Cleon

Like I said above, duty means more about what they'll do when on the ball. Without it they still defend as a traditional back 5, with a DM covering them

What do you mean 1 single defensive role? I have 3 defenders, DM, 2 wingbacks and 2 midfielders who all help defend too. The duties they all have are mainly for when we are in possession of the ball. When we don't have the ball they're just ordinary players. What do you think my players are doing when they lose the ball, just staying deep in the final third As for success and how well it performs, you be the judge;

I'll be updating this thread over the next week or so. Hope you all enjoy

Reserved five

Reserved four

Reserved three

The Regista is a brilliant role in Football Manager but I think a lot of people have the wrong idea about what the role is and what it does. So in this article, we will explore all the things it is and isn’t. We’ll also look at the other defensive midfield playmaking roles and discuss how they all differ from each other. The Differences The three different playmaking roles we can have from the defensive midfield position are; Deep-Lying Playmaker Regista Roaming Playmaker While these roles might seem similar, the main difference between the three of them is how they use the ball. While both Regista and Deep-lying Playmakers are creative midfielders who operate from deeper positions on the field, they tend to use the ball differently based on their specific roles and responsibilities: Regista: A Regista is primarily focused on creating goal-scoring opportunities and dictating the tempo of the game. They use their exceptional vision and passing range to unlock defences with incisive, penetrating passes that can change the course of the match. Regista often attempts riskier and more ambitious passes, as their primary objective is to create chances and break down the opposition's defensive shape. In possession, they tend to roam more freely to find pockets of space and receive the ball, allowing them to exploit gaps in the opposition's midfield and defence. Deep-lying Playmaker: Deep-lying Playmakers, while also creative and responsible for dictating the tempo, focus more on maintaining possession and recycling the ball. They use their passing ability to control the game, connecting the defence to the attack, and ensuring a smooth transition between the two. They are more likely to play shorter, safer passes to maintain possession and build up play gradually. While they can also deliver long-range passes and create scoring chances, their approach is generally more measured and less focused on taking risks. Deep-lying Playmakers tend to be more disciplined in their positioning, staying deeper and closer to the defensive line to provide an outlet for their teammates and contribute defensively when required. Roaming Playmaker: A Roaming Playmaker is a versatile and dynamic midfielder who moves around the pitch to influence the game in various areas. Their primary objective is to contribute to the team's offensive play by getting involved in build-up play, creating chances, and even scoring goals. They have the freedom to roam laterally and vertically across the field, making them difficult for opponents to mark and track. This constant movement allows them to exploit gaps in the opposition's midfield and defence, as well as link up with teammates in different areas of the pitch. They also like to bring the ball forward with their dribbling ability. Something the other two roles don’t really do. Roaming Playmakers are usually more involved in the physical aspect of the game, pressing opponents and engaging in duels to win back possession. Their energy and work rate is key to their success in this role. The main difference in how regista and deep-lying playmakers use the ball lies in their approach to possession and risk-taking. Regista's focus is more on creating chances with ambitious passing. While deep-lying playmakers prioritise maintaining possession and providing a link between defence and attack. The roaming playmaker utilises his dribbling more by default and likes to drive forward with the ball at his feet. You can customise the roles further with personalised instructions but the above are the basics of each of the roles. Hopefully, that gives you enough information to see how they differ and use the ball differently. The Regista - The Setup We know I already use a regista in a 3-5-2 formation. If you haven’t read the other two chapters of this series yet, you can here; [embed]https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/2023/03/13/the-blades-revolution[/embed] [embed]https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/2023/03/22/wide-centre-backs-overlaps-underlaps-and-more[/embed] In this setup, they are responsible for distributing the ball with accuracy and vision. Often with long-range passes, to initiate attacking moves from deep. The regista also acts as a link between the defence and attack, providing defensive cover when necessary but also pushing forward to support attacks. When he pushes forward, he doesn’t push as far as you think though. The regista's style of play emphasises technical ability, vision, and decision-making. They must be comfortable on the ball, able to read the game, and possess excellent passing skills. Additionally, they should be tactically aware, able to make quick decisions and have good communication skills to direct their teammates. One of the reasons this is important for us is because the regista progress the ball up the pitch by using their vision, passing range, and technical ability. They typically receive the ball from the defence, either through a short pass or a clearance. Then assess the situation on the field before deciding on the best option to move the ball forward. One of the primary ways regista progress the ball is through progressive passing, over long distances to find a teammate in a forward position. These passes can split the opposition's defence and create scoring opportunities. Another method is through short, quick passes to move the ball up the pitch. Registas often drop deep to receive the ball from defenders, and then use their close control and passing skills to move the ball forward to more attacking players. They may also use one-touch passing to maintain possession and quickly move the ball up the pitch. While less likely, the registas may also dribble the ball forward themselves, using their technical ability to beat opposition players and create space for their teammates. However, this is usually a secondary option, as the primary role of a regista is to distribute the ball and create attacking opportunities for their team. The Regista - The Data Let’s have a look at some of the data. As you can see, Tommy Doyle has had a really good season and is well above the league average for his position for all the important metrics. Here's why progressive passes are important for a regista: Breaking opposition lines: Progressive passes help bypass the opposition's defensive lines, allowing the team to advance into more dangerous attacking positions. A regista with the ability to consistently execute accurate progressive passes can disrupt the opposition's defensive organisation and create space for teammates. Dictating tempo: By completing progressive passes, a regista can control the pace of the game, allowing their team to dictate the tempo. This can help the team maintain possession, build momentum, and exploit weaknesses in the opposition's formation. Creativity and unpredictability: A regista who can consistently produce progressive passes is not only effective at maintaining possession but also adds an element of creativity to the team's play. This unpredictability can make it harder for the opposition to anticipate and defend against attacking moves. Allowing your team to gain positional advantages. Linking defence and attack: Progressive passes from the regista help to connect the defence with the attack, ensuring a smooth transition from one phase of play to another. This can be especially important in countering high-pressing opposition teams. Assists and goal-scoring opportunities: Accurate and well-timed progressive passes can lead directly to assists or goal-scoring opportunities, as they can put teammates in advantageous positions to take shots or create chances. Progressive