Defensive Evolution - Progressing your style of play

[smplfc123]

First of all may I start by saying that this thread isn't me moaning or complaining by asking for help, it's out of genuine eagerness to understand the game even more. I absolutely love this game. Having played this version for months (and every version since 05) I've rarely read this particular forum in detail. Over the last month or so, I've found myself totally engrossed in some of the threads in this forum regarding the defensive side of the game, especially from the likes of @Experienced Defender , @Cleon and @Zemahh and all those who have contributed with some insightful comments on similar threads.

My struggle is having the confidence in taking a defensive side and evolving them in to one that offers more of a composed attacking threat when facing so called weaker teams and faced with having more of the ball. I felt the perfect challenge for this is Crystal Palace. The Eagles are a real life example in my opinion of years of being built under defence-first minded coaches in Warnock, Allardyce Pulis etc. who then tried to make the radical switch to attacking/possession orientated football when they hired De Boer. 4 games in and the Dutchman was gone, with 4 defeats and Palace looking completely out of sorts. Hodgson is subsequently appointed, another manager known for his excellent work in setting up defensive shapes and making his team hard to beat. Low and behold, Palace recovered excellently, and were, until their recent run of poor results, in the top 10 this season; still sitting comfortably clear of relegation. 

What I want to do is somehow bridge that gap between the likes of Hodgson, Allardyce, Pulis etc to what De Boer was appointed for. I appreciate it's going to take time and my initial tactic for the first season (transfers off) will still be on the defensive side, looking to counter and exploit spaces left for us.

I don't however, just want to be a side that sets up and defends well. But what I don't know how to do, is build a second tactic that progresses our style of play in to being more comfortable in controlling possession without slipping to the realms of passing for passing sake. Over a couple of seasons I want to have Palace playing in a way where we are comfortable enough on the ball, but don't overcompensate on possession stats for lack of attacking impetus. I don't want the change to be too radical, so that I can still keep this season's defensively solid/counter tactic in order to use against stronger teams or to switch to in games should I need too in the future.

If you're still with me, here's the current tactic i'll be using :

I've tried to keep it relatively simple. I've gone for positive as I still want us to be brave in attacking the spaces, with Zaha being the main attacking outlet and Meyer breaking from midfield as the 3rd man running. Player roles and instructions will change when facing certain opposition, but this is the base I'll work off. So first of all, are there any glaring problems there?

Secondly, as I stated above, I want to evolve that tactic slightly to make us more comfortable on the ball. Now having read @Experienced Defender's responses to numerous threads, I know that having a second tactic with roles/instructions etc. that's drastically different to the first isn't a great idea. 

I also appreciate that looking through the Palace squad, for my secondary tactic to work eventually, I'll need to sign players with the right attributes to help the team be more comfortable on the ball. I'm not naive enough to think a couple of player instructions will turn McArthur and McCarthy in to Xavi and Iniesta 

Initially, here's what I was thinking about trying out in games I feel comfortable enough to do so in the first season:

 

The thought process behind this set up is that on balanced, our passing and tempo is lowered to standard from our counter tactic, hopefully encouraging less direct passing. With the HB and DLP operating in the midfield, I'm hoping it'll encourage us to implement the instruction of 'play out of defence'. I've kept a CM(A) to make sure we have another runner getting beyond the ball, with the TM switched to a DLF to be involved in the build up in more of a technical manner. I've kept the out of possession set up simple too. I don't want my defenders holding a particularity high line as I want us to still be defensively solid in some respect. 

I know this sounds crazy but no before you ask, I haven't actually tried these tactics out in competitive games yet as I'm still in pre-season. But I lack confidence in my ability to implement this idea of mine, so was wondering if any of you kind people out there can comment on any obvious mistakes, potential downfalls or changes you'd make?

I completely understand there's no right or wrong answers to some questions as so many factors can influence things and i'm really not looking for plug 'n' play, no offence to those who use it but that and transfers on at the start really don't interest me. I'm just looking for a realistic save, with a long term plan to evolve Palace's style without straying too far from what they're so good at now.

Apologies for waffling on, I hope you guys can make sense of what I've said and what i'm tying to achieve and any help/feedback/comments are very much appreciated 

I will post updates on how this goes for anyone that's interested or is having similar issues/ideas etc.

