The Barcelona Style: My Interpretation

[glyndav]

I've always thought similarly to be honest, to the extent that on FM13 I used to go with a Control philosophy but adjust the width and tempo to the "Counter" equivalent as I wanted to try and play slow possession football but still with a more attacking mentality to it.

I do think the descriptions could do with an upgrade in all honesty.

[Drake44444]

This has been eye opening to me, as my attempts to run "attack" and "control" were not going well. Time to switch to counter. Makes sense.

I have issues with my team pressing. My pressing seems to just open up the opposition. They don't press as a whole, but just wait until the next guy gets the ball and a player on my team runs up, freeing another wide open player to receive a pass. This just happens in cycles.

Granted I'm on my 5th season playing with a similar system, and maybe I hit a plateau, but what are the best ways to improve defense in the Barca closing down system? Perhaps individual player instructions? Opposition instructions to close down each player?

[bababooey]

This has been eye opening to me, as my attempts to run "attack" and "control" were not going well. Time to switch to counter. Makes sense.

I have issues with my team pressing. My pressing seems to just open up the opposition. They don't press as a whole, but just wait until the next guy gets the ball and a player on my team runs up, freeing another wide open player to receive a pass. This just happens in cycles.

Granted I'm on my 5th season playing with a similar system, and maybe I hit a plateau, but what are the best ways to improve defense in the Barca closing down system? Perhaps individual player instructions? Opposition instructions to close down each player?

Hassle opponents and or push higher / much higher. Get stuck in can work too but it's probably not needed.

Also, your choice of roles/duties has a huge effect. A BWM-S for example, will close down aggressively no matter your team's overall mentality.

[Drake44444]

I tweaked it a little bit by making the support advanced playmaker ball winner support, and more aggressive player instructions, but I've found this is working very good. My team is much more stable, with less sporadic results, and concedes fewer goals.

[cfcx]

Good, thought-provoking stuff there, bababooey.

One further thing to keep in mind is that your opposition will always be the first thing that defines how your tactic actually plays out. In FM, there's a lot of emphasis on getting that one tactic that just works, but often, you actually need to mix things up to maintain a consistent style of play. This may seem counter-intuitive on first glance, but the way Counter works is a good example of this.

If you're a small side playing against a heavy pressing attacking side that throws numbers forward, Counter will tend be very aggressive going forward as your team will be given lots of opportunities to burst forward on the break. On the other hand, if you're a giant like Barcelona, it will produce a much more methodical approach as those clear cut counterattacking opportunities will be few and far between. So in the case of a team like Stoke (or at least, Pulis's Stoke), Counter/Defensive may be the right choice against the big teams, but to keep that same directness in attack against smaller or more evenly matched sides, you may then want to switch to Control or Attack.

Im Everton 4th season in having joined from Hearts and i have decided to stick with a very high pressing, possesion orientated approach with Attacking mentality and Balanced philosophy. Wing backs bomb on giving width, half back sits in with centre halfs and against the better teams (touch wood) it's been excellent, Spurs were top and flying and we smashed them 4-0 and dominated the statistics at home. However away to bottom of the league Fulham (you know where this is heading ) they played very deep, narrow and compact and my high line domanating approach just didn't work and although the statistics suggested we were in control, watching the game it was very clear to see they kept catching us and looked very dangerous on the counter. My mistake was being stubborn and refusing to accept my approach that destroyed Spurs couldn't do the same to a poor Fulham side and by the time i made the changes we were 2-0 down in 70th min when i changed to counter and removed the much high line shout (kept the others) and they couldn't live with us in last part of the game but we could only manage to get 1 goal back, yet finished with 6 ccc's 4 of which were created in those last 20 minutes.

If only i had changed earlier or started with this approach because (and this is my point of replying to your post specifically) the result i am sure would of been in my favour, and since the latest update i have found that going at the good sides i.e line, hassling, keeping possesion, passing into space and looking for overlapping wb's has seen me get some great results against the "big teams" with attacking mentality. However the same approach against poorer teams almost always ends in failure, a counter approach, deeper line, less hassling similar approach to possesion, keeping the ball and exploiting spaces patiently works out most of the time. It seems to me that "Attacking" the big teams and "Defensive/Counter" the little teams is the way to do it (for me at least) and further highlights the issue othersare having by reading the explanations for mentalities etc.

