davidbarros2

One of the best threads I've seem recently, congrats! You got me thinking about FM and football IRL aswell...

@Justified Glad to see reminiscences of your old La Furacao tactic

This reminded me of something else... How to maintain a formation but changing the playing style? There are pairings that work well together tho the system cannot be seen in isolation, but it's really easy to use a 442 or 4312 and get use of the wings to score by crossing... but how do I take on such formations and change (player roles or teams instructions) in order to score mostly by through balls? Or taking a wide system (442 or 442 wide diamond) but playing mostly though the middle? The tactical presets are a good help on spotting on some decent roles combinations but they lack some formations really, I can only see what a decent 442 looks like for wing play our direct counter, but if I wanna adapt some short passing game it leaves me clueless as I reckon the player roles used for it would be substantially different from the already existing presets... Or, you have a 4231 deep that work wonders, with a wide player being your most prolific scorer and the forward is used to create space, but you land in Haaland/Mbappe and want to make them the golden boot players. You don't need to do that (you just want to), but how to adapt the sysem that you already have to highlight the best from a player/position?

Amazing news! Even now revisiting some old threads I realize everytime I learn something new! I don't know if this qualifies but my biggest struggle is fixing what is wrong. I can analyse the stats and the match and see what is wrong but have few (or none...) clues for fixing it. In some threads you spoted a problem and have sometimes 3 possible solutions that sounds logical but it's difficult to have that insight when it comes to solve it by myself.

Let me also refer you to this one, it's great to see different views on the same subject (oh I miss the community challenges)...

You mentioned the AM on attack providing some penetration but lacking in ball circulation, and I've found exactly the same 'cause I started with an AM-A to begin with. The trequartista gives you a little bit of both, and that's why I suggested it. Glad I could help providing some food for thought in the end. Cheers!

No roles work in isolation, but from the midfield upwards I had success managing Santos in the Brasil Serie A using the same formation with 2 Carrilleros. On front of them I had a Trequartista, and up top a CF-S and an AF. Really simple stuff but it delivered good results.

Picking this up and also... in what circunstances would you play the 4231 and/or the 4222?

Yet another amazing run. I feel your pain towards Marega, he is the black sheep of my team IRL and I suffer that every single game How do you find Caicedo playing him in a not natural position? I do like to do that once a player is suitable so I can add a totally different skillset to that position. @Cleon had an amazing article about that named David Brookes I think.

Great campaign, even with champions league football in the mix. I know this season you won't focus on tactical explanation, but, can I ask why the change from MEZ-A to CM-A? Did you find that a mezzala run more/get tired and so it was unsustainable for a future golden oldie? Or was it other situation not related to fitness?

Great signings so far! Matuidi and Caicedo look amazing for what you're trying to achieve.

It would be awesome to see the good old libero back, like Lothat Matthaus at the end of his carreer Beware that the regista has lots of lateral movement, it can affect match fitness and with poor stamina atributes that could be challenging. Either way nothing like trying and testing, looking forward. Just one curiosity, when you switched formations haver you ever considered turning the anchor man into a half-back? I have no idea if that would've worked, but if I was in need of more presence in the box to deal with crosses I would first think of the role change and only then a formation change. By no means I want to tell you what to do, in fact I play the game the opposite as you do, I pick a formation and a style and make my players (and the opposition) deal with it as well bring new suitable players. Perhaps this is why I like this kind of threads so much, 'cause it shows a side of the game that I don't fully understand.

Yet again, amazing post. Really loving the rationale behind your tactical decisions, and so far, great campaign with Bremen! Just one question, are you having a better time desmembering teams that sit deep or playing defensive against you? This season Bremen is predicted to be top of the table my the media, but with such performances that shall be reevaluated next season or so, which means teams will be more cautious when playing against you. Have you considered progressing your style of play or just relying on upgrading your playing staff?

Amazing thread, looking up for the next update @toshimitzou1. You did a great job using the team reports to measure your strenghts and weaknesses, and you justified your tactical options including the likes of using direct passing + narrow width and offside trap + player in DM strata + low risk mentality (that saved me the trouble to ask your reasoning for that). And as it looks, you're getting results standing by the principles you wanted to implement. Looking up for the rest 'cause I really do like this kind of threads. Keep up the good work mate.

Amazing and full of depth analysis! Great reading!