Ultimate style - a 4-5-1 possession tactic

Hello everybody

Intro

As some of you know I'm always looking to create that sort of tactic that lets a team really shine. To me, beautiful football is based upon a few simple principles: short passing, high possession, high tempo, movement without the ball, agressive pressing. Now it is tricky to have all that at once. A high tempo is generally considered to go together with long passes, not short ones for example. And to keep possession playing slowly really helps. In this tactic I managed to maintain possession allthough playing fast and it's a good mix of all the principles I consider beautiful football consisting of. It's free-flowing, varied, and based on passing the ball around quickly rather than on individual skill and dribblings. It's all about movement as a team really. So off the ball, positioning, teamwork, and anticipation are some attributes to generally keep an eye when searching for suited players.

The tactic

The shape is a deep and wide 4-5-1:

Player requirements:

Gk: a sweeper keeper. If you can afford it, look out for good distribution.

DC: Your playing a high d-line which means at least one of the defenders should be quick. Other than that it's a stopper - cover combo. Play the quick defender as DCr (cover), the brave beast as DCl. Your playing the offside trap too, so both of 'em should be able to deal with that. Déde would be suited as your DCr.

FBs: it's something I've never seen on FM so far and that I'm quite proud of: The inside fullbacks. Rather than staying wide, they cut inside in the final third, overloading the opponents defence. In real life, Marcelo Bielsa used to employ them whilst coaching Chile. Downside: your fullbacks will do a lot of running. Good stamina required. The good thing: they should be netting some goals as well. Look out for offensive fullbacks (the wingback-type of player). E.g. Vidal, Lichtsteiner, Lahm.

DCr: he's your anchor man. Still, you want to play beautiful football, so it doesn't hurt if he knows how to pass a ball. If the opponents are fielding a single AMC you can set your DCr to man mark him

DCl: a deep-lying playmaker. I'm using Wilshere here.

AMc: a trequartista with an attacking duty. Still I instructed him to help out closing down high up the pitch. Think RvP, Özil, Messi...

Wingers: They are inside forwards. Willian would be a good option here.

Striker: a poacher. It's absolutely crucial that he is a very fast striker. Walcott is superb. Doumbia or Hulk should do the trick as well.

How I set it up

In the team preparation I generally focus on teamwork. Home games I tend to start on control, away games on standard eventhough this depends on the opponents too. When defending a lead you might want to switch to counter. I rarely use shouts at all ("retain possession" sometimes when protecting a lead).

A video of the playing style:

View My Video

Results

And finally, how is it going for me? I won the league twice in a row and reached the Champions League final in the second season. Where I lost to Ajax (grrrr).

Walcott scoring 6 (!) in a league game, getting a rating of 10.0:

Some more results are following in the next post.

And here's the download link:

4-5-1 possession mediafire

4-5-1 possession sendspace

Please feel free to comment and post your experience with this tactic. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do

Beating Real:

Pressing high up the pitch:

Creating CCs:

Winning the league in the first season:

Hi mate, have you got anywhere else to upload it? Doesn't seem to be available on gamefront at the moment

download unavailable mate

Download link isn't working. I'm trying to set up my own possession based tactic so I am interested to have a look at yours

Thanks for the tip. Should be working now (it's on mediafire now)

In the last screenshot, is that 39 goals conceded? That's a hell of a lot for a league winning side playing possession football.

That's true. On the other hand 105 scored goals is quite a lot too. Here's another table from another save (albeit with Arsenal too). Average goals conceded per game is 0.76 here, which isn't too bad:

That's true. On the other hand 105 scored goals is quite a lot too. Here's another table from another save (albeit with Arsenal too). Average goals conceded per game is 0.76 here, which isn't too bad:

why is Manu winner ??????????????

why is Manu winner ??????????????

They aren't. Arsenal is on top with 92 points, ManU are runner up with 87 points

They aren't. Arsenal is on top with 92 points, ManU are runner up with 87 points

I think he is confused because the table states that holders are ManU, which actually shows the previous year's winner.

I think he is confused because the table states that holders are ManU, which actually shows the previous year's winner.

Ah right, I see. Thanks for the clarification.

Yet another one from my recent save. Walcott scoring five goals getting a 10.0:

Great tactic anyone thinking of using this I would say go for it Thumbs up brother great tactic

Thanks andrjam

r give it a go any oi, pitch size, match prep. ?

