The World Cup: Tactical Interpretations for FM14

[lilljons]

Chile

Interesting, i see you haven't brought up their intense pressing? Is this because the game can't replicate it or do you think the tactic will sort it out itself?

[Guest]

I'm guessing with push higher up and on a control mentality that the natural pressing that occurs might come as close as possible to what we see.

[alinp]

Interesting, i see you haven't brought up their intense pressing? Is this because the game can't replicate it or do you think the tactic will sort it out itself?

IMO the high line, very fluid mentality, roaming & intensity from the high tempo will all assist in pressing, however it still think the midfield & WB's could have Close Down More. The examples they showed in the highlights seemed to have all bar the back 3 pressing (but notably as a cohesive unit, not individually).

[THOG]

Interesting, i see you haven't brought up their intense pressing? Is this because the game can't replicate it or do you think the tactic will sort it out itself?

I mention the high block and aggressive pressuring from Vidal which, in my opinion, was not particularly effective at disrupting the flow of Brazil's play (which is naturally more direct and physical itself). It's also implicit in the discussion of how the forward line operates as the first line of defence against a team trying to circulate/control possession in deep areas. The Shadow Striker role has aggressive defending instructions, so you should see a higher tendency to close down and tackle aggressively than you would see from other AM roles.

Control + Push Up will take the closing down settings very high with the front trio effectively being on Hassle (but without overriding the central defender set-up). The closing down settings will be slightly lower at the back, but the loosely structured nature of the formation should be far more likely to coax defenders out of position to close down anyway.

IMO the high line, very fluid mentality, roaming & intensity from the high tempo will all assist in pressing, however it still think the midfield & WB's could have Close Down More. The examples they showed in the highlights seemed to have all bar the back 3 pressing (but notably as a cohesive unit, not individually).

I know the game doesn't make this clear, but a "Close Down More" PI is redundant if the team is told to "Push Higher Up." The instructions don't double up on one another. The wingbacks will tend to come out aggressively because their closing down is already very high and the two MCs won't effectively cover the flanks.

In the Dutch tactic, I had them dropping to a relatively lower defensive block in defence, so I offset that with "Close Down More" PIs to reflect the similar intensity of their pressing. The overall closing down settings should be about the same for both tactics outside of the outer two DCs who, here, I thought were more careful to hold shape and block runs/passes through the middle. An interesting stat from this match was that, despite Chile's high press in the first half, Brazil did not attempt a single through ball. Part of this was the fact that Neymar likes the ball played to his feet, but it was also because the 5-man defensive line leaves very little room to make penetrating passes while keeping the ball on the ground (though as noted above, it makes it easier for the attacking team to move the ball through the middle).

[THOG]

I'd also note that Chile's more defensive posture in the second half had a lot to with conserving energy for potential fixtures ahead. In a tournament like this where the matches come quickly, there's a ceiling to what a team that defends aggressively can do if it doesn't have genuine depth to replace its first eleven. Vidal already had to sit out the match against the Netherlands, and he wasn't able to play the full 120 minutes here, despite being their best penalty taker and already playing in a defensive role that didn't require him to quickly track back.

I know the difficulty of setting up a very intense pressing system is an area where people would like to see improvement, but IMO, even something like Hassle takes it too easy on players' physical condition. Realistically, you have to be more economical and adaptable when you use that kind of defensive approach or you will just end up with a lot of blown hamstrings.

[lilljons]

I mention the high block and aggressive pressuring from Vidal which, in my opinion, was not particularly effective at disrupting the flow of Brazil's play (which is naturally more direct and physical itself). It's also implicit in the discussion of how the forward line operates as the first line of defence against a team trying to circulate/control possession in deep areas. The Shadow Striker role has aggressive defending instructions, so you should see a higher tendency to close down and tackle aggressively than you would see from other AM roles.

Control + Push Up will take the closing down settings very high with the front trio effectively being on Hassle (but without overriding the central defender set-up). The closing down settings will be slightly lower at the back, but the loosely structured nature of the formation should be far more likely to coax defenders out of position to close down anyway.

I know the game doesn't make this clear, but a "Close Down More" PI is redundant if the team is told to "Push Higher Up." The instructions don't double up on one another. The wingbacks will tend to come out aggressively because their closing down is already very high and the two MCs won't effectively cover the flanks.

In the Dutch tactic, I had them dropping to a relatively lower defensive block in defence, so I offset that with "Close Down More" PIs to reflect the similar intensity of their pressing. The overall closing down settings should be about the same for both tactics outside of the outer two DCs who, here, I thought were more careful to hold shape and block runs/passes through the middle. An interesting stat from this match was that, despite Chile's high press in the first half, Brazil did not attempt a single through ball. Part of this was the fact that Neymar likes the ball played to his feet, but it was also because the 5-man defensive line leaves very little room to make penetrating passes while keeping the ball on the ground (though as noted above, it makes it easier for the attacking team to move the ball through the middle).

There should be some sort of user friendly encyclopedia, above have I've been trying to create for months. Made this changes to my Palace save and i almost caused an upset against Man U and now beat City in the cup. All to intense pressure up front and more conservative at the back! Thx!

[FMWolf]

jpcote09 - Thanks for the answer, definitely some great points there. I've to agree that in their last game that was more the way they played, but it hasn't been always like that since the start from my point of view (well, obviously, teams are always making changes). In that game they played Jackson and Gutierrez, both more pure strikers, but they have been playing with Ibarra who was more an inside forward in one flank with Cuadrado being the winger on the other. And in those game, although definitely appearing on the flanks too, James was much more central, making the team focusing their game on him, dropping deep to get the ball and dictate the play. I'm still struggling to make the tactic work as we are just being overwhelmed in terms of possession. It seems that having the CM's as DM's is just making it easy for the opposition to press high and take us out of the game. My pass completion ratio is also terrible, not reaching 70% in some games, so obviously something is wrong.

I'm really looking forward to see how ThoG interprets it and see his point view on this

[jpcote09]

jpcote09 - Thanks for the answer, definitely some great points there. I've to agree that in their last game that was more the way they played, but it hasn't been always like that since the start from my point of view (well, obviously, teams are always making changes). In that game they played Jackson and Gutierrez, both more pure strikers, but they have been playing with Ibarra who was more an inside forward in one flank with Cuadrado being the winger on the other. And in those game, although definitely appearing on the flanks too, James was much more central, making the team focusing their game on him, dropping deep to get the ball and dictate the play. I'm still struggling to make the tactic work as we are just being overwhelmed in terms of possession. It seems that having the CM's as DM's is just making it easy for the opposition to press high and take us out of the game. My pass completion ratio is also terrible, not reaching 70% in some games, so obviously something is wrong.

I'm really looking forward to see how ThoG interprets it and see his point view on this

You are right, and the way they changed their setup was... crafty, to say the least. Uruguay had their gritty Arevalo ready to dive in tackle after tackle to try and get James out of his game, but he didn't have the chance to do that since Rodriguez played out wide most of the time, far away from him. But yeah, playing 2 DM's has always been very difficult (at least to me since I've been playing the game) and of course replicating their exact tactical setup would probably be very improbable (true for most of the teams anyways). ThoG has made some very interesting interpretations so far, I certainly hope he has time to make one for my favoured Colombia, and if so I am looking forward to seeing what it looks like.

[THOG]

COLOMBIA

The match between Colombia and Uruguay was more like what you normally expect from two sides that naturally prefer to play on the transition: both teams sitting fairly deep and patiently moving the ball through midfield in the hope that a lapse in concentration or a moment of magic will lead to a breakthrough. For Colombia, that moment of magic was once again provided by another quietly brilliant performance by James Rodriguez while Uruguay once again were left devoid of ideas in the absence of their own, notably more troubled magician. However, Rodriguez's effectiveness has come largely from Colombia's willingness not to force an over-eager sense of dependence upon him. Rodriguez is not a playmaker in the sense of being an ever-present and defining influence on the flow of Colombia's play. In fact, he's quite the opposite. The rest of the Colombian team seems more than happy to ignore Rodriguez for long stretches of play, and this allows him to drift silently into widening spaces and evade the attention of defenders before suddenly springing forward with an explosive strike or deft pass.

