woodyy2r

September 1, 2021

10 hours ago, Jack722 said:

Mentality vs role and duty selection is always a bit confusing I find. I've asked about it on the quick answers thread a while back, but I think you might disagree with the response I got, and I'm still not convinced myself.

Currently, I'm unsure whether I should read more into the role descriptions, or look at the inidivdual mentalities, to decide who's going to be running forward and playing risky passes. If you're playing supporting fullbacks in a balanced system, but then decide that you're happy with the result and what to shut up shop, would you just select "very defensive" and rely on the individual mentality change to stop the fullbacks advancing into dangerous positions? Or should you also change their individual duties to defend, so that they follow the role description of "staying in line with the centrebacks".

At the moment, I do a bit of both (generally have more defensive duties when playing a defensive mentality) but looking at your use of the mentality calculator has me thinking that changing both of these options both has me doing a redundant task and / or leaves me being more defensive than needed.

I think the general response I had before was that it is still worth changing duties with mentality as each duty has their own individual instructions.

So I'm sure @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! would have a much better reply, but I would be careful and know exactly what you are achieving with each players mentality when you change both the team mentality and the players duty (D/S/A), as each one they can have a big impact on the compactness of the shape - of course it depends on what your team shape is.

With a very fluid team shape, you are unlikely to need to change the duties as well, as the mentalities are so close in any case i.e. if you look at some threads on here, you'll find that an attacking very fluid 433 can give all your players a mentality of 14/20 (with a striker on support being 12 the only difference). Switch it to counter and all players are on 6 or 7 (which, fyi, would be horrid and very defensive with no outlet, but very compact). A highly structured team shape would need more careful planning because what may have been a well thought out mentality distribution - like compactness on the flanks or your defensive midfielder being close to your CBs (in both cases have similar mentalities) - switching the team mentality to defensive could have disastrous consequences.

Take one of my old tactics for example a 3-5-2

I believe this tactic has a nice spread of mentalities, creating a compact defensive structure which is hard to break through (on control mentality) - CB close to DMC close to MC close to STC and with the WBs not too disimilar to the CBs, DM and MCs.

Change the team mentality to Defensive...

and it looks awful. WBs way too aggressive and not at all in sync with what I am trying to achieve by going defensive and there isn't a good mentality distribution from back to front. This tactic would be deep, but have huge gaps in the channel and between Wbs and Cbs. In fact (IMO) you'd have been better off sticking to the control mentality to defend your lead. SO here you would need to change the duties of at least the DMC, WBL, MCR, STCL to create some compactness and stop the AI just passing straight through you and leaving the defence exposed.

July 12, 2021

Hopefully you'll get a chance.

Can I ask what roles you are choosing for the 2 CM in the 343. Would be very interested to know. Cheers

June 15, 2021

On 13/06/2021 at 21:06, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Here we go again

Now you're just showing off! :lol:

Looking forward ot a thread on this because I'm really keen to see your tactical setup!

June 15, 2021

1 hour ago, LPQR said:

Great write-up and thanks for the mention! Disappointed not to see some asymmetric variations though

We'll get there! The trick with this team has been to keep thing unbelievably simple - at least until I have players who are half decent for the league they are in!

It's an unusual save because the players have always had decent mental attributes, but terrible technical ones - it comes from prioritising personality, determination, work rate and teamwork when signing players (Club DNA). This has meant highly structured - low creative freedom tactics. It started to get really interesting from 23/24 and I've got more screenshots saved so hopefully I can show a bit more of what I was working with!

June 11, 2021

6 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Do you mind if I ask you what kind of output you're getting out of the MEZ (A) on the right and what kind of player you're using?

Interesting you should ask about the MEZ(a). In the league above I have almost exclusively played 3-5-2 / 3-3-2-2 with a Holding DM, a playmaker at LCM and MEZ(a) at RCM, but the output was very much mixed and no player held down the role. I don't feel like the role plays as well as in a 4-3-3, where the output in terms of goals and assists (in any case) has been much higher for the role.

What the role did do however was link really well with the RWB and the F9 (at STCR) to drag the opposition defence to the RHS leaving lots of space for the LWB and STCL (usually Advanced forward or poacher). It's how we score a large % of our goals.

6 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

I used to love 3-5-2 variants but have moved away lately in favour of 3-4-3 (ish) variants because I get more attacking output out of a front three plus wingbacks but I still feal there's untapped potential in there somewhere.

Another question, if I may, is how did you do in the league? and - something I'm becoming increasingly interested in - how did you get on in the league above?

So, with my limited players, we have done well in the league right up to Ligue 1, but I felt we could only get so far, I needed better players to get further - top quality wingbacks (expensive), a good technical ball carrier for MEZ(a) and at least another hardworking and creative forward. My feeling is that, whilst we were at times a devastating team on the counter, we were ponderous when teams were conservative, meaning too many draws and the odd single goal loss against poorer teams - defensive double pivots were particularly annoying.

