Sheyner21

I usually like to have between 23 to 25 players, 2 for each position and 2-3 players that are young and/or are versatile. Then, i try to rotate against lesser teams and when we have a congested fixture. Even when everybody is fully fit, i pay attention to risk of injury and how many matches they've been playing in the last 3/4 weeks. That way i don't overotate in a way that my players can't form relationships, but in a way almost everybody can play. I try not to change too much of my first eleven when i rotate, 3/4 players are enough unless we are in a run of really important matches (Imagine February/March when playing against the big teams of your league, while champions knockouts and cup games) where in the middle you have a match agains a middle/low table club, in that game i would change 7/9 players of the starting 11. Which ones i rotate comes down to low Natural Fitness and Stamina and of course how intense is my tactic.

You could try taking things down a notch instruction wise, i personally when trying to create a possession oriented tactic i try to not overkill my players with too many of them. Try to see first how the roles interact between them and ask questions about your build up and initial plan like: How does the ball gets to your playmaker? When it reaches him, does he has options? Can he combine with the SS that should be in the half spaces? Or does he have to recycle with the DM? The ask who is going to be your goalscorer and who is going to assist him. The WP(s) is not going to be in the position to make the last decisive pass but he is certainly help your team play and move the ball. Them, when you find that roles are playing like you want, try using simple instructions. My take would be to try starting with the base of what you're trying to achieve using: Mentality: Standard/Positive; You can try both and see depending in how much risk are your players taking and if its enough or is it too much. In Possession: Play Out of the Defense, Short Passes, Fairly Narrow; Staple Possession instructions without overkill, you can watch your games and see if you need something more but i think this is enough most of the time. Transition: Counter-Press (If you have the players and the quality relative to the oppossition for it, if you don't you can play without it); Watch your build up and see if your players invite enough pressure or not and choose accordingly if you want to distribute to your defender/fullbacks. Out of possession: Higher Line of Engament, Higher Defensive Line; You can try this alone with a split block but if you don't want your WP running too much, just use trigger press More Often. I think that when you're starting to create a new tactic, less is more, because it lets you see what is going wrong and start adjusting with little nudges but with a good foundation you can analyze better what you're seeing. If you try some of these please show us the progress.

Never used but i read here that it is a very underrated role. Can you show us with which players do you use it? And is he a "Ball Magnet" like the Target Man and the playmakers? Really curious about their behaviour. I always thought that is a role that you use with someone with great strength and height, kind of a Mandzukic type of player but how does a more "conventional" player acts with this role?

I think what we actually need in the wings is a "blank" role, like the Attacking Midfielder, the Wide Midfielder, the Fullback, etc. A role that have little to no PI hadcoded and can be highly customizable. I found that you can emulate some movements with the roles at our disposal but its limited by the hardcoded behaviour of those roles (The IW can stay stay wide but has cut inside hadcoded, the Winger can hold position but has cross more often, etc), they may be cautious about this maybe because it would be hard for them to balance it. The lack of a "blank" role in the wings and in the striker position (We have the Pressing Forward on support which is the closest to this wish) is something that i would like SI to change in the next years.

You can search for "The Art of Counter Attacking" from @Cleon in this forum, but i think you should post more information like formation, which team you're playing, your players, how do you compare with the oppossition, etc. With that info it would be easier to help you.

Glad that helped you, i found in this year version really good success with the IW when the IF failed me, had a Barcelona save playing very similar to your tactic, a false 9 with a IF in the left(Ansu) and a Winger on the right (Ferran) and saw a massive improvement when i've changed to a IW. He sees the ball more and is more involved both in the build up and in the final ball/shot. Really interested to see how your team evolves now.

I would play him as a Inverted Winger on attack maybe? Use more of his flair and vision while still getting in the box (You can also train the "Try To Beat The Offside Trap" PPM if he doesn't have it so he is more offensive with his runs)