The World Cup: Tactical Interpretations for FM14

This is the first in a series of posts in which I'll be looking at matches in real world football and explaining how to translate the tactics used into Football Manager. The first match of the World Cup managed to be much more interesting than many had predicted while still ending in the worst conceivable way. While both teams were fairly conservative in their approach (apart from Croatia's frantic late search for a karmic equaliser), they were still willing to commit numbers forward and prevent the match from becoming the sort of negative slog that marred the last tournament. Neither team sought to actively dominate possession, but neither did they simply look to play the percentages on the counter. While the slightly more aggressive Brazil ended up with 61% of the possession, the match was characterised by alternating sequences of a highly technical attack attempting to break down a well drilled defence. It was a battle of two midfields with the nominal defenders and attackers rarely coming into play.

Brazil

Yet, contrary to what you might expect from such a match, the distinctive tactical feature on display for both sides was the use of more traditional wide men. Inverted wingers only made a brief cameo with Hulk, Oscar and Neymar only occasionally swapping positions at various points during the match. Scolari, in particular, seemed to have made a conscious decision to mix things up by deploying neither inverted wide players nor an outright double pivot. Instead, Brazil's defensive 4-4-1-1 was more likely to transition to an attacking shape more characteristic of a 4-1-4-1 or a 5-4-1 depending on just how deep Gustavo, the lone holding mid, was inclined to drop. Though unproductive throughout the match, Paulinho was more likely to surge forward in search of space than to help provide cover for Alves and Oscar while Neymar would drift deep and look to shuttle the ball through the middle.

The decision to deploy Neymar in the centre was likely motivated by two factors. First, with Neymar having rolled his ankle a few days prior and again scaring Brazil in the prematch warm-up, Scolari was likely hesitant to field him in a role that required him to track back any more than absolutely necessary, and with Brazil not being particularly aggressive in pressing from the front, deploying Neymar as a withdrawn forward lightened his defensive workload considerably. Still, Scolari could have opted for an asymmetric 4-4-2 with Neymar staying forward at wide left, but this would have inevitably dragged Gustavo out of the middle to help Marcelo deal with the impressive combination of Perisic and Srna. The second likely reason for deploying Neymar in a central role was the nature of Croatia's double pivot. Modric and Rakitic are both capable of playing the holding role, but they are the sort of intelligent and nimble creators who would have been playing the traditional #10 role twenty years ago. They lack the suffocating physical presence that has pushed players like themselves into a deeper position, so against another central creator, the contest in central midfield becomes purely a question of skill and intelligence. These terms, Scolari likely reasoned, favoured Neymar well enough to move him off the flanks.

With Neymar operating in a central role, other players were pushed to the periphery with the overall result being very much mixed. Gustavo seemed happy to drop very deep as a quasi-halfback while Oscar put in a man of the match performance as a wide controller, receiving and distributing the ball from the right flank with the ease and composure of a player operating unopposed in the centre circle. Others did not cope as well. With Oscar pulling the strings on the right flank and Neymar doing his normal thing in the centre, Hulk might as well have been in another dimension entirely. Attempting only two more passes than the player who replaced him at 68 minutes, the winger's brief spurts of involvement seemed more like charitable gestures from his teammates than organic developments in the course of play. In fairness, this was not entirely Hulk's fault as he was largely a victim of the team's tactical reconfiguration. Similarly, Fred and Paulinho seemed preoccupied with creating breathing room for Neymar. The centre forward dutifully stood at the vanguard of the attack, checking any greater defensive involvement from Corluka and Lovren, while the Spurs midfielder prowled into spaces created by the dynamic vertical movement of Oscar and Neymar.

This movement was frequently effective at stretching the space between Croatia's defence and midfield, often forcing Vrsaljko far out of position to deal with Oscar, but aside from Neymar's spectacular first goal, Brazil struggled to make much use of it. It is here that the performance of Hulk/Fred/Paulinho can come under some criticism, but Brazil's lack of penetration seemed as much a result of Neymar and Oscar's attempts to take possession and utilize the space themselves. To a large extent, this reflects the broader problem facing this Brazil side. As opposed to being a system built around a great player, it often seems like a system with a great player arbitrarily inserted into it. On the one hand, you have a highly disciplined, counterattacking team that would be completely at home in southern Europe, but on the other, you have the avatar of traditional Brazilian football eager to get the ball at his feet and weave through a stretched defence without a hint of utilitarian calculation. Ultimately, this results in several players not doing much of anything as Neymar plays through the evacuated shell of a team that otherwise appears built to go down the flanks and cross to a pair of attackers named Hulk and Fred. This is not to suggest that Brazil are dependent on Neymar. Rather, there's a noticeable stylistic disconnect that the team will need to bridge if these players are actually going to get the best out of one another. However, this seems to be as much an issue of the players' personal styles and temperaments than a natural consequence of Scolari's tactic.

Now, to recreate this system in Football Manager, I started with a Standard mentality. Scolari's preference is clearly to play on the counter if the opposition will allow it, but here, he had to take a more balanced approach focused on creating and utilizing space in the central third. Using Counter in this instance would have made the team as a whole too possession oriented while Control would have made the team too eager to rush the ball forward and pin the Croatians into their own half. Standard offers a middle ground between patient circulation of the ball and a direct attack.

For the team's formation, I'm primarily concerned with the shape when defending inside their own half. Roles and duties are used to dictate attacking movement and positioning. For the most part, Brazil defended deep with two banks of four and Neymar slightly behind Fred in a 4-4-1-1.

For the fluidity setting, I went with Balanced. Balanced divides the team into three groups based on duty with defend duty players being very cautious and attack duty players being very aggressive. This helps create the dynamic attacking movement and positioning that I want. As the holding midfielder, Gustavo will drop back very close to the defensive line while Alves surges forward and Fred pushes up against the opposition's defenders. As a whole, this will create the expansive shape that will give Neymar, Oscar and Paulinho plenty of room to move from end to end. Additionally, I tell the team to "Drop Deeper" since Brazil's defensive line was somewhat lower than the medium block you get from the default Standard settings. "Allow Wide Players to Swap" could arguably also be active, though I'm not convinced this happened frequently enough, especially once Oscar had hit his stride on the right flank.

