FM14 TACTIC - "THE FULCRUM" - Back to Back Promotions + Cup Win

[Mr U Rosler]

Greetings all,

Another version another tactic.

"The Fulcrum"

http://www.mediafire.com/download/ak73hbajgazbmsi/The%2520Fulcrum%2520v4.tac

Still WIP. Awaiting ME update from 14.1.3[/b]

Definition; "An agent through which vital powers are exercised."

We'll talk about said 'agent' later............

8 seasons completed. 5 promotions in 7 years followed by consolidation in English Premier Division.

Worked across 4 match engines including back to back promotions under 14.1.3 (current as of 07/11/13).

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As usual with my tactics.

No Opponent Instructions.

No Shouts.

1 tactic only, never altered for 1 second of any game.

Additionally I never use loan players, even in lower leagues

Results;

Season 1

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Media Prediction: 3rd

Result: 1st, winning division by 12 points

Season 2

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Media Prediction 24th (Last)

Result: 2nd, promoted via Playoffs, won FA Trophy.

Thoughts.

Season 2 was interesting we went from being a 'big team' to a 'little team' being underdogs in every game.

I had 2 players rated as 'good' for the division I was in, 4 or 5 rated as decent for the division and the rest rated as good/decent for the division BELOW.

So I was concerned.

Formation

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Nothing sensational here, we'll talk about it later.

Team instructions

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So, we have a possession based tactic, patient approach, some creative freedom, lots of running at defenders, fairly deep defensive line, short passing and pressing the opponents when out of possession.

How its works;

Defence - Pretty standard back 4, Centre Backs sit in and play it simple. Full backs opitimise the modern FB, encouraged to get forward, stay wide stretching play and adding width to the team

Midfield - This it where it happens, we have 3 across the middle, a mercurial offensive talent driving the team when in possession flanked by 2 'Ratters' who work hard to break up opponents attacks and support when we are in possession

Attack - A classic 'Poacher', supported by a 'False 9'

Goals from open play come from the 3 midfielders (10 each) and 20 each from the strikers + a few set pieces (Typically)

I keep waiting for the opposition to exploit me down the flanks, it rarely happens, the 2 wider central midfielders help out a lot.

If anything we've been vunerable to balls over the top, but we are already sat deep and i'm not sitting any deeper.

Player roles.

GK - Just get the best you can

DC - Steady as you go, big strong boys, good physical and mental stats

FB - Think Leighton Baines, great engines to get up and down all day, GOOD CROSSING

DMC - the 'Leader', I value leadership and experience in this position, does not have to run around too much or be too creative, just someone with excellent mental stats, strong and aggressive.

MC R/L - The 'Ratters', very high work rate, team work, stamina, determination. Any technical skills are 'nice to have's'

MC - Now we come to our key agent the central midfielder, set to advanced playmaker this guys runs the show. We want lots of flair, creativity, passing, dribbling etc. Your Luxury player, Matt LeTissier, who can open up parked defences do the unexpected and be the true focal point of attacks.

False 9 - Again, you can indulge yourself here, Berbatov, someone clever, hold up the ball, spot thru ball opportunities, ghost past opponents, finish and be an all-round nightmare. Flair, Creativity, Composure, Finishing

Poacher - the 'Blunt Instrument', quick, strong, direct, good finisher, can be completely one-dimensional.

Good luck all, let me know how you get on

[Mr U Rosler]

Detailed player/role analysis and insights into my recruitment process.

Ok, before we look at some of the positions and players roles lets talk about recruitment.

The way I see it there are 2 styles of recruitment Generalist & Specialist.

Generalist Recruitment

So throughout my Stockport campaign i've never really had a transfer budget so I've had to look at free transfers only. Lets look at this from a Generalist recruitment point of view.

