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Lone striker in a 4-3-3


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I've been trying to improve my tactic with Liverpool lately as I'm nearing the end of my 4th season now and while I have been very successful (Have a Europa League trophy, 2 League cups and a league title to my name) I feel like I should be able to kick on and do even better with the quality of players I have.

The first thing that I felt I needed improvement on was getting more out of my strikers.

Whoever I play up front, he'll be isolated, largely uninvolved in the play and often get low ratings (around 6.4 is common) when he doesn't score.

Now, I've still been able to get goals from the likes of Sturridge, but I suspect that's down to his ability moreso than my tactics. Often I've seen him and Origi just skin 1-2 defenders for pace and get a 1v1, but it's not a reliable source of goals.

This is my main tactic which I start 90% of games with -

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Ignore the players who are selected because I'm having a massive injury crisis right now.

The striker is usually set up as an AF-A.

I set him up as a CF-S for the last match, and I've seen Icardi be far more involved in the build up play, he bagged a goal and an assist, but this was against trash opposition and I'm not convinced it's a good long term solution as he was doing a lot of long range shooting and trying to set other players up.

My question is this - in this kind of 4-3-3, is there any way to get my striker more involved while still spearheading the attack and being my main goalscorer? If you're wondering what my TI's are, they're Much Higher Tempo, Drop Deeper, Low Crosses, Shorter Passing and Roam From Positions.

Thanks a bunch!

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An AF will tend to be isolated in that sort of formation. Use a CF/support, DLF/support or DLF/attack, or a F9 as a role for your striker. I would probably be thinking about giving one of the CM's a RPM role too - Saul would be good for that role. And remember that the IF/support role is sort of half a playmaker role, so I'd be wanting to have a player there with decent playmaker attributes. (Passing, vision particularly).

As the CM/attack player will sometimes be too far up the pitch to be able to track back to defend properly, and as you have a WB/attack on that side too, I would be careful about giving the IF/support on that side any PI's that makes him go even further forward - in fact, I would probably tell him to sit narrower in an effort to cover better in that area.

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For a 4-3-3 a striker that drops deep is needed, to link-up and create space for the 2 IFs. a CF(s) would be fine for a player like Icardi or Sturridge.

Considering you have Drop Deeper and Much Higher Tempo on with an AF he would get the ball really quickly just start dribbling at the opposition defense.

Now my question is why would you want your team to get the ball very fast forward (the Much Higher Tempo)? Besides the AF that seems like the main problem for the striker being isolated. With the information you posted.

Another thing that comes to mind is the fact that you midfield roles are pretty generic, if you would have an playmaker in their, he would have an magnet effect, attract the ball more, and it give your team time to get further forward.

You should post some in-game screenshots of how your build-up is actually on the pitch, watching for that will help you understand the tactic better and get better feedback from forums. Otherwise its general theory and speculation from the people posting.

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Hey first post. I play a pretty similar tactic with my Man Utd side and I play a Deep Lying Forward. Falcao managed 35+ in all comps in my first (title winning) season in that role albeit with a few penalties thrown in. It might seem counter intuitive to play a lone striker in that role but I find although he drops back to get involved in the build up play by the time the ball approaches the final third he's in or around the box. I also have him running into channels as like yours my tactic is quite narrow and you can't always count on your Full Backs/Wing Backs to get forward and provide width. However, this is with a tactic that is heavily possession based with a high defensive line though and my players play different roles to yours. I don't think it's always as easy as changing one players role as you need to consider how that effects your overall system.

Also, although Falcao scored a lot of goals for me in my first season I don't judge him purely on his scoring record. He's been less prolific in my second season down to nigling injuries (although still looking likely to hit 20+) but he is contributing a lot of assists and his movement off the ball is making space for my other two main attacking threats which is Di Maria/Januzaj bursting forward from a MCA role and Wilson/RVP ghosting in from the right in the Raumdetuer role (BTW Wilson is a revelation in that role. He just won the Golden Boy in my second season and is worth upwards of £20mil. I'm basically using Thomas Muller as a template for his development).

Finally, you mentioned that Sturridge is your only effective forward down to his ability. At the top level with a lone forward I find they have to be approaching world class to be netting you 20+ a season. I've not played FM2015 much yet as this is my first save so I can't really comment on the quality of Icardi/Origi.

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It depends if you want realistic or just dominate the game.

Realistic? Your formation seem quite balance, and CF-S, DLF are correct answer if you want your striker to be more involved in buildup and still be a goal threat(i will say CF-s is more of a goal threat).

If you want to dominate game, you need to try crowded the box, 3 striker will be a good start to abuse match engine, for example play both left and right striker as deep lying striker with move into channel, close down more PI, and you will see it is way more efficient than the normal inside forward setup. And it is still 4-3-3...right?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bar333,

I've used this formation for a long time, but with a counter, patient aproach. In that case, the DLF-s or the CF-s (depending on the player) would work out fine with the Move in to Channels PI. This is very important!

Now I'm using it with a control, high pressure tactic. My striker is playing as Trequartista with no PI, but I have a AP-a with Get Further Up PI on. The 2 players that I use as strikers are very good, but not the best of the team and BOTH (starting and reserve, rotating) have the 2 highest avg rating and goals of the whole squad. I guess that's what you wanted, right?

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IMO roles are also connected to the way you play.

If you employ a counter attacking, high tempo style then a AF(A) would be a viable option to latch on the through balls and to play the offside trap.

On the other hand, if you want to employ a short psiing, patient style, then you would need a more supportive striker like a DLF(S), CF(S), F9(S).

Also, in your screenie your strikers may not be scoring that much because they will look to feed the incoming IF(A) and the CM(A) before they themselves attack the goal.

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Get a striker with ppm comes deep to get ball n doesn't possess gets into opposition area/gets forward whenever possible/penalty box player

Put him in a tactic with flexible to very fluid team shape, give him any striker role with support duty that suited your style the most

N if u're lucky to have a striker with ppm arrives late in opposition area combined with comes deep to get ball u can see him linking up oftenly. Note that only a central midfielder can train arrives late in opposition area ppm, but it can be learnt via tutoring. My striker has both ppm n In my opinion he is playing better as a F9 compared to other strikers who only possess comes deep to get ball. My coaching staff keep yelling at me to make him unlearn arrives late in opposition area tho lol

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