There was a season where I tried to make a 3421 (2DMs, 2 AMs) solve this problem, which was a massive flop and I reverted. In another season there were particular games where I played a Conte style 3-4-3 but strikerless (i.e. AML AMC AMR) - this was usually to counter top teams who massively overload the wings but produced some nice (counter) attacking play too.

I saw from your Benfica thread there was an Arsenal team you set up in 3-5-2 / 3-3-2-2 which looked rather exciting but I'd need another 5-10 seasons in Ligue 1 to get players anywhere near that good. The French TV deal is pants and AS Cannes are not PSG, our commercial revenue (whilst rapidly improving) is not making up the ground on the EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga or Serie A (to a lesser extent) TV deals anytime soon. This means (spoiler alert) that when my defenders became slightly better, I moved to a back 4 system and a Nagelsmann 3-6-1 in attack.

June 10, 2021

Held for update

June 10, 2021

Season 2021/22 - Championnat National C (T4) - The 352 counter

After what has to go down as one of my poorest ever FM seasons - being far too idealistic (I often push to get fluid, possession based football as early as possible) and not really thinking about how I want the team to transition or indeed what they are capable of - we go into the 5th season in a malaise of our own making. Still results and performances towards the end of the last season were promising and with the feeling that one extra man at CB to combat the fact our CBs are poor was the beginning of something.

We are tipped to finish 8th – sounds poor, however the 7 teams tipped to finish ahead of us are all B teams, meaning of the teams who can be promoted we are supposedly the best.

On the tactical side, given that there is no way I could go full Bielsa in the pressing and fluidity, I’m going to pick the best bits from various coaches currently using 3 at the back, as we are clearly suited to the formation. I’m also going to change from my usual ideas of possession based football. We are going to be most threatening on the counter, not patiently keeping the ball and waiting for an opening. Yet, given we are expected to be better than the non-B teams I want to have positive mentalities and some creative freedom.

Everything about this tactic is built to exploit transitions, and is set up perfectly for our players. A mid-block with some pressing but not overexerting - limited PIs - CM run wide with ball (Mezzala would be the perfect role, but let's not put too much on these limited players) and forwards move into channels - no fancy roles, keep it simple and direct with clear obvious threats. We can easily change to a 4132 from this base, pushing a CB forward to DM, the DM forward to CM and the WBs back to FBs. All Tis and PIs stay the same. I had put a lot of thought and reading into this tactic and was apprehensive to say the least.

I needn't have been. We went unbeaten in our first 16 matches winning 11. Beating OL B who were still playing their two £20K p/w players from 2 seasons ago was particularly pleasing and put us top. We slowed a little in the 2nd half of the season - no drop in performance, but perhaps a regression to the mean from the initial results. A 9th Round CdF exit vs Lg2 Grenoble was a decent run as well.

Notable performances from Behe (RWB), Beaulieu (CM(a)), Mze Ali (BWM) and with Douay, Diarra-Duval, Hernandez and Tambon all from the Cannes youth setup it was a great year all round.

Season 2022/23 - Championnat National (T3) - 3412, Wilder & The 'Duffy' Role

Following the resounded success of the previous season, I change nothing to start the season. We are predicted 16th (relegation) and tbh it showed in the first 4 matches.

No goals at all was worrying, but more so was the lack of chances created. I wasn't going to make the same mistake of waiting to long as I did 2 seasons ago. Something had to change.

Given I have said I have taken my inspiration from current Managers using 3 at the back formations, there was an obvious role-model close to home for me. I had never tried to replicate Wilder's tactics at the Blades, given the in-ability of the tactics creator to utilise overlapping CBs (something that FM2021 still can't do)! I am, however, currently picking the best bits of all managers and ignoring what I can't achieve with these players, surely looking to a manager who has squeezed every ounce of potential from fairly limited players was just the ticket.

This change was hugely inspired by @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!'s Benfica Thread and his discussion regarding the Highly Structured team shape & Juego de Posicion (Van Gaal). Also taking ideas from Positional Play (Mourinho) and Conte's Juve, Chelsea and Inter teams.

The 3412 (and subsequent 352 in the premier league) Chris WIlder and Alan Knill created were revolutionary in there use of CBs but were highly structured - limiting the freedom players have to deviate from there roles (bar a few key players) and playing with low creative freedom. This allowed players who had often been regarded as lower league journeymen to thrive. We at AS Cannes needed some of this. What's more IRL the Blades were starting to falter and there was a huge clamour the revive the 'Duffy' role behind the front 2 in order for us to actually create chances.

We had signed a good AM (Roman Faivre) and I felt it was time to unleash him. So for the 5th match we lined up in a 3412

We invert the diamonds from last season and drag the team up the pitch. 532 in defence transitioning to 325 or more like 3232 in attack. This was about as close as I could get to the Sheffield United tactics of 2016/17 100pt League One campaign. The results were immediate, winning 11 of the next 14.