Adopting a Generalist approach I wait until the the 1st of June, identify the position I wanted to strengthen first i.e Centre Back, filter out unrealistic transfers, search position - Center Back, contract expiring in next 30 days, list them in value order and simply scout the top 20 most valuable centre backs with a contract expiring within the next 30 days. Wait for the scout reports, list by highest recommendation (star rating) and sign the highest rated player you can get.

So we are simply relying on our scouts judgements, the star rating system and the fact that if we are in the Championship, and we just signed a centre back rated as a Leading Star for this Division, we are happy that this is a good player and will improve the squad.

A simple and effective approach. We haven't even looked at attributes.

Specialist Recruitment

This is my preferred approach. On the surface, I have have 4 strikers in my squad. In reality and in my mind we dont, we have 2 Poachers and 2 False 9's, I'm no more likely to play my Poacher in my False 9 position than I am to play my Goal Keeper at right back.

I have a team full of 'Specialists'.

There are 8 specialist positions in this tactic.

Goalkeeper, Fullback, Centre Back, Anchor Man, Box to Box midfielder, Advanced Playmaker, False 9 and Poacher.

I have 4 attributes for every position which MUST meet a minimum standard for that position at all costs and at the expense of all other attributes.

Lets look at the above Centre Back scenario again, we go to transfer centre, centre backs, contract expiring in 30 days and now we pick the 4 key attributes we have for the centre back position as below.

My Centre Back key attributes.

Jumping Reach

Marking

Team Work

Tackling

We start with all these attributes at 15 and then knock them all down 14,13,12 etc until we reveal a pool of 10 to 12 players, scout them as above and again list them in according to Star Ratings.

As far as I'm concerned anyone of this pool can do a 'job' for example, lets look at one of my first choice centre backs for my Championship campaign.

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This player is rated as 'good for League 1', I am in the Championship so on the surface he is not even good enough for my squad never mind being a first choice selection.

Yet he played over 30 league games for me in a team that finished 2nd in the Championship with an average rating of 7.15.

How is this possible.

His key attributes

Jumping Reach = 15

Marking = 14

Team Work = 15

Tackling = 13

He is a specialist, with the specialist skills to perform the job required of him. Outside of these stats he looks pretty poor but it doesn't matter.

What does this mean?

Its meant that my Stockport team with a low reputation could sign a League 1 player, on League 1 wages who i knew would not let me down in the Championship. This pattern is repeated around the team. There is no way i could afford or attract a full team of 'Championship' rated players. This approach allowed me to gain promotion from the Championship with a squad full of League 1 players.

Back to recruitment, we have our pool of 10 to 12 players who we know can 'do a job' so we can look at all of them and 'cherry pick' the ones who have nice complimentary attributes and build our team from there.

I will look at the False 9 position later...

So...... the False 9...... the position I get asked about the most.

Its a good time for us to look at this, i've just been promoted to the Premier League, I have a bit of cash but not much, my club reputation is ok but not amazing, my first choice False 9 from last year will become by back up for this year so I need a new one.

I strengthen my teams from the front, to use a boxing reference, a poor boxer with big punch will have a chance in any fight. So i will be prepared to spend a chunk of cash on my new front 2.

As per my post above I outline below the 4 key attributes I DEMAND from my False 9, anything else is gravy.............

FLAIR

CREATIVITY

FINISHING

TEAMWORK

Why these, we want a true creative force, (flair, creativity) who will be a 'feeder' of chances to our poacher and midfielders, someone who is not selfish, a team player who rather than try and squeeze that shot in at the near post from a tight angle will instead look to lay on a clear cut chance for someone else in a better position (teamwork) but still be a capable finisher in his own right. (finishing)

So I commenced my search, pumped in my required attributes at 15, notched that down a couple and looked at who popped up...............

HE DID !! ........ and now he's mine......... Mu-hu-hu-hahahaha!!

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This guy is a freak (in a good way), he meets our False 9 requirements well with 17 flair, 13 creativity, 14 finishing and 16 team work but look at what else he brings to the table.

6 feet 7 inches, jumping 17, strength 17, determination 18.

