Help With Tottenham Save (Pics & Explained)

[Sam 2748]

So I am currently not doing too badly on my save but I can see exactly where I am having problems and how these problems are going to catch up to me eventually. I'll start with showing my current system that I am playing, then discussing the problems I have with it and what I am trying to achieve with it, and then what I would ideally like to be doing.

Shouts -

And here is the results so far -

So looking at these results so far it doesn't look like I'm doing too bad, but I feel so far it's not a fair reflection of how I have been playing. Let me explain why.

Let's look at the 3 games I've had in the league so far and break them down.

Sunderland -

I feel this game I did enough to win, but it wasn't a comfortable win. Going 2-0 up, back to 2-2 then just edging the game and Depay scoring a longshot in the last minute.

QPR -

Now this game I probably deserved to draw or even lose. I scored a few lucky goals from balls dropping in the box, and some great individual skill from Lamela. Although I won this game, this is not what I would consider a completely deserved win.

Everton -

Now this was against a friend (we are doing a online season) and he had a bit of a rough start so decided to go park the bus against me (or at least that's how he tried to set up). Although the stats looks completely in my favour, in all honesty I was lucky not to lose. I did also change a few things in this game. After Atsu scored 2 goals I set Clyne to man mark him, and Davies to man mark Mirallas, and also play wider and drop deeper to try and stretch him and pull him out a little bit.

Problems I have noticed myself:

* Too many longshots. Despite scoring a fair amount, it's not how I want to play having to rely on one to go in each game.

* Very vulnerable to counter attacks.

* Conceding a lot of set pieces / corners.

* Low pass accuracy in defence, although this doesn't bother me as much as the above as I managed to win the league with Liverpool first season with a similar stat, but it would be nice to know if I should work on improving this and how it can be done.

The System

To begin with, my board would like me to play possession and attacking football, which is why I started with the control mentality. The shouts I have selected I believe fit in well with what I am trying to achieve.

The shape

The reason I decided to go for this shape was for a very simple reason. I was to get the most out of my best attacking players Eriksen and Lamela.

So far I would say this is going okay as they both have more than 1 goal or assist per game they have played in, which is fine.

So putting these in their best positions this meant I had an AMC and a AMR. I obviously wanted a CF and to balance the rest it made sense to have a AML.

Next looking at my squad report it appeared by MC were a lot better than my DMCs, so that made the 2 fielders. I was also suited to a 4 at the back formation.

The Roles

As I used Lamela on FM14 as an IF and he was great, I decided to give him a go again this year so he was the first role on the team. I set him to IF (a) as I wanted him moving into channels and running with the ball into the final 3rd to create something. Because of this role I set clyne to a FB (s) as I seem to remember reading that having opposite duties on dual wide men offers some good transitions throughout play.

Next I set Eriksen to AP and left his duty for the time being to come back to.

I then worked on my two MCs. I decided if I was to play a possession game then I would want a ball winning midfielder to try and win the ball high up the pitch to regain possession, but also someone who was doing to sit a little bit deeper in the midfield which is how I ended up with a DLP (d) and BWM (s)

Having a defending duty and a supporting duty in the midfield AM Strata, I then switched Eriksen's duty to (A) to get a good balance.

This then left me with the GK, DCs, DL, AML and the CF to set roles and duties for. I tend to leave the GK and DCs at the big clubs, unless I feel the need to change them.

I decided to also have chadli coming inside as he was a right footed AML so had my LB on attack duty to fill the space left behind.

I decided to have my CF as a AF to push him up the pitch to allow a bit more space for Lamela and Erikson but also to get involved in some of the play.

If anyone can give me some tips on how to get the best out of Lamela and Erikson by playing attacking/possession football that would be great. Also how to defend against blatant counter attacks with fast wingers.