Edited July 7, 2020 by smplfc123

[Experienced Defender]

7 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

 

7 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

are there any glaring problems there?

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it a "glaring problem", but the left side of your setup could be a bit too conservative - and needlessly so at that. I mean, you have both the fullback and CM on defend duty, which is likely to deprive Zaha of adequate support in attack. People usually have poor balance in the sense of being overly attacking, whereas yours is quite the opposite. 

On the other hand, the right side (including the CM on attack) basically looks exactly how I would set it up if I managed Palace and wanted to play that style  

[smplfc123]

9 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

 

I don't know if I would go so far as to call it a "glaring problem", but the left side of your setup could be a bit too conservative - and needlessly so at that. I mean, you have both the fullback and CM on defend duty, which is likely to deprive Zaha of adequate support in attack. People usually have poor balance in the sense of being overly attacking, whereas yours is quite the opposite. 

On the other hand, the right side (including the CM on attack) basically looks exactly how I would set it up if I managed Palace and wanted to play that style  

Thanks for that @Experienced Defender, appreciate the feedback. I think why I've initially set up so conservative on the left flank is because on an IF(A) i'm not expecting any help from Zaha defensively. 

Looking at the players available to me in Centre Midfield (Mcarthur, McCarthy, Kouyate, Milivojevic etc.) i'm thinking it would make more sense to give PVA at Left Back more freedom to attack as it's more natural for him to get forward than the midfielders I've listed? In that case, would release the defend duty and play him as a WB(S) or as a FB(A)?

People usually have poor balance in the sense of being overly attacking, whereas yours is quite the opposite. - I'm very pragmatic in my approach. Growing up I played as a defender and my favourite players were always defenders. I love to watch teams that are set up and coached well defensively. If you don't concede you can't lose, but you can score 10 and still come away with 0 points 

 

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

Looking at the players available to me in Centre Midfield (Mcarthur, McCarthy, Kouyate, Milivojevic etc.) i'm thinking it would make more sense to give PVA at Left Back more freedom to attack as it's more natural for him to get forward than the midfielders I've listed? In that case, would release the defend duty and play him as a WB(S) or as a FB(A)?

To cut a long story short, this is how I would most probably set up the left side (with the rest of the setup unchanged):

IFat

       BWMsu

WBsu

Remember, you already have a holding midfielder in the form of the anchorman. If you played in a 4231 instead of the 4123 wide, that would have been a different story.

[smplfc123]

I'm not going to do a game by game update, more of a half season and full season overview. I thought however I would just upload a few things from my first competitive match. 

We started the season off with the big derby game at home to Brighton.

This how I decided to line up:

And Brighton:

Taking your point about using a BWM @Experienced Defender I decided to stick with the CM(D) to try and counter Brighton's apparent attempt to overload in central attacking areas. I used my counter line-up despite being at home to our rivals just to keep it tight at the back to start off our campaign.

Brighton actually played very conservatively despite their attacking options and we took the lead in the 9th minute thanks to a Gary Cahill header from a free kick. The half goes by and there are no real threats from Brighton, with our boys standing firm. I decided not to change things up as the game went on as I felt we were dealing comfortably with what they were throwing at us.

Then, in the 78th minute, a moment of madness from Zaha as he needlessly trips Schelotto on the edge of the box and Gross tucks away the penalty to make it 1-1. It's at this point with about 15 minutes left that I decided for the first time in the match to switch to our evolving formation to try and get us on the front foot. This how the team looked with the changes:

I added the instruction "Focus play down the left". Now i've never been sure on this, but does this function mean the oppositions left, or my left? @Experienced Defender?  or anyone for that matter?

Anyhow, I used it in the sense of attacking down their left, our right, in order to draw them in and potentially leave our most dangerous player Zaha in a 1v1 on our left. Here's what happened on the 84th minute.

We've played out of defence with Ward playing a first time ball in to Kirby who drives in their half. With the focus being on that side, Ayew has kept 2 of their 3 cb's occupied, Schlupp is keeping Bernardo occupied and Mooy has an eye on Meyer in the centre circle.

