[Jogo Bonito - "Beautiful Game": Guide to Playing 4-2-3-1 Like a Brazilian (Updated on Jan 15, 2024)]

On 20/05/2024 at 12:14, jc577 said:

Hey man, any updates on this at all? 

@crusadertsar

[Defence-First Football Tactics]

14 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

@BennosGames0299 there’s a good one on Ajax on dictate the game. Very inspiring 

Yeah that's the article i was referring too by crusadertsar, the article is brilliant, just seems like there isn't a role in the game that suits Frankie. Thank You for the comment.

[Defence-First Football Tactics]

Just now, HanziZoloman said:

I don’t know if it’s that but, you could try to play a HB dropping between the two CB. Two WB(D/S) going up the flanks. The second DM(S) with hold position or a DLP(S), incutting wide players like IW(S) or IF(S) and a striker. 
lots of support duties to create a fluid shape? Could be worth a try

The only issue is the hardcoded instructions included with the halfback position are not suitable for the movement I'm looking to create. Frankie was the progressive carrier in the team, he would drop into the left hand zone to form a back three and the bring the ball out of defense into midfield like a libero, but the half back is hardcoded to hold position and dibble less.

 

Thanks for the comment though mate. 

[Defence-First Football Tactics]

Hi @crusadertsar

I know this is not the right thread for this topic but i have no idea how else to contact you. A while back I was reading an article of yours on dictate the game called "total football journeyman: creating my 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid". I read through the article as i was looking for help trying to recreate Ajax's diamond under Eric Ten Hag in 18/19. The match engine was far more limited than it is now when it comes to replicating positional play tactics so i don't think it was possible to do a 1-1 replica. My question is have you seen anything in this year's game that could potentially replicate the movement's of Ajax. Frankie De Jong dropping into the backline as a libero type etc. Every year i wait for someone to successfully replicate this tactic, and every year I'm disappointed, and it would seem that after the season Manchester United have had i won't be seeing many FM experts attempting to recreate his style anymore. 

 

[Defence-First Football Tactics]

On 29/03/2024 at 12:40, crusadertsar said:

End of Season Mini-Update

So 27/28 season is over and Real Sociedad has once again proven that they are the "best of the rest" improving on the 4th place finish last season and equaling our position from 2024 and 2025 seasons. Still can't break into the 2nd place position but then Barcelona and Real Madrid are not easy teams to beat, even 5 years into the save. Although there have been a few signs of better things to come especially seeing how my latest tactic (4-2-3-1 from last update) has performed against these two footballing giants.

A lot of positives to take from above screen. For a non-Meta tactic I am rather happy with our passing and possession stats (56% average possession). While at the same time only conceding 24 goals all season long is probably the best achievement for a "Defence-First" non-gegenpress tactic. 

There was a huge divide between top 3 goal concession stats and the rest of the league. Also Real Sociedad was only 3 clean sheets behind League Winner Barcelona. I can't be anything proud of the boys after performing so well against the top 2 teams. Especially when Barcelona's highest valued player is worth 282 million euro (Yamine Lamal) while ours is aging Mikel Oyarzabal (86 million). And here are some of the results against elite teams.

 

And here is how the tactic looks at the end of the season. A few small adjustments but mostly the same as at start of season (All the PIs remained the same as explained in my previous update). 

 

And on that positive note I will be moving on to 2028/29 season. Hopefully the Spanish Cup success will provide us with momentum to achieve even more success with Defence-First Football. Happy managing and Happy Easter everyone 

PS: I am the guy wearing the blue and yellow polo shirt

 

Same individual instructions but the AM has no hardcoded individual instructions unlike the shadow striker so is that left blank or did you add the same individual instructions as the shadow striker @crusadertsar

[Defence-First Football Tactics]

On 08/12/2023 at 16:26, crusadertsar said:

Season 2, Defence-First Tactic, Version 2

I decided to do a little tactical restructuring during the Summer 2024 off-season with Real Sociedad. This is in response to tactical findings from previous season. Namely, the defensive side of my tactic was great. I am not going to bore you by going over the statistical details again. You can find those in my previous posts. In summary our defence was solid enough to help us attain 3rd place finish in the league (an improvement over last year's 4th). But unfortunately Real Sociedad lacked some punch in attack to truly challenge for the title. Despite finishing 6th in the league in terms of goals scored, Real Sociedad had way too many 0-0 draws for my liking, or too many draws period. And on many occasions we failed to score the important goal to break a draw. So for the 2024-25 season to make a few important changes while hopefully maintaining the same solid defensive structure from last season. We also had a few player departures (mainly Tierney and Silva leaving after their loans ended) and thus some tactical modifications were warranted.

