4-1-2-2-1 help

[andqui]

I'm currently using a wide 4-1-2-2-1 as my home tactic (4 in the back, 1 DM, 2 CM, 2 wingers, and a lone striker).

I started out as Bochum in the 2nd Bundesliga, and managed to scrape promotion in the first season. This tactic worked will at home- the usual way I'd score would be for the lone striker to drop deep and then flick on or lay off passes through to the wingers streaking by, or a winger would get past a fullback and lay in a cross for the striker or the opposite winger. Now, in the top bundesliga, this is at best inconsistent. Some games, the team is on fire and this happens. But usually, it's abysmally boring, with essentially nothing happening as my assistant tells me our passing and crossing are atrocious.

I'm not exactly swimming in cash, so I've got a young, developing team. My midfield has something like the 4th best passing in the bundesliga, with decent creativity, etc. One problem I see is that my wingers aren't very fast for top-flight standards, with pace from around 15-12 or so. I've tried switching them to inside forwards as the attacking fullbacks overlap past them, but again, there are many games where simply nothing happens. I have a pretty solid defense, and my center and fullbacks usually put on consistently good performances. On the games where the team is playing well, I've even gotten several goals from overlapping fullbacks, so I have some diversity in attack when things are going well.

So anyways, what's the best way to utilize slower but technical wingers in this formation. In the games where the passing has gone down the tubes, is there anything simple I can change, or do I need to choose a completely different formation? Our other main formation is a direct 4-1-2-1-2 which works well enough- but I'd like to have some diversity and be able to use wide players. Is there a different formation that utilizes wingers that might be effective?

thanks

[SJ234]

Well how is it set up? Have you read Wfan's thread at the top of the forum? Or Cleon's?

[andqui]

Set-up:

One fullback to support, the other to attack

2 Center Defenders to defend, set one of them to ball-playing if my one defender with the required attributes is starting

DM- Anchorman if underdogs, deep-lying playmaker defend if not

CM- One ball-winning support, one CM attack

Wingers: One winger support, one winger attack. Depending on who is available, I sometimes switch a winger over to the opposite side and make him an inside forward.

ST: Deep-lying forward or target-man support

A balanced control strategy, with short passing, and drilled crosses. Everything else, and the sliders, are default

Yes, I have read wfan's 12-step guide. My roles offer a good balance, as far as I can tell, and I'm trying to play to my attack's strength (technique, passing, creativity). I'm just puzzled as to what I can do when my assistant tells me that my passing is awful, when my midfield is 4th best at passing in the league and 2nd in creativity. I basically need to figure out what's due to my tactics and what's due to my team's inexperience.

[SJ234]

Who is misplacing the passes? Have you re-watched the poor passes? To see why they weren't connecting you should watch them then you can see if it was a lack of options or they were being too ambitious etc

[Keyzer Soze]

First year after promotion is always hard.

Perhaps theres nothing wrong with your tactics and you just need better players to compete in the league.

[andqui]

Sorry if I wasn't clear- this is my second season after promotion. In the first season after promotion, the 4-1-2-1-2 was fairly consistent away, while the home 4-1-2-2-1 was inconsistent, working well every fourth game or so and the rest of the time being unbelievably boring. I finished 10th. It's pretty much the same story this season, and I'm trying to make the home matches a bit more eventful and worthwhile.

Looking through the analysis of some matches, I see that it's usually the crossing that's bad. The center-mids make many short passes out wide, and then the wingers typically loose it, either in getting tackled, or giving away an interception from both simple passes and crosses. My strikers are fairly strong and good in the air- does the fact that there's only one make crossing less worthwhile? My wingers are slow relative to the top-flight, having pace of 12-15, but with high creativity, crossing and passing. Relative to the rest of the league, my midfield has good passing, creativity, and technique; average decisions; and poor stamina, tackling and teamwork. I'm thinking I should decrease pressing to save energy. Any other ideas, or any tips on how to get the best out of my slower but technically gifted wingers?

thanks