FM14 - How do you keep possesion ? Im doing awful

[Simsejensen77]

Quite struggling with this new game. I wanted to play some possession football, playing in "triangles" waiting for the right opportunity. But so awful to watch at. Maybe theres something im missing.

Im playing as Tottenham with a 41221 formation. DM(defend), 2 MC's(central midfield support - advanced playmaker attack), AML(Inside forward). AMR(winger). Striker(advanced forward).

Balanced Fluidity / Control mentality with shouts ; Shorter Passing, retain possession, lower tempo.

Watching the games in full highlight, just so annoying to look at.

Please help me approach things differently so i actually enjoy watching the matches. :-(

[majed504]

Try playing 2 dms and one MC. Go with Regista and Half-Back + AP(A)

[RTHerringbone]

How far in are you, what is your tactical fluidity (if playing Simulation mode), what are the Duties of your AML/AMR?

[wwfan]

Not enough info in the OP to help I'm afraid. I'd suggest your lone forward will be isolated, which will mean your front three will lose the ball with regularity in a short passing setup. Need to know your back four roles and duties, plus the wingers to help more.

[jimbobBRFC]

Agree with wwfan, I think for it work properly you will need to set your AF as a striker who drops a little deeper. If Im building a possession tactic I usually go 2 IF's and a DLF, although a False 9 may get used a lot more on this years game

[savagepenguin]

I think a more important question would be how many matches have you played, since players are going obviously going to need match experience and time to gel/become fluid tactically. Even more so, if you've only watched a small handful and have happened to be playing against teams that haven't afforded your midfield much time or freedom on the ball (tends to have more success against low tempo teams from experience), this will obviously have a large effect.

In terms of a generic, dirty and quick fix, I'd be inclined to agree with the posts above. Though an advanced forward will still work nicely assuming you tuck your wide men in and bring them a bit further back - in this case let your fullbacks push forward more.

On a final note, make sure you're looking at post-match analysis. Your biggest friend here is going to be pass and average position stats. Is your striker getting a small amount of passes and looking isolated in terms of average position? Not a huge problem in itself if he's scoring. But if the same applies to AML/R then this is likely why you're struggling with possession. Focus on that position map and see how much you can compact your players, then go from there.

[vrisk85]

I think a more important question would be how many matches have you played, since players are going obviously going to need match experience and time to gel/become fluid tactically. Even more so, if you've only watched a small handful and have happened to be playing against teams that haven't afforded your midfield much time or freedom on the ball (tends to have more success against low tempo teams from experience), this will obviously have a large effect.

In terms of a generic, dirty and quick fix, I'd be inclined to agree with the posts above. Though an advanced forward will still work nicely assuming you tuck your wide men in and bring them a bit further back - in this case let your fullbacks push forward more.

On a final note, make sure you're looking at post-match analysis. Your biggest friend here is going to be pass and average position stats. Is your striker getting a small amount of passes and looking isolated in terms of average position? Not a huge problem in itself if he's scoring. But if the same applies to AML/R then this is likely why you're struggling with possession. Focus on that position map and see how much you can compact your players, then go from there.

Go from there where?

I'm playing with Madrid and 1 DMC + 2 MC's is not stable at all with possession, and I'm not talking about me not having 60%+ of it, I'm talking about the other way around, it's ridiculous that with 3 central midfielders I'm not able to keep the ball.

Is there like a magic role or whatever that helps a player have more possession, like hold on to the ball, not waste it with risky passes or dribbles, if not, then how the hell am I supposed to play?

And I can live with one, maybe two players having a bad day, thus costing me in possession, but this happens even when I'm playing well, so you can't actually see the "cause" of this possession problem..

[Rou\'Taran]

I've had some issues with trying to setup a possession tactic when I tried out the 4-1-2-2-1. I think the problem was that the area behind the 2 MC's is congested and it's hard to find passing lanes/space for players to move. The Opposing CF often drops and covers the DM making that a more risky option. Because of the DM's presence, the other MC generally doesn't drop deeper, while the opposing MC's can make it harder to pass short around the middle. Your only hope for possession is the FB and that's why I think the MCs often pump the ball down the flanks which usually ends up losing possession.

While defensively sound, I've had a hard time getting this shape to be good at attack as a result. This is more my lack of understanding of this shape than a critique of the shape itself.

What I have had success with in maintaining possession is the 4-2-3-1 (MC-MC-AMR-AMC-AML)

This shape offers space behind the MC's so the one not in possession can drop back and become free to accept a simple safe pass. Being in a deeper position when he receives the ball, the FB and CD's become easier options as there's usually no one around blocking the passing lanes. My usual setup for the team is:

Fluid-Control

FBs(Auto) CDs(Defend) MC(Support) MC(Defend) AM(Support) AMR/L (Attack) AF(Attack)

AM Support tends to stay "in the hole" but does roam a tiny little bit around the center to find space, if the MC can find him, this is usually where the final stages of the attack beings.

MC Defend usually drops a little deeper and is almost always a safe option for the MC Support.

Even playing away, my team tends to hold around 55-58% possession as a minimum. At home, over 60% is common.

[AnarchyAnt]

I was having similar problems with my team. They really liked to boot the ball upfield and I just thought it was because we are relegation predicted team in the Danish 3rd league; meaning we suck.

I was able to get my possession up to acceptable levels. I started by packing the midfield. I have 3 CM (CM(d), BWM(s), AP(a)) an AM(a) and 2 Strikers (TM(s), AF(a)). Then set the team instructions to retain possession, play wider, exploit the middle, push higher up. I now get around 45-55% possession which I think is really good for the skill level of my players considering we are ranked as the worst passers in the league.

