Mr Hough 4-1-1-2-2 FM11.1 Tactic

[Elhan]

4-5-1 might work like this if you have a holding player who you can get to drop deep like a third CB and the rest of the midfield are set to high pressing? i'd guess you'd need high team work / work rate players of high quality for this to work, (not going to happen at Ipswich for a few seasons).

You can get something very close to that if you adjust the closing down and mentality settings of your anchor man (lower them, up to a certain point). Note however, that attacking with 7 players is something probably only Barca can get away with, without conceding too often. Plus, the game against Madrid is not a good one to draw tactical concusions from, as Real were rubish and they would have lost no matter the tactics.

[Mr Hough]

What kind of 4-5-1 would that be Dave ? The Flat form ?

flat 4 1 DM 2 CM 2 Wingers 1 Striker.

This is the best tactic i have come across, This and the 4-2-3-1

[Ernest166]

flat 4 1 DM 2 CM 2 Wingers 1 Striker.

This is the best tactic i have come across, This and the 4-2-3-1

should be a decent tactic since you will have 3 in midfield.

keep us up to date mate.

[Mr Hough]

Update on my results with the tweaked version:

Cardiff (H) D 1-1

Doncaster (A) W 2-0

Swansea (H) W 3-1

Derby (A) D 2-2

Watford (H) D 1-1

Forest (A) D 1-1

Bit disappointed with the run of draws but a point away is never a bad result and I absolutely battered Watford but my strikers were off form on the day.

Played 25 Won 15 Drawn 6 Lost 4 scored 63 conceded 26

Dave, it was interesting watching the review of the Barcelona game on Sky following their 5-0 drubbing of Real Madrid, they showed that they play 4-5-1 which is in effect a 2-3-4-1 with the full backs playing level with Busquets and a bank of 4 attacking midfielders behind one withdrawn free role striker. Obviously Barca are really fluid and are all quality players, but what was really interesting was the way Busquets formed a back 3 when they lost possession allowing the full backs time to retreat and the midfield and forward five to press the ball high up. 4-5-1 might work like this if you have a holding player who you can get to drop deep like a third CB and the rest of the midfield are set to high pressing? i'd guess you'd need high team work / work rate players of high quality for this to work, (not going to happen at Ipswich for a few seasons).

Barcelona are the best team with and without the ball, The way the past the ball around was brilliant and what was more impressive was the way they pressed and pressed Real Madrid so they could never be comfortable on the ball.

Everybody from Busquets to there more flair players like Messi, where hounding Real Madrid it was a brillaint game to watch/observe.

The way i have set my formation up is simular to this set up, I am having the fullbacks supports but no too much where if i lose possession i'll be in danger i am having the wingers cutting inside looking for the target man to make the runs playing with the ball to his feet.

Working really well.

[paulbhoy67]

With your 4-5-1 is your d-line high and what tempo do you use? Also do you have high closing down for all player to press teams.

[Jack of Hearts]

flat 4 1 DM 2 CM 2 Wingers 1 Striker.

This is the best tactic i have come across, This and the 4-2-3-1

Have never really been too good with tactics Mr H, so when I started playing FM11 I used your FM10 Unbeaten (4-1-2-3) tactic with Hearts. Hearts don't have very good forwards but do have good wingers, so I took 2 of the 3 forwards (leaving the central striker) and made them AML and AMR, then set them to wingers.

With no other changes at all, I finished 3rd in the league using that tactic but only lost 2nd to Celtic on the last day of the season. 2nd would have been a great achievement.

As you say, flat 4, 1 DM, 2 CM, 2 wingers, 1 striker could be the way to go.

Good luck with it and I'll be keeping an eye out.

[Mr Hough]

With your 4-5-1 is your d-line high and what tempo do you use? Also do you have high closing down for all player to press teams.

Slow tempo and passing to control possession There's no point in playing direct when there is only 1 striker to aim for, So i am going for the possession game and drawing the oppsotion out of position for my attacks.

I have set the D-Line directly in the middle as a start point, I may adjust it though depending on how the oppsotion are.

Low closing down on the DM because with the fullbacks going forward i really want the DM to stay in position in the middle either with the 2 CB or just above them, The 2 CM and Wingers have max closing down.

[Steve Thorpe]

Here you go, like I said earlier I've only changed 2 things, dm to cm box to box for the 4-1-1-2-2 and dropping the deep lying striker to trequartista for 4-1-1-3-1 and selecting him as a playmaker:

4-1-1-3-1

http://www.filefront.com/17592764/Mr Hough 4-1-1-3-1 Fm11.1 Tactic tweak (Ipswich, Aug 2010).tac

4-1-1-2-2

http://www.filefront.com/17592776/Mr Hough 4-1-1-2-2 Fm11.1 Tactic tweak (Ipswich, Aug 2010).tac

Ultimately any success I'm having is down to the excellent work from Mr Hough!

