[The absurdity of FM.]

5 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

The best coaches/managers in the world (Klopp, Pep, Simeono, Jose wtc.) would probably struggle if they were to play FM for the first time, just like any other person with little or no experience.

This sentence mainly explains the problem with FM. And if I have understood the topic starter correctly, this is exactly what he is struggling to understand. Because if qualified real time coaches and managers do not understand FM, and thus fail to set up usefull tactics based on basic principles of football and tactical understanding, then FM has failed.

How in the heavens name can anyone who is playing this game for the first time know that you need team instruction combinations such as short passing, low crosses, and narrow width just to be able to get cut-back crosses? Only those who have played this game for thousands of hours, read all the topics on the forum and watched countless youtube clips of Rashidi knows such things.

I understand very well the frustration of the topic starter.

[Adding instructions and playstyle to shapes & roles - building my 4-3-3 | Help welcomed]

10 minutes ago, Christopher S said:

Evenly distributed between both sides, with two or three more coming from crosses from my left side. The IWB side is generally the more defensively solid. 

Furthermore, I don't want my RB to just be a holding player. I'm specifically trying to get him to hold the right side of a midfield 3 in attack, to allow my MCr to maraud forwards into space while my right winger stays wide. Look in the opening post of the thread, everything is explained there. I'm looking for a specific attacking shape (2-3-5), based on the players I have at my disposal. 

You can get almost the same effect if you ask your FB "sit narrower". When it comes to goals against the back post, I had first checked if your CBs have good enough values in jumpig, position and anticipation.

[Adding instructions and playstyle to shapes & roles - building my 4-3-3 | Help welcomed]

7 minutes ago, frukox said:

If 4 and 23 is defensively capable, that's not a big problem. AFAIK, his IWB is pretty good but I don't know his DLPD.

It can be. At the same time, it's a good example of why I do not like IWB. If I want a holding role on my fullbacks, I always use FBs or FBd. I'm also unsure if he concides goals on the back post from the side where he has IWB and that the problem can be linked to that role.

[Adding instructions and playstyle to shapes & roles - building my 4-3-3 | Help welcomed]

12 minutes ago, Christopher S said:

Mid game update: 

- Normal LOE + Get Stuck In + More Urgent is looking really solid so far. Broken play in the midfield repeatedly already. Is looking promising!
- Still a fair bit of CB hoofing. I'm on Positive and even ticked on Shorter passing. I really, really wish there was a way to instruct players to never deviate from an instruction. I'd rather see my CB miss a short pass or play their teammates into risky situations than just hoof it long. 
- Team shape is good, but that's never been issue before. 
- Changed my rCB to CDstopper halfway into first half. I'm seeing the opposing strikers going unchallenged on long balls and longer passes upfield. I'm not playing with an offside trap, so I think this might be a solid shout - especially against teams with a single striker. 
- Last thing; left full back positioning in attack. I've added an image. 

As mentioned before, full backs don't seem to want to move far enough up the field to my liking. Here's my FBa (nr 5): 

I want him to be as far up as Harrison in this situation. The ball is being passed from nr. 9 to Harrison here, and my full back should already be in position to just be flicked on through or receive a pass to cross back in. Now, you'd think changing him to a WBa would do that, right? No. I tried that earlier in this thread. The only way I've managed to get my full backs to utilize that kind of space is on CWBattack and Team Mentality Attacking or Very Attacking. And while I could do that, it introduces it's own issues in other areas, especially defensively. I don't think that should be necessary - a toddler would be able to see all that space and move into it. 

So what gives?

Just a short comment in relation to the last picture you posted: Look at the opponent's number 16 and 8. If you lose the ball exactly in the position that the picture shows, you will be countered to death. You have to solve this if you see this in several cases.

[Is "Lower Defensive Line" a "Lose Now!" button?]

22 minutes ago, zyfon5 said:

also i found it ironic that people here always complain about the lack of central penetration, wingers not able to cross, strikers not able to score etc but do not agree that low block tactics can work. all of these things favour the use of low block tactic when u think about it. so which is true?

and the art of defensive football is seldom discussed just anywhere in football compared to things like tiki taka and gegenpress where a lot of ppl aldy know how to translate it to FM. hence i have seen a few threads where ppl complained about defensive tactics not working when their whole tactical set up including the roles and instructions do not fit what i know of defensive tactics fully. so there's another problem there ppl are just less informed about defensive tactics. defensive tactics are more than just setting a cautious mentality, setting the defensive line low, use some roles that sounds quite defensive and expect it to work.

I think the problem is as follows: setting up defensive low block tactic is much more complex and needs much more understanding about the game then setting up high block high pressing tactic. It can have something to do with the fact that this forum is full of tactics and explanations about high block attacking tactic then low block defensive tactic. The same thing applies for youtube: the big majority of youtube clips is about high pressing attacking tactics. Rashidi, who is regarded by many as a person with most understanding about the game, is pro high press attacking.

