Three striker system?

[abyss616]

Has anyone tried a three-striker system? I have a glut of good strikers and would like to try and find a way to get them on the field. Any recommendations on roles and duties? What would you play behind them? Thanks.

[Leoforos]

It is definitely possible but you have to pay very close attention to a couple of things :

First they need to be able to support each other and not get in each other's way. You'll achieve that by giving them very distinct roles and duties. Oftentimes you'll see one of them specialised in scoring (AF or Poacher), another linking with the midfield (DLF, F9 etc) and another as a DF or a more utility role (maybe a T). You need to have varied movement between the three and thus creating space and opportunities.

Obviously, this is just the general idea, different roles and duties will achieve different things.

You might be able to cheese the AI by putting 3 AF with an AP behind them to distribute balls. I have seen it done but haven't tried it myself so I couldn't really say (I remain unonvinced though).

 

Secondly, you need to both provide adequate support to them while maintaining a balance in your team. So you'll need to figure out a reliable way to get the ball to these 3 strikers. An option is putting a player in the AM position in order to provide support, but then you'll be comitted to only having 2 players in the CM position, placing a heavy defensive burden on them (they need to be very intelligent, hardworking, and defensively proficient players).

Another is a 4 - 3 - 3 with 3 central mids. This is a bit more balanced IMO.

 

Try it out and let me know how it goes !

 

[craigd84]

My goto tactic uses 3 strikers, 2 on the sides set to CF(S) and the middle one CF(A)

 

Its lethal but its more about how you set up the rest of the team.

 

I have WB's(A)

CB's (D)

ANCHOR

DLP(S) and AP(S) set in the CM strata. 

[paganizer]

Have the left striker man mark opposition right back and right striker man mark opposition left defender. It works very well to cover flanks and they will be in good positions (wide), when you get the ball. Win-win.

[Rashidi]

3 striker systems can be very strong. I have successfully made a 433, 343, narrow and wide, including variations with AMs in all of them. It can be done.It really depends on the kind of players you have. If I have a strong defence, I may send these guys out in a wide config. If they were weak, I would opt for an AM leading the line with a WB bombing down the flanks. Once again, how well your tactic works is a function of the elements working together in a whole.

[Armistice]

I think Cleon used a 343 in one of his Art of series, Defensive Art was it in FM15. The style of football might be different to what you expect, but you can see a setup of the three strikers for example.

[kingjericho]

Sampaoli's first match with Argentina was a 3-4-3 with 3 strikers (sort of)

Messi and Dybala supporting Higuain. If you would try something like this in FM it would be along the lines of a F9-Poacher-DLF trio.

They balance when using 3 strikers is to not let big gaps in the midfield and defence. Cleon's 3-4-3 tactic was a good example, but note that with 3 men always forward you shouldn't expect a hugely solid block when defending.

[abyss616]

Thanks all for the responses. I've tried out a few different setups with varying success. I'll keep tweaking it and see what shakes out.

I'd love to see what Cleon did, but unfortunately, the images in his thread don't show up and his web site is down so I'd be guessing as to what he's doing.

[kkfootball]

I have been playing exclusively with the 4-3-3 narrow for three fms now, and I have had overwhelming success. In my first season with Saint-Etienne I beat PSG twice and won the league decisively. I have also had success in LLM and in smaller Nations such as Finland, USA, Croatia, Poland, and Holland. 

 

Give it a go! The key for me is to have aggressive wing backs (For me CW(A)) with high work rates, crossing, and pace. I invest the most in my wing backs. I also recommend Having fast center backs who can cover ground when the wing backs are caught out of position.