'Arte et Marte' - Forged in the furnace of Non-League - Proven in the Premier League

'Arte et Marte' - By Skill & Valour

Background;

Interesting Tactic this one.

Forged in battle in the nether regions of English Football where there is a hideous fight for the 1 automatic promotion spot each year, where you can spend your entire career narrowly missing out on promotion, stranded mercilessly on the dark fringes of the football league unable to take that final step into the big time.................

Yes, welcome to my world, the world of non-league football.

Things had started well with Tonbridge gaining automatic promotion from Skrill South in my first season finishing on a monster run of 13 wins from my last 15 games to haul myself from mid-table to League Winners in the process. Most unexpected, perhaps 14.3.1 is not so bad afterall.

The game seems to work on 'runs of form', good or bad. Truth is all of those 15 games were coin flips, chances evenly split for both sides, i just got on a roll, the force was with me, lots of penalties, corner goals and late winners, the game was being kind. UnfortunateIy I was to see a lot of the flip side of this.

This was achieved with my 442 tactic.

So promotion to the Skrill Premier. On my original Tonbridge save on earlier patches I got back to back promotions winning Skrill Prem at my first attempt. I was not expecting this again and would settle for consolidation, even that didn't look likely when I had 5 points after 12 games and only a switch to my trusty 4132 saved me that season.

The reputation system is a killer non-league. Tonbridge remain one of the few teams who are part time in the Skrill Premier, they have a very low reputation, no money and are miles behind the big boys in the Division. Improving your squad year on year is very, very difficult. If you can improve even 1 or 2 positions even slightly each season you are doing well. This goes on year after year.

The upshot of this is your are playing against many stronger teams season, after season knowing that situation is not going to change anytime soon.

The perfect scenario for producing an iron clad tactic.

I was predicted to finish last in the Division for the first 3 seasons.

I had just finished my 4th season in the Skrill Premier in 15th spot. I was fed up. The previous season I finished 4th, made the play off final, was ahead on penalties, with a chance to win promotion if my man could just convert the final spot kick, no he missed and the rest is history. Still, I thought we'd cracked it, would kick on this year and gain promotion.

Instead we went backwards, a poor start then a sequence of 10 drawn games in a row where I was simply unable to win despite being ahead in and dominating many of these games. I was relived to finish 15th in the end.

Being stuck in the Skrill Premier for 5 years is not my idea of fun.

Time for a new tactic, the gloves are off, anything goes, real world formation or not.

Objectives.

Tight in defence. NO non league sides are good defensively even the best defensive teams concede 50 league goals a season. Keepers and defenders are awful. If i could break that mold I would have a clear advantage. Defending from the front will be key.

Attacking play. Carrying a goal threat in as many area's as possible with a wide variety of attacks, wide and thru the middle.

RESULT - TONBRIDGE

Media prediction was 19th. Note i had the best defence by 22 goals!

Time to test it with a big boy in a big league.

Comfortable League win. Won League cup. Lost in semi's of Champions 2-1 to Barcelona and the semi's of the FA Cup 3-2 to Liverpool.

Again best defence in league. Not designed to be high scoring but 2nd best attack.

Only 3 league defeats all season. all 1-0. In 2 of them we went down to 10 men in the first 10 minutes.

All in all, a really solid tactic which should enable weaker teams to over achieve considerably and stronger teams to meet already high expectations comfortably.

THE TACTIC

A bit weird looking that..........

DESIGN

When working on a tactic I have a clear idea of what i want to achieve and work back from that.

Here, i essentially wanted a tactic which would enable me to 'defend my way out of non-league football'.

5 at the back with 2 defensive midfielders looks over the top initially but there are other factors at play here namely play roles & duties as well as 'mentality' and 'fluidity' settings.

I have long been aware that defensive formations with the right attack duties in defence and an attacking mentality can be very effective.

What essentially I'm trying to do is create 2 clear formations. One when we don't have the ball and one when we do.