Complementing Rodriguez perfectly in this match, Cuadrado played a similar role in an entirely different fashion. He was flamboyant, distracting and assertive as he darted furiously across the midfield, eventually setting up the second goal with a selfless headed pass to the feet of a stalking Rodriguez. Around these two players, Jose Pekerman provided a well structured system that helped stretch a deep-lying Uruguayan defence on all sides. The midfielders Aguilar and Sanchez sat deeper to control play through a disciplined double pivot, the fullbacks Zuniga and Armero linked the teams two distinct halves through the flanks, and up front, Martinez and Gutierrez worked tirelessly to open gaps in Uruguay's stubborn backline.

In terms of shape, Colombia demonstrated a remarkable amount of flexibility while never really changing their style of play. With each goal, Colombia made adjustments to solidify their defence without compromising the basic structure of their attack. At the outset, Colombia lined up in a 4-3-1-2 with Rodriguez remaining central to provide a quick link to the strikers. In the group stages, Colombia mainly played a 4-4-1-1 with Rodriguez operating in the middle, but with Uruguay likely to use the 5-3-2 that secured the controversial victory against Italy, Pekerman likely wanted to start with two strikers without moving Rodriguez out of the position in which he's proven so effective.

After the first goal, bolstering the defence took priority, and Colombia transitioned to more of a 4-4-2 (and at times, an asymmetric 4-3-3) with Cuadrado and Rodriguez switching flanks and roaming centrally as a pair of interiores. After the second goal and the substitution of Gutierrez, the shape became a 5-4-1, but even as the basic system became more defensive, Uruguay never found a foothold to put the Colombians under any sustained pressure. Whereas formation is often thought of as a pivotal and defining aspect of a tactical system, this was a brilliant display in how formation can be freely adjusted to avoid dramatically altering a team's approach.

For the tactic, I will focus on Colombia's initial approach leading up to the first goal. The 4-4-2 that was used later in the match can't quite be replicated without a truly free-roaming wide role, though you can roughly approximate it by using wide midfielders or a wide midfielder with an inside forward (as Rodriguez did not always track back). The initial set-up, on the other hand, can be created quite easily.

The initial shape, as noted above, was a 4-3-1-2. For the fluidity setting, I would go with Fluid. The team had two distinct units with the six more defensive players providing a disciplined foundation for the free-flowing attack. While the two wide defenders had aggressive roles, they were hesitant to just bomb forward and mainly functioned as linking players on the flanks. No further team instructions are necessary, though if you use the 4-4-2 variant, you should set "Allow Wide Players to Swap."

For individual roles:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Wingback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Wingback - Attack

MCL: Central Midfielder - Defend

MC: Deep-Lying Playmaker - Support

MCR: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support + Dribble More

AMC: Attacking Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball + Roam from Position

STCL: Deep-Lying Forward - Support + Run Wide with Ball

STCR: Advanced Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

Alternately, you can set them up as a 4-4-2 with the AMC and MCR switched to:

ML: Wide Midfielder - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position + Cut Inside (or use AML: Inside Forward - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position)

MR: Wide Midfielder - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position + Dribble More

Finally, for the late match 5-4-1, the advanced forward would be replaced with a third central defender.

[peleJunior]

I thought Columbia looked like 4-2DM-2WM-2 for large parts of the game. Possibly to both draw Uruguay out and to restrict being hit with those direct balls to the forwards that Uruguay play alot.

[jpcote09]

very interesting interpretation. I will not rewatch the game to confirm, but I would tend to agree with most of what you put in there. However, I was pretty sure Rodriguez sat on the left flank when he defended at the beginning of the game. Maybe play him as an IF(S) with roaming, sit narrower, cut inside? Also, would a CM(D) drop deep enough to play as close to the defensive line as Sanchez did during the game?

Also, OTR, I thought Colombia played very well, but Uruguay, in transition and attack, lacked "bite".

[THOG]

I agree it was ML/AML for the majority of the match, but this seemed to be the "second phase" plan after the lead was taken. For good examples of the initial positioning, observe the sequences at 8:28, 9:58 and 12:30. He remained largely central for the first 25 minutes or so, occasionally drifting freely to wider areas to support both sides of the defence.

EDIT: I also didn't use "higher tempo" as they moved the ball out of the back very slowly. The team will still pick up the pace when the break is on though.

lso, would a CM(D) drop deep enough to play as close to the defensive line as Sanchez did during the game?

Also, OTR, I thought Colombia played very well, but Uruguay, in transition and attack, lacked "bite".

Generally, yes, though defend duty MCs actually dropping into the d-line periodically when the ball is deep is a behaviour that still needs to be added in the ME (some DM roles do it in certain situations but even they don't do it as frequently and organically as it occurs IRL).

I think the absence of Suarez was a big factor in Colombia starting with such an aggressive system, but then, it was also a factor in Uruguay being so defensive. The obvious and mind-boggling insanity of the bite aside, I find it incredibly annoying that this corner of the bracket will partially be decided by a player getting himself banned just to force a club move. At least it provides some late measure of consolation to the Ghanaians. Live by the Suarez, die by the Suarez.

[Jorgen]

Louis van Gaal and his Netherlands team continue to surprise me.

The match started with a mediocre performance by Holland and ended in a 2-1 victory that was deserved, when looking only to the 2nd 45 minutes.

Negatives:

* Not much possession for Holland

* 5-3-2 mostly did not work in the 1st half

* Oranje lacked pace/energy in the first half (probably due to the 39 degrees Celsius)

* Passing could be better

Positives:

* Louis van Gaal did great substitutions again

* The multiple changing of formations really did work out very well 5-3-2 -> 4-3-3 -> 4-2-4 -> 4-3-3

* Dirk Kuijt did a perfect job as left wingback, right wingback and central striker

* Passing went much better after position changing

* Mentality was + + + + +

If I wanted to recreate this tactic I would hope to make it so versatile that formation changing would be easy and effective.

[jpcote09]

I am seriously starting to believe the Netherlands coach is more egocentric than his players are reputed to be. Why? Well maybe I am way too harsh on van Gaal here, but I suspect him to try and get his tactics as wrong as possible in the first halves, and then makd adequate changes in the second 45s to make his team win. Hahaha

Van Gaal is a wonderful coach IMO but it really is annoying to see that he doesn't seem to get his team prepared well enough and has to chase the game every time. Hope this changes against Costa Rica.

[James9]

COLOMBIA

The match between Colombia and Uruguay was more like what you normally expect from two sides that naturally prefer to play on the transition: both teams sitting fairly deep and patiently moving the ball through midfield in the hope that a lapse in concentration or a moment of magic will lead to a breakthrough. For Colombia, that moment of magic was once again provided by another quietly brilliant performance by James Rodriguez while Uruguay once again were left devoid of ideas in the absence of their own, notably more troubled magician. However, Rodriguez's effectiveness has come largely from Colombia's willingness not to force an over-eager sense of dependence upon him. Rodriguez is not a playmaker in the sense of being an ever-present and defining influence on the flow of Colombia's play. In fact, he's quite the opposite. The rest of the Colombian team seems more than happy to ignore Rodriguez for long stretches of play, and this allows him to drift silently into widening spaces and evade the attention of defenders before suddenly springing forward with an explosive strike or deft pass.

Complementing Rodriguez perfectly in this match, Cuadrado played a similar role in an entirely different fashion. He was flamboyant, distracting and assertive as he darted furiously across the midfield, eventually setting up the second goal with a selfless headed pass to the feet of a stalking Rodriguez. Around these two players, Jose Pekerman provided a well structured system that helped stretch a deep-lying Uruguayan defence on all sides. The midfielders Aguilar and Sanchez sat deeper to control play through a disciplined double pivot, the fullbacks Zuniga and Armero linked the teams two distinct halves through the flanks, and up front, Martinez and Gutierrez worked tirelessly to open gaps in Uruguay's stubborn backline.

In terms of shape, Colombia demonstrated a remarkable amount of flexibility while never really changing their style of play. With each goal, Colombia made adjustments to solidify their defence without compromising the basic structure of their attack. At the outset, Colombia lined up in a 4-3-1-2 with Rodriguez remaining central to provide a quick link to the strikers. In the group stages, Colombia mainly played a 4-4-1-1 with Rodriguez operating in the middle, but with Uruguay likely to use the 5-3-2 that secured the controversial victory against Italy, Pekerman likely wanted to start with two strikers without moving Rodriguez out of the position in which he's proven so effective.

After the first goal, bolstering the defence took priority, and Colombia transitioned to more of a 4-4-2 (and at times, an asymmetric 4-3-3) with Cuadrado and Rodriguez switching flanks and roaming centrally as a pair of interiores. After the second goal and the substitution of Gutierrez, the shape became a 5-4-1, but even as the basic system became more defensive, Uruguay never found a foothold to put the Colombians under any sustained pressure. Whereas formation is often thought of as a pivotal and defining aspect of a tactical system, this was a brilliant display in how formation can be freely adjusted to avoid dramatically altering a team's approach.