Although I never really got the 'Duffy' role singing, we smashed the league. CdF was less impressive but we rotated for 4 matches vs lower league opposition losing the 4th.

Another lovely thing is that all season the starting WBs (Maire and Hernandez) were from our academy - Cannes born and bred. They were limited, but fit perfectly within the system. Across the board great performances.

Season 2023/24 - Ligue 2 (T2) - 352, Return to the Counter

The promotion to Ligue 2 came with the added bonus of forcing the club to turn professional - I looked forward to reaping the rewards but I was given a wage budget of £12k p/w (up from £5k) and no transfer budget - it's not quite the EFL Championship funding here! I understand we are in £1.7m of debt, but TV revenue of £5m will wipe that out. The board tell me to jog on and that's the end of it. Selling my 'keeper for £250k gives me a total of £125k to spend - I put the vast majority onto the wage budget.

So with the smallest professional budget I have ever seen it is no surprise we are predicted to finish last (20th) and looking at the attribute comparison, we are rock bottom in almost every area. Clearly we weren't going to change from the super successful 'highly structured' 3 at the back. But we do revert a little, I remove the 'Duffy' role for a DM and we go back to our counter attacking instructions.

532 in defence, transitioning to the 3232 in attack. All about winning the ball in a mid-block and getting forward quickly before the team has a chance to get back in shape. The Signing of Koté (RWB), Sitti (CM/AM) and Guenouche (LWB), in theory, gave us the legs to make this work.

We started poorly, taking only 8 points from the first 10 games, but after winning the next 2 we were never in trouble. A flourish at the end of the season, winning 6 and drawing 4 of the last 12 gave me hope for the next season and a very good cup run to the 10th round, only being knocked out by high flying in Ligue 1 Toulouse was another good performance.

To add some perspective, our first 2 matches were vs Lille (League and Coupe de la Ligue) they had a player called Nicolas Pepe on £25K p/w who scored 5 in those 2 matches. Now he not quite the level as IRL, but he was considerably better than anybody in my team and paid more than the lot of them!

As for players, again good performances across the board, with all the back 3 and Molinatti in DM, coming from the academy.

June 10, 2021

Hey, I have never done a thread before and I know I am using a very old version, so the thread will have limited interest, but I had been asked for my tactical evolution in this save.

My reason for still using FM18 is I am very nerdy about the tactical side of football, and I find the newer tactics creator to be inadequate in replicating real world tactics and not in depth enough. I have found the pieces on this forum by many to be very interesting, and have definitely helped and inform my understanding of how to play the game and utilise the tactics creator in this regard. I'll be focussing on the tactical side in this career thread, obvs. Many thanks all.

Introducing AS Cannes

I have always loved LLM saves and usually try to take a team from the Conference North or Conference, right the way to CL final. I also enjoy random saves, such as taking a second tier Austrian team to domestic domination, CL final and Austria to the World Cup semis (I was very gutted not to get further with either). However, this is definitely my lowest ever starting point! French football does not have the depth of the English game, by any stretch of the imagination.

I have a little bit of love for AS Cannes. It's a small town in Provence on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by much bigger clubs, such as Monaco, Marseille and Nice. They produced Zidane, Micoud, Vieira, Sebastian Frey & Clichy in the early to mid 90s, which was the last time they were any good. They finished a very respectable 4th in 1991/92 with Zidane in the team, and although they failed in both Europe and the league the following season, they were back in Ligue 1 from 93/94 until 97/98. After this glory period, they fell back into Ligue 2 and then the National, until they were booted out of the professional game in 2014/15 for financial irregularities.

This is exactly the sort of story I love, returning 'Les Dragons' to former glories, with a club renowned for producing youth talent.

Season 2017/18 - National 3 - Corse-Méditerranée (T5) - The 433

So... Amateur football in FM is tough. I have experienced the semi-professional standard before, but at this level there are no contracts, not even pay as you play, which means if you have a decent player, another team of higher reputation can pinch them at any time - this means that there is no chance of you getting a really good player for the league and holding onto them. Something I found out very early...

We are tipped for a 4th place finish and in comparison to the rest of the league we look decent - not top stuff but decent. Tactically we set up accordingly:

we expect to be as good as the top teams and better than the worse teams
we don't have great legs (stamina, pace and general fitness even in comparison to the very poor league)
Our biggest weakness is defence
Our biggest strength is Central midfield

Looking at all of this you can hopefully see why we set up as we did. I like 433/451 - it has good coverage for those ageing legs in defence and can be tweaked in attack to suit your players - in this case our best player according to my AM is by far and away our left back and whilst we don't have a natural Left winger, I'm hoping that playing a right footed player there with the left back overlapping will confuse the opposition defence and stretch the play.

I want to control the game and the players are technically and mentally good for the league, so I think they can cope with a flexible approach. TIs are minimal as you can see and PIs are similar, i think the RW has get forward whenever possible and the CM has move into channels. We don't want to over complicate things for these players - trust me!

