Rethinking my approach to Football Manager - A Direct Attacking 4-4-2

[engamohd]

 

ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MY BLOG

=============================================

Note: This is my first article following a five month hitaus from the game, partly due to covid infection, coupled with being bored with FM21 and of course, a hectic schedule. However, such a long period away from FM made me yearn for all new ideas to try out. I apologize for not replying to everyone during that last period.

=============================================

Welcome to the third part of this series of articles aimed at simplifying and explaining the process of creating Football Manager tactics, using the latest instalment of the hit series, Football Manager 2021.

This third article will share some of my thoughts about the elements of a sustainable and successful style, and how to translate this in Football Manager.

While this post might not be an actual guide, I decided to include it with the guides series since it involves thinking out and designing a sustainable and successful playstyle.

---

As you might have known, I am a bit of a perfectionist. This tends to manifest to Football Manager, where I want to play in exactly the way I like, i.e. defensively solid, counter-attacking and NOT gegenpressing.

I have previously written about defining a play style on Football Manager. However, it hasn't be so easy for me. Recently, I've tried almost all playstyles, from structured deep passive counter attacking style to a Klopp and Bielsa inspired ultra-pressing style, and everything in between.

While I've had some success with many of these styles, most didn't feel "right". This caused me issues during an online save with a friend, where the lack of identity saw me change tactics (and by tactic I mean style, not merely formations) 4 times during a season.

As you could imagine, how inconsistent we have become, which is mostly down to the fact that I lack that vision of how we should play.

In real life football, it is a different story. My favourite playing style is that of the defensively solid teams, that employ target men, and can score well on the counters. Thus, I particularly liked Ranieri's Leicester, Simeone's Atletico, Conte's Inter, and more recently, Seoane's Young Boys.

Looking back at these teams, there is a recurring theme between (most of) them. All employ two strikers, one of which is a target man. All are defensively solid, and mostly defend in a 442 shape. All utilize the flanks particularly well, and are comfortable to NOT play from the back. They aren't primitive hoof ball teams either.

However, I found out that my denial of identifying with a play style similar to those teams is that it is "outdated", and football shouldn't be played that way these days. However, and in my humble opinion, teams that keep things simple are easier to succeed.

My (old?) way of playing Football Manager

It was a pleasant experience getting to know Gerardo Seoane's play style. His Young Boys side are vibrant and definitely good to watch. After hours of reading, watching and analysing his Swiss side, and in particular his victories against Leverkusen and FC Basel, I decided that I should accept my inclination and preference to such brand of football and started to set out my core principles, which are loosely based on Seoane's style:

1. Defending in a 4-4-2 shape

4-4-2 is the most common defensive shape, and arguably the best one too. While shapes like 4-1-4-1 and 5-4-1 could provide more defensive solidity, the presence of two forwards offers a nice outlet for counter attacks.

2. Horizontal Compactness

Modern teams defending in a 4-4-2 commonly compress horizontal space and force opponents out wide, forcing them to play crosses that can be dealt with by strong defenders. This is one facet that I particularly like in Simeone's Atletico Madrid.

3. Vertical Compactness

Vertical compactness is something that Arrigo Sacchi strived for in his tactics, to compress the space between the lines, and avoid teams playing through them. The position of this block will be dependent on how we want to play (i.e. mid block or high block). This will, naturally, make us susceptible to balls over the top, hence it would be smart to use an offside trap.

4. Double pivot aka double six

I have never been a fan of the single pivot, since it naturally suits teams that want to press high and dominate possession. On the other hand, a double pivot offers a strong defensive base for the rest of the team to attack. Moreover, most of the real life teams that employ double pivots do so in a ‘double six’ i.e. defensive midfielders, rather than central midfielders. Most common of these managers are Mourinho at Real and Benitez at Liverpool. Since the shape on the tactics creator is the defensive shape, I often opt to use 2 DMs in all double pivot formations (442, 4411, 4231, 3421 etc.). The inclusion of the Segundo Volante makes this a lot easier, since it allows players to act like Box to Box Midfielders from the DM position.

