Help with a short passing counter-attacking tactic

[jc577]

The following is taken from an article on the inside channel on Lucien Favre's tactics at Borussia Monchengladbach:

 You can counter-attack in three basic ways:

• An aggressive long ball played forward behind the defence for a forward to run onto.
• Fast direct running from wingers or centre forwards.
• Fast team movement forward combined with shorter passes.

It goes on to explain that the first method listed is typical of English Football; Leicester City's title winning side is a good example of this. However what I'm focused on is the third option, using intelligent off the ball movement and quick short passes to open up the opposition. This is the traditional German style of counter-attacking and has many advantages over the English system, mainly:

1. Better ball retention as short passes are used.
2. Limits the oppositions use of a 'Sweeper Keeper' as passes are often to feet and are not played in an area where the keeper can come and collect. 

My preliminary thoughts:

• Mentality - Counter (Duh ) - nothing really to say here. Direct passing at the back, shorter passes at the front, low risk, slowish tempo drawing the opposition in - all sounds about right. 
• Team Shape - Fluid or Very Fluid; reason being is that success countering this way is hinged upon multiple players being involved in transition. 
• Formation - In accordance with the existing guides to counter-attacking, a formation with the majority of players in your half i.e. 4-4-2 and its variants, 4-5-1/4-1-4-1, 3-5-2 etc. 

Any help given will be greatly appreciated, cheers.

[bowieinspace]

2 hours ago, jc577 said:

The following is taken from an article on the inside channel on Lucien Favre's tactics at Borussia Monchengladbach:

 You can counter-attack in three basic ways:

• An aggressive long ball played forward behind the defence for a forward to run onto.
• Fast direct running from wingers or centre forwards.
• Fast team movement forward combined with shorter passes.

It goes on to explain that the first method listed is typical of English Football; Leicester City's title winning side is a good example of this. However what I'm focused on is the third option, using intelligent off the ball movement and quick short passes to open up the opposition. This is the traditional German style of counter-attacking and has many advantages over the English system, mainly:

1. Better ball retention as short passes are used.
2. Limits the oppositions use of a 'Sweeper Keeper' as passes are often to feet and are not played in an area where the keeper can come and collect. 

My preliminary thoughts:

• Mentality - Counter (Duh ) - nothing really to say here. Direct passing at the back, shorter passes at the front, low risk, slowish tempo drawing the opposition in - all sounds about right. 
• Team Shape - Fluid or Very Fluid; reason being is that success countering this way is hinged upon multiple players being involved in transition. 
• Formation - In accordance with the existing guides to counter-attacking, a formation with the majority of players in your half i.e. 4-4-2 and its variants, 4-5-1/4-1-4-1, 3-5-2 etc. 

Any help given will be greatly appreciated, cheers.

I'd put some thought to mentality actually. Logically a counter mentality makes sense due it's name,  but it might mean your players at the back prefer to go long rather than the quick short passing you're looking for. It depends on a heap of other factors but it's something to consider - there's a really good thread on Favre's Gladbach in this forum actually that's worth a read, just search for it.

[jc577]

20 minutes ago, bowieinspace said:

I'd put some thought to mentality actually. Logically a counter mentality makes sense due it's name,  but it might mean your players at the back prefer to go long rather than the quick short passing you're looking for. It depends on a heap of other factors but it's something to consider - there's a really good thread on Favre's Gladbach in this forum actually that's worth a read, just search for it.

That's a good point which I had thought about, but I think using play out of defence and asking my centrebacks to pass it shorter will negate the direct passing that comes with a counter mentality. Thanks for the tip i'll most definitely have a read.

[jc577]

This is what i've come up with, any glaring issues? The left WM has been asked to sit narrower, cut inside with the ball and play more risky passes; the right WM has been told to sit narrower and dribble more. DF - Hold up ball, move into channels, more direct passes. DLP - more direct & risky passes.

[kelabb]

When using a 4-4-2, the main strength is its solid shape, and relative lack of gaps. Keeping this shape is one of the keys to success, and using Structured or Highly Structured shape will assist greatly in this regard. You could also look at Be More Disciplined in order to maintain shape stability, though it's probably overkill with a Structured or Highly Structured shape.

The key to unleashing an effective counter attack is to have a healthy amount of players on an attack duty, but the team on a more defensive mentality. In FM, a counter attack will trigger whenever the opposition has the required number of players in your half, regardless of your mentality. However when you have "Counter" mentality, that number is lower, so it triggers more often. For example, if you play with your wide midfielders or wingers on attack, and perhaps use a centre midfield attack, you'll have three players ready to burst into attack mode whenever the counterattack trigger goes off. By using a low mentality like Defensive or even Contain, the individual players tendency to take higher risks will be curbed to an acceptable level.

By setting a Deeper or Slightly Deeper backline, you entice the opposition forward, and hence increase the likelihood the counterattack trigger will be activated. Of course, if you are Watford playing Chelsea, it might not be a good idea to play too deep, but remember even without setting the backline deeper, Defend and Contain (and Counter too, for that matter) use a deeper line as Normal. As usual, it's a risk/reward ratio that you need to work out based on the strength of your team within their division.