My Mourinho inspired 4-2-3-1

[fmFutbolManager]

INTRODUCTION

It's rare to see a system in football manager built around the philosophy of Jose Mourinho. The less than glamorous tactician has an unfair reputation in my opinion. Despite the guarantee of trophies wherever he goes, many prefer to emulate the more exciting coaches like Klopp or Guardiola.

With this in mind, I decided to attempt to replicate Mourinho's successful 4-2-3-1 with which he continues to use with great success. However, it is important to stress that this system is not a like-for-like, rather it is a Mourinho inspired system; therefore you might see some player roles and instructions that you might not agree with. However, I'm open to having a healthy debate on anything I've presented below. 

I'll jump straight into the system below, talk a bit about Mourinho, and then how I replicate this philosophy in game. To get the obvious out of the way first, we play with a control mentality and a structured shape. I want to ensure that the structural integrity of the shape is maintained. I will tailor my instructions via each player so that they know what their responsibility is. With a structured shape, we are more disciplined in defence, e.g., we're less committal going forwards and there's more space for us to operate in. 

So let's look at some of the key characteristics of a Mourinho system and see how I have tried to slide these into my setup at Barcelona. I will talk about the instructions Mourinho uses and note observations against them, so I can reference these from my tactical instructions.

IN DEFENCE AND TRANSITION FROM ATTACK TO DEFENCE

Arguably one of the best defensive coaches of the modern era. Mourinho typically builds his team around a two-man midfield. His system typically deploys a deep playmaker alongside a more defensive midfielder who is tasked with winning the ball back and releasing it to more creative players. At Manchester United, this responsibility has predominately fallen to Matić and Paul Pogba respectively. [Observation 1]

When in their defensive shape, a Mourinho side will utilise a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 formation with the central attacking midfielder staying with the striker in order to have players available for the counter attack, should his team turnover the ball in an advantageous position. The wide attackers will fall back in line with the central midfielders in front of the defence to create two solid banks of four. [Observation 2]

In the early phase of defence, the aim is to shift the opposition out wide when they have the ball since it is easier to defend the flanks. This is due to the limited options to progress the ball compared with the central areas and the natural player match up (1v1 or 2v2). A way of achieving this is by having the two furthest central attacking players block the passing lanes for progression of the ball through the central areas and to put pressure on the defence. Moreover, when the play does get out to the wide areas, this is where the overloads become more effective. It is less detrimental to your shape by overloading the wide areas than it is in the middle, simply because there are fewer passing lanes for progression of the ball (since the side of the pitch blocks passes in that direction). [Observation 3]

When it comes to pressing the opposition the two key objectives are to reduce space for wide players and reduce the time on the ball for central players. In wider areas space is reduced by tightly marking the wide player and closing down aggressively. Increasing numbers out wide will reduce the space the opposition can move into. To reduce time on the ball for the central areas an aggressive approach to closing down will achieve this, however, with more and more coaches increasing numbers in the central areas, this can cause your shape some problems if you're not closing down intelligently. Furthermore, tightly marking the central players will lead to an increase in interceptions. [Observation 4]

The defensive line is neither deep nor high, usually situationally adapting.

So let's look at some of my tactical instructions and relate these back to the observations above.

[Observation 1] To achieve some defensive solidity, and to match the asymmetry of the midfield two, I use a Central Midfielder with a Defend duty and a Deep Lying Playmaker with a Support duty. This gives me the solidity in front of the back four, with a risk averse two who will be the first line of cover should the opposition turnover the ball and break the first lines with a counter attack.