5. Two Attacking Strikers and Verticality

Those who followed me knows I LOVE a two man striker partnership. I want them to push opposition defensive line, and hold the ball for quick attacks. However, I do NOT want us to be merely a hoofball team, thus these strikers should offer plenty of linkup play with the rest of the teams. I have written before about the importance of offensive pivots and runners in quick transitions, thus having two strikers playing as both an offensive pivot and runners will aid us immensely against high pressing teams.

 

I have a couple more of tenets, but they aren't as rigid as the ones above. Mentality, Overlaps, regrouping and defensive line are all variable for me depending on the opponents, even though I do have specific preferences for each of them.

Putting it all together

To put this all together, we should consider how roles and TIs interact with each other. So lets begin by a pretty basic 4-4-2 2DM and consider how I want my team to move:

I want my fullbacks to be involved in the game, and offer us the width, while our wide midfielders support the moves, rather than become creators and dribble with the ball. I don't expect much attacking output from my midfield, but rather, support attacks and curb opposition counters (see intelligent positioning in the second image above).

Translating this to FM is not hard:

To open up even more space to the overlaps, I gave the MR and ML "Sit Narrower" PIs.

The role selection of the double pivot is very important. I do not intend to press the opponents, and hence, I need someone to take more risk in cutting out and intercepting the ball. This responsibility lies on the BWM. His partner, on the other hand, should do a bit of everything, while neither over-committing in attack nor staying back like his BWM partner.

The Pressing Forward was a difficult choice. I initially wanted an AF, but since we are deep, and not pressing hard, I'd require the TM's partner to be a Diego Costa - a pressing machine. This made me prefer a PF ahead of a more static AF or Poacher.

Choosing the mentality was another straightforward decision, following the mentality guide I posted earlier on. I want my team to play with verticality, and offer a slightly aggressive medium block. These are the default settings of the "Positive" mentality.

To counter the unwanted effects of the Positive mentality, the following TIs are used:

Wide attacking width: Play Narrower (one notch down) - I am not a fan of wide attacks. I prefer our team remain closer to each other as we attack, while overloading the flanks with the overlapping runs.

More direct passing: Shorter passing (one notch down) - Direct passing will see us play to the forwards too early and probably isolate them from the rest of the teams. I rather play slightly shorter to get our supporting cast, especially the wingbacks, into play.

Lower tempo (decreased by shorter passing): Higher tempo (one notch up) - I don't want any decrease in the default tempo by reason of shorter passing. We are not looking to maintain possession, but rather unsettle the opponents.

Other style defining shouts based on what I described above, and Seoane's play style, are as follows:

Overlap left and right - to increase DR/DL run frequency and decrease the MR/ML run frequency.

Early crosses and Pass into Space - Having two strikers ready to break away at all times gives us a sweet opportunity to play quick crosses and passes behind high defensive lines.

Counter - exploit any disadvantage after turnover- who doesn't want that?!

Regroup - I don't want to take any chances after losing the ball. This is one big departure from Seoane's Young Boys side, since he likes to counter press as his flanks are more attacking than ours, and are well suited to counter press.

Offside trap and Lower LOE - as discussed above. I may, against easy teams and low risk matches, increase the DL too and add counter pressing to be even more aggressive.

Defend Narrower - as discussed above.

Testing Out

To put this philosophy to test, I started a new unemployed save on FM21, that is intended to be a long term one. The aim is to apply this ideals to different clubs and see how it works out.

My first club was the worst team in the Bundesliga, Arminia Biefield, which are expected to comfortably finish rock bottom:

11 games in, we are already flying high, beating the likes of BVB, Bayer and RBL, after a very difficult start to the season. We scored in every single game, and have a very decent defence for a newly promoted side that played against all the top teams in the league.

