How important is a "formation" - A community tactical experiment?

[Bluebird123]

Thanks PeeKay.

I've just loaded it up and taking a look at the squad and had a quick look at some threads on 3-5-2 around the internet to get some advice on how to set one up. Will have a screenshot of my tactic up later on.

My be a bit slow with updating. I have another save running along this and other things to take care of. Should be able to do pre-season and the first few games tonight however.

I can set up a midfield and a strike partnership fine but it is the wings and the CB's that I am thinking about. With no full backs the wide men need to defend but also we need some sort of width. I hope I am right in thinking that WM-A will do defensive work and will attack adequately enough.

I only have shorter passing on until I get to know my team a little better. I tend to make minor shout changes from match to match and it has worked fine as of now.

Standard and balanced seems to work fine for me as well. It offers a very good balance between attacking and defending so I'll stick with that until we have to play the likes of Juve away and we'll go more counter attacking.

Only a couple of PI's.

GK - Pass it short, distribute to defenders

CM/D - Closs down less. My thinking is he'll hold position in front of the back-line and not go on a crazy chase for the ball (Close down more was already included in the role)

AF - Move into channels. To create some movement and unpredictability in attack.

I've looked at the team and it is a good squad. Will have a look around the transfer market to see who is available. But I will look for a striker to loan. Rossi as talented of a player he is, his natural fitness is a huge worry and no doubt he'll be injured a lot this season.

So that is all for now. I will update after pre-season then update on a monthly basis.

[Powello]

5-3-2 awesome used it many times, although never been Fiorentina so don't know how it will fit the players there lol. I think I will get started in the morrow

[JD nawrat]

...click!

GOALS! CLEAN SHEETS!

Disappointed to concede in the dell'Appennino Derby but the goal was a total fluke. Corner comes in, Manuel Pasqual tries to clear it but gets injured, they continue to play and it strikes off of Pasqual, runs out to one of their players and he gets an easy tap-in. Total fluke. For all intents and purposes we've yet to concede in 7 games

Think I've settled on this. I'm going to try removing the BPD and making him a CD just in hope that he's more solid (makes quite a few mistakes as a BPD). Besides that, everyone is performing!!! The AP/S on AMR looks relatively poor but the reality isn't because he was terrible until changed to an AP/S. Now he's better and his ratings are beginning to reflect that

[PeeKay]

3-2-3-2

A part from a highlight of 12-0 win, pre-season went badly. Seem to dominate matches but the opposing teams take their chances. The match against Vannes OC, they only had 4 shots and with 2 on target but they scored 3 goals. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to work out that that my players were helping them with own goals!

Also, I seem to pick up a lot of injuries; does this happen a great deal with Fiorentina?

They came good with my first competitive game against Atromitos in the Europa Cup. They came at me with a 4-4-2 and I used a Control version of 3-2-3-2 (I’ll explain in detail below). I’ve decide on the approach to have different version of the 3-2-3-2 to counter different threats. Teams that play 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 will get this controlled 3-2-3-2. I’ll go though the other tactics another day.

The tactic pretty much did what it supposed to do; control the midfield and exploit the space between the lines.

Not really happy with the amount of CCC they created with just 6 shots but I’m putting that down to me playing a weaker team due to the match with Inter 2 days later. Also, who came up with this fixture list? Inter and Juventus for the first two games of the season, lose them and my morale will be shot.

Ctrl3232

Player Instructions

GK – Distribute To Defenders

DCR – Mark Tighter

DCL - Mark Tighter

WBR – Close Down More

WBL - Close Down More

AMC - Close Down More

STCR – Roam From Position

My brief for this tactic was to use the 3 central midfielders to overload the 2 central midfielders in a 4-4-2 and to focus attacks through the AMC. This tactic evolved from a midfield triangle with a base of a DLP(s) and CM(d) and an AM(a) at the tip.

I didn’t really need the stable base against only 2 midfielders so I switched the passer to the AMC position and the runner from deep plus the added security of a supportive WB(s). This also gives another passer to hit the running CM(a). An added (unrealised) side-effect was when against a DMC the AP(s) pulls the player out and the CM(a) occupies the space abandoned.

On the other flank the CM(d) allows the WBR to have more freedom to push forward. The WB(a) pushes so far forward that he keeps popping up in the space beyond CF(s) when the CF(s) drops deeper. This has resulted in the WBR chipping in with a couple of centre forward goals in pre-season.

[Mark.]

Looking good so far! I am away for the weekend unfortunately so won't get a chance to start this save for a few days yet. Will try have something Monday/Tuesday. Feel free to give my formation to someone else if you run out of them though!

[JD nawrat]

Very interesting shape you've drawn PeeKay... interesting to see how you've set up. Do you not find the two CBs are leaving the Sweeper deep and allowing a lot of free space down the flanks (due to no Fullbacks) which is cutting you open? Results suggest no but it's something you may have to watch, I would be afraid of your flanks being ripped to shreds with two stopper CBs in this shape. Good start in your first competitive game though

[PeeKay]

Very interesting shape you've drawn PeeKay... interesting to see how you've set up. Do you not find the two CBs are leaving the Sweeper deep and allowing a lot of free space down the flanks (due to no Fullbacks) which is cutting you open? Results suggest no but it's something you may have to watch, I would be afraid of your flanks being ripped to shreds with two stopper CBs in this shape. Good start in your first competitive game though

I've not notice but I'll keep an eye on in the next few games. However, I'm not too bother that the CB moves out, that's actually how I planned it; I was thinking the Sweeper should cover when the CB goes out.