[kazm]

I'm using a 41221 formation, control-normal settings.

Personally I prefer using this:

DMC: DMC/ANCH/DLP-D just depending on the player, if DLP maybe add some extra defensive shouts.

MC: MC-a, an mc-a has more depth in his game then an AP-a, he gets in the box more often and scores quite a lot of goals if you have a decent one.

MC: AP-s, not too far forward

AML: IF-a this is on the side of the AP-s, the MC-a would run into the same space the IF would be in.

AMR: Winger-s, both these depend on the type of wingers you have ofcourse

Striker: False 9, not scoring every game but often enough and also getting some assists, I'm playing a pretty low level team so with a higher level team a TQ might be better. (that's what I assumed so take that with a grain of salt.)

Bare in mind I have a pretty bad team compared to Spurs, I see some great attacks/goals now and then. With Spurs insane technical ability (comparded to Achilles '29 my team ^^) You should see even more. You could add 'play shorter' shout if you want, I often use 'retain possession' 'exploit wings' 'play more direct' 'get stuck in.' For away games/when I'm ahead last 10 minutes I sometimes change from Controll to Counter.

TL;DR I am pretty sure MC-a + AP-s is better than AP-a, MC-s.

[11v11]

from a technicality, the 4-1-2-2-1 is not suppose to be a possession tactic, its counter-attack by design, evidently having the two wingers so high up the field betting on beating the opposition wingbacks with a nice pass, this leaves lots of space between your full-back and winger for the opposition to exploit. this baits them into attacking your team but the dm would be a deep lying playmaker to create a deadly ball and transform from them attacking you to you attacking them, a counter. any tactic that leaves lots of space are designed to be attacked, just look at 4-2-3-1 deep. the 4-1-2-2-1, however, has that bowling pins arrangement and its very very efficient in bringing the ball forward as the more the ball is played forward the more players you have, that's why it is counter attack, again, to quickly bring the ball forward and not quite possession.

5-3-2 would be possession or 4-4-2 or some form of 4-5-1 I it covers maximum area of the field and no players are crowded or no overloaded area

come to think of it, you can try to get your wingers to come in as support and full-backs to attack. if the opposition counters you, that single dm can play key in stifling their counter-attack potency

[thegr8anand]

I'm unable to dominate possession even against lower teams. Attack, goals, shots are no problem. Just possession is always around 50.

[shwayne]

Until the full game comes out I've been playing around with Bayern. I think their personnel are better equipped at keeping the ball than Spurs', but the following settings seem to be yielding positive results:

Formation: 4-5-1 (or 4-1-2-2-1)

Strategy: Control

Philosophy: Fluid

GK - SK (Support)

FB - FB (Support)

CB - CD (Defend)

CB - CD (Defend)

LB - FB (attack)

DM - HB (defend)

CM - DLP (support)

CM - AP (attack)

RW - W (attack)

LW - IF (support)

ST - F9 (support)

Team instruction:

Retain possession, shorter passing, be more expressive, pass into space, lower tempo, much higher defensive line, play out of defence, roam from positions, hassle opposition

The players all have instructions, generally to make them dribble less, press more and pass shorter (I emphasise generally, not universally).

Possession stats so far:

47, 72, 58, 54, 65, 55, 69, 67, 73

[RocheBag]

I'm playing in the Portuguese third tier and dominate possession every game. It has nothing to do with the level you play at.

My tactic:

Balanced/Counter

3-7-0/5-5-0 depending on what you consider wingbacks

DC/X

DC/C

DC/X

CWB/A (stay wider, run wide with ball)

CWB/A (stay wider, run wide with ball)

DLP/D

B2B/S

SS/A (move into channels, roam from position)

AP/S

AM/A (roam from position)

Instructions:

Retain Possession

Pass Shorter

Pass into Space

Work Ball into Box

Exploit the Middle

Play Wider

Much Higher Defensive Line

Roam From Positions

Be More Expressive

[vrisk85]

I'm playing in the Portuguese third tier and dominate possession every game. It has nothing to do with the level you play at.

My tactic:

Balanced/Counter

3-7-0/5-5-0 depending on what you consider wingbacks

DC/X

DC/C

DC/X

CWB/A (stay wider, run wide with ball)

CWB/A (stay wider, run wide with ball)

DLP/D

B2B/S

SS/A (move into channels, roam from position)

AP/S

AM/A (roam from position)

Instructions:

Retain Possession

Pass Shorter

Pass into Space

Work Ball into Box

Exploit the Middle

Play Wider

Much Higher Defensive Line

Roam From Positions

Be More Expressive

Any screenshots of the last few matches?

Playing without a striker is a deal breaker to me, same with 5 in the defence.

[rich10]

Try setting your team up as very fluid with control.

4-1-3-1-1 with attacking fullbacks might be more conducive to retaining possession as it floods the midfield whilst creating all sorts of triangles, and gives you width.

I'd also try removing the 'pass into space' shout, as this (to my mind) means you are trying to be more direct in your approach.

I could be wrong, but 'much higher defensive line' could be compacting your team, reducing the space they need to retain possession, try the 'high defensive line' instead.

I'll give what I've said a try tonight and let you know how it works out.

It's worth remembering that you do need the players with the requisite passing/off-the-ball/team work/decisions skills in order to effectively pull this off.