However, 11 games are not enough to evaluate my ideals, so I'll leave that bit to the next post, where we will also discuss the changes I make in matches depending on the opponents. Our next game against minnows in the cup is a prime example for that.

Until next time,

Happy FM’ing.

Edited October 24, 2022 by engamohd

[engamohd]

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MY BLOG

======================================

Monaco came knocking just before the winter transfer window of the second season. We were doing okay at Arminia, and Monaco were abysmal, and needed someone to save their season. It was a perfect chance for me to continue my save, and further improve my tactic.

I won't talk much about my first half season at Monaco. It was more of a testing ground for tactics, as I had lots of second thought about how I should proceed, especially that my 4-4-2 with two out and out strikers seemed to be unsuitable at higher level. We finally managed a 3rd place finish, winning the cup in the process, mainly using a deep 4-2-3-1 as that seemed the best option for the current players.

To be completely honest, I wanted to build the squad for a deep 4-2-3-1 for the third season, but after some games, I decided that I will remain true to my original style, which got me so far in the first place. However, it was obvious I shouldn't use the route one approach which was very one-dimensional and started to look out of place at higher levels. In short, I saw the following problems in my deep 4-4-2:

1. Very deep midfield, that allowed the opposition to win second balls making us concede lots from long shots and through balls.

2. Zero support from strikers, seeing us become one-dimensional and easily nullified.

3. Deep block doesn't allow overlapping fullbacks to be involved in direct play.

Therefore, I wanted to tweak the 4-4-2 to be better suited to better teams. To remedy the above 3 points these were the changes I made:

1. DMs are changed to CMs. I realized that in a 4-4-2, I don't want a deep holding double pivot, instead I want them to be more aggressive and hold a higher positioning.

2. Learning from Gerardo Seoane's tactics at Young Boys, I changed the dual strikers to a supporting one and an attacking one, whilst still maintaining the same overall play from them. The supporting one should act like a supporting target man, receiving the ball, holding it, and playing in his partner.

3. I wanted to maintain vertical compactness, so I changed our base DL to Higher and LOE to Standard. Playing this on a Balanced mentality, this makes us defend in a compact mid-block. A deep block (Standard DL and Lower LOE) is used against tougher opponents.

At the same time, I retained the direct, quick, cross based approach that was so prominent in the original formation.

It is quite similar to the original one. As noted above the DL and LOE, along with Regroup, are all situational shouts that are used to counter specific threats. Against lower teams, I use the mid-block, with Counter press on. Against better teams, I tend to sit deeper and use Regroup. Of course, this is not all set in stone, but that's the main idea I tend to do.

Lets see how we play:

Against Liverpool in the UCL (4-2 win)

For this game I started with a low block (Low LOE, Standard DL and Regroup - Balanced Mentality)

Our defensive shape is so much better, with the strikers a bit deeper. Lenglet plays the ball to Virgil, while our stirkers cuts off the passing lanes to Henderson and Keita (#14 and #8). Our strikers press the CBs, and Keita opens to receive a pass from Virgil, but is pressed by Zaniolo (# 24)

Zaniolo manages to nick the ball off Keita and dribbles, laying the ball to Milik to score from a nice move.

Another a couple of goals from games against weaker teams in the league shows how lethal we can be on the break, with our strikers pressing particularly well and winning the ball in the second one:

Finally, our attacking shape normally looks like that:

Our wingers (Henry and Gelson) are tucked deep inside, forcing the opponent to be narrow, and opening lots of spaces for our wingbacks. Our four forwards could then combine together to create all sorts of overloads in the center, while our wingbacks could rampage forward and pick their passes or cross.
So far, since using this final version of the tactic, this has been our results:

 

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by engamohd

[engamohd]

reserved 2

[Craigus89]

This is great stuff. I have been preparing a thread which is very similar in style to this one, mostly inspired by Conte's Inter. Funny to see you've used an extremely similar setup to me but of course a different formation.