In defence we basically morph into a wide 5-4-1 with the 4 operating in the DM strata. this 4 includes our 2 defensive forwards which is pretty cool to see.

From transition into attack we end up as 3-1-1-5 with wing backs supplementing our attacking trio.

KEY DYNAMICS - THE DUAL ROLE PLAYERS

Defensive Forwards on Defend Duty

Sounds counter intuitive this doesn't it? But i'm a big fan of 2 things, defending from the front and lots of vertical movement up and down the pitch 'breaking the lines' if you like.

The 2 forwards in this tactic do exactly this.... and lots of it.

You will see some great counter attacks with the whole team flowing from deep, I can still 'see' a goal we scored where Negredo won the ball on the edge of his own penalty area, we broke and 10 seconds later he was tucking the ball into the back of opponents net.

Yeah, they help out in defence but surely it come at a big cost in terms of goal??? Well, not really.............

Our first choice attacking trio - Negredo 27 goals, Aguero 23 goals, Nasri 16 goals (from AMC)

Wingbacks on Attack Duty

We need width in any tactic and its these guys who provide ours. There default position is DR/DL, when we lose the ball they do not mess about they sprint straight back into position. If an attacking player is quicker we have the security of 3 CB's to mop up. With 3 of them the wider CB's are willing to engage wide attacking players and do a great job.

When attacking our Wingbacks hammer straight up the flanks into VERY advanced positions, in line with our strikers in fact giving us a wide 5 man front. We don't really want them shooting, we want them crossing, but they still take on silly shots sometimes but most of the time they are great creators and a good out ball during the build up of attacks.

Deep Lying Playmaker on Support Duty

The DLP/S combined with Attacking mentality and fluid setting is another dual role player. Again, when we lose possession he prioritises returning to his spot in front of defence, but during attacks he is willing and able to move into very advanced positions, dictating play from 10 yards outside our opponents penalty area being a constant thorn in the side of our opponents with his patient probing and passing seeing lots of the ball. Orchestrating our attacks.

SET-PIECES

Tactic now includes Jassar's set-pieces, thanks and credit goes to him..... they're a lot better than mine!

Again, to reiterate this is a primarily defensive tactic geared towards building sequences of unbeaten runs over the season. The length of these runs and the composition of the results (wins/draws) will vary depending on the quality of your team. But the principles apply to all teams.

THE TACTIC - DOWNLOAD

https://www.mediafire.com/?fe8dlaedx938bf2

**UPDATED SET-PIECES 03/08/14**

If anyone thinks this is any good and wants some more info on player roles let me know and i'll get to it when I can.

DISCLAIMER - This is 14.3.1 - You will lose games, form and morale. When you do a tactic can only do so much.... that's when YOU, the MANAGER need to get to work and turn things around...... good luck!

the tactic

Most anti-climatic post ever.........

like a date that says she is popping to the loo and never comes back...........full of promise but ends in disappointment

Easy boys......

Easy boys......

The date is back from the loo - my day is saved.

Thanks Mr Rosler. Will be testing it today.

Which attributes is important for each position?

Thanks

You really are the top banana and many thanks for yet another tactic for me to play around with! Many thanks for the effort which really does make the game much more enjoyable for those of us who don't have time/knowledge to do this ourselves.

Big fan of the triple xxx and find it overachieves consistently. Is this a plug and play or are there variations to try when home away behind protecting a lead etc? Could be a good away option with triple xxx?

Thanks again.

You really are the top banana and many thanks for yet another tactic for me to play around with! Many thanks for the effort which really does make the game much more enjoyable for those of us who don't have time/knowledge to do this ourselves.

Big fan of the triple xxx and find it overachieves consistently. Is this a plug and play or are there variations to try when home away behind protecting a lead etc? Could be a good away option with triple xxx?

Thanks again.

Thanks.

Plug & Play this one.

Would also make a good AWAY tactic for XXX as you suggested.

Thanks.

Plug & Play this one.

Would also make a good AWAY tactic for XXX as you suggested.