[Observation 2] When playing against two wide men on each flank, e.g., a left back and a left winger, I will instruct my attacking wingers to specifically man mark his opposite to increase our chances of ball turnover. We want to be winning the ball in the central midfield or out wide. We don't want to rely on the last man of defence to make the last tackle. Since the wide men track their opposite number, this brings them down in line with the central midfield pairing and giving us what looks like a 4-4-1-1

[Observation 3] I use the opposition instructions to show the defenders out wide, so the left sided central defender is shown onto his left foot, and the right sided onto his right foot. With the passing lanes into the midfield covered by my central attacking midfielder and my striker closing down the defence, the ball is moved out to the wider areas where you can safely press with more numbers with less impact on the defensive shape. Moreover, the central midfielders are instructed to close down more, increasing their determination to move into the wider areas when the opposition progresses the ball here, creating 3v2 overloads against the opposition wide men.

[Observation 4] Wide players are closed down always as defined by the generic opposition instructions. Additionally, my wide attacking wingers are set to man mark their opposite number when the opposition plays with wingers (most teams in Spain). Hard tackling is also instructed against the opposition central midfielders. Similarly to the central defenders, the central midfielders are down onto their outside foot, e.g., the left central midfielder is shown onto his left foot. This is to try progress the opposition build-up down the flanks.

Simplistically, we play with a very conservative back four. We have two Central Defenders with a Defend duty, and two Full Backs with Support duty. Ahead we use a Central Midfielder with Defend duty and a Deep Lying Playmaker on Support. We aim to get into our shape quickly. Forcing progression of the opposition attack down the flanks if we can, where we create overloads in an attempt to win the ball back before the opposition can get a cross in. If the ball is progressed into the middle, we are quick to close down the opposition midfielders in an attempt to win the ball back before it progresses through to my defensive line.

With these observations my defensive team instructions look like this:

• Defensive Line
  • Defensive line is set to normal
  • Use offside trap enabled
• Closing Down
  • Closing down is set to sometimes, but this is governed by specific opposition instructions
• Tackling
  • No specific instructions at a team level

My player roles and instructions for the defensive players:

My defence is pretty standard. I want my central defenders passing it short to my central midfielders or our wide to the Full backs. I don't want them hoofing it the field so that is why they're set to pass it shorter (since we use mixed team passing). My Full Backs have a few instructions. Fewer risky passing to help control the safe possession when they receive the ball in deeper areas in the build-up. I don't want them spraying fancy cross-field passes to players where there is a high-risk attached to the pass. I need them up supporting play, but also very mindful of their defensive responsibilities so we allow them to get further forward, but we keep the support duty to ensure their starting position is deeper in line with the defence.

EXAMPLES OF OUR DEFENSIVE PLAY

In a recent game against Real Madrid we came up against a stubborn 4-4-1-1 system. Below is an example of our defensive shape in action. The backline is relatively flat around the midpoint of our half. Playing with a control mentality and a normal defensive line it is slightly higher than normal. My Trequartista (the midfielder circled) is covering the inside of the pitch as he moves the midfielder towards the wide areas with the ball. My striker, meanwhile, is occupying the central defenders to ensure a pass isn't easily recycled. In this particular passage of play, Marchetti plays the ball into the winger, who almost instantly has my left back on his toes, who wins the ball back cleanly.

In this next phase of play Madrid have just won the ball back and are looking to progress. My Advanced Playmaker highlighted positions himself between the ball carrier and the central midfielders. Moving the ball out wide where the player is already being tightly marked. With the alternative being a long ball forward, the player attempts a high-risk pass into the winger despite the presence of my defender.

Sasic is closed down quickly and ordinarily would have probably lost the ball here. However, we're playing Madrid so have to expect that at some points in the match they're going to beat the man or pass when it seems almost impossible to do so.

However, because of the high closing down and structural discipline, when the pass is made into the midfield, my Deep Lying Playmaker (with closing down more activated) makes a good interception to win the ball back for us. All the while my Central Midfielder maintains his position in front of the defenders as a second line of defence if the pass is successful. During this game we made 62 interceptions across the pitch, most of which in our own half. 