[Mrmuto]

Do you guys recommend defensive duties to all of the players except the CWB's?

tried DW and DF with BWM's in the middle...don't really know if it's effective..and about the counter mentality I feel I lose a lot of possession and my team isn't pressing enough with counter mentality.

[bababooey]

Do you guys recommend defensive duties to all of the players except the CWB's?

tried DW and DF with BWM's in the middle...don't really know if it's effective..and about the counter mentality I feel I lose a lot of possession and my team isn't pressing enough with counter mentality.

For what team / formation / tactic ? What are you referring to?

Generally speaking you'd want to balance your duties so that the team doesn't play in little groups and get spread out. You want the team to gel and overlap and connect with each other.

[pezza96]

What are everybody's thoughts on the Iniesta role?, I've tried an AP(both duties) out wide, yet it didn't give me the success or influence I wished, currently trying out a WM(s) with cut inside and play narrower, the fact he starts deep and slots into the periphery of the cm strata seems to results in much better performances I feel

[bababooey]

What are everybody's thoughts on the Iniesta role?, I've tried an AP(both duties) out wide, yet it didn't give me the success or influence I wished, currently trying out a WM(s) with cut inside and play narrower, the fact he starts deep and slots into the periphery of the cm strata seems to results in much better performances I feel

I actually think wwfan's original blueprint as about as close to IRL Barca as we will see in FM.

a WM-S with cuts inside / play narrower doesnt really seem like iniesta to me. I would play him in central midfield as an AP.

Barca have Pedro / Sanchez for the AML/AMR spots anyway.

[yonko]

There is no need to play Iniesta in a wide role at all. Barca have Neymar and Tello for the left side, while Pedro and Sanchez can take care of the right. In addition, after the first season, Deulofeu comes back from loan.

[pezza96]

I actually think wwfan's original blueprint as about as close to IRL Barca as we will see in FM.

a WM-S with cuts inside / play narrower doesnt really seem like iniesta to me. I would play him in central midfield as an AP.

Barca have Pedro / Sanchez for the AML/AMR spots anyway.

Yes but Iniesta quite often starts out wide left for Spain and Barca, I agree about the original blueprint though, very accurate, currently moulding ideas from this thread with my own to create a deep possession game

[pezza96]

There is no need to play Iniesta in a wide role at all. Barca have Neymar and Tello for the left side, while Pedro and Sanchez can take care of the right. In addition, after the first season, Deulofeu comes back from loan.

Just realised the mistake in my post, I wasn't talking about playing as Barca specifically, but just recreating the Iniesta role for my current side

[yonko]

Just realised the mistake in my post, I wasn't talking about playing as Barca specifically, but just recreating the Iniesta role for my current side

The Iniesta role is in the center as AP-A.

[Miravlix]

Iniesta in the in game version, is not good in the winger position, he just don't have any of the things he need and horrible PPMS, he is an excellent ball mover/chance creator and will work wonders as DLF/S, AP/S, AP/A in MC, AMC.

Deulofeu is like Iniesta 2.0, bit better out there, but still not at home, a gifted ball mover and chance creator.

Edit: The fact that a player has static PPM's no matter what position they play is one of the big failings of the game for it to emulate real world players. I'm sure the real world Iniesta has different PPM's when AMR.

[Mrmuto]

For what team / formation / tactic ? What are you referring to?

Generally speaking you'd want to balance your duties so that the team doesn't play in little groups and get spread out. You want the team to gel and overlap and connect with each other.

Original 4-5-1 formation but with defensive roles..

I tried it with a weak team and counter strategy with very rigid philosophy and it works great..

[Mrmuto]

I actually think wwfan's original blueprint as about as close to IRL Barca as we will see in FM.

a WM-S with cuts inside / play narrower doesnt really seem like iniesta to me. I would play him in central midfield as an AP.

Barca have Pedro / Sanchez for the AML/AMR spots anyway.

Are you talking about a tactic?

[bababooey]

I was saying that in terms of utilizing Iniesta, wwfan has it pretty much spot on.

[stevech]

Reading the Fabregas interview a few years ago, when asked about his role at the Spain squad and at Barcelona, he said that at Barcelona every player had a role a sticked to it and that players had freedom of movement with the ball but didn't have it without the ball. Translating this to FM, it's a completly different thing than the tactics we all see at forums: a rigid style with no roaming from positions.