[JD nawrat]

I've not notice but I'll keep an eye on in the next few games. However, I'm not too bother that the CB moves out, that's actually how I planned it; I was thinking the Sweeper should cover when the CB goes out.

The idea works in theory and maybe even in practise, but if both CBs "stop" they're going to end up in the DM strata alongside your wingbacks who are also in the DM strata, leaving your SW way back deep, leaving maybe 20 yards for him to cover himself. Perhaps it will work out fine and I'm way off, it's just something I'd advise watching out for in case it does turn nasty

Just conceded my first "proper" goal of the season - in the 10th game against Wigan Scraped past them 2-1 (Mario Gomez brace yus) having gone down 0-1. Digging this save though. Our team plays phenomenal football. We've won 10 of our first 10 too, scoring 19 and conceding 2. Not too shabby eh.

[Cider Ed]

(4-3-1-2)

Just finished pre-season, Players are fit but thats about as good as it has got.

The matches against Frankfurt and Mainz I played pretty awfully and I was up against the dreaded 4-5-1 (2 dm) formation which I couldn't do anything productive against and deserved 1-0 defeats. Schalke played this formation as well but I totally bossed the game against them without ever really creating killer chances. To be honest that was the story of pre-season, loads of possession in the opponents half without much cutting edge. The final friendly was against a Portuguese lower div team and a 2-0 victory was all I deserved, hardly moral boosting.

This leads me to my formation

The only thing im confident with is my back line, they are pretty solid. Its quite a pacy backline so I want to play a high-line with a sweeper keeper (something ive never done before) I wasnt quite sure that Neto is quite up to it at the moment so I spent the majority of my transfer kitty on Steve Mandanda from Marseille for £7.5mil.

Im still not sure who my best 3 centre mids are and even what roles are best for them. In fact the only thing I know is that I want the middle player to be the most defensive, to just sit basically. Ambrosini looks the best for this but I nearly got Garcia on loan from Man City for the season until he got injured the day the deal was to be agreed.

Rossi looks the best player to play behind the strikers, hes very creative and will score plenty but im lacking a strike partnership if I don't partner him with Gomez/Matri. I don't think I will be able to get Gomez and Matri to play together because they are both goal scorers and not goal creators. Ilicic looks a fine player and hes going to start in the Engache role for now, but he was pretty special when I played him as an advanced playmaker attack on the left side of the 3 Cm's

I'm going to use the group stage of the Europa League to rest my key players and give some of my youngsters playing time (providing I qualify) as I like the look of quite a few of them.

I haven't as yet used any individual instructions but its something I may look into

Advise as always is appreciated, especially on roles for my midfield as I haven't got it sussed yet.

[NoChance]

I've had a quick look at the squad and tactics ideas this evening, with a view to having a proper crack at things at the weekend, so these are just my first thoughts.

The 4-2-2-2 (2x DMs, 2x CMs) is going to be fun with this squad - Cuadrado is now in training as a right back, and Joaquin as a backup striker. Not sure the backroom staff are to my taste though: I assume there's no signing restrictions there, i.e. signing a pile of coaches doesn't count towards the 2 permanent signings we're allowed?

My first plan with regard to the tactics is to try a counter attacking set up with it. I'm thinking Rossi as a Treq and Gomez as a poacher. This may be too attacking, but I'm hoping Rossi's "Comes deep to get ball" PPM will have him linking the midfield to Gomez. I suspect this will need to change once I've actually tried it in matches. Both Rossi and Gomez have move into channels as as PPM, which may partially compensate for the lack of width up front.

Central mid, I'm thinking Borja Valero as a BBM, and Ilicic as a CM A, so they can get forward to try to support the front two. Behind them, Ambrosini and Aquilani (I think having him sitting deep will best utilise his long range passes PPM) as DM S and DM D respectively. With the CMs being pretty aggressive, and the full backs going to have to be similar as the only means of getting any width, I think having the DMs doing anything fancy is unnecessary.

At the back, I'll stick with two normal central defenders, with a wing back either side. Cuadrado will be a WB A, and Pasqual as a WB S - with the only player instruction I've decided on so far: cross more often. His 17 crossing should be exploited, in my opinion.

Team instructions, I'm thinking of "looks for overlap", for obvious reasons, and "work ball into box", as much out of habit as anything else. The latter may not be effective with this team, a lot of them have the shoot from distance PPM.

With regard to potential signings, I think Cider Ed has hit the nail on the head with a better GK, and I'll probably do the same. The other signing, I think I'll wait and see what happens in matches, although I'm leaning towards a DC to improve on Savic, or perhaps a DR to fill that slot until Cuadrado's training is complete.

