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Direct-ish 442 - does it make sense?


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Usually I play possesion football, but I am trying to challenge myself with new styles. I have started with Odd in Norway, and they have no real strengths. They are average in a lot of areas, and don't really have anything that stands out. So I thought, that I would try something direct-ish. By that, I mean that I want to get the ball forward faster, but not just chug it upfield. They have a lot of good CM's who are all playmaker types, which limits my options a bit.

 

I have gone with this as a base. I have already played a couple of games with another system, with no great succes, so now I try to tear down and build up. Are there any glaring mistakes in this setup?

0bnq1bO.png

 

PI's:

TM, IW and AP - Close down more

DW - Cross from deep

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Generally, yeah, that looks fine but a couple of things stand out to me:

Playmakers don't really fit the mould of a Direct tactic, the Target Man is a focus of play & is perfect for the style, then you have another focus of play operating just behind him who wants to hang onto the ball & play risky passes

The left hand side might be a bit vulnerable, WBs are more aggressive than FBs but it might be fine 

Play out of defense with a Target Man? Hoof the ball up there! :D  

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2 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Generally, yeah, that looks fine but a couple of things stand out to me:

Playmakers don't really fit the mould of a Direct tactic, the Target Man is a focus of play & is perfect for the style, then you have another focus of play operating just behind him who wants to hang onto the ball & play risky passes

The left hand side might be a bit vulnerable, WBs are more aggressive than FBs but it might be fine 

Play out of defense with a Target Man? Hoof the ball up there! :D  

I will look for something else than a playmaker.

I have switched full back roles. WB Auto on the right and FB S on the left.

POOD was to counter hoofball, but make things a bit more patient.

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4 minutes ago, Mr_Demus said:

I will look for something else than a playmaker.

I have switched full back roles. WB Auto on the right and FB S on the left.

POOD was to counter hoofball, but make things a bit more patient.

Even a DLP would make a bit more sense than an AP because he'd help cover the the right WB & would help with POOD 

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No one protects your left flank, which is notably attack-minded. 

5 hours ago, Mr_Demus said:

they have no real strengths. They are average in a lot of areas, and don't really have anything that stands out

Why then did you opt to play out of defence

 

5 hours ago, Mr_Demus said:

TM, IW and AP - Close down more

Why?

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Your left side is overloading and your right side is defending. I suppose you wanted to create some direct counter tactic which defends from the right and attacks from the left. If your WB and IW are best players in your team; you can use them with your choosen roles with some adjustments around them.

 

My hints for your approach to play are;

  • Play out of defence can slow down direct plays and can lead to missed passing opportunities. Think carefully when you use that with direct plays.
  • There is no holding CM. This makes your team vulnerable on left sided attacks. Your advanced left sided players need defensive cover. LCM role can be changed to DLPd/CMd/BWMd to solve this. Furthermore you can place your best CB to LCB.
  • There is no need to use an AP behind a TM. Also It is not necessary to use an AP on direct plays. Players can skip him mostly when they pass forward. CMs/BBMs is ideal for RCM.
  • I don't suggest using pressing PI with deeper players in this setup. It can weaken your defence more.
Edited by zabyl
added BBMs to 3rd list item
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2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

No one protects your left flank, which is notably attack-minded. 

I switched the roles, so it's now WB Auto on the right and FB S on the left.

 

2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Why then did you opt to play out of defence

 

I didn't think of it as particularly demanding, but used it to not just hurl the ball upfield at every moment. 

 

2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Why?

A split block. But that is maybe not suited for direct styles?

 

As I said, I am in very unknown territory here and kean to learn something about direct plays. I always found myself creating possesion tactics, and I wanted to expand my horizon.

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Auto on the RWB should offer a bit of counter cover, given the DW will close down the opposition's fullback and BWM will try and win the ball centrally. Almost a full court press on the right hand-side, if the opposition DCL ever has a likes to play way out of trouble, switch the TM and PF and throw their left-side in a sleeper hold. 

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Hey fellow FM players. 

I'm not often commenting on here, usually just have a look for advice and tactics :)

I've literally been trying this kind of tactic for weeks and weeks in lockdown and I'll share my thoughts 

442 is actually an attacking formation and is difficult to soak up pressure for an entire game unless your a good side.

You'll more than likily need another formation/tactic when the going gets good. For example if your mid to upper end of the table and playing last place in the league you'll need to have some idea how to win the ball back and control the game. Or cup games or Europa league qualifying. 

Slightly more direct passing is a tricky slider to get right. I believe you really need the players to use it. Players like a treq, rudm, complete striker or dlp 

The target man isn't going to work like heskey.. I tried for hours on slightly more direct passing to get those balls pinged into my tm for him to flick on or chest down.. I just couldn't get it to work. I'd suggest the slider needs to be on its maximum for that to work with a poacher up front. 

If you have a listen to the youtube channel the coaches voice Mourinho is on there talking about how his inter side would press high and try to control some games. Counter attacking is situational and every team can do it but for an entire season in fm it's very difficult 

 

 

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At times Mourinhosaurus has decked Spurs out in a 4-4-2 and got tremendous defensive effort out of  the frontline. Kane's defensive statistics (regardless of formation) this season have been noteworthy. IRL, the 4-4-2 is as attacking, defensive or balanced as the team's strategy desires. In the FM universe, such defensive movement of forwards is a challenge, the DLF tries, the Defensive Pressing Forward is a paradox. 

WIth a low or mid-block and compaction, the 4-4-2 is just fine. 

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For a low block, countering 4-4-2 the defensive compactness should be high to prevent the two strikers from getting isolated from the rest of the team. What I'd do is have a positive/attacking mentality to encourage fast transitions and then a low defensive line with a much lower LoE to have the team very compacted between banks.

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