Inside Forwards / Inverted Wingers in FM20

[karanhsingh]

Is anyone managing to get them to do what it says on the tin i.e. cut in with the ball and shoot or generally create havoc?

I am not seeing much difference between IF and Winger role. They are still moving outwards rather than in. Still on a good number of goals and assists but not playing how I would like.

My IF on the left is either footed but stronger right foot, has good pace and dribbling and also trained with the cuts in from left but I literally never see him doing it.

I just spent an hour going through match reports & analysis of several world class IFs like Salah, Mane, Hazard, Sterling, Bernardo, etc. Seeing the same thing, barely any movement inwards. 

So just wondering if others are facing the same or have got it figured out? As it's supposed to be a large part of my tactical framework!

[westy8chimp]

My IW does what it says on the tin... Underperforming, but in my case being too one dimensional with the cutting inside. I'm Arsenal and the guilty party is my amr slot... Pepe/saka. I'm finding they aim their run diagonally all the time and play nice cross field passes curling with the left foot towards back post or far side... They are a bit guilty of aiming all their shots to the near post, and using their weak foot when near goal too much. 

[FuSS]

I find setting them to "stay wider" helps massively.

 

This dosn't mean that they don't cut-in and create chances, it means that they stay wide when the team is in possession and UNTIL they recieve the ball and then cut in.

 

I think too many people set their inside forwards to "sit narrow" because they want them to cut-in and score, but where they sit is where they will RECIEVE the ball from the rest of the team, if they are already narrow then they're going to be hard to pick out and they aren't going to be able to travel with the ball, which is an inside forwards main assest.

Edited November 21, 2019 by FuSS

[ryandormer]

15 minutes ago, FuSS said:

I think too many people set their inside forwards to "sit narrow" because they want them to cut-in and score, but where they sit is where they will RECIEVE the ball from the rest of the team, if they are already narrow then they're going to be hard to pick out and they aren't going to be able to travel with the ball, which is an inside forwards main assest.

I've experimented with inverted wingers 'sitting narrower' with Arsenal and it has worked quite well, albeit only over the course of a few games. I have, on paper, an extremely 'one dimensional' tactic but it has resulted in goals, very high possession and very low shots against:

F9s

IWs                                     IWs

APs        DLPs

HBd

WBs       CBd       CBd       WBs

Both inverted wingers are instructed to sit narrow.

TI: Shorter passing, play out of defence, counter-press, extremely high line, extremely high LOE, more urgent press.

Mentality: Positive

I find that the inverted wingers getting closer to the F9 has resulted in much better cohesion between them. I find that when the wingers are too wide, the F9 is less inclined to drop deep, as he will be the only central attacker. When the IWs are very narrow, the F9 can come deeper because the IWs are already close to the 'striker' area. At least that's my interpretation of what I have seen my team do.

I normally hate using two playmakers so close to each other, but it has worked well so far. Without dropping the tempo in TI, I find that my players often look to pass to either playmaker which results in a naturally more patient build up. This gives the WBs time to get forward and offer attacking width. I've found that opposing defenders have a dilemma--the full backs aren't sure whether to stay with the narrow IWs, or go out to mark the wing backs, and the centre backs aren't sure whether to push up to challenge the playmakers or continue marking the strikers/IWs. Although on paper, the playmakers look like they would play quite deep (given they are both on support, and one is a DLP), when combined with a much higher line and a more patient build up, I find that even the DLP ends up on the edge of the opposition box on occasions. I can afford an aggressive defensive set-up because of how compact the team is, and also the additional defensive support of the HB.

So, in short, I have found (from an admittedly small sample of games) that a 'narrow' IW can be really useful. The key is ensuring that he is not totally marked out of the game or pushed wide. If you can set your team up in such a way that your FB or WB occupies the opposition FB or WB, that should give the IW space in narrower areas to receive the ball. Particularly when facing a back four, the opposition centre backs will have difficulty marking your striker and both IWs.