I also have to say that I don't agree with interpretation posted here in the first page, simply because when Barcelona lost possession the players did not drop deep immediately, first they would try to regain possession very high on the pitch and if and only it would not be possible, then and only then they would drop deep. And not all of them.

[Mrmuto]

Reading the Fabregas interview a few years ago, when asked about his role at the Spain squad and at Barcelona, he said that at Barcelona every player had a role a sticked to it and that players had freedom of movement with the ball but didn't have it without the ball. Translating this to FM, it's a completly different thing than the tactics we all see at forums: a rigid style with no roaming from positions.

I also have to say that I don't agree with interpretation posted here in the first page, simply because when Barcelona lost possession the players did not drop deep immediately, first they would try to regain possession very high on the pitch and if and only it would not be possible, then and only then they would drop deep. And not all of them.

It's very interesting..have you tried it?

[yonko]

Deulofeu is like Iniesta 2.0, bit better out there, but still not at home, a gifted ball mover and chance creator.

Deulofeu is much more than Iniesta 2.0. He is amazing on either wing. I always get excellent performances from him. Plus he is good at taking corners and free-kicks.

[Miravlix]

Deulofeu is much more than Iniesta 2.0. He is amazing on either wing. I always get excellent performances from him. Plus he is good at taking corners and free-kicks.

Deulofeu belong at AMC he is completely and utterly wasted on the wings, especially due to his low speed, any decent defense will eat any runs he tries.

Same problem with Messi on the wing, he is simply to slow for that role.

[wwfan]

Reading the Fabregas interview a few years ago, when asked about his role at the Spain squad and at Barcelona, he said that at Barcelona every player had a role a sticked to it and that players had freedom of movement with the ball but didn't have it without the ball. Translating this to FM, it's a completly different thing than the tactics we all see at forums: a rigid style with no roaming from positions.

I also have to say that I don't agree with interpretation posted here in the first page, simply because when Barcelona lost possession the players did not drop deep immediately, first they would try to regain possession very high on the pitch and if and only it would not be possible, then and only then they would drop deep. And not all of them.

I think you misread it. I say they defend high and press heavily, but drop deep when they win the ball. As Jonathan Wilson says, they use deep space better than any team in history.

[stevech]

I think you misread it. I say they defend high and press heavily, but drop deep when they win the ball. As Jonathan Wilson says, they use deep space better than any team in history.

My apologies, I was referring to the bold part and I really have misread it

Counter: My own take on the Barcelona style is that is closest to the Counter Strategy in Football Manager than any other. When Barcelona get the ball, the first thing that happens is the defence drop deeper, opening up passing space between the defence and the playmaking midfield. The Counter Strategy enables this deep move. As mentioned above, they attack in two ways, the slow probe or the fast counter. Again, the Counter strategy allows this.

I think it's not possible to replicate what Barcelona did with Pep Guardiola. Reading the strategy descriptions, the conclusion is that they would apply all or every strategy has some components of the Barcelona game but then it has other components that ruin it. Counter is an excellent example: the team passes the ball with less risk, as more space to pass it but sadly, at the same time, the players hold onto the ball excessively due to the lack of urgency to get to the goal. Getting the ball quick into the attack zone is one thing, moving the ball around quicky is a completly different thing and neither implies the players holding the ball and wasting time. It would be needed a lot of micro management tactical changes that FM doesn't allow. Curiously, there are several articles that theorizes Guardiola being a micro management manager.

Then, I guess the Retain Possession TI is a mistake to be used when choosing possession-based tactics because the instruction is a passive instruction that instructs players to apply a passive game.

[bababooey]

Radical new idea.

Let's ditch team mentality altogether.

We should be able to set an attacking mentality and a defensive mentality. So for example...

If you want to defend deep but attack forward at great pace, you can't really do this effectively. Obviously you could try the "attack" mentality and then use "drop much deeper" + "stand off more" but ultimately the mentality of "attack" is inherently more pressing than you'd probably want. Transitions are another thing too like. What if I want my team to play a slow transition game (to help retain the ball, etc.) then my mentality would need to be rather low, despite maybe wanting to press higher and get in the oppositions face. Things can contradict. Unless the team instructions do a lot more than I think they do.

