My Parma 4-3-3

[Smarf]

Ok, so I have recently switched to this formation on my Parma save and usually alternate between this and a 4-2-3-1. My issues are, we create a lot of chances on the whole but still struggle to score goals and secondly, defensively I wouldn't trust them to keep their bed sheets clean, so let the criticising begin...

My only PI's are for the keeper to distribute to the defence, my full backs to stay wider with the ball and for LB to cross from the byline.

 

[Smarf]

Also if anyone knows how to stop three players all going to win the same header that would be great!

[Armistice]

Well I think that's because of closing down, you're already pretty aggressive by your default mentality and you add more by Pushing your D-Line & More Closing Down.

 

Closing Down means if a player is in your player's area, he will press him.

[summatsupeer]

How do you typically concede? Is it counter attacks? Through the middle? Wide players getting behind the WB's?

Why use "look for overlap" when you have a WB-D with a W-A?  You have a natural overlap on the other flank with the WB-A and the IF-S.

Personally i'd try with fewer of the instructions and focus on the roles+duties.

Remember the players you use are important to the balance of the team regardless of the instructions.  Whilst there's nothing wrong with 2 playmakers in a midfield three, make sure the attribute balance gives you enough defensive strength.  Whilst the game doesn't tell you a DLP-D needs strength, tackling, marking, anticipation etc, if he's your holding midfielder and the players in front of him aren't strong defensively (between them) then he'll have more defensive work to do.  Consider how the game says Herrera and Mata are great Advance Playmakers, Mata is the better creator but Herrera offers more balance with his better defensive+physical stats.

[jorgvandervloed]

Few things you could have a look at and are already pointed out by others.

• You have many TI's and some are redundant, for example, the look for overlap as you create these through role and duty allocation.  I would probably go for a simple 3-4 TI's --> Shorter passing, play from back, Close down more, and maybe work ball into box (also influences early crosses)
• To keep things simple at the back you can easily go for a FB (A) and FB (S). They will do all the same things as WB's but are more defensively secure. 
• To keep things more simple in general you could always choose to reduce creative freedom through team shape. Fluid --> flexible or structured
• You could experiment with swapping the AP (S) and CM (S), and maybe changing the CM (S) into a BBM (S)

 

[Smarf]

Most of the goals I've conceded seem to be through balls or simple little passes around the edge of our box. I've made some changes and i'm now trying this, seems to be a little better but now not as great going forward, I remember when this game was actually fun! 

[mbabbs]

The weakness of 4-1-2-2-1 is the gap between your wingers and full backs. There is an increased vulnerability on your left side because your FB is on an attack duty to overlap with your IF. Can you see that when you lose possession then your left wing will be exposed because your FB will have gone walkabout? Any decent opposition would exploit that on the counter.

Additionally you have Use Tighter Marking as a TI. This will cause your defense to be pulled out of position and it will lose its shape as a consequence. I would remove that and have the CB's close down a lot less.

For balls over the top you need to either drop the defensive line or have quick defenders with good concentration. You can always try the offside trap, but its suicide against a good striker with slow defenders.

 

[summatsupeer]

3 hours ago, Smarf said:

Most of the goals I've conceded seem to be through balls or simple little passes around the edge of our box. I've made some changes and i'm now trying this, seems to be a little better but now not as great going forward, I remember when this game was actually fun! 

I'm guessing your front 3 aren't doing much defensively causing the central midfielders to have to cover the wide areas.  I find Tight Marking leaves players wide open if you don't have enough players back, with a front 3 i'd say you lack deep players.

I understand your getting advice from multiple people, but you really shouldn't make so many changes in one go.  When you make a change it should be because of issues you see and then you can watch and see if your change had modified the play as expected.  I get the feeling your just clicking things and then judging it on stats/results.

Your instructions are quite possession based and you've decreased your risk taking and tempo (Control -> Standard).  Are your players able to break defences down or do you need a faster more forward thinking style to attack quicker?

[jorgvandervloed]

@Smarf

You're not as attacking anymore as you were before so that could be the difference (Control --> Standard)

The winger on the right is creating space by hugging the touchline so you want someone to exploit that space. The AP wont use this space as often as he can probably so you could try swapping the BBM and AP. 

Your FB's are pretty conservative and you have a DM (D) in front of your defense to protect so I wouldn't be to concerned about that. 

[Smarf]

Well it doesn't really matter anymore, game is completely over complicated these days, didn't win a game in the next ten and got the sack, this game used to be great, it was fun and easy to play, now you need a god damn pro licence to even string to passes together, I'll stick to fifa.

[mbabbs]

Which is odd cause I find it a piece of p1ss. Maybe I'm a genius.