My possesion based variation on Rashidis Bielsa tactic.

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

Hey all, I say my variation on Bielsa because I took Rashidis(Sorry I can't at him as I don't know how) Bielsa tactic and ran with it. I am playing a save called the "Galician way" which incorporates the ethos of Athletic Bilbao and uses it in Galicia specifically with Celta Vigo. Even though the sample I am posting here is relatively small(I lost my last full season and a half save)I have tested this tactic with numerous teams on numerous saves and the average end of season possession percentage is anywhere from 58% to 62%. 

On to the tactic, this is it.

 

It's a straight forward 4141 wide. I have tried to keep it as simple as possible without any overkill. I am a firm believer in  using Balanced mentality for possession  based tactics for my teams but I will tune that up to attacking if teams are sitting back and we require more creativity and width. The only other instruction of note is get stuck in which I carried over from Rashidis tactic and although some people find it anathema I believe if you have the right players for this it is a powerful weapon for turnovers and counters. As you can see my tackle won ratio and fouls made show that this isn't a problematic instruction for us and the only red we have had was a two footer from our full back.

      

 

The DNA I require of my players is straightforward and important to how we play. Some different attributes are important for certain positions so this is not an absolute list but my scouting filters for young players are all set up with these being the primary attributes required.

 

The roles

The F9: is primarily a creator and often the most creative player with somewhat of an ability to finish will be trained to play this role. Currently two of my most creative midfielders are starting in the f9 role and chipping in nicely with goals but of course I am looking for them to link up play, set up goals and open space for others to score. I like them to have creativity, passing, dribbling but also teamwork and decision making, pretty much the attributes required by FM for a F9. MY F9 is setup to mark the best BPD of the opposition.

IF's : The primary goalscorers of the side and set up to move inside on to their stronger foot. I want them to be adept at dribbling but I like them to have pace and goal scoring attributes are obviously important. It helps if I have somebody with good heading and bravery because a lot of the chances coming from my team are from wide positions. The only changes on instructions are defensive and they are both setup to man mark the oppo fullbacks. The one other thing is I might set individual dribbling instructions to rarely if I have a player dribbling in to the centre areas of the pitch and turning it over too often.

 

The middle three have no individual instructions, I obviously have an intelligent, hard working and  technically gifted player in the RPM role but he is not the primary creator here, he and the other two players in the middle will recycle the ball in the centre and either play a through ball if the opportunity presents itself or if we have overloaded one side switch it to the primary creators out wide to make something happen.

The Carrilero is a great role here and I like him to be able to pass the ball in tight situations as well as cover the wide areas defensively if we turn it over. The one other thing I really like him to have is to be good at long shots as he is going to find himself wide open near the edge of the box quite often, indeed Frank Kessie ended up top scorer in Serie A in my Milan save(Albeit he was our penalty taker) on the back of a lot of powerful long shots that were unstoppable. If you can get a powerful, hard working technically proficient CAR he is gold in a formation like mine. 

You can see below just what I mean about the Carilero and his perchance for long shots. Here the F9 spots Beltran who is loitering in support on the edge of the area and recycles possession to him.

Beltran however spots the clear as day seam in what is a packed box and hits it first time toopen the scoring against a stubborn Alaves side.

 

The Halfback is a key player in my system, my CB's split when we have possession and he drops in to the gap they vacate so again I like him to be a big guy who is very defensively proficient but he also can't be a panic merchant with the ball and because he is going to also have to switch play often he needs a good range of passing. He is very much an unsung hero but a large part of why my system is so defensively solid. You can see exactly how wide my CB's get on occasion and Okay Yukuslu doesn't really have a great deal of pace but he is very intelligent defensively and with his positioning especially.

 

The BPDs:  In any system I use the primary attributes I look for on Centre backs are always positioning, anticipation and concentration. After that because I am using BPD I want them to be composed and to be some what technically proficient passing wise. The most important element for me though is to be able to anticipate danger and to be well positioned to intercept that danger. Maldini said that if he had to make a tackle he had already made a mistake and that is my thinking when I look for my HB and two CBs. They don't need to be ridiculously fast(average is fine for me) because if they are very aware and well positioned then they are going to be able to keep it tight at the back. Both are instructed to stay wider.

  

The CWBs: The most important role in my system, I would say they are the primary creators in my team even though their assist numbers don't always reflect that. If you get the right CWB you have someone who knows when to shoot, when to take his man on and when to get that early cross in that catches the oppo defence out. Obviously they will need a heck of an engine on them and being pacey helps too but mentals tend to be preferable to me above physicals again. You can see that my two have been vital to how we have done so far in this campaign. 

 

 

The SKA: I love the Sweeper keeper and although for the most he plays it safe due to my instructions he does quite often spot one of our players advanced and wide open and will launch a longer ball to try and start a counter. I want my keeper to have good reflexes, agility, command of the area, anticipation and be good in one on ones. There are no added instructions for the keeper.

