Jogo Bonito - "Beautiful Game": Guide to Playing 4-2-3-1 Like a Brazilian (Updated on Jan 15, 2024)

[crusadertsar]

12 hours ago, nick1408 said:

First off, I love your write ups. Detail is great. Now into the questions.

 

Why a PF-Su rather than a true creator/drop deeper role like a DLF, trequartista (I guess this may be due the the AMC), F9 or even CF-Su? I get the lack of a TM-Su (although, I think it could work in specific circumstances) but to me the PF isn't screaming 'fluid movement' when I'm thinking of roles and duties. For what you have here I'd have thought F9 or DLF-Su to allow the two AMC's to push ahead while the striker drops deeper.

Is it something to do with player instructions? Are you asking them to stay wider like the AMC's?

I haven't used carrileos before - I've never been happy with how they worked within my particular tactics so the use of two here intrigues me. Do you setup one to have some more ballplaying responsibilities (more direct passing, more risky passes)? As they are typically support players does one get some more defensive responsibilities? Is this just me over-thinking it as I haven't used them before?

Was there a reason for the change form attacking to support? Do you go attacking or even a split between the two due to  the opposition?

 

Overall, you have the fullbacks, carrileros and AMCs staying wider. You also have the team instruction of fairly wide. Do you ever have issues centrally? To me, on the surface I feel there could be some issues through the middle rather than wide as is usual with a narrow tactic.

Mind you I'm still in the early days of this tactic so some things could still change as I play out the season.

Foremost, the striker roles. The reason i went with PF(s) is because as I mentioned in my original post. It's one of the few supporting striker roles that holds up the ball and does not move into channels. I need him to stay more central while the shadow striker moves into channels. I would have used a False 9 but unfortunately don't have a player with that skillset. Although the PF and SS combo seems to be working rather well as my shadow striker is my top goalscorer. And no I'm not asking my strikers to stay wider. That's my twin AMC's job.

Regarding the carrileros now. Originally I wanted to use two complimentary roles with one moving up more while the other played the holding role. But then I took some inspiration from Scolari's distinct take on Magic Box. In his 2002 Brazil tactic, he had a distinct divide between the function of the double pivot and the the attackers (trio in the case of 2002 Brazil). In this fashion the double pivot are really the specialists of the formation. And they only focus on covering and supporting the front four (who in turn are given the full freedom to attack). For this reason, I look for similar type of player for my carrileros: very defensively-aware, hard-working type with excellent passing ability, especially in the long range of passing to be able to link with the attackers well. Not necessarily to go forward and score goals himself like a mezzala or b2b would.

The change to Support duty to Fullbacks was relatively recent one. I found that we were leaking too many goals and so I wanted to make our defence more solid. I find that on support with overlap instruction and get further forward (I removed stay wider since last time I wrote) are playing much more how I envision my ideal complete fullback to play. Get forward during attacks when it's safe to do so while still cover back and support the centrebacks during defence phase. 

Surprisingly I did not notice any glaring problems with our width. It is still a relatively narrow formation despite all the instructions on the roles. Could be that "roam from position" helps in keeping our players tighter together. They press well as a unit and support each other very well during attacks. I will need to post some vids of some pretty amazing team goals that we scored with this tactic.

Hope this answers most of your questions mate  Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2023 by crusadertsar

[Collectivism]

@crusadertsar Love the write up as ever. Enjoy all of your threads, this one however mostly aligns with how I like to watch football. Would you consider uploading the tactic for lazy folk like me?

[crusadertsar]

21 hours ago, Mutumba said:

What would you say are the main player attributes to look for when using this style?

I am preparing an update where I will give an example of player for each position and highlight key attributes.

@Collectivism and will upload the tactic as soon as get to a computer today. 

Edited January 1, 2023 by crusadertsar

[crusadertsar]

And here is the latest Magic Box Tactic (inspired by both 1982 and 2002 Brazil national teams) download. @CollectivismEnjoy 

4-2-2-2 The Magic Box.fmf

Edited January 1, 2023 by crusadertsar

[jogabonito1970]

is there any way of managing to consistently get high flair attributes from your youth intakes every year?

 

[Cleon]

On 01/01/2023 at 13:13, crusadertsar said:

Mind you I'm still in the early days of this tactic so some things could still change as I play out the season.

Foremost, the striker roles. The reason i went with PF(s) is because as I mentioned in my original post. It's one of the few supporting striker roles that holds up the ball and does not move into channels. I need him to stay more central while the shadow striker moves into channels. I would have used a False 9 but unfortunately don't have a player with that skillset. Although the PF and SS combo seems to be working rather well as my shadow striker is my top goalscorer. And no I'm not asking my strikers to stay wider. That's my twin AMC's job.

Regarding the carrileros now. Originally I wanted to use two complimentary roles with one moving up more while the other played the holding role. But then I took some inspiration from Scolari's distinct take on Magic Box. In his 2002 Brazil tactic, he had a distinct divide between the function of the double pivot and the the attackers (trio in the case of 2002 Brazil). In this fashion the double pivot are really the specialists of the formation. And they only focus on covering and supporting the front four (who in turn are given the full freedom to attack). For this reason, I look for similar type of player for my carrileros: very defensively-aware, hard-working type with excellent passing ability, especially in the long range of passing to be able to link with the attackers well. Not necessarily to go forward and score goals himself like a mezzala or b2b would.

The change to Support duty to Fullbacks was relatively recent one. I found that we were leaking too many goals and so I wanted to make our defence more solid. I find that on support with overlap instruction and get further forward (I removed stay wider since last time I wrote) are playing much more how I envision my ideal complete fullback to play. Get forward during attacks when it's safe to do so while still cover back and support the centrebacks during defence phase. 

Surprisingly I did not notice any glaring problems with our width. It is still a relatively narrow formation despite all the instructions on the roles. Could be that "roam from position" helps in keeping our players tighter together. They press well as a unit and support each other very well during attacks. I will need to post some vids of some pretty amazing team goals that we scored with this tactic.

Hope this answers most of your questions mate  Happy New Year!

 

 

 

I ended up doing the same in my box formation too with the fullbacks. Support FB's is probably the best role on the game imo. They still get forward, still contribute but get caught out of position far less.

[crusadertsar]

1 hour ago, Cleon said:

I ended up doing the same in my box formation too with the fullbacks. Support FB's is probably the best role on the game imo. They still get forward, still contribute but get caught out of position far less.