passes are essential for a regista as they contribute to breaking down the opposition's defence, controlling the tempo of the game, and creating goal-scoring opportunities for their team. A regista with a wide range of passing skills, including the ability to make accurate progressive passes, is highly valuable to their team's overall success. It's important to note that the chances created metrics for a regista will vary depending on their team's style of play, formation, and the specific role assigned to them by the manager. A regista's offensive contributions should be considered alongside their ability to control the game, maintain possession, and contribute defensively. Chances created is a metric used to evaluate the offensive contributions of a player, including a regista. While the primary role of a regista is to dictate the tempo and control possession from a deep-lying position, they can still contribute to the team's attack by creating chances for their teammates. Chances created metrics can be broken down into several key components: Key Passes: A key pass is defined as the final pass or assist that leads to a shot or a goal-scoring opportunity for a teammate. A regista with a high number of key passes is effective at breaking down defences and creating opportunities for their teammates. Expected Assists (xA): Expected assists is an advanced metric that quantifies the likelihood of a pass resulting in a goal, considering factors such as the location of the pass, the type of pass, and the position of the receiver. A higher xA indicates that a regista is providing high-quality chances for their teammates, even if they don't always lead to actual assists. Through Balls: Through balls are passes that bypass multiple defenders and put a teammate in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper or in a clear goal-scoring opportunity. A regista skilled at executing through balls can create dangerous situations for the opposition's defence. Long Balls: Long balls are passes that travel a significant distance in the air, often bypassing multiple opposition players. A regista who can accurately play long balls can help switch the point of attack or exploit open space behind the opposing defence. Crosses: While regista generally operate in central areas, they can occasionally deliver crosses from deep or wide positions, providing another means of creating chances for their teammates. Accurate crosses can lead to headed attempts or volleys, resulting in goal-scoring opportunities. Set-Piece Delivery: Registas who are proficient at delivering set-pieces (corners, free-kicks, etc.) can create additional chances for their team. Accurate set-piece deliveries can lead to clear goal-scoring opportunities or force errors from the opposition's defence. The Regista - Match Analysis People have the wrong idea about the regista and think he ventures forward most of the time. But that’s not true. If he takes set pieces or under certain circumstances, he might venture forward. Outside of that though his movement is more horizontal than vertical. Have a look at this; For the sake of this example, I was on attacking mentality, aggressive pressing and a high defensive line. As I wanted to illustrate just how deep the role actually plays.90% of the time, the regista operates in the yellow box. Moving side to side to offer a deep passing outlet. As mentioned above it's not normal behaviour for him to be more advanced than his. If you play on a lesser mentality then the role will play slightly deeper than this yellow box. A lot of people seem to have this idea that he plays high up in the final third but he doesn’t. His positioning is very similar to how a deep-lying playmaker would position himself. This is why key passes and progressive passes are vital to his play. By him staying deep in this yellow box he can recycle possession should we lose the ball high up the pitch and the ball is cleared by picking up the loose ball. He can then do many different types of passes to keep the move going again. In this example, Tommy Doyle stays deep and offers a passing outlet for the wide centreback. But the rest of the team has already made attacking runs forward. This means that when Tommy Doyle receives the ball he will have time and space on the ball and be able to pick out the pass. What the rest of the side does with their movement is vital to what the regista does next. Now when he receives the ball he has three passing options, all come with different degrees of difficulty attached to them. This is the safe option as his marker is behind him, so he should be able to receive the ball at his feet without too much difficulty. This could see the ball played back to Tommy Doyle though as there are not many options for this player to progress the ball himself. Could this one be the safer option? I’d certainly say it would be and would put us on the front foot. If the ball is played to this player then the whole pitch would open up too when the opposition tries and deal with the threat. The most difficult and risky pass would be this option. There’s a player who could potentially cut out the ball or the high ball. But if he played the ball between numbers 2 and 3, then chances are one of them would be able to get onto the end of it. Tommy Doyle ended up choosing the second option, as McAtee dropped off the front creating space. Remember earlier in the series when I spoke about asking the wingback to sit narrower? Well, this also plays into that. Once McAtee gets the ball he sees the wingback has continued his forward run. One simple pass to him and we are in on goal. It’s a really simple move. But it’s an important move because we see the stuff I’ve spoken about in the other articles in the series, all playing out and linking together. In this example, we have just won the ball back and the advanced forward is already making a run for it as he has faith in Tommy Doyle to find him. This is a really risky move but if it works it puts us on the front foot and with a possible 2v2 situation. If it doesn’t work then we give possession away. I enjoy these types of passes but perhaps not all the time, which he doesn’t do. But if you use a regista then you have to be prepared for these types of things as this is what makes him and the deep-lying playmaker differ. It becomes risk vs reward. When evaluating the risk versus reward of a regista's risky passing, it's essential to consider both the potential benefits and drawbacks of such passes. Risky passes can be defined as those with a lower probability of reaching their intended target, such as long balls, through balls, or passes that attempt to split multiple defenders. These types of passes can significantly influence a team's offensive capabilities but also come with inherent risks. The rewards of risky passing for a regista include breaking opposition lines, as risky passes can bypass multiple opposition players and disrupt their defensive organization, creating space and opportunities for the attacking players. Successfully executed risky passes can lead to clear goal-scoring opportunities, as they often put teammates in advantageous positions to take shots or make final passes. A regista who consistently attempts risky passes adds an element of unpredictability to their team's play, making it harder for the opposition to anticipate and defend against attacking moves. Furthermore, risky passes can exploit gaps or mismatches in the opposition's defence, capitalising on individual errors or moments of disorganisation. However, there are risks associated with risky passing for a regista. These include the loss of possession, as risky passes have a higher likelihood of being intercepted or misdirected, leading to potential counter-attacks by the opposition. Failed risky passes can also disrupt the team's shape, leaving the team exposed defensively, as players may have moved out of position in anticipation of receiving the pass or supporting the attack. Unsuccessful risky passes can squander promising attacking situations, especially if safer and more effective passing options were available. Repeatedly attempting risky passes without success can negatively impact a regista's confidence and, in turn, affect the morale and cohesion of the team. But if it’s more risk you want, I highly recommend the regista........