[kirky.66]

im having excellent success with sterling and coutino playing as advance playmaker in same positions as you

have lamela and depay.i have sterling on att mentality and coutino on support.they both come inside but also

go outside.as these are my main attacking players this leaves my full backs with little support.i do play them as wing

backs with def mentality and to man mark,also stay wide as i dont want them tucking inside with centre backs.also

playing anchor man to give both full backs extra cover.i also play deep play maker with direct passing who plays balls

to sterling and coutino and they do the rest!!!!just remembered i also have sterling and coutino close down more.they really press opp

full backs and stops the sods sneaking forward.hope this helps sam or maybe just gives food for thought

[chipmcc]

First off, great job in providing plenty of details. I'm currently using the same formation is a CP Sporting save. However, I use a flexible attack. Just like with Tottenham, Sporting's strength is the attacking wingers. I play 1 on attack and 1 on support however I play them as wingers and not inside forwards. The main reason for this is the middle gets crammed having an AMC and you want to maintain space. Not sure how Lamela's crossing is but I know his speed is great and has more room to run out wide in this formation.

As far as shouts I would probably remove play out of D as you are already playing control. With no DM or a BPD to link to the midfield it doesn't make sense to have as your DLP will drop back for the ball anyways. I noticed you get a lot of shots on goal, but a small percentage go in. One way to maybe fix this is to drop back your Defensive line instead of pushing higher up, which will create more space for the guys up front to score. Also you need to be careful closing down more because the D in this formation is very susceptible to counter attacks as their is no DM. I use the close down more shout also but my back line became much more solid when I gave the 2 CD's PPMs to close down less, which keeps them from getting out of line. Also you can probably get rid of offside trap as it counters close down more and in control or attack formations the D has a tendency to use offside trap without the shout.

Lastly, I use 2 FB's with 1 on support and 1 on defend. This is because their is already a lot of guys up front and they have done well for me providing support.

I hope this helps.

[Sam 2748]

First off, great job in providing plenty of details. I'm currently using the same formation is a CP Sporting save. However, I use a flexible attack. Just like with Tottenham, Sporting's strength is the attacking wingers. I play 1 on attack and 1 on support however I play them as wingers and not inside forwards. The main reason for this is the middle gets crammed having an AMC and you want to maintain space. Not sure how Lamela's crossing is but I know his speed is great and has more room to run out wide in this formation.

As far as shouts I would probably remove play out of D as you are already playing control. With no DM or a BPD to link to the midfield it doesn't make sense to have as your DLP will drop back for the ball anyways. I noticed you get a lot of shots on goal, but a small percentage go in. One way to maybe fix this is to drop back your Defensive line instead of pushing higher up, which will create more space for the guys up front to score. Also you need to be careful closing down more because the D in this formation is very susceptible to counter attacks as their is no DM. I use the close down more shout also but my back line became much more solid when I gave the 2 CD's PPMs to close down less, which keeps them from getting out of line. Also you can probably get rid of offside trap as it counters close down more and in control or attack formations the D has a tendency to use offside trap without the shout.

Lastly, I use 2 FB's with 1 on support and 1 on defend. This is because their is already a lot of guys up front and they have done well for me providing support.

I hope this helps.

Thanks. I'll give some of these a go and let you know the outcome. My main concern with Lamela as a winger was the fact he is left footed and perhaps more suited to cut inside on his left, I'll try him as a winger though.

I dropped the play out of defence and offside trap as you suggested. I also added drop deep so hopefully that helps with the counter attacking.

[vasilli07]

What's your defending corner setup like?

[Arrycaine]

I have had good success (on the demo at least) playing Depay as a Raumdeuter, keep Eriksen & Lamela as they are and play Soldado as a false 9. I find Soldado dropping back links the play very well and Depay playing as a Raumdeuter, stretches the defence and both of these actions seem to help Eriksen and Lamela. I also have Paulinho as a Roaming playmaker rather than a DLP, which creates space in midfield and in front of the opposition defence.

I also play my D R & L as complete wing backs, which gives the players another, wider outlet, creating more space for the attacking players.