For individual players, I went with the following combination of roles and PIs:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend + Distribute to Defenders

DL: Fullback - Support

With Gustavo a more specialized holding midfielder and Hulk pushing further forward, Marcelo tended to stay somewhat deeper and serve as Oscar's counterpart on the left flank.

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Complete Wingback - Attack

ML: Winger - Attack

MCL: Central Midfielder - Defend + Less Risky Passes

Gustavo wasn't quite an outright halfback in the FM sense. He dropped deep, but he generally sat slightly ahead of the DCs who were themselves reluctant to split very wide, likely due to the relative deep position of the defensive line. On Balanced, the CM-D will approximate this very deep positioning as the team gets forward.

MCR: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support

This role is a perfect reflection of Paulinho's jack-of-all-trades nature. He's neither an outright goalscorer nor a creator. Rather, his job is simply to roam about and help his teammates in any way he can.

MR: Winger - Support

The support duty winger is the closest approximation of Oscar's wide creative role. This is preferable to a wide midfielder given his tendency to run at defenders throughout the match.

AMC: Advanced Playmaker - Attack + Roam from Position + Shoot More

The Advanced Playmaker role will encourage Neymar to drop deeper in search of the ball and generally remain in a central position while also encouraging his teammates to pass to him whenever possible. Roaming will encourage him to drift about somewhat more freely while the "Shoot More" instruction reflects the fact that Neymar is not expected to be as selfless as a pure creator.

ST: Target Man - Attack

As noted above, Fred's role is to stay forward, challenge for crosses from deep and leave room for the runs of Neymar and Paulinho.

Croatia

On the whole, Croatia were more defensive than Brazil, but they still showed a willingness to commit numbers forward and try to pick apart the Brazilian defence when their counterattacks broke down. Croatia played a more recognizable 4-2-3-1 system with two holding midfielders and wingers who quickly moved forward out of the team's 4-4-1-1 defensive shape. Like Brazil, there were no outright inverted wingers on display here with Olic inclined to hug the touchline before crossing and Perisic making more balanced use of both wide and central areas. Kovacic was tasked with providing the second target on the break, but when Croatia transitioned to a more patient style, he often dropped back to create more of a 4-3-3 shape in attack.

Croatia's preferred approach was to simply burst down the flanks and deliver a cross to the striker. With Brazil playing only one outright holding midfielder, their wide areas were exposed with both fullbacks moving up to support the midfield and the central defenders reluctant to spread too far apart. Even with the 34 year-old Olic , Croatia looked threatening on the counter, but the authoritative presence of the suspended Mandzukic was badly missed as Jelavic struggled to have any influence on the game. When counter attacks fizzled out, the Croats transitioned to a low tempo, probing approach with Modric stepping slightly ahead of Rakitic to try to distribute the ball to the very advanced wingers. With Modric and Rakitic in holding roles, Croatia's fullbacks were free to get forward, though both Srna and Vrsaljko were somewhat cautious in picking their opportunities to do so.

In FM terms, I would use a Defensive mentality for Croatia. This will give you fast counterattacks mixed with a very cautious build-up when the opposition is able to recover their defensive shape in time. Like Brazil, the formation was a 4-4-1-1, though the roles and duties chosen for individual players makes this a very different system going forward. For the fluidity setting, I went with Fluid. Fluid divides the team into two distinct units: a cautious defensive unit and a more adventurous attacking unit. This will encourage the wingers to push forward quickly while the fullbacks, though given aggressive roles, will tend to be more careful about choosing when to get forward. This will also help create the slight split of the double pivot with Rakitic sitting deep and Modric, though told to hold position as a Central Midfielder, more inclined to provide a closer link to the attacking unit. Further instructions given are "Play Wider" to channel attacks down the flanks, "Pass Shorter" to reflect the team's possession-oriented style when not counterattacking and "Stick to Positions" to reflect the positional discipline that was evident even as the team got forward.

And the individual players:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend + Distribute to Defenders

DL: Fullback - Attack + Dribble Less

DCL: Ball Playing Defender

DCR: Central Defender

DR: Wingback - Support

ML: Winger - Attack

Despite being a 34-year-old striker, Olic's job was to charge down the left flank and play crosses to Jelavic.

MCL: Deep Lying Playmaker - Defend

MCR: Central Midfielder - Support + Hold Position

The PI will encourage Modric to stay deep, but the higher mentality of a support duty MC on Fluid will encourage him to get slightly further forward than Rakitic and play more forward passes to the wingers.

MR: Wide Midfielder - Attack

Perisic played a slightly more subtle and reserved game than Olic, possibly in an effort to encourage more involvement from Srna. As a wide midfielder, his wide movement will be more varied than an attack duty winger.

AMC: Attack Midfielder - Support + Roam from Position

As noted above, Kovacic's role was to provide the second man in the box on the counter while dropping back into a midfield triangle in attack. The roaming PI will encourage him to drift around a bit more.

ST: Deep Lying Forward - Support + Move Into Channels

Excellent thread! I only hope you keep going through out the WC.

Excellent thread! I only hope you keep going through out the WC.

Thanks. I won't be able to do every match, but I hope to put one together once or twice a week throughout the tournament.

It would be very interesting to see Chile's tactics analyzed like this, I must say. They must be one of the very few teams playing on Attacking strategy in FM terms for this WC.

Also, have you considered doing each analysis in this thread just to make things easier?

I would like to see what you had to say about Netherlands ... to me they played strikerless ... VanPersie and Robben as IF-A swapping with Wesley as an AM-A perhaps .. he got into the box once but controlled the upper third .... What do you think?

Awesome thread! Looking forward to read more! Specially intrigued about how you interpret Chile!