 

IN ATTACK AND TRANSITION FROM DEFENCE TO ATTACK

The defensive shape and team instructions allow for more efficiency in a quick transition from defence and counter attacking. With the shortest distance to goal on the counter being through the middle, an efficient counter system would require at least two central players in attacking positions during the defensive phase, with a supporting wide player along one flank to join in if progression through the middle is restricted. At United, Mkhitaryan and Lukaku are usually the furthest forward when the team is defending. Sometimes the left sided attacking midfielder will be somewhat advanced. [Observation 1]

With Juan Mata operating more as a playmaker a lot of the slower and more patient build-up was directed to the right side of the pitch. United created overloads on this side with Pogba and Valencia supporting Mata and Mkhitaryan in the attack. Furthermore, with the approach directed to guide the ball towards one flank with clear overloads, this frees up the player on the opposite side to almost inevitably be free for a quick break. [Observation 2]

This season it appears that Mkhitaryan has more confidence from his manager and this has shown with his free role to create and dictate play from the central areas. He is registering high chance creation and assists already. This free role to roam and be less involved in the defensive side suits his style. A similar role has been afforded the number 10 at Madrid and Inter. [Observation 3]

So let's look at some of my tactical instructions and relate these back to the observations above.

[Observation 1] I leave my Trequartista and Complete Forward high during the defensive phase. This allows our transitions from defence to attack to be quick and sharp and triggers good counter attacking opportunities with Raumdeuter being fairly advanced, too. With the team instructed to pass into space, we look to progress the ball forwards quicker than we would if we passed into feet.

[Observation 2] We have also adopted an Advanced Playmaker on the right. With our right sided central midfielder and right sided winger being playmakers a lot of the ball and progression is down the right flanks. This leaves the Raumdeuter with more space to exploit. And given his pace, acceleration and dribbling, he takes full advantage of this. He is currently second in the scoring charts.

[Observation 3] My Trequartista is there for attacks. I afford him the freedom to dictate the game from the middle. I'm less concerned about his role defensively, which is just as well, given he is assigned a role that has less emphasis on defence and more on offence. However, this does not mean that he is ineffective defensively, on the contrary, he is key in the first phase of defence in moving the ball into wide positions.

When we transition to attack, if we're quick enough to break into a counter then it is usually through my Trequartista that play progresses before the ball is switched out wide to my Raumdeuter. At this point we usually trigger a 3v3 or 3v4 attack, of which we're usually favourites to come out on top. When we progress with the ball we have a natural inclination to progress to the right with quick switches to the left when the Raumdeuter is in space and 1v1 situations.

We are comfortable on the ball and happy to play the patient game looking for clear openings. Typically, this will see us dominate in the possession and passing stats for most games.

With these observations my offensive team instructions look like this:

• Passing
  • Exploit the middle
  • Play out of defence
  • Pass into space
• Passing Directness
  • Mixed passing
• Creative Freedom
  • Be more disciplined

My player roles and instructions for the defensive players:

My Central Midfielder is instructed to pass it shorter as he needs to keep things simple. His prime role is ball winner and defence protector. I don't need him doing anything fancy. Alongside him is my Deep Lying Playmaker. He has a bit of freedom but not too much. He is instructed to close down more to keep up the pressing when the ball moves into the middle of the pitch and to help support the overloads on the flank.

My Trequartista doesn't have instructions as it isn't really needed. My Advanced playmaker is instructed to sit narrower as I want to really congest this side of the pitch and draw in the opposition to the half-spaces where he will be operating. My Raumdeuter is instructed to shoot less, purely because of the positions he can get into. I need him to be more decisive when he is in the box and to only shoot when it is a high chance shot.

My Complete Forward is instructed to move into channels to support the build up and to move the defence with him to open up spaces for the on-rushing players behind him.

EXAMPLES OF OUR OFFENSIVE PLAY

In the next passage of play I will highlight how out players use the short passing abilities of my playmakers to move the ball about and manipulate the shape of the oppositions. I will show the intelligence of my Raumdeuter to isolate the right back and subsequently unmark himself to break free and score a simple goal.

To set the scene, my Central Midfielder makes a short pass into my Deep Lying Playmaker. This is a common pattern between the two. My left back has the attention of the opposition winger and my Raumdeuter is in-line with my striker, pressing the defensive line back.

