SIMPLICITY - How to make a SOLID & SIMPLE 4-4-2 set

NOW WITH NEW CLOSING DOWN & MARKING SECTION, PASSING AND TEMPO SECTION & ADDITIONAL NOTES - added 11-03-09.

(Unfortunately, I have used up my word allocation in this post, so these sections are supported with links to other posts in this thread.)

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OK chaps, I have been writing this for some people who are struggling with the game and it has ended up being my very own tactics guide.

After some encouragement from Loversleaper, Tomescan and NepentheZ I thought I would share it with you all in its very own thread.

Please let me know what you think.

The objective of the thread is SIMPLICITY.

I'm going to try to teach you how to create the simplest 4-4-2 possible in order to build a fundamentally sound tactic that will be successful in FM09.

The majority of settings (with a few minor exceptions) will involve putting sliders in one of three positions, i.e. right in the middle/dead centre, five clicks in from the extreme left side or five clicks in from the extreme right side.

I’m trying to keep this as easy and basic as possible but if you have any more in-depth questions then please ask.

Let’s start with a quick definition of 4-4-2 taken from Wikipedia:

4-4-2 Formation

This adaptable formation is the most common in football today, so well known that it has even inspired a magazine title, FourFourTwo. The midfielders are required to work hard to support both the defence and the attack: typically one of the central midfielders is expected to go upfield as often as possible to support the forward pair, while the other will play a "holding role", shielding the defence; the two wide midfield players must move up the flanks to the goal line in attacks and yet also protect the fullback wide defenders.

So, now to the question of how to put this basic definition into an FM tactic. The 4-4-2, at its most basic, is made up of a defensive unit (DR, DC, DC, DL, MCd) and an attacking unit (MCa, MR, ML, ST, ST). As you can see, one of the midfielders will be defensive and the other attacking. That makes a 5/5 split. This will become important shortly.

I'm going to work this definition logically into three 4-4-2 systems, i.e. defensive, balanced and attacking.

The defensive system is all about keeping it tight, frustrating your opponent and maybe grabbing a quick goal on the break.

The balanced system is all about getting the right measure between attack and defend.

The attack system is all about dominating the game and creating lots of chances.

I suggest we setup the balanced formation first and then work from there. I’m going to take you through it step by step. I suggest setting up tactics by using the ‘view’ function on the tactics screen so that you can see the whole team at the same time and take all of your players into consideration. This keeps things clear and will help you avoid accidental mistakes.

BALANCED

Team instructions:

Simple as can be. We’re playing balanced so everything needs to be in the middle or set to ‘normal’. The one’s you really need to worry about here are Tempo, Width, Time Wasting and Defensive Line. You could set ‘counter-attack’ and I do tick it because I want my players to break when they can. The rest we are going to set individually.

Mentality:

This is the most important setting in the game. I don’t know about you but I get bored very quickly. I don’t want to be messing around too much with sliders. All we need to know for this is that 5 or more players should be on the same mentality as the style you are trying to play (e.g. attacking, balanced or defensive). Also, big gaps in mentality are bad and give the opposition space.

My definition of 4-4-2 above talks about 5 defensive players and 5 attacking ones. So I’m going to keep it dead simple here. (For those in the know, this is ‘5x5’ theory on TT&F. I have nearly always played with this kind of theory because I like the simplicity).

First tick all of the tick boxes so that the players are all ready to have their mentalities set. Then put everyone’s slider in the middle.

Now, for the defensive unit (i.e. your defenders, fullbacks and one defensive minded midfielder) click twice to the left so that the notch moves down two notches below normal. For the attacking unit (i.e. your attack-minded midfielder, your wide players and your forwards) click two notches in the opposite direction. Your defensive unit and attacking unit should now be 4 notches apart and 2 notches either side of the centre.

Now, I like to set up my forwards in a specific way. Next time you watch Match of the Day, watch any team with a 4-4-2 and note that the two strikers take up different positions and make different runs in order to break down opposition defences. I’m going to generalise here and talk about striker partnerships as working with one deep-lying creative forward who sets up his strike partner and one advanced striker who is the main goalscorer and who normally has pace to get past his last man. We’ll call the FCd and FCa as per TT&F.

So, I want to alter the mentality for these two players slightly. For my FCd, I click one notch down (so that he is one notch below the attacking unit). For my FCa, I click three notches up (so that he is three notches above the attacking unit). This should achieve the effect that I want.

Mentality done!

Creative freedom:

Creative freedom is an instruction best given to only 2 or 3 players at most and not at all to our defensive unit.

For the defensive unit, I am giving them ‘little’, (5 clicks in from the left side).

As for the attacking unit, well, I like my FCd to have some creative freedom, so I’m putting him 2 clicks above the middle, which is ‘normal’. I’m also going to give one of my wingers the same. My most creative player is in the middle of the park, my MCa, so I am going to give him 4 clicks above the middle ‘much’.

Everyone else in the attacking unit can go on ‘normal’ (i.e. right in the middle). This is all fairly conservative because I am playing balanced and I generally want the lads to stick to my instructions and not take risks.

NEW SECTION – Balanced: Tempo & passing

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865459&postcount=343

New Section – Closing down & marking for Balanced

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865448&postcount=340

Tackling:

Yawn. Basically, I keep everyone on normal apart from my strikers and wingers who are on easy for obvious reasons.

Forward runs:

Forward runs work to instruct the player as follows:

Forward runs rarely - hold to his assigned position. Stand ground and play way through or around opponent.

Forward runs mixed - help out with attacks, don't stray too far forward from your assigned position.