Thanks for this. No doubt Mr Hough does come out with some blinding tactics

[Bebetu]

Im playing also a 4-5-1 system made by me with 1 anchor 2 creative midfielders and 2 inverted winger(kiko is not inverted but i did not find a good winger-striker with left preffered foot) for cutting inside and it seems is best tactic as a weak team.After 20 games im in 9th position with Blackpool,anyway gl for you Mr.Hough in building a solid 4-5-1 tactic:).

[will8578]

holy ****, iv moved the left DM intoCM and changed to box to box, i thought surely it wouldnt work as the settings are different, first game against chelsea halfway through the season and i thumped them 6-2 at anfield, torres hit 5 and a cech pen, bounced in off him lol, pure class, long may it continue

[will8578]

i love liverpool fc, but im going to start a new save as west ham, they are media predicted to be 15th, i think that is unfair because they have a really good squad of players

[Bebetu]

Mr.Hough when the weather is bad u still play with short passes or u change in more direct?

[Guest]

hi Mr Hough

im playing with arsenal and have had great sucess so far with you tatic , i just need to know which strikers i should play where up front as none of my strikers have scored bucket loads so im unsure wather they are in the best positions

i have van persie , chamackh , bendtner as my main 3 i play the most ,but which positions suit them best up front???

thanks

[Zoo Lu]

OK so I am really starting to get the hang of this tactic. I am half way through the second season and I have made huge improvements. I got some money to spend in the summer and managed to get rid of some dead wood in the squad so my squad is looking much healthier. Here is the current league table and my fixtures:

So it's looking good so far. My transfers are below. Nabil Dirar (Club Brugge) in the Right Wing position is superb, especially for 675k, and Miranda on a free transfer is amazing.

I'm really getting used to this tactic. I'm predicted 13th this season and the board just asked me to change my expectations to Continental Challenge so things are looking good.

[mmtxt]

What's up guys. I don't know maybe it's just big luck but in my Ruch Chorzow game (Polish 1st League) in first season without any transfers in Europa Cup 4th Round i won with PSG on away. First game i lost in home 0-1 and i used original mr.Hough tactic then i make two changes before second game. I moved 2dm to mc and i gave them new role lmc - box to box and support rmc - defend. After that i played game and I won 4-0 !! As i said maybe it's just luck but I will play with that modification little bit longer and will be in touch thx mr.hough !!

[maddison hoops]

Hi there anyone! ive just downloaded the new patch 1.1 how do i load the game with these changes? anyone please thankyou!

[Solentstar]

Isn't this thread about Hough's tactics?

[Solentstar]

Seems to be working quite well at present.

Bit of a strange tactic though. Opposition get all the posession and more CCCs but I seem to thrash most of them.

Might try with a worse team and see if the defence still holds up.

[Mr Hough]

Seems to be working quite well at present.

Bit of a strange tactic though. Opposition get all the posession and more CCCs but I seem to thrash most of them.

Might try with a worse team and see if the defence still holds up.

It's not a dominating tactic, More a counter/break away tactic, I think people have thought because of the domination of my previous tactics that they expected the same with this one but it is not how i built it.

[Solentstar]

I didn't use your last one - just an observation.

Quality tactic all round really. You can't knock putting 5 past united away from home. Counter attacking policy works very well.

Two defensive mids really help to break things up, they're crucial for this tactic I think.

[Mr Hough]

I didn't use your last one - just an observation.

Quality tactic all round really. You can't knock putting 5 past united away from home. Counter attacking policy works very well.

Two defensive mids really help to break things up, they're crucial for this tactic I think.

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

[Spikester]

Mr Hough

So is your new tactic a 4-5-1 formation or 4-2-1-2-1?

Steve

[deadmeat21]

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

i hope it'll be your best tactic ever but on the other hand i feel it is a bit "non-amusing" to create tactics with only 1 stricker. this may be the reallity in football today but FM is a game and when many people were used to play with 3 (or at least 2 strikers) i guess that the 1 striker tactic may seem a bit strange. i am sure it'll be a killer tactic cause you put a lot of work every time you create a new one but i hope that if you create one more after this one it'll be with 3STC's. it is not about the scoring or about the attacking work on the pitch it is just about the love of many people who play FM for using many strikers in the games!

[ChefRobGaming]

just wanted to let you know I got leeds promoted to the prem 1st season scored 99 conceded 51 but won the league by 2 over bristol city was a awesome battle till the last game

[Solentstar]

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

Good to hear although I've played 20 games with your current tactic. Scored 51 and conceded 12 in the league which is pretty good I think.