My Deep Lying Playmaker now progresses the ball into my Trequartista. He is a very technically gifted player and is the key creator in the side, both scoring and creating goals. You will notice that my Raumdeuter has now drifted into space in order to move into a better position to attack the ball. All the while the defender who was meant to be watching him is now ball watching. 

My Trequartista wastes no time in playing a first time pass into space for my Raumdeuter to run onto. Who has this time unmarked himself and snuck in behind for a very nicely worked goal. This is one of the more simple patterns of play we create by overloading the right and central sides of the pitch before playing the ball to the left side where my Raumdeuter will have isolated the defender. The supporting Full Back is key in occupying the attention of the winger to ensure there's little in the way of obstacles.

Here is another example from the same game, where my Raumdeuter actually scored four goals. Again, play is moved from my Advanced Playmaker on the right, into my Trequartista. My Raumdeuter is running in behind the defender, and waits for the pass to come in from the Trequartista. A really simple, yet effective pattern of play.

IN CONCLUSION

I've tried to keep this fairly brief without going over the top with examples and images, so if anyone is curious about how I've setup or why, just drop a reply and I'll see what I can do to answer anything. It's a really simple system and one that is very effective. Finally, I have posted our results from our season so far. We're defensively strong and offensively potent. I have also included the complete team instructions and opposition instructions, since I've already posted the roles and player instructions above.

Team Instructions

Opposition Instructions

Results so far

Thanks for reading,
Ciao

[danielgear]

Really good post, is there a reason why you have offside trap enabled? Nice to see a Jose post rather than a pep/Bielsa one. 

[fmFutbolManager]

My defensive line is still quite high. So I like to enable it when I play anything other than a really deep block @danielgear

[bdixon]

Stunning write up, bravo.

[Ji-Sung Park]

This is some wonderful stuff.

[fmFutbolManager]

3 hours ago, bdixon said:

Stunning write up, bravo.

 

3 hours ago, Ji-Sung Park said:

This is some wonderful stuff.

Thanks. It's a lot less detail and analysis than I normally go into. It has been fun to create. And it's always nice playing structured with Barcelona. 

[jc577]

Brilliant read  Mourinho, in my opinion, has been unfairly labelled as a manager that plays boring defensive football. He shuts up shop when needed, but several of his sides (namely chelsea in both spells, madrid) played quality football so it's nice to see this replicated. Quick question: how comes you didn't opt for a 4-4-1-1 formation?

[Ji-Sung Park]

I don't see any obvious role issues. The Pogba role in United today might be that of an advanced playmaker, but he has a lot of PPMs that might help him as a DLP here. Very difficult role to define into one specific.

[NabsKebabs]

To be honest, I think the roles and duties are quite far from that of a Mourinho side. RMD and Treq don't do all that much defensively (Treq tracks back a bit more) but overall I don't think Mourinho will give that much freedom to his attackers. I think one of those probably has to change to a role/duty that offers a bit more defensively. Also, he usually allows one full back to be a bit more adventerous - WB(s) or even an attack duty. 

With the TI's, is it really necessary to have 'be more disciplined' when you already have a structured shape?

[BoxToBox]

4 hours ago, NabsKebabs said:

To be honest, I think the roles and duties are quite far from that of a Mourinho side. RMD and Treq don't do all that much defensively (Treq tracks back a bit more) but overall I don't think Mourinho will give that much freedom to his attackers. I think one of those probably has to change to a role/duty that offers a bit more defensively. Also, he usually allows one full back to be a bit more adventerous - WB(s) or even an attack duty. 

With the TI's, is it really necessary to have 'be more disciplined' when you already have a structured shape?

Depends, the RMD + Treq. combo would probably be a good fit for his Real Madrid side's Ronaldo/Ozil combo.

