The Fulcrum - Silk & Steel. A complete Tactical System for 14.1.4 and beyond......

Preamble/Waffle

Greetings,

Welcome to my new tactics thread.

The previous one, 'the Fulcrum', catalogued the evolution of a tactic across about 6 match engines with input from many forum members which was a great help.

I have watched over 600 games in extended highlights, tested many theories in an attempt to make the very best tactic I can within the framework of 'the Fulcrum''.

I am happy that I have now done that and present below 'the Fulcrum' - Silk & Steel.

To those following the earlier thread it is very close to v4, with one player role changed and optimised set pieces.

Now, plugging in the tactic is not an instant 'win' button. Having a good tactic is very important but to get the best out of it you need players suited to the tactic.

I listened to the chairman of Crystal Palace this morning, he was talking about his interviews with prospective new managers for the club, he asked them all what there playing style was, they all replied along the lines of.......

'I like to play a short passing game, press high up the pitch'........ before adding the immortal line 'you know, a bit like Barcelona'..... at which point the chairman was completely turned off rightly thinking 'I don't have the players for that' he then interviewed Tony Pulis and asked him about his playing style and he said something along the lines of 'get it forward quick, to a good frontman' at which point the chairman thought....'yeah, I've got the players for that!'

The point being, there are multiple tactical systems available but whichever one you go with you need the right players to make it work properly.

In addition to all that we have to worry about morale, blending in new players, team talks, transfers, training and dealing with crisis in various guises.

But fear not, i'm not just gonna present you with a 'mere' tactic I am presenting you with a system for playing the entire game based around the tactic, covering everything I can think of to help you attain your goals in FM and extract as much enjoyment out of the game as I do.

Further Preamble/Waffle

Who am I to dispense such advice??

Just a huge fan of the Game like yourself. There are many people here who have a much deeper understanding of the game than me, over the years I have read their threads and posts and retained pertinent information to help me in my quest to master this game.

Yes, I am standing on the shoulders of giants.

But my own talent is in quickly identifying what works and what doesn't, discarding what doesn't work and building on what does work. repeating this process until I believe I have exhausted all variables and arrived at a highly refined product which I believe is the best I can personally produce.

Once I have a tactic I am happy with I then try and optimise all areas of the game to ensure the tactic can achieve it maximum potential for both myself and anyone who would care to try it.

Essential to the overall strategy are the key player attributes for each player on the pitch.

Matching complimentary attributes across all areas of the team results in performances which 'transcend' tactical instructions alone.

At the start of your save you will likely not have ideal players for the system, it will still work very well and its great fun when you identify that 'ideal' player to fit the system and know that your team will be stronger on the back of it next year.

Indeed I always start as Stockport County and can honestly say I don't have one ideal player for this system in the entire team (relative to level) but a lot of the fun in this game for me is 'building the team', season after season knowing my team will be that bit better every year. Its one of the hooks that keeps me coming back.

So, I present a tactic and system for building on that tactic which will allow you to watch fantastic attacking football that is realistic and is a proven winner over the long term.

However, FM is a complex beast and you cannot control all the variables with tactics alone.

You will lose games you should win, you will hit poor form, sometimes your players just 'wont turn up' and you wont understand why, sometimes you will simply be unlucky, sometimes you will be unlucky for several games in a row.

All of this happens in real life, but taking a long term view, over the course of a season I have never failed to exceed the expectations set by my board. Even being Champions of the Division when I was predicted to be last. This has been replicated by many other players, across different levels in all parts of the world.

Anyway, as many of you know I like to 'waffle' on so to the first post...... the Tactic.

The Tactic.

***** Updated for 14.2 *****

https://www.mediafire.com/?van1f7wsk5sotam

So 2 upfront, a Complete Forward leading the line supported by the False 9.

3 across the middle. A Central Midfield/Attack flanked by 2 Box to Box Midfielders.

An Anchor Man and a standard back 4.

