Exploiting Space

[FabianJonsson]

I am trying to take a team (Oxford City) from Vanarama National South to the top of the world (ideally... :D). Basically a lower league to legend kind of deal. As I expect to be consistent underdogs throughout the climb (however fast or slow), I intend to go with a counter attacking approach. Consequently I've signed defensively solid defenders and defensive midfielders, hard working central midfielders, and fast and decisive wingers and strikers. My tactical setup looks like follows:

The team instructions are:

• Balanced mentality
• Lower line of engagement
• Tighter marking
• Counter attack
• Distribute short (to fullbacks, my goalkeeper has 4 for kicking and throwing)

My plan was to start with this pretty generic plan every game, and then look to alter the instructions to exploit space left by the opposition (if I'm underdog they should come at me, and thus leave space).

So, for example, if an opponent looks like this in attack:

I should try to get my players to counter quickly through the center of the park.

If they instead push fullbacks high:

I would instruct my players to focus counter attacks down the flanks.

EDIT: removed parts due to them leading to confusion.

I have mostly used the "focus through the middle" and "focus down the flanks" team instructions to try to exploit the spaces, but this has not really worked very well.

What are your best tips for exploiting space behind midfielders and/or fullbacks without making too big changes to the overall strategy?

Edited November 8, 2019 by FabianJonsson

[warlock]

1 hour ago, FabianJonsson said:

I expect to be consistent underdogs throughout the climb

This is likely to be a problem. If you're already top of the division, no-one in your division is going to think you're the underdog. I think this was the cause of a lot of tactics threads last year: why has my tactic stopped working? Often, because you're set up to exploit one kind of space that isn't available anymore.

I can see the appeal of using simple 'focus play' instructions to switch things around, but if your players aren't set up in roles and duties to actually do it, the change of focus may not achieve much. I'd be more inclined to switch a role or two - a CM-S to an attacking duty more likely to push into the space behind their midfield, maybe a Mez-A to push into the wider areas if that's where the space is. You could change a wide player who stays wide to a role that cuts into the midfield areas.

Equally, I'd be wary about changing too much in a tactic that's obviously working very well just to achieve an abstract aim of better exploiting the space. Perfect is the enemy of good.

[FabianJonsson]

42 minutes ago, warlock said:

This is likely to be a problem. If you're already top of the division, no-one in your division is going to think you're the underdog. I think this was the cause of a lot of tactics threads last year: why has my tactic stopped working? Often, because you're set up to exploit one kind of space that isn't available anymore.

I can see the appeal of using simple 'focus play' instructions to switch things around, but if your players aren't set up in roles and duties to actually do it, the change of focus may not achieve much. I'd be more inclined to switch a role or two - a CM-S to an attacking duty more likely to push into the space behind their midfield, maybe a Mez-A to push into the wider areas if that's where the space is. You could change a wide player who stays wide to a role that cuts into the midfield areas.

Equally, I'd be wary about changing too much in a tactic that's obviously working very well just to achieve an abstract aim of better exploiting the space. Perfect is the enemy of good.

Completely true, and I adopt my strategy as the opposition sits back more. My problems with exploiting the space in counter attacks was more a problem during the first part of the season when teams attacked in numbers. I should've been more clear about that. I removed that part, so that it is more clear that this is specifically about when teams DO attack in numbers.

Edited November 8, 2019 by FabianJonsson

[warlock]

1 minute ago, FabianJonsson said:

My problems with exploiting the space in counter attacks was more a problem during the first part of the season when teams attacked in numbers.

Well, you'll get another chance to figure it out next season after you win the title 

I'd guess the problem with exploiting the space in a counter-attacking tactic is that when you win the ball back it all goes a bit gung-ho in getting the ball forward.

[pheelf]

The most logical thing to do would be to put the ML & MR into the AML & AMR positions but then I agree with @warlock as teams will be less inclined to push players forward (especially fullbacks) when they begin to perceive you as the better team. In this instance, I think you need to shift focus from thinking about how you are going to exploit the space the opposition leaves and instead start to think about how you are going to create space for your team to attack.

That process is more challenging as it requires you think about the movement patterns of the players you expect to contribute to attacks and how you can use that to disrupt the oppositions defensive structure. You might need to watch some matches in detail as you look to perfect it but once you've done that the game becomes a lot easier as you have the tools to deal with both kinds of opposition, those that seek to attack you and those that seek to defend against you.

Your team are doing well so I would be hesitant to make drastic changes, as long as you manage the squad well (morale, condition etc) I think you'll be fine.

Best Regards 

Edited November 8, 2019 by pheelf

[FabianJonsson]

9 minutes ago, warlock said:

Well, you'll get another chance to figure it out next season after you win the title 

 

Quote

I'd guess the problem with exploiting the space in a counter-attacking tactic is that when you win the ball back it all goes a bit gung-ho in getting the ball forward.

 

Yes, actually getting the ball from deep up to the players in space could definitely be part of the issue... My general approach has been to use more direct passing and/or higher tempo, but since my lower league players are not the most gifted bunch, that usually means they'll boot it upfield as soon as they get hold of the ball...

Edited November 8, 2019 by FabianJonsson

[Robson 07]

On 08/11/2019 at 08:43, FabianJonsson said:

I have mostly used the "focus through the middle" and "focus down the flanks" team instructions to try to exploit the spaces, but this has not really worked very well.

What are your best tips for exploiting space behind midfielders and/or fullbacks without making too big changes to the overall strategy?

Make runs from deep.  Also recognise it is easier to play faster, transition faster and attack faster down the flanks.

[lferreira]

22 hours ago, Robson 07 said:

Make runs from deep.  Also recognise it is easier to play faster, transition faster and attack faster down the flanks.

So true. I have way more success tweaking my wide players as WMs than as AML/AMR in my Milan save. Some teams sit so deep that I have the whole central area of the pitch to work with but no space on the final third.

By the way, checking through which flank they channel their attacks goes a long way when trying to explore space. When you play a formation with two wide men, analyse in any given game where you tend to recover the ball and where your final ball goes through. At least in FM19, you tend to start in one flank and finish the play in the other one, so you should know which flank is more appropriate for you to have the attack duty.

[FabianJonsson]

10 hours ago, lferreira said:

I have way more success tweaking my wide players as WMs than as AML/AMR in my Milan save.

Yes, I have noticed this too. I was trying to experiment with overloading the right flank and then finishing off the move on the left, and my first instinct was to play an IF/A on the left in the AML slot. I had about zero success with this and was ready to give up the experiment, when I dropped him back into a IW/A in ML slot instead, and suddenly he was getting lots of quality chances.

Edited November 14, 2019 by FabianJonsson