This guy is a monster, he looks like a Target Man but he could in fact excel in any of the forward roles, even some kind of freaky, giant poacher, however he is going to be my false 9.

I would consider this guy a genuine 'Triple Threat' (technical, physical and mental), someone I can build the team around.

Now this guy is unusual, you'd be very lucky to find someone like this, who meets your key requirements well but brings an awful lot more to the table.

Let me show you a more 'classic' False 9, someone who's been with me for a few years, developed and performed well and who will be by no.2 for this position.

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So, this guy is more normal, he joined me in league 2 and has improved as we've gone along. However he is rated as 'good for Championship', but we're not worried about that because when we look at his key attributes we require for our False 9 we see.....

Flair 17

Creativity 17

Finishing 12

Teamwork 11

Now, I would not sign him now due to his finishing and teamwork being too low, however as a back up and due to the fact I don't have any cash i am more than confident that as a 'back up', when called upon he will do a fine job in the Premier League 17 for both flair and creativity is exceptional, we have a clever little player more than capable of opening up defences.

So, to summarise we are looking for players who meet our four key attribute requirements, having established that small pool of players we can then look for that SPECIAL EXTRA SOMETHING that someone can also bring which will add variety, the unexpected, the X Factor to our team such as lightening pace, hideous strength, immense physicality, exquisite technique, world class finishing, outstanding leadership etc. Go through that pool of players until you see something you like.

In the end you end up with capable, specialized players all over the pitch, often available cheaply on low wages, over looked by bigger teams as they are not 'complete' players with one or two X-MEN ABILITIES which add a lot of character to your team and the game building that affinity with your players.

next up....... The poacher

The Poacher.

What are our 4 key attributes?

Pace

Dribbling

Composure

Finishing

Why these?

Well our Poacher is our most advanced player in just about all situations, sitting on the shoulder of the last defender. He needs the ability to run quickly with the ball at his feet (pace, dribbling) to take advantage of a wide range of opportunities from counter attacking to through balls and also being able to get to loose balls before defenders. Having gotten into good goalscoring positions he needs the composure and finishing ability to put the ball in the net, especially in one on one situations with the goal keeper.

Lets looks look at my new player following my step up to the Premier Division.

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So an exciting young prospect who will play a lot of Premier League Football and hopefully get even better, quickly.

Key stats

Pace = 18

Dribbling = 13

Composure = 15

Finishing = 15

An excellent prototype poacher for this formation.

He also brings some interesting 'extra's' to the table, 18 free kicks is nice to have, we might do some work on that on the training ground to see if we can get it to 19/20. But more interesting to me is the Leadership stat of 16, its good to have a leader in all areas of the pitch and its quite unusual to find a young striker with this attribute so high. Again, its not something I would 'search' for but once we have met our key requirements for our poacher its one of the things I would take notice off.

You can specialise your poachers in other ways, once we have met the baseline stats you could look for someone who is dominant in the air (poachers don't have to be small!) or someone who is highly technical depending on your own preferences and how you like your teams to play.

My back up striker, been with me for a few seasons, good scoring record. Not ideal for the Premier Division but we know he can do a job.

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Again, he meets our baseline requirements, certainly up to Championship level, the Premier League is pushing it but we don't have the cash to have 2 great players in every position but we know he can do a job.

Note how he has scored at least 20 league goals a season, EVERY season across 3 divisions.

To summarise, the Poacher is our cutting edge, he should be our leading goal scorer and be on the end of most of our clear cut and half chances he has 2 requirement, he needs to be able to get into excellent goal scoring positions and when he does have the composure and finishing ability to put the ball in the net.

next up..... Advanced Playmaker.....

Ok,

The advanced playmaker, what are we looking for in this position.

Flair

Creativity

Dribbling

Finishing

Why these?

We have a 3 man midfield, the other 2 components being box to box midfielders who have very physical jobs to do, very hard working covering lots of ground which allows us the luxury of an Advanced Playmaker in the middle of the park with a firm attacking focus.