Yes! The most underrated role in FM. Very generic but all you really need for this type of narrow tactic. 

[crusadertsar]

Continuing with The Magic Box: Recommended Attributes and Results

 

Someone was asking me before about the best attributes to look for when using this style. Well it is not an easy answer since there are quite a few. It is a pretty demanding tactic. But there are some patters that emerge I guess. Throughout the whole tactic, I think most roles will require more than average technical attributes such as First Touch, Passing and Technique. Also mental attributes to help players in keeping possession of the ball (and using it intelligently) are required. So Composure, Decisions, Teamwork, Vision and Workrate. My attacking roles (like mezzala, trequartista, shadow striker, advanced forward and pressing forward) will all require good physical attributes across the board. While Stamina is probably important for all players. Our attackers will especially benefit from good Acceleration, Jumping Reach, Dribbling, Finishing, First Touch, Long Shots, Anticipation, Composure, Decisions, Flair, Off the Ball and Vision. 

 

The end of January is usually a good watermark to judge the effectiveness of any tactic. By this time your players should settle quite well into the style as they become very fluent with the tactic. 

So far it is been a real pleasure using this tactic, as it is probably one of the most freely attacking systems I have created in the last couple of versions of FM. 

Not only are we creating many more chances than other tactics I tried in FM23, our goals are coming from both effective through balls and from assists from just outside the penalty area. Generally I see alot of build-up through the middle, which is only to be expected for such a narrow formation. 

It is also nice to see a team like Braga performing so well in attack. Really exceeding the league average on both goals per game and expected goals. 

There is a big gap between how many goals Braga scored (in 2nd behind Porto) and the 3rd place (Benfica) - our 43 to their 29!

Our defensive stats are not as exceptional but still not too bad. Only conceding about 1 goal per game. 

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by crusadertsar

[LUFCspeni]

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding, but you've added in a Mez(su) instead of a Carrilero. What is the reasoning behind this? Wouldn't he take up similar spaces as the Treq? And lower the defensive stability by vacating the middle?

[crusadertsar]

21 minutes ago, LUFCspeni said:

Forgive me if I'm misunderstanding, but you've added in a Mez(su) instead of a Carrilero. What is the reasoning behind this? Wouldn't he take up similar spaces as the Treq? And lower the defensive stability by vacating the middle?

Yeah I was initially worried about that too but they don't seem to be running into each other's space and we are not conceding more goals than before (about 1 per game on average). In fact the interactions between Treq and mezzala have been very nice. A lot of one-two passing. Mainly, I decided on the switch because of my Fullbacks being on support duty. I could afford to make my midfield more dynamic. Also got the perfect player for the role. Young wonderkid Veiga on loan from Celta de Vigo. And it's definitely helped with our goal return.

Will still go back to twin carrileros for the tougher European games.

Edited January 4, 2023 by crusadertsar

[Cleon]

44 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Yeah I was initially worried about that too but they don't seem to be running into each other's space and we are not conceding more goals than before (about 1 per game on average). In fact the interactions between Treq and mezzala have been very nice. A lot of one-two passing. Mainly, I decided on the switch because of my Fullbacks being on support duty. I could afford to make my midfield more dynamic. Also got the perfect player for the role. Young wonderkid Veiga on loan from Celta de Vigo. And it's definitely helped with our goal return.

Will still go back to twin carrileros for the tougher European games.

I think the "running into/using the same space" thing is a common misconception amongst FM'ers in general. It's like they don't understand combination play and how you need players to link up well with others and how players who initially might seem like they take up the same space, link up and play off each other instead. I've wrote a lot about this in my own stuff quite recently too. It's the best way of creating space and movement. When people watch real life football, they can see things like this happening too. A simple example of it would be a fullback and a winger, when the fullback overlaps the winger to retain width and the winger either passes him the ball and then follows and supports, or comes inside looking for the return pass. Those are two players running into the same space.

[crusadertsar]

2 minutes ago, Cleon said:

I think the "running into/using the same space" thing is a common misconception amongst FM'ers in general. It's like they don't understand combination play and how you need players to link up well with others and how players who initially might seem like they take up the same space, link up and play off each other instead. I've wrote a lot about this in my own stuff quite recently too. It's the best way of creating space and movement. When people watch real life football, they can see things like this happening too. A simple example of it would be a fullback and a winger, when the fullback overlaps the winger to retain width and the winger either passes him the ball and then follows and supports, or comes inside looking for the return pass. Those are two players running into the same space.

Exactly! Also, the strength of mental attributes comes to the forefront in situations like this. The players who possess high footballing intelligence (things like Anticipation, Decisions and Vision) are not likely to get into each other's way. They will work very well in tandem with teamates. Especially if you combine that with good levels of  teamwork across the squad. That's why I stress those attributes for my players.

[77charisma77]

9 hours ago, Cleon said:

I think the "running into/using the same space" thing is a common misconception amongst FM'ers in general. It's like they don't understand combination play and how you need players to link up well with others and how players who initially might seem like they take up the same space, link up and play off each other instead. I've wrote a lot about this in my own stuff quite recently too. It's the best way of creating space and movement. When people watch real life football, they can see things like this happening too. A simple example of it would be a fullback and a winger, when the fullback overlaps the winger to retain width and the winger either passes him the ball and then follows and supports, or comes inside looking for the return pass. Those are two players running into the same space.

Hi @Cleon, this is very interesting; I assume you are referring to FB(A) - W(Su), but correct me if it's not the case.

Coming from FM16, I've recently learned that the IF (A) - Mezzala(Su) is another good combo despite these roles entering a similar space. Could you please provide some more examples of good role combos regarding same space/support, as that would be very helpful?

PS just wanted to let you know that I've been following your Íbis Sport Club - The Attributeless, Blind Scouting, 5-2-2-1 Years! thread eagerly, please keep posting as it helps the community a lot.

Thank you!

[Mutumba]

11 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Yeah I was initially worried about that too but they don't seem to be running into each other's space and we are not conceding more goals than before (about 1 per game on average). In fact the interactions between Treq and mezzala have been very nice. A lot of one-two passing. Mainly, I decided on the switch because of my Fullbacks being on support duty. I could afford to make my midfield more dynamic. Also got the perfect player for the role. Young wonderkid Veiga on loan from Celta de Vigo. And it's definitely helped with our goal return.

