Gian Piero Gasperini at Atalanta Case Study

[SixPointer]

47 minutes ago, skyline72 said:

Do it at your own pace. 

No rush.

If work isn’t too hectic I may get my teeth into. But I don’t want to promise. As am now missing actually playing the game. Hopefully find a happy medium. 

[SixPointer]

Gian Piero Gasperini Episode Four

Intro

Well I am back again…. As I went to start my next project, I was left with this nagging doubt that I still had unfinished business here. I couldn’t immerse myself in the next project with this one still needing some rounding off so I finished off the season. So, I’ll continue working my way through the team trying to share as much information as I can as to why I choose what I did and some examples of how it worked out in game. In this episode ill cover GPG’s adventurous Wingbacks with lots of clips of in game for people to see visually how its working out.

Wing Kings

Hans Hateboer and Robin Goosens are being compared to the likes of TAA and Andy Robertson in the sense that they are expected to influence the game with dynamic wide play and fantastic attacking prowess. They also however must be equally adept at defending, but its more there attacking threat that is getting them noticed. Goosens last season finished with 9 goals and 8 assists with Hateboer with 2 goals and 5 assists with the season before he had 5-5.

GPG’S Wide Men

In GPG system the wings backs are tasked with an all action job and are expected to fulfil the role somewhat of a winger but with defensive discipline.

Defensively they press high depending on what side the opponents attacking they either press the full back or the winger on their side. If the press is beaten and play comes into their own half, they drop in to make a back 5.

In the Build-up phase of play they are expected to stretch the game by playing on the touchline normally advanced in the opponents half taking up their places as the widest person in the infamous diamond shape this happens regardless of what side the ball is being played down. This is merely a starting point they often can be found overlapping or underlapping the centre forwards as play progress.

In the attacking 3rd they are expected to hit the byline to find crosses, cutbacks or even work their own shooting opportunity. When the ball is on the opposite side, they will often be found making late runs to the far post.

High Pressing Wide

I think we now are all aware of how key pressing is to the game plan. Wing backs in particular have a tricky task being the only player on the flank they often can be found doubled up on. This is when space-oriented press of the forward is key by nullifying the full backs in there press it allows the wing backs to pick up the midfielder. If play advances down their side they often press forward as the wide CB on their side moves out to the midfielder. Most of this is covered closely in the opening post so I don’t want to bore people by going on.

Overall Pressing Shape.

Fluid Movement and Build Up

They mostly stay high and wide in the diamond formations but if the CFs are moving wider go for an underlap, move inside to offer depth in the half space, after all GPG looks to overload both wide half spaces. Like we seen with the wide CBs certain movements will trigger certain reactions. When on the ball often the wing backs will look for One-Twos and break in behind down the flanks.

Wide Triangles keeping width no matter what side the ball is on.

Underlapping if forward moves wide.

Staying high and wide when RCF drops in.

In Game Setup

Both players are set to wing back support, and both have the instruction to stay wider. Most people right now will be thinking these roles and duties don’t seem overly aggressive. Yes, on this alone they do seem quite reserved for what we are trying to create but a lot happens when we look at the next section.

This image here is they key to the Wing backs, with having focus play down left and right side and underlap both sides this bumps both players mentality from positive to attacking. It also gets the best movement to mimic that off what the wing backs do for Atalanta. They still start deep enough in build-up but attack the byline. Unfortunately, like most of the complex movements its hard to get them cutting in regularly but there are instances of it, but I would lay claim to it being an ever present. The ME isn’t capable yet of creating GPG’s complex rotations so its rare to see an absolute like for like.

In Game Examples of Build Up

Great example of both wing backs stretching the play wide in the very early stages of build up.

This is a great image of the build phase. Both players keeping high and wide. The right side slightly more overload as the RCB moves out but its key to look at the left hand side as it keeps its own triangle even when play comes down the right.

Beautiful little interchange on the right hand side. RWB keeps his width then a neat passing move allows him to break in behind wonderful build up play.

Nice build up down the left Gomez dribbles inside then a nice one two between the AMC and RCM releases the LWB 1v1 with the full back.