Cheers!

Could you of given Olic the Defensive Winger (S) role. With the PI Get Further Forward?

Heres how I translated the brazil formation into fm:

Edit: Now that I think about it TMa is much more accurate.

Also, have you considered doing each analysis in this thread just to make things easier?

Good idea.

I would like to see what you had to say about Netherlands ... to me they played strikerless ... VanPersie and Robben as IF-A swapping with Wesley as an AM-A perhaps .. he got into the box once but controlled the upper third .... What do you think?

I thought it was a bit crazier than a strikerless tactic. Stay tuned!

Awesome thread! Looking forward to read more! Specially intrigued about how you interpret Chile!

Cheers!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to catch the Chile game, but from what I've read, it'll be interesting to see how they match up against Holland.

Could you of given Olic the Defensive Winger (S) role. With the PI Get Further Forward?

You could make the case, but I felt Olic's contribution was very much focused on charging down the touchline and trying to get a ball in behind the defence. A support duty winger will tend to be a bit more varied in the movement on the ball and will play earlier crosses.

The Netherlands

After the disappointment of a solid opener spoiled by officiating and the tedium of watching a rain-drenched Mexico try to break down Cameroon's 6-3-1, the Dutch stepped up to produce one of the most entertaining World Cup matches in decades. For all the talk of the relationship between tiki-taka and total football, Louis van Gaal's Netherlands brought the tradition back to its roots with a system defined by quick attacks, aggressive defending and an unpredictable defensive structure. The most interesting aspect of this was the Dutch's intricate approach to marking and covering. The team's basic shape was a 5-2-1-2, but when pressing, it would often transform into a 5-2-3, 4-2-4 or 4-3-3. Facilitating this defensive restructuring was a system of reverse-covering. As opposed to having deeper players step out with more advanced players dropping back to cover, the Dutch used its 5-man back line to supply midfielders when necessary. This occurred when either of their ball-winners moved up to assist the forward line or when the midfield duo were being overloaded by the runs of Silva and Iniesta. While Vlaar generally held his position, de Vrij and Martins Indi used a hybrid of zonal and man marking to deal with the other attackers, sticking close to either Silva or Iniesta when they moved into central zones. This allowed the otherwise overburdened central midfielders to maintain the precariously thin midfield structure inherent to the system.

Going forward, the Dutch were not content to waste a pass, and the directness of their attacks is reflected in the incredible scoreline. Though Sneijder dropped back to provide creative support, the midfield saw less of the ball than the defence and Robben often dropped deep before surging forward in a role somewhat similar to the attacking-shuttler that Brazil attempted with Neymar. While Robben was spectacular, the most noteworthy performance of the match came from the left wingback, Daley Blind. The Ajax regista circumvented Spain's compact midfield with a masterful fusion of defensive and creative roles as his beautiful arching passes brought to mind the thought of Pirlo reinvented as a wingback.

This system cannot be perfectly translated into FM due to the unusual marking system, but you can approximate the fundamentals of the tactic. Specific man-marking attackers will drag the central defenders too far out of position when the attackers are in a deep or wide position, and since this was likely a specific response to the roles in which Iniesta and Silva played, I think it is generally better to play the outer-central defenders as stoppers with PIs to "Close Down More."

As noted above, the basic defensive shape is a 5-2-1-2, so this will be our formation. Looking at the image below, you can see how this basic shape matches up well against a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 that looks to build out from the back. The AMC can mark the DM/Halfback while the two central strikers will discourage back passes to the central defenders. At the back, the three central defenders ensure that the defence isn't overloaded when the opposition's wide attackers get forward and come inside.

For fluidity, I go with "Very Fluid" to keep the shape very compact going forward and encourage the central defenders to be as aggressive as possible. For the mentality, I use "Control" to reflect the intense, high risk character of the defending, the team's willingness to construct attacks from the back despite Spain's pressing and the fast-paced, direct nature of the attack. While the team may look set up to play on the counter, van Gaal's objective was to stifle the Spanish attack in midfield and overwhelm their defence with rapid, collective attacks.

For team instructions, I add "Drop Deeper" to reflect that Vlaar actually dropped off a bit more, though remember that this TI functions relative to the default settings of the mentality. On Control, this will give us the medium block we're going for in the defensive phase while the high mentality of the defenders on Control/Very Fluid will see the defence still likely to push fairly high in attack. In addition to the defensive line instruction, I also add "Roam from Positions," "Use Tighter Marking" and "Play More Direct."

Here are the recommended settings for the individual players:

GK: Sweeper Keeper - Support + Distribute to Defenders

This is mainlyto reflect Cillessen's willingness to set off attacking moves with both short distribution and long balls to the forwards.

DCL: Ball Playing Defender - Stopper + Close Down More

Both outer-central defenders showed a willingness to play the ball directly to the attack while the "stopper/close down more" combination will approximate their extremely aggressive defensive behaviour.

DC: Central Defender - Cover

Vlaar typically sat quite a bit deeper than the other two defenders when the team attacked.

DCR: Ball Playing Defender - Stopper + Close Down More

WBL: Wingback - Support + Close Down More + Cross from Deep + Cross More Often

WBR: Wingback - Attack + Close Down More

MCL: Ball Winning Midfielder - Defend

Despite the highly fluid nature of the tactic, both central midfielders played very restrictive roles as archetypal ball-winners providing a specialist core to an otherwise generalist system. de Jong and de Guzman were tasked with pressing aggressively, unsettling the Spanish midfield and quickly distributing the ball to more creative teammates. Playing with two ball winners in midfield can lead to a lack of structure of midfield, but this is an intended aspect of this tactic. It should also be noted that, while the central midfielders may seem to be bit players in the system, they are shouldering a massive burden, and accordingly, you will need two exceptionally industrious and energetic central midfielders to make this tactic work.