We want our Advanced Playmaker to combine both a Direct Threat by which I mean the ability to run directly at opposing centre backs with the ball at his feet as well as a 'passive' threat where he can create goal scoring opportunities for the strikers, spread the ball wide when appropriate, generally dictate our attacking play and more importantly we need him in the opponents box once our attack is building, arriving in time to support our strikers and on occasion run beyond even our poacher into goalscoring positions.

In my 1st season in the Premier League I didn't have an outstanding player in this position and It made life difficult.

I've now picked up this guy who I have high hopes for.

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So we have

Flair 15

Creativity 16

Dribbling 17

Finishing 14

Very nice. Note he is a natural AMC and I am having to train him to MC. I dont normally do this but I am happy to do it for this position.

What else does he bring?

20 Long Shots, we dont like long shots but at the moment players are taking them on so 20 isnt going to hurt, the combination of acceleration, pace and off the ball is pleasing and should help him arrive in the box at the right time to finish chances.

He's a great player, rated as a leading star for a Premier League team and should make quite a difference to the team.

To summarise, we need this guy to be a 'flair' player, someone who can break down 'parked' defences by via passing & dribbling, we need him to be able to finish and be someone we know will be inside the box at the end of attacks. We are not too worried about what he does defensively as we have to Box to Box guys doing this for him, although he will 'chip in' anyway.

next up

Box to Box midfielders....

Box to Box midfielders.

A bit of a dying Breed IRL but not in FM. Always been a favourite of mine and pretty much a cornerstone of all of my tactics.

The ultimate 'support' player, switching from defence to attack in an instant and vice versa. Arriving late into the box when attacking, busting a gut to get behind the ball when possession. In this formation they do a much needed job of supporting the Full Backs out wide.

These are our unsung heroes.

What are we after

Tackling

Teamwork

Work Rate

Stamina

****Additionally try and make sure they have at least 10 finishing (subject to the level you are at) as they will get a decent amount of goalscoring chances.

These are largely mental & physical stats. Players like this are not hard to find so you can be pretty choosy or get guys on the cheap and spend your money elsewhere.

So what we are after are players with 'great engines', unselfish in their approach accepting that they will never be the 'stars' of the team. They need to have a very high work ethic, do the hard tackling, the 'hod' carrying and the dirty work.

These are the guys who will win the midfield battle for us.

Now, I don't have a stand out player for this position but I've been using this guy for a few season and he does a great job. I've had other recruitment priorities since promotion.

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So

Work rate 15

Team work 11

Stamina 16

Tackling 9

&

Finishing 11

So a capable player, pushing it a bit in the premier league but out of all the attributes I would prioritise Work Rate. He's a big, strong physical presence in midfield let down by his tackling.

I have been chasing this guy, but his wage requirements are too high for me at the moment. But he is a good example of what I would like.

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Look at his mental stats, nothing lower than 13, 20 work rate is awesome. And this is not a 'silly' player, He's available for £2m and £45,000 a week. In range for all premier league teams apart from me!

So, you will need at least 4 of these guys to cover for injuries and because they are knackered by the end of every match.

Keep an eye on them, if there condition gets lower than 70 in the match replace them with a fresh player if you can. Bringing on 2 100% condition Box to Box midfielders with 20 minutes to go can really lock down the game or help you get a goal back.

So these guys are vital in making our team tick, the French might refer to them as an 'English Player', not technically brilliant but tough in the tackle, very hard working, mentally and physically strong and unpleasant to play against. And we're rocking with 2 of this guys in our midfield... excellent.

The Anchor Man.

Every team should have one.

This is our shield across the back four. Win back the ball and play it simple. An easy outlet when in possession and nothing else is on and we want to rebuild the attack but more importantly someone who adds further 'steel' to the defensive side of the tactic. Without him there is no way our fullbacks could attack with reckless gusto in the manner that they do. what are we after?