The vast majority of chances we give up are over the top (as would be expected with such a high-line) or from turnovers in midfield or defence but these are risks I have to take to make my system work and with more team cohesion will come less bad passes from defenders that give the opposition CCCs. I have offset some of the risk by making my pitch 100m by 64m and therefore making my pitch more possession orientated and it also restricts space for pacey strikers to exploit behind the defenders. If I am playing away and up against someone who breaks our trap repeatedly with pace I will drop my lines by one notch. It must be noted that this tactic has been very defensively solid but in my latest Celta Vigo save I am starting with the original squad that I have inherited and certainly they haven't fully gelled as yet.

 

If I am chasing a goal or struggling to break down teams(rare since I started using this) I switch to my alternative attacking version which has no changes to player instructions.

 

 

When teams decide to go all out attack against us I switch to this variation with the only change to player instructions being to remove the "stay wider" on centre backs. I rarely concede late, even against very good teams. 

 

The results so far have been very good and as I have said I have tested this with differing teams and had a lot of success. The things that have stood out for me is that I rarely struggle to dominate possession and defensively it's been very solid. I use it for my B team(Who I have named Celestes Galicia) and U19 teams and all are certainly performing above expectations. 

First team:

 

B team:

U19 team:

 

You can see here the benefits I have had setting up my pitch to suit the system and players in our home record, especially the goals against at home.

 

The main benefits to splitting the CBs and asking them to stay wider in possession is that it creates nice passing options but more importantly is that it invites teams to try and trap us on one side of the pitch which they frequently try to do. The benefit of this is the vast space we frequently see on the opposite side of the pitch with two very fast technically proficient widemen lurking and waiting in a 2 vs 2  or 2 vs 1 situation waiting for either of the midfielders in the centre to switch the ball over to them.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Crazy_Ivan

[crusadertsar 966]

Great write up mate! Good to see people are still passionate with this game at this point in its lifecycle.

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

18 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Great write up mate! Good to see people are still passionate with this game at this point in its lifecycle.

I have immersed myself too much in this save.    Btw I use your training schedules exclusively from I believe your Sociedad save and they are top notch.

[crusadertsar 966]

11 minutes ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

I have immersed myself too much in this save.    Btw I use your training schedules exclusively from I believe your Sociedad save and they are top notch.

Thanks! I'm glad they work. I made a little change to it to include some more teamwork sessions, especially before big games.

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

5 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Thanks! I'm glad they work. I made a little change to it to include some more teamwork sessions, especially before big games.

Rashidi frequently tells people that they aren't making enough use of match preparation sessions just prior to matches so the day before a match I set up almost exclusive match preparation sessions. It might just be a placebo for me but I do think it has made a difference. 

Edited August 19, 2020 by Crazy_Ivan

[Rashidi 2,828]

44 minutes ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

It might just be a placebo for me but I do think it has made a difference. 

Placebo? I live by it :-) Nice adaptation btw 

[crusadertsar 966]

53 minutes ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

Rashidi frequently tells people that they aren't making enough use of match preparation sessions just prior to matches so the day before a match I set up almost exclusive match preparation sessions. It might just be a placebo for me but I do think it has made a difference. 

No it definitely makes a difference. Especially in total football style systems.

[XuluBak 788]

Potentially stupid question, but what makes this a "Bielsa tactic?" I ask because I associate him with 3313, which I'm trying to implement in my Frosinone save (the formation, not so much his approach to it). Is this more reflective of what he's done with Leeds?  

1 hour ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

Rashidi frequently tells people that they aren't making enough use of match preparation sessions just prior to matches so the day before a match I set up almost exclusive match preparation sessions. It might just be a placebo for me but I do think it has made a difference. 

That's pretty much always been my approach. I don't really know what training "should" look like, so I just kinda go with what seems intuitive to me. I view the day before, and sometimes the day after, as "walk through" sessions. 

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

2 minutes ago, XuluBak said:

Potentially stupid question, but what makes this a "Bielsa tactic?" I ask because I associate him with 3313, which I'm trying to implement in my Frosinone save (the formation, not so much his approach to it). Is this more reflective of what he's done with Leeds?  

That's pretty much always been my approach. I don't really know what training "should" look like, so I just kinda go with what seems intuitive to me. I view the day before, and sometimes the day after, as "walk through" sessions. 

It actually isn't a Bielsa tactic it's a variation on Rashidis Bielsa tactic. So I am using some of the exact same principles from that tactic but changing things up to make it more possession orientated. 

 

[yonko 548]

12 hours ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

I have immersed myself too much in this save.    Btw I use your training schedules exclusively from I believe your Sociedad save and they are top notch.

 

12 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Thanks! I'm glad they work. I made a little change to it to include some more teamwork sessions, especially before big games.

 

12 hours ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

Rashidi frequently tells people that they aren't making enough use of match preparation sessions just prior to matches so the day before a match I set up almost exclusive match preparation sessions. It might just be a placebo for me but I do think it has made a difference. 

 

11 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

No it definitely makes a difference. Especially in total football style systems.

Teamwork Match Prep before game is a must in possession style tactics. Especially in first half of each season to help build team chemistry and cohesiveness. Not to mention it helps with pressing and develops teamwork attribute. After a while your team becomes so comfortable playing the style that is unfair to opponents. Especially if don't make crazy amount of transfers each window to disrupt the bonding process. 