MCR: Ball Winning Midfielder - Support

AMC: Attacking Midfielder - Support

STCL: False Nine - Support + Roam from Position

STCR: Advanced Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

Spain

I'd imagine the fact that Spain suffered the heaviest defeat in Vincente del Bosque's lifetime will likely discourage anyone from trying this tactic, but on paper, there was nothing particularly wrong with the system itself. They played their expected variation on 4-1-4-1/4-3-3, and they did manage to open up the frantic Dutch defence several times. The fact that they weren't able to do this more often could probably be attributed to poor individual performances while their vulnerability at the back was a combination of the team's high line and a noticeable lack of mobility in their aging midfield. Stylistically, it wasn't quite tiki-taka as we knew it in 2010. Perhaps responding to their defeat at the Confederations Cup, there was a sense of increased urgency to Spain's attacking play, and with Diego Costa being very much a true nine, the team moved forward more quickly to take advantage of his goal-poaching qualities. In the final third, the Spaniards focused heavily on overloading the Netherlands' left flank with Iniesta, Alba and a pitch-crossing David Silva attempting to exploit the relative inexperience of Janmaat and de Vrij. Unfortunately for the Spaniards, the Feyenoord defenders demonstrated the wisdom of drawing your international defence from as few sources as possible.

The team's shape was an asymmetric 4-1-3-2/4-4-2 in FM terms, though with no interiores role, I would suggest pulling Silva over to MCR. This will give you a hint of the pitch-crossing, central movement in attack, and in defence, he should still shift over to the right flank enough to make any difference negligible. For fluidity, I chose "Balanced" to create a fairly expansive shape with a lot of movement through the middle. At the top, Costa played a fairly traditional role and mainly looked to exploit the spaces that opened up when the Dutch stoppers charged forward. As a result, he was effectively isolated throughout the match as he pushed well ahead of the midfield. For the team's mentality, I chose "Standard" to reflect Spain's emphasis on midfield possession being given a slightly greater degree of urgency.

For team instructions, I add "Shorter Passing" and "Retain Possession," though I offset the reduction in tempo from those instructions with "Higher Tempo." Finally, I add "Push Up Much Higher" to create the team's high block while "Roam from Positions" and "Be More Expressive" reflects the fluidity and unpredictability of the attack.

For roles and duties:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend + Distribute to Defenders

DL: Wingback - Attack

DCL: Central Defender - Stopper

DCR: Central Defender - Cover

DR: Fullback - Support

While Azpilicueta did get forward at times, he generally played a more restrained and defensive role than Alba. This was likely done in part due to Silva's role often pulling him to the opposite side of the pitch going forward.

DM: Halfback - Defend

MCL: Deep-Lying Playmaker - Support

MC: Advanced Playmaker - Support + Run Wide with Ball

Those roles would be swapped at various points with Xavi and Xabi alternating between the deeper role going forward.

MCR: Central Midfielder - Attack + Get Further Forward + Roam from Position + Dribble More

It's impossible to represent Silva's role at the moment. He was an interior midfielder who started out on the right and crossed over the middle in an attempt to overload the left flank going forward. This role and PI combination will give you the closest approximation possible, but you're unlikely to see him actually swap flanks in attack.

AML: Inside Forward - Attack + Dribble More + More Risky Passes

Iniesta's role was something more akin to a wide trequartista, but the above is the closest approximation.

ST: Complete Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

Note again that the above is far from ideal, but hopefully, we'll get interiores and wide trequartistas in FM15.

These are some crazy FM skills.

These are some crazy FM skills.

"I lost 5-1 with your Spain tactic. "

Wow, HoG, these are truly fantastic!

Just in case you're taking any requests, I'd love to see an analysis of Chile's tactics in their upcoming game against Holland.

I would love to see pkms

I would respectfully disagree with the interpretation of Spain's formation/tactic, mainly with Silva's role. IMO Spain used 4-2-1-2-1 formation with Busquets as HB, Alonso as Regista, Xavi as AP-S, Iniesta and Silva as IFs with sit narrower instruction.

These are great THoG.

Replicating Rooney's corner should be easy to replicate, as they occasionally get played straight out in FM.

"I lost 5-1 with your Spain tactic. "

ME is broken. Sort it out SI

I'm not sure about Daley Blind. The whole game, he destroyed Spain with his long ball and trough ball and unsettled and moved Azpi out of position with latéral move. What do you think?

Hi tHoG, if you're taking requests I'd be intrigued by a look at the Costa Rica setup. I thought they were really impressive and certainly more committed that their more fancied opponents. Will Arsene Wenger now invest £20-30m on some form of a DM rather than a forward with an eye to giving Joel Campbell a chance. The occasional cut to the tactical camera seemed to show that Costa Rica had no-one in CM and operated with twin DM's. Given the number of roles that Campbell seemed to fill (held the ball up, roamed, moved into channels, dropped deep) either DLfs or CFs would suit him.

2 best fullbacks (wingbacks) so far for me in this tournament first set of games ... Blind and Aurier .... Aurier was fantastic last night. Up and down the wing strong the entire game and had some brilliant crosses into the box.

HOG I respectfully disagree with Netherlands ... I am adamant that they played "strikerless" with Robben and VanPersie swapping wide as IF-A (Robben maybe an IF-S as he did end up deeper a couple of times) but even the commentator said how VanPersie who is not accustomed to having to play on the flank and cut in , does it for the team. He started out wide almost every time and ended up in the middle .

I think Blind as a WB-S is fine .. he did not attack the byline nor did he end up near the box .. he has almost flawless positioning and had some brilliant passes/crosses ... he was outstanding in that match.

2 best fullbacks (wingbacks) so far for me in this tournament first set of games ... Blind and Aurier .... Aurier was fantastic last night. Up and down the wing strong the entire game and had some brilliant crosses into the box.

Aurier was good going forward in the second half but his defending was atrocious at times, especially for Japan's goal. But he can cross a ball, that's for sure.

Wow, HoG, these are truly fantastic!

Just in case you're taking any requests, I'd love to see an analysis of Chile's tactics in their upcoming game against Holland.