For the tactic, I will focus on Colombia's initial approach leading up to the first goal. The 4-4-2 that was used later in the match can't quite be replicated without a truly free-roaming wide role, though you can roughly approximate it by using wide midfielders or a wide midfielder with an inside forward (as Rodriguez did not always track back). The initial set-up, on the other hand, can be created quite easily.

The initial shape, as noted above, was a 4-3-1-2. For the fluidity setting, I would go with Fluid. The team had two distinct units with the six more defensive players providing a disciplined foundation for the free-flowing attack. While the two wide defenders had aggressive roles, they were hesitant to just bomb forward and mainly functioned as linking players on the flanks. No further team instructions are necessary, though if you use the 4-4-2 variant, you should set "Allow Wide Players to Swap."

For individual roles:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Wingback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Wingback - Attack

MCL: Central Midfielder - Defend

MC: Deep-Lying Playmaker - Support

MCR: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support + Dribble More

AMC: Attacking Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball + Roam from Position

STCL: Deep-Lying Forward - Support + Run Wide with Ball

STCR: Advanced Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

Alternately, you can set them up as a 4-4-2 with the AMC and MCR switched to:

ML: Wide Midfielder - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position + Cut Inside (or use AML: Inside Forward - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position)

MR: Wide Midfielder - Support + Sit Narrower + Roam from Position + Dribble More

Finally, for the late match 5-4-1, the advanced forward would be replaced with a third central defender.

this is great stuff THOG will you be doing a write up on France along with the team instructions and diagrams like you did for the other teams in the world come. I am really looking forward to your tactical set up for France.

[THOG]

Louis van Gaal and his Netherlands team continue to surprise me.

The match started with a mediocre performance by Holland and ended in a 2-1 victory that was deserved, when looking only to the 2nd 45 minutes.

Negatives:

* Not much possession for Holland

* 5-3-2 mostly did not work in the 1st half

* Oranje lacked pace/energy in the first half (probably due to the 39 degrees Celsius)

* Passing could be better

Positives:

* Louis van Gaal did great substitutions again

* The multiple changing of formations really did work out very well 5-3-2 -> 4-3-3 -> 4-2-4 -> 4-3-3

* Dirk Kuijt did a perfect job as left wingback, right wingback and central striker

* Passing went much better after position changing

* Mentality was + + + + +

If I wanted to recreate this tactic I would hope to make it so versatile that formation changing would be easy and effective.

Part of it was responding to Mexico. In each case, the midfield was very light, but as Mexico withdrew deeper and kept more players back (in FM terms, dropping mentality and handing out more defend duties), van Gaal was free to commit more players forward. Interestingly in light of what I wrote about 4-3-3 above, Blind was a DMC, but this was again because Mexico could not stretch the pitch anyway, allowing the Dutch to stay very compact and narrow when defending.

I thought Herrera made a huge mistake by trying to sit on such a narrow lead with 30-40 minutes to go, especially given how Mexico struggles with set pieces (and it was a corner that eventually did them).

With that said, I agree Kuyt was brilliant (always thought he was a bit ahead of his time in terms of the type of player he is and seemed misused at Liverpool for the most part). Arguably, Van Gaal's greatest gift as a manager is to recognize a player's essential talents and figure out ways to use those in unconventional ways. This means he can get a lot of mileage out of his squad which is vital in a tournament like this, and one of the impressive qualities of this Dutch side is how players/substitutes seem so seamlessly interchangeable (and of course, this is the classic Ajax philosophy coming through again).

[bababooey]

Watching the Netherlands / Mexico game yesterday made me that much for excited to see Van Gaal at United. He isn't afraid to make changes, unlike David Moyes..

[Guest]

Watching the Netherlands / Mexico game yesterday made me that much for excited to see Van Gaal at United. He isn't afraid to make changes, unlike David Moyes..

Not to derail the thread(Or defend Moyes) completely but Moyes was undermined and handcuffed, something Van Gaal would not tolerate at all. Regardless of how senior a player was.

[jpcote09]

this is great stuff THOG will you be doing a write up on France along with the team instructions and diagrams like you did for the other teams in the world come. I am really looking forward to your tactical set up for France.

I'd like to see that, too. Probably more straightforward than most of the other teams' tactical setups. As ThoG pointed out earlier, they play a 451 (433, 41221, whatever) with a fairly high press and an insane tempo. Funnily enough it is a similar setup to the one I was trying to implement in my last FM save. The settings were Control-Balanced with Higher Tempo and some PIs. I guess I would give Pogba a CM(A) role, Matuidi acts a lot like a BBM, and Cabaye is certainly on a Defend Duty. I would say DM(D).

I love having my thoughts totally undone by the great wisdom and knowledge of ThoG though, and I'm sure he'll be happy to do it again hahaha.

FWIW, I would even go as far as trying to dissect that Nigeria were playing a 4411 Counter-Fluid, and I've noticed that their right midfielder dribbles a lot.

[bababooey]

Not to derail the thread(Or defend Moyes) completely but Moyes was undermined and handcuffed, something Van Gaal would not tolerate at all. Regardless of how senior a player was.

Yeah the senior players definitely undermined him, but they obviously felt like he was taking them in the wrong direction, and they had to fear that the board may give him even more time than he deserved.

Regardless I'm glad he's gone. I don't like the style of football he plays.

[THOG]

FRANCE

After nearly a half decade in the footballing wilderness, the French have emerged as one of the more convincing dark horses that have shaped the surprising contours of this tournament. Driving this resurgence is a fortuitous combination of young, emerging stars and confident, unassuming veterans who have flourished under the nation's humbled expectations. The system that Deschamps has introduced complements this combination perfectly. The French play well organized, attacking football in which each player takes up a clearly defined role suited to his particular talents.

On the right flank, Pogba and Valbuena combine to serve as the creative core of the team, assisted by the rampaging forward runs of Debuchy, while the left flank is left purposefully underutilised to allow for the unhindered, off the ball movement of Benzema and Matuidi. Down the centre, Giroud and Cabaye link the two halves as diligent distributors at opposite ends of the attack.

The 4-3-3 shape that Deschamps has preferred throughout the tournament has taken full advantage of France's wealth of physically powerful midfielders. The trio of Cabaye, Matuidi and Pogba tirelessly harry the opposition midfield in defence and allow the wide forwards to focus solely on executing the rapid transitions that nearly doubled the number of goals the Swiss had conceded since qualifying began.

Still, there are weaknesses to the system, and the Nigerians exploited them well, frustrating the French effectively up until the late set piece that decided the fixture. In a 4-3-3, the midfield has to cover a lot of ground, and against a team willing to stretch the field of play, this can easily create dilemmas in which the team is forced to leave clear paths of penetration for the opposition.

In prior posts, I've briefly discussed the relative merits of using a DMC or MC as the third man in a three man midfield. In both cases, you will get something that resembles a 4-3-3 defensive shape, and at times during this tournament, France appear to have favoured what I would call the "MC interpretation" in which the most central midfielder tends to sit higher and help pressure the opposition's central midfielders more aggressively. As you can see in the image below, this allows the outer central midfielders to remain better positioned to quickly shift over to the flanks, protecting lateral space more effectively, but in doing so, the space between the midfield and defence is more often exposed. To account for this weakness, you will need a central defender who, if not an outright stopper, is at least capable of stepping out to challenge for balls played into the gap:

Now, compare that to the following instance in which the midfield trio includes a DMC:

Here the defensive midfielder is very close to his central defenders, forcing the central midfielders to take up more central positions at the outset of defending and leaving them less capable of shifting to wide areas if play is moved quickly to the flanks. Lateral protection is replaced with vertical protection, but where the flat midfield asks the central defenders to provide greater assistance to the midfield's defensive responsibilities, the triangular midfield shifts that burden to the fullback. The manager of a 4-3-3, then, must decided which threat represents the greater danger: the advanced creator or the overlapping fullback.

Up to this point, Sakho had played the role of the aggressive stopper, allowing Cabaye to be more aggressive in defence, but with the big Parisian missing due to a groin injury, Deschamps deferred to the wholly different skill set offered by Laurent Koscienly. With Nigeria's centre forward being an imposing physical presence, Koscienly's inclusion prompted a switch to a more pronounced midfield triangle with Cabaye stationed stubbornly between the lines and both centrebacks carefully holding position. Consequently, Victor Moses saw very little of the ball despite his tireless movement behind Emenike while a marauding Ambrose demanded an impressive defensive performance from Evra and Matuidi on France's perpetually threatened left flank.

