Özil role? Trying to create a team around him.

[VizuaLizah]

Hi guys, I am a big Arsenal Fan and since the arrival of Özil I have loved him as a footballer making him my favourite to watch currently. After his amazing seasons of 20 assists as an AMC I want to try and replicate his role. I have tried AP (A) AP (S) and AM (A & S) so far with different PI's but I can't seem to get him to be an Assist machine and normally my Wingers would get the assists charts. I have also noticed that the Wenger AI manager seems to turn Özil into an Assist machine with very high match ratings each game.

So I have come here to ask for some advice on what sort of role and system I could make Özil my main man for Assists? Also I would prefer him playing down the middle as I find getting wingers to assist is very easy on this years FM.

The System I play right now:

Control, Very Fluid, TI, Close down much more, Short Passing, Pass into Space, Get stuck in, Tight Marking

SK (S)

FB (S) CD (D) CD(D) WB (S)

CM (S) BWM(D)

W (A) AP (A) IF (S)

CF(A)

Only PI so far is CM(S) to hold position. Also the formation is done Right to left so FB (S) is my right back and so on.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Ö-zil to the Arsenal!]

The first question I would ask is who are you playing in the striker role and how many goals are they scoring?

Ozil is such a quality player, you could play him in just about any role and he'll get assists. However - as in real life - he can create as many chances as you like but if the rest of the team aren't sticking the ball in the net, then he won't get assists.

In general, though - Advanced Playmaker (Attack) is a very good choice.

[thomit]

I now play a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide formation with Arsenal, and Ôzil as a RPM in central midfield. For 3 seasons in a row he's scored the highest average rating of all my players ... followed by Bellerin. It used to be the other way around. From central midfield as an RPM he assists plenty, key passes are sky high, and he even scores +-10 every season. He'll use most of the first season getting familiar with the central midfield position (bright green), but it doesn't really matter - he's tremendously good in that position and role right from the beginning.

Whatever/wherever you put him; let him play to his strenghts. I think it can only be good if you let him run with the ball, and also let him roam free. And provide him with enough passing alternatives in the form of players in front of him who's more of the goalscoring type. In a roaming playmaker role behind 3 attackers, and allowed to run with the ball at his feet a little, that's where he's at his best, in my opinion.

Edit: Btw; don't get too focused on number of assists. Allthough Ôzil do provide those, and plenty of them, the nature of the game is often such that a playmaker don't necessarily get to provide the last pass before someone puts it in goal (and that's the definition of an assist), but rather the penultimate pass. That key pass to a wide attacker or someone else running in from deep, who then provide the last pass to the goalscorer - that's where players like Özil shines. Those passes don't qualify as assists, but are equally important. In the Arsenal game, probably more important.

[VizuaLizah]

The first question I would ask is who are you playing in the striker role and how many goals are they scoring?

Ozil is such a quality player, you could play him in just about any role and he'll get assists. However - as in real life - he can create as many chances as you like but if the rest of the team aren't sticking the ball in the net, then he won't get assists.

In general, though - Advanced Playmaker (Attack) is a very good choice.

I play Suarez with Giroud and Welbeck as back up. The thing about Suarez is that he creates his own chances and it feels like he takes the Ozil role sometimes in terms of creating chances for others as well. Whereas Giroud is a stick that gets a few goals when needed and Welbeck is a work machine with no end product.

Ozil in my first season got assists and went missing in a lot of games like his first season at Arsenal. Also in terms of watching the matches fully I notice Ozil always getting marked out of the game leading my team to play it down the wing more than they should. So it might just be my system and I guess I will just trial and error till I get it right but if you have any other suggests where or how Ozil can be a little be more involved in the game would be very welcomed. Thanks.

[VizuaLizah]

I now play a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide formation with Arsenal, and Ôzil as a RPM in central midfield. For 3 seasons in a row he's scored the highest average rating of all my players ... followed by Bellerin. It used to be the other way around. From central midfield as an RPM he assists plenty, key passes are sky high, and he even scores +-10 every season. He'll use most of the first season getting familiar with the central midfield position (bright green), but it doesn't really matter - he's tremendously good in that position and role right from the beginning.

Whatever/wherever you put him; let him play to his strenghts. I think it can only be good if you let him run with the ball, and also let him roam free. And provide him with enough passing alternatives in the form of players in front of him who's more of the goalscoring type. In a roaming playmaker role behind 3 attackers, and allowed to run with the ball at his feet a little, that's where he's at his best, in my opinion.