If we move it on:

Schelotto moves infield from RWB and as he does, Kirby plays a pass out to Zaha on the left of the box, forcing Duffy out wide in to a 1v1. Zha skips past the Irishman with ease and blasts it in to the roof of the net at the near post. We go on to win 2-1.

A hell of a long way to go, but i'm very pleased with the start. We were comfortable in our counter set up and we switched it up beautifully in our more attacking set up to get the winner. Whilst I know there's going to many problems to encounter along the way, long may this positive start continue.

 

 

[beverage1982]

Really enjoying this thread. I'm in a similar situation with my third season Villa team, trying to oscillate between something pragmatic and something more progressive.

 

How are you finding the tatgetman in your counter set up? I never know whether to adjust tea m settings to emphasise him or let the players decide.

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, smplfc123 said:

I added the instruction "Focus play down the left". Now i've never been sure on this, but does this function mean the oppositions left, or my left? @Experienced Defender? 

Your left. 

[smplfc123]

1 hour ago, beverage1982 said:

Really enjoying this thread. I'm in a similar situation with my third season Villa team, trying to oscillate between something pragmatic and something more progressive.

 

How are you finding the tatgetman in your counter set up? I never know whether to adjust tea m settings to emphasise him or let the players decide.

Thanks @beverage1982 glad i'm not the only one encountering this problem. I've changed my TM to a DLF for now as Benteke is injured and I don't feel that role will get the best out of my other strikers.

[HUNT3R]

Don't forget about your player selection as well. I just completed a season in the Austrian Premier division and we ended 2nd out of 14, when we were predicted to be 6th and 501-1 to win the title. The top 3 or 4 are a step above everyone else. In the tougher matches, I selected a team with the best tackling, strength, balance and jumping reach as I could and of course, things like concentration helped too. My front three then tended to have a lot of pace, so that I could counter quick. I basically tried to bully all the little fancy creators in these big teams. When it came to more winnable matches, I selected a more balanced squad. Still had a few bullies in the squad, but the others made room for more creative and skilled players.

I've always done something along those lines, but especially this year and more recently I've noticed how my weaker (in terms of strength and tackling) either just miss tackles or they barely make contact and the stronger player is able to ride out the challenge. That lead me to wanting more muscle around the pitch, so I am very careful of who I buy now, especially if I'm a weaker team and expect to struggle. My tactics were decent (I'm sure it can be improved, but I am happy with it as is) and paying even more attention to who I select for matches helped to really make a big difference for me. Hope it gives you something to think about or look for in your matches too.

[Enzo_Francescoli]

I totally agree with what Experienced Defender said about that left side: you have an anchor man, so you don't need another defend duty at CM. Same goes with the fullback, as a matter of fact I'd try an FB(a) on that side if I were you, as I've found it's more defensively responsible than the WB(s). FB(a) is probably my favourite of all the role.duty combinations at that position. IF(a) will cut inside to score goals, FB(a) provides the width - that could result in some nice interplay.

Also, think about simplifying your in possession instructions even more. I don't think you need pass into space. If you're using a target man, that's a role that works best if the ball is played to his feet (or head, in this case). If you're using a DLF, that player will come a bit deeper. PIS works best if you have two attack duty strikers who will move behind the opposition defence by design. Your roles and duties will already ensure a more direct style, anyway. Be more expressive is another one you don't need in my opinion. That one is best saved for games where you need extra creativity to break down a packed defence, whereas a direct style like yours is instead built for fast attacking transitions. Finally, when using a lower LOE, I alwys make sure to press more urgent or get stuck in, otherwise I usually find my teams too passive out of possession.

[smplfc123]

6 hours ago, HUNT3R said:

Don't forget about your player selection as well. I just completed a season in the Austrian Premier division and we ended 2nd out of 14, when we were predicted to be 6th and 501-1 to win the title. The top 3 or 4 are a step above everyone else. In the tougher matches, I selected a team with the best tackling, strength, balance and jumping reach as I could and of course, things like concentration helped too. My front three then tended to have a lot of pace, so that I could counter quick. I basically tried to bully all the little fancy creators in these big teams. When it came to more winnable matches, I selected a more balanced squad. Still had a few bullies in the squad, but the others made room for more creative and skilled players.

