st.cronin Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Playing as Morton in the Scottish Championship. Trying to play very tight defensively. Offensively the idea is have 3 forwards against 2 centerbacks leaving somebody mismatched. ----AF/a---DLF/s --CM/s--CM/a--CM/s -------HB/d FB/a-CD/d-CD/d-WB/a --------SK/d TIs: work ball into box, retain possession, play slower PIs: MC get forward, dribble more, roam from position FCs roam from position, DLF move into channels. Mentality - Control Fluidity - Fluid This tactic has worked ok so far but I think it could do better. Any insight is appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTHerringbone Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 "Very tight defensively" - but you have two Attack Duties at full back, a Control Mentality and all of your midfielders have had their Mentality increased and are asked to Roam around? For me, that doesn't represent "very tight defensively". Do you have any issues when your attacks break down, and you are left with a Half Back and 2 DCs back? Do the MCs and full backs get back quickly enough? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsupian Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Why did you choose to play with a half back instead of a more traditional defensive midfielder? Any specific reason as to why the deeper forward is instructed to move into the channels and why your advanced forward isn't? Why is your advanced forward (who I presume you want on the defensive line looking to get in behind to score) instructed to roam from position to find space? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
st.cronin Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Only the central midfielder gets forward and roams around. Mcl and Mcr have no pis. For certain matchups I do change the fullbacks to support role. The half back, in my experience, is the key to a strong defense. Having a back 3 prevents quick counter attacks and allows my team to regain its shape after losing possession. This particular shape seems tough for the AI to break down. Most of the goals I concede do seem to come against my DL, either runs around him or crosses over him. I am confused about what to do with the forwards. My basic plan on offense is for the two forwards to break wide, allowing space for my CM/a (who is generally a 3rd striker played out of position) to get open in the box. So far most of my goals have been scored by my AF. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsupian Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I am confused about what to do with the forwards. My basic plan on offense is for the two forwards to break wide, allowing space for my CM/a (who is generally a 3rd striker played out of position) to get open in the box. So far most of my goals have been scored by my AF. Generally with two forwards you want one staying high to look for throughballs or crosses in behind the defensive line and one to drop deeper to create space and forcing defenders to follow him out of the defensive line. A classic move is the AF going wide into the channel pulling one DC away from his partner while the DLF drops deep and gets the ball played into his feet. Now the DC comes out of the Dline to close him down but the DLF manages to turn and play in his striker partner who gets a head start on the DC who is on two minds on whether to step up to play the AF offside or to move centrally and back to cover the space. In this example the roam from position instruction doesn't make sense for the AF and the move into channels doesn't make sense for the DLF. Do take into account that this is just one way to score a goal but it does illustrate how a AF and DLF combo often works. Instead of the DLF turning he could play on the forward running CM who has a better position play a through ball or he could move it wide to an onrushing FB who can then cross to the AF etc. etc. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
st.cronin Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Thanks for the helpful comments. I will try adjusting the fcs pis. I am also going to tinker with the fullbacks roles/duties. Any ideas on how to get the CM/a to be more of a finisher, or is that not totally possible with this formation? Also I'm generally happy with the defensive performance of this tactic, but have been tempted to turn on offside trap. I've never used that shout but this seems like a good place to try it. Any insight is appreciated. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
flere-imsaho Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 This is my tried-and-true formation. My latest iteration is: AF-A DLF-S DLP-D CM-A AP-S DM-D FB-A CD-D CD-D FB-S I keep it on fluid and use Counter, Standard and Attacking depending on the opposition. I started out with CM-D and CM-S on either side of the CM-A, but felt they had too little "direction" if that makes sense, so gave them (and only them) some specialized roles. I use a DM-D because I want someone who's going to hold his position in that space just in front of the center backs, which is so crucial to stopping dangerous situations. I use FBs instead of WBs mainly because good WBs are hard to find at the lower levels (where I'm playing). The FB-A is on the left as the DLP-D does a good job covering for him when he goes forward. On the right side, the triangle of support roles does a good job patiently building up play. Getting the CM-A to score, to me, is less about instructions and more about the player himself. I've had good success with using a bigger, tougher guy in this role, as the speedy, smaller guys I've put into the role, who you would think would succeed by dribbling quickly into the danger zone, just get knocked off the ball. When my tough CM-A pushes up into the final third, the mayhem he causes definitely creates a lot of open looks. Plus, with decent heading he puts a good few crosses away. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsupian Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Thanks for the helpful comments. I will try adjusting the fcs pis. I am also going to tinker with the fullbacks roles/duties. Any ideas on how to get the CM/a to be more of a finisher, or is that not totally possible with this formation?Also I'm generally happy with the defensive performance of this tactic, but have been tempted to turn on offside trap. I've never used that shout but this seems like a good place to try it. Any insight is appreciated. Making a midfielder your primary finisher is a hard task. At the moment he should be contributing in the goal scoring either with late runs in the box and making runs past your DLF. He should also get in the box when a player is in position to cross from out wide. Using the offside trap is good any time you are playing with a high line and your defenders form a good unit (decent teamwork, have played together for a bit and are somewhat proficient at the tactic being used). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
st.cronin Posted July 31, 2014 Author Share Posted July 31, 2014 I have made some changes: the central line now looks like BTB/s CM/a BTB/s The DM I switch from HB/d to Regista/s depending on match odds. I have changed tis: retain possession exploit flanks work ball in box Mentality has been changed to standard. Still at a loss what to do with the forwards. Currently trying AF/a and CF/s, but they still look very predictable to me, and I'm not scoring as often as I think I should be. We hardly ever give up a goal, so I'm winning, but the season is almost over and my top three forwards have 11, 10, and 7 goals. I am getting quite a few from my midfield - my top midfielder has 11. It may be that nothing is broken, and I'm looking for a problem that doesn't exist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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