Luizinho

I’m using the same shape with Barca, what issues have you been having?

Interesting, as I do want my DMC to mark the space their dropping into. With the above in mind, what scenario wouldn't want to use the 'always mark tighter PI' OI on opposition strikers? It's something I will experiment with in the future. Wasn't aware of this. I've been basing my thinking on the bar representing the closing down intensity. @herne79 could I get confirmation on this please?

Yes I agree and it's important to factor to bear in mind that that their system could be well suited to deal with a high press. However, personally I feel there's a good balance of roles in my set-up to not leave the team too exposed, should possession be turned over. If I drop the high press/defensive line, I'd be ripping up the play book that has brewed a lot of success so far. Any suggestions on what could be changed, without sacrificing the system too much? Busquets and my central defender's closing down is set to around 33% of the closing down 'bar', which personally I'm pretty comfortable with to be honest. I don't think this explains him being so out of position. Perhaps we were in a counter-press transition? Having watched the replay back we had lost possession prior to this, but I don't think we were 'counter-pressing' as such. Could be something to remove in tough away games, as your right, it is an aggressive instruction and does leave you exposed (especially against top opposition). I feel Tight Marking their strikers would only exaggerate the issue of my defenders being dragged out of position. With my DMC going walkabouts and providing zero support/cover during the screenshot, I don't want my central defenders aggressively marking and being potentially pulled further out of position! Upon reflection I don’t entirely understand how my defenders allow Griezmann an opportunity, other than a missed interception or a similar uncontrollable action.

Nothing that hasn't been discussed on this thread in regards to roaming and closing down. (ie. I use 'more urgent pressing', then ask specific defensive players to close down less (DMC & DCs)). Feel free to try it, but honestly I don't see the appeal. All the roles that I'm using are specific to my players (Coutinho as an IF (s), Vidal as an CM (a), Saurez as an CF (s), Rakatic as an RPM). Not sure who you're managing, but I recommend using roles that compliment you're squad. Also a lot of teams sit back against Barcelona, so it's built around with that in mind (being the aggressor).

@Y2Jones Do you change the system if Bongiovanni is unavailable? If so, then how?

Just thought I'd share two observations from my match and see how or if I can rectify my system to better deal with Atletico's 4-4-2, when I next play them in the league. I also don’t want to comprise the football we want to play by changing to much to the opposition and sacrificing our attacking play. The following screenshot was the main issue I was having over the course of the match, which I wasn't sure why would happen. One of the advantages I had over their system was I had an extra man in central midfield (3 vs 2). However as you can see in the screenshot above, all three of midfielders are drawn to the ball and my DMC (Halfback) is caught way out of position. Griezmann and Costa had acres of space to drop into to receive the ball and ball of central defenders out with them. My Halfback is instructed to 'close down less' to avoid this. Busquets is a clever player, so this shouldn't be an issue and doesn't have any weird PPMs. Bit confused how I could of fixed this other than putting a second DMC alongside him, but then I'm compromising my system to much I feel. The second observation I had, which again I'm not sure how I could of fix is highlighted below. Atletico retain the ball from a throw-in and Jaunfran puts a good ball into Griezmann who is unmarked, despite having five players around him. Frustrating as Pique and Lenglet are good markers and I'd expect this to be dealt with. Perhaps can put this down to good 'movement' from Griezmann combined with a lapse in concentration from all my defenders . They put a lot of crosses in (44) and were successful 12 being successful. They have good crossers of the ball, so perhaps defending wider and closing down their fullback is something for next time. Any thoughts of the above would be really helpful