I've always done something along those lines, but especially this year and more recently I've noticed how my weaker (in terms of strength and tackling) either just miss tackles or they barely make contact and the stronger player is able to ride out the challenge. That lead me to wanting more muscle around the pitch, so I am very careful of who I buy now, especially if I'm a weaker team and expect to struggle. My tactics were decent (I'm sure it can be improved, but I am happy with it as is) and paying even more attention to who I select for matches helped to really make a big difference for me. Hope it gives you something to think about or look for in your matches too.

Yes I agree and this is something i'm implementing too. For example i'm changing Meyer in the CM (A) to someone like McArthur in a B2B role instead for games in which I feel like Meyer will probably have little impact and it's working to some degree so far 

4 hours ago, Enzo_Francescoli said:

I totally agree with what Experienced Defender said about that left side: you have an anchor man, so you don't need another defend duty at CM. Same goes with the fullback, as a matter of fact I'd try an FB(a) on that side if I were you, as I've found it's more defensively responsible than the WB(s). FB(a) is probably my favourite of all the role.duty combinations at that position. IF(a) will cut inside to score goals, FB(a) provides the width - that could result in some nice interplay.

Also, think about simplifying your in possession instructions even more. I don't think you need pass into space. If you're using a target man, that's a role that works best if the ball is played to his feet (or head, in this case). If you're using a DLF, that player will come a bit deeper. PIS works best if you have two attack duty strikers who will move behind the opposition defence by design. Your roles and duties will already ensure a more direct style, anyway. Be more expressive is another one you don't need in my opinion. That one is best saved for games where you need extra creativity to break down a packed defence, whereas a direct style like yours is instead built for fast attacking transitions. Finally, when using a lower LOE, I alwys make sure to press more urgent or get stuck in, otherwise I usually find my teams too passive out of possession.

Thanks for this @Enzo_Francescoli I will experiment with your ideas and see what works best. Totally understand your points on the simplifying of possession, will give it a whirl 

[smplfc123]

Ok so here goes with the mid-season update using the tactics posted in OP (Some tweaks here and there depending on availability of players). I must stress that the aim of this save is to carry out the task whilst keeping it as realistic as possible. No offence to those of you that enjoying do so, but I take no pleasure in selling half of my squad to fund moves for the usual suspects such as Sandro Tonali and Donye Malen. My aim is gradually move Palace from their usual defensive-first mindset to one slightly more attacking over time.

First of all, here's our schedule so you can see the results:

 

As you can see, my form has been patchy. Some good results, some excellent results, some poor results and some awful results. Here's how the results are broken down between our counter/defensive tactic and our new evolving tactic:

Opponent	Passes Completed / Attempted	Pass completion rate %	Possession %	Shots / On target
Brighton H	438 / 519	84	51	10 / 5
Norwich A*	217 / 307	71	31	5 / 1
Saints A	316 / 372	85	36	11 / 7
Leicester H	425 / 519	82	47	14 / 7
Chelsea A	355 / 409	82	40	11 / 5
Bournemouth A	394 / 465	85	50	11 / 3
Man Utd H	377 / 459	82	44	12 / 6
Everton A	310 / 414	75	42	9 / 6
Man City H*	274 / 376	73	33	3 / 1
Newcastle A	619 / 674	92	59	27 / 9
Burnley A	484 / 554	87	50	11 / 6
Wolves A	420 / 458	92	47	12 / 4
Spurs H	366 / 424	86	52	17 / 8
Liverpool A	313 / 420	75	40	8 / 5

The * next to the Norwich game was due to me getting a man sent off early on. As for the Man City game, I tried something ridiculous by trying to catch them out with a 4-4-2 which backfired horrendously. 

So in the first 19 games we've used the counter / defensive tactic 14 times, with a record of:

Wins - 5
Draws - 2 
Losses 6 

Scored - 12
Conceded - 24 (16 of which against top 4 clubs - Man City, Liverpool, Man Utd and Chelsea).

Where we seem to concede most is from out wide. I'm thinking of maybe changing to 'Tighter Marking' instruction to kill the time and space opposition wide players are having to make the crosses, would this be a good way to combat this?