Leadership

Work rate

Positioning

Tackling

Its tempting to go with a huge physical presence in this position, that's certainly an option but I tend to go for a highly mobile anchorman who can across the pitch quickly, make tackles, intercept passes and generally make a nuisance of himself.

I do like a Leader in this position as well, its a good spot for your Captain. If one or more of your centre backs are leaders you can drop this requirement for something else. Positioning is key, our Anchor man is no good for us if he's constantly in the wrong position at the wrong time, we want another hard worker, some one who will work for the benefit of the team. Great technical stats are not required but they need to be an excellent tackler for obvious reasons.

I've picked up this guy for my second season in the Premier League.

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Leadership 16

Work rate 14

Positioning 13

Tackling 14

More than adequate. he is also quick, brave with excellent stamina. Someone we want in the trenches with us when the going gets tough.

Another unheralded player, he wont pop up in the highlights very often but check your post match analysis and check out the work he puts in, interceptions, key tackles, headers, the passes he makes etc.

Its not all about goals and assists, someone has to do the 'invisible' work which allows the rest of the team to prosper in their own roles.

So all hail the Anchor Man, the forgotten man, the underdog. Ignored by the masses, but not by those who really matter, his team mates, his Manager..............

Finally, and as I'm starting to realise, possibly the most important players in our team.

The Fullbacks.

Where to start.... ok here.

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Look at where the assists are coming from, both ours and our opponents. Out wide, from the flanks. Now this was from my first season in the Premier League so we were not as prolific as normal, I don't know what my right back was upto but i'll be having words........ (actually, i think the imbalance is caused by my Poacher being on the left and my False 9 being on the right, i'm gonna have to think about that).

Anyway most of our assists are from the flanks, not always from our Full Backs as our Box to Box midfielders operate in this area, but our full backs will almost inevitably have been involved in the attacks at some point.

I cant stress how attacking these players are, they will often cross from the opponents byline having made runs from well inside their own half. If the attack is building on the opposite flank they will often arrow into the corner of the 6 yard box becoming auxiliary strikers.

This may sound suicidal from a defensive point of view and sometimes it is. But our Anchor Man and Box to Box midfielders are excellent at picking up the 'slack' and our full backs still put in a good defensive shift providing they have the engine to do so.

Lets look at my new full back, he's a pretty good example.

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Crossing 15

Stamina 14

Work Rate 19

Decisions 16

We will normally have at least 3 players in the box, even on quick attacks, normally more, we want our full backs to be able to 'stick one on their head' or 'right foot' so crossing is key. We need good decision making, when to go, when to stay, and we definately need hard workers with good stamina, as we've already discussed. Great pace is wonderful here if you can get it.

These boys make the whole tactic tic, they add much of the width to the tactic, are involved in nearly all attacks at some point yet are required to make a significant contribution to the defence as well.

Arguably, these guys are actually the 'fulcrum' of the tactic.

[cruyff14]

Cool, I will give this a go with my struggling Fulham side. As much as I'm loving the new tactic overhaul, It's gonna take some getting used to.

[cerud]

Does this use a narrower pitch or a standard one? Looking forward to giving it a go!

[Mr U Rosler]

Does this use a narrower pitch or a standard one? Looking forward to giving it a go!

Maximum pitch size

[OlivierL]

Do u have any special player instructions ?

[Mr U Rosler]

Do u have any special player instructions ?

Each player has player instructions built into the tactic.

Nothing over and above that.

[Aleynasdad]

What with work havent had a chance to test this yet. But will do so and report back. Knowing how changes happen between beta and final release and this might have a very limited shelf life.

[upthebriggers]

I had great success with your other tactic "Fearsome Engine" in FM2013, so I'm going to give this a go. Thanks

[supersplash]

Been playing a chelsea game and i need a bit of a break. gonna try this tactic with Roma. Any thoughts? How would you set up their midfield?

[godzilu]

The problem with your tactic is that is very hard to find box to box midfielders :/ I have too many wingers... If I train them to have MC positions, can they play L and R in the middle? Or you need more defence minded players.