Forward runs often - move into attacking positions as soon as the team has the ball. Push into attacking positions and attempt to get by marker.

In my balanced 4-4-2, according to these definitions, I want my fullbacks on mixed so that they offer an attacking option but don’t go too far forward and neglect their defensive duties. I want my centre-backs and defensive midfield player on rarely so that they hold to their assigned positions. I want my wingers to get forward at every opportunity to offer an attacking threat. Also, I want my attacking midfielder, safe in the knowledge that the defensive one will be behind him, to get forward all of the time and offer another option in attack. The forwards can be trickier. They are attacking and in forward positions by definition and forward runs aren’t so essential for them. I have a rare/mixed or mixed/often split between the FCd and the FCa respectively. Always have them making different runs (as per my MoTD comment above). A quick striker might well benefit from forward runs often and then you can give you support player mixed runs. However, you might want you FCa to get more involved in play and hold his runs a little if he doesn’t have loads of pace. Or you may want the FCd to stay in his position and act 100% as a creative forward playing others in. A rare/mixed split for the FCd and FCa will then be better for you.

I’m going for mixed/often as I have quite a bit of pace in my lineup and I am playing slightly more direct from the back.

Run with ball:

An instruction to be given to wingers for sure and perhaps for other players whose stats warrant it. However, be careful not to give too many player instructions. Only ask the greatest players to run with the ball and play through balls often, for instance, as a player with poor mental stats might well suffer due to you asking him to do too much. Also, run with the ball and hold up the ball are totally contradictory statements. Think about it.

I’m giving my wingers often and my FCa mixed.

Long shots:

Give to players who have a high rating. Mainly for those who are going to be further away from the goal. You don’t want your advanced striker to do this, for instance, as you want him to close in on goal before he shoots. Rarely set this to often unless you want your player to try it all of the time.

I’ve set my MCs to shoot from long-range mixed as they both have the talent to do so.

Through balls:

This is mostly an instruction for your attacking unit. I rarely set any of my defensive unit to do this unless I have especially talented MCd or attacking fullbacks.

My MCa and FCd are the main creative passers of the ball, so they are set to often. I want my wingers to concentrate mainly on crossing and I don’t want to give them too many ‘often’ instructions for the reasons I suggested above. They are set to ‘mixed’. My MCd is pretty decent too and he is set to mixed.

Through balls is a great instruction for players who mainly hold their runs. Think about it. When you tell a player to hold to his assigned position and play around his man then the best instruction to give him will be to play a through ball to another attacking player.

Cross ball:

An instruction for your fullbacks and wingers mainly.

I’m setting fullbacks mixed and wingers often due to their stats but also due to the fact that I want my fullbacks to be cautious.

Cross from:

Again, straight-forward. I’m asking my wingers to cross from the byline and my fullbacks to cross from mixed. This is because I want the wingers to get into a really good attacking position to cross but I want my fullbacks to be more cautious.

Cross aim:

I don’t tend to bother changing this.

Free role:

I don’t set any for my balanced formation. You could pick your most attacking and creative player if you wanted. But only pick one for balanced.

Hold the ball:

Mainly an instruction for your MCd and FCd. Instructs them to use their strength to hold the ball up so that other players can get into good attacking positions to receive the ball. Mainly for players without forward runs and certainly without many other instructions. These players will normally play through balls too.

I set my MCd and FCd to HUB.

So that is it. Your balanced tactic is set.

You can now use this as a template to set your attacking tactic.

ATTACKING

So, using your ‘balanced’ tactic as a template, you can now make some changes to make an attacking 4-4-2 system.

Team instructions:

Again, keeping it simple. We’re playing attacking so things need to be set more attacking. The one’s you really need to worry about here are Width, Time Wasting and Defensive Line. Width needs to be wide as you are attacking and therefore seeking to use more of the pitch. Set to wide (i.e. 5 clicks from the far right). Time-wasting can be set to the far left as we are not going to do any of that. Defensive line should tie in with your overall mentality so that the defence and midfield aren’t operating on different agendas. So we want to push up (i.e. 5 clicks from the far right). You could tick ‘play offside’ but I tend not to unless I have defenders with awesome mental stats. None of mine do, so I’m not ticking it. The rest of the team instructions, we are going to set individually.

Mentality:

Again, I get bored of mentality very quickly. I hate mucking about with sliders. We’re sticking with the idea of 5 or more players on the same mentality as the style you are trying to play (i.e. in this case, attacking). Also, big gaps in mentality are bad and give the opposition space.

Again, my definition of 4-4-2 above talks about 5 defensive players and 5 attacking ones. So I’m going to keep it dead simple here.

First tick all of the tick boxes so that the players are all ready to have their mentalities set. Then put everyone’s slider 5 clicks in from the far right side, i.e. that is five clicks away from the extreme right setting (attacking).

Now, for the defensive unit (i.e. your defenders, fullbacks and one defensive minded midfielder) click twice to the left so that the notch moves down two notches. For the attacking unit (i.e. your attack-minded midfielder, your wide players and your forwards) click two notches in the opposite direction. They are now four notches apart. Defensive unit is ‘normal’ and attacking unit is ‘attacking’.

Now, to set up my forwards. Again, any time you watch Match of the Day when a team are playing with a 4-4-2 you’ll note that the two strikers take up different positions and make different runs in order to break down opposition defences. We are still working with the idea of one deep-lying creative forward who sets up his strike partner and one advanced striker who is the main goalscorer and who normally has pace to get past his last man. We’ll call the FCd and FCa as per TT&F.

