Diamond formation in FM 2011

Not a plea for help, or a just one of the deep philosophical questions that distract me while I'm at work.

In FM2010, the narrow diamond formation - 4-1-2-1-2 with outright DM & AMC and two central midfielders - was very popular. (and successful.)

Is anyone still using it in 2011?

Or have wide formations taken over?

using it with chelsea and its working but only with chelsea, tried it with manchester united/inter milan didn't work.

It's not as effective as it was in FM2010 for sure. Of all the teams I tried it with, only Inter Milan plays well because they have a right players for it. The main problem that I have with this year's narrow formation is that it's difficult to play short passing due to terrible first touch.

Played this back in the days, then switched to 2 wide midfielders on the diamond because imo it can give you a more attractive attacking game. Now i'm back to a regular 4-4-2 because of the players in my squad. With a bit of tweaking this goes fine for 3 seasons straight.

I've gone for the 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation - flat back four, a DMC, 2 MC, AML + AMR and SC.

In my Newcastle save that I got bored of I used this to great success, also noticed a lot of the top teams emply this aswell.

On my gateshead save I started with a 4-4-2, switched to the above after a few months and romped to the league.

First game of the season in league 2 last nite i smashed port vale 5-1, shoulda been more lol. Depends on having the right players though.

I got some league 1 (at least) quality players on frees, even some good enuff for championship I'd say, for this formation though, pacy wingers are a must.

Give it a bash - soon you will thrash !!!

tried it for a bit but found it didnt really work.

The other team would get FAR too much joy down the wings.

I did find that a 4-1-3-1-1 Tactic worked OK. Which is the same as the 4-1-2-1-2, except a striker goes into midfield. It worked quite well although it was quite negative.

Had a couple of seasons of success in the prem with this with Leeds, De Jong playing as the anchor man, but once the team reputation went up it wasn't really attacking enough to break down teams who were playing defensively, plus I found that the strikers didn't see enough of the ball so have changed to one up front in a narrow 4-2-3-1 (no wingers as I've had no joy with crossing for headers).

On a fairly unrelated note, anyone know why the game refers to a 4-2-3-1 with wingers and two central midfielders (rather than DMs) as '4-4-2 DK'?

i noticed a lot of teams use it on fm10 but never used it as i like to play with width. tbh i wouldnt know what tactics to use for it

I really like this formation on FM2011. Currently using an old "Mr Hough FM10 10.2" 4-1-2-1-2 narrow tactic and it's working wonders for me.

It got me promoted to the Prem with Blackpool (they were bottom of the Championship when I got the job) and then I finished 6th in my first season in the top flight (beating Chelsea, Liverpool and United along the way). Now I'm at Leverkusen (still playing the same formation), top of the league, final of the cup and in the Champ League semis. Playing some great stuff and my strikers are banging them in.

As long as you've got the right player's for this sort of formation, it can work really well.

As long as you've got the right player's for this sort of formation, it can work really well.

That's the key. I use 4-1-2-1-2 and transfer list every winger at the club as soon as I arrive. Yth Wingers are out of there the day I arrive and I do as well or as bad as I've ever done on any CM/FM version.

Left it on Fm 11. Always done the same as Jibby but now it doesn't work for me. Haven't tried it many times but there are more succesfull formations I think. 4-4-2 in different shapes are the best ones for me. Never used it in previous FM's. Always wanted to try new formations. In FM 09 the 3-6-1 formation was gold for me but now it's not even close..

I've never really played with diamonds in either FM10 or FM11. It's always been a variation on flat 4-4-2 or 4-5-1/4-3-3.

I like constructing my attacks from the flanks, with two attacking wingers, so the standard diamonds don't really appeal to me.

using it since fm10

in season 5

won previous 4 league titles and 3 champions league so yeah

Have used this since FM09, definitely my preferred formation, and yes it works brilliantly on FM11 but needs certain types of players to make it work. AMC and DMC will be the most important players in this system, if they work well in their roles then you should be at least fairly successful. I've posted a screenshot in the Chelsea thread in the GPTG and you can see my success with this formation at Chelsea in there.

I use it at Bayern Munich and I am beating everyone really bad. I know I am Bayern and it is easy but it has become rediculously easy in year 4 and I am using the diamond formation which is doing very well for me.

Used it in FM10 with a lot of success - trying again in 11 with Forest due to their lack of wingers and I took them up in the first season. I'm struggling in the Premiership now though and hovering just above the drop zone although this is a combination of a relatively weak squad and the problem that was previously mentioned with better clubs having more joy down the wings. I'm a bit stuck now between sticking to my guns or trying to bring in wider players and losing the skills of some of my existing squad.

I've been using it with my Arsenal side, and been working brilliantly. I'm coping with wing-abuse by the opponents by using a quick DM coupled with two quick backs. I'm dominating the midfield even when fielding my "second side" against decent premier league teams, and creating a fair amount of chances working the ball into the box/crosses from my complete forward/backs/midfielders.

I've also started developing my own long-shooters, which is realy spicing things up when against a packed defence.

Not a plea for help, or a just one of the deep philosophical questions that distract me while I'm at work.

In FM2010, the narrow diamond formation - 4-1-2-1-2 with outright DM & AMC and two central midfielders - was very popular. (and successful.)

Is anyone still using it in 2011?

Or have wide formations taken over?

My Sunderland side use 4-3-1-2 formation - with 3 CM occupying middle of the pitch - we won the EPL in Season 2. I have 2 ball winning mids and 1 box to box - I have a lot of possession most games. However I have my width set to a little over midway - so players still drift into wide areas and defenders push up also to provide width. However the majority of my goals are scored though build up play in the centre and favour short passing game like Arsenal.

diamonds rule on fm11 been using it and doing very well with it. all depends on your players

Have used this since FM09, definitely my preferred formation, and yes it works brilliantly on FM11 but needs certain types of players to make it work. AMC and DMC will be the most important players in this system, if they work well in their roles then you should be at least fairly successful. I've posted a screenshot in the Chelsea thread in the GPTG and you can see my success with this formation at Chelsea in there.

Sorry, I know you posted this a while back, but would you mind uploading the tactic somewhere if you still have it - or telling me how you set the team up - philosopy etc? Have been fairly successful in my Man Utd save so far (4 seasons in), but am trying to develop a working 4-4-2 diamond to use in tough away games in Europe and just can't seem to get one stable.

I used wingless formations in 2001-2003. It was mostly 3-1-3-1-2 with Stoke City or with Shinnik Yaroslavl. After 2003 I never used wingless formations and formations with 3 defenders. In FM2010 my best formation was assymmetric 4-4-2: right-foot AML with Inside Forward duties (attacking mentality, rare crossing, "cut inside" special move) and classic winger in MR position. In FM2011 I am still seeking for my "diablo" but haven't tried wingless formations so far. I hope I will try it in my next save.