Now the starting formation is important, but in reality the Team Instructions and Player Instructions can be used the push & pull players around. For example if you look at the average positions analysis you will see that in many games the average position for the Central Midfield/Attack will be more advanced than the False 9.

For those of you familiar with v4, you will note I have swapped the F9 & Complete Forward around as it was more favourable for our lead striker to be on his stronger foot more often (assuming he is right footed, if he is a lefty you can swap them around).

The other main difference is we've dispensed with the Regista and gone back to an Anchor Man.

The reasons behind this will be explained in the Player Descriptions.

We've also gone for a Balanced/Control system which has long been my preference.

The Attacking System

We are employing a passing/off the ball system.

Our 3 main attackers have high ‘off the ball’ attributes which means they are intelligently moving into space, often as a unit, finding and creating space.

They are also slightly staggered vertically up the pitch, with the Complete Forward very high up the pitch, the False 9 likely holding a deeper position and the Central Midfield/Attack making runs from very deep early into our attacks.

Our support players are excellent passers, as are 2 of the 3 attackers. So at any given time we have potentially 3 players available to receive a ‘key’ pass and 5 players available and able to deliver the key pass as well as 2 excellent crossers in our FB who can also deliver a cross into anyone in space.

So the attacking system is based on intelligent movement both vertically and horizontally with our support players geared towards finding that 'key' pass which will open up defences.

In the Match Engine you will see lots of 'thru balls' into the feet or into space infront of the strikers for them to attack.

The Defensive System

The team is split into 2 groups of 5. The 'front' 5 harass and close down opponents denying them space to build attacks and trying to win the ball back early, high up the pitch.

The 'Back 5' try to keep formation keeping a firm 'barrier' which needs to be broken down if our opponents attacks are to succeed.

The tactic, however, is an attacking one. I would expect you to be one of the highest scorers in your division with a 'mid level' defensive record.

Key to all of this is having the right players for each role which we are coming to next.

.... when i've had a rest.

Ok, before we look at some of the positions and players roles lets talk about recruitment.

The way I see it there are 2 styles of recruitment Generalist & Specialist.

Generalist Recruitment

So throughout my Stockport campaign i've never really had a transfer budget so I've had to look at free transfers only. Lets look at this from a Generalist recruitment point of view.

Adopting a Generalist approach I wait until the the 1st of June, identify the position I wanted to strengthen first i.e Centre Back, filter out unrealistic transfers, search position - Centre Back, contract expiring in next 30 days, list them in value order and simply scout the top 20 most valuable centre backs with a contract expiring within the next 30 days. Wait for the scout reports, list by highest recommendation (star rating) and sign the highest rated player you can get.

So we are simply relying on our scouts judgements, the star rating system and the fact that if we are in the Championship, and we just signed a centre back rated as a Leading Star for this Division, we are happy that this is a good player and will improve the squad.

A simple and effective approach. We haven't even looked at attributes.

Specialist Recruitment

This is my preferred approach. On the surface, I have have 4 strikers in my squad. In reality and in my mind we dont, we have 2 Complete Forwards and 2 False 9's, I'm no more likely to play my Complete Forward in my False 9 position than I am to play my Goal Keeper at right back.

I have a team full of 'Specialists'.

There are 8 specialist positions in this tactic.

Goalkeeper, Fullback, Centre Back, Anchor Man, Box to Box midfielder, Central Midfield/Attack, False 9 and Complete Forward.

For all roles there is one KEY attribute with 3 SUPPORT attributes.

The KEY attribute should be met at as high a level as possible i.e 15+. The support attributes should be met as high as possible but likely around 11,12,13 at Premier League level. (attribute requirements scale with the division you are in as i will demonstrate later)

So lets look at recruiting a new Box to Box midfielder for my mid level Premier league Stockport side.

The key attribute for the Box to Box is Passing. Followed by work rate, strength & long shots. Lets 'pump' them in at 15 and see what we get.

Ok, thats about 50 players meeting our base requirements. Much more than I thought. Lets push passing (our key attribute) as high as we can until we have about 10 players left then scout them.

