Christopher S

I accidentally ended up using a system that apparently ticks most of the boxes for "meta gegenpressing tactic". I looked at my players, knew my teams level compared to the rest, noted down the key tenets of how I want to play based on players + my personal footballing philosophy. That resulted in a 4-2-3-1 DM, with Attacking, Shorter Passing, Higher Tempo, High Pressing and Pass Into Space. The problem I've come across is that I've not been able to get my players to do what I deem "correct" in a give situation without most of those settings. And at some point, it becomes a matter of "How much time can I defend spending on finding an alternative way of getting them to do do what I want them to?". No Segundo Volante, no Advanced Forward AND I use an AP-sup as the 10, so I'm halfway excused. Yes, it feels kinda bad playing a meta system. But on the other hand, it closely replicates how I think football should be played, and if I can't achieve that without spending unreasonable amounts of time (by my definition), why shouldn't I use the system? Plus, the results are phenomenal. Won the League + Cup in Norway 3 times with Vålerenga, plus a UCL semifinal AND winning the UEL (Jan 2023 - Jan 2028). Took over Real Betis in 2028 in January, sitting in 17th place on track to get relegated. Ended up in 5th that same year. Won the league the following two years, and am about to win a third (Real are pushing me REALLY hard though). Can confirm that Real + Barca are hard as nails, though; we're 23 games into the season in 31/32, and all three of us are undefeated still. Complete madness. Somewhat related; I honestly think the mentality settings do a lot of heavy lifting this year. From my experience, I notice a significantly bigger difference between Positive > Attacking than I do between Balanced > Positive, for example. I honestly wonder if the various "under the hood" sliders are just set too conservatively across the board. The type of movement, passing and decision making I used to see consistently on Positive in FM22 (my previous version, I skipped 23), I now almost exclusively see on Attacking. It's probaby a lot more complex than that, but effects of Mentality and specifically "Pass Into Space" seem to be exaggerated in the ME to me.

Honestly wouldn't hate if there was some kind of rule/guideline/prevention method against this, moderation wise. I have *many* gripes with the game, both how it functions and how it's presented, but no one is constructively served by people regurgitating variations on the concept of "Playstyle X is OP, game broken". I hope you are aware that your contributions are highly regarded and appreciated by a lot of us in here! Somewhat related to said gripes, I do take issue with something @Rashidi said further up, and want to offer a rebuttal: I take issue with the statements of it being easy. Easy in FM is very much a matter of perspective. I think it's almost completely inarguable that FM fails almost completely at giving players accurate and reliable information in relation to tactics. Player role descriptions will differ anywhere from somewhat to wildly from their descriptions, and so will Team Instructions and Player Instructions. Solving the issues you mentioned is easy if you know what to do in the game to accomplish it. Figuring that part out, however, is not easy. It's very, very timeconsuming, as FM provides a limited amount of reliable feedback, in terms of specificity and consistency, on most moves you make - unless you know exactly what to look for. Obviously, none of this is to say it can't be done, nor to say that it's something only a select few will be able to do. But I think it comes off as discouraging and unhelpful; saying "it's so easy" with no further elaboration on *how* mainly conveys a sense of talking down on the person, instead of lifting them up. I hope you don't take this as general criticism of you and/or your work or contributions in general, as you've done more than most to enrich, encourage and teach in this scene. Just figured I'd offer my two cents in a discussion that's pretty relevant to the current forum zeitgeist.

A DW on Defend with Sit Narrower might actually fit the bill if you put Cafu as a CWB on Attack behind him

This looks like a really well crafted 4-3-3 - kudos! I've been trying to do one of these types (IFB+IWB, 3+2 buildup, box midfield kinda thing) of systems my self with limited luck. Looks like your LB, DM and two CMs will create an almost diamond in the midfield? Looks cool! Care to elaborate on PI's and such? I see your Left Winger has player specific instructions as well?

