nick1408

I guess where do you draw the line? First time in Asia? First time at the Club World Cup? First time at the World Cup? Is it a sliding scale depending on the competition? On the surface it seems like a good idea but I think it is actually a lot deeper than what is suggested.

So here are the stats from my last game: 14 dribbles from the right-footed Charlton on the right wing, 4 from the right-footed Brant on the left. 68 & 51 touches respectively

I'll deal with the second part of the question first - the value of FM16 is what you value it at, not me. I buy every version regardless and to me each and every one is worth every dollar (including the lovely 'Australia Tax' we get on goods here - thanks Adobe, Microsoft, Apple, Nintendo, et al). I will be buying FM17 if/when it comes out as well. There really isn't a question for me. As for the first bit; I'm at work so no screenshots yet but the way I am setup is very conservative. As I have shown with the crossing it is really minimal and I have the same percentage with 14 crosses that they had with 27. While they have 'dribble more' inherently set because of the conservative approach they won't cross unless there is a good need to. Often they will dribble to the byline and still pass inboard if a crossing option is not available. They are support players, not attacking so are less likely to take someone on as opposed to a regular winger.

The screenshots that matter: Here is the opposition's crosses from full backs and wingers. The wingers did play narrow but the full backs did supply a fair whack of support to them And here is where my DW's intercepted Match stats. Note I had half the amount of crosses but the same percentage of completion. Here is all the crosses I completed. 9 came from the right wing, 1 from Ayoze Perez and 4 from Lukaku. None came from the left wing. I am playing a right footer on the left wing delibrately to draw him a touch more central with the ball so this would have contributed but I brought on an either footer in the 70th minute and still no crosses from the left. Here is an attack from the wing. Note how the BWM and DW are providing pressure and the amount of players in the box against the lone striker. This was a counter so they had players out of position but still gives an idea of why this works. All opposition crosses. 17 intercepted All their shots. Most of their shots came while under pressure so I am happy with that. Here is the Assist Types from the last 50 matches. Conceded 10 from crosses and scored 9. 24 assists from the left wing which is why I use the right footer out there. Rather than cross he will provide a pass. I think that should explain that the DW's are nowhere near as aggressive as you suggested.

the whole setup plays pretty safe to be honest. They are more likely to not dribble than lay off an easy pass. As for the the rest of the post; I'll get some pics to do the explaining when I get up tomorrow. There isn't too much for a full back or winger to cross to when there are so many bodies in the box anyway.

http://imgur.com/gallery/uh6O5 This is what I'm using at the moment and it is working great. The BWM is set to support but the PI's are the same a a defensive BWM. I just wanted to be able to tell him to take more risky passes. I play a BWMd if the player doesn't pass well or has poor vision

That's a really good tip. I am playing a 3-1-4-2 at the moment. I have a CMa in the midfield (Ross Barkley or Davy Klaassen) who I have told to take more risky passes. Along with the retain possession shout I feel this does in fact do what I am after (my question was not about a specific, more a generalisation). My current wingers are DWs with two PI's (can't remember what - I think cross from byline and maybe dribble more?). I am not sure what I would give them to switch possession to the other side of the pitch. I am only operating 4 TI's (retain possession, close down more, tighter marking and tackle harder) on a defensive mentality and I think either structured or very structured shape. Everything is working for the moment but I was just curious. I do have a further question though - should very structured be used as sparingly as overload or contain? Both I am lead to believe are used in specific circumstances. Should a very structured shape be used in the same way? I took a lot of inspiration from the Community Formation Experiment thread for my current tactic and if anything else it showed me that 3 men defences can get overrun quite easily with their support players (WB's for example) not staying wide enough to give cover. I am playing defensive and structured to keep a bit of shape and play a bit safer (especially during the defensive stages of the game). I have also tried very structured and like it for stability ( a good reason to keep it) but am a bit concerned it may limit my attacking potency a bit.

I've never liked tactics that combined retain possession with shorter passing. I think they create too few chances when used together. I do have a question though. If I want most of the b benefits of retain possession but also want through balls and diagonal balls what shouts (if any) would I use?

I've been trying to get a 3-5-2 to work consistently for the past week or two. I had results like yours with something different but had a heap of PI's and TI's (around 8-10 TI's). Are you really getting away with just the two TI's and two PI's (WM and DLP?). Do you have any distribution PI's on Nardi (I also have picked him up). I see Heise on the left is a D/ML. Is he more defensive or offensive in his attributes? I would love to see the inner workings of your tactic fleshed out a touch more to see how it's working.