[Mr U Rosler]

The problem with your tactic is that is very hard to find box to box midfielders :/ I have too many wingers... If I train them to have MC positions, can they play L and R in the middle? Or you need more defence minded players.

Yeah, I had to do that season 1, then have a clearout at the end of the season and get more MC's.

[godzilu]

Hm, if I change I have to do a major clear out ) Thank you

[cgonzalez]

I shall give this a try, I was trying the gyroscope tactic which worked well getting Brighton into the Premiership, but I don't like the way in which you have to play players in that formation, this should allow me to use some wide players at the back.

[mooboo1978]

where do you put the tactic once download

[Mr U Rosler]

where do you put the tactic once download

Use the tactics manager in the 'in game' tactics screen, choose upload tactic, find your file and upload it. (or something like that!)

[mooboo1978]

thanks for the reply but still cant work out where to put it

[godzilu]

On the partition where windows is installed, Users, "Username", Documents, Sports Interactive, Tactics

[mooboo1978]

that's where I originally put them but comes up with cant import tactic

[Mr U Rosler]

that's where I originally put them but comes up with cant import tactic

You sure you're not trying to import my FM13 tactic? It wont work.

[eskimo]

This tactic is working great for me! Some results:

13 consecutive matches without conceding, some crazy Champions League results.

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[gareth250480]

what general and match training do you have this on

[T-Rex]

I am giving this tactic a go with Hull. I really fancy tactics without wingers as this lets me focus on bringing in players for fewer positions. As for Hull, there aren´t too many wingers either. Just in general a not too good squad. If I survive first season I guess I will be alright.

Thanks for sharing

[underkiller]

Great tactic Rosler Hope you update this when the orginal game is out

[cgonzalez]

Only played two games after promotion to the premiership with Brighton, but beat Man City 2-0 now that I've rebuilt the squad to suit this formation. I shall let you know how I get on...

[Mr U Rosler]

Great tactic Rosler Hope you update this when the orginal game is out

I'll be all over it

[boroboy87]

that's where I originally put them but comes up with cant import tactic

If you put in in My Documents -> Sports Interactive -> Football Manager 2014 -> tactics, then you don't need to import it in the game, just click on the box where you can save your tactics and there should be a dropdown, in the dropdown there should be 'archived tactics' and you can just select it there. No import necessary.

EDIT: looking at the screenshot of tactic screen, looks like you click on 'Add Tactic' Then choose 'archive tactics'

[Rub Rub]

Really good tactic but my strikers are not getting many goals. The players are suited well to the roles but it's just not happening. Any tips?

[Mr U Rosler]

Really good tactic but my strikers are not getting many goals. The players are suited well to the roles but it's just not happening. Any tips?

Lots of rotation of strikers. They seem to get stale & out of form pretty quick. Keep freshening things up.

[stemanders]

started using this with Birmingham City, seems good so far. Just one question though, i have 4/5 strikers, I have one F9 and 1 Poacher but they are probably not quite as good as the other 3 strikers I have, would you play the slightly better player or the players that are comfortable with the role?

Nikola Zigic - Target Man

Lee Novak - Advanced Forward

Peter Lovenkrands - Complete Forward

Matt Green - Paocher

Akwasi Asante - False 9

[Mr U Rosler]

started using this with Birmingham City, seems good so far. Just one question though, i have 4/5 strikers, I have one F9 and 1 Poacher but they are probably not quite as good as the other 3 strikers I have, would you play the slightly better player or the players that are comfortable with the role?

Nikola Zigic - Target Man

Lee Novak - Advanced Forward

Peter Lovenkrands - Complete Forward

Matt Green - Paocher

Akwasi Asante - False 9

Dont worry too much about the description of the role they are most suited to, look at the attributes and decide for yourself whether they are more suitable for the poacher or the f9 role. You may have someone who is a bit of both, which is fine, use them as you see fit. Moving forward you can start to recruit more specialist players.

