Shape, Formation, Roles For Pep's Bayern Side

[Michael Zorc]

Despite many frustrations with the FM17 match engine, the advent of FM18 has got me excited so I've re-installed the game to give things another go and hopefully satisfy my FM cravings until the new version is released.

What I am trying to replicate is a match from Pep's Bayern days, where the team played something like this:

How would I go about implementing this in FM17?

At this stage, I'm still stuck on what formation I should use. What base formation would be a good starting point to replicate this Pep masterpiece?

Ideas appreciated!

My own thinking is so far along these lines:

FC - Deep Lying Forward (Support) - Lewandowski role (strong forward, holds up the ball, drops deep and links with the two very attacking central midfielders; the focal point of the attack)

AMR - Winger (Attack) - Robben role (out and out winger; starts very wide but with Robben's characteristics/PPMs can cuts inside ahead of Muller, perhaps switching positions, to get a shot in on goal)

AMC - Shadow Striker (Attack) - Muller role (can make runs into the channel, link with forward and make runs ahead of Lewandowski; a very attacking, goalscoring role concentrated on seeking space rather than heavy involvement in the build up player, with fewer defensive responsibilities)

AMC - Attacking Midfielder (Support) - Gotze role (doesn't roam horizontally towards the centre but more occupied with the left half space; can come deep and also link with striker in vertical movements or dropping into the outside channel to link with Alaba)

MCR - Central Midfielder (Defend) - Lahm role (holds position to maintain build up structure and circulates ball in a simple and effective way)

ML - Winger (Attack) - Bernat role (starts deeper but bombs forward down the wing; stays wide and does help defensively as the lone out and out wide player on the left)

WBR - Wing Back (Defend) - Rafinha role (sits narrower than winger and holds position near centre backs)

DMCL - Anchorman (Defend) - Alaba role (positioned in the half space to the left of the centre backs as an auxiliary defender and deep attacking weapon but didn't roam horizontally like  a playmaker)

DC - Ball Playing Defender (Stopper) - Xabi role (more creative centre back, defence splitting passes, creative freedom to roam forward a bit)

DCR - Defensive Centre Back (Stopper) - Boeteng role (he often played direct balls, not necessarily through balls though, out of defence, diagonally to winger etc)

GK - Sweeper Keeper (Defend) - Neuer role (Guardiola loves his Sweeper Keepers but, from my own observation, they generally don't try risky through balls or dribble more - instead playing out from the back with centre backs - so I feel a Defend duty is most appropriate)

Note: the descriptions in brackets next to the player's name denotes the type of behaviour I want, not what actually occurs in the FM17 match engine.

Mentality is set to Standard as I noticed too many players rushing forward on the higher mentalities, even with defensive roles/duties. Strong and stable positional play is vital to the Guardiola philosophy and that means an even, efficient spread of players, with adequate depth in the build up phase

Team Shape is set to Fluid - I do want the players relatively close together in support of each other but, again, I want a solid positional structure behind the attacking players so that's why I've gone Fluid as opposed to Very Fluid, as I need the defensive players to take fewer positioning risks and offer appropriate depth

Team Instructions are fairly simple and straight forward for now - Much Higher Defensive Line (Guardiola likes to suffocate the opposition and play in their half, forcing errors and regaining the ball in dangerous areas); Retain Possession (Guardiola's 15 pass rule to allow time for players to assume the correct attacking structure, in part to ensure they are in good positions to win the ball back if they lose it); and Play Out Of Defence (if the initial pressure can be broken through cleanly, space opens up ahead and the next progression is more straight forward, according to Guardiola and his mentors).

Distribute To Centre Backs (Sweeper Keeper - Defend / Neuer role) and Sit Narrower (Wingback - Defend / Rafinha role) are the only Player Instructions so far

Note - the descriptions above are my (perhaps flawed) FM interpretation of actual football concepts. If the way to translate these real world concepts into FM is wrong or misunderstood by me, maybe due to the match engine working in a different way that I haven't properly understood, then feel free to correct me and offer a solution.