Sorry there are no players, I didn't save screenshots at the time so I'm having to dig back through the archives.

After a few friendlies, my best player and the man I've built this tactic around - the left back (Kenny Gillet) is poached and I'm left wondering if I should change things, but with only a couple of friendlies left and things going well I persevere - although I never really get that left side going or the 5 in attack.

You can see that the midfield rocked this. Lopez-Peralta at 36, showed age is just a number and was the heartbeat of the team and alongside Anziani in CM really dominated games. Barkallah was good on the RW and I picked up Chabaud who was unattached and he went on to storm the scoring charts.

Promotion achieved and with a respectable performance in the Coupe de France getting to the 9th round and losing to Marseille - see below a link to a superb thread. I consider this a very good season. Amateur football is tough - squads are very transient.

Season 2018/19 - Championnat National C (T4) - The 442 diamond

Formerly known as the Championnat de France Amateur (or CFA) this is the top level of Amateur football in France and tier 4 in the pyramid. It's split regionally into 4, but is a very odd division, because you have completely Amateur teams like ourselves, semi-pro teams who actually pay wages (not just pay as you play) and then some of the B teams of the big boys. For example OL B had players playing for them who were on £20k+ p/w and (spoiler alert) I now manage in the French National side!

We are predicted a 14th place finish (relegation) and given that we are the only side not giving players any money at all (all the others have at least given their players a pay as you play on non-contract terms) I'm surprised the prediction isn't to finish rock-bottom.

Tactically we are hit by the retirement of Anthony Lopez-Peralta, who could not be convinced otherwise. I was not happy with the lhs last season and I expect to be out-classed in almost every game so I opt to pack the midfield and make teams play around us. I drop the mentality to standard and the shape to structured - for obvious reasons. The TIs of Drop deeper but press higher are to combat the fact our CBs have no pace but equally I don't want us to be playing a low block and inviting pressure. A lowish-mid block is fine.

This does mean no place for one of our top performers last season Right Winger Sami Barkallah but I can't find a good Left winger for love nor money (not that we have any of that anyway) I settle for the 4312. I realise that the full backs won't offer much going forward, but given we have an extra striker to bolster the forward line, I believe this is the best option I have available. We occasionally switch to the 433 depending on game state and how the match is playing out.

I would class this season as a relative success without going over-board. We stay up, but are knocked out in the 5th round (our first match) of the Coupe de France. The formation and style aren't quite cutting the mustard. The full backs offer even less than I expected with LB being a huge issue - neither Ousfane or Vilar look remotely competent. Beaulieu was signed part way through the season and is a superb replacement for the retired lopez-peralta.

Season 2019/20 - Championnat National C (T4) -Perfecting the diamond

We go again in this league and are predicted a 12th place finish. In better news, although still an amateur club, I can offer non-contract terms to players. We are unfortunately losing money hand over fist - despite the wage bill of £0, so I opt not to do this and only when an offer comes in for one of my better players do I offer that player these terms. By the end of the season 3 players have a pay as you play contract but we are over £1m in debt! I'm not holding out hope for training or youth facility improvements any time soon.

Tactically we are in a similar situation. I can't find a left winger, however I have signed Oumar Diop and I'm retraining him and Barkallah as Left wing inside forwards - but we are an amateur club, we barely train and the facilities are poor. This is a slow process. On the plus side, I've got a very good RB (Behe) and a decent LB (Martinez) and I'm hoping this unlocks the diamond formation.

I've dropped our AM Leca who has flattered to deceive and pulled the midfield closer to the defence. Beaulieu is our creator at AP(a) and with 3 destroyers (2x BWM and a DM(d)) I'm more confident in a mid block in-spite of my still very slow and now older CBs. Our strikers are small hence the play out of defence and work ball into box. The play much wider TI came in because I wanted more distance between the 2 BWMs. I noticed that when narrower, they often decided to close down the same player :seagull: but it does also help the WBs in attack. I enjoyed this season a lot. You can see the attempt to transition into a 2-3-5 in attack (although my lb rarely made it tbh). With better players, I'd use a Half back, more pressing and a higher mentality to create a 325 for further stability and help the transitions.

This was a mightily successful season a 4th place finish and ahead of 2 B teams is not to be sniffed at, and although Promotion looks close between Cannes and Lusitanos, we were effectively promoted with 8 games to go (of which we only won 2 having had 5 B teams to play and I did some experimentation with formation). Diop had a superb season and is a Right winger so regularly played up top or in a 433 (when we changed). He never once played as a BWM! His form is likely to prompt a switch of formation next season. Honourable mentions to Beaulieu (9 goals as an AP(a) is no mean feat) and Behe at RB. But this all just clicked. Everyone loves the diamond.

Season 20/21 - Championnat National (T3) - My big error

After a very pleasing season, we move up to the Championnat National supposedly the lowest tier of professional football - but most sides are semi-pro like us. We can now sign players to proper contract terms, however, we continue to haemorrhage money at an alarming rate. Our income is very low and the ground, Stade Pierre de Coubertin is a 12,000 seater monster which has significant costs and we rarely get above 1,000 fans. This means I have refrained to offer contracts unless necessary (new players and tying down decent current players).

