Analysing the Goal #1

[furiousuk]

Background

I’ve been playing FM since its’ first CM incarnation back nearly 20 years ago but have only got really into the meat and bones of the tactical side in the last few years, particularly with my long FM09 save which only ended when I parted with my cash for FM11. Whilst I enjoyed playing with the sliders and largely following TT&F rules I have to admit that I’m a great fan of the TC and rarely play with the sliders at all – this does not mean that I neglect their effect on the performance of my team.

FM is complicated enough so to make things easier, for me, it all boils down to this: players make teams and teams win games.

With this crucial piece of information in my proverbial tactical cupboard I set about creating a system that will allow my players to operate in a team and allow my team to start winning matches. The tactic I’ve evolved the squad into using is a 451 and there is one reason and one reason only why it is working exactly as planned this year: this unit joined in the summer,

This guy is all about fulfilling a role to perfection. He’s in great form and it would be easy to say that this is down to my ‘awesome tactical brain’ creating a highly personalised set of tactical instructions that allow him to play well but that isn’t the reason. He’s a complete forward-attack. It’s that simple. No tweaks. No tailored tactical instructions. Or is there.

Under the hood

Actually no, there are no tricks or tailored instructions, everything has been set using the TC. I created a shape and set up like this:

Nothing too radical and, in fact, the 'more roaming' setting is misleading as changing it to default won’t do anything due to the role set-ups. The key to the tactical success of this formation boils down to 2 things and 2 things only.

1) The balanced philosophy and, crucially, the creative freedom allow my players to play intelligently and,

2) The players make the team.

That’s it. No great tricks to harnessing this guy. Just the freedom to express himself and making sure that he fits in to the team. And that's how one man in a system of 11 men can elevate a team. He’s not even a world class, once in a lifetime player – not for anyone else anyway. His lack of technique and agility means he can’t dribble, cross or shoot particularly well and his lack of work rate, teamwork and first touch mean he’ll never be in the same group as Pele, Maradona, Bergkamp or Messi. So, how on Earth is he excelling as a complete forward and driving my team on to un-heard-of success?

Well, he’s athletic enough to win the ball in the air, he’s strong enough to keep it, his creativity and decision making is great and his passing and his composure allow him to use his superior vision. His anticipation and off the ball (and possibly positioning) allow him to find positions where his vision can really hurt teams. If he had more teamwork, work rate and first touch then he really would be outstanding and really quite unique. Another key to his success are his PPMs, he came with these and was a major factor in my decision to splash the cash on him, PPMs are often over-looked but these 2 allow him to play exactly the way I want him to.

Oh, I forgot to mention that nothing in my team ever works in isolation. Another key reason that he is doing so well is down to this G-Unit:

If you have Djuric’s awesome vision you’ve got to be able to use it and this unit knows only one thing – head straight for the goal. Again, his PPM is crucial for him making a bee-line for the goal. I don’t want this guy to cross the ball so I don’t care that he can’t, I don’t really want him making too many passes so I don’t care that he can’t, I want him to use his superior athletic ability to create space for himself and I want him to bury the ball when Djuric hands it to him – now that he does pretty well.

[furiousuk]

So, what is this capable of:

Here, I’m playing the flat 442 of a Villa side who are in reasonable form. They are quick up front and on the wings and they have a good deal of creativity in the middle of the park so this is far from an easy game. The beast from Belarus has just put us 1 up by using his immense physicality to get on the end of a fairly innocuous cross, surely a 2nd before half-time is asking for too much,

(ignore the scoreline, screenshots are taken from highlights)

Old has just received the ball from Simpson (2) and is in a familiar position from which to launch an attack. Simpson is already drifting wide after his pass. Rudenok (11) is using his PPM to test that offside line, anticipating a forward ball from Simpson. My man Djuric is already starting to probe at the opposing CBs by teasingly moving a little wider. The commentary is misleading as Old is actually retreating to both find more space and to drag their MC forward allowing room for Ledley (4).

McCann has drifted slightly wider to receive the pass and to exploit the space left by the out-of-position Ashley Young (Villa 7) who had previously pressed Simpson.

Default passing length means that McCann, as a secondary playmaker, is free to find Djuric, who has adopted space just wider of the opposing CB and created a gap for Rudenok to exploit. Their CB (29) has recovered slightly to cut off the natural passing angle and Djuric probably hasn’t got good enough first touch to guide a pass through that channel first time anyway.

A few touches later and Djuric has succeeded in dragging 3 defenders to him whilst Rudenok has aimed for the slightest of gaps between CB and FB to create a little more space for Djuric.

[furiousuk]

And there it is, vision and precision all in one. The athleticism of Rudenok drives him through the slightest of gaps whilst the vision of Djuric allows him to slide a ball between the opposing CBs (29, 19) with his stronger foot. The outcome is inevitable.

Hit first time with his stronger left foot makes it 2-0 and the Djuric/Rudenok combo is developing nicely.

The combination of PPMs and attributes between these 2 players mean that goals like this are becoming increasingly consistent. This is a primary route for my team to score goals. It isn't the only route but it is a crucial route. It's more direct than my overall philosophy but is sufficiently more sophisticated than 80's Wimbledon tactics and relies on good players making good decisions that befit their abilities.

