Only Support Duties?

[lozzny]

Any place where I can see examples on the use of only support duties on a tactic? Or at least, the most support duties possible?
What are your thoughts regarding using only supp roles?

[Gianni Brera]

I did a season with Verona, playing a 3-5-2 using only support duties (and three cb's on defend) with a balanced team mentality. As I used a DM, BwM and BBM in midfield, it wasnt the "very fluid" football that FM would label it at all. My team struggled to attack quickly when the spaces were there. It was defensively very solid, barely conceding any goals.

Against weaker opponents, I often had to push the mentality bar to Positive to crack them and win by 1-0.

Many games ended 0-0 or 1-1 however. Those that I won ended 1-0 or 2-0. For me the combination of support duties with more disciplined player roles is actually a powerful way of creating very solid, stable teams that are very hard to beat. I  don't expect much of an attacking threat or creativity from my side in such cases though.

[Dereka]

I echo Gianni's findings. I've been playing with a "Very Fluid" formation for the last four months (in game) or so, experimenting with different mentalities (mainly Positive, Attacking). I believe my formation has 3 Defend duties (CB-CB-DM), just one Attack duty (CM-A) and all other players on Support.

I find the team works nicely as a unit, but I noticed two big issues in my tactic which hurt my offensive product: (1) vertically the playing field was very very congested when I'm in possession, as my defensive line and attacking line were all close to the midfield line. (2) This means there was a lot of space behind my opponents' defensive line but my second issue was that I saw few runs in behind the defence, despite PIs like Get Forward more often on multiple players.

I have recently changed the tactic to include two more Attack duties and since then I have much more penetration and players making runs without the ball.

Obviously all the above could very well have to do with my tactic and PIs, but generally I felt that having a ton of Support duties gives a lot of stability but lacks a cutting edge in offence.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Dereka

[Robson 07]

Good post @Dereka

[Dotsworthy]

If I play a counter attacking tactic I like to play fluid, especially as I normally play a 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2, makes it feel a bit more secure against tactics with a DM or AM. Makes it feel like everyone on the pitch is working for each other and will fill in for each other to fill gaps.

I've tried playing it in more attacking formations but never really found success.

Edited February 25, 2022 by Dotsworthy

[kingjericho]

https://footballmanagerstory.com/stingers-no-attack-needed-4-1-3-2-best-fm22-tactics-test/