The Idea Behind Wide Centre-Backs So, back when Sheffield United was still in League One, they were having a tough time trying to score goals. They just couldn't seem to break down the opposing teams' defences when they sat deep. That's when Alan Knill, who was the assistant boss for the Blades at the time, was given the task of finding a solution to this problem. After thinking long and hard about it, Knill came up with a clever idea: he told the team's centrebacks to overlap with the wingbacks during attacking plays. This created an advantage for Sheffield United in the final third of the pitch, making it harder for the opposing team to defend effectively. With more players in the attacking third, the team was able to stretch the defence and create gaps to exploit. This tactic proved to be a game-changer for Sheffield United. The use of overlapping centrebacks was not a common strategy at the time, so opposing teams weren't really prepared for it. It also made the team less predictable and more dangerous in the attacking phase of play. Thanks to this tactical adjustment, Sheffield United was able to create more scoring opportunities and eventually earned a promotion to the Championship. It just goes to show how a little creativity and outside-the-box thinking can make a big difference on the pitch. Wide Centre-Backs in Football Manager 2023 So how does this strategy work in Football Manager 2023 and how do we implement it? The idea stays the same as above. In this tactical approach, Sheffield United focuses on identifying opportunities to advance into wide areas where there is space and a chance to create a 2v1 scenario against an opposition defender. The Wide Centre-Back These are the settings the role has; There are a few things here you can customise to alter the behaviour of the wide centre-back and what they offer in terms of output. I use these settings as additional tactical tools against specific formations and shapes. Or against different types of blocks. I’ll cover this in more detail later and show examples. The Wide Centre-Backs It might not sound like much but in the first season, my wide centrebacks managed to get 18 assists between them. All of them are from open play. After gaining promotion, our wide centre-backs achieved 15 assists between them the season after too. This is great considering we were a new team playing in the Premier League and were expected to get relegated. So we proved what we are doing works and is sustainable, even at a higher level. But what exactly is “working”? It's Not All Overlapping Centrebacks -Wide Centre-Back Analysis Let’s take a look at some match analysis so we can delve deeper into what makes the wide centre-backs so important for the system we use. Then we can gain a real insight into how they become overlapping centre-backs. This was straight from a kickoff but there is an awful lot going on, already. As the ball is played back, it’s picked up by the wide centreback. Who then immediately starts to drive forward with the ball. Max Lowe, also starts to move forward too. Allowing us to keep the width and potentially cause an overload down the channel or free up space centrally, to play in the box-to-box midfielder. On this occasion, it’s neither an underlap nor an overlap in play. But I wanted to highlight this as it’s really important. Not everything the wide centre-back does will be an overlap, he also does some brilliant play outside of those. Overlapping runs are just one part of the role but not all the player does Here we see he has run wide with the ball and Max lowe is continuing his run forward. What this has done is, occupy the opposition's wide player. As he has had to continue his run to follow Max Lowe. If he pressed the wide centreback, we’d have passed the ball to the free player in Max Lowe and taken him out of the game. Instead, here we have the box-to-box midfielder in acres of space and able to receive the ball from a pass. This would then open up the entire pitch for us as there are now gaps and lots of space for the rest of our players. So if the pass is played, we can then look at playing in the forward players. This example is really important because it is what wide centre-backs do. They don’t just overlap, their game is much more expansive than that. Sheffield United used them to create overloads or open up space centrally. We are also recreating this in game terms. So the idea behind the wide centre-backs and what we expect from them becomes; Overlaps Underlaps 2vs1/Overloads Opening central space Each time he goes forward it forces the opposition to react. When the opposition initially reacts it will determine which of the above is more likely to happen. If there is space to run into the wide centre-back will do just that. If he can overlap, he will. If he can underlap he will. If he can pass he will. Or he can even hit devastating direct balls at the attacking players. He will likely rank high in the team's progressive passes stats. The whole idea of wide centre-backs is more than just overlapping. It’s about forcing the opposition into making a decision and that decision being wrong. No matter what option they choose, the goal is to have one of the other options available too. This is why shape is the most important thing here. You need to surround them with roles and duties which allow them to flourish and deliver the performance you need. There is much more to the wide centre-back than just using the role and expecting them to do everything you need. You have to force the type of player you want or encourage it more by the team/player instructions and the roles around them. The Wingback Before we look at the analysis for the wide centre-backs and discuss how it functions. We first need to know about the wingback because they do specific things that enable the wide centre-backs to shine. I have asked the wingbacks to sit narrow in the team instructions. I’ll now show you why and what the benefits of this are. We had just attacked but there was no forward passing option for the Mezzala to use. So rather than give the ball away, he can pass it back to the right-sided wingback. By sitting narrower, he is closer to playing with the central players. This then enables the wide centre-back to overlap and go beyond him by making an intelligent run. Or allows him to become a passing option who can then drive forward with the ball at his feet. Once he gets the ball, then he has plenty of decisions to make. He can whip the ball into the box, across the face of the goal and hope someone gets on the end of it. There are three options here. Or he can play it back to the wingback who will be unmarked. If the wingback wasn’t asked to sit narrower, then this likely doesn’t happen and they’d be closer together on the wing. Which would be an absolute waste. There is no need to have two players out this wide. But that’s not to say the wingback doesn’t stay wide and run the touchline when the timing is right. He still does as can be seen at the start of the article with Max Lowe. On this occasion, he passed the ball back to the wingback who is acres of space. But sadly lacked the vision and composure to do anything useful this time. So it’s a wasted opportunity. Although it does show you the kind of link-up play to expect from the wingback. I should also add that I don’t instruct the wingback to sit narrower in every game, it depends on the formation I am playing and the team. If it’s a team who uses a wide formation like a 4-4-2, or 4-3-3 for example, I will then. As it allows him to pull