The FM 2021 AMC thread

[Johnny Ace]

Just a general thread really for discussions on the AMC. There was one from last year which was an interesting & useful read but I didn't want to bump that one with the game now being FM21

The number 10's not dead, Bruno Fernandes only trails Mo Salah in the goal scoring charts in the PL (inflated with pens but so is Mo) . Thomas Muller has 10 goals & 9 assists in 20 BL games. Davy Klassen is getting great returns for Ajax this season playing behind the striker.  An unfit, low morale Dele Alli put on a masterclass just a few days ago against Wolsberg in the CL who currently sit third in the BL so are no pushovers

I find it the one of the most exciting & useful positions on the pitch, there are so many roles & PIs here to tinker with & hone your number 10. Not only that, there's the other positions within the your tactic that link with your AMC depending on what you want him to do. Then off course, fitting them into your desired playstyle & formation 

There are dozens of threads on here & Reddit & wherever else from over the years from frustrated players getting subpar performance from their midfield maestro. At times I've been frustrated myself but they will be doing "something" even if they're not wracking the numbers. They're an extra body in zone 14 to occupy the opposition in attack & press from the front when out of possession that allows your other players to flourish. Over the years in FM I've had DMC's that earned sub 6.70 average ratings but whenever I watched them, they would be doing the key things I asked of them & getting the job done

I've read the countless threads & articles kicking about for getting the best from them. Giving them space on the pitch & giving them options are the key bits of info, then of course you have to consider the opposition. The AMC will have a more difficult time playing if they line up with a DM or double DM system. Even in a flat midfield, one of the CMs will drop off & defend in front of the backline. He'll have less time on the ball due to being under pressure & team mates will have a harder time finding him. This isn't a knock the ME thread but I do feel the position lacks at finding space for himself at times  

The easy part, is your own system, if you want your AMC to perform in zone 14, you don't want to cram it with your own players. Wide & deep & from upfront are the main areas to consider. Not only will the area be cramped with your own players it will attract the opposition players too this stifling any precious space

My favourite formation is the 4-2-3-1, very offensive in it's line-up, ideal for attacking & heavy pressing football. In FM 20 I put together a 4-2-3-1 which I ran for every minute of every game for 20 years, the goal wasn't to get the AMC being the main man but the position did score some of the best FM goals I've seen. For the past couple of weeks I've been testing out tactics, teams, players, it's probably seen as a sad way to play the game but I enjoy it a hell of a lot

Normally when I put together a tactic, I'll use some of the same "rules" & instructions. For an offensive tactic, I'll use Positive or Attacking, shorten the passing & increasing the pressing. Just lately I've added Get Stuck In to add some aggression. If I use a 4-2-3-1 DM I won't shorten the passing. I'll always use counter, AMC's are extremely potent on the counter & higher mentalities encourages them  

Maximum of one in-cutting wideman, double wingers, isn't for me but double incoming roles can hinder

If I'm going shorter with the passing, I'll use a playmaker, not necessarily the AMC  

The striker & AMC role will vary with what I have player wise. You can't just have any old Joe in the slot, his attributes & PPM's must cover exactly what you want from him. You can't expect defence spitting passes from a player with low Vision, Anticipation & Decisions. He won't be any good at taking on players with low Dribbling, Balance & Technique. If you want him in the box finishing off chances he must have stand out attributes in Finishing, Composure & First Touch  

The 6 & the 8 is one of the toughest areas to nail. They can't be too offensive, the players PPM & attributes have to be considering. I don't want BBM's or Advanced Playmakers here, I don't want to be seeing the "Gets into the opposition area" or "Runs on the ball often" here. Attribute wise, I don't want snowflakes here but I do want at least some support from central & deep 

The full backs can't be overly risky, I feel safer picking fullbacks here but will use a wingback on the side of the defensive CM if the the flank player cuts in that side

The 'keeper & the CB's are the easy part

I plan on moving away from the 4-2-3-1/ 4-2-3-1 DM to play with other formations, mainly formations without duel flank roles

So, what are your favourite AMC systems? What key attributes & PPMs do you like them to have? What are your experiences using an AMC? Does he do you want? Have you had any out of this World AMC newgens? Just anything AMC really

Time permitting, I'll add snipets of findings here & ramble on some more  

 

[Obaaa]

Nice thread. I have Almiron at Newcastle and I actually use the position (and the player) to be more of a threat when we do not have the ball, using his work rate to prevent playmakers getting on the ball and then the transition opportunities this generates.