It's also my favorite style to watch and great to see you having a vision up front before you start making something in game, something I'm a big advocate for!

Look forward to the rest.

[MessiMessiMessi]

Please show your progress here, first year is easy with a well designed quick transition system but second year teams will start playing deeper and you need to find solutions on the ball while your players aren't really that great yet.

[engamohd]

8 hours ago, Craigus89 said:

This is great stuff. I have been preparing a thread which is very similar in style to this one, mostly inspired by Conte's Inter. Funny to see you've used an extremely similar setup to me but of course a different formation.

It's also my favorite style to watch and great to see you having a vision up front before you start making something in game, something I'm a big advocate for!

Look forward to the rest.

Good luck with your experiment!

Personally, I struggle to create something without having a prior vision, since that lack of reference make me chop and change quite a bit, it is always better to have that reference point.

2 hours ago, MessiMessiMessi said:

Please show your progress here, first year is easy with a well designed quick transition system but second year teams will start playing deeper and you need to find solutions on the ball while your players aren't really that great yet.

I never do plug and play, but rather you have to continuously adapt. In my other Forest and Standard Liege saves, I used a similar quick transition system for 4+ seasons, with great success. The key is to adapt to different teams, and to the match as it unfolds. 

Surely, I will post my updates here as the season(s) progress.

[engamohd]

A great goal showing the Pass into Space instruction at work, along with the long GK kick that bypasses the entire midfield of Gladbach.

[LHurlz]

Great post mate, love to see underdog-suited tactics that involve logical thinking and pragmatism rather than just higher LOD/LOE and urgent pressing.

Hope you've recovered well from covid 

[halfspace3000]

Amazing Read!

 

[engamohd]

On 07/07/2021 at 00:28, LHurlz said:

Great post mate, love to see underdog-suited tactics that involve logical thinking and pragmatism rather than just higher LOD/LOE and urgent pressing.

Hope you've recovered well from covid 

Thank you, glad you appreciate this kind of play stlye.

Covid was a bit difficult, and has some annoying lingering issues, but I am much better now, thank you!

On 08/07/2021 at 01:18, halfspace3000 said:

Amazing Read!

 

Cheers!

[engamohd]

Update

We finished the season in the 3rd place a record high for our club.

We went to weather a very difficult February period, when AI started to treat us as contenders and throw different kind of challange at us. Moreover, players had their form dipping so it was quite hard. During this period, I discovered the need for a "system", rather than trying to remain true to only one tactic with minor tweaks. I initially had a backup 4-2-3-1 deep as a more attacking tactic, but I wasn't impressed with it, in addition to the fact that it had us dropping to only one striker.

After hours of tinkering, I resolved to having 3 tactics, our normal style, which is a slight amend on the original 4-4-2 deep above, a defensive version of it, which is basically an aggressive long ball approach, plus an attacking 4-2-4, used to grab a goal, before quickly getting back to one of the other two formations.

I did not have a lot of time to test the defensive tactic, but the idea behind it is to remain solid, waste time, and give creative freedom to specific players (GK, BPD, WM and of course, both strikers)

With this system in place, we managed to secure a CL spot at the end of the season:

And here are some stats from our first season:
 

Spoiler

 

We made a quite few transfers, to solidify and help us play our style even better next season:

I leave you with 3 sweet goals from our final 3 games:
 

Spoiler

 

 

I feel am already very close to what I have in mind, and I will be making sure to post progress and more detailed analysis on this system when I feel it is complete.

[halfspace3000]

what do you think of my setup and how do i get goals out off my striker?

[nick1408]

God I’m hanging out for part 2 of this. 
 

looking at your players it looks like you used winger-type players at MR/ML, is that correct?  Would their PI’s and preference to be wider be what lead to your strikers scoring so heavily?