[s3lby]

I'm at work right now so I dont have any screenshots at the moment, but i can still give an update.

Here is how I have set up the team so far:

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I have the strategy/ mentality set as standard/ very fluid with the defensive line pushed up in the hopes that it will help keep the "front 4" and "back 4" from being too far apart. The average positions throughout a game end up being more like this:

Two distinct diamonds at either end of the field with the WM's going both ways and helping to move the ball from defense to attack. This isn't exactly what I am trying to achieve, but so far the defense has been solid and a lot of chances are being created.

I'll post some actual screenshots when I get home.

[JD nawrat]

Just suffered my first defeat in charge of Fiorentina

Not bad going though. 12 wins before the loss. Two tough games coming out. Milan sitting in 12th or so with only 2 wins in their first 8 (only 2 losses too though) and then the biggie against Juventus who are only two behind us (they've won 7 drawn 1). Juve 6 ahead of the next best team so I've already quickly established the side as one of the best in the league

And one thing I've noticed is that Roncaglia is a bit of a liability. He's the cause of each goal we've conceded this season, I'm certain of it... he is caught playing the opposition just on each time (but he's 5 yards deeper than the other three defenders). Savic just returned from injury so I'll have a full strength team for the first time since the Sassuolo game

e: Hahahaha, 11 mins into the game v Milan Savic is stretchered off Only out for 9-11 days but will miss the game v Juve unfortunately. We did go on to beat Milan 0-1 though

[TottenhamFan101]

I'll give this a go! I don't have a huge amount of time to play, so I might take a while though.

[Powello]

Ok so I have loaded up the game and had a quick mess about setting up the tactic how I want it to be for the coming season, although obviously over the season some things will change as very rarely do you get things right straight away. I have also had a look through the squad. I don't think I will be signing anyone for this challenge, looks strong all over the park with pretty decent cover.

I shall cover my tactic amongst other things tomorrow as it's 2am so I'm not going into it just now. But I can say I am looking forward to this and seeing how everyone else does.

[goat101010]

sign me up too if you could cheers

[Jambo98]

Some really fascinating feedback and input already - Lots of people getting very in depth already which is great to see. Also impressively everyone is having sucess!

I want to get cracking on this tonight, after a pint of course!

WIll sort out the new sign ups shortly.

[Cider Ed]

(4-3-1-2)

Ive got to be honest I am seriously struggling playing with this formation. Ive tried numerous different styles and I suppose the main problem at the end of it is im just not creating many goalscoring opportunities. My home form in the league is awful. One win against Verona and two defeats against Cagliari and Livorno. Away from home i've faired much better, beat Parma 4-1 and just drawn 0-0 away at Roma. Im not conceding many but not scoring many either.

A bit of advice on how you would set up using this formation would be appreciated. Im defiantly back at the drawing board stage. I found when I was trying to control games with hard pressing it worked to the extent that I had loads of possession in the opponents half yet didnt create much at all and when ive tried a counter attacking style ive created a little more but cant get the ball forward fast enough. With the strickers and attacking mids at my disposal I should be looking to create space for these players to work in but I cant really get it to work. Those of you playing with Fiorentina, what roles would you give your midfield and attack if you had to use the 4-3-1-2.

Ive sold Aquilaini and Fernandez and got in Mandanda, Pratto (a skillful creative striker with gets in box late ppm) and Garcia on loan from Man City

I cant see the board putting up with me for too much longer

[PeeKay]

(4-3-1-2)

Ive got to be honest I am seriously struggling playing with this formation. Ive tried numerous different styles and I suppose the main problem at the end of it is im just not creating many goalscoring opportunities. My home form in the league is awful. One win against Verona and two defeats against Cagliari and Livorno. Away from home i've faired much better, beat Parma 4-1 and just drawn 0-0 away at Roma. Im not conceding many but not scoring many either.

A bit of advice on how you would set up using this formation would be appreciated. Im defiantly back at the drawing board stage. I found when I was trying to control games with hard pressing it worked to the extent that I had loads of possession in the opponents half yet didnt create much at all and when ive tried a counter attacking style ive created a little more but cant get the ball forward fast enough. With the strickers and attacking mids at my disposal I should be looking to create space for these players to work in but I cant really get it to work. Those of you playing with Fiorentina, what roles would you give your midfield and attack if you had to use the 4-3-1-2.

Ive sold Aquilaini and Fernandez and got in Mandanda, Pratto (a skillful creative striker with gets in box late ppm) and Garcia on loan from Man City

I cant see the board putting up with me for too much longer

The 4-3-1-2 was popular in Italy a few years back, it's pretty much suited for Trequartista in the hole behind the strikers to work the horizontal space and hard working midfield to balance the work load. Weak down the flanks and against teams playing an AMC. It's probably best to have the outside midfielders to be more defensive and deeper to help cover the flanks, roles like DLP(d) and CM(d). Perhaps a CM(s) or AP(s) in the centre, a little static but the Treq should balance the mobility.

It would be nice to have flying fullbacks but it could leave too much space with too little cover, probably go with something more conservative, FB(d) or FB(s).