Also, just to note Dele Alli, and Spurs, didn't play against the German Wolfsburg

[Experienced Defender]

Never really had any issues with an AMC (apart from an occasional underperformance in a particular match, but that happens to any player in any position sometimes).

Possibly because I am not "obsessed" with the AMC position and instead treat it like any other position when creating tactics  

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, Obaaa said:

Nice thread. I have Almiron at Newcastle and I actually use the position (and the player) to be more of a threat when we do not have the ball, using his work rate to prevent playmakers getting on the ball and then the transition opportunities this generates.

Also, just to note Dele Alli, and Spurs, didn't play against the German Wolfsburg

Haha!! Ooops!!! 

Almiron looks like a great AP (S or A), you'd want that guy running on the ball for sure  

[Obaaa]

33 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Haha!! Ooops!!! 

Almiron looks like a great AP (S or A), you'd want that guy running on the ball for sure  

Absolutely. And alongside players like Saint-Maximin and Fraser they have a very good team in attacking transition. I just use Almiron as a AM(A) though, asked to press more.

[Johnny Ace]

Just taken note of this guy at AC Milan, never heard of him, he's had a fantastic season scoring 14. Just watching them in the cup final & they line up like this:

I'm pretty certain he's on an attack duty, he's getting into the box quite a lot & Zlatan is dropping very deep in defence. Risky fullbacks, dual in-cutting flankers, a BBM, it's witchcraft 

I'll have to load up another save to see his PPMs, his attributes aren't mind-blowing, I'd have to scout him on this save 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Johnny Ace

[Johnny Ace]

Just trying out the AMC(A) DLF(S) combo 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by Johnny Ace

[plcarlos]

Dele is doing well for me as an AMC-S\AMC-A, depending on  who's up top out of Kane\Son.. Dele has the get forward trait, so I don't consider it mandatory for him to be on an attack role to get into the box. Allows more options. The other tactical option it can give me is dragging players out of the way for someone else to attack the open space

Kane also does well in this role, and has great attributes for that role, and traits for it. In that role he's playing more as a feeder for another Striker\Wide players cutting in. Pre-update he was feeding Troy  also  for fun in that role (AMC-S, CF-A combo).

[Johnny Ace]

Been mucking around with Muller as a Trequartista. I do wish there was a role like the Treq that didn't press less or a Playmaker that wouldn't shoot less

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Johnny Ace

[Johnny Ace]

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Johnny Ace

[Johnny Ace]

Bit of Mo Salah SS action, combo with F9 Bobby & dual IFs 

 

 

[Johnny Ace]

The Trequartista is an awesome role in the hole 

[BrickCommo23]

19 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

The Trequartista is an awesome role in the hole 

Apologies, I know this is slightly off topic but how do you produce these?

[Johnny Ace]

Just now, BrickCommo23 said:

Apologies, I know this is slightly off topic but how do you produce these?

It's alright, a program called ScreentoGif 

[Flußkrebs]

Been playing a lot with various front lines in different formations looking something like:

ST-ST

  10 

Although it might usually be a no-no having all three of these duties on attack, in the right set up (namely relatively counter attacking and/or possession based systems) it can work wonders just having a front 3 let rip like that.

My favourite combination at the moment is:

DLFa-AFa

       SS

And then depending on the rest of the tactical set up and/or the opposition I will sometimes tell the strikers to stay wider, split strikers. This leaves so much room for the SS to arrive in the box from deep and finish off chances, or get on the ball early and play the pass, or make a run off the DLF who holds the ball up.

This is also very fun:

PFa-AFa

     TQ

And then tangentially I have also had success with the dual 10s, two good examples that can work well are, in a counter attacking system:

PFa/CFa

SS       TQ

And in a heavily possession oriented system, this has worked well:

  CFs

SS APs

As I'm sure you can tell my favourite roles in the AMC slot are SS and TQ. And I think it is worth pointing out that different players in these roles (especially slightly lower than the elite level, where players tend to have more explicit holes in their game) produce vastly different results. Converted poacher or IF who has poor passing in the SS role? Brilliant last minute finisher or long range threat. BBM or CMa type played as a SS? Going to get far more involved in build up and arrive in the box to finish chances secondarily.

[SixPointer]

Had a lot of joy with a poacher and deep lying forward on support with a shadow striker attacking the space left. This season  

Last season in my Atalanta recreation my number ten was the best player by a huge distance. 
 

think the main issue is people look at the position in isolation. They get caught up in a role and most of the time it doesn’t Suit there systems. Or they don’t use the other roles around it correctly. 