Overall,  what i'm taking from my counter stats so far is that against mid/lower Premier League clubs it's solid enough and we've come away with some excellent results, but against the big boys, I need to go more defensive to keep us in the game for longer. I'm happy with the output so far as they results against the top 4 sides skewer the stats some what. I think over the majority of the games, we're managing to get away quite a lot of shots, but unfortunately, our quality in attack means we aren't so ruthless. 

Here's how we've fared using the 'Evolving' tactic: 

Opponent	Passes completed / Attempted	Pass completion rate %	Possession %	Shots / On target
Sheff Utd H	566 / 642	88	59	8/4
Swansea H	570 / 621	89	59	20/7
Villa H	472 / 534	88	49	12/5
Watford H	529 / 612	86	56	10/5
West Ham H	605 / 656	92	59	30/15
Bournemouth H	502 / 570	88	45	7/2

Straight away you can see the difference in passing and possession stats. We attempted a lot more passes during these games and our completion rate was higher too. We seem to play out from the back fairly comfortably, but again it's the ruthlessness in attack that is letting us down. 

West Ham at home was a superb performance and my favourite using the Evolving tactic. We bossed the game from start to finish, attempting our 2nd highest number of passes and achieving our joint highest succession rate (with Newcastle away).

So in the 5 league games and 1 cup in which we've used this tactic, the results are:

Wins - 2 
Draws - 3 (Lost to Swansea on penalties)
Losses - 1

Scored - 7
Conceded - 5 

I'm fairly happy with how this worked so far. Our only loss using this tactic came at home to Bournemouth where I used a rotated squad having been thumped at Anfield just 2 days prior and played players in roles they just aren't good enough to fill, which was an error and learning curve on my part. I shouldn't have forced that tactic on those players for that game.

So here is how the table looks at the half way mark:

Pleased with this and i'm sure Palace fans would be too. Sitting just in the top half, comfortably clear (at the moment) of a relegation battle. Comfortable mid table finish is my aim for the season I must add so i'm happy i'm on route to hitting that target.

Players:

My best run of form came when we went 5 games in a row unbeaten. Who was injured for that time period? Wilfried Zaha. The mercurial winger has 3 goals in 12 appearances with an average rating of 6.63.  I feel like as a team, we perform much better when he's not in the side, but our attack is so blunt it's hard to not pick him when he's fully fit. I'm hoping Arsenal who have shown some interest, come in and turn his head, forcing me to sell and allowing me to use the funds to build a better all round attack.

We are ranked lowest for passing, vision and decisions in our midfield and attack, so there's no surprise that scoring goals can be tough. I don't want to go mad in January with signings though as I want to keep things realistic.

Overall:

Could be worse, could be better. Need to work out how to approach big teams to keep the score down and how to score more goals. Any feedback on where I could improve is very much appreciated.

[Experienced Defender]

10th position after the 1st half of the season is a very nice achievement with a team like Palace 

[smplfc123]

Thank you @Experienced Defender 
 

[smplfc123]

JANUARY TRANSFER WINDOW

So an important part of being able to get this gradual tactical evolution right will be getting it right in the transfer window. Again I must stress that I love to keep signings as realistic as possible. Yes I might go for the odd big signing, but i'm not going to list half of my squad and replace them with the usual suspects that we see people buying on FM.

So where I'm looking to improve in the first windows are adding creativity and composure to our midfield and adding some quality to the attacking 3. Meyer is the only one who can put his foot on the ball and create something for us in the middle, but he has the tendency to go missing against bigger teams and be slightly weak. 

As it should be, I found the January window very tricky to find anyone I wanted and those I did, were priced out of a move. My plan is to single out 3 specific targets for each position and work my way through them in priority order as opposed to my usual system of having about 100 players on my shortlist and seeing which bids get accepted.

With the window closing quickly in on us, I ended up just bringing in the one player on loan, an old Palace favourite:

The Frenchmen had previously spent 3 years at Selhurst Park and I'm hoping he can add a bit more quality to our midfield with him still possessing some excellent technical and mental stats. Yes he's not the answer long term, but he helps me work on my evolving tactic and then I'll go back in for other targets in the summer.

I had a number of bids turned down for a winger that I've prioritised, but I will look to go back for him in the summer. 

