3 Tactics that will PWN the Champions League.

IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER!!!!!!!!

Just use which ever one works for your team.

Tactic 1

4 - 4 - 1 - 1

Notice all 4 defensive players will need 15+ creativity to make this work.

Also, the wingers will need good tackling and crossing. This is because the idea is for them to keep high pressure & win the ball back when the team has the ball deep in their own final third. Then they should be able to drop the ball off to the wing backs. Gareth Bale is the perfect example.

Your CMs need high stamina and at least 12+ in almost every other category. Heading is ok if it is low for these guys.

Your CAM needs to be like this guy:

And your Striker like this guy (who I had to sell because he hated me for some reason...even though I played him all the time and gave him everything he wanted...some people are just crazy):

That striker scored 44 goals in 31 games in the one season he played for me. I bought him for 6.5M and sold him for 19.5M. Sadly I couldn't get more because he was unhappy and "disliked" me. Lametarded guy. We just won the champions league, yet he wanted to go to a new club to advance his career???

That's the idea for tactic #1.

Tactic 2

4 - 1 - 2 - 2 - 1

Attacking

This formation basically turns into a 2 - 1 - 4 - 3 on the attacking end because the wing backs push up, the inside forwards cut inside and the b2b midfielders sit on top of the box.

This means your wingbacks need +15 in crossing, stamina, and pace, your inside forwards need to be FAST and have good shooting.

The key to the attacking side is your lone forward. He needs to be a physical beast, pace to get to through balls, and strength to hold up the ball and wait for the inside forwards to cut in. Then he needs high creativity and passing to link the play to those guys cutting in. Also the B2B midfielders are always sitting there on top of the box to maintain possession and take shots from outside the box.

Defensive

On the defensive end you are left exposed to the counter attack. Which would lead some to try playing the offside trap. The problem is you are so exposed that if the offside trap fails, it's a goal every time. Thus we leave our two center backs back at all times. They need to have +17 in heading (yes that high) and +15 in tackling & positioning & strength.

The REAL key to keeping this tactic from leaking goals is your defensive midfielder. HE MUST BE THE BEST PLAYER ON YOUR TEAM. This means + 15 in tackling, aggression, strength, pace, heading, stamina, and AT LEAST +10 in just about everything else. He will average 8+ per game, so almost any guy you plug in here will develop to be a quality player provided he has the potential.

Currently my team isn't built to support this formation as I am running the 4411 right now so I don't really have any pictures. But this is the tactics I used at Oxford United to turn them into perennial UEFA champs.

Tactic 3

4 - 2 - 3 - 1

Your fullbacks should be your average fullback. Good tackling, stamina, pace, strength, positioning. Any attacking skills they have is a plus.

Your center backs need to have +17 in heading (yes that high) and +15 in tackling & positioning & strength.

Box 2 Box midfielders should at least have +17 in stamina (and you will need AT LEAST 4 first team quality guys on your team to rotate). Plus they should have at least +10 in every other category.

Attacking

Here the idea is to get the guy to the CAM playmaker and let him distribute it to either the guys cutting in from the wings, or give a through ball to the poacher up front, or drop it off to the b2b guys come up from behind.

So basically, your playmaker needs to be just like Ruben Ortiz above (with maybe a little higher creativity instead of heading).

Your inside forwards need plenty of pace.

Your poacher needs a ton of pace and shooting.

And that's it for my three tactics I've used to destroy competition.

Oh btw, B2B midfielders are the key to all of my tactics if you haven't noticed. Those guys aren't that easy to find and you can NEVER have enough of them. I usually have about 10 on my team that can play (and I'll lone out the youngest ones and play the oldest ones...until they turn 25-27, then I sell them unless they are those once in a generation type players).