Edit: Btw; don't get too focused on number of assists. Allthough Ôzil do provide those, and plenty of them, the nature of the game is often such that a playmaker don't necessarily get to provide the last pass before someone puts it in goal (and that's the definition of an assist), but rather the penultimate pass. That key pass to a wide attacker or someone else running in from deep, who then provide the last pass to the goalscorer - that's where players like Özil shines. Those passes don't qualify as assists, but are equally important. In the Arsenal game, probably more important.

Thanks, I was thinking of trying Ozil in the CM role and now you have mentioned that it works I might also give it a go. I think I am obsessed with trying to get Ozil the highest assists possible like how some are with getting their striker to score as many but I input your advice and watch my games closely to see how Ozil plays a part in my goals even if its not the final pass.

[yonko]

My guess is that Ozil is getting marked out of the game because he is your only playmaker role in the team, therefore the opposition is targeting him in order to stop your tactic from being effective. Try him as AM-A since you are already using Very Fluid - his attributes will still allow him to do his playmaking magic. If you still want to use a playmaker, use one of your CMs. And if you switch to AM-A, then make sure your STC is with Support Duty - CF-S for example.

Another suggestion from me would be to switch the duties of your wingers to W-S and IF-A, because an IF-A would be more of a goal threat (and potential target for Ozil to aim his passes to) in the penalty box than a W-A.

One last suggestion would be to use AF-A instead of Complete Forward, to make the player more like consummator rather than part creator.

[AFCBeer]

A very obvious question but how many passes is Ozil getting per game? If it's low relative to the rest of your team (and by relative I mean he should be getting the most) then it's time to look at your system. However, if he has lots of passes, and in particular key passes, then I'd be asking questions of his teammates.

From what you have posted, you say Ozil seems to be tight marked most games. That means he has little space to work in which might make your 'pass into space' shout redundant. In fact this could very well cause your less creative players to try through balls when they should just play it to Ozil to create.

Also a very fluid shape will reduce space further. It might be worth going down to structured. That way, the rest of your squad will concentrate on just getting the ball to Ozil. And similarly, your striker and Inside Forward will look to be the end product of the attack rather than getting involved in build up play.

You might feel your team is too good to restrict the likes of Sanchez to just a supplier role. However, if you want to build your play through Ozil, ultimately that means restricting the creativity of your over roles.

[James9]

I now play a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide formation with Arsenal, and Ôzil as a RPM in central midfield. For 3 seasons in a row he's scored the highest average rating of all my players ... followed by Bellerin. It used to be the other way around. From central midfield as an RPM he assists plenty, key passes are sky high, and he even scores +-10 every season. He'll use most of the first season getting familiar with the central midfield position (bright green), but it doesn't really matter - he's tremendously good in that position and role right from the beginning.

Whatever/wherever you put him; let him play to his strenghts. I think it can only be good if you let him run with the ball, and also let him roam free. And provide him with enough passing alternatives in the form of players in front of him who's more of the goalscoring type. In a roaming playmaker role behind 3 attackers, and allowed to run with the ball at his feet a little, that's where he's at his best, in my opinion.

Edit: Btw; don't get too focused on number of assists. Allthough Ôzil do provide those, and plenty of them, the nature of the game is often such that a playmaker don't necessarily get to provide the last pass before someone puts it in goal (and that's the definition of an assist), but rather the penultimate pass. That key pass to a wide attacker or someone else running in from deep, who then provide the last pass to the goalscorer - that's where players like Özil shines. Those passes don't qualify as assists, but are equally important. In the Arsenal game, probably more important.

Thomit can I ask you what role and duty do you give your other midfielders and your front 3 in the 4123 DM tactic. Also, could i ask you whay team instructions in your set up. I also want to try Ozil in the role but I do not know how to get it started

[thomit]

Thomit can I ask you what role and duty do you give your other midfielders and your front 3 in the 4123 DM tactic. Also, could i ask you whay team instructions in your set up. I also want to try Ozil in the role but I do not know how to get it started

4-1-2-3 DM Wide. Control, flexible or fluid. Shorter passing, work ball into the box, close down more, whipped crosses. (I'm still undecided whether to use the shorter passing TI or the retain possession TI.

At the moment I'm using shorter passing. But definitely not both at the same time)

Flexible I'm using in "open" matches, where I expect the opposition to be willing to attack a bit. Sometimes I make use of the pass into space TI in such matches too if the opposition plays a high pressing, high d-line game.

Fluid I play when I expect a more defensively orientated opposition, where I think I'll need that extra bit of creativity from my players to open up a tight defense.

