343 Diamond set-up

[nidhar.ram]

Below is my initial tactical 343 diamond set-up with Atletico Madrid.

I have got excellent crosses of the ball in the form of Lemar & Correa (who also likes to cut inside to give me some variety to attack) and  I want to make absolute use of it. Up front, Costa my primary target for goals paired with Felix who will look to play balls to Costa or spread it wide for a threatening cross. 

My field will look to basically keep possession and look to move the ball forward to create an overload on either wing.

 Against stronger teams, I will basically lower the LOE and hit early crosses into space without any changes to roles or duties.

And against stubborn defences, I want to push the wingers further up and press high. 

I have a few questions which you guys can hopefully help me out.

1. is the overall set-up balanced and reflecting my ideas with the roles and duties?

2. Obviously, my wings are defensively vulnerable. How can I minimize this risk? Or is it having to choose between risk vs.reward?  

3. Because this set-up a mix between Possession vs counter, I not sure how to set-up my training schedule which equally puts emphasis on both these aspects.

4. What variations can I add to this set-up when played against solo strikers?

5. I have kept my TI's fairly simple and Balanced mentality. Is that okay too? Do I need to push the mentality to positive or add instructions or may be change roles to create chances?

 

[Experienced Defender]

6 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

1. is the overall set-up balanced and reflecting my ideas with the roles and duties?

The setup of roles and duties is decently balanced, although there might be lack of attacking penetration. 

 

6 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

2. Obviously, my wings are defensively vulnerable. How can I minimize this risk? Or is it having to choose between risk vs.reward?

Well, both wide midfielders are given support duties, which is good defense-wise relative to the type of formation. I personally would prefer a WM role to the wingers, but okay. In this type of system having the right players is particularly important, more so than in "normal" formations. 

 

6 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

have kept my TI's fairly simple and Balanced mentality. Is that okay too?

Balanced mentality is generally a good starting point, especially when you have a new tactic that has not been tested yet. 

 

6 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

Do I need to push the mentality to positive or add instructions

The only way to know that is to watch the matches carefully until you are confident that the tactic works the way you want. 

 

6 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

or may be change roles to create chances?

When it comes to roles and duties, I would probably change the AMC's duty to attack in order to improve attacking penetration a bit. That way he would also create more space for the BBM and mezzala coming from behind. I am not sure though that AP on attack duty is an ideal role, unless you want to play counter-attacking football. 

I would set up the midfield a bit differently, but I don't want to discourage you from putting your tactical plan into practice. Therefore, test the tactic first and report back if you notice any issues