Good stuff Mr Rosler, would certainly appreciate player attribute suggestions when you have the time. I'm mid way through my third season with Everton but will be plugging this in ASAP.

Now that I have had a proper read I can imagine that anyone with a squad set up to use the DOM formations will likely be able to plug this in pretty quickly. My Everton team is currently set up for XXX so those wingers I bought are going to have to be shipped out this summer.

yeah more tactics from rosler despite he sayin no more previously

Player Attributes

Will elaborate further when i have time

Defensive Forwards - Finishing, Composure, Work Rate, Team Work

First 2 are obvious, these guys are still strikers. Work Rate to ensure they get across the pitch closing down and denying time and space to opponents. Team Work, getting big on this. The forward play from the Germany/Brazil game. Having an opportunity to shoot but seeing a team mate in a far better position and unselfishly playing them in. This is what we want.

Attacking Midfield - Finishing, Composure, Passing, Team Work

I view this guy as more of a goal scorer than creator. Maybe 60/40. In my Tonbridge save he was my leading scorer. He will often be our most advanced player. A Striker with partial familiarity with the AMC position would be a good candidate for re-training. The Attributes should be self explanatory.

Deep Lying Playmaker - Passing, Marking, Work Rate, Creativity

I Used Yaya Toure for City. Pretty much the archetype for this role. Good blend of attacking and defensive attributes. AMC/MC's with good defensive qualities can be good options for re-training. Get the best passer you can.

Anchor - Marking, Tackling, Positioning, Passing

First 3 should be obvious. With the attacking/fluid combo even our anchor likes to get involved in building and supporting attacks. He will see a lot of the ball. We don't want a weak passer here.

Wingbacks - Work Rate, Stamina, Acceleration, Crossing

That list of attributes could easily be extended, just get the best you can. If they can finish all the better.

Centre Backs - Jumping Reach, Marking, Tackling, Positioning

Nothing fancy required here. Just good, solid defenders. Put the quickest one in the middle of the 3.

GoalKeepers - Aerial Ability, Reflexes, One on One's, Concentration

Use you scout reports, get the best you can ensuring they are not weak in any of the above areas.

Player Attributes

Will elaborate further when i have time

Defensive Forwards - Finishing, Composure, Work Rate, Team Work

First 2 are obvious, these guys are still strikers. Work Rate to ensure they get across the pitch closing down and denying time and space to opponents. Team Work, getting big on this. The forward play from the Germany/Brazil game. Having an opportunity to shoot but seeing a team mate in a far better position and unselfishly playing them in. This is what we want.

Attacking Midfield - Finishing, Composure, Passing, Team Work

I view this guy as more of a goal scorer than creator. Maybe 60/40. In my Tonbridge save he was my leading scorer. He will often be our most advanced player. A Striker with partial familiarity with the AMC position would be a good candidate for re-training. The Attributes should be self explanatory.

Deep Lying Playmaker - Passing, Marking, Work Rate, Creativity

I Used Yaya Toure for City. Pretty much the archetype for this role. Good blend of attacking and defensive attributes. AMC/MC's with good defensive qualities can be good options for re-training. Get the best passer you can.

Anchor - Marking, Tackling, Positioning, Passing

First 3 should be obvious. With the attacking/fluid combo even our anchor likes to get involved in building and supporting attacks. He will see a lot of the ball. We don't want a weak passer here.

Wingbacks - Work Rate, Stamina, Acceleration, Crossing

That list of attributes could easily be extended, just get the best you can. If they can finish all the better.

Centre Backs - Jumping Reach, Marking, Tackling, Positioning

Nothing fancy required here. Just good, solid defenders. Put the quickest one in the middle of the 3.

GoalKeepers - Aerial Ability, Reflexes, One on One's, Concentration

Use you scout reports, get the best you can ensuring they are not weak in any of the above areas.

Thanks Mr Rosler

One of the things that drew me to your first FM14 tactic was the amount of detail and dedication that you clearly put into your tactics. Many thanks.