As I wrote in my very first post, it is key to begin with a Plan. How exactly do I want my team to attack? Who should be our primary goals-scorers? I stressed in the past that variety is essential when it comes to crafting effective FM tactics. This is no different in relation to goal-scoring. We will need variety (both through roles and spatial positioning) in attack to improve our team’s attacking potential.

One must not forget that you still need potent attack to have a good defence. If you attack is not enough to keep opposition occupied then your defence will probably work very intensely throughout the match. One aspect of tactic should not be overlooked in favour of the other. It is a balance in both attack and defence that creates successful FM tactics. 

Firstly, I foresee that Real Sociedad will need at least 3 routes to goals. Last season, I became so focused on defence that I ignored this aspect and only ended up two realistic ways to score goals – from our central striker and left flank attacker (inverted winger role for most of the season). The balance was off and that was the main reason why we could not really challenge for a title. Of course, part of that has to do with the player quality probably lacking when compared to our two main competitors Real Madrid and Barcelona. But tactics still play an important role. Winning as an underdog is very possible in FM24, it just takes more effort in devising the tactics and care in game-to-game monitoring.

Last season, aside from Segundo Volante (S) we did not have much in terms of central late-arriving goal threat to back up our striker. So with the new, modified tactic I plan to address this.

In the above tactic, there are three clear routes to goals. The central striker remains our most potent threat. I decided to modify this role a little. I believe that I would need more of a strong presence here since we are playing with only one striker and there a few players attacking from deep or from flank. A striker role that can hold up the ball, among other things, is thus preferable. I decided to go with Complete Forward (A) just because my current best player Umar Sadiq seems to be best suited to this role. He is strong, tall, can dribble and can finish. So a pretty decent Complete Forward in my opinion.

Sadiq’s current backup is the promising youngster Mohamed-Ali Cho. A decent enough young player and also with enough potential to grow into CF role, although I will try him on Support duty because his Finishing is not so good. Sadly he is not Basque, so I will only be keeping him until his contract expires in 2027.

On the right I opted for a hard-working IW, simply because I see it as good middle-ground role between an attack-focused IF and more supporting winger or wide playmaker. I believe that Inverted Winger role marries all of these separate roles rather nicely. With the right player you can have a versatile role that can dribble, pass, cross and chip in with goals aplenty. A great compliment to the more reserved AP on the left.

Finally, our third goal-scorer will hopefully come from deeper position via CM(A). With my playmaker sitting on the wing,  I had to changed up the midfield a little from my usual Mourinho’s Chelsea-inspired trio of creator, water-carrier and destroyer. It allowed to free one player from traditional playmaking duties and let him concentrate on purely pushing forward with aggressive runs on goal. Hence CM(A) role. And given the Positional Play changes in FM24, there is also the added benefit of this player moving more consistently into AMC strata. Add to this a more aggressive wingback and you have yourself a recipe for 3-2-4-1 shape in attack. A balance attacking formation that I am looking for. While we can hopefully defend in a 4-1-4-1.

I also like the fact that our attack is coming from different vertical tactical strata: top central (via striker), attacking midfield strata (via IW) and deeper midfield (CM). Laterally, there is also quite a bit of tactical variety as our attackers are spread out and moving into wide areas, occupying central spaces as well as roaming into half-spaces between flank and centre. In the spirit of Total Football, we are trying to use the total expanse of the field to our advantage. It is also the concept behind the modern version of Total Football - Positional Play.  

The rest of the tactic is pretty self-explanatory. The main thing I tried to recreate is having 2-3 supporting players to each attacker. Likewise I wanted each attacking player to have at least 2 players supporting them directly.

For example, Oyarzabal, our Advance Playmaker is in prime position to support both the CM(A) and the Striker. The central Striker is fed by both AP and BBM directly and Wingback more indirectly via crosses. CM(A) in turn gets most of his support from aforementioned AP but also from the nearby BBM and less directly from both Libero and Wingback (via crosses again). Right-flank IW gets most of his support from wingback (moving behind and overlapping beyond him) and the dynamic BBM who takes more risks and roams forward more than your usual CM. With the right player you could have a similar effect to playing RPM there except without the undesirable (for my tactic at least) ball-magnet effect in the midfield. I do not want a central playmaker to take away from my libero’s limelight. While a playmaker on the wing should be fine, and if anything can become a focus-point for an occasional pass from the libero.

Speaking of the Libero. While it is a role that is sometimes hard to fill, given its demanding technical and mental requirements, it is invaluable in tactics where you want to start by building up from the back rather than having your players boot the ball long and risk losing it to the opposition tall jumpers. Also, hiding one of your primary playmakers deeper is a good away of giving them more influence over dictating the game rather than constantly being marked out by opponents. In fact, our Libero directly supports almost all the players in front of him, especially the runners like Wingback, CM(A) and BBM.