 

[How to Create Complex Attacking Patterns to Break Down Defensive Teams]

Have you tried bump up team mentality to attacking? Your midfield is quite conservative and you have only one player who attacks the space. You need players who can strach opponent and make space for Hazard. By looking at your setup, Pedro is the only one who is in position to score, everybody else are creators - more or less. By bumping up team mentality, the ball will reach Hazard much quicker, something that can solve your problem involving Hazard more in the game.  My experience after the last patch is that I have better results with higher mentality and higher tempo. It may have something to do with improved positioning for defenders and you need to move the ball quicker to be able to brake the down opponents defence. You will be able to keep the ball effectively with the good team as Chelsea, despite for attacking mentality. The majore change by bumping team mentality to attacking is that your fullbacks, and the two midfielders, will change their individuel mentality to positive, while Higuain change his individuel mentality to standard (if I remember corectly). Your tempo will be higher, your players more aggresive in pressing and passing more direct.

[Is "Lower Defensive Line" a "Lose Now!" button?]

My experience is that everything under the standard defensive line invites too much pressure that eventually ends in goal to the opponent. Low block might have worked if you had team of players with very high values in positioning, anticipation, bravery, concentration, jumping, heading, teamwork and work rate. Those values should be superior in relation to opponents. Example: if opponent attackers has 15 off the ball, your defenders should have a minimum of 16 in positioning, etc. In general, I agree with you: this version of FM doesn’t like low block tactics. I m saying this on the background for my own experiance and feedbacks from others - including this forum.

[Show your skin... and inspire]

On 02/11/2018 at 02:25, Maestro_DK said:

Every year I steal from a few skins and "make" my own. So far I have "made" this

Very nice. I really like this one. Could you share? Post a link if it is not to much trouble for you?

[** Tylerbode's Head start on FM10 **]

Okay, jascko, I implemented your suggestions. Must say the results are pretty awesome so far. You might really be on to something with the MC dropping to DMC.

I have 10 games remaining in the league, leading by 4 points, conceding just 13 goals so far (10 of which since switching to Eagle), scoring 44. Made it through to the semi final of the Dutch cup and still in the UEFA Cup after dropping out of the CL. So far, things are looking good.

Will post screenies of tactic, results and final standing in the league at the end of the season.

I'm glad to be able to help. Did you use mix or none FWR (forward runs) for DM? I hope Tyler bode can read this in try it.

[** Tylerbode's Head start on FM10 **]

Jascko, I'll give that a try! Sounds like a good plan!

Try both with FWR on mix and none for DM. Also make sure that he has higher CD than CB so that he can CD counter-attacks. Give us feedback how it went. I m sure there is people here who wants to know if this could make this tactic even more stable defensive.

[** Tylerbode's Head start on FM10 **]

Okay, been testing this with my AZ side, in my second season. I played the Piranha tactic in the first season, and won the Eredivisie with one point to spare against second placed PSV.

My thoughts, after switching from Piranha to Eagle after 7 games played in the league.

Offensively, the tactic seems sound. Especially when you have the ball in the opponents half. When following OP instructions, a lot of goals are scored from corners when you have a tall player attacking the GK. So that's all very good.

What I find suspect is the defending. Every time my opponents manage to build up an attack, I get nervous. Somehow, I feel the three MCs are not interfering with the buildup play at all, putting an awful lot of pressure on my defence. I am always extremely worried I'll get a soft goal there, which happens quite a bit.

Also, when building up an attack from my GK, I notice that, I think this has been mentioned in the thread before, when kicking it upfield and your MCs don't manage to secure the ball, you are extremely prone to a counter attack. Then, the above applies, with the 3 MCs unable to break up the attack. One solution I'm trying now is to distribute the ball to my RB. Also, the striker seems very isolated, as the AML/R are hardly supporting him when the ball is punted upfield. The problem I have with this is that they also seem to do very little defensively when opponents are attacking. So, what is their use when the ball is in your own half? It makes me extremely anxious to see them virtually useless when my defence is getting battered.

Then, I don't see my team dominating. There's very few chances created. Thankfully, I've been fortunate in these first 5 games, with the few chances that are created converted into goals, but it feels a bit like a roll of the dice. I'm not saying this is automatically a bad thing, as long as you consistently win, it's all good, but it seems so random. An example is my game against Feyenoord, where they managed 16:7 off/on target against my 7:3. I won 3-2, which is great, but it seems somewhat random Arsenal away from home was 4-2 to Arsenal, with them creating 20:8 chances against my 5:2. Thus: very nervy! Of course, Arsenal are in a completely different league from me, but still.

So, that's my initial view early into the tactic. I'll continue playing with it, as I do feel my team needs to adapt to this new style, but the above points struck me immediately.

Have you tried moving central midfielder in the DM slot? You are saying that you have problems with to much pressure on your defence, try playing with DM who can stop quick counter-attack from the opponent.