I'm almost there. But can I get over the line?!

[LiamNCFC]

Afternoon gents. Hope you are all well. 

I asked late last week about advice on how to set up a tactic for Spurs. The advice I got was great. We are now one of the top sides in europe........ But I feel I am just a bit short of overhauling Liverpool (no easy feat) on this years edition. 

Just wondering if you can sanity check / improve the set up I have going here. Like I say. I feel I'm aLmost there........ 4-3-3

 

                       GK Onana (Sk A)                          

Aarons(IWBs) FelipeLuis(CD)Dias (BPD)  Telles (WBs) 

                   Florentino Luis (DM D) 

     Milinkovic Savic (MEZ A)  Aouer (AP S)

 Bernado Silva(Ws)                Ali /Chiesa IF A).               

                  Kane / Haaland (DFs/A) 

 

Split press with my top 3 - Positive mentality. 

In possession. Play out of defence, overlap Right, be more expressive, High Tempo, shorter passing, low crosses. Dribble More. Standard width but sometimes narrow. 

Transition - counter press

Out of possession - HLOE / HDL

My thoughts. Is my left side too aggressive? Maybe my LB should be FBs NOT WBs? 

Slightly more direct passing? This team is set up to play exciting fast football. It's technically superb. When Chisea and Haaland play there is pace in the top three. Not so much when Ali and Kane start. 

Play Aouer as a DP - but will this slow me down somewhat? The AP dribbles more which fits into my ethos. 

Ali as a IFs and Silva as a Wa or IWa? Its also worth noting that Ali is my top scorer with 21 goals in the league. I have Silva /Chisea (when he plays on the right) to hit the back post a lot. Kane and Haaland are OK but not as prolific as I like. Kane has 20 goals. 10 pens though! 

Do I need to counter press? Could I do without seeing as I have the split press in place anyway? 

Should my top three be set as roam from position to add a little spice to my goalscoring threat? All have excellent off the ball attributes. 

Im a very good cup side but I want that League title!

Any help that can tip me over the edge would be great. I am third in the table 7 points behind Liverpool with six to go. Liverpool have won it last two seasons (I'm in season three now). Title has gone this year but I'm in the semis of both the CL and FA Cup. So alls not lost. 

Cheers

Edited March 28, 2020 by LiamNCFC
Spelling errors

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, LiamNCFC said:

My thoughts. Is my left side too aggressive? Maybe my LB should be FBs NOT WBs?

Your left side looks okay in terms of roles and duties, especially given that the Spurs are a strong (top) team. What may prove too risky is actually your Overlap right team instruction. This instruction is really not necessary in this tactic, and it only increases defensive risk without any apparent reason. 

 

2 hours ago, LiamNCFC said:

Slightly more direct passing? This team is set up to play exciting fast football. It's technically superb. When Chisea and Haaland play there is pace in the top three. Not so much when Ali and Kane start

Keep in mind that you play on a high team mentality (positive) with a higher tempo and using the Be more expressive TI, so more direct passing could easily lead to overkill. Remember, tempo and passing style are directly interrelated, and both are automatically affected by the team mentality (and btw, the mentality automatically affects all instructions). 

 

2 hours ago, LiamNCFC said:

Should my top three be set as roam from position to add a little spice to my goalscoring threat?

I would say no, because you already use the Be more expressive team instruction, which allows a greater level of both freedom of movement and creativity. Plus your team mentality also proportionally increases both these elements of the tactic. You need to understand how different elements of a tactic interact with each other so that you can strike the right balance and avoid overkill. 

[LiamNCFC]

Thanks for this. 

I have just gone through my fixtures and I have noticed what has gone wrong. 

Away from home vs the big 6 I lost every away game. 3-0 vs Liverpool, 4-1 vs City, 2-1 vs Chelsea, 1-0 vs Man U and 2-1 vs Arsenal (I got FM'd vs Arsenal though.........). 

Its clear this needs to improve and that maybe a more measured approach would be suitable for these games. 

                           GK Onana (Sk A)                          

Aarons(IWBs) Dias (CD)SKriniar  (BPD)  Telles (fbs) 

                        Florentino Luis (Ad) 

           Milinkovic Savic (MEZ s)  Aouer (DPs)

 Bernado Silva(Ws)                Ali /Chiesa IF s).               

