Away games on big clubs

[Irrational]

I've been trying to find a suitable tactic for playing away from home as Barcelona. On home ground I do just fine, but away from Nou Camp I struggle even against lower table teams. If they have 5 defenders or a defensive midfielder my striker goes missing. I tried setting him on F9 and DLFsu to try and involve him more in the attack while the IWs and Wat do the job, but it seems like that doesn't work either. 

Currently, at home, I use the second tactic, and away, the first one. 

The lack of away form is masked by the fact that I score a lot from set-pieces(built some good routines), but the play suffers.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Irrational

[eveiro]

Watched that lowering the line of engagement might help. Some quick videos from here may help.

 

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, Irrational said:

As a top team like Barca, I don't think you need 2 different tactics for home and away games. Rather, you need one that would optimally suit your players in terms of both their roles and overall style of play. Only against other top teams you may need to just slightly tweak, but nothing more than that. 

So, let's see...

In terms of roles and duties, your setup looks decent for the most part. The role I would change is the CWB on attack on the left. CWB makes more sense in narrow systems. Instead, I would go with either FB on attack or WB on attack.

I am curious as to why have you opted to play Messi as a standard winger? I don't say it's necessarily a bad idea if you want to create a hybrid between winger and IF by using a left-footed player on the right flank in a winger role. I am just not sure if a player like Messi is an ideal choice for that, given how magical a player and creative force he is. I would rather play him as IF on attack and Martinez as F9. 

However, If you decide to keep Messi as a winger on attack, then you may consider the RB as IWB on defend with the Overlap right team instruction added. That would create more dynamic interplay on that side.

When it comes to player selection, I'm not sure if Tonali is the right choice for a player that should be the first to protect the defense. He is more of a DLP than a real defensive midfielder.

Anyway, I think instructions are more of a problem in your tactic than roles and duties. In that respect, I would advise you to remove the lower tempo and hold shape and add the Be more expressive.

Out of possession, the instructions from your home tactic look quite good, so I would keep them (higher DL, standard LOE and offside trap). I would then use player instructions to create a split block

Hope you'll find these suggestions helpful 

[Irrational]

35 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

I am curious as to why have you opted to play Messi as a standard winger? I don't say it's necessarily a bad idea if you want to create a hybrid between winger and IF by using a left-footed player on the right flank in a winger role. I am just not sure if a player like Messi is an ideal choice for that, given how magical a player and creative force he is. I would rather play him as IF on attack and Martinez as F9. 

 

Mostly because he is already 34 and goes for 35 so I usually play there Dembele or Neres unless a big game. He does a fairly decent job for the amount of time he gets. 

I'm not sure about what split block does. Is it the PIs of front 3 plus Mezzala set for pressing? Other than that, I'll do the adjustments you listed, see how it goes. 

Thanks 

L.E.: I use Tonali there since he has good defensive stats(14 marking, 15 tackling, 17 work rate, 17 positioning + amazing physical)

Edited January 8, 2020 by Irrational

[Experienced Defender]

19 minutes ago, Irrational said:

I'm not sure about what split block does. Is it the PIs of front 3 plus Mezzala set for pressing?

Yes 

[Experienced Defender]

19 minutes ago, Irrational said:

I use Tonali there since he has good defensive stats(14 marking, 15 tackling, 17 work rate, 17 positioning + amazing physical)

Okay then. He has obviously improved a lot in the meantime.