So, I want to alter the mentality for these two players slightly. For my FCd, I click two notches down (so that he is on the first notch of ‘attacking’). For my FCa, I click two notches up from the attacking unit mentality, which is four notches up from the FCd (so that he is almost at the maximum of the mentality slider). This should achieve the effect that I desire.

Mentality done!

Creative freedom:

Creative freedom is an instruction best given to only 2 or 3 players at most and not at all to our defensive unit.

For the defensive unit, I am still giving them ‘little’, (5 clicks in from the left side).

As for the attacking unit, well, I like my FCd to have some creative freedom, this time I am giving him 4 clicks above the middle, which is the first notch of ‘much’. I’m also going to give one of my wingers the same. My most creative player is in the middle of the park, my MCa, so I am going to give him 2 clicks from the maximum setting so that he is at the top level of ‘much’.

Everyone else in the attacking unit can go on ‘normal’ (i.e. right in the middle). This is all much higher than balanced because I want the lads take more risks if necessary to get me some goals.

NEW SECTION – Attacking: Tempo & passing

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865462&postcount=344

New Section – Closing down & marking for Attacking

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865451&postcount=341

Tackling:

Yawn. Basically, I keep everyone on normal apart from my strikers and wingers who are on easy for obvious reasons.

Forward runs:

We defined forward runs above. In this attacking tactic, I am now happier for certain players to leave their assigned positions and get forward more often.

I still want my centre-backs and defensive midfield player on rarely so that they hold to their assigned positions. But I now want my fullbacks to be far more attacking so that they offer an attacking option out wide.

I want my wingers to get forward at every opportunity to offer an attacking threat. Also, I want my attacking midfielder, safe in the knowledge that the defensive one will be behind him, to get forward all of the time and offer another option in attack.

The forwards, however, are slightly different in attacking situations. They are attacking and in forward positions by definition and forward runs aren’t so essential for them. I want my forwards more involved in build up and to hold their runs more often so that they can pull the opposition defenders around and let other attacking players take advantage. Think about it as overwhelming the opposition defence. If employing this tactic, you are likely to be playing against a deep defensive line and, instead of trying to get in behind it early (which wouldn't be very effective) you will be encouraging midfield players to come forward and overwhelm their defence. You want your forwards, who are holding their runs, to potentially pull a player out of position so that one of your attackers can take advantage of the space created.

Forward runs rare for the FCd results in the player holding his position more and is perfect for perfect for shorter passing or more patient football where you are building attacks. Mixed for the FCa is obviously somewhere in between rare and often and will result in him sometimes getting involved in play too but still getting forward to offer an attacking option.

So, for my attacking tactic, I have a rare/mixed split between the FCd and the FCa respectively. Always have them making different runs (as per my MoTD comment above).

Run with ball:

Same as balanced. I’m giving my wingers often and my FCa mixed.

Long shots:

Same as balanced. I’ve set my MCs to shoot from long-range mixed as they both have the talent to do so.

Through balls:

Same as balanced although you could think about increasing through balls.

My MCa and FCd are the main creative passers of the ball, so they are set to often. I want my wingers to concentrate mainly on crossing and I don’t want to give them too many often instructions for the reasons I suggested above so they are set to ‘mixed’. My MCd is pretty decent too and I’ve increased him to often due to this being more attacking.

Cross ball:

I’m setting fullbacks often for this tactic as I want them to be more attacking in their nature and get balls into the box.

Cross from:

I’m still asking my wingers to cross from the byline and my fullbacks to cross from mixed. This is because I want the wingers to get into a really good attacking position to cross but I want my fullbacks to be mix up their crossing a bit more and sometimes cross from deep and other times overlap with the wingers and cross from the byline.

Cross aim:

I don’t tend to bother changing this.

Free role:

I set my most creative player, my MCa. You could pick another attacking and creative player if you wanted. I suggest you only pick two for this attacking tactic.

Hold the ball:

Same as balanced. I set my MCd and FCd to HUB.

And you’re done. Only one to go now.

Save and go back to your balanced tactic to use it again as a template for your defensive 4-4-2.

DEFENSIVE

So, using your ‘balanced’ tactic as a template, you can now make some changes to make a defensive 4-4-2 system.

Team instructions:

Again, keeping it simple. We’re playing defensive so things need to be set more defensively. The one’s you really need to worry about here are Width, Time Wasting and Defensive Line. Width needs to be narrow so your players stay compact and don’t give up space in the middle of the park.. Set to narrow (i.e. 5 clicks in from the far left). Time-wasting can be set to the often as it will be ideal if your team waste time and frustrate your opponents right from the off. Set to 5 clicks in from the far right. Defensive line should tie in with your overall mentality so that the defence and midfield aren’t operating on different agendas. So we want to sit deeper (i.e. 5 clicks from the far left). We want to tick ‘counter-attack’ for obvious reasons. The rest of the team instructions, we are going to set individually.

Mentality:

Yawn, yawn, zzzzzzz. I hate these damn sliders. We’re sticking with the idea of 5 or more players on the same mentality as the style you are trying to play (i.e. in this case, defensive). Also, big gaps in mentality are bad and give the opposition space.

Again, my definition of 4-4-2 above talks about 5 defensive players and 5 attacking ones. So I’m going to keep it dead simple here.

First tick all of the tick boxes so that the players are all ready to have their mentalities set. Then put everyone’s slider 5 clicks in from the far left, i.e. that is five clicks away from the extreme left setting (defensive).