Need the more mobile forwards, roles like Advance Forwards or player instructions to roam more and move into the channels.

[Cider Ed]

The 4-3-1-2 was popular in Italy a few years back, it's pretty much suited for Trequartista in the hole behind the strikers to work the horizontal space and hard working midfield to balance the work load. Weak down the flanks and against teams playing an AMC. It's probably best to have the outside midfielders to be more defensive and deeper to help cover the flanks, roles like DLP(d) and CM(d). Perhaps a CM(s) or AP(s) in the centre, a little static but the Treq should balance the mobility.

It would be nice to have flying fullbacks but it could leave too much space with too little cover, probably go with something more conservative, FB(d) or FB(s).

Need the more mobile forwards, roles like Advance Forwards or player instructions to roam more and move into the channels.

Thanks for your response. I never thought to have a couple of defensive players in midfield, I just went for a CM(d) in the middle to protect the CB's. Down both flanks ive gone for WB's, 1 attacking and 1 supporting. To be honest though i haven't been caught out down the flanks much. I've never really played 2 strikers both on attacking before. With a Treq behind would this not be too much? Time to try it out methinks.

[PeeKay]

Thanks for your response. I never thought to have a couple of defensive players in midfield, I just went for a CM(d) in the middle to protect the CB's. Down both flanks ive gone for WB's, 1 attacking and 1 supporting. To be honest though i haven't been caught out down the flanks much. I've never really played 2 strikers both on attacking before. With a Treq behind would this not be too much? Time to try it out methinks.

You are right, you don't need both on attack. The Treq is like a half way house between attack and support

[Cider Ed]

Just out of interest, how would you play Rossi in that formation, I only ask because ive tried him in pretty much every role possible and his return is Played 9, Goals 2, Assists 0. The guy just looks so good yet he constantly under performs for me.

[Marabak]

541

Okay, now I am a few friendlies in, and it has been kinda hit and miss. As my fixture list shows, scoring hasn't really been the big issue I expected, but I am conceding more than I expected.

Two tough games against PSG and Bayern were the real test, and I lost both 2:0. Admittedly, against Bayern I was pretty much comprehensively beaten, but we really held our own against PSG (see below). One thing I have noticed though is that the shape isn't really a problem, but I concede from genuine defensive mistakes, like markers running off from their men at the vital second. I'm not sure if this is a fault with the tactic, or whether some of my players just aren't good enough (I haven't settled on a squad yet, just getting everyone match fit at the moment).

[Jambo98]

Ok for the 2 new joiners:

TottenhamFan101 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 2

Goat101010 - 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Asymetric

There ya go

[TottenhamFan101]

Thanks! Starting up the game now!

[PeeKay]

Just out of interest, how would you play Rossi in that formation, I only ask because ive tried him in pretty much every role possible and his return is Played 9, Goals 2, Assists 0. The guy just looks so good yet he constantly under performs for me.

Your guess is as good as my mine, at least he has under performed for you as I can't even get him on the pitch. Rossi has only started two games for me, and additional two sub appearances with no goals or assists out of a possible 13 competitive games. 180 minutes out of a possible 1170 minutes!!!

I would guess he is a Complete Forward but he has not been on the pitch long enough to prove it

[Powello]

I can't get Rossi performing in a 2 striker formation, I have put other players in his place which much worse stats and they perform miles better

[goat101010]

Ok for the 2 new joiners:

TottenhamFan101 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 2

Goat101010 - 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 Asymetric

There ya go

urgh the one i was dreading

cheers

[Powello]

so after 8 league games with a record of 3 wins 2 draws and 3 losses I have now been told by the board I have one game to save my job, fail to impress and I'm gone

[TottenhamFan101]

(4-1-3-2)

Well first off, I stink at tactics so any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated! I'm aiming to play a high-pressure counter game, or a possession oriented game. I decided to start with a high-pressure counter first, as I'm slightly more familiar with them.

Team Instructions:

Direct Passing - hopefully will make us get to the forwards quickly, so we can catch teams on the break.

Pass Into Space - for more through balls

Work Ball into Box - to decrease long shots

Push Higher Up - not completely sure about this one, I'm kind of concerned this might limit our space to counter into

Hassle Opponents - to put high-pressure on the opponents

[Moose-Stuff-For-Money]

I'd be willing to give it a bash if you like. I'll even let you pick the team as well as tactic.

[Bluebird123]

Only played up until the first game of the season last night

Pre-season was OK besides the defeats to Madrid and Stuttgart. But the players are match fit which is the main thing.

We drew Greek side Xanthi in the Europa League qualifier. Won easily 3-0 with nice build up involved in all goals, should have scored two more with Gomez hitting the bar twice.

To my frustration we had to play Milan away two days later (thankfully our fixture with Juventus is 3 days after the next game with Xanthi) but we beat them comfortably. I was worried about this game because Seedorf's preferred formation is a 4-3-3 which causes huge problems of the 3-5-2 but he lined up 4-2-3-1 which we controlled easily. Pizzaro man marked Taarbet which blocked off their play through the middle and they were incapable of getting anything down the flanks. However they did change to a 4-3-3 late on and caused some problems with Balotelli being slotted through then some weird deflection off of Roncalgi lost our clean sheet.