GK. Gets PI distribute to full backs

WB/s - CD/d- CD/d - WB/s

DM/d

RPM - BBM

IF/s or W/s - IF/s or W/s. Both gets PI Get further forward. I swap positions of these players a few times during a match, but I don't use the automatic player instructions for that; it tends to happen too often then. IF or winger depends on what their best foot is, simple as that. My WB's takes care of most of the wing work anyway.

CF/s

No other PI's or TI's than those mentioned.

This works for me; 21 matches into my ongoing season I'm at 17W-3D-1L, 28+ g.d, 54 points, 11 more than the second placed team. I have the tightest defense in the league, only 10 goals let in in 21 matches, but there's a couple of teams that has scored more.

[cfkllasdfaslkdfj]

4-1-2-3 DM Wide.

GK.

WB/s - CD/d- CD/d - WB/s

DM/d

RPM - BBM

IF/s or W/s - IF/s or W/s.

CF/s

No other PI's or TI's than those mentioned.

What do you think about the central midfield trio (not in Arsenal but in general)?:

RGA

CMd/DLPd - BBM/RPM

Do you always play possession type of football even with underdog teams and how do you construct them?

[thomit]

What do you think about the central midfield trio (not in Arsenal but in general)?:

RGA

CMd/DLPd - BBM/RPM

Do you always play possession type of football even with underdog teams and how do you construct them?

I have never played with a regista, so I don't know. My initial thought is that having a roaming player in the "anchor" position ... is not my cup of tea. It would certainly be important that at least one of the other two central mid's is given a very holding role - a CM/d would be the better choice, I think. With a regista, balancing the midfield would be a lot more difficult to acheive. With a more traditional DM/d (or Anchor, or Halfback), the midfield is almost automatically balanced, giving room to be more bold with the other two central mid positions. Regista and a RPM? I think that would be a real mess, frankly. So would having 3 playmakers roles, or 3 roaming roles. One of each in central midfield, that's enough. But with a DM/d, you can afford to have two roamers in front of him, like I have - provided all three players are quality.

I play more or less the same game whoever I meet. I'm not going for possession just for the sake of it; possession just comes naturally with the type of football we play, and with the players we've got. There's no "plan B", just a variant of plan A.

[BojanVu]

You can try this :

GK

CWB (a) CD (d) CD (d) CWB (a)

CM (s) BWM (s)

IF (a) AM (s) IF (a)

F9 ( Ozil)

Counter structured short pass narrow fast overlap

[cfkllasdfaslkdfj]

thomit, so why have you come up to 4123 DM Wide from 4231 and switched Ozil's function (APa >> RMP)?

You've played with 2 playmakers in 4231 but only 1 (Ozil) in 4123. You want him to be the single pivot in your formation, don't you? What thoughts about using 3 PM roles in central midfield (DLPd/RMP/APa)?

You could shift CMD/RPM-APa to DMD/RPM-APa, however you did it another way. Why?

[thomit]

thomit, so why have you come up to 4123 DM Wide from 4231 and switched Ozil's function (APa >> RMP)?

You've played with 2 playmakers in 4231 but only 1 (Ozil) in 4123. You want him to be the single pivot in your formation, don't you? What thoughts about using 3 PM roles in central midfield (DLPd/RMP/APa)?

You could shift CMD/RPM-APa to DMD/RPM-APa, however you did it another way. Why?

Why I changed to the 4123 from the 4231? Because I needed a change, simple as that. And because the 4123 DM Wide (as it's now called in FM) has always been my favourite formation. I liked the way Barcelona used it, and I liked the way Wenger used it - briefly - before he settled on the 4231 Wide. Why Ôzil as a RPM instead of a AP/attack in the 4123? Well, because I wanted to see how it worked out. I could easily change his role to AP/a, and he would be just as good in that role - and if you add roaming to the AP/a, that role is very similar to the RPM anyway. The RPM does not have the "more risky passes" instruction, but as Ôzil has that as one of his PM's, and also the "comes deep" PM, the end result is very similar. The AP/a role tends to see him in the box a bit more often, but that's about it.

[marsh82]

Thought about an Enganche? I'm having a play with using Isco (similar to Ozil) behind a DLF/s as an Engache with a BWM/s and a CM/a behind him and a pair of WM/a either side. I've set the DLF/s off-centre. The Eng role is working brilliantly and runs the play, always most Key Passes and assists from Through Balls (when the assists aren't crosses), plus a few goals. He is regularly popping up wide, deep and as the most advanced player.