Now, for the defensive unit (i.e. your defenders, fullbacks and one defensive minded midfielder) click twice to the left so that the notch moves down two notches. For the attacking unit (i.e. your attack-minded midfielder, your wide players and your forwards) click two notches in the opposite direction. They are now four notches apart. Defensive unit is ‘defensive’ and attacking unit is ‘normal’.

Now, to set up my forwards. Again, you’ll be fed up of me saying this but watch Match of the Day and see a 4-4-2 and note that the two strikers take up different positions and make different runs in order to break down opposition defences. We are still working with the idea of one deep-lying creative forward who sets up his strike partner and one advanced striker who is the main goalscorer and who normally has pace to get past his last man. We’ll call the FCd and FCa as per TT&F.

So, I want to alter the mentality for these two players slightly. For my FCd, I click one notch up (so that he is on the one notch ahead of the attacking unit). For my FCa, I click four notches up, which is three notches up from the FCd (so that he is one notch above the middle). In this defensive tactic, I don’t want my FCd sitting too deep and I need him ahead of the attacking unit in terms of mentality in order to take advantage of breaks. That’s the reason for the difference this time. This setting should achieve the effect that I desire.

Mentality done!

Creative freedom:

Creative freedom is an instruction best given to only 2 or 3 players at most and not at all to our defensive unit.

For the defensive unit, I am still giving them ‘little’, (5 clicks in from the left side).

As for the attacking unit, well, we’re going to be far more cautious for this defensive tactic. I like my FCd to have some creative freedom, but this time I am giving him only 2 clicks above the middle, which is ‘normal’. I’m also going to give one of my wingers the same. My most creative player is in the middle of the park, my MCa, so I am going to give him 4 clicks from above the middle so that he is at first notch of ‘much’.

Everyone else in the attacking unit can go on just below ‘normal’ (i.e. a couple of notches below the middle). This is all much lower than balanced and attack because I want the lads take very little risk and to follow my instructions almost completely.

NEW SECTION – Defensive: Tempo & passing

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865466&postcount=345

New Section – Closing down & marking for Defending

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for this new information: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865456&postcount=342

Tackling:

Yawn. Basically, I keep everyone on normal apart from my strikers and wingers who are on easy for obvious reasons.

Forward runs:

We defined forward runs during the description of ‘balanced’. In this defensive tactic, I want certain players to hold to their assigned positions more and to not commit themselves forward.

I still want my centre-backs and defensive midfield player on rarely so that they hold to their assigned positions. Joining them will be my fullbacks who should now stay back and concentrate on defending.

In this more defensive tactic, I now want my attacking midfielder to hold his runs and stay in his assigned position more often. I don’t want to entirely neutralise his attacking thread however and I do want him to get forward sometimes. But he has to be more cautious. He is now set to mixed forward runs.

I want my wingers to get forward at every opportunity to offer an attacking threat on the break.

The forwards, however, are slightly different again in defensive situations. They are attacking and in forward positions by definition and forward runs aren’t so essential for them. I want my forwards not to hang around but to bomb forward more often and try to break through the opposition defensive line. When employing this tactic, you are likely to be playing against a high defensive line. You want your forwards to try to get in behind it early and, if they manage to break through, this will likely mean a one-on-one chance and a high probability of a goal.

Forward runs mixed for the FCd results in the player sometimes holding his position but also getting forward himself and is perfect this more direct, counter-attacking style of football. Often for the FCa will result in him trying to break through the defensive line and if you get a quick striker in this position with intelligent movement and good finishing, he could be devastating for you.

So, for my defensive tactic, I have a mixed/often split between the FCd and the FCa respectively. Always have them making different runs.

Run with ball:

Same as balanced. I’m giving my wingers often and my FCa mixed.

Long shots:

Same as balanced. I’ve set my MCs to shoot from long-range mixed as they both have the talent to do so.

Through balls:

Same as balanced although you could think about decreasing through balls.

My MCa and FCd are the main creative passers of the ball, so they are set to often. I want my wingers to concentrate mainly on crossing and I don’t want to give them too many often instructions for the reasons I suggested above so they are set to ‘mixed’. My MCd is pretty decent too and I’ve set him to mixed.

Cross ball:

I’m setting fullbacks to rare for this tactic as I want them to be focused on their defensive duties.

Cross from:

I’m still asking my wingers to cross from the mixed and my fullbacks to cross from deep. This is because I want the wingers to sometimes sent in an early deep cross as well as sometimes getting to the byline.

Cross aim:

I don’t tend to bother changing this.

Free role:

I don’t set any free roles as I want the lads to be strictly disciplined in this defensive tactic.

Hold the ball:

Same as balanced. I set my MCd and FCd to HUB.

OK, so that is the three tactics.

Now for some general tips.

GENERAL TIPS

1) READ SCOUT REPORTS ON THE OPPOSITION - ACT ON THE INFORMATION! It tells you how a team is playing. When it says ‘attacking’ then they are playing attacking. When it says ‘defensive’ they are playing defensive. Surprise surprise! When it says just the formation, that means that the opposition will be balanced. So think about your approach to the game and make a decision about which 4-4-2 system to play (i.e. defensive, attacking or balanced) in which situation. Scout reports will also identify threats so listen to them. The way that the opposition will change depending upon your current status (i.e. relegation candidates or title challengers) and your current form.

2) Look at key areas of the pitch, i.e. defence and attack, and examine player attributes. Don’t put your weakest and slowest centre-back up against their quick and strong striker, for instance. Or, if you can put your striker who is super quick up against their slowest centre-back, he may well bag a few goals and give the opposition a pretty horrible afternoon.