I can't really take requests while still keeping up with the tournament. I've had to miss a couple of games already (Chile's included).

I would respectfully disagree with the interpretation of Spain's formation/tactic, mainly with Silva's role. IMO Spain used 4-2-1-2-1 formation with Busquets as HB, Alonso as Regista, Xavi as AP-S, Iniesta and Silva as IFs with sit narrower instruction.

I think you can make multiple interpretations to emphasize different things and absolutely agree that Regista is a good call for the role. I still think he was playing MC and was merely getting dragged deep to cover for Alba (who had to push forward due to Iniesta looking to stay slightly forward). And FWIW, I think there's a tactics mod consensus that there needs to be an MC regista (Pirlo was arguably playing that role against England as well). In Silva's case, he was definitely dropping in line with MCs in the rare instances where he had time to track back into position. Generally speaking, I think Silva's defensive contribution (for both Spain and City) is vastly underappreciated.

I'm not sure about Daley Blind. The whole game, he destroyed Spain with his long ball and trough ball and unsettled and moved Azpi out of position with latéral move. What do you think?

You can try CWB with cross from deep and more risky passes. My sense is that, for the most part, Blind was actually rather disciplined with his positioning and use of the ball. He made some incredible passes, but he wasn't really trying to maneuver down the flanks. In a lot of ways, he was playing his Ajax controlling-midfield role as a wide defender.

Hi tHoG, if you're taking requests I'd be intrigued by a look at the Costa Rica setup. I thought they were really impressive and certainly more committed that their more fancied opponents. Will Arsene Wenger now invest £20-30m on some form of a DM rather than a forward with an eye to giving Joel Campbell a chance. The occasional cut to the tactical camera seemed to show that Costa Rica had no-one in CM and operated with twin DM's. Given the number of roles that Campbell seemed to fill (held the ball up, roamed, moved into channels, dropped deep) either DLfs or CFs would suit him.

Costa Rica were really impressive, and Uruguay's sluggishness exposed the terrible job that Tabarez has done of rejuvenating their national side. IIRC, Costa Rica appeared to be playing some sort of Balanced 5-4-1 with Ruiz and Bolanos getting forward very quickly. I wasn't keeping track of individual players well enough to get a good sense of the roles, but CF-S would be the obvious choice for Campbell.

In regards to DMs vs CMs in FM, my opinion is that the prior drop far too deep for their default defensive position, so it's better to use defend-duty MCs (or one defend duty and one support with a "Hold Position" PI) for most variations on a double pivot. In FM, the DM position is effective at sweeping up behind a pair of MCs but, without MCs, will stand off too much and give opposition MCs far too much time on the ball (how effectively those MCs make use of that time and space is another issue entirely though).

2 best fullbacks (wingbacks) so far for me in this tournament first set of games ... Blind and Aurier .... Aurier was fantastic last night. Up and down the wing strong the entire game and had some brilliant crosses into the box.

HOG I respectfully disagree with Netherlands ... I am adamant that they played "strikerless" with Robben and VanPersie swapping wide as IF-A (Robben maybe an IF-S as he did end up deeper a couple of times) but even the commentator said how VanPersie who is not accustomed to having to play on the flank and cut in , does it for the team. He started out wide almost every time and ended up in the middle .

Blind is going to have a lot of suitors after the tournament, and he'll be trying to convince all of them that he should be played in central midfield. I think he'll stay at Ajax for another year and try to prove his credentials as a deep playmaker.

I'm not going to claim any of my tactics are the one true interpretation. As I've said before, any team is open to multiple interpretations. In fact, doing this thread has reminded me how much I want automatic role/duty swapping in the game.

In regards to Robben and van Persie though, I see what you mean, but I didn't think they were quite wide enough to be AMLR, especially when the team transitioned to attack. My read was that they were trying to track the movement of Spain's back line, so Robben/RVP would split in response to the Spanish DCs with Sneijder moving up to track the backwards movement of the halfback. With AMLR, the focus will be on the fullbacks, but in the match, Alba and Azpilicueta were more or less left unmarked until they got forward.

Robben was absolutely brilliant though. After years of playing against packed defences for Bayern, seeing him actually attack all that space was like watching some majestic gazelle being freed from captivity. He was just so happy and at home in that system.

Robben was absolutely brilliant though. After years of playing against packed defences for Bayern, seeing him actually attack all that space was like watching some majestic gazelle being freed from captivity. He was just so happy and at home in that system.

Yes I agree. True world class skills.

I think you can make multiple interpretations to emphasize different things and absolutely agree that Regista is a good call for the role. I still think he was playing MC and was merely getting dragged deep to cover for Alba (who had to push forward due to Iniesta looking to stay slightly forward). And FWIW, I think there's a tactics mod consensus that there needs to be an MC regista (Pirlo was arguably playing that role against England as well). In Silva's case, he was definitely dropping in line with MCs in the rare instances where he had time to track back into position. Generally speaking, I think Silva's defensive contribution (for both Spain and City) is vastly underappreciated.

I have to agree about Silva's defensive contributions, however I still would consider him more as playing in a IF-S role, rather than CM-A. Regarding the Regista role, the way it is represented in FM from the DM position is an aggressive playmaker who gets involved into play by pushing from deeper positions. This to me perfectly represents how Alonso plays for Spain. I'm not sure how the role would work from a CM position and why mods think that it should be available for selection in future versions.

Blind is going to have a lot of suitors after the tournament, and he'll be trying to convince all of them that he should be played in central midfield. I think he'll stay at Ajax for another year and try to prove his credentials as a deep playmaker.

Try to prove his credentials as a deep playmaker? He's already well known for it at Ajax and is how he actually started his career. He got lots of praise when he was moved back to central midfield this year and more than proved his credentials tbh. It's the only position he'll play next season but he played there over 20 times this year after being moved to his favoured position. He was brilliant and the most important player on the pitch when he plays centrally because he controls the game excellently.