So instead it would be cool to be able to have the team mentality split into Defense, Transition, and Attack.

[JimmyGuitarist]

The possession side of things is quite easy really. It's just self explanatory to pick which team & player instructions to pick to emphasise keeping the ball. I personally go for Higher Tempo because from the tempo settings possible I just find it's the best out of a bad bunch. I'm not sure if I'm correct, but it doesn't seem to control how quickly they move the ball from back to front. It seems to control how quickly players distribute the ball. Based on experience, the 2 Lower Tempo settings just results in players taking longer to pass the ball and it results in them getting fouled & tackled a lot which gets very annoying. If the opponent is playing very passively without possession though & giving you all the time in the world, then it's handy to switch to a lower tempo just for the sakes of players saving energy for the next fixture. The only position which gets on my nerves are wingers, who always feel the need to try something when they should just simply tap it back into midfield more often than not, but I can just about live with that.

The only main issue I have is pressing.

[video=metacafe;6079019/fc_barcelona_pressing_passing_vs_arsenal/]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/6079019/fc_barcelona_pressing_passing_vs_arsenal/

[video=youtube;QqO0mh0dhnE]

I've commented on another topic debating the same subject somewhere. Achieving anything remotely near to these videos just seems impossible. I completely accept that achieving this kind of pressing should be difficult to perform consistently but I've spent seasons with teams just to see if I can achieve anything remotely near to it; I'd say I can just about get my team to press, but nothing like in the videos above. I've tried every training category, every obvious player role which involves pressing, every team instruction, every tempo setting, every mentality etc.

If it is somewhat possible to achieve, please someone put me out of my misery.

[stevech]

Possession-based is not about lower tempo, it's the opposite, the ball is moved around quickly to the feet, patiently and by patiently the mentality needs to be lower in order to not rush things. IMO retain possession and lower tempo goes against this, because are passive possession instructions and, as you say, leads to players being tackled and loosing the ball.

[iMan]

I think you misread it. I say they defend high and press heavily, but drop deep when they win the ball. As Jonathan Wilson says, they use deep space better than any team in history.

Does a much higher defensive line with a counter strategy still keep the d line deep enough when in possession?

[Rob4590]

On the other hand, most of the problems that players get against the 'parked bus' defences is because they use too attacking a mentality, and also too fast a tempo. Lowering the tempo gives you a chance to lure a defensive team out a bit more, or simply to patiently create a GOOD chance (as opposed to a rushed chance at high tempo)

You really can't just state that high tempo = good and low = bad - because that simply isn't true.

[bababooey]

Teams that park the bus are arguably MORE effective if you're playing on a lower mentality because they're probably under less pressure.

Think about it. If City are attacking and throwing men forward, and Fulham are sitting back in front of their box, isn't that going to be a lot harder to deal with, than if City tried a slow build-up?

When the opposing team parks the bus you don't really have any big weapons to pull out against them other than just trying to open up space in whatever way you can. Regardless of mentality. The space has to be opened.

[Miravlix]

Teams that park the bus are arguably MORE effective if you're playing on a lower mentality because they're probably under less pressure.

I'm not sure that's true in the game, if a team park the bus, then you're better of playing defensively against them, because that pulls them out of the bus.

[bababooey]

I'm not sure that's true in the game, if a team park the bus, then you're better of playing defensively against them, because that pulls them out of the bus.

It can draw them out. But it's also going to mean that you're playing a much more conservative strategy, which might negate the positives of drawing them out.

IRL, Mourinho likes to draw teams out by giving up possession, and standing off a bit. His teams then counter into space left behind. It's venomous at times, but then occasionally you'll see matches where they struggle to create chances because the other team doesn't attack as aggressively. Thus the space he want to create isn't there.

[Jonny2J]

STC: Complete Forward (Support) - This was a real pain the backside to choose. There are so many roles that could be used as a false 9 previously, and the addition of that specific role this year only complicated the matter. I find that the F9 role itself is too concerned with creating chances and taking long shots, but the CF strikes the balance between dropping deep to create chances for others and pushing on and trying to score himself. Plus if you take away the target man bit, the description fits Messi perfectly.