Translating this to Football Manager, I would start with the standard 4-3-3 shape using a defensive midfielder. Cabaye's primary defensive responsibility was to limit the influence of Moses while allowing Varane and Koscielny to maintain a constant 2v1 advantage against Emenike.

For the fluidity, I would go with Balanced. Deschamps establishes a clearly defined structure in which his players operate, but he likes elements of fluidity within that system, allowing certain players to be more or less positionally aggressive on an individual basis. Balanced creates a three-part structured base on duty as opposed to position, and this gives you the flexibility to, for example, have a very aggressive fullback and goal-poaching inside forward more directly balanced out by a very cautious defensive midfielder and linking centre forward.

The mentality should be Control. This will give you direct, fast-moving transitions at every turnover without the single-minded recklessness that I associate with Attacking. For team instructions, Deschamps tends to keep things simple, focusing more on tailoring individual instructions rather than imposing a distinct team style (another indication of a Balanced approach). Still, some precautions were taken here to protect against the pace of the Nigerian attack, so I would add "Drop Deeper" (to reflect a slightly lower defensive block) as well as "Higher Tempo" (to ensure the ball is played very quickly out of the deeper defence).

And the individual instructions:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Ball Playing Defender - Defend

DR: Wingback - Attack

DMC: Defensive Midfielder - Defend

MCL: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball + Close Down More

MCR: Advanced Playmaker - Support + Dribble More + Shoot More Often + Close Down More

Pogba stayed fairly deep to receive the ball before taking it forward with his usual flurry of flair and energy. With Pogba and Valbuena both operating as playmakers, play will tend to be concentrated along the right flank, giving Matuidi and Benzema time and space to find threatening positions on the left half of the pitch.

AML: Inside Forward - Attack + Sit Narrower

AMR: Advanced Playmaker - Attack + Roam from Position + Run Wide with Ball

The Advanced Playmaker's default wideplay instructions should encourage him to roam inside while the "Run Wide with Ball" PI will encourage him to dart back into wide positions when on the ball, stretching the defence as he moves in to make the final pass and giving him more opportunities to play crosses to Giroud and Benzema.

STC: Deep Lying Forward - Support + Move Into Channels

NIGERIA

The Africans lined up in an archetypal 4-2-3-1 system which created problems all over the pitch for the French. The most notable aspect of this was the way in which France's undermanned midfield was stretched uncomfortably high. Cabaye was held deep to control the quick and erratic movement of Victor Moses while the deep positioning of Obi Mikel and Onazi dragged Matuidi and Pogba forward. The deep double pivot was also likely intended to provoke the French to press higher as a whole, but France's defensive line remained wary of giving Obi Mikel opportunities to play through passes from deep.

With the French stretched vertically and the midfielders scrambling to cover the added ground, the Nigerians were able to quickly funnel the ball down the flanks. The right was their preferred lane of attack with Odemwingie seeing a disproportionate amount of the ball compared to left winger Musa who primarily looked to drift in towards the far post as the attack progressed. Yet, despite the frequency of their penetration and a handful of decent chances, the Nigerians became increasingly predictable with their holding midfielders and left back carefully guarding against the threat of France's counterattack. This had the end result of neutralising both attacks and allowing the game to be decided by set pieces, a gamble that eventually fell in France's favour.

The Nigerian defensive system was a 4-4-1-1, though Moses deserves mention here for the vigor and tenacity of his defensive contribution, often dropping back to cover when Obi Mikel ventured forward to pressure Pogba. I would interpret the fluidity as Fluid as the attackers worked closely to create space for one another while the defenders tended to sit deep aside from the carefully timed overlapping runs of Ambrose.

I would interpret the mentality as Standard since the Nigerians were slightly averse to just breaking forward in force, even when France had numbers forward. They largely preferred a more methodical approach with the ball starting deep before being distributed to the flanks as the French defence was gradually stretched. In this way, Standard can actually be more defensive in practice than Defensive or Counter depending on the circumstances. With Standard, the team will not be as likely to break forward quickly on the counter, and this will allow the team to remain more organised at the back. Of course, this comes at the expense of reducing the team's ability to take advantage of attacking opportunities, though against a team playing a system as aggressive as France's 4-3-3, there's a reason to believe you'll still be able to piece together a few promising chances anyway.

For team instructions, I would add "Play Wider" to reflect Nigeria's preference to move down the flanks. I would then add "More Direct" to better reflect the tempo and directness of their passing when space did open up.

And the individual roles:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Fullback - Attack

ML: Wide Midfielder - Attack + Roam from Position

MCL: Deep Lying Playmaker - Defend + Close Down More

MCR: Central Midfielder - Defend

MR: Winger - Support

AMC: Attacking Midfielder - Support + Dribble More + Roam from Position

STC: Deep Lying Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

[Jyuan83]

THOG, i must say your interpretation of France's tactic is spot-on perfect! Exactly how they played out there. Regarding Nigeria however, i feel that Musa was playing a very aggressive game somewhat similar to how he played against Argentina in which he bagged a brace. I would interpret him as WM(A) with orders to dribble more, roam and cross less often. He was often their main attacking threat dribbling hard at the defence instead of acting as support out wide. and i would have wanted cut inside for him but his movement did vary a lot throughout the match. In any case, this has been an awesome thread to interpret tactics and like what THOG has said before, please feel free to interpret tactics however you see them!

Another trend i have noticed is how strikers have been made to play deeper wide roles in this world cup. We have seen Ivica Olic, well-known goal poacher for Wolfsburg playing out wide on the left going up and down the left flank for Croatia. Odemwingie doing the same on the right for Nigeria despite having made his name as a reliable striker for West Brom. So i hope SI can fix the issue with AML/R being unable to play in ML/R positions in FM15 because it just does not make sense as can be seen from this World Cup.

[jpcote09]

AFAIK, you can play any player in any position in FM14. Just as IRL, you might have more or less success doing so, and maybe have to train some players to new positions before getting the best out of them. I guess that is exactly what those national teams did with those players. So to my eyes it's not an issue (though I would like to see players learn new positions faster, especially in lower leagues).

Thanks ThoG for the France-Nigeria interpretations, it seems like in the end mine were pretty close to yours this time

I am absolutely delighted at the preview of the France-Germany game on Friday and I can't wait to see how both teams will line up and approach the game tactically.

[bababooey]

If you're on FMC playing a player in a new position will train him in that position. Not sure if this applies to the regular career mode, I've been playing FMC for months now.

But yeah try not to worry too much about playing someone out of position. If they have the attributes to play in that position, it should be fine. For instance, an AML at ML with proper attributes will do fine.

Evidence? I do it all the time

[James9]

FRANCE

After nearly a half decade in the footballing wilderness, the French have emerged as one of the more convincing dark horses that have shaped the surprising contours of this tournament. Driving this resurgence is a fortuitous combination of young, emerging stars and confident, unassuming veterans who have flourished under the nation's humbled expectations. The system that Deschamps has introduced complements this combination perfectly. The French play well organized, attacking football in which each player takes up a clearly defined role suited to his particular talents.

On the right flank, Pogba and Valbuena combine to serve as the creative core of the team, assisted by the rampaging forward runs of Debuchy, while the left flank is left purposefully underutilised to allow for the unhindered, off the ball movement of Benzema and Matuidi. Down the centre, Giroud and Cabaye link the two halves as diligent distributors at opposite ends of the attack.

The 4-3-3 shape that Deschamps has preferred throughout the tournament has taken full advantage of France's wealth of physically powerful midfielders. The trio of Cabaye, Matuidi and Pogba tirelessly harry the opposition midfield in defence and allow the wide forwards to focus solely on executing the rapid transitions that nearly doubled the number of goals the Swiss had conceded since qualifying began.

Still, there are weaknesses to the system, and the Nigerians exploited them well, frustrating the French effectively up until the late set piece that decided the fixture. In a 4-3-3, the midfield has to cover a lot of ground, and against a team willing to stretch the field of play, this can easily create dilemmas in which the team is forced to leave clear paths of penetration for the opposition.