3) Pace can be a problem with a high line. Jumping can be a problem with a deep line. Play suitable defenders for each situation.

4) Mentalities - at least five players should be on the mentality that you have selected.

5) Look at your player attributes yourself and don’t always rely on the assistant who may be wrong.

6) Keep it simple!

7) Be careful with Opposition Instructions. They can end up contradicting your team instructions and can be dangerous if the players you have do not have the right attributes to perform that duty. I tend to always use the tackling and weaker foot options but I leave the marking and closing down options because I want my team to stick to their game plan and follow my tactical instructions in this respect.

8) Give common sense team talks.

9) Don't play players who are tired (i.e. below 95%).

10) Give you team time to gel and don’t expect too much too soon. However, if you are losing regularly then look at why because it is probably your tactics.

11) Don’t tweak all of the time during games. If you go 1-0 down then have faith in your system and give your players time.

12) WWFan’s TT&F recommends a Control tactic, which is the same as the attacking one but more patient (i.e. slower and shorter) with less closing down and a deeper d-line to maximise space. It seems that by having the d-line deeper and encouraging the opposition to play in the space between your midfield and attack, you are better able to break down an ultra-defensive opposition as they come further forward. My personal Control reduces closing down to normal for my MCa, is slightly slower and shorter and has a d-line set in the middle to 'normal'. It is otherwise pretty much identical to my attack system. Look for games with very, very short odds in your favour and combine with the team talk ‘be patient, the win will come’ for maximum effect.

13) You may also want to design an ultra defensive tactic for coping with the opposition’s 4-2-4 in the last minutes of games when they are looking for a goal. I suggest using the defensive settings above but increasing time wasting to max, slowing down tempo and reducing through-balls. In mine, I drop both MCs down to DMC as well. I also operate with tight man-marking for both fullbacks and give them low closing down so that they deal with the two 'wingers/forwards' in that position. Put team mentality to the far left, i.e. ultra-defensive.

14) Equally, you may like to design your own 4-2-4 tactic for attempting to grab a late goal. Mine is the same as my attacking one with team instruction set to far right, i.e. ultra-attacking. I push both wide players up the pitch to make my 4-2-4 and play with a quick, direct style to try to get a goal.

NEW NOTES - added 11-03-09:

Unfortunately, I have used up my allocation of words in this post and so I cannot add any new information here.

Please see the following post for some new general tips and notes: http://community.sigames.com/showpost.php?p=2865469&postcount=346

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That seems like enough for now. Hope this helps some of you in some small way.

C.

P.S. Credits go to the usual suspects, especially WWFan, Cleon (their threads are always inspiring and interesting) and particularly Asmodeus who invented the languid and lazy 'slider apathy', which was my favourite way of playing on earlier versions of FM due to its simplicity. I also thank Lyw_85 for some great recent discussions.

P.P.S. I apologise for any inconsistencies or incongruity, plus the inevitable bad grammar and spelling.

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EDIT (28-05-09) - You might also like to have a look at Crouchy’s Highly Disciplined 4-4-1-1: Structural Solidity & Individual Imagination thread. Here is a link: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=121937

The 4-4-1-1 thread is influenced by ideas established in this thread but advances a number of them and makes minor changes to some of the instructions as my tactical ideas have evolved during FM09.

The 4-4-1-1 thread includes a download for FM09 & FM08, and also has instructions on how to change the 4-4-1-1 set to a 4-4-2 formation similar to the one presented here.

Excellent post Crouchaldinho.

Other readers, other tempered, struggling forumites

I was having massive trouble in my save game, and was potentially 1 game away from the sack, before escaping relegation. I then started the "I'm sorry, this game is just too hard" thread. In that thread, Crouchaldinho was nice enough to walk me through the basic structure of tactics in FM09 - and made it simple as to how to understand the sliders. Everything we have spoken about over the last week has been replicated in this thread, and more. It really made a difference to my FM09 experience, and I now play the game confident in my tactical ability, largely due to Crouchaldinho and the information in this post. Thanks to him, I managed to get to the Play-Off Semi-Final of the BSP and WIN the F.A Trophy, the season after narrowly escaping relegation on the final day of the season. I did it with the same players, but a different tactic.

So, cheers, Crouchaldinho. Lets hope your help reflects this well unto other people

Cheers Nep!

Thanks for your encouragement to write this up.

This is a great topic - but can i ask what success (and with which clubs) you have had with this tactical theory?

PrinceEgypt - I've used the same tactical principles in all the FM games since FM07.

In FM07, I took St Albans City from the Conference to the Premier League.

In FM08, I took St Albans City from the BSS up to League Two. Left to manage Derry City and won the Irish Second Division. Then left to manage Kaiserslauten and got promotion from the German second division. After this I managed Ghana and won the African nations. I then went on to manage Leverkusen.

In FM09 so far, I have played just a few seasons. First, I was involved in beta testing and during that I got St. Albans City up to 2nd in the playoffs (predicted to come 19th). I also had a go with England and took them through a year of fixtures unbeaten.

In my current FM09 game, so far I have managed to finish in 7th place with a side predicted to come 19th. I would probably have finished higher but I kept testing different things tactically and I wasn't always successful (actually because I didn't follow my own advice!)

I'm just finishing up my second season, which has seen me still tweaking but to a lesser extent, and I am in the playoffs (currently in 4th place and was predicted to come 11th).

Nep has used the same tactical ideas and has got to the playoffs of the BSP and won the FA Trophy.