Will still go back to twin carrileros for the tougher European games.

Any PIs for the mezzala?

[crusadertsar]

1 hour ago, Mutumba said:

Any PIs for the mezzala?

None for now.

[rmelo0387]

Crusader, hope you're well, mate! 

Just a question: will you have any take on Total Football in this FM edition? 

Cheers! 

[crusadertsar]

On 28/01/2023 at 09:49, rmelo0387 said:

Crusader, hope you're well, mate! 

Just a question: will you have any take on Total Football in this FM edition? 

Cheers! 

I would really love too actually! Just right now find myself tight on time juggling a bunch of threads and tactical ideas  But who knows what the future couple of months can bring.

[뜨페이뜨]

I'd like to ask you a question.

Which position do you think brazil zico is?
In flamengo or brazil...

Watching the video, zico is the perfect number 10 (playmaker) who does everything from center of the pass, leader of the build-up, scoring and assisting. I want to implement this, I'm trying to touch tactics here and there, but it's difficult.

Could you please help?

[Maviarab]

Excellent thread Crusader.

I'm a huge lover of strikerless formations, what would be your opinion be (before I try it myself which won't be till the weekend or next week unfortunately) on DM's, CM's and AM's rather than CM's, AM's and ST's?

[crusadertsar]

22 minutes ago, Maviarab said:

Excellent thread Crusader.

I'm a huge lover of strikerless formations, what would be your opinion be (before I try it myself which won't be till the weekend or next week unfortunately) on DM's, CM's and AM's rather than CM's, AM's and ST's?

I found that strikerless tactics don't hit as hard as they did a few FM versions back. Not to say that they are not possible but just need to really push hard to make them work. Like high line of engagement and high defensive lines and some special instructions to make your shadow strikers really make an impact in the opposition half. Otherwise I found Shadow Strikers to be very effective in FM23 but only when part of False9/False10 partnership (as I chronicled earlier in this thread with my Pedro Goncalves experience).

But it is definitely worth trying. I have always been a huge fan of strikerless tactics thanks to excellent work of Guido Mr. Strikerless himself. 

[Maviarab]

15 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

I found that strikerless tactics don't hit as hard as they did a few FM versions back. Not to say that they are not possible but just need to really push hard to make them work. Like high line of engagement and high defensive lines and some special instructions to make your shadow strikers really make an impact in the opposition half. Otherwise I found Shadow Strikers to be very effective in FM23 but only when part of False9/False10 partnership (as I chronicled earlier in this thread with my Pedro Goncalves experience).

But it is definitely worth trying. I have always been a huge fan of strikerless tactics thanks to excellent work of Guido Mr. Strikerless himself. 

Mr Guido himself yes!

As for FM23, I can 100% confirm that strikerless formations can and do indeed work, I have modified slightly an old FM16/17 tactic which is working very very well, it is quite player dependant though, not sure I'd try it in some obscure league with part time players though haha.  Top flight sides, it's a thing of beauty to watch!

I'll give it a try when I can next sit down for some time in game and let you know how I get on if you're interested.  Thanks for the reply.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Maviarab

[crusadertsar]

17 minutes ago, Maviarab said:

Mr Guido himself yes!

As for FM23, I can 100% confirm that strikerless formations can and do indeed work, I have modified slightly an old FM16/17 tactic which is working very very well, it is quite player dependant though, not sure I'd try it in some obscure league with part time players though haha.  Top flight sides, it's a thing of beauty to watch!

I'll give it a try when I can next sit down for some time in game and let you know how I get on if you're interested.  Thanks for the reply.

Definitely looking forward to update on how it worked out for you 

[crusadertsar]

My Jogo Bonito Style Updated

 

So I'm doing a little update on my Brazilian-style 4-2-3-1. It is mainly my attempt to adapt the original 1970 Brazil Tactic, "the most beautiful football in history" to mid-tier and lower league teams in Football Manager 2023. Or in case of the example in this article, good teams from less prestigious leagues (Portugal). For the Brazilian brand of attractive, free-flowing attacking football to work, you will still need to have suitably technical players. So an English Championship or League One level could very well work but probably not if you are in Vanarama North.

Anyway, there is also another reason why I wanted to share my updated Brazilian 4-2-3-1 tactic. It is simply because it turned into a very fun attacking tactic to use and is relatively easy to set up in FM23. The 4-2-3-1 has always felt like a strong shape in FM games. But at this point it feels almost like cheating to me. So if you are after more challenging experiences then this tactic is probably not for you.

Since my documented first attempt with Sporting, many things happened. I changed teams (albeit within the same league) and briefly experimented with a narrow 4-2-2-2 Magic Box shape variation. Spoiler: It was very attacking and potent against domestic opponents but was way too leaky defensively (for my taste) in the Champions League where many elite clubs employ very fast and technical wide attackers. Now in my 2nd season of my current Braga save, I return to a freely attacking 4-2-3-1. And it's a much more balanced experience.  

The first thing to note about my updated tactic is that it still follows the historical model of the 1970 Brazil team. Especially in relation to the player roles and patterns of movement on the pitch. For the most part. For the sake of tactical balance I did have to take some liberties. But more on that soon.

The important thing about the Brazilian school of football is that at its core it's has always been about attempting to bring more structure to a beautiful, free-flowing style. From the very beginning Brazilians played football differently to how it was played in Europe. It is because they viewed it as a natural extension of the nation's free-spirited collective soul. Much like the Brazil's other important cultural export - Samba music and dance. Brazilian people love creating beautiful music. A naturalistic, addictive beat that one is inherently drawn to dance to. No matter your age or skill level. The land of samba drums also breeds football fans like no other. You can easily see the influence of Brazilian unique musical style in its colourful football culture. And it needs to be experienced first hand.

 

So simply writing about Brazilian "Samba Football" cannot give it justice. One might attempt to encompass the graceful freedom of Jogo Bonito ("Beautiful Game") on a written page. But it is hard to convey through words the very basic theme that defines Jogo Bonito. At the end of the day, the Brazilian style is not about all-out attack. Or selfish ball possession. Or structured counter-attacks. Yes, of course, like any successful football style, it will contain all those elements. Yet, what Brazil's Jogo Bonito is all about is achieving perfect balance in both attack and defence by utilizing ALL of these elements to some degree. It's the ultimate football style that sets a basic framework from which one can develop a more balanced tactic to use in Football Manager.