[gareth250480]

sorry what team general and match training do you use on this tactic.

[Mr U Rosler]

Moving forward.

I'm well happy with the current tactic apart from 1 position which I will talk about in a minute.

Its not worth tweaking anything until the release patch is out and we see how it affects things, if its not much different I have ideas for tweaking the tactic so its even better. If a complete re-design is required then so be it, but I hope not.

Improving THIS tactic.

An issue with FM is that any formation with more than 1 Striker runs into problems as Strikers are very morale/form dependant which is strongly influenced by the number of goals they score, even assisting and playing well does not count for much, they MUST score regularly or they can get on long barren runs of not scoring that can cycle out of control and before you know it they've gone half a season in awful form, with pressure for them to score mounting, increasing the problem.

In other words, the more strikers you have, the less goals there are to 'go around' and the more likely you are going to run into morale/form issue's.

With 1 guy upfront he will almost always get his quota of goals.

No other position has 'pressure' build up this way where they 'MUST' score goals to maintain morale/form.

So i'm thinking playing with 1 upfront has to be optimal.

This raises 2 questions?

What role will be best for our loan striker??

Poacher, Advanced Forward, Complete Forward?

What do we do with our extra player?

I'm thinking AMC, but what role? And will this cramp the style of our MC advanced playmaker who is so influencial at the moment?

Also, what combination of Striker & AMC roles compliment each other best? (if we go that way)

I am interested in any opinions.

many thanks

[supersplash]

False 9 and Shadow Striker go very well together. But the poacher is soooo good in this tactic

[Mr U Rosler]

False 9 and Shadow Striker go very well together. But the poacher is soooo good in this tactic

I like that idea, but i'm unfamiliar with the Shadow Striker role. I also dont want to give up my poacher. I like the idea of Poacher/Enganche.

[T-Rex]

I like the idea of Poacher/Enganche.

I love the prospect of playing with the Enganche, though as he is supposedly sitting quite still in the space between defence and midfield, I fear this might be a conflict with our MC AP. Maybe the trequartista will function, as it is supposed to roam into pockets to the sides as well as in the centre of the pitch. As I understand it the Enganche stays central only?

[iolodavanki]

Having a good time with Southampton (second season) with this tactic. The poacher scores plenty but the F9 not so much. Good at attacking corners too. The only problem is that I do not have a major share of the posession and it makes my chairman angry. It is also surprising considering my four man midfield of Schneiderlin---Ander Herrera---WardProwse ahead of Wanyama.

[Mr U Rosler]

I love the prospect of playing with the Enganche, though as he is supposedly sitting quite still in the space between defence and midfield, I fear this might be a conflict with our MC AP. Maybe the trequartista will function, as it is supposed to roam into pockets to the sides as well as in the centre of the pitch. As I understand it the Enganche stays central only?

I've run a trial moving the F9 to the Eganche position, clearly wasnt working. It was like watching Danny Welbeck, offering very little and constantly getting in everyone's way.

The False 9 and Shadow combo didn't work either, perhaps the subtlety required to make this work is beyond my somewhat dim witted non league strikers.

I am starting to think the formation is good, but the False 9 role is the wrong one for the 2nd striker.

[Special_One]

I've run a trial moving the F9 to the Eganche position, clearly wasnt working. It was like watching Danny Welbeck, offering very little and constantly getting in everyone's way.

The False 9 and Shadow combo didn't work either, perhaps the subtlety required to make this work is beyond my somewhat dim witted non league strikers.

I am starting to think the formation is good, but the False 9 role is the wrong one for the 2nd striker.

Going to give this a go as my current tactic with Palace offers nothing from open play.. Kyrgiakos top scorer with 3 in 4 on default set pieces and Gayle + Chamakh 1 goal between them.. Would a Target Man (support) work alongside the poacher?