Zonalmarking has an interesting take on Spain vs Holland: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2014/06/14/world-cup-2014-group-stage-day-2/

Brilliant thread. This could become huge. After the World Cup you could analyse any match, but you probably wouldn't have time for anything else.

I for one have enjoyed this and look forward to even more.

Brilliant thread. This could become huge. After the World Cup you could analyse any match, but you probably wouldn't have time for anything else.

I for one have enjoyed this and look forward to even more.

I totally agree. Keep them coming!

I'm not sure how the role would work from a CM position and why mods think that it should be available for selection in future versions.

THoG already gave the example of Pirlo. In that match, De Rossi was the deeper midfielder whilst Pirlo roamed from what FM would generally classify as a CM area, and his movement was more dynamic than the standard playmaking Roles currently available at MC.

THoG already gave the example of Pirlo. In that match, De Rossi was the deeper midfielder whilst Pirlo roamed from what FM would generally classify as a CM area, and his movement was more dynamic than the standard playmaking Roles currently available at MC.

Would it not be possible to create similar movement with the Regista in the defensive midfield strata for the time being?

Something along the lines of Regista - Support ; Central Midfielder - Defend ; Central Midfielder - Attack could possibly work?

IIRC, I've seen you do something similar with your Ajax side via Twitter?

Would it not be possible to create similar movement with the Regista in the defensive midfield strata for the time being?

Something along the lines of Regista - Support ; Central Midfielder - Defend ; Central Midfielder - Attack could possibly work?

IIRC, I've seen you do something similar with your Ajax side via Twitter?

That would be a workaround (I'd forgotten about that Ajax setup, but you're right ), but it wouldn't exactly give you the same as a Regista at CM, because he'd be moving from a base at DM still.

I have to agree about Silva's defensive contributions, however I still would consider him more as playing in a IF-S role, rather than CM-A. Regarding the Regista role, the way it is represented in FM from the DM position is an aggressive playmaker who gets involved into play by pushing from deeper positions. This to me perfectly represents how Alonso plays for Spain. I'm not sure how the role would work from a CM position and why mods think that it should be available for selection in future versions.

The idea of the regista is that he stays deep to receive the ball while the attacking and support players move up, but then freely drifts around in that deep space and, if necessary, may carry the ball into a support position before again drifting deeper. Defend duty MCs operate in the same area as standard DMs going forward, but at the moment, there's not a deep-lying MC role that will utilize that space as freely as a regista. As RTHerringbone noted, Pirlo provided a great example of this in the Italy/England match. When the team attacked, he would drop back and often sit just the slightest bit ahead of de Rossi before drifting into a more advanced position that still sat behind the bulk of the Italian attack. The key idea here is not conflating attacking and defensive positioning, and at the moment, there aren't enough options that do a good job of representing the more free-moving second holding mid in a double pivot. I think the best approximation is a CM-S told to "Hold Position," but pointless TC restrictions don't allow you to simultaneously set FWR to rarely and activate roaming.

In regards to ZonalMarking, Cox's images tend to reflect average positions with arrows representing notable attacking movements, so it's an amalgam of both attacking and defensive shape with the team who enjoyed higher possession usually looking more like their attacking shape. This works well enough for what Cox is trying to do, but it can be a misleading guideline to use from an FM perspective. So in this thread, I'm using two images to clarify that crucial distinction between attacking phase and defensive phase positioning.

Try to prove his credentials as a deep playmaker? He's already well known for it at Ajax and is how he actually started his career. He got lots of praise when he was moved back to central midfield this year and more than proved his credentials tbh. It's the only position he'll play next season but he played there over 20 times this year after being moved to his favoured position. He was brilliant and the most important player on the pitch when he plays centrally because he controls the game excellently.

I agree with all of this personally, but with his role at the world cup and the whole issue of world class leftbacks being something of an endangered species, I suspect teams that come in for him will be looking at him as a short term option for leftback as opposed to a short term option for midfield and this will likely keep him at Ajax for next season (where he'll be guaranteed to play in his strongest position and won't have his development derailed).

Regarding Pirlo's Role in ENG vs. ITA, here's a nice article which subscribes to the theory that we was the more advanced, and more creative, of the central trio:

http://outsideoftheboot.com/2014/06/15/world-cup-tactical-analysis-england-1-2-italy/

Lots of very good tactical articles on that site for anyone interested in this side of the game.

Looking forward to this Germany one. I'm wanting to replicate this in my game as i've enjoyed how they have played a lot, especially the front three.

Looking forward to this Germany one. I'm wanting to replicate this in my game as i've enjoyed how they have played a lot, especially the front three.

I am in agreement also. I also look forward to the German one. I check on sky sports team set up and i think they played a 4-3-3 with Muller as a False 9 and Zil wide left

I am in agreement also. I also look forward to the German one. I check on sky sports team set up and i think they played a 4-3-3 with Muller as a False 9 and Zil wide left

Ozil was wide right and Gotze wide left weren't they? They swapped a few times but the majority of the time they were on their weakest foot side if that makes sense.

THoG already gave the example of Pirlo. In that match, De Rossi was the deeper midfielder whilst Pirlo roamed from what FM would generally classify as a CM area, and his movement was more dynamic than the standard playmaking Roles currently available at MC.

The idea of the regista is that he stays deep to receive the ball while the attacking and support players move up, but then freely drifts around in that deep space and, if necessary, may carry the ball into a support position before again drifting deeper. Defend duty MCs operate in the same area as standard DMs going forward, but at the moment, there's not a deep-lying MC role that will utilize that space as freely as a regista. As RTHerringbone noted, Pirlo provided a great example of this in the Italy/England match. When the team attacked, he would drop back and often sit just the slightest bit ahead of de Rossi before drifting into a more advanced position that still sat behind the bulk of the Italian attack. The key idea here is not conflating attacking and defensive positioning, and at the moment, there aren't enough options that do a good job of representing the more free-moving second holding mid in a double pivot. I think the best approximation is a CM-S told to "Hold Position," but pointless TC restrictions don't allow you to simultaneously set FWR to rarely and activate roaming.

