How to stop Genoa 3-4-3

[luka_zg]

I'm playing Searie A at the moment and Genoa is absolutely phenomenal. They are second with 15 games played and they score almost 4 goal per match!

They play 3-4-3 formation with no outstanding players, but they pummel everything!

I have no idea how to stop them wheen playing against them,nor do other AI teams as I can see

I've played two matches against them.

First at home with 3-3-2-2 juventsu formation and I won 4-3 but they had like 6 CCC and 9 half chances in that match. I was very lucky.

The second match I've played my version of 3-5-2 with wing backs ,2 CM's and AMC. I have good results with this tactic and I am Third with 4 points behind them.

I set it up for this match to counter/balanced..drop deeper,stay on feet,play out of defence..CD's on defend,WB's on support,CM's on defend(one CM and DLP),AMC/support and DLF/S and AF/A..I was actually quite OK, maanged to go 1-0 up..but they won 3-1at the end with 4 CCC..even with drop deeper and counter mentality they manage to pass through balls in front with their 3 strikers through balls are major threat..from heat map I saw their central striker drops deeper and acts like AM/A..I can't set up against them in a way that I am more dangerous team..my team has better players so it has to be possible.

Anyone has any solution?

[MeesterCat]

Perhaps go to a back four and get your fullbacks to tuck in, thus creating a numerical advantage?

[luka_zg]

Well. i have 3 DC's and two WB who help defensivly,so thats 5 defenders actually..doesn't really help.

[GmutuBaxawe]

Vitesse Arnhem plays this way in my PSV save, and has beaten me a couple of times, exactly like you describe. Then I came up with the following tactical plan:

I fielded a 4-1DM-2-2-1, with the DM set to Halfback, and the two D©s to Central defender - Defend. This frees up your fullbacks to play an attacking game, in order to fully exploit the lack of width in the opposing team.

Have not had much problems beating them since, although they always score at least one against me.

[sirgiorgio]

You have to stop their wide midfielders. Close down always / tackling hard. If they are good at crossing, show onto foot --> MR left foot / ML right foot; do the opposite if the cut inside. Do not use a "defensive" mentality, it would only make things worse. At the end of the day, if you can't stop them from scoring, try to outscore them.

I played against them twice with Juventus and scored 4 goals each time. And, btw, they're 20th in my save

[Contexx]

Yeah totally agree with sirgiorgio - keep them under pressure and don't let them develop and set up their attacks. I have reasonable pace in defense and play a high line, exploit flanks ( even though i use wingbacks) and it leads to some wild games but forces them to resort to either long balls or passes back to their keeper who lumps it back.

In my save Palermo use the same formation but on a short pitch with a very quick striker up top - madness to play against.

[MacLooch]

Vitesse Arnhem plays this way in my PSV save, and has beaten me a couple of times, exactly like you describe. Then I came up with the following tactical plan:

I fielded a 4-1DM-2-2-1, with the DM set to Halfback, and the two D©s to Central defender - Defend. This frees up your fullbacks to play an attacking game, in order to fully exploit the lack of width in the opposing team.

Have not had much problems beating them since, although they always score at least one against me.

In my Go Ahead save, I had a bunch of issues with Vitesse at first as well. What worked for me was playing counter and passing into space. I've noticed the big issue with a back 3 is that the center defender always seems to close down, leaving a ton of space for my outside wingers or inside forwards to run into.

[bababooey]

I've faced Genoa a bunch of times actually from earlier saves I had in FM14. The 3-4-3 is a very aggressive and attack-minded formation, but the good news for you is that it also leaves a ton of space all over the place! Think about this.. the 3-4-3 (flat) has no players in the DM or AM strata. How many teams do we see these days without anyone in that strata? Take advantage of that space

The 3 strikers can be intimidating but if they have no supply, they are of little to no threat, too

[DavidPengilley]

Could also try a bit of a long ball game of pumping it over the midfield and onto 3 up the top. This would require you to be solid defensively with strong, athletic dms

[BiggusD]

I play with a 343 and it is actually surprisingly solid defensively, and I use a Trequartista as the central striker while the two others are more advanced (DLF-A). Lately I have been playing a 4-3-3 with three central strikers where the central one is an AF-A and the two others DLF-S.

When I play against a single defensive midfielder with my 343, especially a 4-5-1/4-3-3/4-1-2-2-1, he stops the TQ from dropping into the AMC area, and this disrupts my game quite a bit. This might be a good idea if Genoa do play with an Advanced/Deep/Advanced striker setup like you say.

However, long, lofted through-balls in 14.1.4 are overpowered, and there is little you can do about them. I do experience them quite rarely with my 433 tactic and I suppose this is because I employ two defensive midfielders, which presumably prevents the central defenders from closing down players in the AMC strata.

One thing about Counter + Drop Deeper - that is very deep, and it might be the case that your defense is lured out of position but can't close down quickly enough to prevent them from doing what they want with the ball. Giving them less time on the ball might stop the supply to the strikers. A very deep defensive line may stretch your team.

Another thing to think about when playing a 352 against a 343 is that their three central defenders control your two strikers well enough while their deep midfielder (probably D/S partnership) takes care of the AMC. I know by experience that the Wide Midfielders actually do defend quite well. Your defensive problems may therefore come from not being able to attack efficiently.

So perhaps the wisest thing to try is to employ a DMC-D (Anchor Man) and then go Control or even Attack to compress defensive space even further and give them less time on the ball to play those long through balls. My only concern here is how do you create chances, but better players should make a difference. You might also try to make a "defensive diamond" when you're at it - using a Sweeper along with a DMC has worked really well for me, but this gives less support to your wing backs since the two DC's become a bit narrower.

[metac0gnition]

I understand your plight all too well. With every new version of FM, I always take pleasure in taking Melfi up to serie A. What I noticed playing against a 3-4-3 is that in the beginning of their defensive phase, ie when you have the ball deep, their 3 forwards makes for a very strong high block/press. This makes it very difficult to build from deep. To work around this in your case, will be either to tell your goalie to distribute to your wingbacks or play a more direct pass into midfield. You shouldnt have much problems once the ball is in midfield and should look to take advantage of your numbers but not by simply telling your team to exploit the flanks. The key to beating the tactical battle here is to force them to open up spaces in the middle by either playing the quick pass into their wingback zone and making your winger run onto ball. You will want your quickest and best dribblers on the flanks even if they arent trained in the position, they are there to fill a tactical role. You will want them to dribble and hug the touchline, whether they cross often or not is up to you. What is being done here is to force their wide CBs to the touchlines and open up space for your attackers in the channels. You must play a quick tempo otherwise their whole team can simply shuffle sideways to fill the gap. I personally only focus attacks on 1 flank in this manner so that i can tire out their CB, CM and WM on that flank. With the right player in your wide midfield role, you can potentially take out 3 of their players in every move you make. Once their WM drops to form a back 5, it'll be hard to break them.