41212 Help

[Lam3r]

Looking for some help developing a 41212, to be utilised by my Derry City side. It is a formation I've always liked and it seems to be making something of a comeback irl, but one I have rarely used on FM. Attraction is the midfield options and getting to play 2 strikers. Having had the best years of my football watching life over the last few seasons watching HTFC I am very much in the Klopp/Wagner/German style camp when it comes to my thoughts on how football should be played, so I am looking for endless pressing, high line, high intensity football. Attached is the formation I have come up with, along with the following instructions:

Out of Possession

• Higher Line (Would prefer much higher but this is a compromise based on being Derry without super quick CB's!)
• Higher Line of Engagement (same compromise reasons as above)
• Use offside trap
• Use tighter marking
• Extremely Urgent Pressing

In Transition

• Counter-press
• Distribute to full backs (Would eventually prefer CB's but this is a safety compromise as loads of sides play 2 strikers and FB's should have more space)

In Possession

• Play out of defence

The theory is that it starts as a 41212 but morphs into a 3412 in attack. HB slots into the backline making a 3, FB and WB provide the width.

I have gone with a WB-S and FB-A just to try and provide a bit of variety, rather than having two Wingbacks potentially doing the same thing on both sides. The 3 in front of the HB I am open to suggestions. I envisage the Carrilero being a general workhorse who will cover for the overlapping FB. I'd rather have a RP than a DLP but no chance of getting anyone suitable for that role at the level I am playing at. I am unsure on the AM, I see him creating and scoring in fairly equal measure so I have him on attack so he gets in the box, otherwise just 2 men are likely to be in there at most.

AF is the bloke I see scoring most of the goals, with the PF being a menace but still scoring a few.

Any thoughts on the roles selected for this formation? I'm pretty comfortable with the instructions getting something along the lines of the style of football I want (without going too OTT) but any thoughts on the whole thing would be most welcome.

 

 

 

[Experienced Defender]

The obvious question is - is Derry City good enough to play this way, especially with so aggressive defending. Btw, I would swap the fullbacks around, so the FBa would be on the right and WBs on the left. 

I sometimes use a narrow diamond with Man Utd, and this is what my primary setup looks like (when I use my preferred starting 11):

PFsu     AF

TQ

MEZsu     CAR

HB

WBsu     CDde   BPDde    CWBsu

GKde

Positive mentality, play out of defense, higher tempo, work ball into box, be more expressive, play wider / counter, distribute quickly to CBs & FBs / higher DL, standard or higher LOE, use offside trap (sometimes more urgent pressing or tighter marking).

[Corperate]

Should you use 'look for overlaps' in this formation?

[Corperate]

I am trying to play in a similar fashion but am unsure as to whether the wingbacks are the wide players and they are looking for someone to overlap them?

[Experienced Defender]

35 minutes ago, Corperate said:

whether the wingbacks are the wide players and they are looking for someone to overlap them?

In this system (narrow 442 diamond), the fullbacks (positions, not roles) are the only wide players, so an overlap instruction will only increase the individual mentality of the related fullback slightly to make him a bit more attack-minded, but will not lead to actual overlaps because the formation does not deploy any other wide players (wide midfielders or wide forwards). Therefore, the FB/WB has nobody to overlap.

In a system where there are both fullbacks (or wing-backs) and wide midfielders (or wide forwards, i.e.  AML/R), an overlap instruction will also slightly increase the mentality of the FB/WB and slightly reduce that of the wide MF/wide FWD, and will also cause the latter to (occasionally) hold up the ball waiting for his FB/WB to make the overlapping run.