I've been thinking about it more lately and I guess a Regista in CM would be something like a Box-to-box playmaker. I can also associate it with the role Xavi plays at Barca, because neither DLP nor AP reflects how he truly plays IMO. Would the two of you guys say that Pirlo played for Italy (vs England) somewhat similar to how Xavi plays usually for Barca (certainly when Guardiola was the coach)?

Having said that a DLP-S role with roaming may be able to achieve similar effect. Then, as with any role, it would be acting in connection with the player's PPMs.

In regards to ZonalMarking, Cox's images tend to reflect average positions with arrows representing notable attacking movements, so it's an amalgam of both attacking and defensive shape with the team who enjoyed higher possession usually looking more like their attacking shape. This works well enough for what Cox is trying to do, but it can be a misleading guideline to use from an FM perspective. So in this thread, I'm using two images to clarify that crucial distinction between attacking phase and defensive phase positioning.

Regarding that IMO it is a perfect illustration that Silva and Iniesta were both wide players coming infield, neither one was a CM. Hence, I think they were in AMR/L positions as IF-S.

The idea of the regista is that he stays deep to receive the ball while the attacking and support players move up, but then freely drifts around in that deep space and, if necessary, may carry the ball into a support position before again drifting deeper. Defend duty MCs operate in the same area as standard DMs going forward, but at the moment, there's not a deep-lying MC role that will utilize that space as freely as a regista. As RTHerringbone noted, Pirlo provided a great example of this in the Italy/England match. When the team attacked, he would drop back and often sit just the slightest bit ahead of de Rossi before drifting into a more advanced position that still sat behind the bulk of the Italian attack. The key idea here is not conflating attacking and defensive positioning, and at the moment, there aren't enough options that do a good job of representing the more free-moving second holding mid in a double pivot. I think the best approximation is a CM-S told to "Hold Position," but pointless TC restrictions don't allow you to simultaneously set FWR to rarely and activate roaming.

In regards to ZonalMarking, Cox's images tend to reflect average positions with arrows representing notable attacking movements, so it's an amalgam of both attacking and defensive shape with the team who enjoyed higher possession usually looking more like their attacking shape. This works well enough for what Cox is trying to do, but it can be a misleading guideline to use from an FM perspective. So in this thread, I'm using two images to clarify that crucial distinction between attacking phase and defensive phase positioning.

I agree with all of this personally, but with his role at the world cup and the whole issue of world class leftbacks being something of an endangered species, I suspect teams that come in for him will be looking at him as a short term option for leftback as opposed to a short term option for midfield and this will likely keep him at Ajax for next season (where he'll be guaranteed to play in his strongest position and won't have his development derailed).

THOG could you please give some advice on what roles and duties to give the German midfielders. I watched the German team today and they line up in 4-3-3 system with Lahm, Kroos and Khadeira. I do not know what roles to give them. This now brings me to the front 3 of Muller, Ozil and Goetze. My idea is Ozil is a inside forward attack Goetze -inside forward support and Muller False 9.

Also what team tactics and instructions would you recommend for Germany when plating 4-3-3

Thanks

I've been thinking about it more lately and I guess a Regista in CM would be something like a Box-to-box playmaker. I can also associate it with the role Xavi plays at Barca, because neither DLP nor AP reflects how he truly plays IMO. Would the two of you guys say that Pirlo played for Italy (vs England) somewhat similar to how Xavi plays usually for Barca (certainly when Guardiola was the coach)?

Having said that a DLP-S role with roaming may be able to achieve similar effect. Then, as with any role, it would be acting in connection with the player's PPMs.

Regarding that IMO it is a perfect illustration that Silva and Iniesta were both wide players coming infield, neither one was a CM. Hence, I think they were in AMR/L positions as IF-S.

I agree with that. Xavi's role under Guardiola is often brought up when people mention wanting a regista at MC. DLP-S with roaming is exactly what I'd go for, but the PI is unavailable for some reason.

I agree that Silva should ideally be played in a wide position, but at the moment, none of the wide roles offer the consistent, ever-present involvement that you want from the Silva role. Instead, if play is moving up the opposite flank, they'll just stay out on their flank and, at best, make a run to the far post. In this case, it's a question of trade-offs and I wouldn't say there's one exactly right answer.

THOG could you please give some advice on what roles and duties to give the German midfielders. I watched the German team today and they line up in 4-3-3 system with Lahm, Kroos and Khadeira. I do not know what roles to give them. This now brings me to the front 3 of Muller, Ozil and Goetze. My idea is Ozil is a inside forward attack Goetze -inside forward support and Muller False 9.

Also what team tactics and instructions would you recommend for Germany when plating 4-3-3

Thanks

I haven't had a chance to watch it yet, but I'll be losing some sleep to catch up with the tournament tonight.

Would a CM(s) with roaming and risky passes turned on be a good attempt at replicating the Pirlo role against England? In my games, the CM(s) does in a way function a bit of a pass and roam kind of playmaker. He would move up and down a bit but not as far and wide as Pirlo did against England.

Would a CM(s) with roaming and risky passes turned on be a good attempt at replicating the Pirlo role against England? In my games, the CM(s) does in a way function a bit of a pass and roam kind of playmaker. He would move up and down a bit but not as far and wide as Pirlo did against England.

IMO this wouldn't work because the CM role is not a playmaking role, thus a player in that role would see less of the ball than when given any playmaking role.

Would a CM(s) with roaming and risky passes turned on be a good attempt at replicating the Pirlo role against England? In my games, the CM(s) does in a way function a bit of a pass and roam kind of playmaker. He would move up and down a bit but not as far and wide as Pirlo did against England.

There's effectively no difference between a CM(S) and AP(S) other than the latter being a playmaker with more creative freedom, so you could tell an AP(S) to roam. My opinion is that he'll still tend to get too far forward too quickly, but it might work well if the player has a "Comes Deep to Get the Ball" PPM.

