Wide players in a 442/4231 Hybrid

[VoidVector]

I recently started a Manchester United save which reignited my love for this game. My 2nd season is coming to a close and I my wide players (Rashford and Greenwood for the first team, Bardhi and Ömür as backup with Daniel James as an extra) are performing.. dreadfully. Specially Rashford. Besides games where he scored, his performances have been average at game and unacceptable at worst



Here is my tactic, at least in it's current state. Originally I played with a higher line, but for the last few games I changed to a mid-block. My idea is to have a combination of classic Manchester United ideas, and mix them with more current and modern ones.
 

Some positions have individual instructions
- Right Back: Take Fewer Risks, Cross Less Often, Mark Tighter, Tackle Harder.
In all truth, the last two instructions are just for flavor. Since AWB's role is more of a defensive one in the current Man U squad, I added those two. Are they neccesary for the way I play? Not really, no.

- Left Back: Take Fewer Risks, Cross Less Often.
Both fullbacks have these instructions since I noticed that they sometimes had low passing percentages unnecessarily. And since the crossing in FM21 is less than ideal, with a gloated amount of crosses in general and most crosses being blocked out for corners I want to avoid them as best as I can. Is it the best strategy? I'm not sure.

- Left Defensive Midfielder: Take More risks, Dribble More, Move into Channels.
I want to give him freedom to do what he does best. Give him space to run into by starting in a deeper position, and a role that allow hims to be a threat going forward.

- Attacking Midfielder: Take More Risks, Dribble More, Roam from Position, Move into Channels.
Same situation as the Segundo Volante. Freedom to do what he does best.

- Right and Left Winger: Pass It Shorter
Similar to my fullbacks, I've noticed that with the Inside Foward role their passing completion can be as low as below 80%

- Striker: Shoot More Often, Roam from Position, Move into Channels.
Do I need to say more?

Changes I have considered:
- Switching around the roles of both DMs and AM/ST, meaning the DM(d) is on the left, the SV(a) on the right, while the AM(a) is on the left, and the PF(s) on the right.

- Changing the DM(d) to DM(s) so he provides more support to the play, instead of remaining in a deeper position throughout the game



The performance of the team in general has been rather good and effective, and I know that one useful piece of advice is 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it', but I'd like some help to try get the most out of the two wide players in my team.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by VoidVector

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, VoidVector said:

Specially Rashford. Besides games where he scored, his performances have been average at game and unacceptable at worst

Well, I see in the screenshot that Rashford's average rating is above 7 in all competitions except for the cup (where it's just slightly below 7). If you think that an average rating of 7 (point something) is bad, then I fear you are having a serious problem with realism (especially as match statistics in FM have always been questionable, to say the least). Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it's just my honest opinion. 

[zyfon5]

Average performance for inside forward:

15 goals and 12 assists in 29 games, 7.24 average rating, 6 player of the match

Uhmm sorry.... do you expect him to score every game and had 20+ assists in 30 games?

[howard moon]

I'm not really seeing anything wrong with Rashford tbh.

He's not going to be prolific in that system, which is geared to Cavani and Bruno being the main scorers. 

Ignore the average rating, which is flawed at best, and see if he's actually doing what you want him to do.

Ask yourself - what is he meant to be doing in the team, and then see if he's achieving that.

[B3nnet7]

On 21/05/2021 at 20:05, VoidVector said:

I recently started a Manchester United save which reignited my love for this game. My 2nd season is coming to a close and I my wide players (Rashford and Greenwood for the first team, Bardhi and Ömür as backup with Daniel James as an extra) are performing.. dreadfully. Specially Rashford. Besides games where he scored, his performances have been average at game and unacceptable at worst



Here is my tactic, at least in it's current state. Originally I played with a higher line, but for the last few games I changed to a mid-block. My idea is to have a combination of classic Manchester United ideas, and mix them with more current and modern ones.
 

Some positions have individual instructions
- Right Back: Take Fewer Risks, Cross Less Often, Mark Tighter, Tackle Harder.
In all truth, the last two instructions are just for flavor. Since AWB's role is more of a defensive one in the current Man U squad, I added those two. Are they neccesary for the way I play? Not really, no.

- Left Back: Take Fewer Risks, Cross Less Often.
Both fullbacks have these instructions since I noticed that they sometimes had low passing percentages unnecessarily. And since the crossing in FM21 is less than ideal, with a gloated amount of crosses in general and most crosses being blocked out for corners I want to avoid them as best as I can. Is it the best strategy? I'm not sure.

- Left Defensive Midfielder: Take More risks, Dribble More, Move into Channels.
I want to give him freedom to do what he does best. Give him space to run into by starting in a deeper position, and a role that allow hims to be a threat going forward.

- Attacking Midfielder: Take More Risks, Dribble More, Roam from Position, Move into Channels.
Same situation as the Segundo Volante. Freedom to do what he does best.

- Right and Left Winger: Pass It Shorter
Similar to my fullbacks, I've noticed that with the Inside Foward role their passing completion can be as low as below 80%

- Striker: Shoot More Often, Roam from Position, Move into Channels.
Do I need to say more?

Changes I have considered:
- Switching around the roles of both DMs and AM/ST, meaning the DM(d) is on the left, the SV(a) on the right, while the AM(a) is on the left, and the PF(s) on the right.

- Changing the DM(d) to DM(s) so he provides more support to the play, instead of remaining in a deeper position throughout the game



The performance of the team in general has been rather good and effective, and I know that one useful piece of advice is 'If it isn't broken, don't fix it', but I'd like some help to try get the most out of the two wide players in my team.

Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

How is Bruno doing in this setup? 

I've recently started a United save too and I'm currently experimenting to try and get the best out of Bruno. This is something I could try so just curious