Also, I helped another guy on the forum by sending him my tactics to look at and he achieved back to back promotions with Leeds United.

However, despite the successes I list above, I don't offer these tactics as being miracle workers. Doing well on FM is about more than just tactics. You need good players as well, plus you need to give good team talks and learn how to handle players etc.

I offer these tactical ideas as a simple approach based on common sense.

Hope that helps.

C.

I've been looking for something similar to this.. I'll give it a go in a bit. I'm currently running my hometown MLS team DC United and hope to eventually move across the pond to my favorite team Newcastle United. I probably won't be able to do this for awhile though due to the fact my first season was terrible (although I won the US Cup, just like DCU did in real life, haha). I'm undefeated so far in my second season using a mix of tactics, but I'm looking to find something new. I've been using tactics made for Man Utd and Liverpool, so my chances have obviously been mixed in the past. Looking for something more stable for my abilites atm.

Will definitely give this a try. This is when running in windowed mode has been great for me, just started running it.

crouchaldinho - Im currently giving this a go with my Crewe team...I have followed your instructions mate and just wanted to ask another question (lol) ... If you hve time, how about doing a set of instructions for set-pieces & corners/free kicks's?

Hi crouchaldinho i have made up the tactic set you have talked about. I have derby next in the league cup who are in the championship while i am in league 2. could you help me decide which one to use please?

derby scout report

Excellent Herz - good luck!

PrinceEgypt - I won't be doing a set-pieces guide because 1) There are plenty of guides on the forum to set-pieces and corners and 2) I think that they are fairly straight-forward and self-explanatory.

If you really want a set-piece guide, I recommend this: http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=4627, which is a terrific guide that I could not hope to improve upon really.

C.

Hi crouchaldinho i have made up the tactic set you have talked about. I have derby next in the league cup who are in the championship while i am in league 2. could you help me decide which one to use please?

derby scout report

The scout says they play defensive so I would attack them. I notice that the odds are long though so don't put too much pressure on your players in the team talk. Take note of the comments about pushing up and play the fastest centre-backs you have. Taking a look at the opposition strikers is key here and ensuring that you can cover them for pace. As a last resort, if you don't have quick defenders, I would think about lowering the d-line by a few notches (and possibly lowering the mentality slightly to match but so that 5 players are still on attacking). But I don't usually like changing things like that unless absolutely necessary.

Excellent Herz - good luck!

PrinceEgypt - I won't be doing a set-pieces guide because 1) There are plenty of guides on the forum to set-pieces and corners and 2) I think that they are fairly straight-forward and self-explanatory.

If you really want a set-piece guide, I recommend this: http://www.fm-britain.co.uk/forums/index.php?showtopic=4627, which is a terrific guide that I could not hope to improve upon really.

C.

OK mate - thanks. Will give that site a go.

The scout says they play defensive so I would attack them. I notice that the odds are long though so don't put too much pressure on your players in the team talk. Take note of the comments about pushing up and play the fastest centre-backs you have. Taking a look at the opposition strikers is key here and ensuring that you can cover them for pace. As a last resort, if you don't have quick defenders, I would think about lowering the d-line by a few notches (and possibly lowering the mentality slightly to match but so that 5 players are still on attacking). But I don't usually like changing things like that unless absolutely necessary.

Thanks mate I lost 3-1 but the goals i conceded i probobly wouldn't have if i had better players. I think I need a proper FCD but for now i'm impressed.

A quality post

I have found this advice to be very sound and sensible tbh. I've made the tactics so i will keep you informed. Thanks alot.

A quality post

Thanks Cleon - that means a lot coming from someone as knowledgeable as yourself.

Thanks mate I lost 3-1 but the goals i conceded i probobly wouldn't have if i had better players. I think I need a proper FCD but for now i'm impressed.

Unlucky but it did sound as though you were up against it. Sometimes you'll struggle even with the right kind of approach. I've found, against better teams, that I can often get edge the game on match stats but the opposition are just more clinical.

Also, give the tactic set a bit of time to bed in as well. I have no evidence of this but I'm convinced that players take a while to adapt. When I start with a new tactic, I normally seem to begin slowly and then get better after a few games.

C.

I think all players need to adapt to any formation not just on fm but in real. The liverpool formation yesterday surprised me as they played 3-4-3 but they have never played it before and you could tell that on MOTD. I'm going to give this set some time to click as i'm confident it will work out eventually.

Well I just finished my first game! It was against the Columbus Crew and I beat them 2 - 0.

I used the Balanced method in the first half and got a goal just before half time. My second goal came in around 60 minutes after I reverted to the defensive style.

I do have some questions though.

1. It constantly said that there was a gap between my midfield and attacking team, which resulted in the ball getting nowhere. Should I ignore this? The weird thing is after the match in an e-mail it said my defense put up a great fight with my midfield doing a great job.

2. I noticed during the match I didn't have much possession, is this normal? I also noticed the opposition taking many chances, most of which were very scary. Is this a sign of poor defense, does the other team suck at using their chances, or is my squad blending in?

3. Is there any way you can sometime in the future upload the tactics? For some reason I feel as though I might have a slider in the wrong position, even after reading and adjusting numerous times.

Well I just finished my first game! It was against the Columbus Crew and I beat them 2 - 0.

I used the Balanced method in the first half and got a goal just before half time. My second goal came in around 60 minutes after I reverted to the defensive style.

I would have just left it at Balanced unless I saw the opposition go to 4-2-4. That's the time for all out defending!

Still you got the win.

I do have some questions though.