In prior posts, I've briefly discussed the relative merits of using a DMC or MC as the third man in a three man midfield. In both cases, you will get something that resembles a 4-3-3 defensive shape, and at times during this tournament, France appear to have favoured what I would call the "MC interpretation" in which the most central midfielder tends to sit higher and help pressure the opposition's central midfielders more aggressively. As you can see in the image below, this allows the outer central midfielders to remain better positioned to quickly shift over to the flanks, protecting lateral space more effectively, but in doing so, the space between the midfield and defence is more often exposed. To account for this weakness, you will need a central defender who, if not an outright stopper, is at least capable of stepping out to challenge for balls played into the gap:

Now, compare that to the following instance in which the midfield trio includes a DMC:

Here the defensive midfielder is very close to his central defenders, forcing the central midfielders to take up more central positions at the outset of defending and leaving them less capable of shifting to wide areas if play is moved quickly to the flanks. Lateral protection is replaced with vertical protection, but where the flat midfield asks the central defenders to provide greater assistance to the midfield's defensive responsibilities, the triangular midfield shifts that burden to the fullback. The manager of a 4-3-3, then, must decided which threat represents the greater danger: the advanced creator or the overlapping fullback.

Up to this point, Sakho had played the role of the aggressive stopper, allowing Cabaye to be more aggressive in defence, but with the big Parisian missing due to a groin injury, Deschamps deferred to the wholly different skill set offered by Laurent Koscienly. With Nigeria's centre forward being an imposing physical presence, Koscienly's inclusion prompted a switch to a more pronounced midfield triangle with Cabaye stationed stubbornly between the lines and both centrebacks carefully holding position. Consequently, Victor Moses saw very little of the ball despite his tireless movement behind Emenike while a marauding Ambrose demanded an impressive defensive performance from Evra and Matuidi on France's perpetually threatened left flank.

Translating this to Football Manager, I would start with the standard 4-3-3 shape using a defensive midfielder. Cabaye's primary defensive responsibility was to limit the influence of Moses while allowing Varane and Koscielny to maintain a constant 2v1 advantage against Emenike.

For the fluidity, I would go with Balanced. Deschamps establishes a clearly defined structure in which his players operate, but he likes elements of fluidity within that system, allowing certain players to be more or less positionally aggressive on an individual basis. Balanced creates a three-part structured base on duty as opposed to position, and this gives you the flexibility to, for example, have a very aggressive fullback and goal-poaching inside forward more directly balanced out by a very cautious defensive midfielder and linking centre forward.

The mentality should be Control. This will give you direct, fast-moving transitions at every turnover without the single-minded recklessness that I associate with Attacking. For team instructions, Deschamps tends to keep things simple, focusing more on tailoring individual instructions rather than imposing a distinct team style (another indication of a Balanced approach). Still, some precautions were taken here to protect against the pace of the Nigerian attack, so I would add "Drop Deeper" (to reflect a slightly lower defensive block) as well as "Higher Tempo" (to ensure the ball is played very quickly out of the deeper defence).

And the individual instructions:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Ball Playing Defender - Defend

DR: Wingback - Attack

DMC: Defensive Midfielder - Defend

MCL: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball + Close Down More

MCR: Advanced Playmaker - Support + Dribble More + Shoot More Often + Close Down More

Pogba stayed fairly deep to receive the ball before taking it forward with his usual flurry of flair and energy. With Pogba and Valbuena both operating as playmakers, play will tend to be concentrated along the right flank, giving Matuidi and Benzema time and space to find threatening positions on the left half of the pitch.

AML: Inside Forward - Attack + Sit Narrower

AMR: Advanced Playmaker - Attack + Roam from Position + Run Wide with Ball

The Advanced Playmaker's default wideplay instructions should encourage him to roam inside while the "Run Wide with Ball" PI will encourage him to dart back into wide positions when on the ball, stretching the defence as he moves in to make the final pass and giving him more opportunities to play crosses to Giroud and Benzema.

STC: Deep Lying Forward - Support + Move Into Channels

NIGERIA

The Africans lined up in an archetypal 4-2-3-1 system which created problems all over the pitch for the French. The most notable aspect of this was the way in which France's undermanned midfield was stretched uncomfortably high. Cabaye was held deep to control the quick and erratic movement of Victor Moses while the deep positioning of Obi Mikel and Onazi dragged Matuidi and Pogba forward. The deep double pivot was also likely intended to provoke the French to press higher as a whole, but France's defensive line remained wary of giving Obi Mikel opportunities to play through passes from deep.

With the French stretched vertically and the midfielders scrambling to cover the added ground, the Nigerians were able to quickly funnel the ball down the flanks. The right was their preferred lane of attack with Odemwingie seeing a disproportionate amount of the ball compared to left winger Musa who primarily looked to drift in towards the far post as the attack progressed. Yet, despite the frequency of their penetration and a handful of decent chances, the Nigerians became increasingly predictable with their holding midfielders and left back carefully guarding against the threat of France's counterattack. This had the end result of neutralising both attacks and allowing the game to be decided by set pieces, a gamble that eventually fell in France's favour.

The Nigerian defensive system was a 4-4-1-1, though Moses deserves mention here for the vigor and tenacity of his defensive contribution, often dropping back to cover when Obi Mikel ventured forward to pressure Pogba. I would interpret the fluidity as Fluid as the attackers worked closely to create space for one another while the defenders tended to sit deep aside from the carefully timed overlapping runs of Ambrose.

I would interpret the mentality as Standard since the Nigerians were more slightly averse to just breaking forward in force, even when France had numbers forward. They largely preferred a more methodical approach with the ball starting deep before being distributed to the flanks as the French defence was gradually stretched. In this way, Standard can actually be more defensive in practice than Defensive or Counter depending on the circumstances. With Standard, the team will not be as likely to break forward quickly on the counter, and this will allow the team to remain more organised at the back. Of course, this comes at the expense of reducing the team's ability to take advantage of attacking opportunities, though against a team playing a system as aggressive as France's 4-3-3, there's a reason to believe you'll still be able to piece together a few promising chances anyway.

For team instructions, I would add "Play Wider" to reflect Nigeria's preference to move down the flanks. I would then add "More Direct" to better reflect the tempo and directness of their passing when space did open up.

And the individual roles:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Fullback - Attack

ML: Wide Midfielder - Attack + Roam from Position

MCL: Deep Lying Playmaker - Defend + Close Down More

MCR: Central Midfielder - Defend

MR: Winger - Support

AMC: Attacking Midfielder - Support + Dribble More + Roam from Position

STC: Deep Lying Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

THOG I want to try and use your France set up with my Arsenal team. My midfield is Arteta Ramsey and Wilshere. The attacking players are Ozil Cazorla Walcott Chamberlain Poldolski and Giroud. I like the idea of using Advance Playmaker - Support in Midfield and I think Wilshere can play the Pogba role well. Ramsey could play the Box to Box role. The question I would like to ask you is what would you suggest for Poldolski Walcott and Chamberlain. I am sorry for going of topic THOG but I do like your tactical advice and how you explain your set ups.

[THOG]

THOG I want to try and use your France set up with my Arsenal team. My midfield is Arteta Ramsey and Wilshere. The attacking players are Ozil Cazorla Walcott Chamberlain Poldolski and Giroud. I like the idea of using Advance Playmaker - Support in Midfield and I think Wilshere can play the Pogba role well. Ramsey could play the Box to Box role. The question I would like to ask you is what would you suggest for Poldolski Walcott and Chamberlain. I am sorry for going of topic THOG but I do like your tactical advice and how you explain your set ups.

I would guess Podolski would work as the inside forward, and I suppose you could train Chamberlain to play the Valbuena role. Not sure where Walcott would fit in to this specific set-up, to be honest, though you could keep him around to play a more direct role against teams that leave space behind their defence.

[James9]

I would guess Podolski would work as the inside forward, and I suppose you could train Chamberlain to play the Valbuena role. Not sure where Walcott would fit in to this specific set-up, to be honest, though you could keep him around to play a more direct role against teams that leave space behind their defence.

Do you think that Cazorla would be a good fit at Inside Forward - Attack or would he suit the Valbuena role more. the reason why I am sure about Podolski in the Inside Forward role is because he has avoid using weaker foot PPM. When i play him on the left and he cut inside on the right foot he seems to avoid using his right foot. I might try and get him to unlearn this PPM. if he chooses not to unlearn it then I do not know what to do with him. do you have any ideas

[Southern Buddie]

Train Podolski to play on the right, use Cazorla on the left and mirror the France tactic? That way you could play the ox on the left as back up on the left(or in the pogba role) and Walcott as a W(A) on the right in situations that THOG described. Although Arsenal don't really have a Benzema.

