Nike System - Park The Tank

[Mr Hough]

Will do Mr Plough thanks.

Mr Plough lmao, I wouldn't mind if you mis-spelt but Hough don't even have a P or an L in

Thanks Buckmatzzzz

[Brave_United]

Great topic. I've noticed a huge improvement since implementing this into various tactics (including many, many more clean sheets, even away). Thanks!

[Mr Hough]

I changed this a bit so that the DMC/MCD was dropping between the hole of the Defenders and I have the keepr playing behind them as the last line of defence. Also makes it more like a nike swoosh, sometimes you see the Mcd running back from up the park to get behind the ball, I also have it on zonal marking but i've recently been putting the fullbacks on man marking as I saw them get dragged about a bit zonally, seems to be working well kept 12 clean sheets with Rangers and 10 with Worcester

Goalkeeper : 7

DC (Cover) : 8

DC : 10

Fullbacks : 11

MCd or DMC : 9

Thing is it's ok placing the mentality on certain numbers but if you don't get other things like closing down right then you are gonna be pulled out of position regardless of the mentality settings.

[thebluenosebear]

Thing is it's ok placing the mentality on certain numbers but if you don't get other things like closing down right then you are gonna be pulled out of position regardless of the mentality settings.

Think I have them too high at 10 but I wanted them to get forward to null the threat rest of my defence is in or around 7. yet to try them on the same setting as the rest.

[Sisuvide]

Is the first match I play with this tactic (I mean the defense) and I lost 5-0 xD!!!!! Anyways, is not gonna be the last match, I'll keep trying it xD

[jamiet666]

does closing down work in the same way as the mentality? for example the covering defender closes down 2 points less than the stopper? And between 8 - 10 would not pull them out of position too much?? Also im guessing its better to have the MCd/DMCon a higher closing down so he gets further back o support the defence? Aaand lastly the closig down on the wings has always ad me stumped when the are playing AMR/AML =] So far iv onlybeen conceding 1/0 goals in most games which is pretty good, just the noes i do im always caught out in the space behind the stopper. Should one fullback be on a hgher closing down and lower mentality than the other on the side of the coverig defender to fill the gap?? Lots of questions sorry haha

[kingjericho]

I set up a stopper and a cover, and they tend to create a gap behind the stopper, which my full back can't fully cover. This may happen for several reasons:

- My full back only has 7 for positioning

- I play with a high (2 notches high) defensive line

- My CBs are not very fast (12 and 13 for pace)

I don't plan to change any of these above, except the full back which is only 19 years old and I'm giving him intense tactical training so I'm hoping he can develop that attribute relatively fast.

I also use a sweeper keeper but he doesn't come out of the goal very often.

Does this gap happens to you guys too?

[kingjericho]

I will test this setting as my defense is a bit leaky lately. I play a 4-4-2 classic and I don't exactly have a defensive midfielder, i have one MC that plays deeper than the other, but he'll do the job hopefully.

[kkev]

the problem i get with the nike defence is long balls played over my fullbacks for their wingers to run on to. the wingers are played onside by the centre backs so they get a head start. 9 times out of ten the wingers will run all the way to the touch-line, try and cross the ball and it will get deflected off my full back for a corner - as well as being a weakness of the tactic, it's very boring to watch the run down the line for 50 metres, followed by the 30 seconds as all the players get into a position for the corner..

i've probably spent hours of my life watching one of the players run to pick up the ball and throw it to the corner taker, then the throw isn't quite accurate so the corner taker has to go and pick up the ball himself etc.. sorry, got a bit off topic there, but i've started playing my full-backs at the same mentality as centre-backs mainly to stop this happening, cos i've got better things to do than watch imaginary players setting up corner kicks 10 times a game!

[aderow]

Mourinho still uses it at Inter. That's why he got Lucio to partner Samuel. He wasn't happy with Cordoba.

TBH, the Nike system is how I always set up my defense ever since it came out. Hence I never use offside trap. It's amazing how much I've learnt and still remember over the years on these forums. I've been visiting without posting much since CM3 days. There have been many good teachers such as Cleon over the years. Remember you had good 4-3-3 tactic a few FM edition a go that was created with Liverpool I believe. It also helps me that I coach youth soccer (in USA) for a living.

This is how I was coached when I was younger. My team always player with a stopper and a sweeper.

[aderow]

Ok question. In these two setup who should I have as the cover defender and who should be the stopper as they appear on the screen.

In this set up I have a defensive mid sitting in front of the center backs so I was thinking of having carvalho, the DCl, being the cover and terry, the DCr, more of the stopper.