Been using your tips on a couple of my saved games and some of the football my teams have been playing are a joy to watch. The only problem I seem to be having is with the CF (s) not really impacting play or scoring at all. Do you have any tips of this? As I have mentioned I've tried this using a few teams so it's not really just the one player that seems to be the problem.

[stevech]

The possession side of things is quite easy really. It's just self explanatory to pick which team & player instructions to pick to emphasise keeping the ball. I personally go for Higher Tempo because from the tempo settings possible I just find it's the best out of a bad bunch. I'm not sure if I'm correct, but it doesn't seem to control how quickly they move the ball from back to front. It seems to control how quickly players distribute the ball. Based on experience, the 2 Lower Tempo settings just results in players taking longer to pass the ball and it results in them getting fouled & tackled a lot which gets very annoying. If the opponent is playing very passively without possession though & giving you all the time in the world, then it's handy to switch to a lower tempo just for the sakes of players saving energy for the next fixture. The only position which gets on my nerves are wingers, who always feel the need to try something when they should just simply tap it back into midfield more often than not, but I can just about live with that.

The only main issue I have is pressing.

I've commented on another topic debating the same subject somewhere. Achieving anything remotely near to these videos just seems impossible. I completely accept that achieving this kind of pressing should be difficult to perform consistently but I've spent seasons with teams just to see if I can achieve anything remotely near to it; I'd say I can just about get my team to press, but nothing like in the videos above. I've tried every training category, every obvious player role which involves pressing, every team instruction, every tempo setting, every mentality etc.

If it is somewhat possible to achieve, please someone put me out of my misery.

I'm with you on that issue, the problem is with pressing, hassle and mark tighter aren't enough options to replicate the kind of pressing needed. I guess there are lots of attacking options, but there's a need of serious improvements of defensive options... and since the style discussed is both attacking and defensive, well, there will be always something missing.

[Supernal]

I am having a lot of trouble getting this to work, admittedly I'm in Serie B so my players aren't quite like Barcas but I am the best in the league for first touch, passing and pace. The first six games I tried, I dominate the first half with possession and create some chances but somewhere in the second half the opponents start closing me down everywhere and throwing players forward this just results in me losing the ball all the time and getting dominated. Upping the tempo had helped for this. But still I can't play against teams with a narrow formation it seems, I watch all the game and my team just get crowded out and passes go astray and get intercepted, I tried to play wider but that doesn't do ****. I wonder if my players aren't quite good enough or allowed enough creative freedom in order to pass out of tight spaces? I have my tactic on Rigid, I know that's not the same as the original tactic here but I fear if I give more freedom it'll allow my players to do more stupid **** like clearing the ball when not in danger, wingers trying to take the ball round everyone on the pitch AND cutting inside -_-, etc etc. Anyone can shed some light on this would be helpful, I can post up my exact tactic/setup if need be.

[Miravlix]

It can draw them out. But it's also going to mean that you're playing a much more conservative strategy, which might negate the positives of drawing them out.

IRL, Mourinho likes to draw teams out by giving up possession, and standing off a bit. His teams then counter into space left behind. It's venomous at times, but then occasionally you'll see matches where they struggle to create chances because the other team doesn't attack as aggressively. Thus the space he want to create isn't there.

I don't care about the real world, it's about what happen in game, the AI is pulled out of the bus it doesn't have the smarts to not do so.

[bababooey]

Has anyone had experience playing with team instructions that are maybe the opposite of their mentality settings?

my first season with Arsenal was a huge success going "standard/counter" + push higher/hassle opponents.

I'm now trying to do the reverse and go "control" + "stay on feet/drop deeper / maybe also "stand off"?

I'm concerned that if I use Stand Off / Drop Deep that teams will just sit on the ball all day long and we won't be effective at all

[THOG]

Has anyone had experience playing with team instructions that are maybe the opposite of their mentality settings?

my first season with Arsenal was a huge success going "standard/counter" + push higher/hassle opponents.

I'm now trying to do the reverse and go "control" + "stay on feet/drop deeper / maybe also "stand off"?

I'm concerned that if I use Stand Off / Drop Deep that teams will just sit on the ball all day long and we won't be effective at all

The thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the TIs are relative to the mentality setting. So "Drop Much Deeper" combined with Attack won't be all that different from playing Standard on Default in terms of your DCs' tendency to drop back and push up. "Stand Off" is a more drastic change, but I have used it combined with Attack to create a sort of pseudo-counter tactic for larger sides. You do have to be patient, but the whole point is that you're going for quality of the chances over quantity.