We are tipped to finished 12th which seems overly optimistic by the AI given we still have players on completely amateur contracts and are a newly promoted side, however, I look at the comparisons and we look under average but decent. I guess the jump from T4 where you have the B teams to T3 where the B teams aren't allowed is very small. This gives me confidence and along with the brilliant form of Oumar Diop (Right wing) in the previous season and the fact I finally managed to sign a left Winger (N'Gakoutou) who was right footed and perfect for the IF role I opt to revert to the 433. I have confidence my full backs Behe and Martinez, which hasn't been the case before, so I'm confident in our return to our original formation and the increase in mentality and shape.

This confidence in my team and there abilities was completely and totally misplaced. We won a couple of matches early on, but we just couldn't stop conceding. I stuck with it, because the squad had quite a few new players and the team cohesion was low, but after conceding 5 then 6 in subsequent matches, followed by being dumped out of the Coupe de France at the first possible opportunity by a team 2 divisions below, I knew changes were needed.

You can see that we were creating chances and scoring goals, but the defence just wasn't up to it, we were also giving the ball away far too often. I reverted to the previous seasons 4132, but the results only improved slightly.

At this time I was reading lots about Bielsa's tactics and how he always has a man extra at CB. Having noticed our results weren't improving vs 2 man striker formations, I started to experiment with a 3 man defence dropping the DM into the back line and pushing the full backs to wing backs a 352 / 532. I didn't add in Bielsa's man marking or pressing, that was way beyond our capabilities.

So we ended the season playing predominantly the 4132 of the 19/20 season with the occasional 352. The results started to improve and towards the end of the season we were looking good, but not taking our chances and drawing too many games.

We just needed to win a couple of those games at the end of the season, and we were 2-0 up vs Chateauroux and winning vs Vitre and Grenoble. Alas, it was too little too late - we had started terribly and were relegated despite getting more than a point per game. A very disappointing season but what I wasn't to know was it had lit the tactical torch for something truly remarkable!

You'll notice below that Oumar Diop was so very poor this season he couldn't even make the squad for the team of the year. He barely saw game time again, as my annoyance for this dreadful season was (probably completely irrationally) placed on his shoulders. I did make this seasons tactical changes for him and felt severely let down. Beaulieu was once again the bright spark in an otherwise very poor looking set of stats. Bryan Constant was brought in to replace Diop, but despite his very good ratings and goals, he was sacrificed for defensive solidity. (He really wasn't as good as these stats suggest).

Other things to note, we have 3 youth products in the squad - Douay, Diarra-Duval and Maire. Very exciting and they should get more game time in the division below next year.

So tbh, If I was reading this, I wouldn't exactly be impressed so far. There's plenty of LLM threads and plenty of people better at writing than I am but hopefully those first 4 seasons can act as a bit of background for what comes next. The above is how I used to play FM, idealistic, fairly cavalier not really relating the tactics used to real life - although I would claim that the first tactic looks rather similar to how Mancini's Italy will play at the EUROs in a few days.

From the next season onwards, I had started to read threads on here and elsewhere from some of my favourite contributors @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!, @Cleon, @LPQR, @Rashidi, @Guimy, @fmFutbolManager to name a few and was inspired to go deeper into tactics and relate things back to real life tactics, tactical development and philosophies. It's given me so much more enjoyment in the game. This is a thank you to all of you.

June 10, 2021

2 hours ago, Bot Makel said:

@woodyy2r Why don't you open your own thread where you can share your career? I don't understand what it has to do with the Ozil theme

Completely fair point. I'll do this. It was only because I had been asked.

June 10, 2021

Ozil... I did promise to let you know about my update and it did look like I'm taking over the thread so have moved to my own career thread.

Apologies and I'm looking forward to your update on FC United!

June 9, 2021

I'm assuming this is the 3421 tactic mentioned

June 9, 2021

Ozil... are you going to do more on your FC United save thread? I'd be super keen to see what you've been up to. I promised to share my tactically evolution of AS Cannes on there too!

June 5, 2021

Hi Ozil, glad you are back and continuing this thread. Amazing results again!

May 4, 2021

I calmly tell the boys they have been unlucky, partly because we are 3 goals down from not many chances, but mostly because I know it's my fault. They are all buoyed by this, you can visibly see the pressure fall off their shoulders and they know they have a 45 minute free hit.

We start well, draw a save from their 'keeper and from the resulting corner, our youth product CB, Douay hammers home. It goes down as an own-goal, I couldn't care less. At 51 minutes, this was exactly what we needed.

