[Discussion] Man City's "box midfield" in possession feature request

[autohoratio]

Perhaps the biggest tactical talking point for us armchair analysts these past few months is Pep Guardiola's latest style of play. For the unfamiliar, what starts as a typical 4-3-3/4-4-2 out of possession turns into a 3-2-2-3 in possession, with either the right centre-back (John Stones) or right back (typically either Stones or Rico Lewis) stepping up into defensive midfield (usually alongside Rodri).

This article analyses the tactic:
https://halfspaces.substack.com/p/manchester-citys-evolution-the-box

As far as I'm aware, the utilisation of the centre back becoming a midfielder in possession (like the opposite of the Half Back role) isn't really possible in the current match engine, so this is what I'll focus on in my post. The inverted full back variant is possible in the match engine (some people have tried in this thread) with the Inverted Wing Back role, but I'm not sure how accurate that recreation is to how Man City play.

Here's an example of how I picture this working. Typical out-of-possession formation is a 4-3-3 or 4-1-4-1 here (blue team), but it could equally work as a 4-4-2:

When in possession, the DCR would then behave like a defensive midfielder - possibly a DM(S), VOL(S), DLP(S) for example - the DMC would shift over to accomodate, and the rest of the back four would now form a back three like so, with the wingers pushing higher up the pitch, creating a "WM" shape:

(link to the tactical-board scheme if you want to play around with it: https://tactical-board.com/f8d5647d5c4f39_bfuk)

I think it should stand to reason that, to successfully make this tactic work, you need to have good players relative to the opposition, and Pep of course has such a luxury: starting with four central defenders (Tony Pulis eat your heart out). First. a centre back equally as comfortable in the middle of the pitch (DCR/John Stones), and two centre-halves with excellent on-the-ball skills who play as full-backs out of possession (DL/Nathan Ake, DR/Manuel Akanji respectively), and DCL/Ruben Dias in the middle who is excellent all-around. With these players providing cover, the DMC can perhaps be less physical - e.g. Bernardo Silva has played in this role a few times, but on the other hand Rodri, the starting DMC is also tall and very strong. De Bruyne and Gundogan, but also B. Silva and Foden, play the two advanced CM roles. The wingers, who stay high and wide to stretch play, are incredible technically - ML/Grealish and MR/Mahrez - and almost form a front three with the STC/Haaland, who is the main reason Guardiola came up with the system in the first place to extract the best from!

There are of course drawbacks: Pep has stated publicly that Kyle Walker (who he previously used to play as an IWB) isn't a good fit for the DR or DCR role in this system. Joao Cancelo as well found himself no longer starting matches as he was unsuited to this new DL role (and was promptly shipped out on loan after complaining).

Is it too soon to suggest that this system be implemented into FM? 

I've marked this as a [Discussion] thread rather than a fully-fleshed-out [Suggestion] Feature Request - feel free to comment on things I've inevitably missed/poorly explained or misinterpreted.

[autohoratio]

So, a few ideas on how the Stones role could work in the game:

I think it would have to be a role in the DC position, as formations in FM are that of the out-of-possession phase. How far advanced the player then progresses up the pitch when the team has possession should probably depend on the team Mentality: on Balanced, it would make sense to not advance higher than, say, a DM(d) does. On Positive Mentality, that could become as advanced as a DM(s). On Attacking, the player could advance as much as a VOL(a) or even a BBM(s) and progress into the final third when the opportunity arises.

Another option would be to give the role multiple Duties - Three Duty options (d/s/a), whereby Support Duty would be the "standard" one behaving as described with team Mentality, Attack Duty would be "one notch more advanced" when the team is in possession, and Defend Duty would be "one notch less advanced" when the team has possession. Or two Duty options (s/a) where Support would be a slightly more conservative and Attack slightly more advanced. I can imagine these being quite subjective and might not be how others picture the role should behave.

How the role behaves in transition is another area of discussion - Pep has/had Stones playing as a midfielder even during transition when the team has lost the ball, only dropping back to form a back four when the opposition entered the final third. I think this behaviour is important to how the role functions, as with a mid block or high press it provides a 3-2-2-3 pressing structure and allows the team to win the ball back high up the pitch. I think the role should only drop back to reform the back four before the final third if the Low Block team instruction is selected. When the team has just won the ball on the other hand, it shouldn't be a role to lead a counter attack - the player should look to lay the ball off to a more advanced player with space to run into.

For Player Instructions, Hold Position PI should only be hard-enabled on Defensive Mentality if at all. On Cautious and Balanced, no Freedom of Movement instructions should be enabled. On Positive and Attacking, Get Further Forward would make sense to be hard-enabled.

Finally, as for what the role should be called (so I don't just called it "the role" all the time ), may I suggest "Progressive Center Back (PCB)"?

[Zachary Whyte]

Thank you for the very detailed suggestion. The developers will review this further.