And the 4-2-3-1 (or the false 4-2-4 as was the case in 1970 Brazil formation) is still a good starting point from which this very fluid attacking style can be achieved.

Simple 4-2-3-1 - Building Block for Fluid Attacking Football

In retrospect, the 1970 Brazil team played their formation like a pretty standard (from the modern perspective) 4-2-3-1. Up front you had the four forwards who each had unique roles and patterns of movements. Pelé stayed deeper than Tostão. He was the classic playmaker and closest to a classic number 10. Tostão, wearing the famous number 9, resembled more of a false 9 than an all-out central striker. I still believe that a well-rounded Complete Forward is the best representation of Tostaoès role. And I look for a similarly well-rounded player to fill this demanding role. My current 1st choice for both CF and right IF spots:

And here is one who is in training to take over the 1st spot eventually:

Reminiscent of Tostão, I want my striker to destabilize the opposition defence with his complex, intelligent movement. Such as by roaming across the front line, surging forward to pin the defenders back or at times dropping deep to contribute to the build-up play. In the case of 1970 Brazil, when the centre-backs followed Tostão’s runs, space was created for Pelé or Jairzinho (cutting inside from the right).

In my opinion, that is one of the best ways to set up any 4-2-3-1. Make sure that you have one central playmaker (classic #10), AKA Pele role. Ideally, this should be the star of your team. He sits in the hole left by the other three forwards and pings passes to your front three. I have him "roam from position" in order to encourage more freedom of movement, to either surge forward when opportunity presents itself or to drop back or drift sideways to help create overloads in midfield and on the flanks. AP(S) role is perfect for this. Since I use a support duty here, then the central striker should play with attack duty. This is to make sure that two players compliment each other and don't operate in the same areas of the pitch.

The roles of the other three attackers follow naturally from AMC role. You really want them to move in a way that creates more space for your AP creator. I often preach the importance of role and duty variety/balance when it comes to developing balanced, logical tactics in the game. So my selection of the roles here definitely reflects this. The IF will aggressively cut inside to act as an additional threat on goal (besides the striker). The left IW sits deeper and could easily be replaced with a winger on support, provided you have the right player. In my case I went with the IW (with the essential "stay wider" instruction).

Additionally, to fill this role, I try to find players with the same dominant foot as their flank. As you would for a traditional winger. Just another way to make sure that he stays wider and leaves more space for your AMC to operate in.

Regarding my fullbacks, I like to extend the idea of complimenting and balancing the whole formation to the backline as well. Thus I prefer to play a more defensive fullback behind my more attack-oriented wide forward (right-wing IF). While on the left flank, I have a more attacking fullback to support the IW(S). As a side note, I prefer to use the more generic fullback roles in order to tailor-fit their roles to my players. For instance, if I have a fullback with great passing and only decent crossing and dribbling then I don't necessarily want him to play as Fullback (A) or Wingback. Rather a Fullback (S) with added instructions to get forward and take more direct, risky passes might be a better option. It's amazing how much you can alter a simple generic role with just personal instructions. And then there are also individual traits too!

So even though I start with two identical FB(S) roles, they don't really play the same. And once you add an overlap instruction, even a Fullback on support duty can turn into a real offensive threat. That's is why I love the generic fullback role so much.

Ideally for my double pivot I want one more creative player and one more defensively-minded one. For now the DLP/Carrilero combo seems to be working wonders. It provides my midfield with everything I need. But most importantly... balance. My deep playmaker, the creative brain of the midfield, is a perfect role to control the play from a deep position. His "support" duty gives him that extra "oomph" to exert his influence on the game (due to increased individual mentality). Unlike a DLP on Defend for example, who will tend to sit back and play a lot of long passes to the attackers. This might be perfect for a more counter-attacking approach but does not suite the fluid attacking style that I am after. Although, if I had a very good player then I would probably go with Roaming Playmaker role.

In all of my tactics I always prefer my playmakers to operate with the highest mentality possible. That's because you really want your playmakers to play more risky than the other players around them. Otherwise you might run into trouble when it comes to unlocking the opposition defences. Especially when that said opposition decides to camp deep in their own half when you are the superior team.

As a perfect deeplying playmaker Gérson was without the doubt the primary creative influence in Zagallo’s 1970 team. He was the main source of short link-up passes, whether to Clodoaldo (his midfield partner) or to the advancing full-backs. He also used his long passing range to his advantage to support the players further forward. As one of the Five 10s, for which that team was famous for, Gerson also attempted some well-timed late runs into attacking areas. It is a good trait to have on your deep playmaker (but only if he possess above average Off The Ball attribute). Gerson was there not only to create chances for teammates but also occasionally to take a shot on goal himself. In the game, I think DLP role is a good "conservative" representation of Gerson. Especially at a lower league team. Otherwise, as I mentioned earlier, RPM would be my choice.

That would be my choice for a really good playmaker who possesses a well-rounded set of mental attributes. And is comfortable in both attack and defence. Then without a doubt I would use Roaming Playmaker (RPM). Like a more creative Box-to-Box midfielder, RPM works very hard and does far more defensively than a Regista would for instance. And to have your RPM start from a deeper midfield position is an ideal solution to take full advantage of his excellent work-rate and defensive abilities.

Image Above: Albert Sambi Lokonga - a very versatile player who I love to play either as my right fullback or as any one of the two midfield roles. Could even be a decent roaming playmaker. Small loss for Braga's "big brother" Arsenal and big gain for Portuguese Arsenalistas.

Due to the nature of the two-men double pivot I have no choice but to play my other midfielder, the Clodoaldo role, in a more defensively-minded role. But again it does not mean that he necessarily has to be a destroyer or has to stay back at all times. While RPM can be a very hard-working role in midfield, it is by no means a "holding" midfielder role. Your RPM will often venture forward during attack, and so needs someone to act as a stable defensive metronome in deeper midfield to recycle possession and to break up opposition attacks.

You can see in this artistic representation of 1970 Brazil during in-possession phase Gerson really tended to venture above the midline in order to better link up with the four attackers. And if you manage a good team then I would encourage this type of movement (especially if you play him in a deeper DM position). The idea being that with greater risks there come more rewards. With a less capable team, I would definitely prefer to keep a more balanced midfield. Some of you might condemn this as my shift away from the the "true" recreation of 1970 Brazil. So in my humble opinion, a simple DLP might be a far better choice for a weaker team. Or in my "Arsenalistas" Braga case, a role that I would switch to when faced with tougher opposition in the Champions League.

