmaker or a target man fed to his feet. From this position further down the field, he will have a perfect view of the play.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

KIERON CADOGAN - playing up front

As written earlier, this player can play upfront as well. Here, we want to use his pace and dribbling. He is probably not good enough to act like a lone FC but as a last resort, I would use him in a more limited way. The key here is to make him act like he is not at the end of the move but instead as a winger. He should be starting from deep and make runs into channels and from there look for a cross or a pass into a winger.

But as written, he will never be my first or even second choice upfront

 

[TheBetterHalf]

PABLO COUNAGO - DEEP LYING FORWARD

( AND JERMAIN EASTER)

Here, we have a player on loan. He is costing us 4k every week and my advice would be to terminate the loan after getting a young replacement, As we had to sell our youngster to Liverpool, I am keeping him for now.

He is relatively strong with good movement. He also have a fairly good technique. As he plays with the back towards the goal, he will be ready for a pass at any time if given the settings to actually look for the free space.. This is why I have set him to a free role and to move into channels. Apart from that, I don’t want to limit him too much but instead give him mixed in all settings. He is given a mixed passing game to make sure that he has all options availble We also have a chnace to have a player closing down high from deep as he has no conflicting ppms or lack stamina

 

[TheBetterHalf]

PART 3 – THE TACTIC

As written in the first post, we are going to play in a more cautious manor. The reason for me choosing a Wide 4231 is so that we can flood the central midfield as well as use the flank. Playing tight and narrow in defence and open up the play when attacking

As we don’t want to sit too deep and invite too much pressure on us, we will play rather aggressive with a higher than average d-line using high press. The key will never be to have lots of possession as such but instead look where we and the opposition hold possession.


As written before, these are the default settings of the team and in some matches, we will have to change mentality to make sure that the players look for those t-balls and runs from deep more often.To make sure the team is familiar with playing more attacking and in a higher tempo, I make tweaks to the tactic, save it as a file and load up this one to. A raaise in mentality, higher tempo, slightly more width and a changes focus play and we are ready to go.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

Download link to the save is now found in the opening post

 

[TheBetterHalf]

PREPARING FOR THE MATCH


Before every game, I will look for as much information regarding the following


The opponent

- Their Formation ( where will the pace be found)
- Their style of play within it ( are they playing quick, down the flanks etc)
- Key players (using OIs)
- Weak elements ( using ois or concentration the play there)

The ref
- is he harsh or lenient ( hard or easy tackling)

The Pitch

- Short, long, wide, narrow. I want to know where the space is to be found

The Weather

- Is it raining, snowing, is it a hot day ( runs from deep, directness)


. Using this information, I will tweak my tactics slightly to suit the current circumstances. I will never abandon my original approach but I will still try to use all information to my advantage.



MATCH PREPERATION


Before each game, I will consider changing the match preparation from my default Defensive Positioning. If facing a team that I should beat, I normally consider Attacking Movement or, if this opponent will see their chance at set pieces, I will prepare for that, using Defending Set Pieces. The same way, I might consider Attacking Set Pieces my self if it should be my best chance, playing cautious and trying to ****** a win after a corner.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

First Match

Crystal Palace – Sheff Utd


Now, in this first match, I know that United will line up a 442 and as I use a standard pitch, the space will be found inside between their defenders and midfield. Apart from this information, the scouts have not seen them enough to make suggestions on key players. Therefor, the only adjustment, or choice is to use In Cutting wingers

- Kapo playing on the right side, using his right flank settings
- Ambrose playing on the left side, playing his normal game
- Vaughan playing upfront is his Quick Poacher role to benefit form the fact that our wingers will attract the attention of their Central Defenders, getting dragged out of position



Match Preparation: Defending Set Pieces

- As I was not sure whether my team is yet gelled enough, I anted to train extra on this, having a slight suspicion that the opponent saw this as their chance

Apart from this, I will play my own game, not looking too much on the opponent or the other conditions as I want to see how the team performs with my standard approach






The match went in my way, KAPO setting up VAUGHAN in all his 3 goals.

 

[TheBetterHalf]

LEICESTER - CRYSTAL PALACE



Here, the scouts provided us with the following information.

Now, what does it tell us. ?

Firstly, they play a 4141 and when looking at their tactic in the previous matches, they use a DMC, MC, MC and AMR/L behind a lone FC.

Their pitch is short, making the space between their D-line and Midfield short. As they use a DMC setting in front of the defenders, it means that there will be very, very little space there.


Knowing this, I made the following choices

- I played Kapo on the left flank using his left flank settings
- I used Ambrose on the right flank, giving him crosses from deep against far post set to often



Doing this, I made sure that we used the space out wide instead, Ambrose providing Kapo with 2 crosses and one t-ball, only for him to slot away