[jc577]

6 hours ago, NabsKebabs said:

To be honest, I think the roles and duties are quite far from that of a Mourinho side. RMD and Treq don't do all that much defensively (Treq tracks back a bit more) but overall I don't think Mourinho will give that much freedom to his attackers. I think one of those probably has to change to a role/duty that offers a bit more defensively. Also, he usually allows one full back to be a bit more adventerous - WB(s) or even an attack duty. 

With the TI's, is it really necessary to have 'be more disciplined' when you already have a structured shape?

The OP did state that the tactic isn't a replication but more of a Mourinho inspired system.. that said I agree that one full-back should at least be on attack, having one full-back sitting back and the other bombing forward is a common feature of Mourinho sides. However, Mourinho does give his attackers positional freedom in the final third, at least he has done at United.

[fmFutbolManager]

7 hours ago, NabsKebabs said:

To be honest, I think the roles and duties are quite far from that of a Mourinho side. RMD and Treq don't do all that much defensively (Treq tracks back a bit more) but overall I don't think Mourinho will give that much freedom to his attackers. I think one of those probably has to change to a role/duty that offers a bit more defensively. Also, he usually allows one full back to be a bit more adventerous - WB(s) or even an attack duty. 

With the TI's, is it really necessary to have 'be more disciplined' when you already have a structured shape?

Hey, thanks for the comments. First off, as said this is just a system inspired by some of the principals Mourinho adopts. Some of the roles and duties won't match 100% but they're close enough I think.

Out of interest, what role would you say Rashford had at United? If you look at any pass-map of United this season you'll see the AML is the most advanced player for touches. Moreover, you can manipulate the player to be more defensive using player instructions. What I've tried to do is make the wide left role the second striker, like they seem to be at the moment. But also make him track back my getting him to man mark the opposition winger.

I've attached a screenshot of the Raumdeuter defensively. You can see here that he has tracked back. He is picking up his man and is very good defensively. At United it is more then AMC who is the furthest forward who, when defending, stays more advanced with Lukaku for counter attacks. I think I've managed to replicate this quite well, considering the RMD is an attacking role. 

A structured shape still has some creative freedom. At the time of creating this I have tried to reduce that as much as possible. I may take this off during the game if required. I will also look at other TIs and adjust accordingly.

1 hour ago, jc577 said:

The OP did state that the tactic isn't a replication but more of a Mourinho inspired system.. that said I agree that one full-back should at least be on attack, having one full-back sitting back and the other bombing forward is a common feature of Mourinho sides. However, Mourinho does give his attackers positional freedom in the final third, at least he has done at United.

If there was a way to say 'one at a time lads, not together' then I would fully agree. However, unfortunately, in the game, you're unable to say to the players that only one of you go forward at any one time. Would be a nice feature though, right?

[Ji-Sung Park]

I remembered I had an old Schalke save that I only played one season with, loaded it back up and plugged this in. That Schalke team was suitable for roles, but the overall quality of the squad is so-so, media prediction 5th and mostly the same players as they have today. I bought Lucas Vazquez as a RMD and loaned Boschilia as a AP out left.

I am loving how this plays to be honest. There are certain issues up front from time to time, I had three games in a row without scoring, but we still managed to get 2nd, a few points behind Bayern. We beat Bayern in both BL games, 3-0 in Munchen and 2-1 at home. What cost me the league was too many draws (8), not having good enough strikers (only one suited for CF role) and Bayern being in god mode.

All things considered, very impressed by this.

[fmFutbolManager]

Do you ever switch up the roles/duties during games?

Some really good results in there. Usually, when I see I'm about to draw or struggling to break teams down I'll use more of the pitch and bring a full-back forward, too. 

[Hauge]

Very nice read! 

Do you use any opposition instructions? 

[fmFutbolManager]

6 minutes ago, Hauge said:

Very nice read! 

Do you use any opposition instructions? 

Yeah they're posted in the original thread above. 

