Struggling a little bit with off the ball movement.

[Outsider23]

So, I was playing against newly promoted Everton. They were sitting in 19th place having failed to win in any of their last nine matches. They were using an odd formation, a 4-3-3 with three strikers, so I thought to myself "easy win" since they;d have no balance in defense. Sure enough, once the game starts I dominate possession and their defense struggles to maintain shape as they have 3 players just sitting up top not helping at all. Sure my centerbacks were up against three strikers, but I gambled that their creative players would not have time and space to play a good ball and that my dominance in possession would offset any danger behind my defensive line. Things changed a little bit when my right back (who I chose for his defensive solidity) got completely roasted by the opposing fullback leading to a freak opposition goal. Still, I wasn't worried because they were defending absolutely horribly and weren't really creating many more chances, but as the game went on I started to get really, really frustrated because my team wasn't taking advantage of it's absolute dominance. I have much better players than Everton do and there was massive, massive amounts of space and yet my team could only manage to create a steady trickle of half chances. Sadly for me, their goalkeeper was excellent (facing 15 shots) and my players were not in the best shape mentally. I made a lot of tactical tweaks many of which helped, but still, I only managed to draw the game 1-1. 

Still, there was one moment from the game that I felt typified the frustrating experiences I have sometimes had while playing this game.

It's all here, captured in this screenshot. We played some neat combinations out left and when Everton's entire midfield got dragged out there we smartly played it back to the middle. Rayner who was playing as a Mezzala, found himself in acres of space in front of a totally exposed backline. Then of course things went wrong. Rayner just stood there, hesitating on the ball. My front three, just stood there as well, the opposing defenders had what seemed like an eternity to step up and play them all offside. All of this could have been rendered moot if Aarons, my attacking right back had sprinted into the space, but instead he jogged forward for a second or two before going wide, receiving the ball and delivering a mediocre cross that lead to a shot from a poor angle that was easily blocked.

Basically this sequence sums up two of the main problems I've been having: my front three all doing the same thing at the same time, usually charging forward in a horizontal line like idiots and players failing to exploit space in general. 

I'm going to be experimenting with different things in the near future and I would welcome feedback and suggestions.

I might try:

1. letting my attacking midfielders roam from position and setting my right back to a complete fullback on attack. I have not experimented to much with roaming, but I hope it means that the players will move into space whether it is in front of or behind them.

2.maybe turning the mentality down to positive.

3. giving my attacking midfielders the "Comes Deep to Get the Ball" trait. I happen to have a squad player inverted winger with this trait, so I may give him some game time and see if he takes up better positions than the others.

4. Acquire attacking players with higher workrate. It does occur to me that my front three simply might have been lazy. I will try and figure out how important workrate is to attacking movement.

[HUNT3R]

The only clue we really have is your Attacking Mentality which will see players take more risks, including forward runs and positioning. It's going to be best to re-post this in the tactics section, but with a screenshot of the tactic itself. It's very difficult to give you specific answers without knowing very much. With more information, I am sure people would be able to help.