camoulton21

I'll give it a go. What I'm fiddling with at the moment is looking at how I can change the player roles (whilst remaining in the framework of Giampaolo's ideas) as a way to make the team more compact. In previous games I probably would have went for a 'fluid' or 'very fluid' team shape to balance the mentalities across the team, but other topics that I've recently read say that this can be achieved in FM19 through TI (overlap/underlap, focus play) and player roles. Changing the fullbacks to a support duty helps with this so thanks for the advice. If anyone else has any suggestions that would be greatly appreciated

I might end up trying a more defensive player role on a higher team mentality to increase the players individual mentality. May also help with making the team play vertically

The tactic is meant to be a recreation of the tactics Marco Giampaolo has used as manager of Empoli and Sampdoria which means I'm working from quite a rigid base in terms of tactical ideas. As I can't expect you to read up on him if you don't know about some of his tactical elements I will try to explain here, although I really do recommend Pompey_Dan's forum linked in my original post. The defend duty fullbacks are meant to in theory offer the team an opportunity to recycle possession which would hopefully draw out the opposition to allow the team to play through the centre. The fullbacks are also meant to not get ahead of the ball when building up play, only really getting forward when a switch of play if available or when the ball is safely into midfield. Maybe a different role would be more effective at achieving this. The one dimensional nature of the tactic isn't something I've really thought about and I'll look to address. The idea behind the mezzala's is that there lateral movement (move into channel, stay wider PIs) would allow the team to again open space to play through the centre. Preferably getting the AMC involved. As well, the hope is that these two roles would work together, as the opposition would look to press the deeper fullbacks opening up space for the mezzalas to move into in front. Which is why the tactic is so symmetrical. The overall idea is that the tactic utilising short passing combinations to move the ball vertically through midfield, hence short passing, PoD and distribute to CBs TIs.

That's the idea. The Speilverlarung is a website I highly recommend and goes into a lot of depth about the advantages of compactness in both attack and defence. The opportunity to counterpress is definitely something I'll look to include eventually. But for whatever reason Giampaolo isn't as fond, so I thought I'd focus on replicating the tactical elements that he does include first. Thanks man. First time posting so I'm glad you appreciate the premise. I will experiment with it the next time I play. It should definitely help with the horizontal compactness of the tactic in possession. I have tried two DLFs previously, one on attack and the other on support but found trouble keeping the penetration in the tactic, especially when reaching the edge of the box (lots of long shooting ugh). Thanks for the reply, I'll be sure to take a look at Rashidi's work. I think the biggest issue I've found with the 4-3-1-2 is players ignoring opportunities to progress the ball through the centre. My original idea was to use the dribble less TI and rely on the triangles in midfield to play vertically, but I'm struggling tbh.

There is a lot of FM resources that discuss the importance of creating a compact team out of possession that is hard to play through. With the out of possession team instructions (LOE, D-LINE AND D-WIDTH) creating this in the match engine alongside mentality, formation and player roles makes logical sense. My question is what the necessary team instructions would be to create a compact team when in possession. Marco Giampaolo’s recent appointment as Milan manager has inspired me to once again attempt to replicate his style at Empoli and Sampdoria prior. Pompey_Dan wrote a really good post on this topic in FM18 and his tactic is the template I have started from in FM19. 4-3-1-2 Inspired by Marco Giampaolo The main resource I have drawn from is a Speilverlagerung analysis on Giampaolo’s Empoli which describes his team’s compactness in possession as: “Very rarely, if ever occupying both flanks simultaneously, Giampaolo’s side prefer to have a much greater focus on spaces around the ball. The diamond in midfield remains compact at nearly all times and ensures short distances between the players as they develop strong connections through smaller areas on the pitch. With a formation that is more inclined to a narrow midfield, they favour playing through small spaces with a high density of players rather than covering more space and opening gaps through a broader attack. It’s common to see them neglect the ball-far half of the pitch as the players all take up positions closer to the ball where they can have a more direct impact on the progression of the ball.” How would I go about this? What adaptations to the current tactic do I need to make to achieve this? From watching the games in full I’ve observed that the strikers especially become the most isolated.