4 FB' ? 4 Full Back ? I don't get it ? U mean my CWB ?

4 FB' ? 4 Full Back ? I don't get it ? U mean my CWB ?

Yeah, the Wingbacks. The guys you rotate in the DR/DL positions.

If anyone has a decent defensive corner set up please post it up as i've conceded a fair few.

Thanks

If anyone has a decent defensive corner set up please post it up as i've conceded a fair few.

Thanks

Try this.. Used it for a while now it's not foolproof but does a better job than anything I've tried despite relatively strange instructions http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/share-download-fm-14-tactics/157674-defending-corners-potential-cure.html sorry to link another thread + credit to the creator

Try this.. Used it for a while now it's not foolproof but does a better job than anything I've tried despite relatively strange instructions http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/share-download-fm-14-tactics/157674-defending-corners-potential-cure.html sorry to link another thread + credit to the creator

Thanks for that.

That's pretty close to whats on the tactic except I dont have anyone closing down the corner. I wonder if that helps?? I will give it a go.

im playing the same shape with Palace 1st season and it works a treat im 4th after 20 games , so many ccc every game

Quick update on my Tonbridge save.

First season in league 2. My best player is rated as decent for League 2. The rest are rated as Skrill Premier.

I had to endure a very bad run early on, lots of new players to blend in including a 38 year old Rickie Lambert who's now rated as good for Skrill Premier

We've gelled and are now looking good at the halfway point. media prediction 24th (last!) we've moved into the play offs.

Even in the bad run i could see the tactic working and was confident we could turn it round, even though my players are outclassed every game.

Good news is 10 of my players contracts are up at the end of the season and already I can see that far better players are ready to join the Tonbridge Massive drive to world domination

RAEME / REME represent!!!!

Thanks.

Plug & Play this one.

Would also make a good AWAY tactic for XXX as you suggested.

This tactic is very successful when used as an away tactic or for difficult games at home and used in conjunction with the home and maverick versions of triple xxx. Are you really using this as a plug and play and not making any adjustments in game if you are losing or chasing a goal? I do like the challenge of adjusting strategies/tactics in game and definitely think that using this as a third tactic is helping keep opponents guessing and it is also useful in helping utilise the whole squad? Jassar on fm base has v good corner routines by the way.

Thanks again.

things going well so far with this tactic with everto played 8 won 4 drew 4 but cant score from the corner routine whats so ever always seem to loose ball at corner for some reason and concede silly goals at corners

This tactic is very successful when used as an away tactic or for difficult games at home and used in conjunction with the home and maverick versions of triple xxx. Are you really using this as a plug and play and not making any adjustments in game if you are losing or chasing a goal? I do like the challenge of adjusting strategies/tactics in game and definitely think that using this as a third tactic is helping keep opponents guessing and it is also useful in helping utilise the whole squad? Jassar on fm base has v good corner routines by the way.

Thanks again.

thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, i'm using it as plug & play at the moment. Going well, in theory I should change to overload when a goal behind with 20 mins to go but not even doing that at the moment.

thanks for the feedback.

Yeah, i'm using it as plug & play at the moment. Going well, in theory I should change to overload when a goal behind with 20 mins to go but not even doing that at the moment.

Interesting. If you were using this as a plug and play and attempting to hold on to a lead would changing mentality to defensive with 15 mins to go be wise do you think?

Interesting. If you were using this as a plug and play and attempting to hold on to a lead would changing mentality to defensive with 15 mins to go be wise do you think?

I would probably go control/balanced to hold a lead, Overload/Very Fluid to chase.

P.S i've raped and pillaged Jassar's set pieces (all of them) and will test to see how much of a difference they make.

If its good I will ask his permission to include them in the tactic.

