Looking for tactical advice second season Valencia

[Hectic]

Hey guys, looking for some advice after 11 games in my second season in charge of Valencia, where i'm sitting at a dissapointing 11th place. 

The main takeaways after the first season were I ended as 5th were as follows:

1. Heavily relied on both Jose Gaya and Maxi Gomez up front, who led the league in scoring with 26 goals, Gaya great at set pieces was integral with his 10 assists.

2. Games were high scoring and fun to watch, 2nd in the league in goals but was near the bottom 15th/16th in goals conceded which was going to be the main point to focus on during the offseason.

3. Was in dire need of a new RB, replaced Wass with Calegari who is a 5* potential (C)WB who has performed solid in the first 11 games of the second season, around 7.05 average.

4. Goals were primarily created from the overlapping FBs, crosses into the box where Maxi Gomez would be for the close tap in or headers. I also strongly relied on goals from corners, which has continued to be a strength for the team.

Below are my two primary tactics, where I rely on the 4 - 3 - 3 DM against ''bigger'' clubs or when I feel that I dont have the upper hand during a match based off of the highlights. The other 4 - 3 - 3 looks to involve the talented Thiago Almada in the AM / AP role, however he has been underperforming.

 

Below is my more attacking 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 which I employ against teams in which I feel I have the upper hand. 

Both tactics basically result in the same extensive highlights, 80% a cross from a FB or (I)W in a wide position / shot in the side net. 

Main takeaways during my 2nd season are:

- I'm not creating good CCC's (probably under 1 a game on average) most games my xG output is a goal or more than my opponent but i'm not scoring. During my 1st season I brought in 5* potential Kaio Jorge but he isnt quite ready yet. 

- Last season I scored alot and conceded alot. Now the opposite is occuring. I dropped from 2nd in goals scored to 10th, but have climbed from 15th/16th in goals conceded to 3rd overall best. 

- playing lower or higher tempo seemingly has no effect on the type or amount of chances I create. 

- Koba Lein with his 5* potential and great Passing, Technique, First Touch and, Decisions (all 15 or higher) continues to underperform, around a 6,5 average (6,7 in his first season).

 

Jose Gaya has also not been performing like last season, he basically had no break. I've sent him on a 2 week rest period since my assistant keeps telling me he's in need of a rest after every match. 

Basically looking to improve the rate of my CCCs i'm happy with how my overall defence is functioning. The squad is talented, although players such as Thiago Almada, Yunus Musah and Lee Kang-In are doing well in their international under 21 careers, I havent yet found an effective role for them on my team. 

Any ideas on how to improve would be really appreciated !

 

[Jack722]

The 433 roles look nice and balanced if you had the perfect player for each position. But is Gomez good as an AF? I'm pretty sure he's best as a TMa. Also CWB is a demanding role as they roam from position, so they need good stats to not obly be a wingback but to also sometimes play in the midfield or get into the box. And isn't Guedes a more talented attacker than ZInchenko? I would hace Guedes on attack and Zinchenko on support.

Why have you chosen your instructions? I don't like more urgent pressing without a higher dline / engagement because you have players leaving positions to close down while not restricting space by pushing up, this means that opposition can just play around you. Watch out for this. Also why are you passing into space? You'd probably be best off getting the ball into Gomez's feet so he can use his height and strength to bring others into play.

4231 is normally best with more attacking wingbacks and more defensive midfielders as well. You have done the opposite, I think you'll find that you overcrowd the middle and have poor width when you attack.

[Hectic]

1 hour ago, Jack722 said:

The 433 roles look nice and balanced if you had the perfect player for each position. But is Gomez good as an AF? I'm pretty sure he's best as a TMa. Also CWB is a demanding role as they roam from position, so they need good stats to not obly be a wingback but to also sometimes play in the midfield or get into the box. And isn't Guedes a more talented attacker than ZInchenko? I would hace Guedes on attack and Zinchenko on support.

Why have you chosen your instructions? I don't like more urgent pressing without a higher dline / engagement because you have players leaving positions to close down while not restricting space by pushing up, this means that opposition can just play around you. Watch out for this. Also why are you passing into space? You'd probably be best off getting the ball into Gomez's feet so he can use his height and strength to bring others into play.

4231 is normally best with more attacking wingbacks and more defensive midfielders as well. You have done the opposite, I think you'll find that you overcrowd the middle and have poor width when you attack.

Any idea on how to get back to scoring ways ? I just find it odd how Maxi Gomez can drop off so rapidly (same AF position) and Jose Gaya suddenly be so ineffective, even after a 2 week break, my 3 latest results have been a 3 - 0 loss to Real Madrid, 1 - 1 against Espanyol and 0 - 0 against Villareal. Despite this Team Cohesion and Club Atmosphere are both Good.  I've basically run out of ideas and create little to no CCCs.

[Sneaky Pete]

I don't hate your 4-2-3-1 but would definitely make a few subtle changes.

Specifically, I would flip your midfielders (so the BBM can underlap the Ws) and possibly change your LB to an IWBd.

This way you still get the defining 4-2-3-1 double pivot in possession, while your Ws provides width, and your BBM becomes an extra man in the left half-space or box proper.

I also suspect @Jack722 is right about Maxi Gomez and would consider a switch to DLFa or TMa - particularly since you have runners from deep in your AMa and BBM, so you want Gomez to provide some kind of hold-up play for them.

Edited October 20, 2021 by Sneaky Pete

[WhyMe]

I almost never use 4-2-3-1 so feel free to take this with a healthy dose of salt, but I did have a very successful long term save with Valencia so I know the players well.  First off completely agree that Maxi isn't well suited to AF.  However, he did do an excellent job for me for a number of years as a CF-a where he does drop deep in the build up hold the ball up sometimes, but will also attack the box to get on the end of crosses.  Gaya is absolutely wasted as a FB-s, your 4-1-2-2-1 makes much better use of him and he is Valencia's best player (along with Soler).  Your central midfield pairing isn't great, you don't have anyone providing defensive cover really, though two FB-s make this less bad it is still going to lead to you getting done on the counter through the middle more than you should and also have no one to provide a central ball recycling option when things break down.  I'm not a massive fan of pairing an AM-a with a AF-a either as they are both attacking the same potentially congested space, but it can work.  That said a CF-a/AM-a combo would be better.

Your 4-1-2-2-1 is better, though an AF can get isolated in that system and Maxi isn't a good fit anyway.  I would consider changing your two central midfielders, perhaps a CAR or DLP-s for Koba and a CM-a for Musah (or Soler if you still have him, like I say one of Valencia's two best players)).  Your current system lacks central penetration and your AF will likely get isolated.

Hope this helps anyway.