The 4-5-1 - The swiss army knife of formations?

[yipster1986]

Thanks - Glad you enjoyed it. There is a lot of good stuff now that i look back over it.

There appeared to be a problem with a few of the links to image. I have gone through and updated most of them, minus a few unimportant player screenshots. It was kinda fun to look back over it all Hopefully you can see them all now if you look back

As an aside, i still swear by this system. Use it in almost every save, from Barcelona to the South African second division. League titles with QPR, Schalke , Napoli and others. It remains effective as long as you take heed of the player types needed, manage the squad appropriately and effective, take heed of training and set pieces and play the media correctly.

So do I, loving this tactic. It's so versatile

I'm going to replicate this in FM16 and see how it goes there.

[isignedupfornorealreason]

Good idea, didn't think of that. Love Grealish as my out and out winger though, he got fans player of the year!

I just signed Michael Carrick on a free... That should certainly give some creative oomph to the midfield. The problem is everytime I find a nice player to buy, I have to put the deal on hold as Arsenal or some other club comes along to pinch my current set of players... Just lost Okore to Arsenal for 20 million. Good fee, but still. =(

Base Aston Villa squad + 4 signings (Carrick - DLP/D / El Arabi T/A / Zappacosta WB/S / Haidaira WB/A )

Second season: Started with a rough run of fixtures, including Manchester City (away), Arsenal (home), Chelsea (Away). We did surprisingly well, including stuffing City 3-0... I was not quite expecting that, would have been content with the draw to be honest.

I just lost to Chelsea 3-1 at home in the final third of the season... Very upsetting, but the reason I'm posting is because of the figures;

Most games won in a row = 16

Games unbeaten = 35.

Thirty... Five games. From 10th May 2015 until 30th January 2016. Phenomenal performances, a few hairy moments too and one or two (traditional for me) last minute winners or equalisers keeping things going. A few bad mismanagement decisions on my part too, including a 2-2 draw when we were 2-0 up. I got complacent, as we tend to do.

I absolutely love the attacking inter-play, I don't think I've been this invested or interested in a game of FM since the beta, and it is partially due to how the set up is quite enjoyable - I've successfully managed to make the formation a 4-2-3-1 and a 4-3-3 at various points by mucking about with the roles. The other reason is down to El Arabi... The guy is a phenomenal player. I don't normally "wheel and deal" but for 3 million the guy has 15 for Finishing, First Touch, Off the ball and Technique with at least 12+ in Passing, Anticipation, Composure, Decisions, Flair, Vision and Agility, and signing him really brings the formation alive because he just makes defenders look stupid.

The other key player is Carrick, I cannot understate how amazing he is positionally, he just intercepts everything and we look decidedly suspect at the back when he's not playing.

I think I may just continue with this in FM16, the first time I'll have returned to a five midfield formation since CM3... (assuming the 4-3-3 doesn't count of course.)

[Corner]

Jambo, was just reading back over this thread, great stuff! Just wondering did you notice any differing behaviour of the CM(A) on different mentalities? Closing down more, pushing forward earlier on higher mentalities etc?

[Jambo98]

Jambo, was just reading back over this thread, great stuff! Just wondering did you notice any differing behaviour of the CM(A) on different mentalities? Closing down more, pushing forward earlier on higher mentalities etc?

Well..it was on FM15 But actually i have been back playing 15 lately quite a bit. I tended not to vary the team mentality too much, only for parts of matches. I didnt any difference with CM(a) above and beyond what you would expect, and what you see from other players when you reduce or increase mentality - Slight changes to risk taking and how advanced he gets.

Its not something i did, but i recall an interesting post here an age ago, where someone looked at the CM(a) role and how it changed significantly from one team shape to another (rigid to fluid, i think) - There was a very noticeable difference.

Glad you enjoyed. FM15 was a great game :-)

[Gee_Simpson]

Well..it was on FM15 But actually i have been back playing 15 lately quite a bit. I tended not to vary the team mentality too much, only for parts of matches. I didnt any difference with CM(a) above and beyond what you would expect, and what you see from other players when you reduce or increase mentality - Slight changes to risk taking and how advanced he gets.

Its not something i did, but i recall an interesting post here an age ago, where someone looked at the CM(a) role and how it changed significantly from one team shape to another (rigid to fluid, i think) - There was a very noticeable difference.

Glad you enjoyed. FM15 was a great game :-)

Sounds like you're maybe disappointed with FM16?

[Jambo98]

Yup, as i think are a large number of people, which is probably reflected in the state of this forum currently. Cross Manager 16 has been a big disappointment for me. Lots of bugs carried over from last year, and into the final patch they still dont get fixed.

But anyhow, this isnt for me to moan about FM16 is (i still have over 1600 hrs....)

I got really fed up trying to recreate the concepts of this tactic in 16, but im sure others might be able to do it better. In theory, if you tweaked the CWBs a bit you could create a success with large amounts of crossing. WM(a) seem far less effective than IF(s) this year. Its a little hard to fathom why the roles need to play out so differently each year.

[shirajzl]

Is that why you stopped with the Parma thread?

[Jambo98]

Nah i stopped the Parma thread because no one was interested THere is only so long you should keep posting if people are not interested, otherwise it becomes something suited to the careers forum!

I still have that save, i continued on the second season using my new formation, managing games carefuly, properly managing the squad and won the league. Have not done Serie B yet though.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

Wow, I just came across this thread for the first time. Fantastic. Certainly one of the best I have read in a long time!

[shirajzl]

Nah i stopped the Parma thread because no one was interested THere is only so long you should keep posting if people are not interested, otherwise it becomes something suited to the careers forum!

I still have that save, i continued on the second season using my new formation, managing games carefuly, properly managing the squad and won the league. Have not done Serie B yet though.

Yes, such amount of attention to details and time consuming management seems to put off people. As much as SI are steering the game in the opposite direction, the plug and play "culture" (or minimal tweaking at best) still remains strong.