Edited July 12, 2020 by smplfc123

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, smplfc123 said:

i'm not going to list half of my squad and replace them with the usual suspects that we see people buying on FM

Couldn't agree more 

[smplfc123]

END OF SEASON 1

So for anyone who is remotely interested in seeing how the first season played out, here are the results:

Again a mixture of some great results, good ones, poor ones and down right awful ones. I think all in all, it was a realistic season for Palace. Here's the breakdown for the tactics used:

Counter/Defensive Tactics:

Opponent	Passes Completed / Attempted	Pass Completion Rate %	Possession %	Shots / On Target
Chelsea H	322 / 398	81	39	14 / 5
Arsenal A	321 / 414	78	47	7 / 5
Villa A	447 / 553	84	53	14 / 5
Watford A	380 / 475	52	52	10 / 5
Liverpool A	399 / 502	79	42	6 / 2
Brighton A	320 / 399	80	48	16 / 13
Spurs A	418 / 498	84	50	6 / 1
West Ham A	339 / 410	83	41	17 / 8
Man Utd A	327 / 446	73	40	1 / 0
Everton H	416 / 516	81	42	18 / 9
Man City A	390 / 468	83	42	7 / 2
Sheff Utd A	445 / 534	83	55	11 / 7
Leicester A	372 / 454	82	48	13 / 4

 
Won - 4 | Drew - 1 | Lost - 7 | Scored - 15 |Conceded - 27 | Average PC% - 78 | Average Possession % - 46|

Evolving Tactics:

 

Opponent	Passes Completed / Attempted	Pass Completion Rate %	Possession %	Shots / On Target
Sunderland H (FA Cup)	594 / 695	90	63	20 / 7
Norwich H	468 / 543	86	47	8 / 5
Wolves H	554 / 614	90	58	20 / 12
Burnley H	895 / 695	93	61	8 / 3
Newcastle H	583 / 645	90	54	11 / 2
Saints H	439 / 502	87	38	13 / 5
Arsenal H	423 / 510	83	40	12 / 9

Won - 3 | Drew - 1 | Lost - 3 | Scored - 6 | Conceded - 9 | Average PC % - 88 | Average Possession % - 51

As you can see I was timid in my approach to using my Evolving tactic. I only used it at home and it was few and far between in doing so. But I feel I still don't have the right players to achieve what I want from it on a consistent basis. My approach to tough away games against the big boys is clearly all wrong too. My average PC % and possession is up and we attempt a lot more passes, so in theory, what we are looking to achieve has some basis to it, it's taking that forward with better players. I feel in general my counter style worked well and the stats are slightly skewed by consistently losing by big margins against the big boys. I also need to work out  better which tactics is better equipped against which opponent. 

And this how the table looked after those results:

Season Review:

The Table:

I don't really know how to sum up the season other than it was typically 'Palace'. We were 5th on the list for most goals conceded in the league, yet Guita kept 13 clean sheets, joint 7th in the league. Only 7 teams scored less than us, 3 of them by just a single goal and of those 7, 3 were relegated. 

What we seemed to do well was not go on a monstrous run of bad form. We never went 4 games without picking up at least a point, which can happen all too easily in the Premier League. We had the ability to grind out a couple of wins when we needed them most and we also had the ability to pull a fantastic result out of nowhere (Spurs H, Chelsea H, Arsenal H). 

The Board:

We finished in the top half, 3 years ahead of schedule which pleased the board immensely. The board also agreed to spend money on improve youth facilities and structure which is great news for my long term plans at the club. They never once put pressure on me during the season and we seem to be in a fairly healthy financial situation, although our wages are very high in some areas of the squad. They scored me at C+ for the season. The lack of cup runs played a part in bringing it down from a B.

The Squad:

Here are the end of season rewards - 

I think it explains a lot when your eccentric CB part of a defence that conceded 61 goals picks up player of the season. Max Meyer had the highest AR, but only started 23 games. Maybe putting more faith in him next season will produce results. 

The majority of the squad were average. The back 4  and GK stayed fairly consistent, with Milivojevic sitting in front of them. The CM pairings were never really fully settled and despite the front 3 mainly being that in the picture, they never really produced. In fact Ayew's best run of goals came at the end of the season where i tried him out on the RW as a RMD and Benteke as TM through the middle. 