Edited March 10, 2021 by SixPointer

[Johnny Ace]

I'll have to try wingerless formations, sound interesting 

[Johnny Ace]

Mr Ozil himself

Quite interesting Fenerbache, could have a good save with these, they've got a right squad, perfect for a 4-2-3-1 

 

[Johnny Ace]

Even though he's on the decline, he put in a good season. I wasn't expecting 9 goals from a role that "looks for a pass rather than taking a shot", very pleased, was a fun season

 

 

[szp]

In most of my saves I'm using SS-CF/s combination in a 4-4-1-1 formation. Shadow Striker is a pretty demanding role, you need to find a real good player, but if you do, it is very enjoyable to watch. My setup looks like this:

GK/D 

FB/S, CD/D, CD/D, FB/S 

WP/s,CM/D,CM/S,IW/A

SS

CF/S

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by szp

[BrickCommo23]

Enjoying this thread and well timed as I have just finished my third season with Arsenal and once again limped into fourth and have been desperately trying to make a 41221 work.

But, it seems like the AMC is stronger in FM21 than it was in FM20 (looking at it from a distance) so I experimented with this at the very end of the season and it looked pretty promising...

Edited March 11, 2021 by BrickCommo23

[Johnny Ace]

9 hours ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Enjoying this thread and well timed as I have just finished my third season with Arsenal and once again limped into fourth and have been desperately trying to make a 41221 work.

But, it seems like the AMC is stronger in FM21 than it was in FM20 (looking at it from a distance) so I experimented with this at the very end of the season and it looked pretty promising...

The Trequartista & AP(A) are my two favorite roles in the AMC & both are working well. I find the AM doesn't have the "ball magnet effect" so the role sees less of the ball but it's the role with the most freedom to customise.  I ran a season with Hibs & used Scott Allan as an AMC(S) with dribble & shoot more & he'd do exactly as I wanted, he's go on runs & score worldies from the edge of the box. 

I'd say just watch with your CF & your Treq, with their freedom of  movement you may find at times both have roamed away from dangerous areas, I like a Treq with an AF/PF or a CF with an AM(A)/SS(A) so only one of them is off roaming 

Edited March 12, 2021 by Johnny Ace

[BrickCommo23]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

The Trequartista & AP(A) are my two favorite roles in the AMC & both are working well. I find the AM doesn't have the "ball magnet effect" so the role sees less of the ball but it's the role with the most freedom to customise.  I ran a season with Hibs & used Scott Allan as an AMC(S) with dribble & shoot more & he'd do exactly as I wanted, he's go on runs & score worldies from the edge of the box. 

I'd say just watch with your CF & your Treq, with their freedom of  movement you may find at times both have roamed away from dangerous areas, I like a Treq with an AF/PF or a CF with an AM(A)/SS(A) so only one of them is off roaming 

Good to know, thank you.

I did have Haaland as a AF(A) previously but had dropped him back a bit to get him more involved. But that was when I had 2MC and a DM.

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, BrickCommo23 said:

Good to know, thank you.

I did have Haaland as a AF(A) previously but had dropped him back a bit to get him more involved. But that was when I had 2MC and a DM.

A DLF(A) could be an option too with your Treq

Have you got a screenie of the guy?

[sinancihan]

@Johnny Ace Could you please share your tactics above gifs? I see perfect movements and off the balls which 's amazed me. I got my own 4-2-3-1 never felt this kind of smooth movements occur. I'll upload mine if you have anything to add to it. Thank you.

[BrickCommo23]

45 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

A DLF(A) could be an option too with your Treq

Have you got a screenie of the guy?

It's just Erling Haaland....very realistic he came to Arsenal! 

Wil try and get to preseason this weekend and share some approaches but my main enjoyment so far has been how much better we keep possession with an AMC compared to a DM.

One thing I would like to try and create is a bit of a recreation of the Arsenal invincibles team who used to overload the left with Cole, Pires and Henry. I'm trying to do it on the right though to take more advantage of Aarons and Bellerin.

As such, i am wondering if I can have an AP (with roaming) on the right and a Treq in the middle. We shall see...

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, sinancihan said:

@Johnny Ace Could you please share your tactics above gifs? I see perfect movements and off the balls which 's amazed me. I got my own 4-2-3-1 never felt this kind of smooth movements occur. I'll upload mine if you have anything to add to it. Thank you.

No problem, which one was it you wanted? They're all very simple & follow a similar style 

[Johnny Ace]

2 minutes ago, BrickCommo23 said:

It's just Erling Haaland....very realistic he came to Arsenal! 

