Implementing a 3-6-1 in England

Hello,

Last year I have implemented a 3-7-0 with Saints and this year I gona go to a 3-6-1 with West Ham.

I'm having some troubles and want some opinion about the tactic.

The right MC will have agressive tackle.

The SS have roam from position.

The Keeper play to the defense.

And the wingers cross to the target man.

Any change?

There might be a large gap between mcr and mr, maybe change swap the mc's around.

So put the MCR with the Support role and the MCL with the defense?

I'm guessing that's there on purpose so the defensive MC covers for the attacking winger. I do this with my 3 at the back tactics as well

RocheBag, thats was my point.

Yeah, I always do it too, the only change I'd make would be changing that winger to a defensive winger. You can make any alterations to the player that you want, but the DW role is just so much better when it comes to defending.

Edit: I always like to have one of my wide players on attack duty, so since they took out the attack option for defensive winger I just give one of them player instruction get further forward and try riskier passes.

Imo it is better to use DW's on both wings, since you have no backs. Especially since WestHam aren't one of the stronger teams in the league.

At with the MC-d it means the winger becomes isolated (I expect), if he makes a run who will pass to him?

I agree with some of the above comments, the balance of the team doesn't look right to me with all of the support duties on the left hand side...

I don't know the West Ham players well enough to know what roles would suit them best, but purely from a tactical shape I would swap some of the duties around to get the players linking up & using the space better.

Something like this perhaps:

..........................DLF(S)...........

.............SS(A).........................

DW(S)....CM(D).....CM(S).....W(A)

...................DLP(S).................

........CD(X)...CD(D)...CD(X).......

So now you will attack down both sides of the field, and your right Winger should have a lot more support than before via the CM(S) and DLF(S).

How is your midfield trio working out for you? Do you find that they are getting in each other's way?

If your CM(S) was a more attacking role such as CM(A), AP(A) or even BBM I would like the balance as the DLP(S) would step up into midfield space vacated by the other midfielder running forward, and you would still have decent cover from the MC(D).

But with a MC(S) in front of him I would think that a lot of the time your three central midfielders would be occupying the centre of the field but not providing much penetration. You may think that having all of that cover in central areas is good but your major weakness is down the flanks and not centrally (due to your three CD's and only two wingers out wide).

It will depend on the players at your disposal but have you considered using a DLP(D) in the DMC slot, a CM(S) instead of CM(D), and a CM(A) instead of CM(S), while changing your W(A) to W(S)? This will give you a bit more defensive cover out wide, but more importantly you will have more penetration through the middle. This in turn will cause the opponents to leave space for your wingers out wide who will run into space and cross from there into a box occupied by your two strikers and an arriving midfielder.

I believe this is a better strategy as currently your winger will be trying to attack pretty much by himself down the flank; either he gets a cross in to only 2 men in the box, or the attack breaks down and then there is absolutely no cover down his flank. Playing with only one wide man on each flank you are pretty brave or gung-ho to have them with an attack duty, I think a support duty would be better as they will still attack and cross when the time is right, and provide more protection in defense.

Additionally, the DLP(D) gives great cover when the opponents counter attack, and if he is quite speedy you'll often find him covering an exposed flank if the opponents attack down one side.

After all the comments I think that I will put it like this:

..........................DLF(S)...........

.............SS(A).........................

DW(S)....CM(S).....CM(A)....DW(S)

...................DLP(D).................

........CD(X)...CD(D)...CD(X).......

With two CM one with Support and the other with Attack, this won't leave the middle alone?

That looks great, let us know how your team does (once your tactic is more fluid of course, expect a few strange performances before fluidity increases).

You'll be fine in the middle, very strong in fact. My current save is with Luton Town in the PL, just achieved Europa League qualification playing a 4-5-1 formation (4-1-2-2-1 in FM terms) and your midfield should offer more cover than mine.

My midfield is a DLP(D) in the DM slot, a CM(S) and a CM(A) and then two advanced wingers, so you have more protection on the flanks and your SS(A) will help out in the centre as well.

One thing to remember is that the players' attributes are probably more important than the player roles in many cases.

If you expect a big midfield battle then pick more defensively solid midfielders with good work rate, teamwork, determination etc.

For example, a more defensive midfielder in the CM(A) slot would offer a lot more defensively than a less defensive player in a CM(S) or BBM role. Think Man City with Yaya Toure and David Silva/Samir Nasri...