[THOG]

Do you think that Cazorla would be a good fit at Inside Forward - Attack or would he suit the Valbuena role more. the reason why I am sure about Podolski in the Inside Forward role is because he has avoid using weaker foot PPM. When i play him on the left and he cut inside on the right foot he seems to avoid using his right foot. I might try and get him to unlearn this PPM. if he chooses not to unlearn it then I do not know what to do with him. do you have any ideas

You could try it, but with different players, the way the system plays will change. If you want to play exactly like France, you'll want to buy approximations of the French players, so two physically powerful and versatile midfielders to play ahead of Arteta, and a world class inside forward with terrific finishing who drifts in from the left.

[aderow]

Given all the teams that have done impressively with 3 CB formations at the world cup, I decided to give it a go and make one of my own.

Here's where I'm at:

Now I know that the way I have my midfield set up is a bit strange. And to be honest, this set up probably makes more sense:

But for whatever reason I prefer the first one. I'm weird I know

So any suggestions?

[James9]

BRAZIL

Despite a pair of unconvincing performances at the start of the tournament, Scolari has persisted with the 4-4-1-1 system that he used against Croatia. This speaks to the underlying pragmatism that defines Scolari's tactical approach. For him, it didn't particularly matter how well Brazil played against Croatia or Mexico. They got the results they needed, and by the end of the group stage, they were comfortably on top of a difficult group. At the start of the tournament, the probabilities favoured Brazil if they didn't push their luck, and on balance, the dice fell as expected.

Still, as risk-averse as this approach may seem, the nature of football makes relying on narrow victories as potentially treacherous as any other approach. You may have a better chance of avoiding the sort of blowouts that unceremoniously ended Spain's international dominance, but you can just as easily be undone by one of those inevitable moments where your fate balances on the smallest of margins. Fortunately for Scolari, the cross bar was there both times.

This isn't to say Brazil haven't improved. Though there is still a noticeable lack of any meaningful interplay between Neymar and Fred, the team as a whole is becoming more comfortable at diversifying the direction of their attack. Hulk is no longer totally isolated when on the left flank, and aside from setting up Alexis Sanchez's goal, he had his best game of the tournament. And while Fernandinho's lack of impact should tell Scolari that his second central midfielder could use a more clearly defined purpose in the attacking phase, Gustavo is becoming more assured and dynamic as the team's controller, covering more ground with his passing and movement while preventing Neymar from having to drift too deep in search of the ball.

Of course, this has quite a lot to do with the fact that an aggressive Chilean side allowed Brazil to play firmly inside their comfort zone. Scolari may have said that Chile is a pain to play against, but the truth is that Brazil have been waiting to grind past the minnows and finally play counterattacking football against a team that isn't afraid to pour numbers forward. The only problem in this case is that Chile aren't quite as accomodating as the Spanish or the Argentines. Like the Dutch, they charge forward in attack while keeping their backline largely intact, allowing their defence to be exposed for the sake of ensuring numerical superiority at the back when defending against fast transitions. They invite an end-to-end battle with no concern for possession, and this largely kept Brazil in check in a match defined by a rapid succession of quick attacks with surprisingly few moments of genuine danger for either side.

Translating this to FM, the fluidity and formation was again a Balanced 4-4-1-1 with Neymar lurking behind a mostly stationary Fred (and later, Jo) as the team defended. However, I would drop the mentality to Counter to reflect that the team was wary of Chile's attack but also more willing to break at pace when the (many) opportunities to transition quickly arose. For team instructions, I would add "Push Higher Up," "Higher Tempo" and possibly "Allow Wide Players to Swap" (though I prefer to just do this manually). Even though Brazil were slightly more cautious when they didn't have an opportunity to break, they still wanted to move the ball quickly to take advantage of the space that Chile left in midfield.

The individual roles are largely the same with a few adjustments:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support + More Risky Passes + More Direct Passes + Sit Narrower

Again, Marcelo was tasked with providing a supporting link and reliable defensive cover to Hulk, though against Chile's shape and style of play, he was given more freedom and space to play a more ambitious passing game.

DCL: Ball Playing Defender - Defend

Against Chile's aggressive press, Luiz not only had the opportunity to play a few long balls forward, but he often had to play a slightly riskier passing game to get the ball safely out of the back.

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Complete Wingback - Attack

ML: Winger - Attack

MCL: Central Midfielder - Defend

As with Marcelo, Gustavo showed more ambition with his passing, finally bringing Brazil's left flank to life.

MCR: Box-to-Box Midfielder - Support

MR: Winger - Support

AMC: Advanced Playmaker - Attack + Roam from Position + Shoot More + Move Into Channels

ST: Target Man - Attack

CHILE

Speaking of that era of Spanish dominance, the most refreshing tactical development of this World Cup has been the way in which Chile and the Netherlands so effectively brushed away years of conventional wisdom about our supposedly inevitable midfield-heavy, striker-less future. Of course, the tactical trends of the current season tend to be direct responses to the tactical trends of the last season, and the sort of 5-2-3/3-4-3 that has turned this tournament on its head is an especially clever way of undermining the basic principles of tiki-taka.

With possession football reliant on its defenders to act as de facto midfielders in creating playable space and continuously redistributing the ball when attacks fizzle out, the 5-2-3/3-4-3 operates on the premise that simply using three, narrowly positioned forwards cuts the problem off at the source. If the opposition's defensive line becomes a vital part of the opposition's attack, then there's no reason that your forward line can't prove an equally vital part of your defence.

The particular structure of the 5-2-3 used by Chile and the Netherlands is an important part of this since the triangular shape corresponds directly to the default shape of the two central defenders and defensive midfielder. The two strikers can harry the central defenders and track them into wide areas while the attacking midfielder marks the defensive midfielder and can track him into the defensive line if he looks to create space by splitting the defenders.

With the defence occupied, the ball is forced more quickly into midfield where the possession system's elegant arrangement of diamond-shaped passing networks are rendered largely unnecessary by the fact that the 5-2-3 just doesn't bother to establish a sound, defensive structure in its midfield. Instead, with both the defensive line and forward line free to commit players to apply pressure on hesitant midfielders from all sides, the team in possession is encouraged to just get forward and attack. This puts a lot of pressure on the 5-2-3's defence, despite the extra man, but by forcing the attack onto itself, it also expedites its own opportunities to counterattack and, in doing so, neutralises the defensive aspect of possession football.

This idea worked well against a Spanish side that had refused to adapt since its loss at the Confederations Cup. However, Scolari's Brazil is not del Bosque's Spain. While they have played possession-oriented football during the tournament, this was more out of necessity than preference. Scolari's natural inclination is to play on the counterattack, and while the Spanish were rattled by how effectively the Chileans manipulated their footballing instincts, Brazil comfortably accepted the consequences of playing into Chile's system. To some extent, the two systems complemented one another by providing exactly what the other wanted. The Brazilians moved forward more quickly, and the Chileans provided space in which Neymar could receive the ball and run at their defence. With that in mind, the Chilean defence deserves a lot of credit for limiting Brazil's chances, but for the most part, Vidal's aggressive pressuring up front seemed to be largely wasted on a Brazilian defence that wasn't particularly concerned about holding onto the ball.

Going forward, Chile's shape quickly compacted to compensate for the thin numbers in midfield. The defence pushed up to and often beyond the halfway line, the wingbacks darted high into attacking positions and either Vidal or Sanchez dropped deep to link up with the midfield. Sanchez, in particular, was impressively industrious in attack and proved effective at holding up the ball under pressure from Brazil's physically powerful midfield and defence, but with Vargas kept quiet by Thiago Silva, Sanchez and Vidal were too often overwhelmed and left waiting for support from their defence. The nature of Chile's system puts the burden on their attack to strike quickly, and with Brazil playing it just safe enough to keep their three forwards contained and isolated, Chile failed to deal the early blow that had also crucially evaded them against the Netherlands.

As a result, Chile ended the first 45 minutes having exhausted themselves and a half-fit Vidal for a 1-1 draw. In the second half, they dropped deeper and adopted a much more cautious mentality. Vargas was eventually substituted for a third midfielder with Vidal moving forward as an outright striker in a more traditional 5-3-2. Sampaoli likely reasoned that the crowd would become increasingly agitated with a draw, provoking Brazil into increasingly aggressive attacks, but Scolari's men kept their discipline and Chile were often left attempting long balls to an isolated Vidal and Sanchez. While the Chilean defence adapted well with the defensive approach and Pinilla's late strike came close to sending them to the quarterfinals, there was a sense of resignation shortly after Vargas's departure that their best chance would be to drag the match to a penalty shootout.