away from the opposition's wide players and pick up little pockets of space when we have possession of the ball. If I was facing a narrow formation like a 4-4-2 diamond or a 3-4-2-1 then I might instruct him to stay wider. Then will then allow us to stretch the pitch and force the opposition's only wide players to become isolated and detached from the rest of the side. I’ll be going more in-depth on these types of strategies in the coming weeks with the rest of the series. But in this game, he sat narrow allowing the wide centre-back to be the main wide player and the one stretching play on the overlap. Breaking Sides Down With Space And Movement One of the most significant challenges that people face while playing Football Manager is breaking down sides. This is a common topic on forums, blogs, and Twitter, with many users sharing their experiences of beating the top teams one week, only to get defeated by the bottom teams the next. One of the primary challenges we face when playing against these types of teams is their ability to limit space in the final third. Space is essential in football as it provides players with time to make decisions and select their passes accurately. However, when facing a compact and deep-defending team, it becomes difficult to find space for through balls, crosses, or lofted passes into the box. As a result, players may struggle to create the half-yard they need to make a successful play. Therefore, alternative strategies are required to break down these teams when conventional tactics are not effective. Many football players opt to adopt a more attacking strategy when faced with a team that sits deep, but I personally believe that this only exacerbates the problem. By pushing players further up the field, you are effectively compacting the limited space you have, reducing the likelihood of players making runs that can stretch or damage the opposition's defence. As I mentioned in the Football Manager Playbook, mentality is critical in football tactics, and this is especially relevant in this case. To be truly effective, you may need to create space and movement in deeper areas of the pitch, even if you're playing higher up. It's not impossible to create space and movement in the opposition's half, but it becomes much more challenging if there is no space behind the player. So, how can we effectively create space and movement? That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Say hello to the wide centre-back! Above we can see a little bit of everything that Anel Ahmedhodžić offers when we have possession of the ball. In this clip, he’s a bit behind the play because Brewster who was higher up the pitch won the ball. That doesn’t stop him from joining in the play and trying to be pivotal in the move though. As we see Anel Ahmedhodžić making his run to support Brewster, we see he goes beyond the wingback before checking his run. Some of you might think that both of these roles are too close together but this is why space opens up. Plus they’re not always like this. But in this instance, the wingback starts to make the underlap as he knows Anel Ahmedhodžić is about to receive the ball. Due to the wingback making a dummy run, he has now become the free man in the build-up play. He’s created space for himself meaning he can be passed to. This in turn means when he receives the ball, space will open up for the mezzala. Due to the markers chasing the ball and following the wingback. It also has a positive for Brewster too as he can continue his run into the box. In the clip we saw, we can see how space and movement is the key to unlocking defences. Initially, Brewster was running into a dead-end. But because the mezzala, wingback and wide centre-back were all working hard to offer support, it ended up as a really good scoring opportunity. Now we are beginning to explore everything the wide centre-back offers during a match. The wide centre-back gets an awful lot of pre-assists due to the example we posted above. A "pre-assist" refers to the pass or play that sets up the assist for a goal. It is essentially the second-to-last pass or touch that leads to a goal-scoring opportunity. For example, if a player passes the ball to another player, who then crosses it to a teammate for a goal, the first player would be credited with a pre-assist. Sadly FM doesn’t track this kind of stat yet. But if you watch games it is something you should notice now and again. We have another little example here; Due to injuries, I had to play Bogle as the left wingback for this game. We are attacking but there’s nowhere for him to really go. Sunderland are defending really strong and forcing us to backwards or side to side. But because the wide centre-back is pushed up, he is now the wide outlet. When he runs forward space opens up as Sunderland have kept a really strong defensive line. This means that Edwards who is the wide centre-back can choose the short option on the edge of the box. Or he has three players unmarked running into the box he can pick out. That’s exactly what he does here. He crosses it to the head of the mezzala who heads it home to make it 1-0. Anel Ahmedhodžić has brings the ball out of defence trait, which is a must-have if you want the player to dribble with the ball more often. I’ve used players without the trait this season and they’re more reserved in the initial build-up. So for me, this is a must. The gets the crowd going trait I don’t particularly care for. But he already had that and isn’t able to unlearn it, after trying. Play one-twos trait is really interesting as it encourages him to pass and move forward on a more regular basis. This trait can create some really good play down the flanks with either the wingback or midfielder on this side of the pitch. A simple one-two can change the pace of the game and take the opposition's marker out of play. Especially as we cause overloads down the flanks. I highly recommend this trait if the player has a little bit of speed too. The gets forward whenever trait encourages him to go past the midfield rather than hanging back more often. This is why he is so good at overlapping. Someone without this trait might do more underlaps than overlaps. Those are the traits I’ve been looking for in players or currently trying to teach them. As this adds to the style I am creating and what I want from the players. Ability to play out from the back: In modern football, wide centre-backs are expected to be comfortable with the ball at their feet and able to start attacks from the back. A wide centre-back should have good ratings in attributes like passing, composure, and vision to be able to contribute to the team's buildup play the best he can. Tactical awareness: A wide centre-back should be able to read the game well and make intelligent decisions based on the situation at hand. This includes attributes like anticipation, concentration, and decision-making. If he is tactically aware, he might find himself winning the ball back further up the field and giving you a real advantage with starting attacks from turnovers. Speed and Physicality: A wide centre-back needs to be physically strong and athletic to cope with the demands of the position, especially when facing pacy wingers. This includes high ratings in attributes like strength, acceleration, and agility. In the next article, we’ll talk about the midfield and how they link with the defence so far. I omitted quite a bit of stuff as I didn’t really want to cover the midfield in this section, even though there are a lot of crossovers.