For what it's worth, this is indirectly addressed for next years game with the transition to the Unity Game Engine. It'll offer the developers a significant increase in ability to replicate and display the underlying numbers graphically.

I'm seeing the same issue in my lone striker tactics so far. Averaging 15-25 passes to the forward over a game, regardless of playing a PFa, AF or Poacher. Adding screenshots of the latest two systems I've used where this is happening; My 4-3-3 I've tried this system with AFa and PFa, and in both scenarios I get the above outcome. Results and performance as a team isn't bad by any stretch, but I still fail to get my striker involved in play. I sometimes change the mentality to Positive, and the CMa is sometimes changed to a MEZZa. Left IFs is told to Sit Narrower. Similarly, I had the same issues in this 3-4-3 system: The left sided VOLs has Get Further Forward enabled, and the right IFs is being told to sit narrower.

Hey! Your download link is dead, any chance of a reupload?

You care to share your Team Instructions and the likes?

Curious; what TI's did you pair this up with?

My first attempt! What tweaks have I done; - Swapped the Wa to a Ws. I also added Get Further Forward to him, as in my experience the Ws is a very static role without the ball. - I added Move Into Channels on the CMa; it's exactly what I want him to do, so it makes sense to tell him to do it - I changed the DLPd to a DLPs, as well as told him to Close Down Less in an attempt to mitigate his increased risk taking in the defensive part of the game. - Added Stay Wider to the WBs, as a counter measure to a Team Instruction As for Team Instructions; - Positive mentality, as we've got a decent amount of runners we want to find with quality balls, combined with the fact that the 4-3-3 easily lends itself to control possession. That being said, we're looking for possession with intent, not possession for the sake of it. - Play out of defence goes well with the previous idea, as well as it bringing out team slightly further back when starting the play; leaving more space for our runners up front - Fairly Narrow, as we want to involve players in the half space to drag defenders out of position. It also emphasizes runs in behind the defence in central areas, and encourages players to use the central corridors as a "wall" to bounce the ball off of. - Distribution instructions are there to prevent the ME's propensity for having the keepers HOOF the ball up for no reason - Higher DL+LoE+Trigger press because we will naturally end up with a lot of players on their half through our PRDs and settings, and we want to force them to make mistakes when our attacks break down without going gung-ho (counter press). Test game vs Mura in Champions League This is a team we should beat, so it's mostly a matter of HOW we beat them. Noteable highlights from the game - A goal from a superb through ball from our DLPs to our CMa rushing into space, highlighting the switch to a DLP on support, rather than on Defend - A lovely hattrick from our Poacher, who was highly involved 3 goals scored, 3 key passes and 2 clear cut chances created - The right winger was paramount, with a whooping 9 key passes and 2 clear cut chances created - Both the WBs and the Ws had 13 crosses each, showing that we had a decently equal distribution of width play Average positions with the ball Worth noticing - We have a player in each half space (our IWa and our CMa) - The IWBs creates a base 3 with the DLPs and BWMs - The WBs and the Ws are holding the width - The Poacher is staying forward, pinning CBs All of the above is exactly what we wanted our PRDs to achieve! Promising result, for sure!