Future Plans:

As I've stressed previously, the aim is to gradually move Palace from a defensive side to one that can get on the ball more. I think we've seen in our stats using the Evolving tactic that we are trying to do that, but I know I need more competent players in order to carry it out on a more regular basis next season. I don't want to rip the squad apart and bring loads of new faces in, it's just no my style.

My Planned outgoings at the moment:

Wayne Hennessey - On £40k a week, was injured for pretty much the whole season. May be hard to offload. 
Martin Kelly - Same as Hennesssey, on a big wage and has been out all season with injuries.
Scott Dann - Already agreed a free transfer move to Turkey. Will be good to get his wages off the books.
James McCarthy - Didn't really get a look in. Have too many of his type in midfield already and on a good wage. 

If bids came in:

Patrick Van Aanholt - The attacking Left Back is caught out defensively so many times and despite trying to train his positioning, he's constantly a defensive liability. I won't actively try to sell him, but a few Chinese clubs came sniffing during the season. If they come back, I'll take the money for the 29 year old.
Wilfried Zaha - Shocked? Well I genuinely hope the likes of Arsenal or Spurs who have been interested previously come in for the Winger. Doesn't matter what role, what position, I just cannot get a good performance out of Zaha. Not only that, but he flirts with the 6.2 rating a hell of a lot too. His influence in the dressing room is too strong for me to actively seek another club for him, but I will certainly entertain offers for him should clubs be interested. If no one comes in for him, I think i'm going to try him consistently as a RW next season and just try and simplify his game.

As for incomings, I'm looking for the following areas:

A playmaker in midfield -  Cabaye had an average rating of 7.02 in his loan spell in 10 games, but it was cut short due to injury. A younger version of Yohan would be perfect.
Winger / Inside Forward - We need some more flair and composure out wide. Someone who can create but also chip in with goals, more than the 7 that Zaha and Townsend managed between them.
Striker - To implement my evolving tactic better, I want a more natural DLF. 

I will still look to introduce young players in the squad too. Perrick, Russell, Kirby, Dreher all got a number of competitive games under their belt this season and i'll continue to give them time to prove themselves.

More importantly, as i'm aware this is now becoming more of a career post than a tactical discussion, let's have a look at the tactics heading in to next season (Roles may change based on who I can bring in, but i'm sticking with the 4-1-4-1):

                                         Counter / Defensive                                                                                                            Evolving

 

Again, any tips around how I can improve these formations for their preferred outcomes is much appreciated. I aim to create a third tactic that's a flat 4-1-4-1 to try and deal better against the big boys, especially away from home. All in all I want the tactics to enable us to score more and concede less. Simple ay...?

Thanks to those who endured reading through all of this.

Edited July 13, 2020 by smplfc123

[beverage1982]

Nothing particularly to add tactic wise but just wanted to say how much I', enjoying this thread! 

[smplfc123]

Thanks @beverage1982 much appreciated.

[smplfc123]

SUMMER 2020 TRANSFER WINDOW - CONTINUING TO DEVELOP THE PLAYING STYLE

So for those of you that have painfully followed this thread from the start, you'll know that i'm trying to gradually change the style of play at Palace from a defensive-first mindset, to one that is more comfortable on the ball.

A big part of being able to do this would be the transfer window. Wanting to keep the save as realistic as possible, I started with transfers off and my only piece of business in January was the loan signing of former favourite Yohan Cabaye. 

Firstly, it was time to start phasing out some of the older heads and those that didn't suit the style we were looking to change to:

Jeffrey Schlupp - £4m - PAOK
James McCarthy - £3.7M - Sheff Wednesday
Martin Kelly - £2.8m - Huddersfield
Scott Dann - Free - Trabzonspor
Wayne Hennessey - Loan - Middlesbrough

Now between them, this freed up about £200k  p/w extra in the wage budget as well as adding to the transfer funds. I accepted a £35m offer from Arsenal for Zaha, but he couldn't agree person terms with the Gunners.

I felt that to enhance my evolving tactic, I needed players who were comfortable on the ball, possessed decent mental attributes as well as passing, first touch, dribbling etc. I'm also aware that as a low reputation manager of a team like Palace, the likes of Messi and De Bruyne weren't going to jump at the chance to play with James McArthur and Christian Benteke, so again I tried to remain realistic in who I approached.