But coming back to the Clodoaldo role. This role gave me most headaches in testing. As I was not truly happy with it, no matter what role I chose. In my recent tactic, I settled on the carrilero role and the interaction with the DLP(S) seems to work very well. Both roles are adventurous enough to give good support to the attackers but on the overall positive team mentality they don't go roaming around and leave their defensive positions too much.

In true Brazilian fashion, Clodoaldo was not a true "destroyer" in the stereotypical sense of that term. He was simply less creative than his midfield partner Gerson. But he was not completely focused on shutting down the opposition and regaining the ball either. Clodoaldo had some supporting responsibilities as well, especially on the more attacking right-hand side of the tactic. Over there you needed another midfield link-up player if Gerson's long pass missed the wingback or inside forward. The more defensively-responsible midfielder Clodoaldo would still be there to pick up the ball and pass it to the runners. So his combined duty was to provide defensive and supporting coverage on the right side of the midfield.

As an interesting aside, Since the start of the season I usually had at least 5 out of 6 of my front players with "plays one-twos" trait. I think it adds an interesting dynamic to this tactic that is rather hard to recreate with any other instruction. Essentially it adds a lot of quick-passing vertical movement to the whole formation. Something that I was after with my Brazilian recreation!

 

In the image above, I have changed the right winger, the creative attacking Jairzinho role, from Trequartista to a less exotic Inside Forward (with one added individual instruction).

However, the idea behind the "Jairzinho" role still remains the same. It is made for your most creatively "explosive" attacker. Someone who is given a freer role to dribble, cut inside and shoot on goal or to pass to a teammate if no shooting options available. So essentially an intelligent, technical attacker who is given more leeway to affect the game in opposition half however he sees fit. Its not quite Raumdeuter role as I prefer him to employ his superior technical skills to control the ball and to be active both off the ball and on the ball (not just off the ball like Raumdeuter).

So there you have it, my ideal 4-2-3-1. A little different from the original Brazilian inspiration since I was trying to adapt to my team to give it a bit more defensive/attacking balance. In that respect, I really wanted to have a more attacking winger complimented by a more adventurous midfielder (carrilero that shuttles between boxes but does not venture into them like B2B midfielder) and more conservative fullback. While at the same time my less attacking left winger is backed up by a more defensively-responsible player (DLP with hard-coded "hold position" instruction) and a more adventurous fullback. Every role really manages to fit nicely to complete this jigsaw puzzle of a formation. And next we will move to the results, the best indicator of a good tactic.

To Be Continued with More Tactical Musings...

Edited February 22, 2023 by crusadertsar

[FM Zagueiro]

Good stuff!!

[Gobias Industries]

Again I always learn something new to try when I read you stuff. Top notch article!

[crusadertsar]

11 hours ago, Gobias Industries said:

Again I always learn something new to try when I read you stuff. Top notch article!

Thanks mate  My goal is always to inspire others so guess I succeeded 

[rmelo0387]

You, Sir, are a true scholar. 

[AzevedoVCD]

First of all congratulations for the excellent work!  If you allow me to ask a question: on the left side of the attack, if you opted for a pure winger, would you still put the full back behind him more offensively?  Or would you reverse the roles of the full-backs and put the more offensive full-back on the right side?  Thank you in advance for your help!

[Diverisma158]

When u can, upload the complete tactic with PI pls!

[crusadertsar]

46 minutes ago, Diverisma158 said:

When u can, upload the complete tactic with PI pls!

Here you go!

Brazilian CM.fmf

[crusadertsar]

17 hours ago, AzevedoVCD said:

First of all congratulations for the excellent work!  If you allow me to ask a question: on the left side of the attack, if you opted for a pure winger, would you still put the full back behind him more offensively?  Or would you reverse the roles of the full-backs and put the more offensive full-back on the right side?  Thank you in advance for your help!

I would still keep the same defensive/offensive set-up in fullbacks. If you have intelligent players then they don't really get in each other's way even if operating on same flank. If anything it might even be a advantage as they could cause 2v1 against opposition fullback on that side. 

But the main reason why i set up my Fullbacks the way I did, is to balance the more adventurous midfielder (carrilero) on the right and the more defensive DLP(d) on the left. 

[Diverisma158]

hace 34 minutos, crusadertsar dijo:

Here you go!

Brazilian CM.fmf 43.33 kB · 3 downloads

Thank you mate!! Fantastic job!

[AzevedoVCD]

2 horas atrás, crusadertsar disse:

I would still keep the same defensive/offensive set-up in fullbacks. If you have intelligent players then they don't really get in each other's way even if operating on same flank. If anything it might even be a advantage as they could cause 2v1 against opposition fullback on that side. 

But the main reason why i set up my Fullbacks the way I did, is to balance the more adventurous midfielder (carrilero) on the right and the more defensive DLP(d) on the left. 

Let's say you change the DLP D to a roam playmaker. Do you keep the lateral defenders with the same roles?

[crusadertsar]

18 minutes ago, AzevedoVCD said:

Let's say you change the DLP D to a roam playmaker. Do you keep the lateral defenders with the same roles?

Then i would probably make my left fullback a bit less offensive. Like switch him into fullback on support but maybe some risk taking individual instructions in order to keep that wing from becoming too static.

[AzevedoVCD]

24 minutos atrás, crusadertsar disse:

Then i would probably make my left fullback a bit less offensive. Like switch him into fullback on support but maybe some risk taking individual instructions in order to keep that wing from becoming too static.

What kind of instructions would you change? I think Bruno Guimaraes will be a great roaming playmaker?

[crusadertsar]

1 hour ago, AzevedoVCD said:

What kind of instructions would you change? I think Bruno Guimaraes will be a great roaming playmaker?

Use Fullback on Support but tell him to get forward more and take more risks while operating on lower individual mentality than fullback with attack duty.

[AzevedoVCD]

32 minutos atrás, crusadertsar disse:

Use Fullback on Support but tell him to get forward more and take more risks while operating on lower individual mentality than fullback with attack duty.

Thank you! 

[Shamikebab]

Going to give this a go with Leipzig I think (first team I could think of that has an abundance of '10s' in Olmo, Nkunku, Szoboszlai and Forsberg) Feels like they should be a good fit.