Overall I am happy with our start. Xanthi is a dead rubber game. Most of the squad will be rotated with the Juve match in mind.

Onto transfers.

I said earlier I wanted a striker which is still a priority but the only transfer I've made is Jonathan on loan from Inter (and he scored on his debut against Milan ) to add depth on the right flank. There is no-one really available that I want so Jonathan may be my only transfer. That and the fact we have little transfer funds and wage budget meaning the market becomes smaller.

Only transfer out is Matias Fernandez. He was subject to bids early on in pre-season to which I rejected (mainly because they were 1 million which is not enough) then he threw a tantrum asking to leave so I listed him and Dinamo Moscow bought him for 3.5m. Maybe I could have gotten more but I'd rather have the money than an unhappy player.

I made some slight alterations to my tactic over pre-season

Only made the AP a DLP to cover for the WM going forward and the two outer CB become cover duties to help deal with wingers with the most central defender becoming a stopper to deal with the striker. If the opposition plays no wingers and 2 strikers they all go back to defend duty (I only added exploit the flanks for the Milan game)

That's all for now. Will update after finishing August.

[TottenhamFan101]

Well we won our first pre-season game against a low rep team, not much of a challenge.

Second Pre-Season Game:

This was an odd game. We dominated from start to finish, but gave up 2 silly goals. Mario Gomez scored his first and second, both on near post runs after Cuadrado beat his man and sent a cross in. Then Chamakh scored. He made a quick run to the near post just as a cross was chipped in, with NO ONE marking him. He left 5 defenders all on the back post or top of the box, none at the front post. If anyone knows how to solve this, PLEASE tell me, because the same thing happened for their second goal, except Dean Price made the same run from the top of the box, not the back post.

EDIT: I did switch Illicic and Aqualani's positions and roles, as i felt the formation was playing too lop-sided and unbalanced.

[Cider Ed]

so after 8 league games with a record of 3 wins 2 draws and 3 losses I have now been told by the board I have one game to save my job, fail to impress and I'm gone

Im also 8 league games in and have an identical record. My last game was away at bottom of the league Torino and I sneeked a 2-1 win thanks to a last minute Mario Gomez goal. Ive just checked and my job status is very insecure. The problem is ive only played Roma out of the big teams. I have a 100% Europa league record though, but i am in the easiest group of all time.

[goat101010]

4 - 2 - 3 - 1 asymetric

ok ive never used a formation with a lone striker ....ever so this is very new to me

already played one friendly against some italian pub team and even with the players not having a clue about the tactics it went pretty well

pretty sure this will be my first choice line up

back 4 pretty much explains itself

anchorman to protect the back four and give a simple pass to the deep playmaker

deep playmaker to try and hold the position in the middle and spread the ball

left winger support and right winger defensive support to hopefully even out and make a bit of a diamond

shadow striker to try and exploit the space and help out the striker

targetman support to hold the ball up for the shadow striker and to attack the crosses

slight changes in the last game, when rossi came on i changed to deep striker support and aquilani from shadow to advanced playmaker to try to play rossi through

[Powello]

Im also 8 league games in and have an identical record. My last game was away at bottom of the league Torino and I sneeked a 2-1 win thanks to a last minute Mario Gomez goal. Ive just checked and my job status is very insecure. The problem is ive only played Roma out of the big teams. I have a 100% Europa league record though, but i am in the easiest group of all time.

I only managed a draw against Torino after but it seemed to be just about enough then I lost 1-0 to both Milan and Juventus. But I don't think the board mind that as those two are running away with the league already.

I am having a rethink on my set up(5-3-2).

Only signing II have made is Begovic on loan for the season, even though I didn't think we need a new keeper as Neto is more than capable. I just couldn't find anyone available in any other position that I wanted so I got him for the sake of it haha

[goat101010]

preseason done with and a bit worried the team are not fluid at all with the tactics ahead of the first european game

not done much with the squad, aquliani out to porto and jonathan in on loan from inter

[Jambo98]

I'd be willing to give it a bash if you like. I'll even let you pick the team as well as tactic.

Not sure youve read the OP? There is no picking the team, the team is fiorentina for everyone............let me know if you still want a tactic assigned

[Jambo98]

Ok a bit late, considering i was the OP! But i am finally getting started on my season.

First up, to summarise the changes i made to the squad:

Out

Anderson - Loan terminated - Not a fan, and a huge wage. I have enough cover for the AMC role with Aquilani and Fernandez

Pizzaro - Gremio £100K - An ageing player, on a big wage and i already have Valero and Ambrosini for the sole MC role in the team

In

Simone Pepe - Loan - I always like him, has great mental stats and is versatile. He can cover both wings, can also play up front and i will retain him for AMC as well as he could do a job at SS or AMC in a pinch

Fernando Forestieri - £5m - Cost more than i would like, but i need a Rossi type player to cover his injury prone nature. Forestieri fits the bill, can dribble, finish, pass and is good off the ball. What sealed the deal for him, was his PPM's - "gets forward when ever possible", "plays one-twos" and "places shots" - These are perfect for his role.