[engamohd]

Updated in second post

Edited July 20, 2021 by engamohd

[engamohd]

On 17/07/2021 at 01:49, nick1408 said:

God I’m hanging out for part 2 of this. 
 

looking at your players it looks like you used winger-type players at MR/ML, is that correct?  Would their PI’s and preference to be wider be what lead to your strikers scoring so heavily?

I just written the part 2.

I look for technical and creative players for these roles, since they become our main creators in the team.

[engamohd]

A fine goal against Real Madrid, demonstrating our verticality:

EDIT: Another MASSIVE counter attacking goal against Real Madrid:

EDIT: A third goal against Real Madrid, in a real long ball style, Allardyce would be proud of:

 

Edited July 20, 2021 by engamohd

[nick1408]

2 hours ago, engamohd said:

I just written the part 2.

I look for technical and creative players for these roles, since they become our main creators in the team.

Just read - I like your updated version better. To me, it makes a lot more sense.

On 06/07/2021 at 09:29, engamohd said:

At the same time, I retained the direct, quick, cross based approach that was so prominent in the original formation.

It is quite similar to the original one. As noted above the DL and LOE, along with Regroup, are all situational shouts that are used to counter specific threats. Against lower teams, I use the mid-block, with Counter press on. Against better teams, I tend to sit deeper and use Regroup. Of course, this is not all set in stone, but that's the main idea I tend to do.

The change of the WM-Su to WP-At is an excellent choice. This is similar to the setup I used for FM20 but I had more aggressive instructions:

It's actually surprisingly similar.... anyway, not to take this away from you.

 

I assume you didn't change the PI's as the wingers still look to be sitting narrower but by having someone like Gelson Martins on the right would really allow some cool ball movement and to have Henry Onyekuru to act as a pseudo inside forward (although two goals in seven matches probably doesn't seem like that yet) seems to have made you a lot less one dimensional. You have had a lot of different goal scorers from all over the field now which would make you hard to play against.

 

How did you find the DLP and WP being on the same side? It does seem to work but my first thought was that there is a lack of cover for having so much ball out there (especially coupled with the focus right instruction). 

 

Do you ask the wide players and AF-At to close down more or not? I know you didn't in your main tactic but with the pushing up of the DM's to CM's I thought it may be a natural change to try and hurry the opponent into a mistake (especially against weaker teams). 

[engamohd]

4 hours ago, nick1408 said:

Just read - I like your updated version better. To me, it makes a lot more sense.

It does make sense, and it is the sort of roles that I'd naturally do, but the main idea of the first one is to be direct and sort of route one football. Sadly, I realized this model isn't sustainable on the long term, and is completely reliant on the TM.

4 hours ago, nick1408 said:

I assume you didn't change the PI's as the wingers still look to be sitting narrower but by having someone like Gelson Martins on the right would really allow some cool ball movement and to have Henry Onyekuru to act as a pseudo inside forward (although two goals in seven matches probably doesn't seem like that yet) seems to have made you a lot less one dimensional. You have had a lot of different goal scorers from all over the field now which would make you hard to play against.

In the final version, I use zero PIs, since the natural movement of the wingers cutting inside and narrower is enough for me, and is compensated by the wide WBs. They do combine with the forwards beautifully, providing lots of different weapons in our attacking arsenal.

Henry isn't my first choice, I usually go with Almada as the IW and Zaniolo as the WP. I look for flair and creativity for both these role rather than pace, since our pace up top is more than enough.

4 hours ago, nick1408 said:

How did you find the DLP and WP being on the same side? It does seem to work but my first thought was that there is a lack of cover for having so much ball out there (especially coupled with the focus right instruction). 

I initially had some concerns about them, but as you can in the attacking shape, they do not get into each other's way. However, they actually do a very good job, with the DLP controlling the ball from deep, doing Pirlo-esque passes, while the WP roams freely creating overloads in different areas. Also the presence of two playmakers allow the play not get rushed, which is what I want.