[Vizzini]

Have you considered putting the double-pivot in the DM-positions, and making your Ramd-A into a IF-S? The reason I am asking this is because watching the Everton game last night, I observed that the two holding midfielders are always sitting right in front of the defence without the ball. The knock-on effects is that the defence will sit slightly deeper, so no need for an offside-trap, and you can also afford to be more adventourus with your double-pivot, for example by giving Paul Pogba the RPM-S role.  Changing to a IF-S will make both your wide-players track back in a 4-4-1-1 defensive shape without having to use man-marking every game, which can drag players out of position. I know this is not a exact replica, just interested if that was something you had thought about, or tried out?

[Ji-Sung Park]

21 hours ago, fmFutbolManager said:

Do you ever switch up the roles/duties during games?

Some really good results in there. Usually, when I see I'm about to draw or struggling to break teams down I'll use more of the pitch and bring a full-back forward, too. 

That season I left it as is, except for the striker role. Since only Embolo was capable of playing as a CF, I switched to DF(s) whenever I played Burgstaller there, which was rare.

The following season (just finished) I picked up Sané on loan from City and used him as a winger on attack, with roaming PI, in some matches. That worked wonders for creating chances against the more defensive teams, although creation was never an issue really. The structured shape seems to break down even the most defensive BL teams. I had one match against Köln away where they played 4-1-4-1 defensive and I was 3-0 after 20 minutes or so. Won the league, but it went down to the last round.

My theory is that a tactic like this will be absolutely superb if your team is A+. At Schalke that is not the case, so with Bayern for instance I would have cleaned house. I accepted the Real job now, so will try it there.

[sherifdinn_]

I set the opposition instructions on the tactics page but before and during match they don't seem tonappearto appear any more, please I need help solving this problem as it causes me trouble.

[fmFutbolManager]

On 18/09/2017 at 07:42, Vizzini said:

Have you considered putting the double-pivot in the DM-positions, and making your Ramd-A into a IF-S? The reason I am asking this is because watching the Everton game last night, I observed that the two holding midfielders are always sitting right in front of the defence without the ball. The knock-on effects is that the defence will sit slightly deeper, so no need for an offside-trap, and you can also afford to be more adventourus with your double-pivot, for example by giving Paul Pogba the RPM-S role.  Changing to a IF-S will make both your wide-players track back in a 4-4-1-1 defensive shape without having to use man-marking every game, which can drag players out of position. I know this is not a exact replica, just interested if that was something you had thought about, or tried out?

I’ve not moved them to DM. Playing structured reduces their attacking intent somewhat anyway. It’s something to consider at least

On 18/09/2017 at 09:48, Ji-Sung Park said:

That season I left it as is, except for the striker role. Since only Embolo was capable of playing as a CF, I switched to DF(s) whenever I played Burgstaller there, which was rare.

The following season (just finished) I picked up Sané on loan from City and used him as a winger on attack, with roaming PI, in some matches. That worked wonders for creating chances against the more defensive teams, although creation was never an issue really. The structured shape seems to break down even the most defensive BL teams. I had one match against Köln away where they played 4-1-4-1 defensive and I was 3-0 after 20 minutes or so. Won the league, but it went down to the last round.

My theory is that a tactic like this will be absolutely superb if your team is A+. At Schalke that is not the case, so with Bayern for instance I would have cleaned house. I accepted the Real job now, so will try it there.

I guess the issue I have is I created this at Barca, so wouldn’t spot the limitations with smaller teams but what you’re saying makes sense. 

On 19/09/2017 at 00:58, sherifdinn_ said:

I set the opposition instructions on the tactics page but before and during match they don't seem tonappearto appear any more, please I need help solving this problem as it causes me trouble.

You have to select oppositions by position. There’s a toggle on that Pre-match opposition instructions page. 

[summatsupeer]

Interesting write up, I think I tend to play like this Mourinho style, defensively solid with a sprinkling of flair at the sharp end.  

I need to remember that man marking trick, i've used it before but totally forgot about it, I think it will really help my current tactic.

Minor change i'd do is add Dribble More to the RMD, they do tend to take on opponents rather than pass it.

 

[davehibb]

Great write up once again.

