Breaking down a 5-4-1

[Techstep]

This. This is the bane of my time in La Liga, courtesy of Roberto Martinez. Twice a season i know i'm coming up against this, and i already know i'm facing a draw or a 1-0 loss.

In my last game against this formation, i created a grand total of 3 chances, 2 were set pieces.

I play a 4-2-3-1 myself on the counter for the most part, though i have tried both control and attacking against this tactic to little effect.

So in terms of breaking it down my first thoughts are to overload the wing backs by exploiting the flanks. I've also set to play wider to try and pull their midfield apart a bit and my standard shouts are usually pass into space and get ball forwards. All to try and stretch the play a bit. I close down the Wingbacks and show them inside as their striker is very good in the air but also very slow. I also tight mark their most creative midfielder.

This is what i am using currently:

I've also tried a DLF against this formation and a 4-4-2 to try and give the 3 CB's more to think about. All my forward players have good intelligence so i've also tried giving them all free roles to try and drag markers around and find space, but ultimately whatever i've tried has brought me little success against it.

Despite it looking defensive they have a lot of runners from midfield when they attack and come forward in quite a few numbers, though i've only really conceded against them due to set pieces or individual errors, its more the chance creating, or lack of that concerns me.

So i'm curious so to how others would setup against this formation, what shouts they may use? Whether it would be worth trying a different formation all together for this game?

It's only 2 games a season but i dread them more than any other game and over 4 seasons believe i have a mere 1 win against them, and my team are quite a bit better than theirs.

Any help to ease my pain is appreciated!

[Cleon]

I'd play narrower to make it more compact so your own midfield doesn't get stretched because you lose the numbers game here due to how your central midfield is set up. You are easy to pass around/through. I'd also get my wide men to man mark their wingbacks so they get pushed back by your AML/AMR. Then I'd use the look for overlap shout because you have the real advantage down the flanks and can out number them.

That's how I beat the formation, Arsenal been using this for 4 years on my current save.

[Tinkerman84]

I'd try to play my AMC with more supportive role and make him come deeper , both to get him secured by their DMC and to make life difficult for their MC's.. if you thrive to battle in the midfield, then it comes down to take advantage on the flanks by playing your wide man supportive and your wingbacks on a attak duty

[leeturner]

Try playing narrower (as you are overrun in Centre Mid) with exploit flanks shout too. I would also try look for overlap as this will encourage your FB's to get forward and to use them. Whenever I go up against a 3 at the back I always use look for overlap and have never had any issues, but, I do a have a centre mid in my formation ;-)

[tajj 7]

Some good tips here, like the OP I've also struggled against this formation.