Canalma

Well, this is awkward... This is my attempt at doing the exact same thing, but rather with a inside winger (wide playmakers cross less often, wide midfielders don't seem to work as well, because of role familiarity). The DLP is told to hold position so he doesn't bump heads with the IW, however the IW does bump heads with the WB(a) running down the left wing, even when he's told to sit narrower when the team is in possession. This was also verified on the average positions map where the IW always stays as wide as the WB when in possession. When he's got the ball though, he's instructed to take more more risks and cross more, I do get goals and assists out of him. I should also note that I'm the dominant team in my league, and although I have the comparative quality to make it work, I often don't have the space, as most of the league faces me with 3 at the back systems with 2 DM's and wing backs. Could your issue be that the opposition team is regularly hounding your WP, thus making him less effective?

Just got handed a five star 15 year old CB's though my youth intake. Model citizen, unflappable media handling and great technical and mental attributes, But he's freaking 5'9'' and 60kg, makiing him phisically weak and useless in the air... WHY??? He might turn into a sick DLP though...

Andreas Schjelderup from Benfica. Not as quick as Vini but I got him playing as a inverted winger as a left midfielder and he pops in often in finishing positions to score. Also a good set piece taker and after one season with me he's already got some top class playmaking abilities.

I'm not very good at discerning things like movements or transitions, but he does have the 'comes deep to get the ball' trait, i often see him in the AM strata receiving the ball and turning it to space to either the right Winger or the Advanced Forward, I also noticed he also uses that trait to usually drag defenders away from Ramos to allow him more space to finish a play.

Allow me. I'm only in my first season and got Guedes on loan. On paper, Gonçalo Ramos is actually my best DLF but he's also my best forward, so for now he plays the main man up top (AF). As for the right winger position I already got 2 great solutions on Rafa Silva and Neres, and I can't really complain about Guedes' contributions as DLF so far, 10 goals and 9 assists in 19 league games, he's fulfilling that role better than expected. Also, it's highly satisfactory to have my front line spearheaded by 2 academy boys 😊

I'm not a tactical genius by any chance, but this 442 has been working incredibly well for me, it holds it's own on both ends of the pitch against any kind of team. Other facets of the game like man management, training and set pieces are just as important to me to gain an extra edge. As for the positions: SK - Just the standard goalie, as long he's not a terrible passer WB - This is where i have my best full back, Grimaldo, and this role allows me to utilize his skillset to it's fullest. He's told to stay wider as he's the attacking outlet on my left side. BPD - I got great ball playing defenders on the likes of Otamendi and mostly Antonio Silva, playing from the back allows them launch attacks very efficiently. DC - This is where i put my best jumper, as they are my set piece magnets. My 2 options here, Verissimo and Morato are also quick and capable of dealing with a lot of situations in both the ground and air. FB - Here I have a very physical and tenacious full back, Gilberto. He's not allowed anything too fancy and he covers the flank while the winger in front of him does his thing. IW - This is where I would place my best passer. He's told to take more risks and he uses the 'cuts inside with ball' instruction to place himself behind the strikers in the AM strata and play balls into them. DLP and BBM - Any player that plays these roles must be able to defend well. I place the DLP(de) on the left to cover for the WB's forward runs. This pairing has worked very well to me. W - A standard winger. I have not been able to utilize this role to it's fullest yet on my team because all my right wingers have a 'cut inside from flanks' trait, so i don't know yet how potentially good this role will work out. AF - I prefer a quick striker here, as he will be receiving a lot of balls over the top or into space, aerial ability is a bonus here, luckily my strikers (Ramos and Musa) have both. DLF - I play a more technically gifted striker here. I use Guedes here even though he's mainly a winger/inside forward, but he's technically good enough to play killer balls to the AF and the W, and a competent finisher himself to be on the receiving end of them as well.

No tactic is perfect, and I won't assume mine to be, as I credit good man management and good training as equal parts of my current success as my tactic, I just want to try to limit some annoying behaviours. I will tinker with mentality and tempo for a while, but if it comes at a cost of the recurring good performances I have had so far, I will leave things as they were and just roll with it. If it ain't broke...

Possession is not the issue here, I regularly get most of the possession from building play from the back and pass into space works incredibly well in my tactic, I have a good set of fast forwards and right sided wingers to make it work, being regularly fed by the BPD, DLP, BBM and the IW where I have my main playmaker taking more risks. I might tinker with the balanced mentality though, and observe if the shooting urgency goes down a bit. Thanks.

Currently managing Benfica, I'm having a near perfect season so far with a 26-2-0 W/D/L overall and over 3 goals a game and a watertight defence on a flat 442. It's really great, but there's a gripe that I have with the way my team plays out that could eventually cost us a result in less fortunate times. I don't remember scoring a single goal outside the box apart from free kicks. Not for the lack of trying though, as my players like to take their chances more often than I would like them to, mostly in cases where they could progress with the ball just a tad more, pass into a team mate to progress play further or just shotting wildly into a sea of legs or a sea of plastic seats. The natural answer to this would be enabling 'Work ball into box', but I know that limits crosses and I'm not giving those up, I could also reduce my tempo or set a few players to shoot less often but things have played so wonderfully thus far and I'm not sure how negatively that could affect how things are going. Is this just something that I'll have to accept in order to keep things going well in terms of results or could it be something that can be tweaked? How can I work the ball further into the opposition box while still keeping wing play and crossing? Screenshot of tactic below.