lied90

I don't remember asking but ok.

It might not be what you are looking for, but I like using Salah type players in formations with three strikers as one or both of the two "wide" strikers in a support role. I really like their movement with roles like CF, as they can drop deep, run into space, roam wider, and move into channels as it suits them. Their ratings are usually much higher on average than when I use them out wide.

It's a very good and well written post. It's also a far cry from the 442 tactic Leicester used in their winning season.

I don't think FM is easier than before. I do think information about how to win is much more easily available now than before.

Hello again I did another one season test with the same premise as the opening post, I also changed the title to be less clickbaity by removing the part about mental/technical not being important. Removed all the players from Nottingham Forest. Replaced them with fast players with around 110-115 CA (lowest being 95, highest 116). There are ofc faster players, but I want to do it with low CA players because most teams can buy them easily and cheap. Slotted them in a gegenpress tactic and went on holiday. I returned a few times to remove unhappiness spreading because of players never being rotated. I also returned mid season to swap Jones from AML to ST, and Thomas-Asante the other way, just to see how Jones would do there. He did much worse than Asante. We had the lowest average in almost all attributes except pace. Highest performer was this guy playing AM, with 7.26 average rating. 15 goals and 10 assists across 42 matches. Some notable matches:

I'm guessing it didn't work out?

Makes sense that it works better at a low level. What was the expected points table like?

Roles have been more or less the same the whole way, but I changed duties sometimes. In S2 I had Terem Moffi, so changed PF(s) to PF(a). I never used the same tactic for a whole season, so not sure how much good it would do to post it. The team I had in S2 was generally really good. Route one requires physical players, and the ME really likes physical players. So I think the results are more because of the players you need for route one more than the tactic. The same players can easily play a meta gegenpress and do much better. According the the xG table we should be sixth, but finished third.

Throw-ins are 100% the biggest problem. It's so obvious when playing against real people that have a throw-in routine. Throw-ins in real football are usually very static, and thus against an established defense, and the closest players to the throw-in taker is usually marked, making it hard to twist and turn. When I get a highlight starting with a throw-in in FM, I know it's gonna be a good chance or goal. In online you can almost predict the winner based on whoever gets the most throw-ins high up the pitch. Thankfully the AI doesn't abuse this as much.

442 with double DM. I think I posted an early version of the tactic here: I always use loads of player instructions.

You can get European football with very direct passing. S1 S2 TIs We vastly over-performed our xG, but it still shows that it's possible in a season that you get a bit lucky, and you need some luck when a large part of your game plan is to be very direct.

If by "out of the box" you mean Preset tactics, then yes they are horrible and serve little to no purpose. This says more about the preset tactics than it does about Route One as a style in FM imo. You can play Route One with moderate success, it just doesn't compare to what you can achieve with gegenpress. Route one football is first and foremost a in possession tactic, meaning that it dictates what you do when you have the ball. Playing with high lines and high press wouldn't be as "pure", but it's still route one as long as you hoof it.

What a great foundation for route one

A player with 18 jumping reach and a simple front post corner still gets a lot of goals from direct headers, just not 30+ like in FM23. About penalties, are you sure there are too many, or do you just FEEL that there are too many? Because giving away even one penalty feels as too many

If you want to test it properly you have to give the tactic to all Team A-E. Then you test it vs all the AI formations. With 100 games there is a ton of RNG, I only tested once.