Lone stiker question

[torehj]

After reading Pairs & Combinations and Lines and Diamonds I still dont know what personal instructions to give my lone striker in a 4231 formation with IA(A) on both sides and a AMC(s) in the center. I play direct and fast.

Do I want him to drop deep to hold on to the ball and give it to my IA(A)s or do I want him to poach to drag the defensive line higher to create room for my IA(A)s to attack in?

Any tips?

[RTHerringbone]

It's not a question that can be answered really, as it's all down to how you want it to work. You've described two decent scenarios and if you commit to aiming for one of them, then you'll have an idea of the striker Role / Duty to go for.

[OrientTillIDie]

I would say drop deep to make room for them. It depends how good he is at scoring though. You could try him on an Attack duty on a role like DLF or CF where he'll float about a bit. But ideally a support role would be used with attacking inside forwards

[samdiatmh]

I've also found that playing with InsideForwards, rather than wingers, tends to nerf the heck out of lone strikers (or target men in particular)

so I'd lean more toward a F9 or a Treq

[torehj]

But if I play a F9, will he not just stay in the same area as my AMC?

[nico_france]

I would rather go for :

-1 poacher (i go for this set up in my formation more than 40 goals/season)

-2 complete fw

Will provide you more depth and space while attacking

[vasilli07]

But if I play a F9, will he not just stay in the same area as my AMC?

If that is your worry, you can try using roam from position and move into channels for your AMC or roam from position for your striker. That will give them bigger freedom to move around from their position.