This is a new series that we are doing on https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/ The Blades Revolution is a series of articles discussing Sheffield United and their 3-5-2 formation, in Football Manager 2023. This first one is just a little introduction to the series and what to expect. I don’t think I’m sensationalising things here when I say Chris Wilder is the best manager we’ve had in my lifetime. It wasn't flawless though and there were some flaws. But if it wasn’t for Chris, I’m not sure we’d be where we are now. He gave the lifeless club a new lease of life and more importantly, a real club identity. Chris Wilder’s time at Sheffield United might have ended some years ago now, but the foundations he’s laid are still being used by the club today. Paul Heckingbottom has carried on Wilder’s legacy and put his own twist on them. And controversially (perhaps?) does some stuff better than Chris. But without Chris, there is no Paul. Here I’ll recreate elements of both styles and implement this in my own way, in Football Manager 2023. While sticking closely to the key principles of both managers. Contents All of these will be separate articles that have a specific focus to them. Most of these will have several articles to them, like the Meet the players and the 3-5-2 Versus sections. Meet the players will take a look at the individuals I use for the positions and show you how I use an alternative approach to most. While the 3-5-2 Versus section will discuss in-depth how the formation plays against different shapes we come across. Talking about our own strengths and weaknesses against them and what we can do to limit our vulnerabilities. While also focusing on how we can make the most of our strengths. Overlapping Centrebacks Playmaking Wingbacks Meet the players 3-5-2 Versus The Blades Revolution - Playing style and Characteristics Overlapping Centre-Backs: Sheffield United's back three often includes overlapping centre-backs, providing extra width and support to the attack. We mainly play a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 formation depending on how you want to define the actual shape. But the shape we use isn’t actually important, it’s what we do during the game that is crucial and not how we line up in text format on the team sheet. One of the key features of Wilder's 3-5-2 formation was the overlapping runs of the centre-backs, which provide extra width and support to the attack. The wing-backs also play an important role in the team's attacking play, providing crosses into the box, cutbacks, passing options and stretching the opposition's defence. Fans of other teams always think they’ve seen this with other sides or their own. But they haven’t seen anything like the Sheffield United centre-backs overlapping. It does not just overlap they do, but they frequently get inside the opposition's 18 and 6-yard box. You’d be mistaken for thinking they were strikers at times with the deep positions they take up regularly. It’s not just on occasions this happens, it’s a frequent occurrence. They can often be seen overlapping, providing runners, crossing from deep and finishing off team moves deep inside the box time and time again. It’s still one of the main staples of our play under Hecky too. Who utilises Anel Ahmedhodžić in the role. In the 3-5-2 formation, the centre-backs often step out of the backline to provide width and support in attack. This is achieved by both wide centre-backs pushing up the field, while the other holds their positions in the back. The overlapping centre-back provides an extra attacking option for the team, helping to create numerical advantages and stretching the opposition's defence. This can open up space for the team's wing-backs to make runs down the flanks, and for the forwards to make runs into the box. In addition, the overlapping centre-back also provides extra defensive support when the team loses possession. By moving up the field, they can help to pressure the opposition and win the ball back higher up the pitch. Wing-Backs as Playmakers: The team's wing-backs play a crucial role in creating opportunities going forward, providing crosses into the box and supporting the attack Our wingbacks play like traditional wingers and are part of the reason our centre-backs overlap as often as they do. They all link together brilliantly in the opposition's final third, to create overloads. Strong Team Spirit: The team is known for its strong team spirit and togetherness, with players playing for each other and working hard for the collective cause. We favoured high-working players with exceptional teamwork over creativity. We didn’t really have that much flair or creativity on the side. Instead, we worked hard and the players all have defined roles and expectations within the tactical framework. There is more to the key characteristics of the Blades side during this era but these were the most important and the ones the tactical framework will be based on. We will explore others as the series progresses though. 3-5-2 General Overview Let us start with a general overview of the 3-5-2 formation so we know the pros and cons. Pros One of the main selling points of the 3-5-2 is the use of two strikers. Wingbacks provide width. Three central midfielders allow you to match most opponents in the centre of midfield. Quick transitions going forward Commits numbers forward with an aggressive midfielder and both wingbacks venture forward frequently. Good support from the central areas and wide areas. Cons The centre-backs can get dragged wide if the wingbacks are out of position or don’t deal with danger. Wingbacks can be exposed and doubled up on at times. Centre Backs can be wasted against one-man striker formations. That is the basics of the 3-5-2 in general terms. But it changes even more when you factor in the team instructions, player instructions, players, player traits, roles and duties. I could have quite easily gone with an attacking midfielder pushed instead of one of the central midfielders. But I felt this would then have become too similar to the Ibis stuff I've done; So we went for this instead; As this is just an introduction, I don’t want to go tactic-heavy just yet. I want to keep it all brief, as things aren’t quite as they seem. By that, I mean the ideas behind the players playing these roles and the tasks they do, are quite complex. That’s why we have individual articles for them planned. Some roles have many individual instructions against certain types of formations. We changed things up and adapt based on the shape we are playing. That’s why it is very complex and needs context adding. But this is the basis of what we are doing. It looks straightforward enough right? What might be surprising is that even though we play a 3-5-2 formation and are very strong in the midfield, our play actually happened in the wide areas. We had less than 20% of the ball in central areas, while the wide areas made up 80% of our play. This is why overlapping centrebacks and creative wingbacks are crucial to our play. While we did use an aggressive press, this wasn’t a high press, this was done in a midblock. We were happy to concede possession into our own half and then we’d press aggressively to win the ball back. Wilder - The Players Goalkeeper - Dean Henderson was an excellent shot-stopper, with quick reflexes and good positioning. He wasn’t the best player with the ball at his feet though and was also prone to having a lapse in concentration. He perhaps (early on in his Blades career) didn’t come off his line as much as he should do or command his area. This is why we’ve gone for a standard keeper role. RWB - As a wing-back, Baldock was responsible for making runs up and down the right flank, overlapping/underlapping with the right-sided centre-back and providing crosses into the box. Perhaps not the most prolific player we had. But his pace, work rate and dribbling always meant he was a danger and could make something happen. Even if his final ball wasn’t always the best. However, Baldock's role was not just limited to attack. He was also formidable for defending the right flank and tracking back to help out his team in defence. He is a tenacious defender, who is not afraid to make tackles and interceptions and was always willing to put his body on the line for the team. LWB - Enda Steven’s was similar to Baldock's but perhaps more attack-minded when he had the ball. But he couldn’t defend as well as George can in my opinion. But was still a threat and more than solid enough. This is why we went for a support role here. That likely sounds contradictory but let me try to explain. By using a support duty he should be encouraged more to be involved with the build-up and allow him to be more attacking due to his initial positioning on the pitch. Most of our good play under Wilder happened on the left side. Or the majority of our scoring opportunities came from the left side of the pitch. We seemed to overload the left side more due to how we were set up. The right side of the pitch was our more aggressive side though, due to Baldock’s pace and Basham’s overlapping. WCB (Left side) - Jack O'Connell is an excellent ball-playing centre-back, comfortable with the ball at his feet, and was tasked with starting attacks from the back. O'Connell's left-sided position in the back three allowed him to push forward and overlap with Enda Stevens on the left flank. This provided an additional attacking outlet for the team and helped to stretch the opposition's defence. O'Connell was also an excellent communicator and leader on the pitch. He was constantly organizing his teammates, providing guidance and instructions to help them maintain their shape and focus throughout the game. WCB (Right side) - Chris Basham was very much the same as Jack above. But possibly more aggressive in his directness. Opposition fans used to laugh when they’d see him launch a 40-yard run and take on several people in the process before having a shot inside the box. Basham lacked pace and people often saw him as being limited. But any Sheffield United fan will tell you that it wasn’t unusual to see him pop up in important areas or take people on. He earned the nickname Bashambauer for a reason! CB - John Egan’s role in the side is what allowed the other defenders to push forward. They knew he’d keep his position and clean up any balls over the top. Very rarely would he venture forward outside of set pieces. MC (Central) - Norwood is an excellent passer of the ball and his ability to dictate the tempo of the game was a key feature of Sheffield United's style of play. He was comfortable dropping off and collecting the ball from the defence. While dictating the pace of the game he is also capable of switching play to either flank. Not only that but he can also do pinpoint 40 + yard passes too. Norwood really is the heartbeat of the team. MCL - I mean no disrespect when I say this but Fleck is a horrible midfielder. By that, I mean he’s like a little Yorkshire Terrier snapping at your heels constantly when pressing or breaking play up in general. But he is much more than that too. It’s not unusual to see him drive forward with the ball at his feet or pass the ball like he’s a playmaker. He’s a proper box-to-box player. MCR - For this role, I’ve based it on Mark Duffy rather than Lundstram. The reason for this is, Duffy was one of the attacking heartbeats of the side in our promotion season. Through ball, quick switches of play, dribbling, darting runs, he had it all. So it probably seems a bit weird why I didn’t give this position a playmaker role in the tactic. The reason for this is I don’t think that would have done justice to what he actually did for us. He was a goal threat as well as a playmaker. Using the Mezzala role allows the player's attributes to dictate how creative he is. This should allow the right player to get lots of assists and goals rather than just focusing on one of them. SCR - David McGoldrick (Didzy) wow where to begin here? Unless you are a Sheffield United fan (or Derby currently) then I don’t think you’ll understand just how good he was and vital to the system. A really flashy player on his day who has amazing technical ability. If it wasn’t for injuries I suspect he’d have played at a much higher level for a longer period of time. McGoldrick's work rate is amazing. He was often involved in the team's pressing game, closing down opposition players and helping to win the ball back in the final third of the pitch. He was a skilful player with excellent control and dribbling skills, and his ability to beat defenders. This allowed him to create space for himself and his teammates and was vital for the team's style of play. If we scored a goal it was unusual if Didzy wasn’t in some way involved in it, at some stage. SCL - Now a player that Blades fans love and all opposition fans absolutely hate. The legend, Billy Sharp. Give him the ball and he’ll score. It’s that simple. People think he’s a tap-in merchant but his play is a lot more than that too. For a player who is quite small, he was brilliant in the air, often out-jumping or out-muscling his markers and leaving them behind. He has a really competitive stream to his game. Now we have a rough idea of what I want or expect from the players I’ll be using. But there’s much more to it than that. In the next article, we’ll be focusing on the actual tactic and how it plays. We’ll be looking at the defence and talking about the wide centre-backs in great detail. I’ll show examples of what they do and how I can adapt the behaviour to give us advantages against different types of players and formations. Along with a more general analysis too. As I think a lot of people have the wrong idea about the role or are unsure how to implement it.