So pushed passing to 17 which gives us about 10 players, scouted them and these are the results.

This guy came out on top, value is in range so looks a good bet.

We know he hits the spot in terms of key attributes so we can now look at the top 3 or 4 and see who brings anything extra to the table i.e a dominant header, a true leader, an awesome tackler a great team player .... or just the cheapest if we are short of cash.

This guy has high technique, is a good leader, is very fit and excellent at set-pieces. An outstanding addition to the team.

At the other end of the scale, my first day in the job at Stockport in Skrill North.

We've not starting scouting yet so we have a very limited pool of players.

In this situation I would scout on THE KEY ATTRIBUTE ONLY = PASSING.

When i set it to 13 i have a decent pool of players. (13 passing is excellent in Skrill North)

This guy came out on top. An ageing Lee Hendrie.

Not ideal for Box to Box on the surface but at this level he will be excellent. You can see he is rated as a 'Good Player' for the DIVISION ABOVE the one we are in which is excellent.

So in effect, at this level we are using a blend of the Generalist & Specialist recruitment approaches.

The Complete Forward/Attack.

Key Attributes

OFF THE BALL

finishing

composure

acceleration

This is our main goal scorer. He will be our highest player up the pitch in virtually all circumstances.

He will score spectacular solo goals and be on the end of fantastic team moves. he will intelligently seek out space creating opportunities for deeper players to find him with key passes as well as pulling defenders out of position creating space for others to move into in turn.

We want a direct threat who will run at central defenders and frighten the life out of them with explosive acceleration, yet someone who is clever enough to know when to wait and time that run in behind during more considered build up play.

And ultimately have the composure and finishing ability to stick the ball in the net.

These players tend to be of the small and agile variety, if you are lucky enough to get someone who meets are requirements and who is physically very strong or dominant in the air, all the better.

My guy

Signed on a 'free', Real Madrid have just activated his £37.5m release clause. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Very quick, agile. great finishing and composure. fantastic 'off the ball'. 21 goals in 24 games at this point. An ideal Complete forward for this system.

False 9/Support

Key attributes

OFF THE BALL

passing

finishing

compsure

Our support striker.

A creator and scorer of goals.

This guy is a 'link' player, helping blend the midfield with our attackers.

An intelligent footballer, an excellent passer and a highly accomplished goal scorer in his own right.

Excellent physical attributes are always welcome but they are not a pre-requisite for this role.

In this tactic we like him to hold up the ball if a key pass to our complete forward is not on, this buys time for our Midfielders and Full Backs to support the attack and helps prevent our strike partnership becoming isolated from the rest of the team.

During counter attacks he is often on the end of the initial 'out ball' from our defenders and will dribble and/or seek a pass to the complete forward.

During sustained build up he will be involved in developing the attack before often delivering the killer thru ball or making a run and getting on the end of a pass himself.

A important cog in the machine which makes the tactic tick.

My player

Yes, a 36 year old Robert Lewandowski is enjoying the twilight of his career playing at 'fortress Edgeley Park'.

Off the ball = 20, Passing 14, Finishing 14, Composure 19.

A pretty good example of what we like in our False 9. Sure, passing and finishing could be better, those guys are certainly out there but picked him up for £700,000 so cannot complain.

19 goals and 6 assists in 32 games is the minimum I would expect from this position.

*** Not explored this fully yet, but my back up False 9 is Physically very big and strong and he has been outstanding in this role. Its possible that a False 9/Target Man hybrid could excel in this role, especially in lower divisions.

Central Midfield/Attack

Key attributes

OFF THE BALL

finishing

passing

longshots

A bit boring sounding isn’t he? A bog standard FM role since the beginning of time.

Do not be fooled. With the player instructions we have this guy operates as a deep lying shadow striker. After the complete forward, this guy will be on the end of most of your chances.

This guy is part of both the passing and the off the ball dynamic. Available to deliver killer passes and also making intelligent runs to find space and be in a position to finish chances.

If there is a ‘Fulcrum’ in the tactic its probably this guy.