The next 10 minutes are fairly bland and even, but that is a huge improvement on the 1st half. We are keeping the ball, and progressing it, although most attacks breakdown if the CF has to make a pass :herman:

I changed the DLP to an AP(a) at LCM, with the BWM moving to defensive duty in the centre and the MEZ to support at RCM, this meant our playmaker wasn't on a mentality of 4!! (we need 2 goals remember) but still keeps our lovely, lovely diamonds. On 63 minutes we string a few passes together and slice open Toulouse with ease. 4 passes to beat the high press and Rowland (despite giving the 'keeper a chance) slots it home. I wish we could play like this all the time!

*Please note F9 on the LHS not right as per the tactic.

We are buoyant, and with half an hour to go, this is getting very interesting.

This is where you expect me to show you the culmination of an amazing comeback vs Ligue 1 opposition, but sadly not. This 2nd goal was the cue for Toulouse to stop pressing so high, sit back and make us break them down. We huffed and puffed, but offered very little and in fact Toulouse had the better chances (although neither of us had any good chances). Good game management from them.

The game ends with a mixture of emotions. Pleased with the boys effort, that second half was very good. Gutted to go out. Frustrated at the poor goals we conceded but mostly mad at myself for my tactics.

Unfortunately I'm not perfect and regularly get things wrong. I won't make this mistake again vs 4231. If I really search for the silver lining, our poor form after beating PSG meant we fell out of the play-offs. Now we can focus all our attention on the league (Just the 1000-1 shot remember )

As for the cup...

Toulouse got smashed in the next round vs OL, but then (already relegated) Nantes sneak a victory in the final. OL will be furious in a season where they knocked out OM and Monaco and didn't have to play PSG, they couldn't bring home the cup!

May 4, 2021

I would love to say that we started well, however the first 15 minutes, Toulouse were all over us, dominating both possession and territory. Basically pinning us back around our box. This is not how I want us to play. Our CBs are not of a high standard and it was only a matter of time. 18th minute in...

Quickly followed by my youth CB (#3 Sylla who scored vs PSG) losing his man from a corner (22 minutes)

It's a really bad start and whilst we improve a little I'm very upset by us conceding 2 poor goals. We improve for the next twenty minutes and gain a foothold with some possession. I'm thinking about what to change at half-time when in added time...

It's frustratingly similar to the first goal and we go in 3-0 down. Poor defending, 3 goals from only 1 CCC and I'm frustrated but mostly I'm mad at myself!

Tactical Change

I'm mad at myself because in the league vs 4231 I invert the diamonds... I'll explain

The tactics above have the defence as CB(d) - CB(st) - CB(d) and Midfield as CM(d) - AP(a) - CM(d). If you think about the passing triangles this creates in possession with the GK and the WBs. You have 4 'diamonds':

GK - LCB - RCB - CB
LCB - LWB - CB - LCM
RCB - RWB - CB - RCM
CB - RCM - LCM - CM

And with the DLF dropping in I hope to create a 5th in the att 3rd.

However Vs 4231 this setup doesn't work defensively and is wasted in attack. In defence, the wide midfielders naturally mark the opposition CMs, the stopper then has 2 jobs, to both man mark the CF and step out to the AM (potentially leaving the CF in a channel between the 2 CBs). Added to this, the wide CBs on defend duty have a very low mentality (highly structured) so don't get out to the flanks - good for marking the CF, bad for helping the WBs. We have given Toulouses' AM (Rabello) so much space that he is running the game and has 2 assists, and whilst the goals have all come from crosses, it's because we can't keep the ball and are being pinned on our penalty area. In possesion, our CB(st) never sees it - if he isn't marked by the CF he is by the AM, leaving the wide CB's two options to progress the ball, pass to a likely marked WB or hoof it to Ganago, who has proven he isn't good enough to be a focal point vs this level of opposition (this was optimistic at best if I'm honest). Both terrible options and explains our predicament perfectly.

As I say, I knew all this, but I was so worried about Toulouse overloading flanks and having CMs who would help out the WBs (coupled with the fact that we played so well vs PSG) that I overlooked it. So at half-time, we change the defence to CB(st) - CB(co) - CB(st) and the midfield to BWM(s) - DLP(d) - MEZ(At). I push the WBs to Att mentality and sub Ganago who's been useless as an outlet, for Pau as a F9 - more movement.

The 'diamonds' in possession become:

CB - LCB - RCB - CM
LCB - LWB - CM - LCM
RCB - RWB - CM - RCM
CM - RCM - LCM - F9

And we look like... (sorry no players didn't take a screenshot at the time but Sitti, our best player, is the creative force in the Mezzalla(a) position.

Now this might look like a tiny change - but it completely changes how we progress the ball and the questions the AI have to answer. Does the high press Toulouse are playing with mean that the AM or wingers have to leave their man to close down the wide CBs? If so, spaces start to open up. We will be utilising the 6 v 4 at the back now and there should be diamonds or triangles everywhere. But... have we dug too big a hole for ourselves?