1. It constantly said that there was a gap between my midfield and attacking team, which resulted in the ball getting nowhere. Should I ignore this? The weird thing is after the match in an e-mail it said my defense put up a great fight with my midfield doing a great job.

This is caused by a gap in mentalities, which means you ought to double-check the settings for your mentalities. There shouldn't be a problem so double-check the striker mentalities.

2. I noticed during the match I didn't have much possession, is this normal? I also noticed the opposition taking many chances, most of which were very scary. Is this a sign of poor defense, does the other team suck at using their chances, or is my squad blending in?

It could be a mix of things but probably has a lot to do with the mentality gap problem above. Suggest that you check the mentalities first of all.

3. Is there any way you can sometime in the future upload the tactics? For some reason I feel as though I might have a slider in the wrong position, even after reading and adjusting numerous times.

I might do this in the future if there is enough call for it. However, I have really tried to make things simple enough for people to set up themselves.

Suggest you have another look at the mentalities and see if you can solve your problem.

C.

Great guide. Enjoyed reading through it. Just wondering about the poor old keeper in all this Same mentality as the defensive unit? Team mentality? Closing down own area?

Was looking forward to this.

Good job C.

incredible

Great guide. Enjoyed reading through it. Just wondering about the poor old keeper in all this Same mentality as the defensive unit? Team mentality? Closing down own area?

Good question. I normally put the 'keeper on the same as the defensive unit for mentality and set closing down 2 clicks in from the right.

Thanks for all of the comments guys.

Created a Def and Standard tactic, gonna try with my luton town ^^

Excellent post, had a little tinkle with my current tactic. Hopefully it will work.

Great post! I'm trying to set up my own tactic now. Already set up a balanced one.

Just got 2 small questions...

1. Do I have to use FArrows or BArrows? I got FArrows on the wingers and MCa now, and BArrows on the MCd and the defenders (excluding the full backs)

2. You don't have anything to change for the GK except the mentality and closing down changes you mentioned above?

And once again, thanks for taking the effort to make this huge post.

Great post

I love the 5x5 mentality split and you play in a very similar way to me. I give players a lot more RWB instructions though so I am going to try without so many and see if I have a better passing game.

nice post...

Great post! I'm trying to set up my own tactic now. Already set up a balanced one.

Just got 2 small questions...

1. Do I have to use FArrows or BArrows? I got FArrows on the wingers and MCa now, and BArrows on the MCd and the defenders (excluding the full backs)

'Farrows' and 'Barrows' are linked to forward runs.

Just set the forward runs up and don't worry about the arrows!

2. You don't have anything to change for the GK except the mentality and closing down changes you mentioned above?

I just leave the 'keeper on defaults for everything. You definitely don't want him making forward runs, for instance!

There is one change I do make for 'keepers actually. I change his distribution. Usually 'quick throw' for a counter-attacking tactic, 'long kick' for a very defensive one and 'defender collect' for a possession-based attacking one.

C.

Hey,

I am playing as Hyde United at the moment after starting a new game as an unemployed user, My first season using a mixture of tactics i won the BSN undefeated, Won the FA Trophy, Won the Conference cup and i got to the FA Cup 4th round only losing to Fulham in a replay after drawning 0-0 at home i lost 4-3 away.

Anyways I saw your post and thought it looked interesting I set up the three formations and so far have played two pre season games. West Ham United Reserves and Hartlepool(parent club). The West Ham game I used the defensive tactic and I was 1-0 down at ht. I just told the players to show me more effort and to my supprise i won 4-1!. Against Hartlepool I again used the defensive tactic however this time I wasen't as succesful and lost 2-0.

Despite my latest pre season result i am pretty positive it will be good in the long run when I am playing weaker oppo anyways i'll keep you posted on how I get on.

hey crouchaldinho im goimg to set up your tactics and give them a go but as i have good defenders i would like to use the play offside trap setting so could you reccomend any changes i should make if i do this for example do i change defenders mentalities or instructions

What a mammoth of a post! Shall give it a read now, cheers.

hey crouchaldinho im goimg to set up your tactics and give them a go but as i have good defenders i would like to use the play offside trap setting so could you reccomend any changes i should make if i do this for example do i change defenders mentalities or instructions

Offside trap is best used in conjunction with a high line, so suggest you mainly use it with the attacking system (where d-line is pushed up).

I guess it could also be used successfully with a balanced system too although I would personally tend not to. Don't use with defensive because d-line is deep and it contradicts what you are trying to achieve.

Hey,

I am playing as Hyde United at the moment after starting a new game as an unemployed user, My first season using a mixture of tactics i won the BSN undefeated, Won the FA Trophy, Won the Conference cup and i got to the FA Cup 4th round only losing to Fulham in a replay after drawning 0-0 at home i lost 4-3 away.

Anyways I saw your post and thought it looked interesting I set up the three formations and so far have played two pre season games. West Ham United Reserves and Hartlepool(parent club). The West Ham game I used the defensive tactic and I was 1-0 down at ht. I just told the players to show me more effort and to my supprise i won 4-1!. Against Hartlepool I again used the defensive tactic however this time I wasen't as succesful and lost 2-0.

Despite my latest pre season result i am pretty positive it will be good in the long run when I am playing weaker oppo anyways i'll keep you posted on how I get on.

Sounds like you did really well in pre-season Chewy. Good luck with your campaign.

What a mammoth of a post! Shall give it a read now, cheers.

Afraid so. Once I get going, I tend not to stop!

Hope it wasn't too verbose. There is quite a bit of repetition in there (as it is a 'how to' guide) and so hopefully you can skim some of it and pick out the details you need.