The defensive side of the tactic is also rather simple. I tried to make least changes possible to it, given how solid it was last season.

Our new acquisition Guillamon (16.75 million transfer from Valencia) is a rather competent libero with all the right traits to make him excel in the role even if his attributes may not be world-class. In possession he is happy moving forward to position himself next to our DM(S) Zubimendi (the only role with individual instructions to "dribble less", "shoot less often" and "hold position"). Due to FM24's positional play under-the-hood programming, Zubimendi will move slightly to the left. This essentially creates a sort of DM double pivot with our libero acting as a deep-lying playmaker. At the same time Le Normand (DCL) will move to the right to fill in the space liberated by our libero (thank God for FM24's Juego De Posicion!). The left fullback (IFB Defend) will then move centrally to become another CB in Le Normand's DCL position. All rather simple and elegant. And just like that we have defensive 2-2 box in Defence and DM strata. 

And here are some early signs that the tactic has potential

 

 

Well I know it is a draw, but I am actually rather proud with that last Ajax result. We played an important Champions League match AWAY from home against a team of high reputation and employing some pretty talented players (especially some pacey, technical attackers). So not too bad at all 

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Any Individual instructions to this tactic or is every one just on hardwired instruction? @crusadertsar

 

[Everything TOTAL Football (From Cruyff's 343 to Guardiola's Overloads) - UPDATED Feb 28, 2023]

On 28/02/2023 at 03:22, crusadertsar said:

My Braga Experience Continued

 

As you can see in the tactic image below, in the Autumn of 2024, I have made quite a few changes to Portugal's Little Arsenal. Regrettably, we could not hold on to our three biggest stars, namely Ricardo Horta and Vitinha, both lost to Real Madrid (Vitinha has also gone to Marseille in real life). As well as our aging, star keeper Matheus whose release clause was triggered by Leeds this season. But to be honest, the departure of Vitinha was probably a good thing because it allowed Abel Ruiz to really shine as he emerged from under his striking partner's shadow and developed at an incredible pace. What a late bloomer! 

A one-time Barcelona reject, has become a vice-captain and one of the most complete forwards for Arsenalista. And he even has some pretty incredible intangible hidden traits like loving Big matches and high consistency rating. It allowed him to surpass Vitinha's previous record by scoring 34 goals for us last season. 

Yet all these unwanted transfers gave us a sizeable transfer kitty that allowed me to really craft a team that I want that is capable of playing the kinds of tactics that I want. Outside of Abel Ruiz and Andre Horta (turned out to be more loyal than his younger brother Ricardo) and the defensive core of Tormena and Niakate, not a much of original Summer 2022 1st Team remains. And yet it's a much improved team. After two cup wins in the 2nd season, the club value has more than doubled to 150 million. 

But anyway I digress. This is my Narrow Diamond tactic since a couple of months. It was an interesting tactical evolution that went from 4-2-3-1 to 4-2-2-2 Magic Box and now to this latest tactic. I find this is the one that gives us the most balance, in attack and defence. To be honest, I was more than a little influenced by Mourinho's legendary Porto team. But that is to be expected. Especially if you already read my Defence-First Football thread and know of my long-standing Special One obsession. 

This current 4-4-2 diamond is somewhat similar to the one I discuss on the second page of that older thread. And some of the rationale I use there could also apply here. Things like tactical variety and importance of building a tactic up from defence first. But at the same time I took some liberties with the roles and modeled the tactic more into a Vertical Tiki-Taka systme. Nevertheless, I still prefer to have one more attacking and one more defensive fullback. 

Speaking of fullbacks, you might wonder why I use an Inverted Fullback and on defend duty too?! And in a narrow tactic to boot! Blasphemy!!

Well there is a very good reason for that. I really needed a defensively-solid wide player, who will mostly stay in our own half and ping passes to his more advanced teammates while occasionally moving forward to join attacks when safe to do so, such as during counters. I also needed a player that is more dynamic and progressive in his passing, hence I needed him to operate with a higher individual mentality. Such as the balanced individual mentality that is created by the combination of defend duty and "underlap right" instruction. The kind of movement that you see created in the clip I posted earlier, simply cannot be possible with players playing on cautious or defensive individual mentality (outside of the centrebacks of course). 

But coming back to the inverted wingback. A few other behaviors I need from my IWB is holding position, crossing less often, dribbling less and sitting more narrow. All hard-coded to the role already. Closing down more and marking tighter I added myself.

While the player is on defend duty, he is not really a defensive role. But more of a conservative wide covering/support role, similar to our carrilero in the midfield. For that reason, the best players to slot into a IWB are retrained midfielders. Players like Albert Sambi Lakonga. Another big club reject who found a new home and flourished at Braga.