What an awesome thread! Are you doing one on England?

THOG: thanks for this topic. As I'm Dutch, I especially liked your post about The Netherlands.

Van Gaal is thinking about re-shaping his team for the match vs Australia, to a more common 4-3-3, although one could say that his 5-3-2 (5-2-1-2 as you call it) and his players are capable of adapting to and playing with multiple formations during the match, as we've seen already in the match vs Spain. And as such he only has to make some small alterations to it.

Most people, including Van Gaal, thought after the "not-really-a-penaltykick" that this would be "that kind of night/match again". But after Van Persie's phenomenally header at the end of the 1st half and Van Gaal's halftime speech, the team just did not want to give up and "tanked a whole lot of selfconsciousness", to do what they just did. Pre-match there was not a lot of faith/trust in The Netherlands for a good run at the WC. But after that match, and after all the credentials and praise the team received after the match, things look very different again.

Tonight I hope we all can enjoy a very good Belgium team. Tomorrow we will see if Van Gaal and his mighty men can hold up the high standards that they have set in the first match.

So far the only team that did the same was Germany, though Portugal was far worse than Spain. (Pepe, anyone?)

Will be interesting to see how hazard plays for Belgium against Algeria. He more or less played as a WM(a) for chelsea due to mourinho's insistence on the wide players tracking back to defend so i will be keen to see how he plays out wide for his national team. Oddly enough he does not score many for Belgium out wide than what he has done for Chelsea last season in a more rigid system.

THOG: thanks for this topic. As I'm Dutch, I especially liked your post about The Netherlands.

Van Gaal is thinking about re-shaping his team for the match vs Australia, to a more common 4-3-3, although one could say that his 5-3-2 (5-2-1-2 as you call it) and his players are capable of adapting to and playing with multiple formations during the match, as we've seen already in the match vs Spain. And as such he only has to make some small alterations to it.

Most people, including Van Gaal, thought after the "not-really-a-penaltykick" that this would be "that kind of night/match again". But after Van Persie's phenomenally header at the end of the 1st half and Van Gaal's halftime speech, the team just did not want to give up and "tanked a whole lot of selfconsciousness", to do what they just did. Pre-match there was not a lot of faith/trust in The Netherlands for a good run at the WC. But after that match, and after all the credentials and praise the team received after the match, things look very different again.

Tonight I hope we all can enjoy a very good Belgium team. Tomorrow we will see if Van Gaal and his mighty men can hold up the high standards that they have set in the first match.

So far the only team that did the same was Germany, though Portugal was far worse than Spain. (Pepe, anyone?)

I don't think Portugal were far worse than Spain, Spain were dreadful, I haven't written them off yet though.

THOG: thanks for this topic. As I'm Dutch, I especially liked your post about The Netherlands.

Van Gaal is thinking about re-shaping his team for the match vs Australia, to a more common 4-3-3, although one could say that his 5-3-2 (5-2-1-2 as you call it) and his players are capable of adapting to and playing with multiple formations during the match, as we've seen already in the match vs Spain. And as such he only has to make some small alterations to it.

Most people, including Van Gaal, thought after the "not-really-a-penaltykick" that this would be "that kind of night/match again". But after Van Persie's phenomenally header at the end of the 1st half and Van Gaal's halftime speech, the team just did not want to give up and "tanked a whole lot of selfconsciousness", to do what they just did. Pre-match there was not a lot of faith/trust in The Netherlands for a good run at the WC. But after that match, and after all the credentials and praise the team received after the match, things look very different again.

Tonight I hope we all can enjoy a very good Belgium. Tomorrow we will see if Van Gaal and his mighty men can hold up the high standards that they have set in the first match.

So far the only team that did the same was Germany, though Portugal was far worse than Spain. (Pepe, anyone?)

Thanks for the feedback. The impressive thing about the Netherlands was the fluidity of their defensive shape in negating the Spanish attack and the incredible discipline and work rate of the players in carrying it out. Like you, before the tournament, I did not expect the Dutch to do very well with what seemed like a crisis of depth in midfield, but van Gaal did brilliantly to find a way to turn what he had into a team that almost seemed tailor made to disrupt the Spanish style of play. It'll be interesting to see how they adapt to a more defensive opponent, and while I'd expect them to beat the Australians either way, it will provide a clue as to how far they can progress in the tournament.

As far as naming shape is concerned, FM can differ from convention to some extent since it has to set down firm rules where things might be more ambiguous or loosely defined in real life. I know van Gaal likes to call his system a 3-4-3, thinking more in terms of the roles the players play with a nod back to the Dutch sides of the 70s, but in FM, your shape will adapt in response to multiple settings with formation only establishing your defensive baseline. I'll be curious to see if van Gaal's "4-3-3" keeps 3 back at the back but utilizes an outright libero in either de Vrij or Martins Indi.

What an awesome thread! Are you doing one on England?

It's a long tournament, so I will be getting back to some teams I missed in this first round of matches. In FM terms, I'd say England were playing something like Balanced or Fluid/Counter 4-4-1-1 with mostly generalist roles and two holding mids creating the 4-2-3-1 system. Contrary to reputation, Hodgson isn't the hapless tactical dinosaur he's made out to be nor is he one to needlessly experiment with current convention. On the whole, I actually thought England did reasonably well given the circumstances and think they should have a field day against the Uruguay defence. This Italian side has also been fantastic in tournaments, and I would consider them one of the top contenders to reach the final given that they now look set to be on the "easy" side of the bracket (with the leftside route due to be contested by Germany, Brazil and Spain).

THoG already gave the example of Pirlo. In that match, De Rossi was the deeper midfielder whilst Pirlo roamed from what FM would generally classify as a CM area, and his movement was more dynamic than the standard playmaking Roles currently available at MC.

Especially as that small change was way beyond the comprehension of the Hodge!!