[furiousuk]

Further examples of the advantages of this type of system

Sinama-Pongolle has embarrassed my GK with a long-range effort whilst Aston Villa have had the most of the ball in the 2nd half. We’ve just scored against the run of play from a cheeky corner so I’ve decided to drop deeper and play narrower. If Villa hit back at us now then it will be squeaky bum time for the last quarter. We still need to attack but not be silly so we’re using a standard mentality whilst playing narrow and deep. The CBs have been pressed by the Villa attackers into a backpass.

Villa are pressing hard here and pegging us back but this shows the basic neutral alignment from my team with possibly just Schneiderlin (15) too far advanced.

Simpson is the natural outlet here for the keeper which, as Djuric has been replaced with a smaller and quicker player, is definitely the preferred option. You can see that Villa are already moving to press hard but this was their downfall earlier from a very similar position.

Again, Simpson finds Old and we start to look like we can attack, the same as earlier. However, the key difference here is that their 16 has taken up a great defensive position for a deep-lying forward and presses the man on the ball.

A possession retaining pass to Rigamonti (24) would of been preferable, but Old is young and not yet an ace playmaker so he chooses the wrong option to play the ball up field to Wellington Silva, not a player who will often win aerial battles. This one he loses to Clyne.

[furiousuk]

However, whilst Old is not a great playmaker yet he isn’t a bad defender and this allows him to turn a potentially threatening situation into a good one by anticipating the situation and timing the tackle well.

In this position we are able to attack. Villa’s high pressing has meant that their midfield are all advanced of the ball and this really is a counter attack.

Wellington Silva has done what I want him to do. He’s an inside forward and the shout is to play a little narrower. He’s running at defenders which is exactly what he is good at, creative freedom once again allows him to play to his strengths. Rudenok on the other wing has anticipated Wellingtons’ movement and is already making a beeline for goal. Remember that earlier I said that the striker in my system is a complete forward-attack despite the fact I want him mainly as a playmaker? Take a look at Evans (21), for me he is doing exactly the right thing. He’s never going to get the ball over there but those CBs can’t take their eyes of him.

Evans has dragged his CB right across the pitch. Wellington didn’t manage to find the forward run of Rudenok but the situation is ok and is still a counter attack. From this position, there are options, Wellington has already turned to run forward into the space, Evans is also looking to exploit the space and even Schneiderlin (who has been out-of-position for this entire move) may be able to get there. If you were paying attention earlier you may already know what Rudenok’s forte is.

[furiousuk]

There it is. He could of passed to others in order use the space but with his pace and power why not exploit it yourself. That’s why I bought you – because you’re a machine. Unfortunately the beast from Belarus, whilst looking for a hat-trick, saw this effort just edged wide by the GK but the principle of how this move developed is the same as if he had just buried it.

One last short example of the playmaker up front

This time Spence has just intercepted a throw-in due to the pressing my team employs. The high pressing though has left him with few options.

A little pass to McCann and things are looking more promising. Evans (21) is the complete forward here although he is far from a natural playmaker he has reasonable decision making ability and has used it well by staying in the channel between CB and FB rather than drifting back to centre.

Schneiderlin has finally found himself in a decent position. Evans (21) has been a clever boy again and maintained his position to keep that gap between CBs open.

[furiousuk]

Rudenok (9) has been such a threat all game that he’s occupied 2 defenders over there, Evans has taken up a classic playmaker pivot position on the edge of the box and, with his back to goal, could hit either Schneiderlin or McCann (14).

He chooses McCann and it’s all over for Villa.

And there it is. A trequartista or a deep-lying forward up front by himself probably would of been too deep to create any of these chances. A support duty would probably also have been too deep. This playmaker needs to be right up there for me, hence the attack duty. Whilst Evans (a natural poacher) was up front in those last 2 examples he was playing exactly the same way Djuric would. Djuric is perfect for this role, he’s creative enough to be a playmaker, he’s got the passing to use his vision and he’s got the athleticism to mix it with the big boys in defence.

I want him right up there amongst the defenders so he’s got to be strong. Sure, he can drop into the hole when it’s on but to be really effective he needs to be dragging defenders around and then playing the fast, athletic wingers in.

Conclusion

Well, if you got all the way to the end, well done. Have a biscuit.

Let me know what you guys think and if you agree with the analysis of what is going on. I'm hardly a tactical guru but I know a thing or two about the game (FM that is, I don't claim to be anything other than a fan of football) and about how to get it to tick so I'm hoping some people will find this useful. The football my team plays is far from perfect yet and I've got a long way to go to turn them into champions but the basis is there. The tactical ideals and philosophies are there and I'm starting to develop a squad that can move towards those ideals.

Thanks

Furious

[lucatonix]

I totally agree. I'm using a complete forward attack as well but in a 4231. With the right ppms and inside forwards he can create a few chances. Also unlike using a deeper forward he still remains the focal point of the attacks when you want him to.

[furiousuk]

I totally agree. I'm using a complete forward attack as well but in a 4231. With the right ppms and inside forwards he can create a few chances. Also unlike using a deeper forward he still remains the focal point of the attacks when you want him to.

Just curious, how do you set up your AMC and MC's in that system?

[lucatonix]

I set up my AMC an advanced playmaker attack with roaming ticked and no crossing. My MCs are deep lying playmaker support or defend (dependent on player and opposition) with roaming ticked.