blackzmith

I posted it here - It worked really well when I had a team of superstars for a while but then began to get unpicked defensively after a season or two using it, so I abandoned it. It's fun to play to be fair although in hindsight I'd probably use more player instructions (like with this topic's tactic) and maybe two HBs for my DMs

It was also partially inspired by Newcastle this season. They are a very high pressing, super energetic team, a bit like Klopp early days but they have the ball in play one of the lowest amounts out of all the PL teams. Which helps them conserve their energy. Whether that thinking actually works practically in the fm engine is another thing

I explained in the original post but it’s an essay so you may not have seen it haha “ Play for set pieces - another frustration of my old tactics were my ineffectiveness from set plays. So I made sure to train attacking corners/free kicks every single week, and look to abuse my team’s good dribbling ability overall to see if I could get more goals from set pieces. This worked for corners as my 12 corner goals were the most in the division, but there wasn’t much success with direct/indirect free kicks ” Might take it off for next season though as it didn’t really pay off as much as I would have hoped, or I’ll have to tweak my attacking free kicks tactics and hope it works better for them

Oh nice, have you posted it here? And it probably is overkill haha but since it was so successful then maybe not. I never used dribble less until fm23 but ended up using it more and more to stop my players doing dumb stuff. I might try take it off though and see if it changes much. I have a transfer window to contend with now though and I need some HG players😬

Thanks! And yeah, they always did seem a little offset rather than central but nothing too bad. If you look at picture 13 on my Reddit post there's a screenshot there. However, it is quite a high tempo system so it wasn't like the back 3 were playing it around in that shape for ages

Thank you! Yeah I wasn't sure if it would work. At Brentford I had been using a 3-2-2-3 with the box midfield but since I had so many good strikers I kind of just thought, how can I do something similar but with 2 strikers. This was my favourite goal from the season, pops the ball up to himself then the cleanest of strikes off the underside of the bar. 😮‍💨

Thanks Chris, I think Pep used a type of 4-4-2 out of possession with Haaland and De Bruyne defending from the front. Since it's such a solid formation and City's players are so fluid they always seem to get into those half spaces when in possession. I posted the same thing to reddit but with more images if you want to look at the player instructions visually there -

Thanks Johnny! I have only made one other post here so apologies for putting it in the wrong place but thanks for leaving it here for discussion! 😅

