Tactic help: 3-4-3

[Arel]

Hello Community,

For some time I've watched some other users in FM as well as some managers in Real Life using 3 defenders formations but I must admit I've never had the courage to use it (always loyal to 4-4-2 Classic or 4-1-4-1 DM Wide).

But the time has come and now I have set a challenge to myself: to exploit the wonders of the 3-4-3. 

Below I'll show you the formation I've picked:

I have setted up a classic 3-4-3 with Gengenpress. I have good CD's and good midfielders to fill those positions. My main doubt is about the DLF's. I've some talented players that are good IF's and I wanted to use them on those DLF's roles.

So what I wanted to ask in the forum is: I really wanted to play with the 3-4-3 formation but you think that I can use a Gengenpress style together?

And about my ideia for the DLF's (using my IF's in those positions), do you think it's affordable?

 

Thank you all in advance and I hope to post more screens after your feedback

Edited March 17, 2020 by Arel

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, Arel said:

I really wanted to play with the 3-4-3 formation but you think that I can use a Gengenpress style together?

I am always looking to help people with their tactics, but the problem in this particular case is that I absolutely never play gegenpress (or any similar style of football). I hope someone who has experience - and success - with such type of football style will see this thread and come to your assistance 

[Arel]

Thank you @Experienced Defender. I'm open to other styles if they work well with the 3-4-3. Gengenpress was just a first thought.

Any ideias?

[Experienced Defender]

28 minutes ago, Arel said:

Thank you @Experienced Defender. I'm open to other styles if they work well with the 3-4-3. Gengenpress was just a first thought.

Any ideias?

If I knew your players, I would be in a lot better position to help with some logical advice. But I unfortunately don't. The problem is that the formation is a tricky one and therefore requires a certain type of players, primarily in the midfield and especially in wide positions.

@Rashidi uses this  exact formation in some of his saves (e.g. Indian journeyman), so you can take a look at some of his videos on his Youtube channel "Bust the net".

I can't remember all instructions he's using, but I think I can recall the setup of roles and duties. If I'm not mistaken, it's something like this:

PFat   PO   PFat

DWsu    BWMsu   BBM     DWsu

BPDst  CDco  BPDst

SK?

Not 100% sure, so I hope he'll correct me if I'm wrong.

[Arel]

Okay, thank you once again

[Rashidi]

5 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

If I knew your players, I would be in a lot better position to help with some logical advice. But I unfortunately don't. The problem is that the formation is a tricky one and therefore requires a certain type of players, primarily in the midfield and especially in wide positions.

@Rashidi uses this  exact formation in some of his saves (e.g. Indian journeyman), so you can take a look at some of his videos on his Youtube channel "Bust the net".

I can't remember all instructions he's using, but I think I can recall the setup of roles and duties. If I'm not mistaken, it's something like this:

PFat   PO   PFat

DWsu    BWMsu   BBM     DWsu

BPDst  CDco  BPDst

SK?

Not 100% sure, so I hope he'll correct me if I'm wrong.

Yeah almost correct, the strike force depends on what you want to achieve and who you are playing with, the general idea is to find roles that are able to drift wide in support of the DWs allowing better movement in the final third. I think my system is called Bagan 343 and is part of the Mohun Bagan diaries and is also in the public folder for people to go download. Its easy to find the location of the file just go to any recent video on my channel and check the description links out. I just don't want to tag my videos on the forum in case people feel like I am self promoting.

 

The 343 is very strong on FM20 and should work with nearly every kind of team at every level, the DW role is the one nearly everyone gets wrong. The game seems to suggest midfielders which is natural considering these are midfielder slots, but I find its a lot better to use fullbacks here. So a good idea would be to retrain them for the position. Make sure the bench has players you can sub on for the left flank as that is aggressively defended.

[Arel]

Okay thanks for the feedback @Rashidi and @Experienced Defender. I'll give it a try with my team and give you some feedback after the pre-season and some offical matches.

[JEinchy]

I used this shape with Southend in League 1 and almost got promoted in the first season (bottled in the final day, sadly). I took inspiration from @Rashidi for the roles. 

When I used it, I found it had a big weakness to crosses to the back post area, as the DWs won't always come around on the cover to mark someone. I don't know if that was a consequence of the players I was using or a limitation of the role itself, but it was nonetheless the most frequent method of conceding goals for me. The 4-2-3-1, in particular, gave me major headaches in those areas of the pitch. 

On the flip side, we scored 71 goals with a group of teenage strikers barely League 1 level, so it was a potent set-up. 

I'll echo the advice in this thread by saying those DWs need to be more like wing-backs than anything else. They're vital in providing crosses for the front three while also needing to cover their flanks defensively. Fortunately, a lot of full backs and wing backs already have this skillset. 

I experimented with the roles up top. PF(A)-P-PF(A) worked well as the Pressing Forwards more out wide and into the channels a lot, so you don't just have three players waiting in the box all the time. I sometimes used an asymmetric front-line as well, with an IF(A) on the left flank, a PF(A) in the middle and an AF(A) to his right, with the intent being too generate different kinds of movement up there when the crossing wasn't working. I'm not a fan of support roles for strikers in this FM, but they can be good for getting them to help out more in defence. 

 

[thesharmz]

@Rashidi and @Experienced Defender -- do you think it's possible to set up (successfully) in a 3-4-3 diamond using a tiki taka system? 

Whenever I've tried, I either get caught through the middle (using defensive IWBs or FBs on sit narrower) or out wide (using 3 DCs on play wider). The rest of the roles can be a challenge too as you try to find balance and ensure that you have the correct players for a system.

Would love to see how you'd get round these challenges. 

 

[Experienced Defender]

9 minutes ago, thesharmz said:

@Rashidi and @Experienced Defender -- do you think it's possible to set up (successfully) in a 3-4-3 diamond using a tiki taka system? 

Please start a separate thread if you need advice on your tactic, because it would not be fair to hijack this one, as it was started by another person 

[thesharmz]

6 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Please start a separate thread if you need advice on your tactic, because it would not be fair to hijack this one, as it was started by another person 

My apologies. Will do!

[Arel]

10 hours ago, Rashidi said:

(...) the DW role is the one nearly everyone gets wrong. The game seems to suggest midfielders which is natural considering these are midfielder slots, but I find its a lot better to use fullbacks here. So a good idea would be to retrain them for the position. (...)

Indeed @Rashidi, I've made that mistake. I have no problem rertraining them for that position but what I saw from the pre-season is that my IF's really don't get to well play as PF's so I think I'll drop this tactic for now. Possibly going to try 4-1-4-1 DM Wide with IF's.

 

Thank you for all your answers and great Youtube channel @Rashidi

Edited March 18, 2020 by Arel