[Tanon]

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

Superb:) I can't wait for it:)

[arafat]

probably this tactic is not a diablo () and in some sides there's something lacking

i remember i used a tactic wich i won the epl with sunderland then it did'nt worked with benfica (5th overall) and believe me, the portuguese league is EASY

gonna give it a try with milan or man blues

[Zoo Lu]

So really happy with the second season. I was predicted 11th and to be honest I should have won the league but it was so tight at the end of the season I ended up third. Still Champions League next season a fantastic finish and hopefully with a couple more signings I will be well in there. Here is the final table and fixtures:

I bought the youngster Tiago Alves in January and he ended up scoring 8 in 8 so with him for the whole of next season I could be well on my way to the title. I'm going to try and concentrate a bit more on youth because my youth team is terrible so hopefully I will bed in some youngsters into the formation in the cup. I have tweaked it a touch but only in individual games.

In short I doubt I will end up changing to the new formation

[kernohg]

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

This is great news.

Out of interest which teams are you testing the tactic with.

[Dirty Harry]

I find this tactic still generally gives me the results, apart from against top teams, especially in europe, not got past the Q/F. I find that i am almost without difference outplayed by teams, especially the top half teams in the first 20-25 mins. Things like 6/7 shots to my 1/2 on goal, away from home way worse, but then i seem to manage to score and win in the end. I do have Higuain (finishing 20 now, and all essential striker attributes up by one or more points from the start) and Bojan/Lukaku (both has finishing 17/18 and all have great other striker attributes, generally 1-2 points below Higuian, except for the obvious, Lukaku's pace etc and my other backup striker is Drogba), POINT being that i guess i don't need many chances. Still though, a lot of the time it's like when i was playing with complete dominance 2.0 but had a total gypo of a game and whatever team it was had a handful of chances and score with them all and i missed everything.

It is nicer to watch that's for sure, and i like being able to use wingers it's more exciting escpecially with the DMs. Strikers, DMs and Wingers are my fav positions for player hunting if you know what i mean, esp wingers.

I'm working on a new tactic at the minute because i had some negative feeback regarding the defence on this one, So i have taken a striker and moved him into the midfield position to be give me extra potection, Aswell as some other changes but it is working brilliantly at the minute.

Sad to say that this has given me much hope. The tactic is already good but it isn't a complete dominance 2.0, not by a mile. With that, if you wanted, you could load it up, put it and starting line up and just click the buttons and still win most things. If you paid attention and kept good team morale, made good signings etc you were invincible. I've already noted the amazing things it let me achieve. I'd like to say my team management etc did help a lot, and in some ways it did, when i slacked off it i started drawing a lot of matches etc, HOWEVER the main ingredient is the tactic. I'm hoping your new one will be a complete dominance 2.0 but with wingers lol.

P.S. When you start another tactic can you post a link to it in here, that or lock the thread and/or leave a message saying the new tactic is out in a different thread. Thank you.

[jefflackey]

Mr. Hough, I encourage you to stick with the 4-2-2-2 formation with the two wide AMs. I developed my own tactic with that formation and it has been incredible - they stay in attack the entire game and keep the other team trying to defend against attacks the entire game - which is the best defense! I've won leagues with mediocre teams with it.

If it helps, the approach I've taken is to move those two DM ups to regular middle midfielder positions, with one as a DM. I also consistently use closing down and tight marking on the other team's strikers - that seems to help with the defense. But I find that having the two midfielders up in the standard midfield position, even with the one tasked to a DM mode, helps keep the pressure on the other team and helps keep the pressure off of the defense. But my opinion, based on the tactic I'm working with, is that you need to keep the two strikers and focus on keeping the ball and pressure on the opponent's end.

FWIW

[ipswichjon2]

More results:

Bristol City (H) D 1-1

Portsmouth (H) W 2-1

Millwall (A) W 1-0

Sheff Utd (A) W 2-1

Leicester (H) W 2-0

Rotherham (A) D 4-4 (we were 4-0!)

Hull (A) W 3-1

Middlesborough (H) W 3-2

Rotherham (H) W 5-1

Tottenham (H) W 2-1

Leeds (A) L 2-0 (had 6 CCCs)

Scunthorpe (H) W 3-2

Preston (A) D 0-0

QPR (H) W 1-0

Cardiff (H) W 4-2

Barnsley (H) L 1-0 (laid siege to their goal 7 CCC)

Burnley (A) L 2-0

Reading (A) W 3-1

Coventry (H) W 2-0

Bolton (A) L 2-0

Currently still top 5 points clear, in the league & cup Played 45 Won 28 Drawn 9 Lost 8 scored 101 conceded 50

[Peter G]

Struggling with this tactic as Al-Sadd. Concede a lot of goals and lose too many games, I don't seem to have much possession either.

