Ole Gunnar Solskjaer tactic

[Ferdy5]

Hi All, 

 

I've been a long time forum follower but never signed up or posted before. 

 

I am a huge Man Utd fan and recently I've been very impressed at the way that Solskjaer has seemed to turn things around at the club. 

 

I've always been a huge fan of trying to recreate the way Utd played under Ferguson and I think that Solskjaer applies alot of the same principles (No im not comparing Solskjaer to the greatest manager of all time!). 

 

In the main, they try to play the game on the front foot but when they are out of possession they want the team to counter attack with pace once they win it back. They like width from their sides and the play tends to be focused down the flanks. 

 

Now this is where I need help from those that are wiser than me. Below is a screenshot of my formation along with the individual instructions of my normal front 4 (I've also included a 5th for a winger on RW as I think that's how the side will develop with Greenwood playing more through the middle eventually). 

 

Ideally I would like to get more goals from Rashford from the AML position along with creating more chances. 

 

Any advice or tweaks that people would have in relation to improving this would be greatly appreciated? 

 

Or if anyone has any input suggestions on how to make this tactic more like current Utd tactic, it would be greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks

 

Tactic

https://imgur.com/ljr2Q95

Martial

https://imgur.com/qAmu2Pw

Rashford

https://imgur.com/S01IYz6

Bruno

https://imgur.com/qBtwxvl

Greenwood

https://imgur.com/VzIPefS

Right winger (Diallo?)

https://imgur.com/7edAPYO

 

PS - if someone could also tell me how to get the images to show up, it would be great help

 

 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Ferdy5

[Experienced Defender]

28 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

Any advice or tweaks that people would have in relation to improving this would be greatly appreciated?

The lone striker as an AF - makes sense 

Bruno as a TQ behind the striker - absolutely 

All the front 4 on attack duties - no way  (no real-life team plays like that, and Utd is no exception)

Both CMs in the DLP role - nope  (Utd prefer playing with fast transitions, why would they want to use 2 roles that tend to slow the play down, especially in such a close proximity)

Both wide players on the left flank on attack duties - again no  (United tactical style is very solid and disciplined defensively)

Much higher lines of defense and engagement - highly unlikely  (Utd are defending very sensibly and actually looking to draw the opposition onto themselves so as to take advantage of their fast forwards on the counter, rather than pressing like mad all the time and across the entire pitch)

One last impression - you are using way too many needless team instructions. Believe me, there is absolutely no need for that. Once you set up roles and duties correctly and properly, you need just a couple/few basic instructions to more closely define your intended tactical style. But the setup of roles and duties is key.

[Ferdy5]

45 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

The lone striker as an AF - makes sense 

Bruno as a TQ behind the striker - absolutely 

All the front 4 on attack duties - no way  (no real-life team plays like that, and Utd is no exception)

Both CMs in the DLP role - nope  (Utd prefer playing with fast transitions, why would they want to use 2 roles that tend to slow the play down, especially in such a close proximity)

Both wide players on the left flank on attack duties - again no  (United tactical style is very solid and disciplined defensively)

Much higher lines of defense and engagement - highly unlikely  (Utd are defending very sensibly and actually looking to draw the opposition onto themselves so as to take advantage of their fast forwards on the counter, rather than pressing like mad all the time and across the entire pitch)

One last impression - you are using way too many needless team instructions. Believe me, there is absolutely no need for that. Once you set up roles and duties correctly and properly, you need just a couple/few basic instructions to more closely define your intended tactical style. But the setup of roles and duties is key.

Great, I really appreciate the feedback on this.

 

What I'm initially thinking is:

 

1. Switching my left full to a support duty

2. Switching my DLP (S) to a B2B midfielder but also getting my DLP (D) to start making risker passes so the ball is moved quicker

3. AMR will also go to a support duty (Greenwood as IF and others as Wingers (S))

4. Take the LOE and defensive line back a notch or 2

5. Drop work the ball into the box, be more expressive, play ball out of defence from my team instructions 

Few additional items that if anyone had any advice on:

Contemplating switching Martial to an CF (S) to reduce attacking roles, what are your thoughts on this?

