77charisma77

What is this skin? Thank you

This is a loose interpretation of Mourinho's Real Madrid tactic; but I'm having problems making the Ronaldo/IW score more. Another point worth noting is that once the team progresses to the midfield, the play gets fast but there aren't enough bodies going forward. I know both issues are due to the deep formation but I'd like to keep it. Any suggestions regarding the roles/duties/TIs/PIs? The IW only has the Sit Narrower PI.

What's the reason behind SK(a)? The same for the W(a) - why not W(s)? The W(a) is paired with the attacking duty IWB on the left flank, and also forms an all attacking trident up front with the DLF(a) + IF(a)

Here's the tactic. This was started as Bielsa's Leeds recreation save (I've only changed sides bcs of my players' footedness), so the roles were chosen having that in mind. As I said, I'm sitting top of the table with Derby right before the winter break of the 2022/23 season (no transfers / loans were done, the squad is the "default" Derby one ). Regardless of league position, I'd say my tactic is clashing with the following general principles explained in this thread: 1) Width I'd say the fullback/winger roles are not the best as both flanks lack width, even though both AMR & AML, as well as FB(su) have "stay wider" PIs. I tried plying the left back as a CWB(su), since Ayling is both footed and often roamed and drifted inside. But I gave up quickly as the CWB role was to aggressive to allow the player to participate in the build up, which was a big aspect of Ayling's game under Bielsa, so I decided to go with a simple FB(su) and a creative defender (pretty much a BPD profile player) there. 2) Disjoint midfield As for the midfield trio, there is a defensive duty DM and two roaming roles in CM slots. I believe that, more often than not, Kalvin Phillips played as a Regista under Bielsa. Phillips was always roaming around (especially during the build up) to make himself available to his teammates, and then often playing direct long balls forward to switch the side/momentum of play. This is why originally I went for a Regista here. But I suppose having the entire midfield roaming was not the best decision ever so I went for a simple DM(de) with "more direct passing" PI. I haven't been experiencing any issues of disjoint play - maybe bcs of relatively high mentality pushing the DM forward? The RPM has the "Comes deep to get the ball" PPM, so maybe this helps a bit too? Instead of the Mez(at), I've used a Mez(su) originally, since the support duty role also has the "get further forward" PI hardcode, which is reinforced with my "Underlap right" TI. But what I've found watching the games and statistics was actually that the attack duty is more productive - not entirely sure why?

Thank you for the attacking CM version, much appreciated! Your choice of roles is logical and makes sense, and while my version (I use the Mezz(a)) deviates a fair bit, it got me decent results - I'm topping the league table with Derby right before the winter break of the 2023 season. I'll share it for your review after work, looking forwards to your comments

Hi @Cleon, this is very interesting; I assume you are referring to FB(A) - W(Su), but correct me if it's not the case. Coming from FM16, I've recently learned that the IF (A) - Mezzala(Su) is another good combo despite these roles entering a similar space. Could you please provide some more examples of good role combos regarding same space/support, as that would be very helpful? PS just wanted to let you know that I've been following your Íbis Sport Club - The Attributeless, Blind Scouting, 5-2-2-1 Years! thread eagerly, please keep posting as it helps the community a lot. Thank you!