Pace is devastating in this position, supporting attacks quickly and even running beyond the complete forward on occasions. A joy to watch when in full flow.

He will also chip in well defensively and allows us to play 3 in the middle which pushes the box to box guys wider which we need for the tactic to function. (that’s why we don’t just play him in the AMC position).

My guy

Off the ball 15, finishing 13, passing 16 . pace 14.

Pretty solid. 3 goals and 5 assists in 26 is poor. But this is the role I have done the most experimenting with this season including playing him as a deep lying playmaker. Running a full season in this role I would expect him to be well into double figures for goals and assists.

*** removed pace from key attributes added longshots***

Noticed that my MC/A is launching shots from all over the place, he happens to have a good longshot attribute and a few of then are finding the top corner. worth making this a focus for the role.

Box to Box/Support

PASSING

Work rate

Longshots

Strength

These guys are the engine of the team. They are up and down the pitch all day long. Supporting attacks when in possession, quickly behind the ball when we lose possession.

The unsung heroes of the team.

Offensively these guys are key to our attacking system. When I changed the tactic to an Anchor man instead of Regista I used my old Regista in the box to Box role. I immediately noticed a huge increase in the amount of defence splitting thru balls he delivered. (as a Regista he had high passing).

I realised what we could add to the tactic with high passing stats in the Box to Box role, previously I had described them as ‘ratters’ who were more defensive and only ‘supported’ attacks, now they add an extra dimension to our attacking play including scoring a few as well often from outside the box.

These guys are strong dominating midfielders who are good passers and have a decent shot on them.

My guy

17 Passing, 16 work rate, 18 long shots, 15 strength. Ideal. look at the number of assists from midfield.

Anchor Man/Defend

JUMPING REACH

Positioning

Tackling

Strength

The Anchor Man

We can indulge our selfs with a physical monster in this position. A ‘brick wall’ infront of the back 4. Someone to intimidate and bully opposing attackers.

A dominant header is excellent in this position dealing with opposing goal kicks and long balls from deep. He is also going to be right on top of anyone in the opponents AMC position hopefully nullifying a key part of the attack for anyone who would dare field an AMC against us.

The first line of defence if our attacking 5 are unable to win the ball early. We can really concentrate on strong defensive qualities as he will rarely get beyond the half way line.

We can also use this guy in defending corners and set pieces as he will be excellent ‘in the air’ and in defensive situations.

On the ball we don’t need much, just a short pass to one of our creative players.

I don't really have an ideal specimen in my squad as i've just converted from a 'Regista' but this guy would be good.

Having high Jumping Reach means these guys are gonna be big. Excellent mental stats to boot. This guy would be great.

Full Back/Support

CROSSING

Passing

Stamina

Pace

Fullbacks.

These guys add much needed width to the tactic. Although on support duty they are very attacking and are responsible for providing crosses into our forward players.

They are instructed to 'stay wide' and 'run wide with ball' stretching play a little and creating room for our runners from midfield

When attacks are building they are often available unmarked for an easy pass about 2/3rds of the way up the pitch where they can recycle possession back into the centre, go past there man on the outside to cross from the byline or cross early from deeper positions.

Defensively they are quick to get back into position and do an excellent job defending the flanks. Pretty much what is expected of a ‘modern fullback’.

Quality in this area can make a big difference to your team.

my guy

Crossing 15, Positioning 20, Stamina 15, Pace 13 He's really solid. Vunerable in the air against a big AMR but we can live with that. Excellent mental stats.

**** EDIT 13/12/13. positioning removed. passing added to key attributes.

Reason. Our full backs are the only player without an extra 'pass it short' instruction under player instructions. i did this as i like to have direct elements in play even though this is essentially a short passing tactic.

I have been watching my full backs in my skrill north game give the ball away a lot which we dont want at all. (they were awful passers)

Also when you are a high rep team people will 'park the bus' and having high quality passers in the FB positions will help the supply of quality through balls.