[iVoRy]

How about trequartista instead of False9

[Mr U Rosler]

Going to give this a go as my current tactic with Palace offers nothing from open play.. Kyrgiakos top scorer with 3 in 4 on default set pieces and Gayle + Chamakh 1 goal between them.. Would a Target Man (support) work alongside the poacher?

I'm trying a target man support now, going pretty well.

[Mr U Rosler]

How about trequartista instead of False9

A treq with lots of freedom could possibly work, if someone wants to give it a go.

[Aleynasdad]

I know its a different formation but the better half used as shadow striker with an F9 for his split 4-5-1 and it seems to work really well. perhaps try that.

[matsk89]

do you also got a screenshot how to set up the training? feels like missing something in matches... might be the preperations..

[arsenaltops]

I tried your tactic with my Arsenal team and didn't have much joy with it but have tried moving one of the strikers to the AMC position like you suggested.

Just played my first game with it against WBA, went with a Trequartista behind a poacher and it worked pretty well. Won 3-0 with the goals coming from all over the team.

The only other changes I made were to switch the fullbacks to Complete Wingbacks as they do well getting forward and offering width to distort the opposition defense. Kieran Gibbs got a nice goal with a burst into the area.

I'll report back with further findings once I've given it a run of games.

[The RingMaster]

Just a wee update, in addition to the quoted piece in the 2nd post of this thread:

As mentioned, this formation won promotion to the Scottish Championship with wee East Fife. And it is easily the most difficult Scottish second tier in my lifetime, with Hearts and Rangers in there, along with excellent Falkirk, Dundee and Hamilton sides. Basically had to replace an entire team, as both first choice strikers, all three CMs and my best CB and GK all decided they didn't want to stay. Nevertheless, we are putting up a good fight and, as the players get to know each other, playing some good stuff again. Last three Championship fixtures were Dundee (A): 3-1 win, Hearts (H) 0-0, Rangers (H) 1-0 win.

I would say its important to get the right guys for the right positions, with the attributes as outlined by the OP. And give it a couple of months. It took about 6 months to become completely fluent for me but, when it does, some of the interplay between the midfield three and F9 is beautiful.

I have watched the debate over the second striker with some interest. I have to say: I like the F9 and it's been pivotal to my side. But maybe it's because I've had the right sort of players; with dribbling, some pace and a bit of intelligence (Christian Nade - very good for third tier Scotland and, this season, Kenny Miller). They seem to naturally drop into 'the hole' and provide a good link between the midfield and attack. Perhaps it's more about the personnel than the position?

[macca72]

One thought on your "spare player" Rosler...

Was thinking about how I could utilise one of my best players @ Leeds (Sam Byram) who will be a great atticking wing back, so what if you went a bit asymmetrical? I was thinking switching either the LB or RB to an attack wing back and placing your extra man in either the AML / AMR position as an Inside Forward ?

This could create some nice overlapping with the attacking WB, whilst keeping out of the way of the AP. You'll also get the single poacher benefit with double the creativity...

I'd try it myself, however I haven't got the game yet, would be interesting to see if anyone has a IF in their side and could try it...

[Mr U Rosler]

After the update tactics are getting fluid much quicker, which is good.

[Mr U Rosler]

One thought on your "spare player" Rosler...

Was thinking about how I could utilise one of my best players @ Leeds (Sam Byram) who will be a great atticking wing back, so what if you went a bit asymmetrical? I was thinking switching either the LB or RB to an attack wing back and placing your extra man in either the AML / AMR position as an Inside Forward ?

This could create some nice overlapping with the attacking WB, whilst keeping out of the way of the AP. You'll also get the single poacher benefit with double the creativity...

I'd try it myself, however I haven't got the game yet, would be interesting to see if anyone has a IF in their side and could try it...

I had thought about that but ruled it out at the time, I might go back to it.

[cerud]

I'm actually having great success with the original tactic. The False 9 is a wonder. His linking play is great and he's also one of my top goalscorers. Fullbacks are crossing beautifully and the midfielder playmaker gets forward for some good runs too.