Perfect. May try that.

just started a game unemployed and got the notts county job with 11 games to go, in relegation zone, first game was at home against leyton orient got a 1-0 win. was even game so happy with the 3 points. hoping this tactic with a few tweaks here and there will help. can I ask why u exploit the flanks when your midfield is where all the players are? just seems your isolating the CWB sometimes? would it be better to exploit middle?

just started a game unemployed and got the notts county job with 11 games to go, in relegation zone, first game was at home against leyton orient got a 1-0 win. was even game so happy with the 3 points. hoping this tactic with a few tweaks here and there will help. can I ask why u exploit the flanks when your midfield is where all the players are? just seems your isolating the CWB sometimes? would it be better to exploit middle?

Play was a bit too focused down the middle before. Lots of chances were straight onto the keeper which he would save a lot of the time. i added play wider and exploit the flanks to add variety to attack and generate more crosses and goals from crosses.

Mr Rosler, I've been looking through my pile of FM 14 various game guides, from this site. I have come across a few contradictions. One is what you have done with your latest formation/tactic. You have added play wider and exploit the flanks. Surely, if you already have exploit the flanks you can't play any wider? Likewise, if you exploit the flanks you can't play narrower because then you won't be exploiting the flanks.

This one seems to keep coming up. What size pitch do I need to play on? If you are playing in the premier League in England, it matters not. From the start of last season all Premier League pitches conform to the one size. What say you?

Not sure about the pitch size one, you might be right about that.

i think there is a distinction between play wider and exploit the flanks.

I consider 'play wider' to be largely a positional/formation instruction where you are asking your players to 'spread out' with your wide players closer to the touchline than they would otherwise be. This only occurs during your attacking phase.

I consider 'exploit the flanks' to be request for players to try and build attacks utilizing the flanks of the pitch more than they would normally do. I.E you are influencing their passing decisions to favour a pass to either flank.

thats how I view it anyway.

hey mr rosler after losing 6 1 away to man utd 4 goals conceded from corners and one free kick on everton save i changed all set piece insrutions to the ones the jasser on fm base has posted and sine then scored 7 from corners and yet to conced from set piece in 8 games just thought would post incase you want to try them out

Not sure about the pitch size one, you might be right about that.

i think there is a distinction between play wider and exploit the flanks.

I consider 'play wider' to be largely a positional/formation instruction where you are asking your players to 'spread out' with your wide players closer to the touchline than they would otherwise be. This only occurs during your attacking phase.

I consider 'exploit the flanks' to be request for players to try and build attacks utilizing the flanks of the pitch more than they would normally do. I.E you are influencing their passing decisions to favour a pass to either flank.

thats how I view it anyway.[/quote

Just checked the Premier League pitch size. the rules say that they should all conform to 105 metres by 68 metres. Thanks for the info about my other questions. I shall now bear that in mind.

hey mr rosler after losing 6 1 away to man utd 4 goals conceded from corners and one free kick on everton save i changed all set piece insrutions to the ones the jasser on fm base has posted and sine then scored 7 from corners and yet to conced from set piece in 8 games just thought would post incase you want to try them out

I'm testing Jassar set pieces myself. Dont think i've conceded a goal from corner since which is great, haven't scored one though, the ball is travelling straight into the keepers arms pretty much every time for me. Maybe its because my corners takers in league 2 only have 9,10 for the corner attribute.

Mr Rosler, I've been looking through my pile of FM 14 various game guides, from this site. I have come across a few contradictions. One is what you have done with your latest formation/tactic. You have added play wider and exploit the flanks. Surely, if you already have exploit the flanks you can't play any wider? Likewise, if you exploit the flanks you can't play narrower because then you won't be exploiting the flanks.

This one seems to keep coming up. What size pitch do I need to play on? If you are playing in the premier League in England, it matters not. From the start of last season all Premier League pitches conform to the one size. What say you?

They don't contradict because they both do different things, not sure where you heard on here that they contradict but that's not true;

Play Wider – Instructs the players to play wider and to focus passing down both flanks. If the opposition are playing narrow it can be used to try and stretch them wider. Extremely useful if the midfield is cramped and you are outnumbered.