Translating this to FM, I will focus on the first half tactics. While Chile kept three players forward when defending, the widely divided structure of their defensive shape requires them to pull together quickly in attack to avoid isolating the forwards. Therefore, for the fluidity and formation, I would go with a Very Fluid 5-2-1-2. Very Fluid encourages the team to stay compact and cooperate closely in attack with all of the forwards dropping back to more effectively link up with the midfield and the wide defenders promptly moving into a more advanced position.

For the mentality, I would interpret Chile's initial approach as Control. In earlier posts based on viewing their matches in the group stage, I suggested Attack, but after closer viewing, I felt this would make the defenders far too aggressive, especially on Very Fluid. While the Chilean defence did push up into very advanced positions and attempted to quickly distribute the ball to attackers, their central defenders and central midfielders were more selective in their passing than what you would see on an all-out attacking mentality.

However, while they were not especially wasteful in possession, they did move the ball around very quickly, so I would add the team instructions "Higher Tempo" and "More Direct Passing." Finally, to get the high block in defence and positional fluidity in attack, I recommend "Push Higher Up" and "Roam from Positions."

For individual roles and personal instructions, I suggest:

GK: Sweeper Keeper - Support

DCL: Ball Playing Defender - Defend + Less Risky Passes

DCC: Central Defender - Cover

DCR: Ball Playing Defender - Defend + Less Risky Passes

WBL: Wingback - Support

WBR: Wingback - Attack

MCL: Deep Lying Playmaker - Defend

MCR: Central Midfielder - Support

AMC: Shadow Striker - Attack + Move Into Channels + More Risky Passes

The Shadow Striker's aggressive defensive instructions make it a perfect fit for Vidal's role.

STCL: Advanced Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

STCR: Complete Forward - Support

THOG could you do a write up of the Brazil VS Colombia tactic it would be very interesting to see how your thoughts on how they lined up against Colombia and what team instructions they used. Also when using a 4-4-1-1 does it no leave a big gap between the defence and midfield because there is no DMC sitting in the hole protecting the back four. Could i also ask what other roles would you give Fred to make him less stationery. Could I ask why you used Wingers instead of Wide Midfielders in your tactic

I played a few games with Arsenal and used a 4-4-1-1 formation similar to your Brazil set up so that I could get the best out of Ozil. The problem I was having is what roles to give Ozil and Giroud. i gave Ozil the Neymar role and Giroud the Fred role. I think Giroud should be fine with Target Man role or I might try him as a DLF Attack or Complete Forward - Support but I am not sure about what roles to give Ozil. if you could offer me some advice with Ozil that would be helpful

Could ask why you add push higher up when using Counter. I always thought that when you use Counter then Drop Deeper should be used.

[THOG]

THOG could you do a write up of the Brazil VS Colombia tactic it would be very interesting to see how your thoughts on how they lined up against Colombia and what team instructions they used. Also when using a 4-4-1-1 does it no leave a big gap between the defence and midfield because there is no DMC sitting in the hole protecting the back four. Could i also ask what other roles would you give Fred to make him less stationery. Could I ask why you used Wingers instead of Wide Midfielders in your tactic

I'm off to sunnier and salt watery locales, so I'll be doing one more write-up in a minute and then I'll be back to maybe do one or two match reviews after the final. Any other ST roles and the PI "Move Into Channels" will make Fred less stationary. The whole idea of the Target Man is that he plants himself in the middle and just occupies the central defenders. I used wingers because Brazil's wide players like to run at defenders. Ozil isn't particularly well suited to picking up the ball in deep positions and shuttling it forward. I would try him as a trequartista instead. He'll tend to position himself high up and look for space in wider areas.

A 4-4-1-1 will not necessarily leave a massive gap behind your midfield, but it may if the opposition midfield sits back and draws aggressive midfielders onto them. It depends on the context.

Keep in mind, posting these tactics is not an endorsement from me on their FM or real world effectiveness. The point of this thread is to give people an idea of how I think real teams play and also provide some ideas on how to use certain roles in ways that don't seem obvious from their basic descriptions. Personally, I think Brazil have seemed somewhat ponderous and disjointed, and I think it's possible that the absence of Neymar may now give Scolari the freedom to construct a more coherent counterattacking system that fits the team as a whole better.

Defensive line instructions are relative to the mentality, but all mentalities have multiple uses. Counter can be used as a possession tactic or as a sit-deep-and-break-fast transition tactic depending on how you modify it with TIs. Brazil take a moderate approach in defence, looking to control the area around the centre line without pressing so high , while looking to attack patiently against teams that sit deep and attack quickly against teams that attack them. Hence, Counter + Push Up.

[James9]

I'm off to sunnier and salt watery locales, so I'll be doing one more write-up in a minute and then I'll be back to maybe do one or two match reviews after the final. Any other ST roles and the PI "Move Into Channels" will make Fred less stationary. The whole idea of the Target Man is that he plants himself in the middle and just occupies the central defenders. I used wingers because Brazil's wide players like to run at defenders. Ozil isn't particularly well suited to picking up the ball in deep positions and shuttling it forward. I would try him as a trequartista instead. He'll tend to position himself high up and look for space in wider areas.

A 4-4-1-1 will not necessarily leave a massive gap behind your midfield, but it may if the opposition midfield sits back and draws aggressive midfielders onto them. It depends on the context.

Keep in mind, posting these tactics is not an endorsement from me on their FM or real world effectiveness. The point of this thread is to give people an idea of how I think real teams play and also provide some ideas on how to use certain roles in ways that don't seem obvious from their basic descriptions. Personally, I think Brazil have seemed somewhat ponderous and disjointed, and I think it's possible that the absence of Neymar may now give Scolari the freedom to construct a more coherent counterattacking system that fits the team as a whole better.

Defensive line instructions are relative to the mentality, but all mentalities have multiple uses. Counter can be used as a possession tactic or as a sit-deep-and-break-fast transition tactic depending on how you modify it with TIs. Brazil take a moderate approach in defence, looking to control the area around the centre line without pressing so high , while looking to attack patiently against teams that sit deep and attack quickly against teams that attack them. Hence, Counter + Push Up.

Thanks THOG - you have not done a write up on Belgium as yet. Could you please do a write up on how Belgium set up and play with the speed demons of Meertens De Bruyne Hazard and Divok would be great to see how you translate this into FM

I hope you enjoy your holiday

[THOG]

GERMANY

The Germans cruised (Kroosed?) to a routine victory with a slight change of system as France withdrew from the attacking approach that had comfortably carried them to the quarterfinals. The German system was somewhat similar to the one France has been using. There were two key changes from the Müller/Lahm-centric approach of earlier games. The first was the replacement of Götze with Miroslav Klose who offered the qualities of a more traditional centre forward. Özil started on the left as the spearhead of the team's creative flank with Kroos offering close support and Müller operating on the right in his trademark role as a lurking wide poacher.

In deeper positions, the other key change was Schweinsteiger's reintroduction as the midfield controller while Khedira took on a slightly more conservative role with Klose now providing a muscular aerial threat in the box. Defending on the flanks, Lahm mainly sat back to shield space behind the drifting Müller as Höwedes attempted the occasional overlap on the more active left flank.

Thanks to a relatively early goal, the German attack was never forced to press its luck. The French defended deep and paid the price quickly. This allowed the Germans to maintain the rhythm of their early, methodical approach and steer the match to a comfortable conclusion as Deschamps proceeded through a series of minor and ultimately ineffective tactical adjustments.

In terms of team instructions, the system was otherwise fairly similar to what we've seen earlier in the tournament. Fluid/Counter 4-1-4-1 with "Shorter Passing," "Push Higher Up," "Work Ball Into Box" and "Roam from Positions." I would also add "Play Wider" as the Germans looked to stretch the French midfield and exploit the space that their 4-3-3 exposes on the flanks.