Centre Back/Defend & Cover

JUMPING REACH

Tackling

Marking

Positioning

Pretty ‘old fashioned’ guys here, great headers, good marking and tackling as well excellent positioning. We sit fairly deep anyway and one of these guys is set to cover so we don’t need lots of pace although its always useful.

Again, we want them playing it simple. A short pass to the Anchor or more often than not out wide to our fullbacks.

We need them to win key headers both as a means of breaking up attacks and regaining possession

Again, specialists fulfilling a specialist role. Being good at what they do without any extra ‘fluff’

My guy

Jumping Reach 16, Tackling 15, Marking 18, Positioning 15.

This fella's played over 250 games for me and never let me down. Good where it matters, not so good where it doesn't. A specialist.

Set Pieces.

A bit more to this than meets the eye.

CORNERS

There is a good corner kick routine in the tactic. Its basically mimicking what the AI teams do to us. Pinging it into the far post.

Who should be taking corners?

Surely someone who is good at corners, but ALSO CROSSING & TECHNIQUE. Don't neglect this when choosing corner takers

NEVER USE YOU ANCHOR MAN. He is on defend duty during Corners and we need him there.

FREE KICKS

It is not possible to differentiate between direct and in-direct freekick takers so we have to cover ALL the bases.

Which means FREE KICK TAKING, TECHNIQUE, FINISHING, PASSING AND CROSSING.

I think this explains why not many goals are scored from free kicks. Its worth taking time considering who will be on free kick duty.

LONG THROWS

Long throws are very effective in this tactic. IMPORTANT. You need someone with FLAT BULLET THROWS. Train anyone with 15+ long throw attribute to learn preferred move 'flat bullet throws' as soon as possible and put them as throw in takers under the set pieces 'tab' on your tactics screen. YOU WONT REGRET IT!

I actually thought about removing this from the tactic as its a bit 'gamey'. I then played Real Madrid in the Champions League and they pinging long throws straight into my penalty area every chance they got.

I was cool with it after that.

PENALTIES

Again, not just a case of the Penalty taking attribute. Also consider FINISHING, TECHNIQUE & COMPOSURE. You dont want to miss a vital penalty.

Training.

The 1st day back in pre-season

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Get that tactic fluid asap.

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1st August - Still working flat out on tactic. But now team cohesion as well.

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15th september. STILL working on the tactic. Now general training on balanced where it stays for the rest of the season.

We now wait for the tactic to be fully fluid. Likely to be mid October to early December.

When it is fully fluid. Note the scheduling slider is now 1 notch from the right.

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1 month Defending Set Pieces

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Then 2 months on Defensive Positioning

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Then rest of season on Attacking Movement.

Based on UK TIMINGS

Preferred Player Moves

The area where I feel this of most benefit is in relation to finishing. All 4 of my strikers have 'places shots'.

Whatever you do I would get all of your strikers doing SOMETHING.

I would prioritise the finishing moves as follows.

Places shots

Blast the ball

Lob the keeper

First time shots

You should be able to get them to do one of the above.

Free kick takers = rifle free kicks in

ANYONE WITH 15+ LONG THROWS - FLAT BULLET THROWS AND GET THEM TAKING THROW IN'S!

I may explore this further at some point and would welcome suggestions.

reserved13

Hints & Tips/On Going Observations

DO NOT LET YOUR ANCHORMAN TAKE CORNERS! You will get hit on the break.

Im just like a bad penny... keep coming back to you;)

Ive been a terribe tactics whore trying everything out but found myself returning again to the fulcrum as I thought Id start unemployed for once. So after four months unemployed I finally got given.... the same job I normally choose... Whitehawk. Started with fulcum v4 and had a 1-1-1 record (not surprising seeing I took them over in 21st place and no time to bed the tactic - still wouldve beaten the leaders away if I hadnt had a stupid sending off - the whole team was booked!) and NOW here comes an update... so I will jump to this tonight when I get home.

Nearly half the season gone and still in 21st place .... a real challenge for the new fulcrum!