4 hours ago, nick1408 said:

Do you ask the wide players and AF-At to close down more or not? I know you didn't in your main tactic but with the pushing up of the DM's to CM's I thought it may be a natural change to try and hurry the opponent into a mistake (especially against weaker teams). 

No I don't. I find the more urgent pressing along with the compact shape quite sufficient. Against weaker teams I expect to dominate, I use the Counter Press TI to force the mistakes as you say.

Edited July 20, 2021 by engamohd

[engamohd]

On 15/07/2021 at 14:44, halfspace3000 said:

what do you think of my setup and how do i get goals out off my striker?

I'd initially use a PF-A and a WB-S at left back.

I'd also move the DL one notch higher with Offside trap, to get your strong team closer to goal.

[halfspace3000]

3 hours ago, engamohd said:

I'd initially use a PF-A and a WB-S at left back.

I'd also move the DL one notch higher with Offside trap, to get your strong team closer to goal.

Thanks for replying, ill give it a try

[HanziZoloman]

Great read, thanks much for this!

I have a question: WM usually have otb and pos as necessary skills but I have more otb creators in MR/ML which are not the best in supporting defence. Which are the skills you see important for your WM in your Bielefeld tactic?

i am Braunschweig btw..

Best wishes and good recovery from Covid

 

[LHurlz]

Finally got around to using this and it was brilliant. Guided my Bristol City side who were predicted to finish somewhere around 14th to a 4th place finish and an FA Cup victory. Next season started woefully however, what would you recommend doing once teams start to treat you with a bit more respect? 

[engamohd]

On 27/07/2021 at 00:52, HanziZoloman said:

Great read, thanks much for this!

I have a question: WM usually have otb and pos as necessary skills but I have more otb creators in MR/ML which are not the best in supporting defence. Which are the skills you see important for your WM in your Bielefeld tactic?

i am Braunschweig btw..

Best wishes and good recovery from Covid

 

Thank you, I am glad you like this!

For my WMs, I were looking for creativity and pace. I want them to act like Wide Playmakers, so I look for similar stats.

Cheers!

[engamohd]

9 hours ago, LHurlz said:

Finally got around to using this and it was brilliant. Guided my Bristol City side who were predicted to finish somewhere around 14th to a 4th place finish and an FA Cup victory. Next season started woefully however, what would you recommend doing once teams start to treat you with a bit more respect? 

That's great, glad you are enjoying your save!

Normally, the AI will be a lot more cautious against you, and the system will be exposed by time. When this happens, I'd go with something similar to the system in the second reply above, giving your team more attacking options, while still retaining the direct style. Good luck!

[Dereka]

I really enjoy your threads Engamohd, thanks for sharing your thoughts in such detail!

[engamohd]

2 hours ago, Dereka said:

I really enjoy your threads Engamohd, thanks for sharing your thoughts in such detail!

Cheers, thank you so much! Glad you are enjoying them  

[Djeon36]

On 05/07/2021 at 19:29, engamohd said:

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MY BLOG

======================================

Monaco came knocking just before the winter transfer window of the second season. We were doing okay at Arminia, and Monaco were abysmal, and needed someone to save their season. It was a perfect chance for me to continue my save, and further improve my tactic.

I won't talk much about my first half season at Monaco. It was more of a testing ground for tactics, as I had lots of second thought about how I should proceed, especially that my 4-4-2 with two out and out strikers seemed to be unsuitable at higher level. We finally managed a 3rd place finish, winning the cup in the process, mainly using a deep 4-2-3-1 as that seemed the best option for the current players.

To be completely honest, I wanted to build the squad for a deep 4-2-3-1 for the third season, but after some games, I decided that I will remain true to my original style, which got me so far in the first place. However, it was obvious I shouldn't use the route one approach which was very one-dimensional and started to look out of place at higher levels. In short, I saw the following problems in my deep 4-4-2:

1. Very deep midfield, that allowed the opposition to win second balls making us concede lots from long shots and through balls.

