4-4-2 Diamond Problem

[Rummy]

Hello  (This is FM18)

So I keep facing a problem whenever i'm playing narrow formations.

Pretty often a situation like this occurs:

My 4 midfield players all run for the same opposition player, instead of leaving a gap on the left side.

I understand that maybe lowering the mentality will help, but I still want to press.. And i'm not so keen on using 'stick to positions' because i still want freedom of movement.

How can I prevent this from happening so often?

[Experienced Defender]

Well, you are using the Fluid shape, which encourages players to act like a unit (by reducing the difference between their individual mentalities), so that can at least partly explain that kind of behavior. On top of that, zonal marking - which is a default in FM (and modern real-life football) - means that players are ball-oriented when defending (they naturally tend to move collectively toward the side where the ball is at the moment). 

But apart from that, why have you opted for a narrow formation if you play the fullbacks - and both of them at that - in a pretty much conservative role (FB on support)? I mean, when you play in a narrow system, you want the FBs/WBs to provide attacking width in the first place. 

[Rummy]

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

But apart from that, why have you opted for a narrow formation if you play the fullbacks - and both of them at that - in a pretty much conservative role (FB on support)? I mean, when you play in a narrow system, you want the FBs/WBs to provide attacking width in the first place. 

Thanks

Yes actually I normally play them as WBs but the screenshot I put here is from the final minutes of the match against Bayern, when I decided to change them to FBs.

[Snorks]

Your AP and the BWM are both 'roamers' - especially on Support. What are the PIs for those two? Can you get them to hold position a bit better? 

 

[Robson 07]

12 hours ago, Rummy said:

How can I prevent this from happening so often?

Change to a formation with more width.  Change role/duty in midfield.  Change shape.