Wow Great reading so far can't wait for more updates

Loving this Uwe. Can't wait to get started. Stuck at work. Hmmmph. Patience eh? Gotta love it!

Anyway good work Uwe!

Uwe awe! Uwe awe!

The real Uwe Rosler is now managing in the Championship.

Its getting a bit embarrassing.

I only picked the 'Uwe Rosler' moniker as my other 2 heroes growing up were Gary Glitter and Jimmy Saville...... and that didn't work out too well.

I wonder if SI will let me change my name :o

I've tryed several tactics all around this forum and others. Your's are the best ones. Will try this one when i get home... yhea i'am at work.. don't tell my boss...F... i am the boss lol

Gonna give this a go with Everton mate.

Well, of course, we all know that your real name is something more Earthly, like Stuart or Roger, but anyways, it's you who created Fulcrum system. I've been trying to develop tactic playing in lower leagues and eventually came to similar formation, but with your approach the results are going greater lenghts. So, well done, Mr. Uwe - Stu,Rog.

I'm looking forward once you've had the time to finish your writing to test out this new tactic.

Playing your V4 at the moment with big joy, by FAR the best tactic as long as you keep in mind your "rules" about players and key attributes. Anyway, Silk&Steel could become better like you've said in your earlier thread. The Regista isn't weakening this at all but he contributes not that much to the tactic as a whole.

Great thread for a fantastic tactic, just wanted to ask, atm I have a brilliant defensive midfielder with very high mental stats including 18 leadership, 16 off the ball, and 18 work rate.

Out of the four stats you mentioned he has 16 tackling, 18 positioning, 15 strength but only 8 jumping reach and is also only 5'10", apart from his jumping reach he is fantastic but does his jumping reach alone mean I should replace him as I could probably sell him for a lot of money as he is only 21 years old.

Very much enjoying the explanation of the entire system. You're definitely becoming the template for outlining a tactic here! Will be giving this a go with Stockport starting in the Skrill North soon.

Cheers!

Great post.

Will give it a try.

Great thread for a fantastic tactic, just wanted to ask, atm I have a brilliant defensive midfielder with very high mental stats including 18 leadership, 16 off the ball, and 18 work rate.

Out of the four stats you mentioned he has 16 tackling, 18 positioning, 15 strength but only 8 jumping reach and is also only 5'10", apart from his jumping reach he is fantastic but does his jumping reach alone mean I should replace him as I could probably sell him for a lot of money as he is only 21 years old.

You can always use your judgement of course. He is probably also more mobile than a huge guy which has its benefits. Its just a slight deviation from the system but by no means a game breaker so just roll with him and dont worry.

Very much enjoying the explanation of the entire system. You're definitely becoming the template for outlining a tactic here! Will be giving this a go with Stockport starting in the Skrill North soon.

Cheers!

Me to. I've just looked at the squad and are scratching my head....... here we go again....

Hi Could you tell me what sort of min number you should be looking for Key Attribs for Skrill North.

Thanks and great post and great detail.

Mark

I would just concentrate on the main attribute (the one in CAPITALS). There is an example of how to do this in the recruitment post.

Thanks just going to start a new game with North Ferriby United

Any specific requirements for the goalkeeper?

I would think something like Handling, Reflexes, One-on-Ones, Positioning? Would you would class Ariel Ability as vital due to the importance of height at the base of your defence?

Ignore should have read.

Any specific requirements for the goalkeeper?

I would think something like Handling, Reflexes, One-on-Ones, Positioning? Would you would class Ariel Ability as vital due to the importance of height at the base of your defence?

I tend to just use a 'Generalist' approach to Goal Keepers. use you best scout, scout a load of them and work from star ratings. just make sure they are BIG. At least 6 feet 2" in my eyes.

Nice thread, good work

Been using the new tactic, took over West Brom late in the season and had 13 games to get them out of relegation. Only lost two games out of the 13, too Chelsea and Southampton. The greatest victories was a 4-1 win over city at home and a great away win at everton 3v2 when I had only 10 men. So far looking promising and generally feels much more stable than V4. Bear in mind this team had terrible morale when I joined and no specialists apart from maybe Mulumbu in DM position. I also brought in my own assistant and coaching staff. Ended up finishing 13th, Nice work Rolser!