I still have one signing i could make, but im not sure what to do as i dont have much budget. A proper right back would be nice, but for £1million im not going to get anyone good enough. Another cover for CM might also work, as Ambrosini is ageing, but Illic and Aqualani could play there in a pinch.

The other option would be to terminate Matri's loan, and use the wages freed up to sign a striker who really suits the DLF(s) role, but given that i do relaly want to get some use out of Gomez, not sure i will do that.

At the moment leaning towards bringing in an old fave - Standberg could cover DC and MC, or Drage could cover MR, ML, AMC, SS and even up top............might just stay with what i have.

The Tactic (4 - 3 - 2 - 1)

The first thing with this tactic is that the basic shape seems to leave you massively exposed in central midfield. So my main task is to use roles, duties, and PI (as well as perhaps PPM) to get around this problem. The way i did this was:

LM is played as WM(s) with PI "Cut inside" and "play narrower" . Illic plays here and is capable of being a left side central midfielder,

LB is a WB(a) to bomb past, and also encourage Illic to narrow in and let Pasquale go forward.

AMRC is played as AM(s) - I want to see Aquilani drop in from his slot and help out Valero. I am training him in the PPM "comes deep to collect the ball" and i might use OI or specific man marking to also force him back.

That is how i want to use my roles, duties, PPM and PI to alter the shape both in and out of possession.

Other aspects are:

RB is WB(s) - i believe that the era of "fullback" is gone. Pretty much player in every top team in this slot is a wingback, albeit some more attacking than others. Look at some real life heat maps, and look at the average positions of right backs and left backs compared to centre backs and defensive midfielders and you will see what i mean. In my team, my options at RB are not attacking wingbacks, and certainly not CWB, but the need to be able to carry the ball forward and be in a position to recieve pass in the opposition half, if not at the byline.

SS/DLF combination - Looking for a partnership here. I really dont have the best players for DLF(s), so initially i am going with DLF(a) but might vary that. I have added "hold position" onto the DLF - i dont want him going into channels - thats where Rossi, Aquiliani, Joaquin and Pasquale should be. I want this guy in the middle of the pitch, occupying centre backs, creating space for others. The SS i want to be my star - he can run, pass, go beyond the striker, create. Rossi is the best player in my squad and i want to get the best out of him.

So below are the screenshots of my tactical set up - one control, one defensive (for tougher games, and when protecting a lead)

[JD nawrat]

Could always terminate the loan of Diakite who isn't needed at all imo to free up some wages for a decent RB (either on loan or co-ownership). Juanfran is available but I'm not sure if he's available on loan...

[Jambo98]

So did my last bit of business. Diakite was indeed sent back to Sunderland to free up wages.

In his place in comes Jorge Fucile from Porto, taking pretty much every last penny of my transfer and wage budget. He will be my starting right back and is an excellent player. Solid defensively but also very good going forward, with some good PPMs. He is also fully able to play left back as well which is a nice bonus. His PPM "cuts inside" will be interesting, given that he is playing behind Joaquin who has the PI "stay wider" and is playing as a winger, the "underlap" might work nicely here.

First league game of the season, Juve at home. I went with my defensive version of the tactic. Looking at the way Juve set up, i wasnt worried about the wing backs against my formation. The 2 CM concerned me a bit as they are powerful and Valero could be overfun. So i used OI to "always" close down and mark tight on both CM. They are not the skillful types or the fast types, so no issue doing this.

It worked well. At half time i also set Rossi to specific man mark Pirlo in the DM slot, to cut off the supply. We nullified the Juve threat and they didnt have a clear chance the entire game.

At the other end Gomez got on the end of a drilled cross from Joaquin just after half time to put us ahead. Then in injury time Fernandez, off the bench, curled in a peach from 20yards to give us a nice 2 nil win, fully deserved.

Came through our Europa qualifier easily, despite rotating heavily. 7 nil aggregate win against an Austrian Mob.

Next up was Parma at home, and i went with the control tactic, no OI this time. We cruised to a 3 nil win. Savic from a corner (showing it is worthwhile taking time to properly set these up!) a nice poachers goal from Gomez, on the end of a chipped cross from Aquilani, then an assist from Gomez where he came deep, picked the ball up, and played in Joaquin. Lovely stuff.

Early days, but i like how the tactic is playing so far!

[Cider Ed]

(4-3-1-2)

WINTER BREAK REPORT

Things have seriously picked up since I had one game to save my Job (twice!).

We will start off with my tactics

I decided the best way to play with this tactic was on the counter attack. I started off on control with a high defensive line but although I was having lots of possession in the opponents half, I wasnt creating many chances. The front 3 were getting in each others way and the opposition wasnt getting stretched. This led me to counter with the specific instructions of More Direct passing and Higher Tempo. This is too encourage my team to get the ball forward faster where my front 3 can do real damage. In Gomez, Rossi and Ilicic they can certainly do this and Matri and Pratto are superb back-ups (Matri has 6 in 6 in the Europa League)

I also recently changed the player behind the front 2 from a Treq to a Adv Playmmaker (attack). This was just to help the link-up play a bit and Ilicic didnt perform the Treq role very well, but he has been a completely different player in the Adv Playmaker role.