I chose a small pitch size as it suits the short passing and high pressing. My assistant takes care of the ois, so no special advice there

Looks good, will give it a try. Goals conceded are a concern though

You can place the team instructions?

Sure, here you go:

Hi papamogl...enjoying and liking your tactic in my Aston Villa save, 2nd season.

One question: why the corners into 2nd post when you can score more in the 1st post, i think...

Cheers

Thanks for the feedback clarinet. I just set up corners as I usually do, as I felt that everybody can change it easily to their own likings. In my save it gives me a fairly realistic share of goals though. If you prefer you can set it to near post. Gonna check out some corner setting threads now

Thanks for the feedback clarinet. I just set up corners as I usually do, as I felt that everybody can change it easily to their own likings. In my save it gives me a fairly realistic share of goals though. If you prefer you can set it to near post. Gonna check out some corner setting threads now

I see...do not dominate corner set but i can try diferent one...if you see any good thread with the 1st corner set let me know pls...

Cheers

Can someone upload it somewhere else? That media link is bugged to hell.

I have added a sendspace-link at the top. Both links working for me. Hope that helps

@clarinet You might want to have a look at this thread: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/282131-The-Mullin-Corner-Routine-Very-Successful?highlight=corner There's a routine aiming at the near post

I've completed the next season. Here's the table:

A short update. A vital win against ManU:

Using a similar tactic which I have developed myself. Regularly get 60%-70% possesion in lots of games. There's nothing better then seeing your team keep the ball well and watch the opposition chase shadows

Is anybody using the tactic and would fancy posting some results? Otherwise I'm gonna keep you posted how it's working for me

Im trying at the minute with psg. So far so good. Beat real madrid 1-0 amongst other good results. :-D

@papamogl: Solid looking tactic mate, just wondering how the Stopper/Cover defence works with the offside trap though?

Seems a bit contradictory as surely the covering centre-back would play the opposition onside too often - perhaps this is one of the reasons behind the defensive leak?

Either way good work, cheers for the tactic!

there is no difference between dcr and dcl ? exept crossing ?

there is no difference between dcr and dcl ? exept crossing ?

One of them is a stopper and the other is set to cover on the opening post screenshot.

sorry, i meant about the 2 def midfielder

@basto that's true. The two DMs are set up the same way

Gave this tactic a try with my arsenal team and it produces some very VERY good football. I tweaked it slightly by moving the two dm's to centre midfield positions and changing the DLP mentallity 2 notches up to make him slightly more offensive, changed hold up the ball to and through balls to often. So far 29 games in W23 D5 L2 and scored 70 something goals and conceded 16. Needless to say im top of the league by 10 points.

Well done Papamogl this is the second tactic of yours i have tried (the first on FM11 or maybe even FM10) and both have produced really good football

Thanks for the thumbs-up jman89. Glad it works for you and that you like the style. Will look into your tweaks, sounds like they could add to the tactic

What sort of ratings does your AMC get ?

What sort of ratings does your AMC get ?

In my first season of using this tactic my AMC got 21 goals in all comps and 20 assists. cant remember avg rating though.

Thanks for the thumbs-up jman89. Glad it works for you and that you like the style. Will look into your tweaks, sounds like they could add to the tactic

another minor tweak i made was putting both the CMs as DLP (S) and DLP (D) with the latters RFD set to rarely but still roaming around. This Way i always have a man a little bit deeper to deal with counters and also when playing a good opposition who use a AMC i need to man mark.

I introduced this half way through my opening game in 2nd season as Liverpool as I was losing and not retaining possession. I lost that game regardless however I am delighted with the progress since I've started to play with this, I managed to sign Theo prior to seeing your tactic and snapped up Damiao last season, so my attacking options are pretty good at the moment and I also managed to make the Sahin deal permanent too which is a big plus. I think once all is gelled I will be challenging, some delightful football to watch.

What is your strategy for when your team goes down to 10 men? remove AMC?

With only ten men I would most probably remove the AMC. It might also be one of the wingers though (e.g. if the opponent is very weak down one flank)

With only ten men I would most probably remove the AMC. It might also be one of the wingers though (e.g. if the opponent is very weak down one flank)

Thankyou...

I am gonna try this

Tactic looks great but the mediafire link won't let me import it into the game and the sendspace is down. Any chance of a re-up?