May 4, 2021

Since one of the best results in the recent memory of AS Cannes, we look like we have partied a little too hard

For a little perspective, Montpellier are top and look likely to win the league, Angers and Metz are top 5 - the Tours result was poor, but the biggest worry is the 1 goal and not looking like scoring. Fortunately our star-striker* Rowland recovers from injury for the Toulouse quarter final.

*Rowland is rated as a good Nacional Striker by my Assistant Manager. :lol:

Opposition Analysis

Toulouse line up in an attacking 4-2-3-1

This actually worries me more than the PSG scouting report for a few reasons:

It's their first team - probably to be expected for a cup QF, but still, they aren't underestimating us.
We aren't great vs 4-2-3-1 - It's a natural thing of our formation, of course it all depends how it is played, but in this case, the wingers pin back our wing backs and they match us up in the middle 3-3. Our having an overload in defence, 3-1 would in normal circumstances be overkill and a waste of an extra man, but our centre backs are not great and I don't want to risk a return to a back 4 and a formation we aren't familiar with.
the flanks - the constant achilles heel of a 3-5-2 highly structured is that the wide CBs and wide CMs struggle to get out the wings to help the wbs.

On the plus side, an attacking mentality means we should be able to hit them on the counter if we can hold their attacks at bay. Could be an interesting one. The odds are against us, but nowhere near as low as vs PSG.

Tactics

Given how well we played vs PSG, I turn our league 3-4-1-2 into the "flat 3" midfield we used previously. In fact we line up very similarly with Rowland returning up top, Mezaber at LWB and Sitti at RCM (he is our most creative player and would usually be the AP(a) but Mahao is suspended and Sitti is comfortably our best midfielder defensively as well :rolleyes: ) I change Ganago to DLF as his strength is superior to Pau and should be able to be an outlet. This is a much improved 1st eleven for us.

Allez les Cannois.

May 4, 2021

19 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Excellent post!!

Sorry for the delayed response, I have only just got strong enough internet to even load your screenshots.

Thanks and wow, you really must be in the middle of nowhere! Looking forward to seeing you progress as and when you can

19 hours ago, Ö-zil to the Arsenal! said:

Are you playing the same way in the league? Interested to see how you're doing. Also let us know how you go against Toulouse!

I promise to show how my tactics have developed over the now 8 seasons in a bit - it will require some memory, because I didn't save screenshots or in some cases tactics. But first Toulouse... (I've been experimenting with Gyazo, as the goal screenshots don't really tell you anything).

April 26, 2021

7 minutes ago, Hovis Dexter said:

I think that you intended to credit Oliver Jenson aka @fmFutbolManager of theresonlyoneball.com

Big thanks, meant to quote before publishing this!

April 25, 2021

C'mon Les Cannois, support your team!! this is the best it has been since 1993 when Zidane was playing for you :seagull:

Next up...

8th in Ligue 1, Toulouse at home, maybe we could break the 6,000 mark this time!!

The draw, however, is wide open. OL have done a great job of knocking out OM and Monaco (3rd and 2nd best teams in France- in this save). There's no better year!!

April 25, 2021

Just to preface the match. I've wanted to put more cup tactics in this thread for a long time, but we have been awful in cups ever since our first season 9th round defeat to Olympique Marseille. I have barely won a match. This season that has changed... but it is still not exactly pulling up trees, only one team even in my division (Nimes).

But now onto the big boys...

Unfortunately, in my 4-0 demolition of top of the ligue 2 table ES Troyes AC, we lost both our best player (Sitti - CM/AM/ST - and the only player in my squad who is Ligue 2 level according to my Assistant Manager) and our top scorer (Rowland - ST - Hat-trick vs Troyes). Not great, but that win did put us 4th in the table :applause:

The Match

As predicted, Ancelotti has rested Neymar and Mbappe. I hope (and pray) his over-confidence comes back to bite him.

Unfortunately, straight from the kick-off my fears are realised. Fernando Henrique skins my LWB and crosses for Iheanacho to nod in. Not a great 13 seconds. I didn't even have enough time for my "concentrate" shout to take effect :seagull:

I fear the worst and tbh, given how easy that was and the fact that it was where I knew we were vulnerable, I expected more to come. These games rarely go well if you concede early... unless

Maxime Pau - brought in to replace Rowland my top goalscorer - slots an absolute worldie from just outside the D! The scenes as the (not even half full) Stade Pierre de Coubertin go wild. 4 minutes in and this could be a cracker! (Notice the 325 in this shot)

For the next 10 minutes, we actually dominate possession, probably due to having a man over in the middle in both defence and midfield and the very low tempo. A few long shots are attempted, with the PSG GK only having to parry one good shot round the post. The resulting corner is floated in by Maxime Pau and Sékouba Sylla my 20 year old youth team CB rises highest...

HT comes around with no scares at all from PSG. Stunning from the boys and completely deserving of our lead. I tell the boys to expect a backlash after Ancelotti gives PSG a rollicking they clearly deserve.

The backlash did come, although our formation held well, restricting PSG to crosses from deep and long balls OTT, one of which caught out my ageing CB Amiot, leaving Iheanacho 1-on-1 with my GK who saves! Phew.