Another change I made is I started off by playing my middle CM as a CM(d) with the two each side as either Def Playmakers, BWM(s) or BBM. I wouldnt say this was leaving me exposed but the two side players were getting too involved in the attacks whereas now they are both BWM(d) they are making me a hard team to pass through. This role also suits Garica, Ambrosini,Pizarro and Rodriguez. Yes thats right im retraining Ropdriguez from a CB into a CM. I found he was making too many individual mistakes as a CB and it didnt sit comfortably with me that both my 1st choice CB's had Get Forward Whenever Possible PPMs (Savic has this also).Although Rodriguez's average rating as a BWM(d) is 6.7 watching him perform makes me know this has been a decent decision. The only downside to playing 2 BWM(d)'s is that I have had at least 4 red cards and quite a few suspensions in this area. Valero is the perfect DLP(s) sitting between them. He runs things in my midfield, I need a backup to him though as I havent been able to rest him like I would like. Ive also given him the Individual Instruction of More Direct Passes to help him look for my strikers.

In the fullback roles I originally had Pasqual as a WB(s) and Cuadrado as a CWB. I loved watching them bomb forward but I think they actually hindered my attacks by hanging onto the ball too long. Ive realised that as normal full backs they still get massively involved. What I do now is depending on opponents set these 2 roles. I also rotate Vargas and Tomovic with them. Pasqual has the instruction to cross more because of his decent crossing and Cuadrado the instruction to cross less. This was because Cuadrado was running into good positions before getting his cross blocked normally resulting in a corner. He seems more likely now to pick a pass instead or cut it back.

So heres how ive done anyway

The media told me I had to get results in the Torino and Pacos Ferreira home games to save my job. I beat Torino thanks to a Mario Gomez 92nd minute goal and was 2-0 down at home to Pacos Ferreia before coming back to win 3-2

Im not going to get carried away but im certainly in a position to challenge for a Champions League place. Ive still got to play AC Milan and Juventus twice though. Gomez is also top of the scoring charts which is nice, especially as I dont feel like a one dimensional team, although 90% of my goals must have come from my front 3. In the Europa league in the group stages i rested key players for a lot of the games. Rossi didnt play once because of his injury proneness and ive been resting Savic a lot as well. I really like some of my youngsters and have given them a chance to shine although there havent been any stand out performances. Ive now got Zulte Waregem in the knockouts with the winners playing Frankfurt or Basle so I feel I could perhaps go deep in this.

Sorry for the long post but for the first time in a while Ive really got into a save, I will definitely be carrying it on after the season is up. Im already scouting for a class CB to partner Savic!. I must say if I didnt have to stick to the formation I would have been tinkering big time when it wasnt working instead of looking for solutions within the formation itself and would have binned the save once I had gotten the bullet. I may have plagerised a couple of ideas given to me by other people participating so thanks to them.

[Marabak]

541

A bit advice please guys

I'm reasonably happy with my shape at the moment, with lots of movement in between the lines despite my formation being quite linear. However, ideally I'd like my two centre mids to move towards the centre of the pitch, almost to get a diamond shape, whereas currently they are moving just vertically (see below)

Any ideas how I can achieve this? My current combination is CM(A)/CM(D) with PI being get further forward for the CM(A) and nothing specific for the CM(D).

[Jambo98]

Could be tricky to achieve that, but the only ways i can think are:

Footedness - Now this probably isnt possible given the restrictions of the players, but if you use one x left footer and one x right footer, then play them in the "opposite" slots. So if you have a left footer, play him in the RCM slot - this way he will be drifting inside as a result of his favoured foot.

PPM - Train the PPM "Cuts inside", although i doubt someone like Pizzaro or any DM will be willing to learn that one. If you have anyone with that PPM they might do that.

Specific Man marking - This only works against specific formation, but for example if you are playing against a team with 1 x AMC, then you could use your RCM to specific man mark him, which would draw him more into the middle - Likewise with your LCM, if the opposition has a single DM, then could replicate for him.

[dspeters]

I would love to have a go at this! Is there still a formation available?

[Jambo98]

Ok so now 10 games in, and i find this is a good point in the season to do a review of my tactics, my set up and my squad and see how its going.

League Table

So overall, got to be happy. Top of the league, 8 wins and 2 defeats. Best goals for record in the league, and 5th best defensive record. Very happy with that.

Another interesting subplot, is that my home and away records are absolutely identical - Won 4, lost 1 for each, scored 11, conceded 4 for each. Happy with that, as it shows the approach works for us.

The first defeat was away at Sassuolo. They played deep and compact in a 442, and we just couldnt break through them, and gave away a poor goal, when 2 players went to close down a winger, left a gap for a full back to run into, then a cross came in and our CB didnt mark Floro Flores who had a free header.