I've had a lot more consistency since I last posted, by simplifying my approach and applying the theory and discussion from this thread. Keeping it simple has been the key for me so far in achieving what I wanted. Thanks again @herne79 For those interested, I've settled on the following set-up with an already very good Barca squad: I have my IF (s) on the left to ‘stay wider’, which creates more space for the CM (a) to attack. The CM (a) does change to a Mezzala (a) depending on personal available. The Inverted Wing-Back allows me to have an aggressive CM and the balance works great on the left with the IF (s) keeping the width. Really happy with the football I'm playing and I've had the following results so far: Suarez has been in great form: The only negative has been my most recent fixture against Atletico Madrid, in what was our first big away fixture of the season. Despite a really positive 2-0 win at home against them earlier this season where they SUS with a 4-4-1-1 shape, we were most definitely outplayed away against their 4-4-2. It was thanks to a Messi inspired performance that we were able to grab a 2-2 draw. I struggled to work out where it was going wrong for us and ended up switching to Cautious and trying to clinged on. I’ve got some big games coming up with Real Madrid & PSG, so I’ll need to be better at spotting where things are breaking down in tough away games. I considered changing my RPM to a DLP (s) and my WB (s) to a FB (s) to try and get a bit more structure/discipline.

I agree. Perhaps try scaling back the ‘in possesion’ instructions to 3 or 4 and work your way from there. Sometimes ‘less is more’. Remember, the attacking mentality is aggressive. Even with some of your players having support duites, your team will still look to play direct and quick. The shouts your currently using are counter intuitive to this, so maybe have a deeper think about what your what your trying to achieve (what style of play). Personally I like the balance of Roles/Duties.

Yeah that's him. He's not the greatest Head of Youth Development in terms of generating in regens (personality).

Have you been able to change your Head of Youth Development, Guillermo Armor?

Seems strange that your tactical familiarity is so low. How many games have you used the tactic for?

Can a Mezzala play on the same side as an Insider Forward? To my understanding they both look to play in said half space, which would counter-productive, right?

Thanks for the detailed reply @Trimisiyu I guess it's worth pointing out that I'm not trying to directly replicate Herne's system, but merely trying to apply some of the principles. Upon reflection and re-reading the thread, I've removed some of the TIs (as like @CARRERA echoed earlier, too many is overkill). I've removed Lower Tempo which has helped, as we were moving the ball to slowly and it was quite easy to defend against. My thinking, which will hopefully explain my role/duty allocation, was the following... I knew I wanted to play Messi as a Treq in the AMR position, to recreate the role he's been playing in recent seasons. I want him to be the hub of the team and have complete freedom to roam and be a creative force. A Treq is also an assigned playmaker, so allows the team to naturally look for him more. He should also be goal threat by getting into the box when necessary. I then wanted Coutinho to do a similar jump on the left-hand side, looking to drop a little deeper to offer an additional passing option for the defence/midfield and help us overload the opponents in the midfield area. Finally Suarez as CF (S) to be all round striker, dropping deep and into channels, but also getting the box to be a direct goal threat. Vidal as B2B as it suits his attributes, but I also don't think a playmaker role (like a Mezzella) would make sense. I have Messi performing this role in that area and I feel it would make us very toothless, as it would be two playmakers effectively playing in the same area. A B2B would be a more direct runner, but also an option to the back three (DC, HB, DC) when the HB drops into defence. Otherwise I feel there could be a real disconnect between my defence and attack, with only my DLP being a 'link'. Also, I like Vidal in the MC postion as he helps with the pressing game (work-rate 20). I do appreciate my midfield 3 is quite passive, behind a relatively passive front 3, so this is something I need to think about. The two Wingbacks add width, as my AML & AMR are asked to sit narrower and I want to make sure I'm stretching the play. On the left-side, I now have my fullback as WB (A) to try and actively exploit the space Coutinho vacates and I've had some good combination play so far. I do agree I lack penetration, as I effectively have 3 playmakers (DLP, IF (S) and Treq) across the team which is probably overkill. Again, this is something I'll need to think about.

I'm soo disillusioned at the moment as I cant to get any kind of consistency. Playing as Barca and try to apply certain principles to my Barca save. After a really positive 1-0 defeat of Napoli at Home, we lose 0-3 away at Real Sociedad. To be honest, one goal was a counter from our own corner and another was a set-piece; but I'm not confident going into games. Without watching the match, can anyone see any glaring issues here? My BBM has 'Get Further Forward' to try and add some penetration (which I think is an issue). Edit: I've also just noticed I attempted just under 60 crosses, even though I tell the Wing-backs and WIngers to cross less.

How have your results been so far? I lineup fairly similar to this. My biggest question so far is the relationship between a Mezella and a Treq and whether they can compliment each other. Has anyone else used this combo?