Gung Ho Wingbacks

This is where things get exciting. Earlier I gave you some stats for Hateboer and Goosens, so it’s here that I will start to set the tone before we look into how both wing backs attack. With many examples off great play, getting on the end of each other’s crosses, to grabbing goals themselves.

In terms of chance creation both wingbacks excelled. only Matko our number ten created more chances than each player. Gomez created one every two games and young Carbone slightly less. Finishing with 16 and 12.

Carbone hit 39 shots, completed 108 crosses, made 37 key passes 3rd best in all the team phenomenal attacking stats for a young wing back in his breakthrough season. Considering he has only 8 for crossing attribute am more than happy with his first season. 2 goals and 5 assists just happens to match Hateboer.

Gomez finished the season top of the assists charts with a sublime 12 along with bagging himself 3 goals. 111 completed crosses, 36 key passes but the most relevant in terms of comparison to Carbone is he shot 52 times and hit the target 25 times. Like Goosens and Hateboer the left-hand side liked to shoot a lot more.

In Game Examples

I have a lot of instances of great Atalanta like play from the wig backs I’ll try pick out the best examples and have some good variations of how they play for everyone’s enjoyment. I will break them down into certain sections as well to help. To make it easier for everyone to interpret Gomez/Goosens and Carbone/Hateboer. Olivera on occasion is played at left back as well. Miljevic is always the number ten as Gomez role.

Goals

Here in the first clip, we can see Gomez running down the left before crossing to find Carbone arriving at the back post to head home. A key part of the game is the opposite wing back making it to the box so great work on that front however I personally think the keeper should save that ha-ha.

Second clip provides us with some great play down the right from Miljevic, Carbone and Veron who is in the illic role. Nice neat interplay gets illic to the byline who crosses to find Gomez at the back post who knocks it in to battalini (Zapata role) who lays off for Gomez to finish home. The play in particular down the right is pleasing but again not the greatest defending or goalkeeping.

3rd clip supplies us with a truly magic finish from Carbone am sure Hans Hateboer would be proud. Great run down the left from Olivera (Goosens) plays a square ball into Ibarra (Freuler) who delightful lofted pass finds Carbone arriving to finish nicely. Fantastic move great overload left freeing up the right.

Our 4th and final goal clip and what a goal. Veron (Zapata) picks up the ball lays it of to Belmonte (De Roon) Who the plays a lovely 3 way interchange with Miljevic and Troyansky (illic) who the hits the byline to cut back for Carbone to cross for Gomez arriving at the back post to head home. Textbook Atlanta goal and once again one wingback provides for another.

Crossing

Nice quick passing in the right half space between De Roon and Gomez roles finds Carbone free in behind the full back he whips a delightful cross which Veron (Zapata) should really finish.

David Beckham would be proud of this whipped ball in from Gomez (Goosens) how Hauche (Illic) doesn't score is beyond me!

Nice dribbling from Carbone turning his man inside out before a nice chipped cross nothing really comes from it but nice play from the young man.

Shots

Carbone ends up following up on the play and works himself a good chance really should score.

Fantastic solo counter attack dribbling inside and working himself a shooting chance and the goalie makes a great save to keep out an absolute wonder goal.

Nice left hand side build up lovely Freuler pass finds Carbone in a shooting position. Poor finish but yet again showing how attacking he is as a wing back.

Nice Torren (Toloi) dribbling and switch finds Gomez who beats his man the fires a lethal shot at goal another great save denies him.

Arriving at Back Post

Lovely cross stood up to the far post from Carbone and Gomez arrives with bicycle kick at the far post but can get it on target. Great wing back to wing back play.

Nice One two between Vera (Freuler) and Belmonte (De Roon) sets Gomez flying down the wing to the byline his cross finds Carbone rushing in at the back post who rises to beat his man but not the goalkeeper.

 

Now its a nice bounce into the Illic role from De Roon who then finds Carbone wide in acres of space who crosses to find you guessed it Gomez arriving late at the back post.

