vrig

Genuinely surprised by his attributes even before his form for United. Statistically he was among the highest performing defenders in Europe in a host of metrics last season. He basically deserves 2 boosts!

As a workaround, you could try playing them a strata up and using the wide midfielder role. Highly customisable, you can add any PI you want.

Potentially a headline feature for FM2027. The technology probably just doesn't exist yet!

Like Moyes said Paqueta can play "2, 3, probably more positions" in that side, so loads of options for a West Ham save. Wide playmaker, number 10, mezzala in a 433, whatever. With all the other options, plenty of reason for a West Ham save!

I know your post was attribute-focused but I think there's definitely something to be said for using contradictory traits and roles. A poacher with "comes deep" does some pretty interesting things. IWBs who run down their flank, wingers who cut inside and deep/roaming playmakers who get onto opposition areas are all good examples of players who will interpret the role completely differently to what's said on the tin. In that instance, you would need to slightly reevaluate what attributes are actually important. If your poacher likes to come deep, he better be able to pass it around a bit, and the game won't tell you that straight away.

If he gets de Jong, our initial build up phase will likely be close to the CL semi-final side, which would make 4231 my go to, probably with 2 DMs. I'd lean towards Regista for de Jong as they seem to collect the ball deeper and sit a little more behind the play. Wont exactly give you a back 3, but I'd personally rather recreate the on-ball play we saw from de Jong and I don't think any defend duty role will give him the freedom to dribble and roam around. Schone probably goes in as a DM(s) and van de Beek could be in the MF or AM strata, maybe as a CM(a) or an AM(s). If we don't get a de Jong, maybe he gets a Daley Blind instead - a fullback who can step into midfield. In that instance I'd go with an IWB, and a 433 based off the season gone would look more likely. The duty depends how much you want a back 3 or if you prefer to replicate the creative aspect of the role. The midfield there is probably something like DM(d/s) with Gravenberch a BBM/RPM and Berghuis as a Mezalla - close to what you've got actually. As to the forward 3, a pair of inverted wingers is likely, but Ronaldo's role is anyone's guess. He did loads of roaming around last season, but maybe under Ten Hag he gets him more up against defenders, or maybe he has him float around the pitch. I'd probably start with CF(a), but it could just as easily be TF(a) or a poacher - Ten Hag has used all types in his career. If you're looking to create an overload for Ronaldo to exploit btw, I'm not sure trequartista is the way to go, because it will probably lead to him engaging with your right side too much. I've had a lot of joy with a poacher in a 433, as it very much exploits the central space when you get a flank overload. The tradeoff (for me anyway) is that you're unlikely to see the team dominating possession game to game if your only striker is always looking to break the defensive line, but it leads to a lot of goals. Team instructions can help balance that if it bothers you though.