No huge changes, things are going as expected, PSG attack but we have the odd shot on the counter until the 75th minute when the highlights flick on. PSG with a free-kick by the Right corner of our penalty area. I fear the worst. We clear from the edge of the area, one of the strikers holds it up (the benefits of 2 strikers and not sending everyone back) plays it wide to the other, who feeds the wb, he drives forward, cuts the ball inside to the RCM who plays the perfect through ball to DYLAN BEAULIEU, the club captain, who can't miss! (Trust me these players actually can, but it doesn't have the same ring).

And bar a CCC for Iheanacho (a header from a Henriques cross, of course) in the 94th minute, we see it out with very little fuss.

Super impressed with the boys from Cannes. On to the quarter final...

April 25, 2021

Okay, so change of plan, and more on theme... Now Ligue 2, AS Cannes are drawn against some even bigger boys.

\

Just to put things into a little perspective and why this is still a huge, huge gap...

Just turned professional (yes French football is not very well funded at the lower levels) and with the lowest avg attendance in Nacional (T3) and Ligue 2 (by some distance), with mounting debt (admittedly coming down due to the £4m TV revenue in Ligue 2 for the year) our wage bill is a whopping £34k pw

A whole 14 times less than PSGs top earner

Tactics

For a few years now we have played a version of 352 or 3412 - lately 3412 to great effect, highly structured, standard or control aiming for a 325 / 3232 in attack. Of course I tweak this a little for this match

Using the wonderful mentality calculator from @fmFutbolManager, we look like

Limiting space between the Defence & Midfield and Midfield & Attack, with mentalities. Using a very low mentality to try to make sure these very outclassed players try to do the simple and easy thing.

TIs

More direct passing and pass into space - I hope is fairly self explanatory. I don't usually have these, but a given as we want to transition quickly in this match

Play out of defence - My forwards barely won a long ball in the Nacional, they definitely won't against PSG. Get my GK to distribute to the back 3. We will have a man over (see opposition analysis)

Look for overlap - I need some threat and width, I use this to increase the mentality of my wing backs alongside the additional ME benefit of getting them into the game more.

Close down more - Defensive mentality drops the d-line hugely!!! 2 of my 3 defenders are from my youth team. They are okay [coach says 'well suited to Nacional football (T3)] but not good enough to play low block vs PSG. Also what's the point in flooding the midfield with mobile and defensive minded players if you aren't going to get them to press!

Opposition Analysis

Carlo Ancelotti has returned for a second spell at PSG, still playing his not overly expansive 442

Main threats - our flanks. We concede goals in the league when teams overload my flanks with a full back and winger and my defender or midfield can't get across to help. This is likely to be magnified here, as in a 1-on-1 my wing backs will not come out well - otavio being an IW is good and the fact the FB behind him seems to be on a defend duty means my only worry should be my left flank - PSGs right, with Fernando Henrique (Winger) and Larrazabal [FB(A)] looking threatening. I set my wide CMs to defend to try to make sure the WBs have cover. Will potentially change to BWM(d) if it looks ropey - although I'm cautious on this as it can leave you more exposed if they go close down in the wrong direction.

Main positives - My 352 has worked very well vs 442 in general, particularly if teams usually play through the middle. We outnumber both the CB and CM areas. We also have 2 up front and a decent AP(a) to feed them who may get some space. There should also be a big gap between PSGs Midfield and Attack and my 3 CM should be able to cut of the supply centrally.

Next the match...

April 13, 2021

BIg thanks for the tactical update.

I have to say that although I have always found the level between divisions when playing English LLM fairly low. I am amazed that some of your players have gone from National North to League one. With the money you made from the cup run, do you now have very good training facilities?

If I get a chance, and if you don't mind, I'll put a little bit of my tactical evolution @ AS Cannes here. I think it's quite interesting as French LLM is very odd, even at T3 you aren't professional, therefore training and improving players to come up the leagues with you is tough. I ended up moving to 3 (or 5) at the back with a highly structured shape - this was inspired by your Caixa save. Previously, I'd always push to get to fluid / very fluid asap as I thought that's how I want teams to play, but my players just don't have the mental stats, and trying to force anything more than flexible on them was causing issues. Reverting to highly structured has been a revelation - with amazing results for a team who is rated 1.5 stars in some positions.

April 12, 2021

Out of interest @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! are you still going on with this save? I'm not sure what you've got left to achieve tbh, but this is an amazing read!

April 8, 2021

@Cleon

Big thanks for these articles. I've come very late to the SI forums, but have played FM for years. Really enjoying all the good work and interesting tactical analysis. Sorry I missed your blog too

Anyway just wanted to say how interesting this is and a big thank you!! UTB!

March 31, 2021

Simply amazing!

Sadly the cup-run in FRance was not a big thing and gained me about €50k so Cannes are still rocking the amateur status, albeit now in tier 4

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