[bababooey]

The thing to keep in mind is that a lot of the TIs are relative to the mentality setting. So "Drop Much Deeper" combined with Attack won't be all that different from playing Standard on Default in terms of your DCs' tendency to drop back and push up. "Stand Off" is a more drastic change, but I have used it combined with Attack to create a sort of pseudo-counter tactic for larger sides. You do have to be patient, but the whole point is that you're going for quality of the chances over quantity.

Right, I gotcha.

I'm basically trying to decide between playing a more patient possession game, or a really quick counter attacking game. But on the other hand, cant I have both?

So .. I'm thinking there are two ways of doing this..

1. I could play "control/attack" and then use TI's to get the defense to stand off and drop deep. The attack to be more patient and pass shorter.

2. I could play "standard/counter" and then use TI's to hassle the opposition and win the ball back, and counter into space.

Both seem like the same thing just different ways of doing it, right?

I'm currently re-watching the Chelsea/Fulham match from earlier today and what I've found is that there seems to be two different tempo's.

Chelsea are patient in the build up, but they also press at times. They're patient at the buildup but also really fast when the counter is on, etc. And I'm sure this is something that can be replicated accurately, but I'm not totally sure I'm doing it right.

My first season was such a crazy-awesome success playing a possession game on low mentalities (relatively speaking).

But we just didn't score that much, and it was boring football you know? And it's like.. I'd love to keep that style going but I want to be more dangerous in attack.

[bababooey]

Bumping for further mentality discussion:

Something that is bugging me is this idea of playing a deeper defense, which we see IRL with Mourinho at times. The key is, in FM, is this even realistic without conceding possession even to smaller clubs / worse clubs? I'm interested in experimenting with this concept but I don't know if I want to risk results..

I mean playing "Defensive" with "push higher + hassle" seems to work very well, but that isn't really the same thing. It's more of a style which is defined by its slow build up play rather than its deep defending, right?

It would be really interesting to see a team like Chelsea IRL be replicated accurately in FM. Which I'm sort of trying to do in my current season but, it's hard to get it right, and I don't agree with Mourinho on everything he does.

[nyte`]

i'm having great success with mentality on "Counter" and much higher defensive line/hassle opponents, 27 w/5 d/0 L so far in my first season with Barca and a +84 GD

i'll see how the second season goes before commenting further

[sigthorsson]

Been using your tips on a couple of my saved games and some of the football my teams have been playing are a joy to watch. The only problem I seem to be having is with the CF (s) not really impacting play or scoring at all. Do you have any tips of this? As I have mentioned I've tried this using a few teams so it's not really just the one player that seems to be the problem.

I have the exact same problem: tactic is fluid, fitness is superb, possession is great, passing is sufficient, chances are created, shots made, but CF seems unable to score despite numerous chances created for him. At first i thought it's because of the inadequate quality of my strikers, since i was managing low tier's side. but then when i tried and experimenting with several other sides, including top european ones, the problem persists.

So, same question here. Any tips or ideas?

Is this because of the role setting?

[bababooey]

I have the exact same problem: tactic is fluid, fitness is superb, possession is great, passing is sufficient, chances are created, shots made, but CF seems unable to score despite numerous chances created for him. At first i thought it's because of the inadequate quality of my strikers, since i was managing low tier's side. but then when i tried and experimenting with several other sides, including top european ones, the problem persists.

So, same question here. Any tips or ideas?

Is this because of the role setting?

It's impossible to say without seeing your tactics in full detail. A lot of people have issues with strikers scoring / finishing chances, but then again a lot of people also do not

[sigthorsson]

It's impossible to say without seeing your tactics in full detail. A lot of people have issues with strikers scoring / finishing chances, but then again a lot of people also do not

Thank you for your response, mate. I made an exact copy of the setup suggested by martywigham, nothing more, nothing less, tried it with several teams now, and the problem persist. Is it possible because in all the teams i managed i use natural forward for the position instead of using a Messi-esque type?