 

In both clips above we can see Gomez dribbling his way to the byline before standing up a lovely cross for his counterpart Carbone at the back post who twice rises to beat his man.

Last clip shows nice right hand half space overload which is worked nicely into the wing back Carbone who crosses for Gomez to time his run to perfection. Personally my favourite clip as the build up and late run to the back post is very similar from what we see from Atalanta. 

Summary

To round things off I think this is a great match for GPG and his all action wing backs. Lots of shots, lots of crosses lots of late runs to the back post which is vital in terms of what he wants. Few goals thrown in which probably could be higher but there getting chances and creating them as well. In terms of how I set up I think a key point here is you don’t need to use an attack duty to create an attacking player with the right roles around to create space and with the right team instructions you can make your support duty just as attacking as an attack duty. I hope everyone enjoys the clips I tried to be as visual as possible with this one just to show how dynamic they are. Thanks as always SixPointer.

[Impacto]

So... I got a bit bored of my FM 18 save for no reason(happens to me a lot lol) and I decided to try something new on FM 20. I wanted to play tactics that I have never played before and use roles and positions that I haven't used in the past. I don't enjoy making my own tactics anymore, as I always end up with the same stuff that works, but it quickly bores me. So what I do now is basically experiment with other people's recreation of real world tactics like this one and this has improved my FM enjoyment massively. I also love what Atalanta are doing IRL, so this thread was perfect for me. 

Aaanyway, I joined Atalanta and copied this setup. Overall it works, the team plays well and we do score goals. It's only been a few games but I like what I'm seeing. Does it play like real life Atalanta? Yeah, as much as FM allows it. But most importantly - it's fun! 

I made a few changes, however, to fix some issues. Lets start from the back:

• I added the option to distribute to the CBs as I saw way too many times my goalie searching for the WBs. I don't want this. I want my WBs to play as Wingers when we have the ball and distributing to CBs seems to work better so far. 

Note: If you want the defenders to play like Atalanta you HAVE to train them to Bring the ball out from defence! You also NEED the Ball-playing Centre backs to have good dribbling(11-12 minimum), or this will fail miserebly. Thankfully on FM 20 there are loads of such players and traits are very easy to train. 

I had Palomino in the left sided BPD role. He got dispossesed so many times I went out and bought a new CB immidietely. He is great for the central CD role, but not for the side BPDs. Why? Because he can't dribble. He can run and he tries to, but can't keep the ball. Dribbling is key in addition to the defensive attributes of course. 

What happens though when you get the right player? well, I just had my left sided BPD do a dazzling run from my own half to the opponents penalty box. That's what you get with a proper BPD. How usefull is it? it appears to be not that much, because FM can't use the advantage properly, but it is fun to watch for sure! 

Also, you need a left footed player for the left BPD and right footed player for the right BPD. It might be obvious, but I have to mention it. Play a lesser player or train a midfielder to play there if you have to, but don't use a player with the opposite foot, because he will run in the centre of the pitch and create a mess. 

• Papu Gomez is nothing like hismelf with AMCs, even with the added instructions, so I tried something crazy. First, I wanted to try out Enganche, as I've never used it, but it just doesn't make sense. I want him moving around searching for space, not keeping company of the opponent's DM. The only thing that seems appropriate is the good old Trequartista. But why is that crazy? Well, in front of him Ilicic is also a Trequartista! Wait, what? Two treqs, one team?! WTF? Let me explain. 

First, I really wanted to play with a Treq, as I haven't done it since... FM 10 I think? And even then I remember vividly how Aguero sucked at it. From there on out I stayed away from the Trequartista. Recently though I saw a thread here on how awesome it is. I got intrigued! Then I saw someone here post that it worked for him and then I was sold. 

I changed Duvan Zapata to CFs and Ilicic to Treq. First game - brace for Ilicic. Movement and attacking thread - superb. Then I started playing with the idea of making Papu the Treq, but what do i do with Ilicic then? There really is nothing that will work so well so I just put them both on the Treq role and... it works! They don't go in eachother's way, quite the opposite. The seek the open spaces, they dribble and shoot often, it's really fun to watch. Before the change Papu didn't have a single highlight in like 5 games. After the change he is a lot more like himself. 