I really think people have the wrong idea about the regista from reading this thread. While the regista roams it's more side to side than pushing up into the oppositions half. He will only do that if you ask him to go further forward. The rest of the time he plays around the semi circle on the half way line and just roams around to either side of it. The regista is nothing like a box to box player and very rarely (unless you asked him to or its from a set piece) deviate away from the centre of the pitch. He'll roam side to side but not forward. I use one with a DLF/F9 in this set-up, I change the role between the two depending on what sort of defensive line I'm against. The yellow line is the area he patrols and will roam about there. The black line is as far as he will go with the ball or make runs as a general rule in open play. Once he reaches the black line he drops off again. And in this match it was a high line, attacking mentality and aggressive as we can be. he just doesn't go as high as people are making out. He's also great defensively and is much more strict with his positioning. In defensive scenarios he is no different to a DLP on defend. He's just aggressive with the ball and how he uses it. That's the only real difference between the regista and DLP. DLP is lots more sideways, backward and safety passes. The regista is more progressive and looking to put you on the front foot. It's the only difference.

The exact same roles (apart from the striker) and examples as I posted here in this thread; Almost the exact same wording in a lot of places too. Bit weird

This is taken from my website https://www.viewfromthetouchline.com/ It was written by guest author Throwing Copper A lot of people will be aware of the rapid rise of Will Still at Stade de Reims. The 30-year-old is the youngest head coach in Ligue 1 history and has caused a storm since taking over at Stade de Reims in October 2022. Will cites Football Manager as a major part of his footballing education and led the team to a long unbeaten run, including two games against PSG. In this article I’ll take a look at the main principles of Still’s Stade de Reims tactics and attempt to implement them in Football Manager 2023. FORMATION Like a lot of teams, Stade de Reims use a 4-2-3-1 formation. What sets it apart, though, isn’t exotic positions or complex player instructions, but instead a sound tactical structure and a squad of players who clearly buy into what William Still is trying to achieve. Let’s take a look at how the system works both in and out of possession. IN POSSESSION Normally, smaller-budget teams are quite conservative when it comes to attacking the opposition. Be careful to not commit too many players forward to avoid being caught out of position and punished on the counterattacks. That’s not the case though with Stade de Reims under Will Still. Refreshingly, each touch seems to be positive, with the intent of causing problems for the opposition. When in the final third the system, which is quite rigid defensively, springs into life and becomes more fluid, with lots of player movement. The defensive midfielders hold position, rarely entering the box, whilst the central attacking midfielder becomes a second striker, aggressively attacking the area. On the flanks, the fullbacks push up to stretch the opposition's defence and they regularly interchange positions with the wide attacking midfielders. The space created by the width leaves underlapping opportunities in the space between the opposition fullbacks and central defenders. One of the main improvements Stade de Reims have seen since Still took over is the number of shots taken from inside the penalty area. They aren’t just shooting on sight though. With the opportunity to make the extra pass being taken regularly, the xG per shot has also seen an increase. Build up When the ball is with the goalkeeper, Stade de Reims tend to line up in more of a 4-1-2-3 formation. This is achieved by one of the defensive midfielders pushing higher up, whilst the wide attacking midfielders push up high, in line with the striker. If facing heavy press, this gives good numbers upfield to win the first or second ball, should the goalkeeper or a central defender choose to bypass the pressure with a long ball. On the other hand, if they choose to try to play through the press, smart movement by the central midfielders pulls the opposition out of position, creating room for the wide attacking players to move into and receive the ball. If not being pressed, Stade de Reims are happy to play out of defence, through the central defenders. They’re neither a short-passing team nor are they a long-ball side. Each pass is focused on getting the ball forward and they take whichever option presents itself for the good of the team. One player who stands out for me is the right Attacking Midfielder, Junya Ito. The Japanese international is a constant threat and his position is forever changing. One minute he’s hugging the touchline like a traditional winger, the next he’s central and bursting ahead of the striker like an attacking inside forward or shadow striker. Recreating his impact is something I’ll look to achieve. OUT OF POSSESSION My favourite thing about this Stade de Reims team is the way they play when out of possession. Upon losing possession, Stade de Reims forward players aggressively counter-press. This counter-pressing has three purposes: 1 - to win the ball back in a dangerous position 2 - force a long pass which can be intercepted 3 - to slow down the opponent's attack, allowing the defensive players to get into position. If this counter-press isn’t successful, and in general out of possession play, the 4-2-3-1 transforms into a compact 4-4-2. By using the striker and central attacking midfielder to cut off passing lanes into midfield, the opposition is forced to move the ball wide. Once there, the 4-4-2 makes the flanks difficult to progress down and Stade de Reims can look to win back the ball. The mid-block the team falls into means there’s little space between the lines for the opposition to play and find time on the ball. Two defensive midfielders doggedly protect the defence, whilst hard-working wide Attacking Midfielders drop deep to form a bank of four. The counter-press isn’t the only area they’re aggressive in. They’re certainly not shy about getting stuck in, with the team ranking 1st for the combined number of tackles and interceptions in Ligue 1. Their commitment to winning the ball back is further evidenced by having the 3rd most yellow cards and 2nd most red cards. Note - Still’s determination to cut off passes into the centre of the park can possibly be seen by him using a natural defensive midfielder, Munetsi, in the AMC role. The defensive awareness, positioning and ball-winning abilities also help with the counter-press. TRANSFERRING INTO FOOTBALL MANAGER So now we know how Still’s 4-2-3-1 works in and out of possession, how do we recreate this in FM23? Here are the four elements I’m aiming to recreate: 1- Attack in a 4-2-3-1 with an aggressive central Attacking Midfielder pushing up alongside the striker. Generating a high number of high-quality shots. 2 - Recreate the influence of Ito in the attacking play. 3 - A disciplined, compact 4-4-2 in defence, forcing opponents out wide. 4 - An aggressive counter-press upon loss of possession. THE SEASON Now we know the style Stade de Reims plays under Still, as well as the main elements I aim to recreate, it’s time to head into the season. Ligue 1 in France is my favourite league to manage in so I’m excited about the challenge ahead. At the beginning of the season, we’re predicted to finish 13th. To ensure fairness I won’t sign any new players and the first transfer window will be disabled. The Formation: To begin with, I entered pre-season in a standard 4-2-3-1 with the Attacking Width set to Wide to encourage the ball to be played out to the flanks. However, this failed in two aspects: Recreating the 4-4-2 out of possession - despite the wide attacking midfielders being asked to mark the opposition full-backs, they still remained high up the pitch and didn’t fulfil their defensive duties. Not getting Ito involved enough. Whilst he was getting the ball, it was all out wide and not like he plays in Still’s system in real life. To counteract these issues I swapped the Attacking Width to Fairly Narrow and aimed to generate the natural width by asking the fullbacks to stay wide in their player instructions. I then knocked the wide players down into the midfield strata. This not only solved the above issues but also made us much more compact centrally. Here’s the formation I went into the season with: To get the forward-thinking