Praise, from Cleon!

Well I never......

V4 eventually got me sacked with my Arsenal career. That's why I'm at West Brom, so it's bittersweet. But anyway good job with the tactic and nice to see a detailed post. I'll update after next season.

Edit: Still was sacked from Arsenal.

I will use this tactic in my next season for sure. I´m at March and my team is doing OK and since I play in a 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1 if you prefer) I don´t think it is good to change. I will change because my team is getting worse and because I have top teams interested in my wings. two of them can play in the midfield (the stats are compatible with the descrition above) so i will be selling two of them.

Looking good... 21st place, 18 games and 15 pts when I changed to the new fulcrum... five games later 12th place and 28 pts... 10 pts off the play-offs. Im converted...

I tend to just use a 'Generalist' approach to Goal Keepers. use you best scout, scout a load of them and work from star ratings. just make sure they are BIG. At least 6 feet 2" in my eyes.

6'2" ...pfft. that's not big

Great opening post! So much information!! Very tempted to start a new save with my hometown Leamington using this tactic and all the guidelines

Do you use any OI's Rosler?

Sorry, forgot to mention that, No OI's

I'm interested to see that this is very similar to the tactic I have developed in my game. The differences with mine are :-

My tactic uses 3 central defenders with no-one in the DM position.

My tactic pushes the DL and DR forward to wing back positions using the complete wing back role.

My tactic has the central midfielder as an advanced playmaker (A).

I use 'Counter' / 'Fluid' instead

Striker combo in my case is CF(S) and AF(A)

But otherwise very similar. I love the two B2B midfielders, they contribute so much! With my tactic I have achieved back to back promotions from league 2 to the premiership.

I'm going to try tweaking my tactic using some of your suggestions and see how it goes.

Nice thread, good work

This isnt a nice thread at all. Its LEGENDARY!

Simply outstanding stuff here Mr U. Even if the tactic wont work for some people, there is enough info here to help folks understand why it doesnt work and what they can do to fix it. I promised myself I'd take a break from FM for a few days but reading your info here has put paid to that

So, I have restarted a new long term save. Back in Skrill North with the mighty Stockport.

And I've got a real battle on my hands! Time to dig in.

I started my original save in beta and I'm pretty sure Stockport were full time. They are part time in my new save.

This limits what you can do in training and I honestly think it will b January b4 the tactic is fully fluid.

You only have wage budget to bring in 1 player and I'm regretting not getting an experienced keeper. Ormson develops well but he is very young and keeps chucking balls in the back of his net!

Expectations are high, I'm in and out of the play off spots which is good enough for now.......

Tactic is functioning well enough considering I've had to go with what I was given.

Plan for season 1. Make playoffs. Keep job.

From season 2 onwards we can start building our own team and the tactic will get fluid much faster so we will be much stronger.

Loving the challenge.

So, I have restarted a new long term save. Back in Skrill North with the mighty Stockport.

And I've got a real battle on my hands! Time to dig in.

I started my original save in beta and I'm pretty sure Stockport were full time. They are part time in my new save.

This limits what you can do in training and I honestly think it will b January b4 the tactic is fully fluid.

You only have wage budget to bring in 1 player and I'm regretting not getting an experienced keeper. Ormson develops well but he is very young and keeps chucking balls in the back of his net!

Expectations are high, I'm in and out of the play off spots which is good enough for now.......

Tactic is functioning well enough considering I've had to go with what I was given.

Plan for season 1. Make playoffs. Keep job.

From season 2 onwards we can start building our own team and the tactic will get fluid much faster so we will be much stronger.

Loving the challenge.

Great to see Uwe. Its in the lower ends of Skrill when a tactic really gets tested. I can only get to play about 5-10 matches a day so youll be speeding past me....hopefully will have finished the first season by Friday.