PART 1 - BACKSTORY AND OLD TACTICS - (See PART 2 for Tactics Discussion) 1. Backstory TLDR - Went from Sweden to Brentford and took Brentford to PL Champions. Got bored and lazy with tactics after Arsenal turned into monsters and so I resigned and went to Bayern Munich. - Started with a Swedish club in the lower divisions and took them to the top division (a la Graham Potter). - Left to take the Brentford job in the Championship in 2028. Took them to the Premier League and won the league there after several seasons. - Almost won the treble with Brentford but lost in the CL final to Arsenal and since then I struggled to win the league, as Arsenal entered a period of domestic domination. - As Arsenal kept winning and my team kept faltering, I got pretty bored and lazy with my tactics. You can see some of them in my previous posts on my profile. - I decided to resign from Brentford near Christmas time after losing 3 games in a row. I took over at Bayern the following Summer (Nagelsmann just left them) in 2045 and Nagelsmann took the Brentford job. 2. Issues I noticed with my old Brentford Tactics - With Brentford, I tried to build my tactic based on how I wanted it to look ‘in possession’ in the tactics builder. Eg. If I wanted my team in possession to be a 3-2-2-3 (box midfield), I would literally make that formation and then set player roles. The problem with that is, if you have a back 3 with no fullbacks or wingbacks, then you can be really strong offensively, but your out of possession shape will be very vulnerable, even if you have world class players. (It can work - see my old posts, but it’s not sustainable) - At Brentford I also always used a low tempo and shorter passing and was becoming very bored and frustrated with my ultra patient attacks. So I decided to go for a more high-tempo game, after looking back at some of my successful tactics on FM22, which mostly used a higher or standard tempo. - Even though I had top strikers at Brentford, it was rare they ever broke 20 goals in a season which frustrated me, so I really wanted to make a system that would get the most out of talented strikers. PART 2 - THE PHILOSOPHY (see part 3 for in-depth breakdown) 3. Overall Tactical discussion Bayern Munich - 442 into 3232. - I had 4 very good strikers at Bayern in my second season there. Therefore, I decided to make a 4-4-2 so I could rotate my strikers effectively. 4-4-2 is stereotypically a defensive formation and solid base to build from. - So I used very customised player instructions, to achieve how my team should play in possession. I really wanted my team to player 3-2-3-2 in possession. This was the key to building this tactic. 🔑 - The 3-2-3-2 would give my team a unit of 5 for defending and a unit of 5 for attacking. - The defensive unit would be the LB, LCB, RCB, RB + BWM. - The attacking unit would be the LW, LCM, RAM, + Strikers. In order to achieve a 4-4-2 out of possession and a 3-2-3-2 in possession, this is what I did:- You can see the very last picture of this post has the initial idea I came up with on the Line Up 11 app. I started with the 4-4-2. - I put my left back on IWB(support) and moved him into central midfield where he would end up in possession. - My LCB therefore would have to stay wider to occupy the space left by my left back. - My RCB would hold his position and cover. And my Right Back would be defensive and stay narrow, essentially another Centre Back in possession to make a 3 at the back. - As my left back is tucking inside into midfield (as he’s on a support duty), my RCM had to sit there with him as a double pivot. So I made him a BWM (support but hold position). I also used a DLP on defend however. - Since my RB was Narrow and defensive, I made my RM a RAM to give that side of the pitch more offensive pressure. - On the left, I kept him as a LM, as the LB would essentially be a marauding midfielder in possession. - My LCM would be a CM (attack), and so he would push up with my LM and my RAM to form an attacking midfield 3. - My two strikers don’t really change in and out of possession., they are the same in 4-4-2 and in a 3-2-3-2. But one would be a Pressing Forward and one would be an Advanced Forward. PART 3 - PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS BREAKDOWN/EXPLANATION (see part 4 for download link) TLDR - go to part 4 and just download the tactic, this is just an explanation. 4. In Depth Player Instructions GK [Sweeper Keeper/Attack] Nothing LB [IWB/Support]: You want this player to be your most technical and agile defender. Even if you have to retrain a midfielder or something to play there. Take fewer risks - Already a risky player as he’s moving quite far out of position. Shoot less often - sick and tired of players shooting from distance on this game. So wasteful, so this is a more general instruction across my whole team as I’ve noticed this year, decision making on shooting and execution of shooting is really quite awful. Close Down More - Also noticed this year, just setting your team instruction to press more often, isn’t enough. You can set opposition instructions every game to press certain players but it’s such a nightmare to keep on top of. So using this instruction quite generally is helpful. You just need to find a balance with it. Ease off tackles - Didn’t want him to throw himself into tackles since he would already be out of position from being an IWB. Mark tighter - Goes hand in hand with the close down more explanation. LCB [CD/Stopper]: I’ve always liked the Stopper/Cover pairing, it works well anyway, but this made even more sense, as my LCM was on an attack duty. So if my LCM left a lot of space behind him, me LCB would be straight there to close down the danger. Pass it shorter - Generally wanted this defender to be a defender first and foremost. Just keep it simple, win the ball and give it to a creative player. Close Down More - Again just doubling up as a general instruction, but also to cover my attacking LCM. Take fewer risks - needed to play safe in this position as the left sided players are all quite attacking. Mark tighter - again just compensating for the LCM. Stay Wider - As the IWB would tuck in, the LCB had to stay wider to cover. RCB [BPD/Cover]: Hold position - reason is two-fold. His CB partner is a stopper, so even though he’s on cover, I needed to be doubly sure he would stick to defending. Close down less - the yin to the yang of my LCB. Shoot less often - see LB. Mark Tighter - Just a general instruction for both my CBs. RB [FB/Defend]: You want this player to be tall and strong, as he will essentially be another centreback. Might have to retrain a CB to play RB Sit Narrower - As my LCB is staying wider to cover the RCB, my RB would have to become the 3rd in my back 3. The idea was, if he sits narrower and my LCB stays wider. My RCB should naturally move into the centre of the back 3. Run wide with ball - Even though he’s sitting narrower, the back 3 needs some width on his side, so telling to run wide with the ball made sense. Dribble Less - goes against the former instruction but also just keeps it in check. Don’t dribble too much but when you do, head to the wide area. Ease off tackles/Close down less- As the LB is essentially a midfielder and the LCB is a stopper. I needed the RB and RCB to be ultra cautious and focus on positional play as much as possible. Just stay back and cover, don’t get sucked into tackles up the field. Mark tighter - as my RB would essentially be my RCB in possession, I used the same instruction as my LCB and RCB and so added mark tighter to him too. LM [Winger/Support]: Shoot less often - focus on quality over quantity. (See LB bullet point also) Get further forward - although he needed to be slightly more conservative by being a LM instead of a LAM, when in possession he needed to join the attack to form the 3-2-3-2. Close down more/Tackle Harder - I used these for all of my attacking 5 players so I could be a front foot pressing side. And also the team instruction of press more often, doesn’t seem as effective as previous FMs. Mark Tighter - help the left back out with marking wingers. Especially if he’s out of position from inverting. LCM [CM/Attack] : More Direct Passes/Take More Risks/Cross More - The idea was for this guy would to be my Kevin De Bruyne. All these instructions make sense for this. My LCM would essentially be my CAM in possession and I wanted him to feed the strikers as much as possible. In reality most of the assists to my strikers came from the wingers but I was happy with how my LCM played generally. Dribble Less - focus on passing rather than dribbling as my wingers/strikers would be doing the dribbling. Roam From Position/Move Into Channels - help support the attack and find space in dangerous areas. Close down more - win the ball high up the field and helps the team instruction of press more often work better, without having to use opposition instructions as much. RCM [BWM/Support] or [DLP/Defend]: Take fewer risks/Hold Position - Would be my double pivot with the LB when he inverts, so just stick to your position and help the 3 other defenders form a back 5 block. Shoot less often - see LB discussion. Mark Tighter - same instruction used for all my players who would be involved in my defensive unit. RAM [Winger/Support]: Take more risks - as my RB was very defensive, needed this position to be more creative. Cross from byline - stretch the defence and look for cut backs. Shoot less often - See LB discussion Close down more - same instruction for all of my attacking unit players. Tackle Harder/Mark Tighter - Be a front foot pressing team. Right Striker [Pressing Forward/Attack]: Pass it shorter - keep it simple and look for one-twos. Left Striker [Advanced Forward/Attack]: Pass it shorter - same for other striker. Try and link up with each other, let the midfielders do the more direct passing. Take more risks - The other striker is more focused on pressing, so his focus is more creative. Dribble Less - albeit, don’t think you’re Messi. Tackle Harder/Mark Tighter - again, goes with the front foot/pressing idea. PART 4 - TEAM INSTRUCTIONS & DOWNLOAD LINK 5. Team Instructions I kept it relatively simple with the team instructions as you can see. My players were all high level and had a lot of individual instructions to make the system work, so putting too much here would have been overkill. I don’t think there’s anything too crazy there. The only things worth mentioning I think are: Play for set pieces - another frustration of my old tactics were my ineffectiveness from set plays. So I made sure to train attacking corners/free kicks every single week, and look to abuse my team’s good dribbling ability overall to see if I could get more goals from set pieces. This worked for corners as my 12 corner goals were the most in the division, but there wasn’t much success with direct/indirect free kicks. Step Up more and Much Higher Defensive Line - I felt like in previous FMs, just using a higher line was enough. But now it just seems less effective. Instead of therefore taking a backward step to a standard line, I decided to double down and use a much higher line and step up more, as I was confident in my team’s ability 6. Conclusion Right I think I I’ve basically just written an essay so I’ll shut up now but I’ve put a link to my tactic here if you want to download and try it. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ivA4ygYHj9jEi3-ADqdsf7xDYCZEhtHr/view?usp=sharing Let me know what you think! Important note* If you're building the system from scratch rather than using the download then you might have to set your team mentality to 'CAUTIOUS', in order to use the 'close down more' player instruction on your attacking players. Then once you have set it, you can switch your team mentality back to positive and the 'close down more' instruction will still be active.