play I’ve chosen a Positive mentality and selected Pass into Space which should create forward momentum. I’ve chosen Slightly Shorter passing directness which gives players the permission to pass in behind the opposition defence, when appropriate, where the pace of the Balogun and the Attacking Midfielders can cause problems. Moving into the final third, I’ve selected Work Ball into Box to make sure the players forge high-quality chances. Coupled with the Be More Expressive instruction we should see good movement and positional changes, with players looking for pockets of space to exploit. Out of possession we counter-press much more often and sit in our mid-block with the instruction to get stuck in. Sticking with the aggressive theme, the defence is asked to step up to challenge the ball as this should help to squeeze the space in between the lines. With the formation and tactics set it’s time to head into the Ligue 1 season… The Results: Well, we defied all pre-season expectations and managed to secure European football by finishing 4th. In doing so we scored 70 goals and conceded only 34 which both ranked 2nd behind PSG. Speaking of PSG, they won Ligue1 at a canter, but how did they do against Stade de Reims? With Will Still hitting the headlines for securing two draws against Christophe Galtier’s squad of superstars, I saw this as a yard-stick to measure my version of his system against. Note - I didn’t change the tactics or team instructions versus PSG. I played them exactly the same as all the other teams. In the first meeting of the two sides, we were very unlucky. I thought we’d rescued a draw when Balogun scored in the 89th minute, however, we fell to a very late defeat after Sarabia netted in the 95th minute. As you can see from the stats, we won the xG battle and deserved at least a draw in what was a fun, open game. The second game saw a much stronger PSG performance, in which most of our chances were created off turnovers forced by our tenacious defence. Thankfully, we had a very in-form Balogun who netted a hat trick to give us a well-fought point. Although we lost one game I still feel I passed the test. Will Still probably disagree. THE PRINCIPLES IN PLAY So, we know the tactic worked extremely well, as evidenced by our 4th placed finish, but did I succeed in meeting the four elements of play outlined earlier in this article? 1 - Attack in a 4-2-3-1 with an aggressive central Attacking Midfielder pushing up alongside the striker. Generating a high number of high-quality shots. Despite the wide Attacking Midfielders starting deeper, we still attacked in a 4-2-3-1 (and occasionally a 4-2-2-2) thanks to the Positive team instruction. This can be seen from the average positions when in possession, taken from the first game against PSG. It’s a clear 4-2-3-1 even in a game where we were pinned back for large spells. Average positions with the ball, versus PSG The aggression of the Shadow Striker role, used in the central Attacking Midfielder position was vital to our success: The image below shows Ito on the right flank, battling for the ball with two PSG defenders. Even though possession hasn’t yet been won you can see the Shadow Striker in this game, Munetsi (circled in blue), is already bursting towards the penalty area. Having this positive intent also helped when it came to counter-pressing when we lost possession high up the pitch. The advanced position of the Shadow Striker meant he was always around to either challenge the ball carrier or help Balogun cut off passing lanes. The player who started the most games as the Shadow Striker was Nathanael Mbuku. In 30 games he scored 9 goals with 6 assists and managed 0.78 shots on target per 90 minutes. Showing his commitment to his defensive role, he also won back possession 7.88 times per game. Attacking performance of the Shadow Striker, Mbuku Did we manage to create a lot of high-quality shooting opportunities? Yes, we did. The image below from the data hub shows we ranked 4th for shots on target per game and 2nd in expected goals-to-shot ratio. For a team ranked 10th for average possession (51%) that’s very impressive. 2 - Recreate the influence of Ito in the attacking play. After tinkering with the role of Ito throughout pre-season and the first couple of months of the season, I settled on an attacking Inverted Winger. This, along with an Underlap Right instruction, created some nice interplay with Ito and the right Full Back. He ended the season with 12 assists (tied 3rd with Neymar, behind Messi and Payet) and 4 goals with an overall average rating of 7.09. His performances really kicked on when I added the Roam from Position instruction, as it allowed him more licence to find pockets of space to exploit. He seemed to get on the ball more and boosted his influence on games. 3 - A disciplined 4-4-2 in defence, forcing opponents out wide. To achieve these two elements I had to use the following instructions: Ask the wide Attacking Midfielders to mark the opposition Full Back. Ask the central attacking midfielder to mark the opposition defensive midfielder. Use the defensive line to Step Up More to compact the space in between the lines. Tell the team to Trap Wide, which forces the opposition to the flanks. In the below image, you can see our plan working to perfection. Prior to this screenshot, Balogun and Munetsi had blocked off the centre of the park and forced the ball wide to Hakimi. Our left winger, Zeneli, was able to apply pressure whilst cutting off the short pass to Messi. Meanwhile, Munetsi was carrying out his role of marking Marquinhos (blue rectangle). The only options for Hakimi were to play back to the Central Defender or play a long ball forward. He picked the latter and it was easily cut out by our Central Defenders. Finishing the season with the second-best defensive record shows how difficult this system made it for opponents. The middle was cut off, and upon being forced to the flanks it was equally as difficult to make progress thanks to us having a wide Attacking Midfielder and a Full Back positioned there. The passing map for PSG from this game shows they were unable to make much progress centrally, with our defensive midfield duo doing a great job. 4 - An aggressive counter-press upon loss of possession. Our pressing stats and the energy from the players were impressive all season. In the image below you can see that as soon as the ball was played from defence into Defensive Midfielder Marquinhos he was aggressively closed down by Munetsi (blue circle) from below and Balogun from behind. Our four midfielders are circled in yellow allowing you to see how two of them also committed to the press, whilst the other two remained disciplined in their defensive duties. Here, the press was successful and after winning the ball Balogun managed to drive forward and fire a shot narrowly over the bar. Our mid-block worked very well and helped the team to be very aggressive in counter-pressing, whilst retaining enough energy to see out games. We gained 43% of possession in the middle third which shows how effective the mid-block was. Our commitment to being aggressive in defence meant we committed the most fouls in Ligue 1 and received the most yellow cards. We also ranked 3rd for tackles won. We allowed 4.85 passes per defensive action which seems quite low, however, you have to remember we used a mid-block. Therefore we didn’t press as high as other teams, preferring the compact system instead. CONCLUSION I have to admit that this Stade de Reims team is a joy to manage. Whilst not the most talented or deep squad, the players are full of fight and determination. Will Still has clearly created a tactical system and philosophy to get the best out of this squad and it works. Not only in real life, but also in Football Manager. Balogun was brilliant all season long, scoring a massive 34 goals in 35 Ligue 1 game. The tactic plays perfectly to his strengths, with our positive play always looking to get him in behind the opposition defence and his teammates always looking to get him the ball in dangerous areas in and around the penalty area. Whilst I wasn’t able to put together a long unbeaten run like Will Still, I’ve shown his system is extremely effective and it’s made me fall in love with the 4-2-3-1 once again. Some of the football we played was tremendous and we had some excellent games against the likes of Rennes, Marseilles and OGC Nice. I was reminded why I love Ligue 1 so much. One minute I was comfortably beating Lyon, the next I was losing to Ajaccio and Brest. If you haven’t tried Ligue 1 before, do it! Now if you would like to try this tactic yourself in FM23 I've attached a download link for you - Tactic