Second defeat was in my 9th game. Home to Inter. Massively frustrating, as we dominated them. First goal we gave away was a set piece -corner to the near post finished by there fullback. Then we had an attacking free kick midway inside their half, and it was swung into the box, cleared away and they countered on us with lots of men, and ultimately scored a nice finish. We battered them after that, got one back but couldnt equalise. Again, noticeable that inter played very deep and Narrow and countered.

Europa League

5 wins from 5 (2 x qualifiers and 3 x groups) with 18 goals for, and 2 against. Cruising, and thats with playing 10 diffferent outfield players in most of the games to give game time and keep players fresh.

Player performances

• 
  
• Gomez has been much better than expected - 6 goals in 9 league games, plus a couple of assists. Happy with that return
  
• Pasquale an important player at left wing back - 7.31 Ave Rating, 2 assists but good peripherals. Averaging 75 passes per game at 85% completion and 12/12 for tackles attempted/won. So he is being a good link up man, and doing his job defensively. Cross completion is 17%, with an average of 7 per game attempted - might need to tweak his cross settings
  
• Cuardrado has been a revelation, and now keeping Joaquin out. In league games, Cuardrado has 3 goals in 4 starts, and averaging 7.63. He also has 3 goals in the 5 european games. Joaquin was doing pretty well, just not as good as this guy. It shows i have that position set up just right i believe
  
• Rossi has been inconsistent. In 5(2) league games he has 3 goals, but just one assist. I thought maybe the SS role wasnt working, but see next bullet.....
  
• Forestieri has been excellent. In europe (where he always replaces Rossi), he has 3 goals and 2 assists in 4 games (Ave R 8.07). This led to him getting a chance to replace Ross in the league, and he has 3 goals in 5(3) appearances, plus 2 assists. Leads me to conclude there is nothing too wrong with the settings for this position.
  
• Aquilani has been by far my poorest player. He has started all 10 league games, has just 1 goal and 2 assists and a woeful Ave R of 6.68. This initially made me think that the AM(s) role isnt right here, and something needs done, however again a comparison with his rotation partner shows something different.
  
• Mati Fernandez has been very good - In europe he has 4 assists, 2 goals in the 5 games. Even in the league, where he has only ever come off the bench (8 times) he has a goal and an assist, and better ave Rating than Aquilani.
  

So i decided to a bit of forensic analysis on the AM(s) role to try and find out where my problem is. When i look at his detailed stats, one thing immediately jumps out at me. He shoots a lot. He has 29 shot attempts in 10 games, and a woeful 34% "on target" rate. If i compare this to even Gomez, my main striker, Gomez only has taken 25 shots (in 9 games rather than 10) and has a rather better 54% "on target" rate.

The amount of shots he is wasting will be massively impacting his average rating, and also reducing his chances of assists. Interesting, when i look at Mati Fernandez he is also shooting a lot (25 attempts, with around 180 less minutes on pitch). So right away, i have my first tweak to the tactic - Add "Shoot less often" to the AM(s) slot.

The tricky thing is that Aquilani has the annoying PPM "shoots from distance". I already have him learning "comes deep to get ball" so cant ask him to unlearn the shooting one for now. Have to hope that the change in PI does the trick. I will also need to closely watch in game, to see if a lack of passing options is causing both players to shoot from distance.

Decided not to make any other changes, might look at whether i can do anything to get Rossi playing better, but going with the flow for now.

[Jambo98]

I would love to have a go at this! Is there still a formation available?

Yup - no problem. Down to the last few, but the magic code has done its thing:

dspeters - 3 - 4 - 3

So its the the one from the default (not the diamond one - someone else has that gem)

Enjoy

[NoChance]

Yup - no problem. Down to the last few, but the magic code has done its thing:

dspeters - 3 - 4 - 3

So its the the one from the default (not the diamond one - someone else has that gem)

Enjoy

Once all the formations you've listed are covered, if there's further volunteers, is there a problem with 2 (or more?) people trying the same formation? For what it's worth, I think it'd be in keeping with the community experiment seeing how two people interpret, for example, a 3-5-2.

[goat101010]

4 - 2 - 3 - 1 asymetric

ok the wheels have fallen right off so need to ask some advice here

main problems are conceding a lot of goals in the first half, midfield not getting any kind of hold on the game and nobody is even playing well

[PeeKay]

4 - 2 - 3 - 1 asymetric

ok the wheels have fallen right off so need to ask some advice here

main problems are conceding a lot of goals in the first half, midfield not getting any kind of hold on the game and nobody is even playing well

Nobody is even playing well

Need to sort out morale first. Even the worlds greatest tactic would not help until the morale is sorted.

Conceding a lot of goals

Maybe putting a defensive duty on Wingback, possibly on the left back.

Midfield not getting any kind of hold on the game

Changing the left winger to a wide midfielder to get another body into the centre of the pitch. Or AM(a) to AM(s) for the same reason but this will impact your attack.

[goat101010]

thats the thing with moral, the way its going i cant see where the next win will come from, if you look at the fixtures its not like im playing inter, milan or juve its catania and sass that are battering me

changing am to support shouldnt really affect the attack seeing as goals are not exactly flying in anyway, might help to pinch a few draws and maybe raise the morale. ill give that a go cheers