Just posted this to Reddit... This is one of my favourite tactics that I’ve ever made. (First Picture) Introduction: Originally started out with a 3-4-2-1 (second picture) after winning the Premier League with it in the previous season, but after watching City beat Liverpool 4-1 recently and watching a tactics video about it, I decided to tweak my formation to try it out. Had brilliant results (3rd picture). Lost the CL Final 1-0 after my CB got sent off in the 23rd minute I’ve heard a lot about *box midfields* this season with Arteta and Pep using inverted wingbacks to achieve it. Essentially, your left back tucks in alongside your DM in a 4-3-3 to make a square/box shape in midfield which helps create a numerical advantage in midfield. But I found using IWBs wasn’t that effective for me in fm23. So instead I literally made the in possession system that it should look like. I then saw the Sky Sports lineup today after running this tactic (last picture), and it's pretty much a carbon copy of what I've made. 👀 TEAM/PLAYER INSTRUCTIONS AND THOUGHTS:👀 1) You can see all the main tactic instructions in the screenshot. But I note that adding the ‘Dribble Less’ instruction really helped make the system much more effective. Also setting both the RCB and the LCB to ‘Stay Wider’ is important. I also set both my wingers to ‘Stay Wider’ and my advanced playmaker to ‘Roam From Position’. Other than that, all the player roles are default. 2) I found using Inverted Wingers instead of Inside Forwards was much more effective too. One of the default instructions for IFs is ‘Cross Less Often’ and there were so many times there was a free man in the box that they didn’t cross it to for a tap in. 3) Advanced Forwards, False 9s, Deep Lying Forwards were also tested for the striker role but I found Complete Forward was most effective, but I think for lower level teams an AF would work fine. 4) One small rant from me on fm23 - I’ve found that using ‘Counter + Counter Press’ is an absolute must this year. I had a lot of success last year using ‘Hold Shape’, but this year Counter and Counter Press helped me win SO MUCH MORE. 5) Against the better teams I would sometimes switch to Balanced mentality, keep the high press but have a ‘Standard’ back line rather than ‘Higher’. Also sometimes it helped in game to set the passing and tempo to be ‘higher + more direct’, if I was losing and needed a goal. If I was winning, shutting up shop by using - mid block, low block, be more disciplined, slow pace down, time waste frequently - instructions. 6) Opposition Instructions - I pinched these from @BJT after seeing it mentioned in a RDFTactics video. Let me know what you think! Download Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jXnt943H0MAdY3cgyKtG2UdN3RRWfUFn/view