It shouldn't matter that the idea is different, as its universal. It talks about the issues you've posted about and how to identify them and then fix/solve them. I post these exact issues you are having and showed examples of what fixes or stuff you can try. I'm not saying use the roles I used. I'm saying look at the details I posted and issues, and it answers your questions above

Have you had a read of this? It's pretty comprehensive all about the 3421. It talks about everything to do with the shape and what is expected of the positions. Also talks about issues, spotting them and finding solutions for them. I go into depth about spotting issues before they happen too.

This is great and you deserve a lot of credit for taking the advice from what I wrote and making it work for you. At the end of the day that's what my writings are for. For people to take the workings and implement it in their own saves and adapt it to fit them. Well done mate

There not the same thing at all. I wrote this a while back about what stepping up and dropping off do. I've seen a lot of confusion surrounding the defensive line and the new settings step up, drop off more. So here is a little something from an article I am writing; I use a high defensive line but in this scenario, we are slightly deeper than usual due to the shape of the opposition and how they set up. This impacts your own defensive line and can push it back. It’s worth noting that even with a high defensive line, it will look slightly different from game to game. So don’t expect high to always mean pushed up to the halfway line, lots of factors can alter the initial position. So here we can see the defensive line we are holding. The opposition player, Souza is going to drive forward or pass the ball. This is where your defensive line setting kicks into action. If you don’t use the step-up or drop-off more instructions then the defensive line will just behave like usual. But if you use the step-up instruction then in the image above, the players will be looking to step up at this point. As they know there is possible danger and you’ve instructed them to step up. So they’d look to reduce the space between the ball carrier/passer and play the attacking players offside. With the step-up team instruction, you are possibly conceding space behind your defensive line to reduce the space in front of them between the ball and themselves. If we were using the drop-off more instruction then they’ll be more cautious and if no one is pressing the ball immediately, then they’ll begin to drop deeper. So in this type of scenario, you’d conceded space in front of the defence to reduce the space behind them. This can be handy for cutting out those direct balls to the attackers or balls played over the top behind your defensive line. Rather than your defensive line remaining high and increasing the chance they’ll get turned and beat for pace you can minimise the risk of this as they retreat backwards. Allowing you to stay tight and compact.

There's nothing wrong with it, I'm just not keen on it myself. If you use two attacking strikers then the most important thing is, how do you constantly supply the ball to them? Even with the comes deep trait for the CF, he isn't really going to be a creator. With the roles you are using in your tactic, the only real supply the strikers will have is from the IW and it'll all be early crosses.

I answered them and told them, I made all the changes mentioned in the analysis piece after they asked. My response is literally below the reply you quoted 😂

I went from CM's to DM's not the other way The reason for this was to create extra space for the AM's so they could roam about more without having the CM's right there and on top of them.

I'll be wrapping this thread up in the coming weeks and adding the final chapters. As I'll be starting a new project.

Out of order for asking you to post proof, for something that shouldn't happen with the players in the AM slot, in my thread? Give over with yourself. You can't just go around making claims without showing the data. You don't have to post a dissertation, it's literally one metric You said you'd looked at data and now you haven't its just an opinion. That's fine. But that's how the internet and message boards and discussions works. It's not applicable to them as it shouldn't be happening. They're too advanced to get lots of progressive passes, so it's an awful metric to judge the player on. The data you have in game should not be listing progressive passes as a high metric for anyone in the AM slots. You said your data showed they do, I clearly asked you to post it as you said your data was likely skewed from playing a low-block. But again, that really shouldn't matter at all. It's strange eyeballing data though when the game tells you the metrics and data already though and is factual. If you don't like it, then perhaps don't engage in my topics where I press and challenge things like this.

Okay but you said your player was doing it now. So you already have the data in the game and don't really have to number crunch. Just post the progressive passes data that he currently has. You can add it to your screen overview on the squad page etc. Or post the players graphs/polygon. You mentioned you were experimenting with a low block and that's why the stats might be skewed. So on one hand you're saying you looked at the data and then when pressed on it and asked to show it, you say you're just eyeballing it. You really have to be careful posting stuff and passing it off as a fact and then turning around and making out it was just something you were eyeballing. As that is really misleading people and then people seeing it might take it as the truth when in reality, it likely isn't. That's how misinformation spreads and why people ask to post the data behind it.

Did you pause the game and look why he is being bypassed? Do any of the players have traits that are making him be bypassed as the setup above looks okay and he should be way more involved than he is. The SV should be getting lots of key passes so that is good. But perhaps he is the player with traits that is stopping the AP from being as involved as he should be? Nothing at all seems wrong here. From the feedback of the past 5 games you've played really well and haven't had many problems. Perhaps don't focus on the xG as much, as it's pretty pointless in FM imo. You have to be really careful with the pass map and trying to gain context like you have above. I've posted lots of them in the thread where it says my player wasn't involved and was isolated yet scored 5 goals. Remember that certain players in the system are set up just to finish the chances or create them. So the pass map doesn't take this context and present it in anyway. It's fine for the striker to only pass the ball for 5 times for example if he is having shots and scoring the goals. You also need to put into perspective the context of how your season should be. Is 7th in the table heading into December not overachieving? And while I did say the analysis can provide issues long-term that need to be fixed. I did also state the idea of how you want to play is something that happens long-term not from the very start. It takes time to make the small tweaks you need to make.

How are you set up? Post a screenshot of the settings you are using please

Go back and watch the goals again where it's the same thing happening over and over. Then pause the game and look at your players positioning when the player who crosses the ball receives the ball (not crosses, but receives). This will tell you a lot about what is wrong and why it's being so successful. The same thing when the AP gives the ball away. Pause it before he gets the ball and have a look around at how you are attacking and the players positioning. Then do it again before he passes the ball. This should help paint a clear picture and add context to why something is happening and then it's usually a quick, minor tweak to fix the issue.