Want to get Rashford into positions to score more often, should I be setting him up to sit narrow to get him closer to the goal?

 

Thanks!

 

[Experienced Defender]

19 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

What I'm initially thinking is:

 

1. Switching my left full to a support duty

Good idea - WB on support paired with an attacking IF and with a holding playmaker (DLP) covering the flank provides very good tactical balance  

 

20 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

2. Switching my DLP (S) to a B2B midfielder but also getting my DLP (D) to start making risker passes so the ball is moved quicker

No. If you switch the left DLP to a BBM, you won't have any defensive cover for the attack-minded fullback (WB support) on that flank. The DLP on support should therefore remain where he is (see my previous remark). 

Instead, I would rather change your other DLP into another holding CM role, but not a playmaker (either CM on defend or BWM on defend). The presence of 2 holding CMs would allow both fullbacks to bomb forward without much risk, which is exactly what Utd fullbacks do most of the time (apart from occasional in-match tweaks OGS makes, like any other manager btw). 

26 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

AMR will also go to a support duty (Greenwood as IF and others as Wingers (S))

You mean "others" who would occasionally play in AMR instead of Greenwood or on the other flank (AML)? 

 

29 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

Take the LOE and defensive line back a notch or 2

I personally would take the D-line back 1 notch, the LOE 2 notches and would then apply the split block involving the front 4. 

 

30 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

Drop work the ball into the box, be more expressive, play ball out of defence from my team instructions 

Basically, if I were to try and replicate how Utd currently play under OGS, I would start with just the following in-possession TIs: Positive mentality (already there), Play out of defence (already there), and Run at defence (not currently part of your tactic). Everything else would be just occasional in-match tweaks based on what you observe watching a particular match. After all, real-life managers regularly make small subtle tweaks to their tactics, so why would replication attempts be an exception  

On the other hand, your in-transition TIs are very much spot on IMHO  

36 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

Contemplating switching Martial to an CF (S) to reduce attacking roles, what are your thoughts on this?

From the perspective of replicating the current Utd/OGS style, I think the attack duty makes a lot more sense for the lone striker than support. So even if you switch the AF to CF, I would advise you to keep him on the attack duty. But given the TQ behind, I would still prefer a simple striker role (as opposed to the highly roaming and creative CF). 

[Ferdy5]

10 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

I personally would take the D-line back 1 notch, the LOE 2 notches and would then apply the split block involving the front 4. 

How do I set that up? Probably something simple and I'm just missing it

[Experienced Defender]

30 minutes ago, Ferdy5 said:

How do I set that up? Probably something simple and I'm just missing it

I guess you are asking about the split block, i.e. what does it mean. Pretty simple - the split block is when you leave the team pressing urgency on default (medium) and then use player instructions to tell your 3-5 most advanced players to close down more. Thus you are encouraging the team to be a bit more aggressive when closing down higher up the pitch but without needlessly compromising your overall defensive shape. Basically, the forwards (and sometimes 1 or 2 more attack-minded midfielders) close down more, while defenders and defensive-minded midfielders keep their shape. 

[Ferdy5]

On 02/01/2021 at 11:47, Experienced Defender said:

I guess you are asking about the split block, i.e. what does it mean. Pretty simple - the split block is when you leave the team pressing urgency on default (medium) and then use player instructions to tell your 3-5 most advanced players to close down more. Thus you are encouraging the team to be a bit more aggressive when closing down higher up the pitch but without needlessly compromising your overall defensive shape. Basically, the forwards (and sometimes 1 or 2 more attack-minded midfielders) close down more, while defenders and defensive-minded midfielders keep their shape. 

Have tweaked this and am now nearly finished my 1st full season. Its working really well, very pleasing to see how it works. 

 

Will likely win the league by 15+ points, won the league Cup, in FA Cup final and still have the semi final of Champions League to play.

 

Trophies are obviously great but I'm more enjoying how the tactic plays. The pace of the team on the counter attack is a joy to watch. Between Bruno, Rashford and Martial theyve got over 70+ goals.

 

I'll post the final version of the tactic later that has been working so well.