Silver Sweeper

Only the ones I’ve listed on the tactic screenshots (on the AMC and RW) - I don’t like to use a lot of player instructions and the ones I do use are either situational or, as in the examples above, based on learning from repeated watching; for example I started instructing the inverted winger to “sit narrower” together with the “overlap right” team instruction because the wing back on that side was not getting as far forward as I would have liked. it’s a matter of personal choice. I find too many PI’s to be counterproductive, making it harder to determine what makes the tactic work/not work. I also like the way a players natural traits can alter the way a tactic plays in small nuanced ways (without PIs). That said, I’d weLcome any suggestions for PI’s that may help improve the tactic.

Thanks You're spot on... Flick got the best out of that Bayern team, experienced players and newbies alike. Muller definitely regained his mojo in that side. I think you're right, a more faithful recreation might look like this... ...but I'm not sure I have the right players at the moment (I experimented with a CF but my strikers are not Lewandowski!). It will be January soon and maybe I can find the right forward and AMC. I haven't dipped my toes into the transfer market yet, any tips ppl?

It's not easy to understand the style of play you are looking for here, perhaps you could give us a bit more insight? Looking at your tactic it's entirely possible that some of your instructions and role/duty choices are working against one another and that could be causing you problems. For example you're instructing your players to play the ball very short and work it patiently into the box, whilst also telling them to play lots of through balls and keep the tempo high. Similarly there's some conflict in asking the team to: play short passes and concentrate play through the middle of the park, whilst stretching them out as wide as possible. play with a high tempo but to frequently waste time. overlap on both flanks whilst using defensive inverting full backs (overlap generally only affects full backs and wing backs employ a positive mentality and ALL offensive players on an attack duty (similarly with the midfield all on support, and defenders all on defend, there'll be little movement between the lines) form a diamond defence but step up with an offside trap (all the while using a mega high line) Personally, I would try the following: Mix up the duties, put your wingers on support (when starting this high up the pitch wingers tend to play more like wide forwards anyway). Try an advanced forward and attacking midfielder (a), or pressing forward (s) and shadow striker combination. The AF moves into channels opening up space for the AMC, whereas the PF and SS should switch places frequently without minimising your press. Drop the CM's into the DM line or put one of them on a defend duty (the CM probably) Have one DC as a ball playing defender and the other as an orthodox defender (utilising a libero in a back four is very difficult to pull off) Have more orthodox full backs; I find the FB(a) is a great blend of attacking intent and defensive responsibility. As for the team instructions, maybe start with: positive mentality, shorter passing, play out of defence, work ball into box, take short kicks, distribute to CB's, counter-press, higher defensive line, high press, press more often/much more often, prevent short GK distribution or (if you prefer a more direct style of attacking)... balanced mentality, standard passing, higher tempo, play out of defence, pass into space, take short kicks, distribute to CB's, counter-press, counter, higher defensive line, high press, press more often/much more often, prevent short GK distribution I find a balanced mentality is a good place to start with top heavy formations like the 4-2-3-1 or 4-2-4. Be more Moyes and less Pep Good luck

I can't believe I forgot to add the actual tactic to the OP Fixed that now!

It’s early days but I thought I’d share my first FM24 tactic, a simple but (hopefully) effective 4-2-3-1. Please comment with your thoughts and advice, where do you think I could make improvements and what problems do you foresee for us over the remainder of the season. As with most of my FM tactics, I find inspiration in real life - in this case from one of the most impressive UCL winners of recent times… In the 2019/20 season Bayern Munich won a treble of trophies: the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and UEFA Champions League; and they did so playing a brand of exciting attacking football. In that first season under manager Hansi Flick, Bayern scored 100 goals in 34 Bundesliga games (2.94 goals per game) and 43 goals in the Champions League. Hansi Flick inherited a talented but under-performing squad from predecessor Nico Kovac; he ditched Kovac's 'three at the back' approach and returned to the blueprint that had brought the club much success under Jupp Heynckes, the 4-2-3-1. Flick used this shape to get the best out of players like Robert Lewandowski, Serge Gnabry, the "mentality monster" Joshua Kimmich and emerging talent Alphonso Davies. The tactical change had an immediate impact with Bayern beating Dortmund 4-0 in Flick's first Bundesliga game. https://youtu.be/-caMpDqwh_c?feature=shared My chosen team is Fiorentina who possess a well-balanced squad suited to playing 4-2-3-1. Although it's clear the La Viola players are not the same calibre as that 2020 Bayern team, whenever I think of a 4-2-3-1 I’m reminded of Flick's accomplishments. A 4-2-3-1 on paper resembles 4-4-1-1 when defending and an asymmetric 3-1-5-1 in possession. When we have the ball one full back advances whilst the other tucks in to form a back three. The team’s width comes from the attacking wing back on one flank and a more traditional winger on the other, the other offensive players can attack the penalty area in numbers. One of the brightest talents in the 2020 Bayern side was a 19-year-old wing back called Alphonso Davies, and in a surprising parallel La Viola also has an exciting 19-year-old wing back in Michael Kayode. As Davies provided the width on Bayern's left, Kayode will do the same on Fiorentina’s right. Unlike most 4-2-3-1 tactics which deploy a double pivot or instruct one of the defensive midfielders drop between the centre backs, we use an inverted full back on the right to create a back three. This structure allows the two defensive midfielders to be more involved, one pushing up to join the attack, the other sitting ahead of the defenders as the single pivot in a 3-1 shape. This arrangement suits the Fiorentina midfielders, Rolando Mandragora can play as the metronome, loanee Arthur the box-to-box midfielder, whilst Maxime Lopez can perform both roles. What’s more, if the opposition mark Mandragora then Nikola Milenkovic, a ball playing defender on the right of the back three, is more than capable of bringing the ball out of defence. It's important to note that we're only 10 games into the Serie A season, but the early signs point toward a tactic performing its offensive duties with confidence.

I thought I'd share this football manager 'life hack' which I find helpful when analysing my tactics in game. Applying an overlay to the match screen helps me to quickly reference the player positioning during the various phases of play. I also apply a similar overlay to the analysis screens (examples below). The free app I've been using to achieve this is called Red Line Tools but there are various different 'overlay' apps available. It's easy to use - you choose the style, colour and thickness of the lines and then place them wherever you want.