2. Zero support from strikers, seeing us become one-dimensional and easily nullified.

3. Deep block doesn't allow overlapping fullbacks to be involved in direct play.

Therefore, I wanted to tweak the 4-4-2 to be better suited to better teams. To remedy the above 3 points these were the changes I made:

1. DMs are changed to CMs. I realized that in a 4-4-2, I don't want a deep holding double pivot, instead I want them to be more aggressive and hold a higher positioning.

2. Learning from Gerardo Seoane's tactics at Young Boys, I changed the dual strikers to a supporting one and an attacking one, whilst still maintaining the same overall play from them. The supporting one should act like a supporting target man, receiving the ball, holding it, and playing in his partner.

3. I wanted to maintain vertical compactness, so I changed our base DL to Higher and LOE to Standard. Playing this on a Balanced mentality, this makes us defend in a compact mid-block. A deep block (Standard DL and Lower LOE) is used against tougher opponents.

At the same time, I retained the direct, quick, cross based approach that was so prominent in the original formation.

It is quite similar to the original one. As noted above the DL and LOE, along with Regroup, are all situational shouts that are used to counter specific threats. Against lower teams, I use the mid-block, with Counter press on. Against better teams, I tend to sit deeper and use Regroup. Of course, this is not all set in stone, but that's the main idea I tend to do.

Lets see how we play:

Against Liverpool in the UCL (4-2 win)

For this game I started with a low block (Low LOE, Standard DL and Regroup - Balanced Mentality)

Our defensive shape is so much better, with the strikers a bit deeper. Lenglet plays the ball to Virgil, while our stirkers cuts off the passing lanes to Henderson and Keita (#14 and #8). Our strikers press the CBs, and Keita opens to receive a pass from Virgil, but is pressed by Zaniolo (# 24)

Zaniolo manages to nick the ball off Keita and dribbles, laying the ball to Milik to score from a nice move.

Another a couple of goals from games against weaker teams in the league shows how lethal we can be on the break, with our strikers pressing particularly well and winning the ball in the second one:

Finally, our attacking shape normally looks like that:

Our wingers (Henry and Gelson) are tucked deep inside, forcing the opponent to be narrow, and opening lots of spaces for our wingbacks. Our four forwards could then combine together to create all sorts of overloads in the center, while our wingbacks could rampage forward and pick their passes or cross.
So far, since using this final version of the tactic, this has been our results:

 

 

Great post man I was wondering if you have any PI's???

[engamohd]

4 hours ago, Djeon36 said:

Great post man I was wondering if you have any PI's???

 

Thank you!

I don't use PIs in the second formation, the IW and WP naturally cut inside, so I didn't find the need to any further PIs.

[daveb653]

Sorry, going to necro this post

I've been using a 4411 version that is pretty much identical to this. Plays some nice football, but I've only used it a couple of games and although I comfortably won I still conceded a sloppy goal or 2, how would you set-up a 4-1-4-1 version of this?

Ideally I want to grab a couple goals using 4411/442 then drop off into a 4141 knowing the opposition is going to come at me so will leave gapsi can either exploit or just keep hold of the ball to stop them attacking. I'm thinking to keep the wide midfielders as is WP(A) and IW(S) same for the dlp, but i'm guessing id have to go more attacking with my other midfielder (or use a regista in dm?).

Would you change any of your TI's or mentality, for something like this?

I feel like this is where I'm particularly poor at FM, just subtle changes to change slight playstyle (eg keep possession better or soak pressure then hit on the counter).

[CharlieTZR]

Great read, thanks a lot for posting.

I have a similar approach, I have 3 x 442 setups from which I used the most the defensive one with 2 DMs.  My dilemma is one of the central roles, instead of SV I am using a Regista; Also you gave me an idea, I never used Defensive Winger but I have now a junior player which is natural in this position so I am thinking to give it a go