On first inspection (playing games), I am having issues with central midfielders/defenders being too narrow and bunched up so this definitely needs some work defensively.

Any ideas, suggestions welcome.

How would you go about translating this Pep system into FM?

By the way, here's another resource on Pep's Bayern (hopefully, as this thread progresses, we can also look at implementing some of these other aspects of Pep's positional play): https://thetacticalanalyst.wordpress.com/2016/06/06/bayern-munich-a-mega-analysis/

Thanks for any input, much appreciated.

[Michael Zorc]

Anyone?

[fleggo]

I am very excited for FM18 too, although I will probably not buy it unless they announce some very good upgrades over FM17.

 

First of all, its clear what you seek in attacking, but what formation are you looking to create in defense?

Without knowing the defensive formation you seek, I can only help with creating that formation in the screenshot. I try to make it defensive stable too.

 

My try take on creating that formation on attack:

Striker LEWANDOWSKI// I would say Complete Forward - SU is alot better than deep lying forward in FM17. It holds ball, drops deeper (acts alot like false9 in that sense), all in all it is very supportive on build up.

AML GÖTZE// Advanced Playmaker - AT. Drifts inside but stays enough on the right side to create that formation. Can use the Player instruction to add "Sit narrower" if needed.

AMR MULLER// Raumdeter - AT. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Raumdeter what Muller made popular? Looks to be the role you seek here, finds pockets of space, is not much out in the wide and is a real goalscoring threat. Can use the Player instruction to add "Sit narrower" if needed.

MCR LAHM// Deep Lying Playmaker - SU. I think if you are looking for holder and role to help the build up significantly, DLP is what you looking at.

MR Robben// Winger - AT. Since muller is already reserved for AMCR, We'll use Robben in midfield. I have used alot of midfield wingers in the past and I can say, they will get forward to that AMCR position anyways, but will help a bit more on defense.

ML Bernat// Winger - AT. Same as Robben.

DL Alaba//Inverted Wingback - DE. A bit of the same as in Raumdeter and Muller, didn't Pep "kind of" create inverted wingback? Will drift inside.

DCL Xabi// Ball Playing Defender. Like you mentioned, good passing.

DCR Boateng// Central Defender - DE. Nothing extraordinary here.

DR Rafinha// Wing Back - AT.

 

That should create somewhat the formation you seek.

 

 

 

[denen123]

I think a 4-2-2-1 with a half back as Dm and a winger with good teamwork,passing and vision as AP.cwb''s both positions with a raudmeteur coupled with a roaming playmaker.b2b with the AP winger,sweeper keeper and finally an advanced forward 

Control.

Very fluid

Higher tempo,mixed passing higher tempo,retain possession,look for overlap,roam from positions,more expressive,prevent keeper distribution,offside trap,tighter marking.

Prioritize teamwork for your AP.make him sit narrow and roam.(difficult to find but you can convert a good cm or amc here)

Make your AF to roam.

Your B2B mf should get further forward.

Your roaming playmaker shoUlf shoot more often.

Your cbs should ease off tackles (a good bpd should be in the pairing).

Try learning to handle opposition instructions too....it helps

[denen123]

15 minutes ago, denen123 said:

I think a 4-2-2-1 with a half back as Dm and a winger with good teamwork,passing and vision as AP.cwb''s both positions with a raudmeteur coupled with a roaming playmaker.b2b with the AP winger,sweeper keeper and finally an advanced forward 

Control.

Very fluid

Higher tempo,mixed passing higher tempo,retain possession,look for overlap,roam from positions,more expressive,prevent keeper distribution,offside trap,tighter marking.

Prioritize teamwork for your AP.make him sit narrow and roam.(difficult to find but you can convert a good cm or amc here)

Make your AF to roam.

Your B2B mf should get further forward.

Your roaming playmaker shoUlf shoot more often.

Your cbs should ease off tackles (a good bpd should be in the pairing).

Try learning to handle opposition instructions too....it helps

Much higher defensive line thank you...sorry for rushing.tryna keep the reply as brief as possible.😊