The OI's seem integral to how the system plays out and a lot of thought and time and effort has gone into setting them up. As someone who never bothers with them, please tell me there's a way to set them up so it doesn't have to be done each and every game?

Or would the system still be close to optimum without them?

[fmFutbolManager]

Hehy @davehibb

When you create the tactic you just select opposition instructions at the top and it is the same for all games, so you only have to set it up once

[davehibb]

On 9/25/2017 at 21:34, fmFutbolManager said:

Hehy @davehibb

When you create the tactic you just select opposition instructions at the top and it is the same for all games, so you only have to set it up once

Ah, phew!

I'm thinking about trying this out before FM18 to see how the OIs influence the game in terms of turning over possession and counter attacking transitions. 

[trgtoztrk]

The pics are gone can u renew the links or share them again please ?

 

Edit: The pics are there but i just realised that i cannot see those because "imgur" is prohibited in my country so i used VPN and solved the problem, thx for the tactics by the way i will give it a try right now.

[MirsoFM]

i really want to say thank you very much for this, because i was searching on internet for a long time ( since his Porto job, ok i admit im old you dont have to tell me that  ) if there is anything close to how Mourinho setup his game plan, that can be used in FM, but nothing was effective in game and nothing was so close like this, so as a big fan of this style of play (or system if you like), thank you again, and congrats on how good you read the game irl and replicate it to FM.

 

[davehibb]

I've given this a whirl in season 4, funnily enough, having just take over at Barca.

About 15 games in all comps so far and still unbeaten, drawing only two games, both when I instant resulted, hah.

Beat Real at home 7-1 and Steaua 10-0 and I think I went 6 or 7 games at one point without conceding too.

Top stuff! 

[fmFutbolManager]

Thanks for the comments guys, and glad it is working out well for you. It really does need a good Raumdeuter and high familiarity with the system. Once this is in place it should be a winner. 

[bosque]

Excelent post! Do you low the mentality when facing a better team or if you are playing a bad game? Maybe if you want to walk away with a draw?

[fmFutbolManager]

1 hour ago, bosque said:

Excelent post! Do you low the mentality when facing a better team or if you are playing a bad game? Maybe if you want to walk away with a draw?

Thank you.

I don't usually make too many changes to the mentality. I'll usually swap up some of the roles and duties if I'm holding onto the game. However, Barcelona are usually strong enough to deal with most teams. 

[Time_Consumer]

This is an excellent tactic. 

I'm trying this with Athletic Bilbao, obviously not the same level of players as ManU or Barcelona. Sometimes it's a bit stale on the offensive side of the game, but it's so, so, so solid defensively. I'd gladly take a boring 0:0 at Bernabeu instead of going down 5 goals trying to play exciting football.

Also, although it feels a bit boring sometimes, i still scored the most after Barca and Real in the league after around 25 games - using Aduriz and Villalibre. It will only get better once great prospects come through.

Also, against lesser competition i think it's easy to drop "be more disciplined" for a bit more creativity to break things down.

 

Anyway, to make it short: Great effort, i love this setup.

[fmFutbolManager]

Thanks for the feedback @Time_Consumer

I will often make changes after the first 15-20 minutes or so if I spot that something it's quite working. There are no perfect tactics out there that will win every game, and there are certainly things you can do to improve against various opposition. As you say, things like removing 'be more disciplined', for one.

I'm glad this works for you.

[goqs06]

Would you consider trying replicating the man utd 3-5-2 Mourinho has been using this season?

[Time_Consumer]

I'm in my second season with Bilbao, additions to the squad being Merino (winter break 16/17), Monreal and Dani Garcia, plus some loanees that came back. Sold De Marcos for 30 millions, Lekue is more than capable to take over RB. My lineup:

Kepa/some youth prospect

Lekue/Boveda - San Jose/Yeray - Laporte/Bilbao - Monreal/Balenziaga

Benat/Merino - Iturrapse/Dani Garcia

Susaeta/Oteo - Muniain/Unai Lopez/Raul Garcia - Williams/Muniain

Villalibre/Raul Garcia

In second season, defensively the start was a bit more shaky than I expected and offensively not very good against lesser teams sometimes. On the other hand, some whopping 7:2 against Celta and a 3:3 away at Bernabeu - balls over the top from the AP(s) to Villalibre with PPM „Beats offside trap“ does wonders against higher lines. Beat Barca as well.

