Striker role in 4231

[Coolio5]

Bit of advice please. My tactic is performing really well- top of Championship with Leeds and on course to win it by 10+ points.

Only issue is that my centre forward doesnt score many goals (all 3 of them that I have tried have betwwen 5-8 goals). Ive tried PFA, CSs, AFa, DLFA but none of them seem to be right. Is there an obvious issue with my tactic thats causng a lack of space for the striker to operate in etc? e.g the high press

?

 

Im having similar issues with my 2nd tactic thats more defensive.... any afvice on either would be appreciated. Like I say the tactics are working well.. im just being picky!

 

[toffee71]

I'm a 4231 man myself, and my PFa are doing ok so far 28 games and between my 2 rotation strikers 22 goals, my main striker 0.63 gpg, which seems about right to me, only 5 assists, but when watching the matches they are involved in most of the goals. The PF I came to after trying poacher CF, AF etc.

I've just compared Dominic Solanke(assuming its Dom) to Calvert Lewin my main PFa and Solanke just edges it role wise though you could say they are equal as very little in it, the difference in your 4231 to mine is I ditched playmakers years ago, but now use the Mezzala or BBM in midfield next to a bwm and the AM is an AMs but I give them free ish reign with player instruction so they are essentially the playmakers so I'm getting the balls over the top and defence splitting passes for the PF to get after, wish they would convert a bit more, but looks good when playing.

Your second formation is like my 3rd formation which I use against the big boys and tough away games, I still use a PFa and they seem to score a bit more in this formation but they are also a bit isolated as it is my Balanced tactic and a bit more defensive.

Are you training Solanke as a PFa or something else, I train all my players for the roles in my main formation, rather than general position training, and DCL for me is improving rapidly in overall contribution, it's not just about goals for the forwards but the involvement in the build up to goals and as I say mine are doing ok for me. Not saying you are, but too many people are too hung up on wanting a 30/40 goal a season striker when in reality there's not many of them around. If your strikers are involved in the game then they are doing ok.

e.g balls played upfield to AM who passes to PF who passes out wide to IF who crosses, AM, late runner from midfield or other IF bangs the ball home, no goal no assist for PF but important contribution.

or PF presses defender into mistake AM scores again no credit for PF but BIG contribution.

But your tactics are working better defensively than mine so I may not be the right man to listen to for advice, and the rest of your team is contributing enough goals, so as long as your forward is contributing I think it's ok.

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, Coolio5 said:

Is there an obvious issue with my tactic thats causng a lack of space for the striker to operate in etc? e.g the high press

I would say yes - too aggressive defending can cause a lack of space for your players in attack.

Apart from that, I would suggest removing "Be More Expressive", as it needlessly complicate things.

What I also noticed is that you don't have any playmaker in your second (4141DM Wide) formation, plus none except the AMR (winger on attack) is actually attacking space up front (and on top of that, winger as a role tends to operate in wider areas, so he is unlikely to be a more direct threat).

[Coolio5]

13 hours ago, toffee71 said:

I'm a 4231 man myself, and my PFa are doing ok so far 28 games and between my 2 rotation strikers 22 goals, my main striker 0.63 gpg, which seems about right to me, only 5 assists, but when watching the matches they are involved in most of the goals. The PF I came to after trying poacher CF, AF etc.

I've just compared Dominic Solanke(assuming its Dom) to Calvert Lewin my main PFa and Solanke just edges it role wise though you could say they are equal as very little in it, the difference in your 4231 to mine is I ditched playmakers years ago, but now use the Mezzala or BBM in midfield next to a bwm and the AM is an AMs but I give them free ish reign with player instruction so they are essentially the playmakers so I'm getting the balls over the top and defence splitting passes for the PF to get after, wish they would convert a bit more, but looks good when playing.

Your second formation is like my 3rd formation which I use against the big boys and tough away games, I still use a PFa and they seem to score a bit more in this formation but they are also a bit isolated as it is my Balanced tactic and a bit more defensive.

Are you training Solanke as a PFa or something else, I train all my players for the roles in my main formation, rather than general position training, and DCL for me is improving rapidly in overall contribution, it's not just about goals for the forwards but the involvement in the build up to goals and as I say mine are doing ok for me. Not saying you are, but too many people are too hung up on wanting a 30/40 goal a season striker when in reality there's not many of them around. If your strikers are involved in the game then they are doing ok.

e.g balls played upfield to AM who passes to PF who passes out wide to IF who crosses, AM, late runner from midfield or other IF bangs the ball home, no goal no assist for PF but important contribution.

or PF presses defender into mistake AM scores again no credit for PF but BIG contribution.

But your tactics are working better defensively than mine so I may not be the right man to listen to for advice, and the rest of your team is contributing enough goals, so as long as your forward is contributing I think it's ok.

Thanks for the feedback. I only really play an AP behind the main striker since I got Phil Foden on loan- his performances were better, but I will take another look at that,

 

[Coolio5]

12 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

I would say yes - too aggressive defending can cause a lack of space for your players in attack.

Apart from that, I would suggest removing "Be More Expressive", as it needlessly complicate things.

What I also noticed is that you don't have any playmaker in your second (4141DM Wide) formation, plus none except the AMR (winger on attack) is actually attacking space up front (and on top of that, winger as a role tends to operate in wider areas, so he is unlikely to be a more direct threat).

Thanks- I left ‘be more expressive’ on as it came with the template vertical tikka Taka. Why do you say it needlessly complicates things?

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, Coolio5 said:

Thanks- I left ‘be more expressive’ on as it came with the template vertical tikka Taka. Why do you say it needlessly complicates things?

Because when too many players have too much creative freedom at the same time, they tend to do a lot of speculative stuff, which usually results in losing shape and structure to little (if any) avail. Rather than using BME as a team instructions, I'd look to give (a couple of) my most creative players appropriate roles that will draw most from them. But ultimately, that's your team and your tactic, so the decision is up to you 

[Rashidi]

I have been playing the 4231 so far on FM19 cos most of the teams I end up with seem suitable for it. There are many ways to set it up, largely it boils down to your defensive shape. Get that right and you will probably be able to play with both mids on support which I find to be the best thing if I want to unlock sides. It turns the duo into a mobile pivot that can move the ball flank to flank. The problem with most 4231s lies in the fact that by the time you into the opponents box they have camped. It is a great system for underdogs but when you start showing some standards, then things get harder and this is where we need to be creative in how we use the roles

The things I have done:

WB(A) on one flank, to put more pressure on sides, playmakers holding the ball on one side so that we can get players free on the opposite flank to create good one on ones. Even underlapping one flank to create overloads. There are several ways but it requires you to become creative with roles and duties.  Presently my Stalybridge side which started using a simple 4231 has had to reinvent it cos a lot of teams are now defending well against it. This has forced me to come up with other ways of using it.