[llama3]

A few points for you:

• You have a congested centre of the park - IF(S), IF(A) both coming inside and your AP will remain central - are they crowding each other out, do you need more width...
  
• You provide a great relationship on the left flank regarding width, IF(S) and WB(A) is a great relationship - but on the right a FB(S) and IF(A) lacks width and penetration - perhaps a WB(S) would offer late overlaps and better intricacy in build up in the final third.
  
• Paulinho has a good engine and is not a DLP(D), it restricts his best qualities
  
• Dembele is far from a BWM - he is a good passer and creative, not an aggressive ball-winner. Completely the wrong role for him. Your central midfield pair needs rebalancing considerably. Note the options like Mason, Capoue and Bentaleb as good defensive options in the centre of the park. Your best team is not your best XI players.
  
• Soldado's role is a good choice, he can move into channels and pull across the line, staying high giving the attacking midfielders some more room to work in.
  
• You are getting stuck in to challenges high up the pitch, it is easy to get caught on the break, either drop deeper, or be more cautious winning the ball back if you don't want to get caught out. Nothing wrong with staying with the player and not diving into the challenge, as it can hold up the break until support arrives.

[Sam 2748]

A few points for you:

• You have a congested centre of the park - IF(S), IF(A) both coming inside and your AP will remain central - are they crowding each other out, do you need more width...
  
• You provide a great relationship on the left flank regarding width, IF(S) and WB(A) is a great relationship - but on the right a FB(S) and IF(A) lacks width and penetration - perhaps a WB(S) would offer late overlaps and better intricacy in build up in the final third.
  
• Paulinho has a good engine and is not a DLP(D), it restricts his best qualities
  
• Dembele is far from a BWM - he is a good passer and creative, not an aggressive ball-winner. Completely the wrong role for him. Your central midfield pair needs rebalancing considerably. Note the options like Mason, Capoue and Bentaleb as good defensive options in the centre of the park. Your best team is not your best XI players.
  
• Soldado's role is a good choice, he can move into channels and pull across the line, staying high giving the attacking midfielders some more room to work in.
  
• You are getting stuck in to challenges high up the pitch, it is easy to get caught on the break, either drop deeper, or be more cautious winning the ball back if you don't want to get caught out. Nothing wrong with staying with the player and not diving into the challenge, as it can hold up the break until support arrives.

Thanks for these points. I agree with this completely. I do have one question though.

As you mentions I have two IF's coming in and crowding it out (resulting in longshots). Rather than changing my FB(s) to WB(s), would it perhaps be better to have Lamela as a W(a) to offer another attacking option, or would you not go down this root due to him being naturally left footed and keen to cut inside?

If I was to put Lamela on W(a), would FB(s) then be a suitable option?

Also I will look into changing the midfield roles through the help of your pairs and combination guide, that guide got me back into FM, so thanks.

Also for your point about my best team is not your best XI players, although Paulinho and Dembele are not greatly suited to these roles, they are still showing as the best for those roles. Would you still change the roles or the players?

[llama3]

I would want to encourage Lamela to play the way he is clearly inclined - coming inside and then getting the width forward behind to assist him.

Don't be fooled by seeing Paulinho and Dembele as best for those roles - the key attributes and a players CA can mask who truly suits what role there. Get Paulinho and Dembele playing more comfortable roles, or change personnel is best advice I can give.

[allthatglitters]

Dembele's a great box-to-boxer, with his dribbling and good engine. I sold Paulinho, he's too painfully average in all categories for me. 14s across the board - like Jenas used to be. Capoue works really well as an Anchor Man.

I have similar thoughts about Lamela but one thing you could do is ask Lamela and Depay to swap wings so that they shift from one side to the other through the game. That way you'll get some variety in your attack. I don't have Depay - I bought el Shaawary from Milan - but it's the same principle.

[Fosse]

If you are really high up the pitch anyway having a BWM doesn't make much sense.