I love your tactics/guides etc, you really seem to know your stuff

I will give this a go after I get tired of my Aberdeen save, because all your formations use 4 at the back and, well... I sold all my Right/Left Backs xD

Always fancied managing Porto, but I never thought there was much competition in the Portuguese league - Porto actually back that up as they're 21 points clear in the league at the moment, because they haven't lost a game all season!

Very interesting Tactics. I don't See much People , who plays with Lid's Dwg's and Bbm's

I will definetly try it out, when i have more Box to Box midfielders .

I love your tactics/guides etc, you really seem to know your stuff

I will give this a go after I get tired of my Aberdeen save, because all your formations use 4 at the back and, well... I sold all my Right/Left Backs xD

Always fancied managing Porto, but I never thought there was much competition in the Portuguese league - Porto actually back that up as they're 21 points clear in the league at the moment, because they haven't lost a game all season!

Thank you! I actually started with a 3-4-3 but I couldn't really get past the semis in the champions league so I switched it up.

Very interesting Tactics. I don't See much People , who plays with Lid's Dwg's and Bbm's

I will definetly try it out, when i have more Box to Box midfielders .

Box 2 Box is the way to go. You have a guy (or two) who basically just run up and down the pitch and are always involved in anything that goes on. It gives your defenders flexibility to go forward and your forwards flexibility to press more.

The limited defenders thing really helps if you are giving up too many goals. Especially if they are coming from crosses & counter attacks.

And the defensive wingers thing is kicking butt for me. That 4411 basically lets the defensive line switch with the midfielders at will. It's about as fluid as you can get with a tactic, which requires a high creativity, decisions, and team work to really make it work.

And your Striker like this guy (who I had to sell because he hated me for some reason...even though I played him all the time and gave him everything he wanted...some people are just crazy):

That striker scored 44 goals in 31 games in the one season he played for me. I bought him for 6.5M and sold him for 19.5M. Sadly I couldn't get more because he was unhappy and "disliked" me. Lametarded guy. We just won the champions league, yet he wanted to go to a new club to advance his career???

I'm quite sure he's Del Piero, had him for West Ham, and he pretty much pwned gks, especially from free kicks. I remember him score 4 free kicks out of 5

Was my best striker, b4 my Raul regen came along...the 2nd season I had him he scored 7 in 3 matches and a few assists.

Nice tactic, used it with Southampton and went quite well, won Wigan 2-0 away. But I do tend to change to WMs if I thought I was stronger.

And the defensive wingers thing is kicking butt for me. That 4411 basically lets the defensive line switch with the midfielders at will. It's about as fluid as you can get with a tactic, which requires a high creativity, decisions, and team work to really make it work.

THe thing is, how do you really know that is what they are doing? A lot of this is just supposition because it's lines of code and variables, not reality. Only the coders really know exactly what player interaction and skill-to-moves take place within the game engine. I'd certainly like to hear more of how it all works in detail from Marc and the team, because until they say how attribute values are used in specific circumstances and conditions, we're all just guessing anyway.

BTW, started playing Gladbach with your 4231, with Petrucci, Hlousek coming in.

It worked fine, bt I seem to leak in goals from the wings...then again we don't have the best defence in the league.

However it did aid us in giant killing, loosing Schalke away by just 3-2 with Huntelaar scoring for Schalke in the 90th min, and we won Bayern 1-0 home, with Defensive mentality and only counter attacking and men behind ball on.

The poacher scored loads, already scored about 7 in 4 games.

BTW, started playing Gladbach with your 4231, with Petrucci, Hlousek coming in.

It worked fine, bt I seem to leak in goals from the wings...then again we don't have the best defence in the league.

However it did aid us in giant killing, loosing Schalke away by just 3-2 with Huntelaar scoring for Schalke in the 90th min, and we won Bayern 1-0 home, with Defensive mentality and only counter attacking and men behind ball on.

The poacher scored loads, already scored about 7 in 4 games.

Yeah, that's why having defenders who can win headers is important. It helps defend the crosses from the wings. Ideally the goalie should have high aerial as well.