                         Kane / Haaland (DFa) 

Split press with my top 3 - Balanced / counter mentality. 

In possession. Play out of defence , shorter passing, low crosses. Standard width but sometimes narrow. 

Transition - counter

Out of possession LLOE / HDL offside trap

Im just looking at being harder to beat. Liverpool scare me. They seem unstoppable but I want us to be compact and to give them a tougher game at Anfield. They just steamroller me most of the time......... 

Your thoughts, as always would be appreciated. My worry is a lack of attacking threat. 

 

Regards, 

[Experienced Defender]

5 hours ago, LiamNCFC said:

Away from home vs the big 6 I lost every away game. 3-0 vs Liverpool, 4-1 vs City, 2-1 vs Chelsea, 1-0 vs Man U and 2-1 vs Arsenal (I got FM'd vs Arsenal though.........). 

Its clear this needs to improve and that maybe a more measured approach would be suitable for these games. 

                           GK Onana (Sk A)                          

Aarons(IWBs) Dias (CD)SKriniar  (BPD)  Telles (fbs) 

                        Florentino Luis (Ad) 

           Milinkovic Savic (MEZ s)  Aouer (DPs)

 Bernado Silva(Ws)                Ali /Chiesa IF s).               

                         Kane / Haaland (DFa) 

Split press with my top 3 - Balanced / counter mentality. 

In possession. Play out of defence , shorter passing, low crosses. Standard width but sometimes narrow. 

Transition - counter

Out of possession LLOE / HDL offside trap

First off, when you (manage to) create a good primary tactic that works well against most teams, then you should not make too big changes to that tactic in order to adapt to matches against strong opposition (especially when your team is also a top one). Instead, you just need a small and sensible adjustment of your primary tactic. 

[sherifdinn_]

On 29/03/2020 at 09:33, LiamNCFC said:

Thanks for this. 

I have just gone through my fixtures and I have noticed what has gone wrong. 

Away from home vs the big 6 I lost every away game. 3-0 vs Liverpool, 4-1 vs City, 2-1 vs Chelsea, 1-0 vs Man U and 2-1 vs Arsenal (I got FM'd vs Arsenal though.........). 

Its clear this needs to improve and that maybe a more measured approach would be suitable for these games. 

                           GK Onana (Sk A)                          

Aarons(IWBs) Dias (CD)SKriniar  (BPD)  Telles (fbs) 

                        Florentino Luis (Ad) 

           Milinkovic Savic (MEZ s)  Aouer (DPs)

 Bernado Silva(Ws)                Ali /Chiesa IF s).               

                         Kane / Haaland (DFa) 

Split press with my top 3 - Balanced / counter mentality. 

In possession. Play out of defence , shorter passing, low crosses. Standard width but sometimes narrow. 

Transition - counter

Out of possession LLOE / HDL offside trap

Im just looking at being harder to beat. Liverpool scare me. They seem unstoppable but I want us to be compact and to give them a tougher game at Anfield. They just steamroller me most of the time......... 

Your thoughts, as always would be appreciated. My worry is a lack of attacking threat. 

 

Regards, 

In my experience in games like this I don't look to out play them at their own game. What do I mean by this? The top sides, by nature, will be attacking when playing at home so I use this against them. The obvious thing here is the space behind the defence but you need to get that midfield right. 

The first step is to make sure the midfield isn't lightweight player wise and role wise. I generally go with a covering DM, an aggressive CM and another CM who is technically equipped to unlock defenses with the right duty on to counter balance the lack of technical quality aforementioned.

Looking at that tactic you have the required tools. Savic can be your ball winner, aouar can be your skilled technician and Luis your covering DM.

Now that the midfield is sorted you need to be geared to exploit space behind the defense. I recommend 2 attack duties in the front 3 (that means 3 attack duties overall in the tactic). I play with a striker and a Wideman on attack with the wide man preferably on the side where the the opposition attacking fullback is. 

For the rest of the tactic, balance it out.

[Britrock]

Try your playmaker as a roaming playmaker. IMO it gives the best balance in a 433, they get back to defend but they also get to the edge of the box for attacking moves as well. AP/DLP only really do one or the other in my experience.