Couple of questions, do you think Laimer is technically skilled enough for the Carrilero role in this tactic? Also I noticed in the article you had the striker as a complete forward but in the download above you switched it to an advanced forward, any reason?

Also other than Plays one-twos, can you talk about any Player traits you'd look to train or look to remove for any roles in this tactic? It's one part of FM I'm never particularly confident about. 

Edited March 11, 2023 by Shamikebab

[crusadertsar]

7 hours ago, Shamikebab said:

Going to give this a go with Leipzig I think (first team I could think of that has an abundance of '10s' in Olmo, Nkunku, Szoboszlai and Forsberg) Feels like they should be a good fit.

Couple of questions, do you think Laimer is technically skilled enough for the Carrilero role in this tactic? Also I noticed in the article you had the striker as a complete forward but in the download above you switched it to an advanced forward, any reason?

Also other than Plays one-twos, can you talk about any Player traits you'd look to train or look to remove for any roles in this tactic? It's one part of FM I'm never particularly confident about. 

Leipzig is a great choice! They have a few players that perfect for this system. Especially Nkunku. 

Generally you don't need a super creative player for your carrilero. As long as his mental attributes such as teamwork and workrate, as well as the typical physical and technical (tackling, marking) make up for it. 

Generally I don't bother with adding or removing traits. Unless it's a really bad one like "argues with officials". Plays one-twos is really an exception as I find it just works really well in any possession system.

 

[s3bofficial]

update winter?

[HowzatFM]

On 18/02/2023 at 03:09, crusadertsar said:

My Jogo Bonito Style Updated

 

So I'm doing a little update on my Brazilian-style 4-2-3-1. It is mainly my attempt to adapt the original 1970 Brazil Tactic, "the most beautiful football in history" to mid-tier and lower league teams in Football Manager 2023. Or in case of the example in this article, good teams from less prestigious leagues (Portugal). For the Brazilian brand of attractive, free-flowing attacking football to work, you will still need to have suitably technical players. So an English Championship or League One level could very well work but probably not if you are in Vanarama North.

Anyway, there is also another reason why I wanted to share my updated Brazilian 4-2-3-1 tactic. It is simply because it turned into a very fun attacking tactic to use and is relatively easy to set up in FM23. The 4-2-3-1 has always felt like a strong shape in FM games. But at this point it feels almost like cheating to me. So if you are after more challenging experiences then this tactic is probably not for you.

Since my documented first attempt with Sporting, many things happened. I changed teams (albeit within the same league) and briefly experimented with a narrow 4-2-2-2 Magic Box shape variation. Spoiler: It was very attacking and potent against domestic opponents but was way too leaky defensively (for my taste) in the Champions League where many elite clubs employ very fast and technical wide attackers. Now in my 2nd season of my current Braga save, I return to a freely attacking 4-2-3-1. And it's a much more balanced experience.  

The first thing to note about my updated tactic is that it still follows the historical model of the 1970 Brazil team. Especially in relation to the player roles and patterns of movement on the pitch. For the most part. For the sake of tactical balance I did have to take some liberties. But more on that soon.

The important thing about the Brazilian school of football is that at its core it's has always been about attempting to bring more structure to a beautiful, free-flowing style. From the very beginning Brazilians played football differently to how it was played in Europe. It is because they viewed it as a natural extension of the nation's free-spirited collective soul. Much like the Brazil's other important cultural export - Samba music and dance. Brazilian people love creating beautiful music. A naturalistic, addictive beat that one is inherently drawn to dance to. No matter your age or skill level. The land of samba drums also breeds football fans like no other. You can easily see the influence of Brazilian unique musical style in its colourful football culture. And it needs to be experienced first hand.

 

So simply writing about Brazilian "Samba Football" cannot give it justice. One might attempt to encompass the graceful freedom of Jogo Bonito ("Beautiful Game") on a written page. But it is hard to convey through words the very basic theme that defines Jogo Bonito. At the end of the day, the Brazilian style is not about all-out attack. Or selfish ball possession. Or structured counter-attacks. Yes, of course, like any successful football style, it will contain all those elements. Yet, what Brazil's Jogo Bonito is all about is achieving perfect balance in both attack and defence by utilizing ALL of these elements to some degree. It's the ultimate football style that sets a basic framework from which one can develop a more balanced tactic to use in Football Manager.

And the 4-2-3-1 (or the false 4-2-4 as was the case in 1970 Brazil formation) is still a good starting point from which this very fluid attacking style can be achieved.

Simple 4-2-3-1 - Building Block for Fluid Attacking Football

In retrospect, the 1970 Brazil team played their formation like a pretty standard (from the modern perspective) 4-2-3-1. Up front you had the four forwards who each had unique roles and patterns of movements. Pelé stayed deeper than Tostão. He was the classic playmaker and closest to a classic number 10. Tostão, wearing the famous number 9, resembled more of a false 9 than an all-out central striker. I still believe that a well-rounded Complete Forward is the best representation of Tostaoès role. And I look for a similarly well-rounded player to fill this demanding role. My current 1st choice for both CF and right IF spots:

And here is one who is in training to take over the 1st spot eventually:

Reminiscent of Tostão, I want my striker to destabilize the opposition defence with his complex, intelligent movement. Such as by roaming across the front line, surging forward to pin the defenders back or at times dropping deep to contribute to the build-up play. In the case of 1970 Brazil, when the centre-backs followed Tostão’s runs, space was created for Pelé or Jairzinho (cutting inside from the right).

In my opinion, that is one of the best ways to set up any 4-2-3-1. Make sure that you have one central playmaker (classic #10), AKA Pele role. Ideally, this should be the star of your team. He sits in the hole left by the other three forwards and pings passes to your front three. I have him "roam from position" in order to encourage more freedom of movement, to either surge forward when opportunity presents itself or to drop back or drift sideways to help create overloads in midfield and on the flanks. AP(S) role is perfect for this. Since I use a support duty here, then the central striker should play with attack duty. This is to make sure that two players compliment each other and don't operate in the same areas of the pitch.

The roles of the other three attackers follow naturally from AMC role. You really want them to move in a way that creates more space for your AP creator. I often preach the importance of role and duty variety/balance when it comes to developing balanced, logical tactics in the game. So my selection of the roles here definitely reflects this. The IF will aggressively cut inside to act as an additional threat on goal (besides the striker). The left IW sits deeper and could easily be replaced with a winger on support, provided you have the right player. In my case I went with the IW (with the essential "stay wider" instruction).