Hello good folks! In this thread I'm hoping to get some feedback, thoughts and ideas based on a tactic that does not yet exist. It's a selection of positions, roles and duties that makes sense to me, theoretically, but I have not yet tested. I'm hoping to receive feedback on said PRD's, as well as added Team Instructions (and perhaps Player Instructions) before we put it to the test to see how it performs. Call it a group project - a way to put our theory crafting to the test! Some basic information; - The formation is a 4-3-3, also known as a 4-1-2-2-1. That means a DM and AML+AMR. - The PRD's I've chosen were based on achieving balance both vertically and horizontally, as well as trying to offer players in all the vertical zones creatively and goal scoring wise. - The idea is to let the roles dictate the playstyle, not the other way around. That being said, if you have a particular playstyle you think can be achieved with a small tweak of the PRD's, feel free to suggest it! Without further ado, here is the basic setup; From my basic understanding of the game, this should put players in most of the vertical spaces moving forward, as well as offer both creativity, support and penetration. Here's what I imagine happening; Attacking space; Left flank; the WBs will keep width Left half space; the IWa will move into this area to either take on a defender 1-on-1, move across the face of goal or run in between the RB and RCB Central space; the Poacher will keep the CBs occupied and look to be a simple attacking pivot and find balls in behind + get on crosses Right half space; the CMa will look for runs in behind and between the LCB and LB, as the LB will be occupied by the right winger Right flank; the Wa will keep width on this side and try to hit crosses from the byline Support; - the BWMs will cover the space left by the IWa and stay fairly close to the WBs to deny space, and aggressively chase down clearances. Will likely move up field to make basic link up play happen. - the IWBs will move into the space left behind by the CMa, and offer recycling options, making a pseudo-3 with the BWMs and DLPd. - the DLPd will sit at the base and dictate play, and move from side to side to receive passes if we run into cul-de-sacs. This player MIGHT be able to be turned into a DLPs instead to offer a larger range of passing, unsure of how that would effect defensive solidity. OVER TO YOU GUYS; So, what do we think? What are the obvious pitfalls and faults? What kind of football does this lend itself to playing? If you could only make very minor PRD tweaks, what would they be? What team instructions would enable the PRDs in place? Give me your best shots, and I will put them to the test for you - let's see what our great minds can think of!

That looks real snacksy! I'm assuming it's littered with PI's, or?

I'm sorry, but this isn't a matter of agreement or not. You argued that previous to roles being introduced there were super tactics that would win you every game. That hasn't changed, not even slightly. Whether you are aware or not, or dislike it - it doesn't matter. But your argument is absolutely null and void. There is an abundance of plug&play tactics that will put the game on auto pilot for you, and there has been for every version of the game since roles were introduced.

Yeah, I must admit I probably don't pay enough attention to the combination of traits and roles and how they interact, and I can see where you're coming from! Thanks for the input!

Sounds promising! What kind of mentality and instructions have you found work well? I've been struggling with narrow formations this year

This is an excellent suggestion imo - maybe @Jack Sarahs can bring along as well?

I'd argue that Gabriel Jesus is more of a pressing forward than anything. His defensive ability is exceedingly good for an attacker, including his pressing rate. Also, not sure IWB(s) is the right for how Ben White plays, mostly because the IWB on support ends up pretty far upfield centrally. I'd argue FB(d) with sit narrower is more appropriate for how the match engine functions. I could be wrong, of course!

Looks like a very balanced setup - what kind of TIs and mentality did you pair it up with? I could see it work well both as a direct system and as a possession system

Really liking the distribution of this, though maybe thinking that a WB-s would offer better balance of the left hand side?

So how do I actually use this code? Sorry if it's a stupid question

The problem is that the absurdly off kilter rating weights start creating issues. The IWs role almost always ends up with very bad ratings (6.8 and below), in most systems, and ends up negatively impacting the players morale - and even getting targeted in the media for bad performances. All because the games rating system isn't intelligent enough to discern a players contributions beyond goals, assists and key passes because he's a AM strata player. The only way I've found to get around this is to employ same side footed players, ie. right footed IWs on the right side (left for opposite) to introduce some variety in movement. If not, the IWs role becomes a "receive and hand off" merchant with negligible attacking output.

You could try and move the F9 down to the AMC position, and use Shadow Striker instead. Then, raise the LoE to highest and set DL to high. That should get your central midfielders involved earlier in the press.

Cuauhtémoc Blanco comes to mind

Too fluid, imo. The instruction 'Hold Position' really loses impact when the players are routinely ignoring it. Maybe it's just me, but it annoys me more often than not to have all these instructions available only to have the players ignore them 80% of the time.

Surely there are some PIs here? I remember giving this system a go, and my team barely created a shot at goal over 5 games. Granted, it was fairly decent defensively as well, but all over yielded a bunch of snooze fests.