[LiuDongXing]

Hellow everybody,I love you

[maddison hoops]

is this thread still active? whats mr houghs plans for this tactic? not heard from him in a while??

[dan99]

is this thread still active? whats mr houghs plans for this tactic? not heard from him in a while??

If he is working on a new one, he won't say when it'll be released, after the farce that a few people kicked up after the last one.

[will8578]

i have been having great results using this tactic in a 2 player game with my mate, he is man utd and im liverpool, kicked his ass 6-3 at anfeild, torres getting 4, also in the uefa cup 1st round drew 0-0 with roma at home then beat them 3-2 away, 2nd round 0-0 away to inter and then wait for it 5-0 at home, i cant understand why people arnt having success, i personally think it is amazing, also benitez for 1.5million is a beast, interesting tho i think team talks has a lot to do with it, my mate is using knapps 442spurs tactic(which is really good), he was cracking up saying what he was doing wrong, he told me to try, so he was 1-0 down in the 1st round of the champs leahue to sevilla, so playing at home, i gave adler a kick up the arse, told all the low morale people i wanted a performance, and the rest to pick up where they left off and i expexted a win, basically wolfsongs team talks, final result man u 6 sevilla 0, amazing, whole lot of things are important in this game.

[Mr Hough]

I have just been playing around with different tactics and settings really, Just getting a feel for FM11.

Unless something brilliant clicks in one of these tactics i won't be releasing another till the 2nd Patch.

[Ernest166]

I have just been playing around with different tactics and settings really, Just getting a feel for FM11.

Unless something brilliant clicks in one of these tactics i won't be releasing another till the 2nd Patch.

It seems that there is no more the plug&play "diablo tactic".

[l33tshane]

hi mr hough. used your amazing tactic in fm10 and this fm11 one is even better i'd say. am in my third season with birmingham, been using JP Woody's 4-1-1-2-2 tactic similar to yours, but with very mixed results. after switching to your tactic my team came to life. after 10 games i am in 2nd place in the league (predicted 12th place). have so far beaten chelsea 2-1 and got great results against other teams. sometimes i only win by a goal or so but my team always seems to hang on in there.

amazing tactic.

[Dirty Harry]

For what it's worth the tactic seems to be coming together now. Idk if it was just to much for my team with three/four new players and a new tactic was a bit much for them but now after 30--35 or so matches, apart from a few major slips ups which are now draws as opposed to loses this tactic is working rather well. I find it particulary important to have at least one winger which is 19 acc 19 speed and who sticks to the outside almost without exception. I personally have the other cutting inside half the time. That and having pretty much dropped JT and Alex due not being too slow and started using two very fast defenders has made all the difference. Turns out it could be good after all. The test will come in the latter stages of the CL though...

It also takes proper attention and team management, adjusting your players favourite moves for the team and so on, specific training etc.

[Golgot]

Just like to say a big thanks for putting in the effort to make and share this tactic with everyone here Will hopefully get some good results with it tomorrow.

[ased]

Brilliant Tactic!

Mr Hough,i really like your skin.Where did you download it?

OK,i 've just founded it!

[maddison hoops]

hello! is there a new thread for this or something??? there no much talk on new tactic.

[Mr Hough]

Been working on a new tactic and just concentrating on defence more than anything, It's a 4-2-2-2 and very sound defensivly, Attacking wise it's not like my other tactics, You will create chances and score goals but the main part of the tactic is the defence,

I'll have to test more before i considor a release though.

[yaşar]

Been working on a new tactic and just concentrating on defence more than anything, It's a 4-2-2-2 and very sound defensivly, Attacking wise it's not like my other tactics, You will create chances and score goals but the main part of the tactic is the defence,

I'll have to test more before i considor a release though.

we are waiting for you Mr Hough

[the silly wizard]

look forward to the release of the new tactic

[Koko4]

Been working on a new tactic and just concentrating on defence more than anything, It's a 4-2-2-2 and very sound defensivly, Attacking wise it's not like my other tactics, You will create chances and score goals but the main part of the tactic is the defence,

I'll have to test more before i considor a release though.

Hi Mr. Hough!

When are you planning to release it?

I am also looking forward to your new tactic.

THX!

[slakey]

Woo, I'm hoping this will turn my Norwich career around, had a very bad start

[will8578]

Been working on a new tactic and just concentrating on defence more than anything, It's a 4-2-2-2 and very sound defensivly, Attacking wise it's not like my other tactics, You will create chances and score goals but the main part of the tactic is the defence,

I'll have to test more before i considor a release though.

after the last time your brave saying this lol hopefully people have more patience this time and dont ruin your thread.