In this one I have Essien as a defensive minded CM so he drops back a little. I was thinking of having the DCl, who is terry on this occasion, be the stopper while the DCr, carvalho be the cover CB.

What do you think? Is my thinking correct? Any other suggestions?

[el_magico89]

Ok question. In these two setup who should I have as the cover defender and who should be the stopper as they appear on the screen.

In this set up I have a defensive mid sitting in front of the center backs so I was thinking of having carvalho, the DCl, being the cover and terry, the DCr, more of the stopper.

In this one I have Essien as a defensive minded CM so he drops back a little. I was thinking of having the DCl, who is terry on this occasion, be the stopper while the DCr, carvalho be the cover CB.

What do you think? Is my thinking correct? Any other suggestions?

lol you could easily answer the question or didnt even need to ask, when you followed some real life football^^

your defensive line or lets say cb partnership is exactly the same like mourinho's chelsea a few years ago.

mourinho knew that terry isnt the quickest defender, so what he made was, creating the nike system by buying a more agil defender like carvalho, so that he can give terry some cover!!!

[aderow]

lol you could easily answer the question or didnt even need to ask, when you followed some real life football^^

your defensive line or lets say cb partnership is exactly the same like mourinho's chelsea a few years ago.

mourinho knew that terry isnt the quickest defender, so what he made was, creating the nike system by buying a more agil defender like carvalho, so that he can give terry some cover!!!

I was asking about the positiions on the page and not the names attached to them....

All I'm asking is in the two different set ups, between the left DC and the right DC, who should play cover and who should be the stopper.

[yonko1]

In both cases I would have the DCL on "cover" duty. In addition, I would make sure that the left FB is on the same mentality as the DCR, who should be set on "defend" duty and not as "stopper". "Cover" and "stopper" duties create too big of a gap and good defending is all about reducing the gaps not expanding them. So for me, the Nike defense should be with "cover + defend" or "defend + stopper" duties combined.

[Chaz Sexington]

The only weakness of the Nike defence is the gaping hole behind the fullback and stopper that is played onside by the covering defender. I find in this situation that it is best to consider the Nike defence as an offset back three of two stoppers either side of a covering defender with a high stamina pacey wingback patrolling the weak side. If you look at Manchester Uniteds first choice back four, that IS the Nike defence in it's ideal form and it is exactly how I have described.

The real key to the Nike defence in my opinion once you have established the two stoppers eitheir side of the cover and supported the three with a pacey wingback, is how you setup your midfield to likewise cover and stop. You could place a stopper CM ahead of your stopper CB but stoppers have a habit of being pulled out of position, especially if the players either side are covers that offer limited aggression to close down passes. A stopper CB with a stopper CM ahead of him could easily be cut apart by passes that go inside to where the covering CM and covering CB are positioned.

A better strategy would be a covering CM ahead of a stopper CB and a stopper CM ahead of a covering CB. This would force a player approaching the covering CM to pass infield to where the stopper CM is, which would force him to pass diagonal forward to where the stopper CB or FB is positioned, where under increasing pressure the player would try to play someone in to where the Covering CB controls.

The two passes leading up to the final attack on the covering CB would be under immense pressure, making the final pass poor into the area where the covering CB is the master.

There is no point building the Nike defence without paying attention to these midfield defensive details or without paying attention to the attacking implications the system has for your side.

I have tried this, but I've not been able to get it to work quite yet. I play both the dMC's at 9 clicks, with a faster one with a supporting role. Any tips? I'm very interested in making an exceptionally good defence, as it's my main problem as a manager as I always leak goals.

[Realmadrid_2007]

I'm playing with Inter at the moment.

I play with a 4-3-1-2 (Narrow AMC) formation and a 4-1-3-2 (Narrow DMC) formation, as I'm trying to emulate the Mourinho Machine which we saw him use at both Chelsea and Inter. I basically have 3 types of tactic for both formations, these being; defensive, neutral and attacking. The mentalities are set individually for all the tactics, along with the creative freedom, passing and closing down. I use the 4-1-3-2 tactic when I come up against a team playing an attacking midfielder, so that my DMC can neutalise him. Otheriwse, my preferred formation is the 4-3-1-2.

I'm currently three quarters of the way through my first season and things are going really well.

Admittedly I'm playing with Inter who have some of the best defesnive players on the planet! But I'm someone who enjoys grinding out 1-0 victories and demoralising my opponents. The good thing about the two narrow tactics is if you go a goal up and the team try to open up, you go straight through the middle Which is what happened to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge....muhahaha.