First through the door was the natural DLF I've been looking for to help us link up the midfield and attack:

Scoring 15 in 35 games for Montpellier last season, the Frenchmen set us back £7.25m. An almost younger and shorter version of Giroud, Laborde possesses some great physical stats, but more importantly, should be able to bring the midfield in to play a lot better than Benteke or Ayew could. 

Up next, I needed some quality out wide. This man was my main target in January, but they kept pricing us out of move. Welcome to Selhurst Park:

 

Thankfully Brentford weren't able to gain promotion, meaning I was able to pick the Algerian up for £14m. Albeit in a lower league, his average rating of 7.07 over 42 games, with 14 goal contributions is something I'm hoping he can bring in to our stuttering attack. Able to play on both wings, he gives us some flexibility out wide and i'm hoping, he will be a hit. 

Finally, whilst searching for more creativity in CM, I was really struggling to find the player I wanted that would be available at a decent price. My scouts then alerted me to a player that had just been transfer listed. Naturally a wide playmaker or an inverted winger cutting in from the left, I felt I would be able to retrain this following signing in to my creative force in the middle of the park:

At just £10.25m, I'm really hoping this lad could be a steal. I've already started training him to be a Mez(a) with the hope he can function properly in there. He also possesses better set piece skills than anyone at the club which will hopefully help boost our goal tally.

And that's how i'm leaving it. Unless anyone leaves, or there's a serious injury before the window shuts, there'll be no more coming in. We still have £27m and £200k p/w available in the respective budgets, but i'm not tempted to buy for the sake of it. In fact, i'm saving it for January/next summer as we have a number of first team players out of contract in 2021, some of which I'll probably look to move on. The players who only have 1 year left are:

Patrick Van Aanholt, Vincente Guita, Gary Cahill, James McArthur, Christian Benteke, Joel Ward, Andros Townsend, Mamadou Sakho and Max Meyer.  

Whilst i'm sure I'll agree extensions for some of them, that's £680k p/w worth of wages due to leave next season, some of which don't fit in to our policy, so the greatest step towards completing our evolving style could well be next summer.

Here's how I'm lining up tactically for this season:                                      

Counter / Defensive                                                                                                        

 

Evolving (Controlling /  Attacking)

My main question on these I suppose is with my switch to incorporating more pressing to gain/regain controlling in my evolving tactic, do you think a BWM/MEZ partnership is likely to bring rewards?

And does the use of CM(A) to be more direct with his runs in behind make more sense than a MEZ in the counter tactics?

 

Again any help is much appreciated. 

Edited July 14, 2020 by smplfc123

[Experienced Defender]

I like how you manage in the transfer market 

[smplfc123]

REVIVING THE CHALLENGE

So with ideas running out on who to go on FM20, I turned to the unpredictable 'start unemployed' option. 

After months of simulation, I was offered the chance to help Crystal Palace escape relegation with just 10 games to go. Sitting in 16th spot when I took over, I managed to keep the Eagles up, but it was more down to there being 3 teams below us that were just truly awful. We finished on a mere 33 points, 1 point above Sheff Utd and Watford in 18th and 19th spot respectively. 

However, I felt this would be the perfect time to restart this thread. Yes it's a different Palace save to the one I started this thread with, but the idea still stands. I've inherited an ageing squad, some of which are on ridiculous basic wage packets, with us being the highest in terms of wages to turnover ratio.

The aim is to slowly move Palace away from the pragmatic style that has kept them afloat for many years under the likes of Allardyce, Pulis and Hodgson. I still want to keep a solid defence, I'm not wanting to turn us in to a team that's complete reckless in their search for goals, but one that does offer a bit more of a constant threat and one that is more comfortable in possession than it has been in the past. 

Here's a look at my starting tactics for the upcoming season:

Progressive:

Counter:

 

I'm going to make my transfer dealings based around these tactics. There was no movement in or out of the squad in January before I joined, so I have the full starting squad to play with. Again if you see any obvious mistakes in my set up, please let me know, as I'm far from a tactical genius on this game.

Hope you enjoy the ride!

Edited November 6, 2020 by smplfc123