Search the Community

I am writing this topic in order to share an interesting tactic I created and receive the opinion of more experienced players. I do not garantee you will get the same results as me since the tactic and squad are still in an Alpha phase of sorts and I believe there are anomalies with the behaviour of one of my players that have bypassed the logical outcome of the matches. I started playing Fm19 back in january and this has been the very first Football Manager I've played. After receiving tips from my friends I started trying (and failing) to implement my tactical ideals in the game. After several failed attempts I decided to try something different and replicate a winning formula from real life. The team I chose to emulate was The Arsenal Invincibles. I went for Man United on account of their fast strikers and riches. To my surprise the tactic was actually winning games and even smashing some opponents so I decided not to switch anything and keep going until mid season in december. The first half of the season has been a huge success, we are unbeaten in the premier league and Carabao Cup and our only defeat came against Atlético Madrid. 14 victories and 5 draws for a grand total of 47 points and 50 goals scored against only 12 conceded for a first place with only Arsenal keeping up with us. This is my starting eleven, it has evolved a lot from what it started as with some players being injured or falling out of favour with me. To be fair Mata was meant to play as the Attacking midfielder but he has been injured for the last 4 months so I can't really say he has played for us. Let's talk about the tactic. In many ways the 4411 is the cutting edge of purely english football. Because the 442 is soviet in origin and Lobanovsky's interpretation of it was so superior to the english one I will argue that the 4411 is a better exponent of english football that the 442. It was introduced by Manchester United in the 90s and was the formation employed by the top tier of english football until Mourinho and Benitez arrived to the premier league and introduced the 451 Iberian systems. On paper the change is a rather simple one, the top dogs of english football changed their traditional physical Targetman for a modern technical nº10, in everything else it behaved like the english 442 of old. When it came to praxis it turned out that the two banks of four were unable to cope with the movements and flair of these new players, It took years until the correct way of defending against a nº10 became widespread in england. Cantona, Zola and Bergkamp are perhaps the finest players to play as a nº10 in an english 4411. Arsenal played a clinical style of football exploiting their pace and intelligent movement and not really dwelling on the ball as much. All my instructions are aimed at playing a direct fast style of football both when attacking and counter attacking. Play out of defence is a special case in that it seems counter productive to the way we are trying to play but I find it preferable to make the ball reach the midfield before we attempt a pass into space. I thought that without it I would see loads of long balls from De Gea and the defence. I chose the lower line of engagement to invite the teams into creating space for us behind their backs and the more narrow defending because I like compact defences. Our possession stats are terrible, we are the team with the lowest percentage of possession in the league with an abyssmal 44%. Like I said in the introduction the team is still being built, Right now De Gea, Tierney, Sancho, Pogba, Martial and Rashford are the only players who I envision playing for me when the squad is finally built. One very strange aspect of this team is Rashford. Martial is simply better at being Henry than he is but for some strange reason Martial never really played well as the striker while Rashford has scored a ridiculous 27 goals in 26 appearances including substitutions. This is why I say there is an anomaly that pollutes this whole tactic. Rashford shouldn't be that good. I some questions to ask to the more experienced players in the forum. 1. Is my tactic actually good or just a result of Super-Rashford? 2. Have you ever had a player over-perform like that? 3. Is there anything you would change in my tactic? (nonsense instructions I am somehow getting away with) 4. Is this a proper replication of the Invincibles? what would you change to make it more faithfull?

Vitória has won 2 league titles in 2 seasons in Benfica. In this thread I will take a look at Rui Vitória's stint in benfica. He took the job after Jorge Jesus left for city rivals Sporting. In the past season, he was won 2 league titles, 1 cup, and 1 supercup. This season things started on a weak note, after a summer of selling some of the best players and a questionable board policy of not investing in the squad. At the beginning, Vitória opted to keep the base of the 4-4-2 that JJ developed, and that led Benfica to 3 league titles in 6 seasons. However this season, RV has changed to a more balanced 4-3-3 that does not depend so much on the midfielders' quality, and spreads the workload of the game more equally among the team. http://outsideoftheboot.com/2017/09/05/jorge-jesus-v-rui-vitoria/ https://www.lateralesquerdo.com/2017/01/18/o-benfica-de-rui-vitoria-uma-equipa-digna-de-sacchi/ http://euvistodevermelhoebranco.blogs.sapo.pt/o-4-4-2-de-rui-vitoria-2501 https://community.sigames.com/topic/373361-arrigo-sacchis-4-4-2-very-fluid/ RV's 4-3-3 can be described as a tactic that focuses on putting intense pressure to win the ball, movement and roaming with the ball to create space, and overlaps on the flanks and in the middle. The following is the base XI with the main substitutes: To replicate this style of play in FM we need to establish some main points: IRL, the tactic still relies heavily on individual quality to produce the best results; RV has often chose to adopt a different, more cautious, strategy against bigger teams; if missing some key players, the team changes some of its principles (e.g. Jonas, Pizzi, Fejsa). With this said, let's try to transpose these ideas into the game: Team shape: Very fluid - the team is allowed a considerable amount of creative freedom, and plays with little space between sectors. Mentality: Standard - a very fluid shape gives your entire team the same, or very similar mentalities. That explains why very fluid makes your team compact, and attack and defend as a unit. Very Fluid shape with Standard mentality offers synergy due to it's balance. The entire team attacks and defends as a unit. I had initially thought about a more balanced approach of Fluid/Control, but RV bases a lot of his strategy on Sacchi's principles, so this combination seems more logical. Team instructions: play wider, much higher defensive line, use offside trap, close down more, prevent short gk distribution, play from defense. This creates a base for the Sacchi/Vitória hybrid, which used the same principles but does not take them to such an extreme level, especially regarding pressing. Regarding player roles: GK: Sweeper keeper (defend) - if Ederson was still here, possibly a support/attack duty could be selected, but Varela is not the best sweeper so there's the need to keep his demands limited. RB: Wing back (support) - Almeida has always been more versed in his defensive duties than attacking, although he still tries to contribute as much as possible in attack, despite his limitations in crossing and dribbling. CBs: Central defender (defend) - the Dias/Jardel partnership is by far the best to put to use Benfica's very high defensive line. They are both pacy players who can control the space behind them. LB: Wing back (attack) - Grimaldo, unlike Almeida, is an attack-minded player and some of his best skills are his runs forward, finishing with great crosses, through balls, and combinations with the winger and the striker. DM: Defensive midfielder (defend) - Fejsa is absolutely key to guarantee balance and he is responsible for closing gaps in the midfield and in defense. MCR: Central midfielder (attack) - Pizzi is a player who likes to score and assist, he always looks to make runs to the box to occupy the space Jonas opens. MCL: Advanced playmaker (support) - the nickname 'Krovimodric' is perhaps a bit too much, but he really is the brain that makes the entire team click. AMR: Winger (attack) - Salvio is a classic pacy winger who likes (sometimes too much) to go 1v1 and to a cross in the byline. AML: Winger (support) - Cervi is a more refined player than Salvio, so he tries to mix a tad more of one-twos and through balls than always looking for the cross or the shot on goal. ST: False nine (support) - Jonas is a king in the portuguese league. With his technique and movement he tears apart entire defenses, always being in the right positions and opening spaces for his teammates. Some of the substitutes are given different roles to best suit their attributes. The most common cases are: Samaris: Ball winning midfielder (defend) - can play DM and CM João Carvalho: Advanced playmaker (attack) Zivkovic: Advanced playmaker (attack), Inside forward (support) - can play CM and AM Rafa: Inside forward (support) Jiménez: Defensive forward (support)