Additionally, to fill this role, I try to find players with the same dominant foot as their flank. As you would for a traditional winger. Just another way to make sure that he stays wider and leaves more space for your AMC to operate in.

Regarding my fullbacks, I like to extend the idea of complimenting and balancing the whole formation to the backline as well. Thus I prefer to play a more defensive fullback behind my more attack-oriented wide forward (right-wing IF). While on the left flank, I have a more attacking fullback to support the IW(S). As a side note, I prefer to use the more generic fullback roles in order to tailor-fit their roles to my players. For instance, if I have a fullback with great passing and only decent crossing and dribbling then I don't necessarily want him to play as Fullback (A) or Wingback. Rather a Fullback (S) with added instructions to get forward and take more direct, risky passes might be a better option. It's amazing how much you can alter a simple generic role with just personal instructions. And then there are also individual traits too!

So even though I start with two identical FB(S) roles, they don't really play the same. And once you add an overlap instruction, even a Fullback on support duty can turn into a real offensive threat. That's is why I love the generic fullback role so much.

Ideally for my double pivot I want one more creative player and one more defensively-minded one. For now the DLP/Carrilero combo seems to be working wonders. It provides my midfield with everything I need. But most importantly... balance. My deep playmaker, the creative brain of the midfield, is a perfect role to control the play from a deep position. His "support" duty gives him that extra "oomph" to exert his influence on the game (due to increased individual mentality). Unlike a DLP on Defend for example, who will tend to sit back and play a lot of long passes to the attackers. This might be perfect for a more counter-attacking approach but does not suite the fluid attacking style that I am after. Although, if I had a very good player then I would probably go with Roaming Playmaker role.

In all of my tactics I always prefer my playmakers to operate with the highest mentality possible. That's because you really want your playmakers to play more risky than the other players around them. Otherwise you might run into trouble when it comes to unlocking the opposition defences. Especially when that said opposition decides to camp deep in their own half when you are the superior team.

As a perfect deeplying playmaker Gérson was without the doubt the primary creative influence in Zagallo’s 1970 team. He was the main source of short link-up passes, whether to Clodoaldo (his midfield partner) or to the advancing full-backs. He also used his long passing range to his advantage to support the players further forward. As one of the Five 10s, for which that team was famous for, Gerson also attempted some well-timed late runs into attacking areas. It is a good trait to have on your deep playmaker (but only if he possess above average Off The Ball attribute). Gerson was there not only to create chances for teammates but also occasionally to take a shot on goal himself. In the game, I think DLP role is a good "conservative" representation of Gerson. Especially at a lower league team. Otherwise, as I mentioned earlier, RPM would be my choice.

That would be my choice for a really good playmaker who possesses a well-rounded set of mental attributes. And is comfortable in both attack and defence. Then without a doubt I would use Roaming Playmaker (RPM). Like a more creative Box-to-Box midfielder, RPM works very hard and does far more defensively than a Regista would for instance. And to have your RPM start from a deeper midfield position is an ideal solution to take full advantage of his excellent work-rate and defensive abilities.

Image Above: Albert Sambi Lokonga - a very versatile player who I love to play either as my right fullback or as any one of the two midfield roles. Could even be a decent roaming playmaker. Small loss for Braga's "big brother" Arsenal and big gain for Portuguese Arsenalistas.

Due to the nature of the two-men double pivot I have no choice but to play my other midfielder, the Clodoaldo role, in a more defensively-minded role. But again it does not mean that he necessarily has to be a destroyer or has to stay back at all times. While RPM can be a very hard-working role in midfield, it is by no means a "holding" midfielder role. Your RPM will often venture forward during attack, and so needs someone to act as a stable defensive metronome in deeper midfield to recycle possession and to break up opposition attacks.

You can see in this artistic representation of 1970 Brazil during in-possession phase Gerson really tended to venture above the midline in order to better link up with the four attackers. And if you manage a good team then I would encourage this type of movement (especially if you play him in a deeper DM position). The idea being that with greater risks there come more rewards. With a less capable team, I would definitely prefer to keep a more balanced midfield. Some of you might condemn this as my shift away from the the "true" recreation of 1970 Brazil. So in my humble opinion, a simple DLP might be a far better choice for a weaker team. Or in my "Arsenalistas" Braga case, a role that I would switch to when faced with tougher opposition in the Champions League.

But coming back to the Clodoaldo role. This role gave me most headaches in testing. As I was not truly happy with it, no matter what role I chose. In my recent tactic, I settled on the carrilero role and the interaction with the DLP(S) seems to work very well. Both roles are adventurous enough to give good support to the attackers but on the overall positive team mentality they don't go roaming around and leave their defensive positions too much.

In true Brazilian fashion, Clodoaldo was not a true "destroyer" in the stereotypical sense of that term. He was simply less creative than his midfield partner Gerson. But he was not completely focused on shutting down the opposition and regaining the ball either. Clodoaldo had some supporting responsibilities as well, especially on the more attacking right-hand side of the tactic. Over there you needed another midfield link-up player if Gerson's long pass missed the wingback or inside forward. The more defensively-responsible midfielder Clodoaldo would still be there to pick up the ball and pass it to the runners. So his combined duty was to provide defensive and supporting coverage on the right side of the midfield.

As an interesting aside, Since the start of the season I usually had at least 5 out of 6 of my front players with "plays one-twos" trait. I think it adds an interesting dynamic to this tactic that is rather hard to recreate with any other instruction. Essentially it adds a lot of quick-passing vertical movement to the whole formation. Something that I was after with my Brazilian recreation!

 

In the image above, I have changed the right winger, the creative attacking Jairzinho role, from Trequartista to a less exotic Inside Forward (with one added individual instruction).

However, the idea behind the "Jairzinho" role still remains the same. It is made for your most creatively "explosive" attacker. Someone who is given a freer role to dribble, cut inside and shoot on goal or to pass to a teammate if no shooting options available. So essentially an intelligent, technical attacker who is given more leeway to affect the game in opposition half however he sees fit. Its not quite Raumdeuter role as I prefer him to employ his superior technical skills to control the ball and to be active both off the ball and on the ball (not just off the ball like Raumdeuter).