Wil try and get to preseason this weekend and share some approaches but my main enjoyment so far has been how much better we keep possession with an AMC compared to a DM.

One thing I would like to try and create is a bit of a recreation of the Arsenal invincibles team who used to overload the left with Cole, Pires and Henry. I'm trying to do it on the right though to take more advantage of Aarons and Bellerin.

As such, i am wondering if I can have an AP (with roaming) on the right and a Treq in the middle. We shall see...

It was the AMC Treq guy I wanted to nose at 

I like an AMC for possession & winning the ball back high up the pitch, even the "lazy" Trequartista will help out  

[sinancihan]

Juventus and fenerbahce preffered 

Do you have anything to say about my poor tactic :)

[Johnny Ace]

4 minutes ago, sinancihan said:

Juventus and fenerbahce preffered 

Do you have anything to say about my poor tactic

Juve & Fenerbache were more or less the same

 

                      AF(A)

IW(S)            TRQ(A)/AP(A)       W(S)

                CM(D)      CM(S)

FB(A)      CD(D)      BPD(D)        FB(S)

                     SK(A)

Positive

Very Narrow

Shorter Passing

Play out of Defense

Counter

Much more urgent pressing

If I use a AMC(S) I'll use an IF(S), I find IF(S) way more offensive than an IW(S), using an IW(S) helps balance in out a bit with a A duty in the AMC slot but there's all sorts of combos to play around with  

Just like real football, you don't get goals like in those GIFs every game & it takes a while for things to click, I seem to win early games in the season on set-pieces 

I think your tactic looks good but it depends on the skills & PPMs of your players, Dybala is pretty special & so is Ozil in the Turkish league & I'd probably trim off a couple of TIs. Like I wouldn't use be more expressive & just ask players I wanted to roam to roam. The Off the ball attribute will get you movement & Flair will give a player something special & unexpected   

[sinancihan]

I"ll try your setup it seems legit to me :)) thank you again for sharing this.

[Johnny Ace]

11 minutes ago, sinancihan said:

I"ll try your setup it seems legit to me :)) thank you again for sharing this.

Go for it, it's nothing magic, you really need the suitable players for it even if the game/ your ass man rates them as good, they need to be good at certain things. The CMs really both need to be able to defend, the wide men must have pace etc the AMC & AF must both be very capable  

[sinancihan]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

Go for it, it's nothing magic, you really need the suitable players for it even if the game/ your ass man rates them as good, they need to be good at certain things. The CMs really both need to be able to defend, the wide men must have pace etc the AMC & AF must both be very capable  

Indeed true in CM area I have poor tackling&bravery I'll sort it out in summer transfer market. Wide players are OK maybe AF I need a worldstar too. Will post again to this thread end of season, lets see how it goes.

[Johnny Ace]

6 minutes ago, sinancihan said:

Indeed true in CM area I have poor tackling&bravery I'll sort it out in summer transfer market. Wide players are OK maybe AF I need a worldstar too. Will post again to this thread end of season, lets see how it goes.

Yeah, please do, post up how your AMC does,  good luck & have fun 

[Johnny Ace]

Had a season with Milan because I wanted to try out Hakan Cahlanaglu (sp). I'm out of touch with Serie A, I've not watched it regularly since Football Italia finished on Channel 4 but I need to catch this guy in action. Not an ideal squad for me dealing with two 35 year old strikers. He started the season with 7 goals in his first 3 competitive games then sortof petered out, the guys a wizard on freekicks 

 

 

 

[Johnny Ace]

 

This guy stood out a bit 

[Johnny Ace]

Just redid a season  in the full game with Milan, this guy really is a beast at set-pieces. I made some changes & he faired better, even got himself a move to Juve (who they've stuck out on the left in midfield)

 

[Beni150]

1 minute ago, Johnny Ace said:

Just redid a season  in the full game with Milan, this guy really is a beast at set-pieces. I made some changes & he faired better, even got himself a move to Juve (who they've stuck out on the left in midfield)

 

In what role did you use him?

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, Beni150 said:

In what role did you use him?

Just an AM(A) with added Dribbles & Shots , Zlatan on DLF(A). He got most of his goals & assists from freekicks & corners, he's an absolute wizard  

[BrickCommo23]

22 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

It was the AMC Treq guy I wanted to nose at 

I like an AMC for possession & winning the ball back high up the pitch, even the "lazy" Trequartista will help out  

Ah ha - nah bother. 

I love this guy and if Arsenal (by some miracle got him in real life...)

