Struggling to get a 3-4-3 going

[zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz]

Bored of playing 4-3-3, 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-2 all the time I took some inspiration from Örgryte manager Dane Ivarsson and decided to give 3-4-3 a go, but I am struggling to get it working well.

Playing with Fiorentina I really like to have Ribery on the pitch and contributing, tried him as an AP(s) at first before settling for trequartista. 

How we are lining up:

Player Instructions:

• Treq has "sit narrower" and "cut inside" to create space for the WBL overlap
• CM and BBM have "tackle harder" because my options are good tacklers and I want them to be a bit more aggressive in defence
• The ball-playing defenders have "stay wider" to make them provide more width in possession

The Good:

• Biraghi at WBL creates good chances, both for himself and crossing to the AMR
• The AMR does pretty well finishing chances created by crosses from the WBL
• We have a really good corner routine, which is the only reason that we are winning matches
• Our defending is acceptable, but not great
• We lead the league in dribbles, which is fun

The Bad:

• We struggle to create chances from open play, besides the cross from WBL to AMR
• Our striker contributes absolutely nothing
• Midfield does very little and is not very involved in the play
• Ribery does not create as much from open play as he could
• We average roughly the same xG going forward as we concede

Known Issues:

• Our ball-playing defenders don't have the "brings ball out of defence"-trait, which means they are often hesitant to carry the ball
• Dusan Vlahovic has the "plays with back to goal"-trait, which is undesirable for a lone striker on attack duty

 

I'm looking to either make this formation more effective attacking, increasing the number of chances we create from open play, or making it more defensively solid, so that the xG of 1 to 1.5 that we average is enough to win consistently. Any suggestions?

[CARRERA]

12 minutes ago, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

We struggle to create chances from open play, besides the cross from WBL to AMR

What is happening in your build up phase? Don’t players move into scoring position? Is the ball not getting to them from passing?

 

[zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz]

1 hour ago, CARRERA said:

What is happening in your build up phase? Don’t players move into scoring position? Is the ball not getting to them from passing?

 

Honestly, unless it is Biraghi running down the left flank our build-up usually fails before the final third. The transition from defence to midfield is struggling.

The BPD's are scared of carrying the ball forwards, which leads to them making low-percentage long passes into the midfield, where we are almost always outnumbered and lose the ball. Going to instruct them to dribble more and see if that helps.

As for the final third, when the ball does get there the striker is usually quite isolated with little support. Think I'll give him a run on a support duty with Castrovilli as a Mez(A) to see if that can get him to drop into space and play in his teammates.

[CARRERA]

3 hours ago, zZzZzZzZzZzZzZz said:

The BPD's are scared of carrying the ball forwards, which leads to them making low-percentage long passes into the midfield, where we are almost always outnumbered and lose the ball. Going to instruct them to dribble more and see if that helps.

That sounds either like inability of those players or a lack of passing options. I can’t go too much into detail right now as I’m not at home. But I can go more into detail later if you wish to. 

passing instructions act like a vector and it’s not about short vs Long, it’s about it’s Range, Risk and direction. (It’s badly explained ingame). 

in short: short passing instructs your player to primarily look for safe and short passes which are most likely sideways or backwards passes unless someone is unmarked. So it restricts its range and risk. With a positive mentality your players are moving up the pitch, especially your wing backs and the BBM. So you are limiting your passing options not only by default due to your formation, but also due to your mentality. When there is no valid passing option your players will start to  hoof or cross if they are wide.

More direct passes doesn’t mean your players will pass long, it’s not about the range. It’s restricting the direction as it primarily focuses to play the ball forward at more risk. However, it can be longish as it not restricts range like shorter passes but this is primarily down to the passing options your players offer. For example, if a player Is looking for close support a direct pass can be quite short, but forward. If a player is running into space it’s demanding a longer pass, so it’s been played long. 

That said if you look for a forward oriented short passing game your players need to come in close support. So, if you are looking to penetrate space and move forward to create high quality chances, you need to allow your players to play more forward (direct) or diagonal passes and always keep in mind the demand of the receiving player.

Another strategy would be to allow more creative freedom that allows your players to make their own decision, however that does also affect other things. A player for example can also decide to make a dribble, shoot from range or cross if you don’t want him to. Also it requires very good mental stats like vision, flair, decision and anticipation.

so if your only issue for now is getting the ball forward into scoring position, you should starting to be more direct (including balanced)

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by CARRERA

[Prolix]

2 hours ago, CARRERA said:

More direct passes doesn’t mean your players will pass long, it’s not about the range. It’s restricting the direction as it primarily focuses to play the ball forward at more risk.

Well explained. A 5 yard pass forward is more "direct" than a 5 yard pass sideways/backward.

Edited July 3, 2021 by Prolix

[glengarry224]

You have a lot of players bombing forwards, therefore you will need high-level, and as @CARRERA wrote, direct passes to connect to them.  You have TIs 'shorter passing' and 'play out of defence' but who will they play the ball to?

[Exi]

Maybe you can give your cm(d) the dlp(d) role so the defense will look for him more. If you have one with good passing/vision he might create some better opportunities for you.

And indeed make sure players are available to pass the ball to.

You could try to have your CF drop deeper by putting him on support.

And you could try to distribute to your WB So they can carry the ball forward.

Edited July 4, 2021 by Exi