Wing backs deep or advanced.

[Old Joe Clarke]

Hey, I am currently tinkering with a new tactic for the season ahead. I have most of the players doing what I want to a decent degree but I am undecided of the WB positions.

I have three natural players to cover left and right deep WB positions but they are only half circle full at best on the advanced "classic" WB position.

What I need them to do is to push up and support the attack but be mindful of being countered. There are two very defence minded CB's and a pretty darn good Anchorman to stall most attacks.

What I am asking is, is it better to retrain them to play in the advanced slot or leave them alone and play in the deeper slot, is there a tangible difference given that the roles are identical but the starting positions are not?

Any thoughts would be great...

[KlaaZ]

With deep WB positions, do you mean playing them in the WB role in the FB position? 

The position they're in would be their position in your defensive shape so if you're playing with two central defenders, I wouldn't play them in the WB slots. You'd be very vulnerable out of possession because of their position on the pitch.

[Old Joe Clarke]

There is always the worry of the  opposition getting in behind on the flanks but it is the threat/reward balancing act as ever. I do like a solid defence as it is a great platform to work from.

I am using a pretty high pressing philosophy so maybe dropping the pair back would be less noticeable than usual as they would push up to engage just that bit earlier.

It might be a case of using two tactic slots and have both options ready or see how micro managing goes during the match. The small changes should not really affect familiarity to much.

Gotta love tactics and the headaches though.

[Experienced Defender]

4 hours ago, Old Joe Clarke said:

I have three natural players to cover left and right deep WB positions but they are only half circle full at best on the advanced "classic" WB position

The role "suitability" circle does not matter as long as the player has necessary attributes for a particular role. 

For the rest of your questions, I would need to see a screenshot of your tactic before I could give you any meaningful advice.

[permanentquandary]

You'll find the WB slot players don't drop into the defensive line as frequently as in the DL and DR slots and they get forward and get caught out much more often than in DL and DR.

The WB slots should IMO only be employed in a tactic with 3 centre backs or 2 with a sweeper or libero.

[Old Joe Clarke]

 

[Old Joe Clarke]

On 12/01/2020 at 00:14, permanentquandary said:

You'll find the WB slot players don't drop into the defensive line as frequently as in the DL and DR slots and they get forward and get caught out much more often than in DL and DR.

The WB slots should IMO only be employed in a tactic with 3 centre backs or 2 with a sweeper or libero.

Yeah, it is one of my main fears, but I can't seem to have three defender though, never have in all my FM years, maybe I need to rethink.

Cheers for your input, I might try the lower slots and see how it goes. You never can tell until a meaningful match is played which is right,

[Experienced Defender]

23 hours ago, Old Joe Clarke said:

 

On 11/01/2020 at 20:09, Old Joe Clarke said:

I have most of the players doing what I want to a decent degree but I am undecided of the WB positions.

I have three natural players to cover left and right deep WB positions but they are only half circle full at best on the advanced "classic" WB position.

What I need them to do is to push up and support the attack but be mindful of being countered. There are two very defence minded CB's and a pretty darn good Anchorman to stall most attacks.

What I am asking is, is it better to retrain them to play in the advanced slot or leave them alone and play in the deeper slot, is there a tangible difference given that the roles are identical but the starting positions are not?

Are your WBs and their position still the only dilemma you have about this tactic, or you perhaps want to hear opinions on your tactic in general? I am asking this because of the part I bolded from your OP: 

Quote

I have most of the players doing what I want

 

[Old Joe Clarke]

The part that you bolded was maybe an ambiguous comment by me. I am torn between an IW and IF. Both are performing well in this tactic but my plan was to squeeze all players into the middle. The WBs were initially IWBs but that never worked like I imagined, (drawings on paper at work) but an idea emerged.

I was overly cautious of the familiarity circle and you have solved my fears of that. so it frees me to use my players as I would have .Really, I need to play against a top team and get exposed and thrashed before too much judgement can be made.

Early signs look good, up on possession and chances.

[Experienced Defender]

9 minutes ago, Old Joe Clarke said:

I need to play against a top team and get exposed and thrashed before too much judgement can be made.

Early signs look good, up on possession and chances

Sounds like it works