[JimmyGuitarist]

It was somewhat possible on FM13 because you could finely tune every player. It's impossible on this FM though. Every player/role is too concerned with chance creation, rather than playing with the simple aim of keeping possession. You can have periods in games when your team's the dominant one & you start thinking you've created "it", but come the end of the game, you have a measly 61%. Against a team that also presses you & tries to keep possession, that's a good overall %. But it's when the opposition parks the bus & gives you all the time in the world. You do everything possible to instruct your team to simply control the game & play as simple as possible, but they still force play & let defensive teams counter.

There's possession, & then there's Pep-possession. It's very easy creating a tactic based on short passing, and averaging around the 62% mark, but you can't emphasise the next level. When you just want to absolutely suffocate the opposition of almost any of the ball; the "pointless" possession. The possession what's aimed at simply stopping the opposition ever having any kind of initiative in the game; That's impossible.

[bababooey]

Thank you for your response, mate. I made an exact copy of the setup suggested by martywigham, nothing more, nothing less, tried it with several teams now, and the problem persist. Is it possible because in all the teams i managed i use natural forward for the position instead of using a Messi-esque type?

Perhaps, but I don't recommend trying to copy a tactic you find and then expecting results.

Go to my profile and look at the threads I've started. You'll find some walkthroughs on how I've come up with ideas and put them into practice. See if that helps you.

[sigthorsson]

Perhaps, but I don't recommend trying to copy a tactic you find and then expecting results.

Go to my profile and look at the threads I've started. You'll find some walkthroughs on how I've come up with ideas and put them into practice. See if that helps you.

I guess that is the case. After re-reading through this forum and others, I realize that I AM THE PROBLEM, not the tactic. I stubbornly want to have a Barcelona-specific tactic, without the same level of resource to achieve it. Instead of realizing that we're not Barca, i keep "wanting to be Barca" rather than trying to "play in their philosophy with my own identity"

I guess i was trying so hard to be Pep Guardiola while inside i am actually a Roberto Martinez.

I've now tweaked it to become more compatible to my resources, for few games so far the result has been positive. no more striker problem so far and still have the possession based-tiki taka style that i desired.

Thank you.

[max787]

How are people setting this up in FM14? based on the OP and taking the new roles into account, should it be something like this?

Mentality: Counter

Fluidity: Balanced

Team instructions: Retain possession, pass into space, work ball into box, push higher up, roam from positions, hassle opponents, stay on feet, be more expressive.

GK: Sweeper keeper support (Distribute to defenders)

RB: Complete wingback attack

CB: Central defender stopper

CB: Central defender cover

LB: Complete wingback attack

DM: Halfback defend

MCR: Deep lying playmaker support

MCL: Advanced playmaker attack

AMR: Inside forward attack

AML: Inside forward attack

ST: False nine support

[DreamsDefined]

How are people setting this up in FM14? based on the OP and taking the new roles into account, should it be something like this?

Mentality: Counter

Fluidity: Balanced

Team instructions: Retain possession, pass into space, work ball into box, push higher up, roam from positions, hassle opponents, stay on feet, be more expressive.

GK: Sweeper keeper support (Distribute to defenders)

RB: Complete wingback attack

CB: Central defender stopper

CB: Central defender cover

LB: Complete wingback attack

DM: Halfback defend

MCR: Deep lying playmaker support

MCL: Advanced playmaker attack

AMR: Inside forward attack

AML: Inside forward attack

ST: False nine support

Try it and see how you go Looks pretty decent to me... false nine in this system requires a hell of a player though imo.

[max787]

Try it and see how you go Looks pretty decent to me... false nine in this system requires a hell of a player though imo.

I tried WWFan's setup for a whole season and it was ok, my players aren't really good enough to play it properly though. Changing the Treq to a F9 has helped things a lot, I think that there were too many playmakers initially. I'm contemplating changing the AP to a CMa or B2B so that the DLP is the sole playmaker.

[jc1]

Started a new game with this tactic, well something very similar, 1st 2 games were crap, average results against pretty weak teams, then suddenly it all clicked and the team are scoring for fun, only pre season so hard to tell but last pre season game against Brecia we won 4-1. Playing as Hibernian and had to bring in 4 very good ball players, with good passing/work rate and intelligence. I like the movement and the way the players seem to interact with this tactic, front 3 seem to be all over the place, add the AP and the DLP to the mix and you have 5 players interchanging all over the place. Lets see how they play in proper competition games now, playing Rosenburg of Norway in Europa next.