C.

Offside trap is best used in conjunction with a high line, so suggest you mainly use it with the attacking system (where d-line is pushed up).

I guess it could also be used successfully with a balanced system too although I would personally tend not to. Don't use with defensive because d-line is deep and it contradicts what you are trying to achieve.

ok thanks crouchaldinho

Thanks for your effort Crouch, even though you basically made the tactic for me it gives me more of a sense of achievement. I did change some of the settings to fit my team though, six wins one draw so far with my Spurs side.

Nice one Simbo!

I may have given you a base but you can now adjust your style and change things around to make it your own.

Fantastic post Crouchaldinho! This has really helped me understand the game. I am very grateful for your input.

Crouchaldinho,your perception of playing the game is pretty good.

Here are some of my opinions that contradicts some of yours:

I think that most of those who play FM don't realize how powerfull counter-attack can be.

It's about different settings regarding D-Line,C-Down,Marking,Try Through Balls.

Getting a 100% counter-attacking tactic set is more of an art that science,bacause the limit between letting yourself dominated in possesion and have about 45-47% possesion every match,but the quality of chances you get is quite astonishing.Here,you don't see complains like your team had 7-8 CCC,dominating possesion and off-target shots,but fail to convert those chances,or getting poor results

However I quite have made it,inspired by some of the FM-Britain articles.

Of course each one can play their own way,using logical or crazy theories

Now to some of your settings:

If you're gonna play with so low C-Down on defenders and MC'd, you would better lower the D-Line one or two notches

Long Shots:Here's my theory:

I can't be arsed to change LS for each time I change a player

Defenders should be always on rarely Long Shots

Midfielders always on mixed

Strikers an maybe wingers always on rarely

The more a player has high stat for LS,the more goals he will score from distance,because he will only take a LS only when there's a good chance he sees.(Not like Robinho at M-City)

Having mix LS for a striker whom you give High CF will result in a number of off-target shots;wich are rather from desperation.

For the Attacking approach:0 T-Wasting will result in 7-8 CCC,lots of shots,dominating possesion.

I would put T-wASTING to 6,7,8 for a more structured build-up play

Defensive approach:T-Wasting often?Are you kidding me.If you aim at a distructive approach,it's you option.I would have the TW slider on normal to high normal

Long passing for defenders will only give the ball back to the opposition most of the time,IMO

Excellent post - makes the game far more enjoyable when you can understand the framework and devise your own, rather than relying on downloads.

Excellen work crouchaldinho!

Well done on your achievements with st albans crouch. I'm having a bit of a problem in League two where my scout always reports the opposite team plays a defensive counter attacking formation but they also like to play possesion football. Which tactic would you use for this situation?

trying the theorem now.. the point that "not too much between attack and defence" works great.. won 3-0 at away against roma (playing with a little overpowered MANU). will send some more scores as i got..

That was a good ready. Well done to the max!

I've been trying to understand tactics more this time around.

I usually just tried to get decent players and play a formation that suited them.

I tweaked sliders but never really knew what i was doing, just be like ... hmmm ... direct.... why not.

But i think this will help, just giving it a go with my Weston Super Mare game, half time in my game at the moment and its 2-0 to me.

I had a good first season but couldnt make a strong 442 that was consistent because i wasnt sure what to do.

This has helped me i do say. Just need to learn what beneficial tweaking could be in games when needed. I dont usually tweak unless its all gone bad.

But thanks! Ill have to try this all out and continue my triumphant quest to the football league!

P.S - this match im playing has proved excellent for my keepers assists, he has blasted 2 balls right over the pitch an too my FCa who has scored both times. EXCELLENT!

Thanks for the comments guys.

Adrian - you have some interesting opinions, however as you might expect, I disagree on a few points!

The objective of this exercise was to give a reader the foundations of a solid tactic. Obviously, there are a few of my personal preferences in there. Anyone who decides to build up their own tactic will, hopefully, get to a point where they are confident enough to take some decisions on things like their style of play or who should take long shots. Thanks for your comments though.

Salkster2102 - If they are playing defensive then I would go out and attack them. Regarding style, I personally don't tend to alter my style as I prefer to play my own game but you could take this into consideration. What this scout report basically means is that the opposition will be sitting deep, trying to keep possession and on occasion launch counter-attacks. You'll see this if you watch the match screen. Look, for instance, at the sort of passes they play, the positions the opposition players take up etc. The main thing I personally would look at is how quick their strikers are and who is their main threat. As they are playing on the counter, they are looking to break quickly and if they have a very quick striker and your marker isn't up to it, they will make chances.

C.

can you make some suggestions for FCa and FCd.. for example im using rooney as FCd and berbatov/milevski as FCa.. is this complation ok for our attack tier?

Tunch - see this thread for some info about the different types of deep and advanced strikers: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=97235

My personal preference is for strength and creativity in the second striker slot (FCd) and pure pace and finishing ability in the advanced position (FCa).

A quicky ...

which is best to play in your opinion when playing teams with their tempos?

if you play a slow team is it better to counter them and fly about the pitch? or not?

and if you are playing a quicker tempo players obviously need better stats but what in?

just reading a scout report and sayin the opp. play a slow tempo 442 through the middle

so if i played wide would i get through more, but risking they get more space?

all this opposites confuses my lickle brain! haha

just swapped rooney-berbatov.. berbatov scored a hat-trick (its my first hat-trick for fm09) and rooney got 1 assist and 1 goal.. going fantastic atm.

once again , thnx for this great topic.