Long-term FM player here, always preferred 4-3-3, but struggling to get my centre forward involved in FM21 like never before. This is my current tactic:
It works well! I score lots of goals (over 90 league goals in five of the last 6 seasons, over 100 in three of those), barely concede (less than 15 in the league in each of the last 5 seasons, less than 10 in three of those), win a lot (6 PL in a row, 7 of the last 10 CL), and don't lose often (at one point I went a month short of three calendar years without losing in the league). I get goals from nearly all positions - both of the wide players, from central midfield, and occasionally from my left back, and always a few from others as well. So I'm pretty sure my basic system is sound.
But I really struggle to get the centre forward to get goals or assists. Over the last few seasons I've played with quite a few variations on this tactic, trying to find ways to bring the centre forward in more. Some examples of the main variations I've tried:
I've also tried using 'focus play through the middle', variations with a DLF(S), complete forward (A and S), a trequartista (both up top and out wide), a pressing forward (A and S), and various combinations across my front three of roles and duties. This includes changing the IW(S) to a W(S) to provide width on the right. I've tried switching up my midfield with MEZ-S or B2B instead of RPM, CM(A) instead of Mez(A), etc. My players are fully capable of all these roles and when I'm trying a new setup I make sure to train them in their new role to get them familiar with it. Here are my first and second choice strikers:
My wide players are all good players with excellent technical and mental attributes - my main left IF hit 31 league goals last year with 6 assists, though my main right IW underperformed a little with 9 goals and 9 assists. This was the first season of playing my main IF as an IF - before that he'd mostly played centrally as F9 or DLF-S and averaged less than 10 goals and assists combined over the last four or five seasons (despite having similar stats to the two I've posted here).
With all of these setups I'm scoring goals and winning games (though some are more effective than others). But generally my centre forward isn't doing much business - between my two first choice players, they got 23 league goals and 10 assists last season and each had a couple of lengthy droughts and poor ratings. That's actually an uptick from previous years (I think because I signed my first choice striker last summer), but I want more.
I have five star coaching across all training categories with light workloads for the coaches, top class training facilities, etc. Fitness and morale aren't an issue.
So - all advice welcome, any thoughts on how to improve this will be gratefully received!
Long-term FM player here, always preferred 4-3-3, but struggling to get my centre forward involved in FM21 like never before. This is my current tactic: It works well! I score lots of goals (over 90 league goals in five of the last 6 seasons, over 100 in three of those), barely concede (less than 15 in the league in each of the last 5 seasons, less than 10 in three of those), win a lot (6 PL in a row, 7 of the last 10 CL), and don't lose often (at one point I went a month short of three calendar years without losing in the league). I get goals from nearly all positions - both of the wide players, from central midfield, and occasionally from my left back, and always a few from others as well. So I'm pretty sure my basic system is sound. But I really struggle to get the centre forward to get goals or assists. Over the last few seasons I've played with quite a few variations on this tactic, trying to find ways to bring the centre forward in more. Some examples of the main variations I've tried: I've also tried using 'focus play through the middle', variations with a DLF(S), complete forward (A and S), a trequartista (both up top and out wide), a pressing forward (A and S), and various combinations across my front three of roles and duties. This includes changing the IW(S) to a W(S) to provide width on the right. I've tried switching up my midfield with MEZ-S or B2B instead of RPM, CM(A) instead of Mez(A), etc. My players are fully capable of all these roles and when I'm trying a new setup I make sure to train them in their new role to get them familiar with it. Here are my first and second choice strikers: My wide players are all good players with excellent technical and mental attributes - my main left IF hit 31 league goals last year with 6 assists, though my main right IW underperformed a little with 9 goals and 9 assists. This was the first season of playing my main IF as an IF - before that he'd mostly played centrally as F9 or DLF-S and averaged less than 10 goals and assists combined over the last four or five seasons (despite having similar stats to the two I've posted here). With all of these setups I'm scoring goals and winning games (though some are more effective than others). But generally my centre forward isn't doing much business - between my two first choice players, they got 23 league goals and 10 assists last season and each had a couple of lengthy droughts and poor ratings. That's actually an uptick from previous years (I think because I signed my first choice striker last summer), but I want more. I have five star coaching across all training categories with light workloads for the coaches, top class training facilities, etc. Fitness and morale aren't an issue. So - all advice welcome, any thoughts on how to improve this will be gratefully received!