In a big midfield battle it would be better to choose Yaya Toure as CM(A) (or BBM) than pick a Silva or Nasri, even if you chose a more defensive role like CM(S).

I've had some (un-documented) success with playing two DMC's in front of a single DC, and two FB's! This setup also included two wide midfielders, and then either one AMC/two ST's or two AMC's/one ST. Undocumented as it's been my 'claw back' last 20 minute strategy for 4 games ;-)

Been playing it on standard/control and rigid. Also have shouts narrow, more expressive, short passing and some other stuff depending on situation… FB's need to be rather defensive though, and at least one of the DMC's play as Anchor. Other I have as DLP support/defend. Play with the other settings to fit your team, but having the two mids as wide midfielders on supporting/defensive duties helps a lot. Also man-mark/tight mark opp wingers…

Been wanting to make a true tactic out of this one as it's created some great entertaining football, without being COMPLETELY perforated down the back...

After all the comments I think that I will put it like this:

..........................DLF(S)...........

.............SS(A).........................

DW(S)....CM(S).....CM(A)....DW(S)

...................DLP(D).................

........CD(X)...CD(D)...CD(X).......

With two CM one with Support and the other with Attack, this won't leave the middle alone?

Looks a lot better to me. The mc's will still defend, especially if they have high teamwork/workrate/stamina etc. Also the DW will provide more cover than the Winger.

My CD (X) open in the defense, it's like I have a RD and a LD... should I use a CD (D) and a Libero?

Make some changes, switch de CM (S) to a BBM (S), SS (A) to a Offensive Mid (A) and the DLF (S) to a CF (S).

I use cd-d across the back and play offside trap. With stopper I agree it opened up the defense too much. The def wingers will help some on the outside and usually one of the CDs will close down out wide too. I use CD-d, CD-d, CD-d at the back. DM-d at the next level. Then DWR-s with get forward more, CM-s, CM-a with get forward more, and DWL-s. Next level is AM-a. And last I have DLF-s. My main goal scorer is my AM with my DLF and both my CMs getting a good amount too. I play a possession game with short passing which is why I like all the midfielders but you'd be surprised how much the d-wingers help in attack, especially my right one. Hope this helps.

Fwiw I found having the 3 CB/d worked better than 2 * stopper with a cover in the middle, the 2 stoppers are a little too eager to go and close down wide players and end up leaving big gaps. Having them on defend made them wait for the DW to get back in position and close down the wide player, and even if the cross comes in they are in a decent position in the box to cut it out.

I have had some minor success using a Treq/a directly behind a AF/a up top, with 3 people behind him to pick up the slack and occupy the opposition midfielders he tends to get into a lot of space to work in, while the Af/a keeps the defence pinned backed to create a little more space for all my midfielders.

Thanks for all the inputs. This is being a dificult tactic to implemente with lower premier league teams.

At far I will use:

..........................CF(S)............ My striker is better at this role them DLP

.............AM(A).........................

DW(S)....CM(S).....CM(A)....DW(S)

...................DLP(D).................

........CD(D)...CD(D)...CD(D)....... with block they open to much

Thanks for all the inputs. This is being a dificult tactic to implemente with lower premier league teams.

At far I will use:

..........................CF(S)............ My striker is better at this role them DLP

.............AM(A).........................

DW(S)....CM(S).....CM(A)....DW(S)

...................DLP(D).................

........CD(D)...CD(D)...CD(D)....... with block they open to much

It looks like a solid tactic.

Very solid defensively in the centre, and the opponent will have to watch for two different runners from midfield joining your striker. You should not be dominated in central midfield unless up against a superior opponent...

Weaknesses would obviously be that you are very narrow so opponents with one or two DM's might stifle your attacks, and naturally you would be open to attacks down the flanks, especially if they have fullbacks and wingers against your solitary wide men.

But that is what formations are all about, you are strong in some areas and weak in others, it is about capitalising on your strengths while trying to cope with your weaknesses.

What are your DC's like? I'm assuming you'd have to fend off many crosses coming into your box, so having good aerial ability will be very important for your DC's. If you have one slow giant of a DC stick him in the central slot and let the other two pacier DC's deal with opponents running down the flanks...

And if you are up against a narrow opponent that is parking the bus, try turn roaming on to see if your attackers drift wide and find space that way.

Well i'm playing a counter attack mode, with 2 fast wingers (DW).

The DC are good in the air and have a slower in the middle (9 of speed) but with good aereal capability.

My AM have rooming, in all games, so he can go anywhere.