Albert playing as the right-wing Inverted Wingback really keeps our right flank solid, permitting the Mezzala on attack duty to really come into his own. While our left flank fullback is allowed more attacking freedom with his attack duty. Here I am retraining another winger (albeit one with relatively decent positioning and tackling, so a defensive winger really) into an attacking fullback.

But my 1st choice for the left fullback remains one and only Galarza, one of the surprising stars of my team.

Matias Galarza, an unknown (to me) Paraguyan midfielder whom I picked up for a pittance in my 1st season with Braga. And after undergoing a complete positional switch from midfielder to fullback, the fruits of his complete midfielder skill-set have really started to bear in his new flank position. His individual traits, especially my favourite "play one-twos", have helped in stamping the unique character on his play style. If you watch the video I posted above closely than you will see exactly how involved Galarza gets in our pass and move play that leads to the eventual goal. Galarza had at least 3 key passes (including the one right before the goal) in that 25 pass build-up play. Not bad for a fullback! On two occasions you can see him pass to a teammate and then run into space looking for a pass back. A classic one-two play. And when you have such behaviour not just from one player but from at least 7 players in your formation then ever-elusive Total Football becomes a very realistic possibility in the game.

It is rather remarkable how much of a difference a unique set of attributes and some traits can make on an overall tactic. And both of these things come into play in my tactic. Not only do I use midfielders in my fullback roles but also make sure that more than half of my formation's roles possess the "plays one-twos" trait. In fact, in that goal clip, everyone except for the two centrebacks and DM anchorman had that unique trait. 

Can you see the benefits of retraining players from their natural positions and roles yet?

Something that I find myself doing often in Football Manager is to use tactical positional retraining in order to use players outside of their natural position. I believe it's a great, and very undervalued, strategic option that can both be light on the budget and tactically advantageous. Especially for a club like Braga.

So why do I like to retrain my players? Especially when this tactical option comes with a some pretty significant disadvantages ranging from worsened player morale to lowered tactical performance (decision attribute is limited when playing out of position).

Well, there are also some clear advantages that come with positional retraining. Such as:

1) Facilitating the switch from one formation to another. Having players that can fill multiple and varied positions can aid in increasing your team's tactical flexibility and variability. Sometimes you might want to change your formation short-term, "on the fly" during a match, in order to counter strong opponent's tactic or to break down an especially stubborn defence. Other times you might see that midway through the season your tactic is not working and wish to switch things up by trying a different formation for a few matches. Having players on your team who can already fill the new roles and positions can greatly facilitate the process of moving to a new tactic. I will often start players on training for a position in preparation for such a "long-term" tactical switch.

2) This brings me to my next point. Once you made the switch to a new formation, you will need players to fill it. Retraining your current players will help you in filling tactical positions while operating on a tight budget. When given choice, I prefer to make the best of the players I already have without having to spend my modest transfer budget on new players. Or buy cheap players and retrain them into exotic roles that are otherwise hard to fill, such as Inverted Wingbacks and mezzalas.

For example, when I first switched to 4-2-3-1, my team lacked a quality left wingback. And when I scouted the transfer market for suitable targets, no-one suitable (whom I could also afford with Braga's modest budget) could be found. So then I resorted to buying a cheap young midfielder from Paraguay to fill the role. He already possessed some great technical and mental attributes that I was looking for in my ideal attacking fullback. And after 6 months of retraining he became comfortable in the role. After a full season with the club, he is natural in his position.

3) Creating "shadow roles" to "surprise" the AI or "break the lines" so to speak. This is one of my favourite reasons for retraining footballers. It involves taking a footballer with attributes that are very common in their natural position, and moving him to another position that has scarcity of options when it comes to available players. Or to a role where his particular set of attributes is rather rare. For example while choices of natural False 9 strikers might be scarce, there are plenty of AMC playmakers with decent finishing who can be restrained into a central striker role. Outside of the elite teams, there are not that many affordable options for creative, technical strikers. But a lower tier club could always retrain an advanced midfielder to play the False 9 role just as well. Similarly, very creative natural centrebacks that can fill the Ballplaying Defender or Libero roles can be hard to come by while strong tall midfielders with good passing and tackling are rather common. 

Sometimes a hardworking striker (really a pressing forward) can become a very good mezzala. So that even a mid-tier team, like Frankfurt, can operate with an exotic central winger role. 

Anyway, this is my favourite topic so I intend to cover more of it in the future, but hopefully you get the point for now.

Cheers! And happy managing 

Do you use any other player instructions or opposition instructions. I love this shape and the idea and I would like to build my current team around this tactical setup and idea.