[improvox]

In response to the OP I have been playing with IW on Attack (no additional instructions) They do cut in a lot which is good, although as previously mentioned they tend to run towards the near post and then shoot into the side netting. 

After 10 or so games, sitting around 8th (im in first season with Oxford United) I am now trying them as Inside Forwards, as I would have done on FM19 but with, one on Sup and one on Att (i always used to have the both on attack).

I have also changed my striker form a Pressing Forward Attack to an Advanced Forward... as i was struggling to get either of my strikers (Matty Taylor and Rhian Brewster) to score many. 

Hoping to get a couple of good sessions in over the weekend to see how this pans out. 

[w_x]

48 minutes ago, improvox said:

In response to the OP I have been playing with IW on Attack (no additional instructions) They do cut in a lot which is good, although as previously mentioned they tend to run towards the near post and then shoot into the side netting. 

After 10 or so games, sitting around 8th (im in first season with Oxford United) I am now trying them as Inside Forwards, as I would have done on FM19 but with, one on Sup and one on Att (i always used to have the both on attack).

I have also changed my striker form a Pressing Forward Attack to an Advanced Forward... as i was struggling to get either of my strikers (Matty Taylor and Rhian Brewster) to score many. 

Hoping to get a couple of good sessions in over the weekend to see how this pans out. 

Brewster in League One is basically a cheat code, immense player

[improvox]

2 hours ago, w_x said:

Brewster in League One is basically a cheat code, immense player

Was so surprised I was able to get him on loan. I think I'm paying around 70% wages £4200ish.

He's banged in a few but I really want to play our real loft striker Matty Taylor on loan from Bristol. So he's rotating a bit. I'm also going to play brewster as an IF now too. 

[w_x]

1 hour ago, improvox said:

Was so surprised I was able to get him on loan. I think I'm paying around 70% wages £4200ish.

He's banged in a few but I really want to play our real loft striker Matty Taylor on loan from Bristol. So he's rotating a bit. I'm also going to play brewster as an IF now too. 

Yeah I've used him as an IF as well. Had him on loan for 2 seasons, 50 league goals across the two

[Siven]

In FM19 i found the best way to get the most out of Inside Forwards was to play them as Winger support but make sure they had the PPM of cuts inside. 

That way they would stay wide in space for the ball but also move inside at the right times too. Instructions and PPMs gave them options.

[improvox]

53 minutes ago, w_x said:

Yeah I've used him as an IF as well. Had him on loan for 2 seasons, 50 league goals across the two

Wow. Not sure I'll get that out of him. Which team were you? 

[Angus Osborne]

I've had Helder Costa working very nicely as an IW for Leeds. My impression is that you need to have your team play half a season or so before the tactic really clicks and players will start to behave like you think they should . 

Actually I like to have left-footed IWs play on the left and right-footed IWs play on the right. Does anyone else do that? I watch the games and it seems they get a better shooting angle that way more often than not

[killerkoala]

27 minutes ago, Angus Osborne said:

I've had Helder Costa working very nicely as an IW for Leeds. My impression is that you need to have your team play half a season or so before the tactic really clicks and players will start to behave like you think they should . 

Actually I like to have left-footed IWs play on the left and right-footed IWs play on the right. Does anyone else do that? I watch the games and it seems they get a better shooting angle that way more often than not

I do this too. I play IWs in the LM/RM positions, with the corresponding preferred foot. Tell them to play narrow, with wing backs coming up on the outside, and they almost play like two mezzalas. 

[FMunderachiever]

I tend to prefer playing old fashioned wingers with the trait of attacking the box or cutting inside.

For me it gives a great balance of beating a man on the outside AND being a goal threat too, whether this be a cut inside and shoot, or back post run for a tap in.

[Oakland Stomper]

I'm just starting to delve into FM20. Is there any discernible difference between the IF role and the new IW role when assigned to the AM strata? 

If so, what are they? 

[Vali184]

20 minutes ago, Oakland Stomper said:

I'm just starting to delve into FM20. Is there any discernible difference between the IF role and the new IW role when assigned to the AM strata? 

If so, what are they? 

Look at the player instructions.