AC Milan - style of play lacking

[bdixon]

After a rather disappointing result away to Juventus I am getting rather frustrated with the style of play I'm seeing and think I may be barking up the wrong tree, So help is required.

I play a 4-1-2-3 wide formation as shown below.

http://i.imgur.com/rv0TP0M.png

Now the style of play I would like to see my team playing is a relentless high press, winning the ball back and and then attacking with haste either running or quick direct passing.

Now is this formation the best to use? or would something with MR/ML be better?

Is control the best base mentality to use? or would attacking be better as this has counter attacking enabled?

So before I start pulling my hair our and throwing the monitor out the window, help would be massively apprenticed.

[WayneRomney]

I made this post yesterday for another guy who was struggling a litte:

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/442415-Struggling-with-my-tactics-for-the-first-time-in-ages?p=10577508&viewfull=1#post10577508

Basically you have to have the OIs and PIs to match your thinking. All forward players should be set as aggressive as possible. Beware, this will lead to injuries/cards long term, so have a decent squad when doing this.

The formation should be narrow and high tempo. You'll see in those SS that I didn't have closing down maxed out, I compensated for that with PIs. The formation you have chosen is a very good, so just tweak it a bit.

[bdixon]

Yeah it just seems like everything I thought I knew about FM now no longer seems to applies. I'm constantly getting outplayed by weaker teams, football is poor to watch like kids in the school year all chasing the ball. Not enjoying this years version at all.

[Cleon]

Now the style of play I would like to see my team playing is a relentless high press, winning the ball back and and then attacking with haste either running or quick direct passing.

Considering you want to play controlling or attacking this means the players will be positioned higher up the pitch to begin with. So when you do win the ball back and want to attack with haste by running or direct passing, just exactly where is the running coming from? You're CF is coming deep so is moving towards the ball rather than to it. This leaves you with the IF who will be very advanced to begin with and the CM on attack. I don't actually see where the movement you want will come from or how you could play a direct game in the final third? I can only see that possible if the defenders or possibly the BWM had the ball. That aside the players will be pretty high up the pitch so you will be less likely to see a quick direct style, at least for the roles and duties you currently use.

Now is this formation the best to use? or would something with MR/ML be better?

Well if you want movement and running then the lower down the pitch the better.

Is control the best base mentality to use? or would attacking be better as this has counter attacking enabled?

To get a counter attack to trigger you need to get the AI to commit men forward and then win possession back and break with numbers. Now considering you want to play a high relentless pressing game and win the ball back, exactly how will you trigger a counter attack as you'll be camped in the oppositions half for most parts especially the attackers.

I'm constantly getting outplayed by weaker teams

Well you are very attacking, is it a surprise to learn that weaker sides will just hit you counter attack after attack? You use a very high line and close down aggressively which will make your players run around a lot. This opens up space and is easy for even weaker teams to exploit. You don't seem to have the right balance with roles and duties for the football you want to play.

Yeah it just seems like everything I thought I knew about FM now no longer seems to applies

It's because you don't have a clear plan and seem confused about the style you want. If you want high pressing and it to be relentless then you aren't going to be counter attacking are you as both are polar opposites. You need to decide which you want to favor.

[bdixon]

Ok so had a think and I wholeheartedly agree with you Cleon that I don't have a style in play in mind, which is rather frustrating.