Exploit The Flanks – It gives the fullback/wingbacks and wingers more attacking and focuses the play down both flanks. It also tells them to run from deep and cross the ball more often. If you use central midfielders then it’ll tell them to hold up the ball. You should use this if you find the middle over crowded or if you have good wide players who can cross.

I'm testing Jassar set pieces myself. Dont think i've conceded a goal from corner since which is great, haven't scored one though, the ball is travelling straight into the keepers arms pretty much every time for me. Maybe its because my corners takers in league 2 only have 9,10 for the corner attribute.

Do you have a link to the corner routine?

Do you have a link to the corner routine?

Dont really want to link a 'rival' website, especially when its not my work.

But pop Jassar into the search function on FM base, you'll see his tactical thread, at the bottom of the first post you'll see his current set piece routines.

Its all in the 'public domain' of course.

Dont really want to link a 'rival' website, especially when its not my work.

But pop Jassar into the search function on FM base, you'll see his tactical thread, at the bottom of the first post you'll see his current set piece routines.

Its all in the 'public domain' of course.

No worries, ta.

Early doors so far as I am still in pre season but Mata appears to be scoring a lot of goals from the AM positions as you suggested Mr Rosler. He was pretty poor in the XXX formation so hoping that he now comes good. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding when we kick off the premier league and champions league

Early doors so far as I am still in pre season but Mata appears to be scoring a lot of goals from the AM positions as you suggested Mr Rosler. He was pretty poor in the XXX formation so hoping that he now comes good. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding when we kick off the premier league and champions league

Are you Man U?? which year??

Are you Man U?? which year??

No I am Everton. Just about to kick off the 2016/2017 season.

Season 1 I used DOM set up and loved it won the league (83 points). Season 2 kept using DOM set up but finished 6th (64 points), I guess I got a massive reputation boost which meant I struggled. Season 3 I moved to the XXX set up finished 3rd (73 points).

Looking back XXX did well for me although I got a little disillusioned during September when I lost 4 on the bounce.

Well, its a while since i've done a season in a day and its only 5.30pm! My eyes look like Ren & Stimpy.

1st season in League 2 we finished a respectable 12th, were in the play off positions for most of the season before fading badly. media prediction was obviously last!

Season 2 media prediction 'improved' to 23rd

None the less a late run saw us move comfortably into 2nd position with 2 games to go. Managed to lose at home 3-2 to a 2nd bottom Doncaster and 6-1 to a mid table Bolton, i thought we'd blown it big time and would be going into the play offs in hideous form but the only team that could catch us Colchester lost at Gateshead and we scraped the 3rd Auto promotion spot....... with a truly pants team. Thats one against the head for a change, well happy with that!

That's 2 promotions in 3 season with this tactic.

***** UPDATED TACTIC ON 2ND POST WITH NEW SET-PIECES*****

(everything else unchanged)

My season = conceded 5 from corners, scored 13.

Will get the new version now, have to say you've surpassed yourself, i've finally won the Champions League with Norwich using this tactic, it's incredibly tight at the back whilst in around half the games being free scoring too, even when it's not wins still come because of the tight backline! 10/10

will take a look again at the new version.. in my brighton save and see what happens

First season in League 1 and very unlucky not to get promoted. Missed out on Auto by 4 points and lost in playoffs.

Still a massive over performance for first season in League 1. I'm getting in debt now, I have batted off bids for my best players but if i'm not promoted this season i'll need to sell a couple of them to make ends meet.

Thank you Mr U Rosler for a amizing tactic. Tested it with Chelsea and won it all supercup, capital one, fa cup, epl, and cl, truly brilliant.

In epl igot 27w 9d 2l gd 73-20 90p. Finally i can go back to my long term save with Ebbsfleet witch your ss took me up to the champiship its time to push to epl.

do you keep the mentality on attacking all the time or would you change this depending how the game is going? i prefer to play FMC and use instant result mostly so i can blast through the seasons quickly, so what i want to know is should i use a match plan or not bother?

cheers