Poche's 3-4-2-1

[NicoPalm]

Every year I do my best to replicate one of the hardest tactics to replicate; whatever Poche's (yes it does have an 'e' at the end of it in his book ... ) is playing at Spurs. 

Although this season he seems to more frequently be playing a 3-5-1-1 (with Eriksen deeper and no midfield 'destroyer') I've opted for the 3-4-2-1 he defaulted to for most of 16/17. 

I tried to get this working in a lot of ways. And failed in a lot of ways. But have just won the league (all be it on the last day) with the best defence (24 shipped) and 3rd best attack (59 scored). I'm still to play the CL Final - but defeated Barca and Juve twice on the way. 

There wasn't any rocket science to the tactic, but getting certain key players to perform was difficult.  Namely Eriksen, Alli and Kane all had 'ok' seasons. The team was driven by Dembele (who won POTY) and the defence. Winks was also outstanding. You'll see in the screenshots. 

I settled on a Flexible mentality - as Spurs are actually pretty rigid at times defensively, and then made sure Kane, Alli and Eriksen were asked to Roam From Position or move into channels and played on Control (as I wanted higher line and more closing down it gives). 

Team instruction wise some of them are obvious. Play out of defence, prevent short GK distribution, Use Offside Trap and Work Ball Into Box are all standard Spurs. Use shorter passing was controversial as Poche does go direct sometimes, but I found with Use Shorter there were still enough long balls being played but we were more restrained with the ball at the same time. Play Narrower actually allowed the WBs a bit more space, and for intricate passing to take place in the middle, and I asked the team to Close Down More because I think it's needed to replicate his aggressive style. 

Actually the most important part of the system was the OI's which varied depending on who I was playing. Generally it involved initiating the high press against the last defensive line and the keeper; so in a 4 at the back formation it was the 4 (plus keeper) and with a 3 at the back it was the 3 - but not Wing Backs (when I tired that my WB's were getting pulled out of shape pressing). That was then supplemented by always 'marking tight' and 'tackle hard' any AM's (Vertongen, Sanchez and Toby get very close very quickly in real life). 

There was a plan B against top sides away (used to beat Barca and Juve away) where I had a Counter mentality and changed some player roles. In that instance the press starts against DM and CM not the defensive line. 

The bit I want to improve is the front three. To win the league with Kane only getting 16 in the league and Alli / Eriksen only doing ok with Goals and Assists was positive, but it was only when I switched Kane to a DLF (A) and gave him specific instructions (shoot more often, dribble less) that he started to play well (as an AF or CF he was trying to dribble and losing the ball way too often). Might try a version where Eriksen also has an Attack Duty (I wanted him on Support because he tends to drop more than Dele) but one thing was for sure; using Advanced Playmaker (S) didn't work. 

I found the tactic was a bit of a slow burn to begin with but as you can see ...  it doesn't really concede and once the players click it will score you goals. 

Feedback / advice on getting the front three playing better would be appreciated

 

3-4-2-1 Flexible.fmf

[huehue21]

hey my friend.does thi tactic now work?

[kendifix]

Is this working for 18.2.2?