So there you have it, my ideal 4-2-3-1. A little different from the original Brazilian inspiration since I was trying to adapt to my team to give it a bit more defensive/attacking balance. In that respect, I really wanted to have a more attacking winger complimented by a more adventurous midfielder (carrilero that shuttles between boxes but does not venture into them like B2B midfielder) and more conservative fullback. While at the same time my less attacking left winger is backed up by a more defensively-responsible player (DLP with hard-coded "hold position" instruction) and a more adventurous fullback. Every role really manages to fit nicely to complete this jigsaw puzzle of a formation. And next we will move to the results, the best indicator of a good tactic.

To Be Continued with More Tactical Musings...

Really good read this update, I’m starting a save with Vitoria and will implement a lot of these ideas into my tactics! 

[crusadertsar]

Revisiting Jogo Bonito: FM 24 Update

So I have been playing with a narrow diamond formation in FM24 for two seasons now and I'm really liking the solid style of football it produces. It offers just the sort of decisive verticality that I look for in my possession-oriented tactics. Something that is very doable, but much more tricky to achieve, with the traditional 433 which tends to get bogged down with wing play even when you don't want your players to attack by flanks. Maybe it's ME thing. While 4-4-2 diamond or Brazilian-style 4-2-2-2 allows you to easily and completely dominate the central area, to launch quick attacks and get to the opponents half in only a few touches. Vertical Tiki Taka at its finest! Two quick strikers and two creative hard-working AMCs with excellent Off the ball who always look to press high and flood the half-spaces. Beautiful Brazilian Game!

Just a little peek at what's brewing  The tactic that made me move away somewhat from my recent obsession with Defence-First football and move towards something with more flair and attacking punch. And I'm looking forward to sharing my tactical findings in the next couple of days. 

Edited January 16 by crusadertsar

[Birtan61]

Sorry to all of you for the bad English.

unai Emery Aston villa team plays this formation with a close tactic and I have been focusing on this lately. There is something different there, 1 of the 2 AMC players is in the role of winger. 
If I can add a picture of my work, I will add it here.

[GCVS00]

5 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

Revisiting Jogo Bonito: FM 24 Update

So I have been playing with a narrow diamond formation in FM24 for two seasons now and I'm really liking the solid style of football it produces. It offers just the sort of decisive verticality that I look for in my possession-oriented tactics. Something that is very doable, but much more tricky to achieve, with the traditional 433 which tends to get bogged down with wing play even when you don't want your players to attack by flanks. Maybe it's ME thing. While 4-4-2 diamond or Brazilian-style 4-2-2-2 allows you to easily and completely dominate the central area, to launch quick attacks and get to the opponents half in only a few touches. Vertical Tiki Taka at its finest! Two quick strikers and two creative hard-working AMCs with excellent Off the ball who always look to press high and flood the half-spaces. Beautiful Brazilian Game!

Just a little peek at what's brewing  The tactic that made me move away somewhat from my recent obsession with Defence-First football and move towards something with more flair and attacking punch. And I'm looking forward to sharing my tactical findings in the next couple of days. 

Looking forward to this!

[josh.miller92]

On 16/01/2024 at 14:48, crusadertsar said:

Revisiting Jogo Bonito: FM 24 Update

So I have been playing with a narrow diamond formation in FM24 for two seasons now and I'm really liking the solid style of football it produces. It offers just the sort of decisive verticality that I look for in my possession-oriented tactics. Something that is very doable, but much more tricky to achieve, with the traditional 433 which tends to get bogged down with wing play even when you don't want your players to attack by flanks. Maybe it's ME thing. While 4-4-2 diamond or Brazilian-style 4-2-2-2 allows you to easily and completely dominate the central area, to launch quick attacks and get to the opponents half in only a few touches. Vertical Tiki Taka at its finest! Two quick strikers and two creative hard-working AMCs with excellent Off the ball who always look to press high and flood the half-spaces. Beautiful Brazilian Game!

Just a little peek at what's brewing  The tactic that made me move away somewhat from my recent obsession with Defence-First football and move towards something with more flair and attacking punch. And I'm looking forward to sharing my tactical findings in the next couple of days. 

I’ve been trying (and failing) to do something similar myself! How have you got on?

[s3bofficial]

ansioso por leer esto, cuando lo subes?

[josh.miller92]

Did you ever get anywhere with this?
 

These days I’m constantly pondering ways to do anything that’s not a gengenpress. Catennacio is right at the top of the list but defensive positioning imo needs fixing first. The other alternative for me is a Jogo Bonito style of play with lots of expression and so working on this one with the new 07/08 database and would love to hear of any developments on this ?

[crusadertsar]

On 29/02/2024 at 06:18, josh.miller92 said:

Did you ever get anywhere with this?
 

These days I’m constantly pondering ways to do anything that’s not a gengenpress. Catennacio is right at the top of the list but defensive positioning imo needs fixing first. The other alternative for me is a Jogo Bonito style of play with lots of expression and so working on this one with the new 07/08 database and would love to hear of any developments on this ?

I am currently working on something Brazilian and with Positional Play elements. This year's ME is too good not to integrate the new position switching into any tactic, Jogo Bonito included. I love the fact that it made it easier than ever to defend (out of possession shape, the one you see in tactic creator) in one way and attack (in possession) in completely different way. For Brazilian football this means that the narrow Magic Box tactic is better than ever. Now we can actually have a decent way to defend the flanks while keeping the narrow attack and ball progression as lethal as ever before. Anyway I will write more in-detail on this soon. So stay tuned 

[GCVS00]

1 hour ago, crusadertsar said:

I am currently working on something Brazilian and with Positional Play elements. This year's ME is too good not to integrate the new position switching into any tactic, Jogo Bonito included. I love the fact that it made it easier than ever to defend (out of possession shape, the one you see in tactic creator) in one way and attack (in possession) in completely different way. For Brazilian football this means that the narrow Magic Box tactic is better than ever. Now we can actually have a decent way to defend the flanks while keeping the narrow attack and ball progression as lethal as ever before. Anyway I will write more in-detail on this soon. So stay tuned 

Can't wait!

[ElJefe4]

@crusadertsar Would love to see how you got on with this. I've tried to stay away from overly positional play this year despite the Match Engine leading us that way. Had success at Inter with a 4312 so would be really interested to see how you set up a 4222.