My unorthodox 4-4-2

[DannyFM87]

I've just set this up as a basic shape for my new Man Utd save.. Trying to create a "Ferguson/Busby style" tactic aswell as sticking to old Man Utd traditions.

Would love to get some feedback (Obviously it's still a work in progress) 

[-Ironhide-]

I'm not an expert but do you really want Martiial that high up in your defensive shape? And have Luke Shaw coming up as well as a wing back? That leaves no cover on the left, or Herrera has to move across to cover. It throws imbalance into your tactic. I think a Wide Midfielder in the M strata with PIs which mirror the Raumdeuter would leave more cover at the back.

The shape you see on the tactics screen is your defensive shape, and your roles and duties tell the player how to behave as they transition into different phases of play.

Hope this helped.... even though I'm a City fan...

[DannyFM87]

Haha City and United fans, coming together to discuss FM... What next?!?!

I like that idea @-Ironhide- though Martial doesn't look as good as a wide midfielder, so perhaps a new signing will be needed to play this role.  Jesse Lingard could potentially play there with a bit of moulding. 

 

[-Ironhide-]

1 minute ago, DannyFM87 said:

Haha City and United fans, coming together to discuss FM... What next?!?!

I like that idea @-Ironhide- though Martial doesn't look as good as a wide midfielder, so perhaps a new signing will be needed to play this role.  Jesse Lingard could potentially play there with a bit of moulding. 

 

When you say "doesn't look as good", do you mean as in his tactical role wheel isn't more than 50% green, or he doesn't play as well? The reason I suggested Wide Midfielder as it is an easily customizable role. 

[DannyFM87]

Yeah his wheel isnt 50% green.  But also he is right footed, I would prefer a left footer at ML (not a big deal maybe just personal preference haha) 

[-Ironhide-]

16 minutes ago, DannyFM87 said:

Yeah his wheel isnt 50% green.  But also he is right footed, I would prefer a left footer at ML (not a big deal maybe just personal preference haha) 

Oh ok then. Maybe train Martial as a Raumdeuter or as a False Nine then.

[DannyFM87]

Yeah I was considering training him as a false nine, or even as complete forward.

I'm doing some scouting around for players who play ML as I do like the wide midfielder idea.  The perfect option would probably be Koke, but Atletico want 52 million and I don't really like forking out that kind of money in the first transfer window. 

@-Ironhide- Also, what do you think about Mentality and Team Shape?  Should I leave team instructions for now and tweak as and when I see fit?

[-Ironhide-]

7 minutes ago, DannyFM87 said:

 

@-Ironhide- Also, what do you think about Mentality and Team Shape?  Should I leave team instructions for now and tweak as and when I see fit?

I think your mentality is fine, because it doesn't commit too much risk to your players, and so against sides that would park the bus you can increase the fluidity of your approach as you see fit. 

Standard/Flexible means that you are watching to see if you should go Counter or Control/Attacking. However, the mentality names are misleading as you can be attacking with a Counter mentality. Flexible is fine, but I don't really understand Team Shape. I saw a thread on this forum (which I can't remember) that explained that increased fluidity can affect the mentality (risk) of all your players - but this is also the same with Structured. 

I saw another piece of work on FM, it said in order to turn results around, you must become more Expressive, and allow all your players to do their preferred roles, turning default strikers to Poachers/Target Men, wingers to Inside Forwards, etc. Don't start with these instructions, as you will be hit on the break. 

So my answer to your questions is:

Your mentality is fine - if you want to be a manager that sits back and reflects, tweaking to counter changes in game or exploit differences. This requires vigourous studying of the statistics. (Watch Full Match for 15 minutes). Team Shape is OK as a starter, but you can play on Very Fluid or Fluid as you have 1-2 specialist roles. 

Leave your team instructions for now, unless you want to implement a certain style within the club.

[Craigus89]

1 hour ago, DannyFM87 said:

Yeah his wheel isnt 50% green.  But also he is right footed, I would prefer a left footer at ML (not a big deal maybe just personal preference haha) 

Ignore that wheel. It's meaningless. Playing a player out of position even if they've never played there before in their career will only see a slight decrease in their decisions attribute. If he has the stats for the role put him there.

Also a right footer as a wide midfielder cutting in from the left is arguably better.

[jc577]

I agree with Craigus89, the wheel doesn't matter. I've been playing martial as a WM attack with the PI's: dribble more, cut inside, more risky passes and he's scored 30 league goals across two seasons. 

Team shape is fine, however i would change a few of your roles. Shaw as a full back on support would still provide good width, and i'd maybe change Pogba to a CM on support with the PI of more risky passes and dribble more, so he's essentially acting as an AP but will offer more defensive stability. 

[-Ironhide-]

2 minutes ago, jc577 said:

I agree with Craigus89, the wheel doesn't matter. I've been playing martial as a WM attack with the PI's: dribble more, cut inside, more risky passes and he's scored 30 league goals across two seasons. 

Team shape is fine, however i would change a few of your roles. Shaw as a full back on support would still provide good width, and i'd maybe change Pogba to a CM on support with the PI of more risky passes and dribble more, so he's essentially acting as an AP but will offer more defensive stability. 

I know the wheel doesn't matter, it's just how the game points out which attributes the player has for its specific role.

[aderow]

On 4/6/2017 at 21:01, DannyFM87 said:

I've just set this up as a basic shape for my new Man Utd save.. Trying to create a "Ferguson/Busby style" tactic aswell as sticking to old Man Utd traditions.

Would love to get some feedback (Obviously it's still a work in progress) 

My main thoughts are, given the shape and the roles you've gone with, space and passing options might become an issue as you move closer to the final third.

Your left side is really really aggressive. I like it. But seriously though, it might benefit you to have Shaw as a WB on support rather than attack; the man ahead of him, Martial, is high up the pitch and already on attack. You'll be asking a lot out of Herrera and Bailly when Shaw and Martial get lost up the pitch. On support, Shaw will still get forward and he'll overlap. He just be a bit more cerebral with his timing of his runs. Which, in turn, could make him another passing option for Herrera and Pogba.

I'm not sure how I feel about having 2 playmakers next to each other. You'll have to keep an extra on them to make sure they are playing off of each other as opposed to crowding each other out. With them it's got to be about passing options and if they are constantly sitting on top of each other, will that's one less passing option and likely one extra defender in the vicinity to worry about.

I like the idea of the winger, but with 2 strikers and an AML on attack, I feel like it might benefit you to put Mkhitaryan on support. I'd wanting making himself available for a pass from the playmaker(s) before beating his man and racing down the wing.

I'm not against the CF-s next to the F9. I used to play with 2 Treq's so I am certainly not one to criticize . I'm actually curious as to how they'll play off of each other. 

Edit: I echo what has been said about getting WM's to score. Depay has been scoring for fun for me from both the ML and MR position.