@Crazy_Ivan

If you feeling adventurous, try moving your CWBs to WB positions. It helps with possession as on the ball provides better passing angles and support, while without the ball the WB positions close down better than the FB positions. However if you do move them there, I would suggest using Support duty with Overlap (it won't affect the mentality of IF-A). 

It's crazy how you can dominate games with 2323 shape. 

[MRAFTCT 6]

Great read! I think i will use this as inspiration for my own game. I am really struggling with total football tactics in FM20, especially conceding goals from crosses. Does defending wide help with this?

Also, i do struggle to get the best from a false 9, do you think a Pressing Forward or CF could work?

Thanks!

[tsatsee 11]

17 hours ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

I have immersed myself too much in this save.    Btw I use your training schedules exclusively from I believe your Sociedad save and they are top notch.

Where can I find this training schedule?

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

4 minutes ago, tsatsee said:

Where can I find this training schedule?

https://ufile.io/nwsdur3f

https://ufile.io/egmoe26z

https://ufile.io/kg0pcnbr

 

No match, one match and two match

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

42 minutes ago, MRAFTCT said:

Great read! I think i will use this as inspiration for my own game. I am really struggling with total football tactics in FM20, especially conceding goals from crosses. Does defending wide help with this?

Also, i do struggle to get the best from a false 9, do you think a Pressing Forward or CF could work?

Thanks!

It does help yes. Quite a lot of tactical problems result from not having the right players with the right attributes I find, so no doubt someone will tell me this tactic is awful and doesn't work for them, and certainly I have seen some of the best FM minds get told their tactics are rubbish but I find this is because a lot of people are putting literally zero thought in to the attributes their players have and a big one is the traits their players have. 

I haven't tried this with a forward that isn't a F9 but potentially it could very well work. The one issue is that both the RPM and the CAR can start from kickoffs really deep and if you have someone in the attacking role that isn't deep enough to help link up you are going to have a big disconnect between midfield and attack. If you find the right F9 and get him to learn the traits Comes deep to get ball, Tries Killer Balls often and Plays One Twos you should find an improvement. With a F9 don't discount the ability to dribble and especially their Agility as they have to turn on a dime and make smart passes. The main thing is that my F9 is there to link up play, he will chip in with 14-18 goals a season if he has a good one but he is not by any means the star of the team.

[MRAFTCT 6]

20 minutes ago, Crazy_Ivan said:

It does help yes. Quite a lot of tactical problems result from not having the right players with the right attributes I find, so no doubt someone will tell me this tactic is awful and doesn't work for them, and certainly I have seen some of the best FM minds get told their tactics are rubbish but I find this is because a lot of people are putting literally zero thought in to the attributes their players have and a big one is the traits their players have. 

I haven't tried this with a forward that isn't a F9 but potentially it could very well work. The one issue is that both the RPM and the CAR can start from kickoffs really deep and if you have someone in the attacking role that isn't deep enough to help link up you are going to have a big disconnect between midfield and attack. If you find the right F9 and get him to learn the traits Comes deep to get ball, Tries Killer Balls often and Plays One Twos you should find an improvement. With a F9 don't discount the ability to dribble and especially their Agility as they have to turn on a dime and make smart passes. The main thing is that my F9 is there to link up play, he will chip in with 14-18 goals a season if he has a good one but he is not by any means the star of the team.

Thanks for the reply, its definitely food for thought! 

I have just started a Rangers save and Morelos doesn't fit the F9 mould i dont think, so i will test it with CFsup. Once I sell him (which i inevitably will have to) i think i will look for a F9 player.

Cheers!

[MRAFTCT 6]

Just for information, really enjoyed using this tactic @Crazy_Ivan as my inspiration. My AMR is at 20 goals in February and the back 3 of the 2 BPDs and the HB is fantastic! 👏. Went 14 league games without conceding. 

[Razor940 63]

How does the RPM work with the carrilero? Im going to be honest, I started to love CAR once Rashidi talked me into trying him, but I'm still very doubtfull of the role partnering. Mezzala is cool but assists rarely, and I find the Mezzala on support completely minus 1 on the pitch.

[Experienced Defender 1,871]

27 minutes ago, Razor940 said:

How does the RPM work with the carrilero? Im going to be honest, I started to love CAR once Rashidi talked me into trying him, but I'm still very doubtfull of the role partnering

Rashidi himself used a combo of RPM and carrilero in his Hannover 442 system with a lot of success.

[Crazy_Ivan 1,678]

12 hours ago, Razor940 said:

How does the RPM work with the carrilero? Im going to be honest, I started to love CAR once Rashidi talked me into trying him, but I'm still very doubtfull of the role partnering. Mezzala is cool but assists rarely, and I find the Mezzala on support completely minus 1 on the pitch.

Its the least of my worries tbh. They do sometimes play a little bit too close to each other but I would put issues with the Carillero and Roaming Play Maker partnership as the least of my problems.

[kalokalitokalo 17]

Another one that used this thread as inspiration to make my own possesion system. Thanks to you I'm enjoying the FM like old times!!

 

[mastamash 11]

very nice work! i'm a fan! did you try your tactic in FM21?