Dominating but not satisfied 4-2-3-1 Deep

[oobro]

Hello all,

Currently I'm playing with S. Joao Ver from Portugal (3rd level). I'm playing with 4-2-3-1 (deep) mainly focussed on posession. It goes very well; I'm first in the league, have very high posession during matches (mostly between 60%-70%).

But yet the tactic doesnt feel very solid. Even though I'm in control, matches tend to be pretty hard for me. My main problem seems to be: despite having alot of posession (great passing too), I don't create alot of more chances and hence getting regular goal against too.

Maybe one of you guys has some tips.

http://postimg.org/image/icr9wr8b7/

http://postimg.org/image/vfmwg0yj7/

[THOG]

You're dominating possession because you're building up very slowly which, in turn, allows the opposition to get back into their defensive shape. Basically, your attack has no bite and you're relying on your front 4 to do something brilliant while smaller sides will be happy to sit back and let you play the ball around in midfield.

You also don't really have anyone to carry the ball out of defence. A DLP and BWM will both tend to stay pretty deep and, as you can see, your defensive shape has a gaping hole in front of the midfield. The AP/DLP partnership will also mean you will frequently be distributing the ball through the middle which will be problematic if you come against a side with a decent DMC.

Finally, a lone, attack duty striker in a very rigid setup will tend to operate pretty far ahead of the midfield at all times. He won't get involved in build-up play which is essential for a elaborate build-up, short passing system, so he'll tend to be feeding off scraps from the very rare through ball.

To resolve this, you might try the following:

Remove Lower Tempo and Pass Into Space.

Pull the AP back to CM and play him as a Central Midfielder (Support). This will have build-up play work through your DLP(S) but he'll pick his pass more wisely rather than arbitrarily trying to get it to the AP most of the time. It will also ensure your IF and advanced central midfielder aren't crowding one another out all the time.

If they have the attributes for it, try playing your AF as either DLP(S) or F9 with your IF on an attack duty.

Since you're using two holding midfielders, you might as well put the other fullback on an attack duty as well.

[oobro]

Thanks for the useful advice my friend.

Especially the tempo advice sounds good. The midfield (in my experience so far) isn't really causing problems. In the "real position" mode it appears to be pretty balanced; no strange gaps.

Also the F9/IF seems interesting. I will most surely test them:)

[Guest]

I would suggest the set-up you have is fine. Very rigid however is not helping, you also are really constricting your teams creativity and not allowing them any movement which is exactly what has already been mentioned.

Essentially you are almost top in your league so teams are sitting deeper plus you are moving the ball around slowly and giving your players no creativity. So I would increase your tempo, and maybe change things to a more balanced or even fluid set up to allow your team some more movement.

Edit: I have also been doing better by allowing my BWM to have the support role and letting the dlp just sit deep and play the quarter back.

[oobro]

I would suggest the set-up you have is fine. Very rigid however is not helping, you also are really constricting your teams creativity and not allowing them any movement which is exactly what has already been mentioned.

Essentially you are almost top in your league so teams are sitting deeper plus you are moving the ball around slowly and giving your players no creativity. So I would increase your tempo, and maybe change things to a more balanced or even fluid set up to allow your team some more movement.

Edit: I have also been doing better by allowing my BWM to have the support role and letting the dlp just sit deep and play the quarter back.

Your advice has been giving me very good successes. But I have an additional question. When you play against teams who are superior to yours. It is wise to switch back to lower temp and maybe a tad more rigid?