Michael Lynch (Australian journalist) has (jokingly?) thrown Ange Postecoglou's name into the ring - http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/the-answer-to-englands-soccer-woes-ange-postecoglou-20160630-gpw0dk.html

So I have had a bit of an experiment and come up with this: PI's as follows: Gk: Slow pace down, roll it out, distribute to CB's DM: Shoot less often, dribble less, more direct passes, more risky passes RW: Cross More Often, Cross from deep BBM: Get further forward, more risky passes BWM: More risky passes LW: Dribble more, cut inside, cross less often Note: The LW changes to a DWs when Baines or another defensive player comes into this spot. When they do they get the PI to cross more often I thoguht the original offering by Herne didn't offer enough movement on the field and this stifled attack. I decided to fix this by getting the BBM and BWM to offer a bit more movement with PI's for the BBM and a change of duty for the BWM. There was always a risk of being caught out of position but so far after 11 games I have 7 wins and 4 draws with 21 goals for and 10 against with 6 clean sheets. Not the best for goals against yet but I am working on that. I felt that the four blokes central was fine and kept in line with what Herne was moving towards. In my opinion it is actually fairly solid at the back. Wth a box-to-box midfielder he does just that so does help with attack and defence. The game I will highlight is one that was really different to the other 10 games I played with this tactic. I won 3-4 but the interesting thing was I had 4 goals in the first half with only 37% possession. The point? Efficiency with possession. Match Stats: Player Stats: Goals against: [video=youtube_share;J8Gy4vHtPtk] Most of you will see the errors in defence causing the goals better than I will but I see the own goal being Stones not being in front. 2-4 would have been acceptable I feel. I have been averaging 52.25% possession so the above game is really against the grain but the system still stood up and didn't really let Stoke do anything with all that possession (well, 3 goals but no points)

You're right - I should have said I took into account the different team to yours. My main concern is the lack of movement in the forward third. It could be a system that works far better in Spain than England due to the opposition but I just feel the actual player movement is a touch too static. I'll continue to experiment and see how I go.

I see defence is pretty well covered. Really well explained as well. I do have a concern with the transition/attack. With so many players not dribbling it seems that the transition is stiffled with players holding up the ball waiting for another player to move into position. It's almost like they play with a really low tempo and buildup without the option being selected. Here are some examples: Here Ross Barkley has the ball outside the box but instead of trying to dribble (he has 'Plays Way Out Of Trouble' as a ppm) to the open space he takes the speculative shot. Here Barkley again gets the ball. Instead of dribbling into the space down the right he pumps the ball long to #11 (Mirallas) who is fairly well covered. If he dribbled he could potentially bring #9 into the play Here is a typical attacking move. Mirallas (AF) is covered by #4, Barkley (#20, BBM) has gotten forward (as per his ppm), #9 (Ayoze, DLFd) is playing deep as per his role, Baines (#7, Reg) is in the spot I would expect, McCarthy (#14, BWM) is far deeper than I would expect. #23 (Coleman, WMs) is as expected and Oviedo is delivering the cross. My concern here is how I have setup. I feel Ayoze could operate better as a DLFs rather than defend. He looks like he needs to be further forward. By holding position he takes himself out as a potential attacking option. Here is an attacking move I like. Barkley has received the ball and immediately plays it to Ayoze in the centre who shoots directly at the keeper (i.e. should have scored). I feel that without telling Barkley to dribble less the same move would have still happened. Was touched up 1-7 through a mixture of poor defending and by playing Real Madrid. Through the miracle of I was able to play the match again. This time around I have made some changes: - DLFd to DLFs - removed 'Drbble Less' from BBM (added 'Get Further Forward' at half time after being 2-6 down) - outside DC's 'Close Down Much Less' and centre DC 'Close Down Less' (I thought the DC's were closing the wingers down too much and I really wanted to keep them in the middle I removed this at the 20 minute mark as I was 0-3 down) No pictures this time as I got belted 2-7 but Barkley did seem a hell of a lot more in the game. I have a feeling a CMa may contribute more or even a CMs so there is still some midfield coverage. I love the 3-5-2 and would love to get it working but I can't get the attacking movement to work at the moment

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Hi Herne. I know you're spreading yourself across a number of threads right now but I would love to see the match analysis on this tactic