[Back in Britain - Part III of the Owain Williams saga]

Aaaah.. I have to say, reading about Owain is always a pleasure.  Thank you for reviving and continuing this story!

[FMS Community Thread Episode VIII: Disneyland]

This was a strange time for me to log back in-

I will throw my hat in with almost everything others have said already - video posts are all the rage these days.. adulthood severely impacts the ability to be creative and find time to post.. those and all the other factors mentioned make it harder than it looks to publish the kind of serial, epic stories that I think we all enjoy… and those of you that have been so successful doing so over so many years should understand you really do have a special gift that people like myself truly appreciate.

For me It is nice to see many familiar faces here still - I am bad at communicating emotion in person and probably even worse online… Interpersonal skills are definitely not my strength.. but while I was posting my one mildly successful story here years ago I found the people in this forum to be some of the most genuine, friendly and supportive people I have ever come across.. You are all welcoming, entertaining, and funny… basically what I feel an online community should be and I was very happy to be a small part of it.

Personally, my life has entered another chapter- my gaming/writing time completely disappeared when I remarried and moved.  Now however, things have settled into a nice routine and my wife and stepdaughter have acquired a horse (yes... a freaking horse...) which keeps them busy and gives me some free time- which leads to me being here posting again so, no guarantees, but I am hoping to contribute again soon.

In the meantime I see some interesting stories on here that I’m excited to dive into!

Sorry for the short novel… I do tend to be overly wordy... might be why I like it here!

Cheers all!

[Johan Cruyff's 3-4-3 Diamond (Very Fluid)]

2 hours ago, Fox said:

 my players don't have the quality that ozil's does to truly replicate this system but the football has been great...

Exactly that, I'm happy if my players have an 8 in the important attributes - but since training this tactic the football looks wonderful.

[Johan Cruyff's 3-4-3 Diamond (Very Fluid)]

It is working very well in this year's version for me. I had been struggling mid table with my club - in the Norwegian second division - for a couple seasons, and looking at the squad I had decided to go with three at the back.  So I gave this thread a re-read and modified some of the roles and PI's to fit my squad....  and it was like flipping a switch.  Instead of having to play defensive or risk getting cut open we now control play in nearly every game and generate so many more scoring chances than the opposition that even when playing bigger clubs the lack of quality in the squad becomes moot.  

I haven't had problems with crosses yet, I don't know if that is because I've got the wingers set to close down more and mark tightly, but whatever the reason so far so good.

[Developing my 4-4-2]

This is great stuff, I just read through the whole thing and wanted to chime in.

First, I love the presentation and thought process, it's great to see how other people work things out in the game, and for whatever reason I can really relate to what you've done here.

Second, it's far too late for this to be insightful, but my first thought was that your original midfield was going to be trouble - actually it was likely to be vacant at points with two roaming players. Having said that you have illustrated perfectly that the BWM has gotten a bit of a bum rap (something I have been guilty of as well). BWM's can be the devil if they are used in a system that leaves a lot of space to be exploited around them - say a 4231 - because they will always be trying to cover that space, but in a system like this, after you changed to a BBM beside him and with wide midfielders, I have found them to be quite capable holding midfielders.

Lastly, the DLF situation is very interesting to me as well. I have not had a tactic in 16 yet that I was happy with a DLF in, either as a one striker or as part of a partnership. I have actually had much more success with Defensive Forwards this year, but I haven't gone into any in depth analysis to see why. In any case I find the behavior you are seeing very interesting, even though I have no idea what it means.

[The Art of Possession Football]

@Cleon..would a DLP/D instead of DM/S be a better shield in fron of defence and still be involved in build up play with other midfielders as DM/S?

Interesting question, I'm interested to see the answer. I stayed away from playmakers on my counter attacking tactic that I often use to kill off games because I was afraid the tendency to move play through them would hinder counter attacks.... (and because I wanted to keep it simple)

Oof..Obviously I am interested in both possession and counter attacking threads and don't keep things straight...

[Funny Screenshots Thread]

Be careful of that ones personality...