[zabyl]

On 12/03/2021 at 16:06, sinancihan said:

Could you please share your tactics above gifs? I see perfect movements and off the balls which 's amazed me. I got my own 4-2-3-1 never felt this kind of smooth movements occur. I'll upload mine if you have anything to add to it. Thank you.

You can create similar creative plays if you don't use wider attacking width. Attacking width effects attacking plays; positions, passing directions etc. When you select a wide attacking width, you tell your team to pass to wider areas more. This lessens your central players' involvement in attacking plays. Tempo also effects passing. I recommend you to use those TIs with a reason. By the way I'm also Turkish and I can help you to understand the game more. You can send a message whenever you want.

Edited March 14, 2021 by zabyl

[Johnny Ace]

I agree @zabyl, unless I'm deliberately wanting fast wingers bombing down the lines & putting crosses in, I'll narrow the width on high mentalities. It also helps defensively as your players are closer together to get pressing which makes it harder for the opposition to play out 

Right now, I'm playing a 4-4-2 down in LLM & I don't touch the width because I want to make use of the wide areas as I do the centre   

[Gold]

This the way I see it:

Advanced playmaker: this is if you want your playmaker (if you use one) higher up the pitch to pull strings in the oppositions half.

Tre(i really cant spell it correctly)quiesta. This is if you want an amc who is like an extra player in the oppositions half roaming at the expense of him being there as an amc when you might need him in that position.

Enganche? This is the opposite of the TREQ as he doest move and acts as a pivot for any surrounding players.

Shadow Striker. This role is if you want a striker but deeper. He works best with a supporting forward. He can often be your teams main goal output.

Attacking midfielder. This is the typical amc who will sit in the hole. Score goals assist etc.

These all work in FM21 and some extremely well. (apart from enganche that i havent tried.

 

[Johnny Ace]

The Enganche is my least favourite AMC role, I did some experimenting with it over the weekend & didn't really have any nice GIFs to post up because it's just kind of a boring role, I like my AMC's to be dynamic, He does the job, I found he was the guy that would play the pass before the assist but yeah, I think it'd only use if I was stick with a slow AMC who had great technical & mental attributes   

[Nick_CB]

My AMC was incredible last season. I tried to adapt a tactic with 3 defenders at first but it worked, I found a way to make him a protagonist

[3rik]

I'm having big trouble with my forward pairing to a AP(A). My AP is producing good numbers but my forwards always get in slumps. Last year none of them managed to get more then 8 goals. What roles fits best with a AP(A)? On the wings I have a IF(A) to the left and a IW(U) on the right. 

[Johnny Ace]

14 minutes ago, 3rik said:

I'm having big trouble with my forward pairing to a AP(A). My AP is producing good numbers but my forwards always get in slumps. Last year none of them managed to get more then 8 goals. What roles fits best with a AP(A)? On the wings I have a IF(A) to the left and a IW(U) on the right. 

At Fenerbache I had Ozil as AP(A) & Samatta AF(A) with an IW(S) & W(S). If you have an  IF(A) you're kind of asking him to be a main scorer so with an AP(A) & IF(A) you're be getting into the no 9 position

[3rik]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

At Fenerbache I had Ozil as AP(A) & Samatta AF(A) with an IW(S) & W(S). If you have an  IF(A) you're kind of asking him to be a main scorer so with an AP(A) & IF(A) you're be getting into the no 9 position

So changing my CF to a F9 then? Should i also remove the "pass into space" then? To make the players play more via the AP?

 

 

[Johnny Ace]

15 minutes ago, 3rik said:

So changing my CF to a F9 then? Should i also remove the "pass into space" then? To make the players play more via the AP?

Depends on the player really, a simple DLF(S) might do the trick if he's right sort of player. If your IF(A) is a better attacking player than your striker, that's the way to go about it but a DLF(S)/ F9(S) probably won't outscore a IF(A) because of how you're setting up. You're then wanting the striker to support the AP(A) & IF(A) 

Like what I said about Fenerbache, Samatta scored a ridiculous amount because I had him on AF(A), I wanted him the furthest forward, the most aggressive, getting on the end of moves, I wanted him to score goals because I knew he could. 

You might be better off creating a new thread for tactical help 

[sinancihan]

hi again, I'm now middle of the season so far everything seems good. But something bothers me that why this tactic works, especially Out of Possesion part of the tactic. I think my instructions there unbalanced, I guess @Experienced Defender mentioned LOE and Defensive Line works in tandem and team compactness is related how balanced this two lines positioned according to tactic and roles. correct me if I'm wrong on this. Also comments are welcome to explain why this tactic works.