For individual roles:

GK: Sweeper Keeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Attack + Cross Less Often + Cross from Byline

DCL: Central Defender - Defend

DCR: Central Defender - Defend

DR: Fullback - Support

DM: Deep Lying Playmaker - Defend

ML: Wide Midfielder - Support + Cross Less Often

MCL: Central Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball

MCR: Box to Box Midfielder - Support

MR: Wide Midfielder - Attack + More Risky Passes + Cross Less Often

STC: Deep Lying Forward - Support + Move Into Channels

FRANCE

Against the Germans, France backed off from the high tempo, attacking style that had seen them emerge as credible contenders for a spot in the final. Giroud was replaced in the centre with Benzema while Griezmann took up an attacking role very similar to the one that Benzema had occupied in prior matches. The plan seemed to be to sit deep, lure the Germans forward and hit balls over the top for Griezmann and Benzema. However, with the Germans not needing to press too high and Mertesacker replaced with the pacier Boateng, this never really worked out.

As a second option, Valbuena continued his impressive efforts as a roaming wide playmaker, though Benzema struggled to link up with him as well as the apparently underappreciated Giroud (whose height also may have been put to good defensive use prior to Hummels's goal). Adding to Valuena's troubles, Deschamps made the decision to play Pogba in a deeper, more defensive role, and while this gave Valbuena more room to roam inside, he was often left short of options with Pogba's influence on the attack being vastly reduced.

At the outset, Debuchy played his usual role as the marauding wingback, but with Özil's position channeling the German attacks down the left, Deschamps switched the roles of the flanks with Valbuena moving permanently to the left. This allowed Debuchy to focus on keeping Özil contained with Evra putting in a competent performance as the more aggressive wide defender, but this change severed the natural structure of the French midfield. As a result, Matuidi was forced to take on a more influential role in the attacking build-up with a deep-lying Pogba increasingly removed from the action. Unable to break through the reinforced midfield block executed by Kroos and a newly determined Schweinsteiger, Pogba went from being the heart of the French attack against Nigeria to attempting fewer passes than Mamadou Sakho against Germany.

Defensively, the French started in a 4-5-1 shape, but after the early goal, Valbuena and Griezmann were moved up into the wide forward position with the team operating in their usual 4-3-3. However, this change to a higher risk defensive system was not accompanied by a change of attacking approach. The French remained cautious going forward, looking to draw the Germans onto Cabaye and Pogba before attacking into space behind the defence, but this approach seemed to just allow the Germans to reconsolidate easily and frustrate the French with a packed midfield.

In this match, Cabaye operated slightly further up in defence. Sakho's return to the team likely was a major factor in this change, though Germany's 4-1-4-1 system reduced the need for an outright defensive midfielder with Cabaye's energetic pressuring being of more use in a more advanced position. On the whole, the French didn't defend poorly, but their inability to put the Germans under any sustained pressure suggests the team's cautious play was poorly balanced against the situation in which they found themselves.

At the start of the second half, the French took a slightly more aggressive approach, but this was more like a switch to a Standard mentality than to the more aggressive Control that had overcome the Nigerians. Later, the team switched to a 4-4-2 with Giroud and Remy coming on to try to make the most of France's direct play, but these changes proved as ineffective as they were unimaginative.

Focusing on France's slight change of tactics after the German goal, I would interpret the fluidity and mentality as Balanced/Counter. The formation was a 4-3-3 with a flat midfield, and I would include the team instructions "More Direct Passing," "Lower Tempo" (to offset the tempo increase from playing more direct) and "Allow Wide Players to Swap."

The players instructions would be as follows though the roles of the flanks swapped once France looked to add solidity to their right flank:

GK: Goalkeeper - Defend

DL: Fullback - Support + More Risky Passes (later Wingback - Attack)

DCL: Central Defender - Stopper

DCR: Ball Playing Defender - Cover

DR: Wingback - Attack (later Fullback - Support)

MCL: Box to Box Midfielder - Support + Run Wide with Ball + Close Down More

MC: Central Midfielder - Defend

MCR: Deep Lying Playmaker - Support + Dribble More + Shoot More Often

AML: Inside Forward - Attack + Sit Narrower (later Advanced Playmaker - Attack)

AMR: Advanced Playmaker - Attack + Roam from Position + Run Wide with Ball (later Inside Forward - Attack)

STC: Complete Forward - Attack + Move Into Channels

[lilljons]

Thog thx a lot for these posts. When you do these recaps i learn so much from the ME. It would be awesome if you'd continue this when the club football starts again!

Thanks again, for your time and effort!

[Jyuan83]

THOG, i noticed that you mentioned about Thomas Muller being used back in his usual role on the right flank as a lurking wide poacher. This is intereseting as i have never thought about him being that way until i read further articles about him being a "space investigator" http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2091115-why-bayern-munichs-thomas-mueller-will-have-a-huge-world-cup-for-germany meaning someone who exploits space instinctively well. How has WM(a) scored for you in terms of goals in your tactical configuration of Thomas Muller?

[bababooey]

WM-A with "cuts inside" can be a lethal goalscorer. In one of my older FM14 saves I have Muller scoring in bunches for Bayern Munich this way. The key is to make sure he actually has space to go in to.

[Jyuan83]

Hi Bababooey, i have not yet tried cut inside as the only player instruction before. Previously in my attempts i have tried further forward, roam and cut inside but to no avail. I watched the goals scored and most of them seem to be coming from movement into the channels, space between the defenders to score tap-ins or headers. I checked muller's ppm and he has move into channels and plays one-twos as his ppms. He has a few other ppms but those two standout as particularly good ppms to have as a goalscorer. Hence my current experimentation with roaming and maybe cross less often to encourage more one-two passing movement. Having said that, i will try cutting inside as the only player instruction in my next few games as i have a feeling FM14 encourages a less is more mentality when it comes to instructions. This has really been a good thread to know how certain roles can be customised in entirely different ways to approximate real-life football and the WM role is a very good and underrated example.

[delra]

Brazilian defense "line" today:

[Sussex Hammer]

Can't win for toffee with the Brazilian one. Just lost 7-1 to Germany. Totally unrealistic game!! ;-)

[jpcote09]

Brazilian defense "line" today:

Nope. Your depiction is way too organized.

[Bastinho]

i am really looking forward to the bazil vs germany translation into fm14

[adryan87]

You want to see all silly mistakes from brazilian defenders?Because this is the reason Brazilia lose,i think

[Bastinho]

of course there were a lot of idividual mistakes but the germans force many of them. they pressed very aggressively and after winning the ball they played very fast forward. devensively the allowed not much and the brazilians needed to cross from deep which brought them nothing.

so yes i want to see how to force the opponent so so many mistakes

[st. Vinny]

Being Brazilian myself Im also looking foward to the german tactics, which I think its not too different from the side that faced France, maube one PI here, other TI there.

Also I really want to thank THOG for the thread that actually is helping me making my own tactics, after my brain froze with this new tactical system, it finally has been a fresh start for me now.

(btw, I was looking for the explanation of what counter + fluid + push higher would do, and the Germany posts made it really clear, thanks)

[Guest]

You might all be waiting awhile as I think THOg is away at the moment. I think it is virtually impossible to re-create the David Luiz headless chicken role on the current FM match engine.

[bababooey]

I think the role David Luiz played is something like a Ball Playing Defender - Stopper. But with ridiculous PPM's and his mental attributes were all below 5 lol.

Remember PSG paid like 50 million (euros? pounds? I don't remember) for him. Yikes.

[st. Vinny]

Not only David Luiz (who played on the right side of the defence, where he feels strange playing there, a fact overlooked), Fernandinho and Luiz Gustavo were simply sleeping in the middle of the pitch, and then to make things worst Müller (1 assist) and Lahm (2 assists) doubled up on Marcelo(46% of Germany attacking plays on his side), Dante never knew when to cover, when to step up. And thats only the defensive side of the story...

[Jyuan83]

Best Germany display ever! Muller's best role is definitely on the right instead of as a striker upfront. He was devastatingly effective in tormenting Marcelo with Khedira. Simply running wide into the channels and space left by Marcelo and relentlessly playing passes to the rest of the attackers. A more tactically intelligent version of Ronaldo who cares more about overall attacking play. Khedira was barnstorming the defence like yaya toure! My goodness! I have never seen him so offensive before not even at Real Madrid where attacking football is the norm. I felt the worst player was Marcelo. It was his foolish rampages up the left flank that left the defence in tatters and no matter how many Paolo Maldinis you parachute in to solve the cracks, as long as this joker kept attacking instead of tracking back sensibly, the defence was doomed to begin with.

[Guest]

You do expect a FB to attack though and Marcelo is a very attacking full back, what you don't expect is your CB to go marauding up the pitch willy nilly and against a team who thrive on space. The other aspect is that he is the captain and should be the man marshalling his defensive line and not abandoning it whenever he sees fit. That being said most of the players had a nightmare that night.