I am deep into my first (and only) FM 2013 Newcastle United save - season 14, year 2025. After a long period of building we are a real force to be reckoned with. The club is massively successful, the team at my disposal is extremely strong and sadly none of the other Premiership sides are consistent enough with their transfer policy to poise a genuine threat in the long term. For this reason I am looking at further challenges to keep the save interesting.
I tried to forge a free-attacking formation aiming to create goalscoring opportunities for every single position in the team. The purpose is to get any player to score during a season, and score as many goals as possible. Conceding is not a worry. I keep a relatively small squad (22 players) every season and managed to achieve that on two occasions. But looking at my squad I believe there is still room for improvement and would like to ask for advice regarding the formation. I'd appreciate suggestions on anything - individual roles, team instructions, player instructions. Please keep in mind the sole purpose is for every player to get as many chances to score as possible. Not just the offensive players, every single one of them.
This is the formation I currently use:
View attachment 342246
The game acknowledges it as 4-2-4 but it is quite different. It produces no less than 120 goals in the Premiership, once managed 170. I occasionally concede freak goals like 90 yards out but I've accepted it as a due negative. Chances created vary between 15 and 40 shots per game depending on the opposition.
Set pieces are designed to grind chances for the defenders (had a few occasions when one of them actually managed to outscore the inside forwards), the goalkeepers also benefit 2-3 goals a season.
Wingbacks score occasionally.
The deeplying playmaker gets the least chances and may not score for an entire season.
Is there anything that can be done to increase the proficiency of the wingbacks and the DPL without massively crippling the flow of play? While the results are excellent most of the time except for when my keeper decides to let in 3 goals from 3 shots on target, I cannot but wonder how much of this is due to the sheer talent in the squad and whether some tweaks could improve the current style even further.
Any thoughts?
I tried to forge a free-attacking formation aiming to create goalscoring opportunities for every single position in the team. The purpose is to get any player to score during a season, and score as many goals as possible. Conceding is not a worry. I keep a relatively small squad (22 players) every season and managed to achieve that on two occasions. But looking at my squad I believe there is still room for improvement and would like to ask for advice regarding the formation. I'd appreciate suggestions on anything - individual roles, team instructions, player instructions. Please keep in mind the sole purpose is for every player to get as many chances to score as possible. Not just the offensive players, every single one of them.
This is the formation I currently use:
View attachment 342246
The game acknowledges it as 4-2-4 but it is quite different. It produces no less than 120 goals in the Premiership, once managed 170. I occasionally concede freak goals like 90 yards out but I've accepted it as a due negative. Chances created vary between 15 and 40 shots per game depending on the opposition.
Set pieces are designed to grind chances for the defenders (had a few occasions when one of them actually managed to outscore the inside forwards), the goalkeepers also benefit 2-3 goals a season.
Wingbacks score occasionally.
The deeplying playmaker gets the least chances and may not score for an entire season.
Is there anything that can be done to increase the proficiency of the wingbacks and the DPL without massively crippling the flow of play? While the results are excellent most of the time except for when my keeper decides to let in 3 goals from 3 shots on target, I cannot but wonder how much of this is due to the sheer talent in the squad and whether some tweaks could improve the current style even further.
Any thoughts?