Will have to develop an alternative approach to the „pure“ Mounrinho tactic in the long run. Maybe drop be more disciplined and play through middle against lesser teams to give attacking play more variety and thus cracking defenses. Also, maybe switch from Raumdeuter to IF(a) sometimes for different movement and more dribbles. Williams is developing great into that role, mental stats are not _quite_ there yet albeit having developed massively, I think it could benefit to give him a simpler role sometimes. His goal tally could use some improvement.

Anyway, I’m still firmly in CL race mid-season and finished my CL group with 5-0-1, 1 being the last game where i was playing a B team, if not C.

So yeah, all in all, still solid and great fun for my very last FM17 save.

EDIT: Villalibre is exploding in season 2 with 18 goals in 17 league games - it's the other players who should score a bit more, especially Williams.

[sherifdinn_]

On 9/18/2017 at 09:48, Ji-Sung Park said:

That season I left it as is, except for the striker role. Since only Embolo was capable of playing as a CF, I switched to DF(s) whenever I played Burgstaller there, which was rare.

The following season (just finished) I picked up Sané on loan from City and used him as a winger on attack, with roaming PI, in some matches. That worked wonders for creating chances against the more defensive teams, although creation was never an issue really. The structured shape seems to break down even the most defensive BL teams. I had one match against Köln away where they played 4-1-4-1 defensive and I was 3-0 after 20 minutes or so. Won the league, but it went down to the last round.

My theory is that a tactic like this will be absolutely superb if your team is A+. At Schalke that is not the case, so with Bayern for instance I would have cleaned house. I accepted the Real job now, so will try it there.

I guess you are right here, using the tactic with as Monaco nd I'm sweeping the league away, 12 straight home wins nd 11 points clear at the top of the table. Beat barca 3-2 in the principality but the real task lies in the nou camp. We go again.

[fmFutbolManager]

On 22/10/2017 at 15:48, goqs06 said:

Would you consider trying replicating the man utd 3-5-2 Mourinho has been using this season?

Possibly. I'll be looking to replicate a few systems in FM18 over the season.

 

[Ji-Sung Park]

On 14.9.2017 at 23:26, fmFutbolManager said:

I decided to attempt to replicate Mourinho's successful 4-2-3-1

Fingers crossed you are hard at work making a FM18 version of this great tactic.

[fmFutbolManager]

It is done. Not too dissimilar, either. 

[cez]

18 hours ago, fmFutbolManager said:

It is done. Not too dissimilar, either. 

any idea when will you release that to us?

[fmFutbolManager]

I’m hoping around the weekend. This is more aimed at lesser teams rather than the big guns. 

[Ji-Sung Park]

On 6.11.2017 at 12:29, fmFutbolManager said:

I’m hoping around the weekend.

You may proceed.

[fmFutbolManager]

Ha, thanks for the nudge @Ji-Sung Park

Unfortunately, work has been hammering me at the moment, from 5.30 when I wake, I don't close my laptop until 10.30pm. I don't even have my FM18 save started yet. I will do this at some point, but making no promises for when I can release something. 

[Ji-Sung Park]

3 hours ago, fmFutbolManager said:

Unfortunately, work has been hammering me at the moment, from 5.30 when I wake, I don't close my laptop until 10.30pm. I don't even have my FM18 save started yet. I will do this at some point, but making no promises for when I can release something. 

 Yeah, no need to rush.

Actually I am currently working on a Hasenhüttl thing with Leipzig and I've noticed some weird player behavior in the new ME. I was thinking that maybe you had noticed the same and put things on hold for the moment.