Note: Because of this, I had to do something to balance out the defensive side of the game. My solution was dropping the mentality on Positive. That doesn't change that much, it just lowers the mentalities very slightly and lowers the tempo a bit, which I wanted anyway. The rest of the team still plays the same.

But the key to make this work was to in the Opposition Instructions screen. There I added Close Down on every single position to counteract the Trequartista's lazyness. And boom - now we are chasing balls like pitbulls! 

Keep in mind that with CFs and a Treq up front, Duvan is the one that drops deeper to help defence, while Ilicic stays further up and only presses their defenders. Papu, however still drops deeper and performs his midfield duties. So, surprisingly the Trequartista role performs slighly different in the AMC and ST strata. Very interesting. It could be just the players different attributes making them play slightly different, but I'll take what I can get. 

What makes me the most happy about this tactic is that strikers are actually scoring goals! Wow, what a relief. It's so hard in this FM for them to be useful, but here it works(for now). 

Random Notes: The WBs are key. A world class player here can make all the difference. If my back up wingback with 8 finishing can score braces then imagine what a beast of a player can do here. I also like how many assists my Mezzala provides. Could be just form, but so far it's looking good. The Carriero is not very impressive so far, but it could be just that De Roon hates me  

Just as a general tip - make sure to train the players in the roles and duties they will play in the team. That maxes out familiarity and allows the tactic to play to it's best. 

TL;DR - I added Distribute to CBs and made sure to train the BPDs to bring the ball out of defence. I also dropped the mentality to Positive and I use Ilicic AND Gomez az double Trequartista. I'm loving it so far! 

Overall it plays well, wins games and it's fun to watch. Keep in mind that it's a very small sample size, but in FM you don't need that many games for a team to gel and see what works and what doesn't. It's definately more fun than anything else I've tried on FM 20. Thank you @SixPointer for making this! 

[skyline72]

Interesting to see 2 Treq in the same setup which by logic, shouldnt work at all. 

[Impacto]

29 minutes ago, skyline72 said:

Interesting to see 2 Treq in the same setup which by logic, shouldnt work at all. 

It's FM 20, logic has no power here!  

I am also really curious how is this double Treq experiment is going to go. I don't plan on making any further changes, unless something massively breaks and I just beat Pochettino's Napoli 3-1 with ease. Dominated possession, too. I will do an update at the end of the season with more info. 

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, Impacto said:

So... I got a bit bored of my FM 18 save for no reason(happens to me a lot lol) and I decided to try something new on FM 20. I wanted to play tactics that I have never played before and use roles and positions that I haven't used in the past. I don't enjoy making my own tactics anymore, as I always end up with the same stuff that works, but it quickly bores me. So what I do now is basically experiment with other people's recreation of real world tactics like this one and this has improved my FM enjoyment massively. I also love what Atalanta are doing IRL, so this thread was perfect for me. 

Aaanyway, I joined Atalanta and copied this setup. Overall it works, the team plays well and we do score goals. It's only been a few games but I like what I'm seeing. Does it play like real life Atalanta? Yeah, as much as FM allows it. But most importantly - it's fun! 

I made a few changes, however, to fix some issues. Lets start from the back:

• I added the option to distribute to the CBs as I saw way too many times my goalie searching for the WBs. I don't want this. I want my WBs to play as Wingers when we have the ball and distributing to CBs seems to work better so far. 

Note: If you want the defenders to play like Atalanta you HAVE to train them to Bring the ball out from defence! You also NEED the Ball-playing Centre backs to have good dribbling(11-12 minimum), or this will fail miserebly. Thankfully on FM 20 there are loads of such players and traits are very easy to train. 

I had Palomino in the left sided BPD role. He got dispossesed so many times I went out and bought a new CB immidietely. He is great for the central CD role, but not for the side BPDs. Why? Because he can't dribble. He can run and he tries to, but can't keep the ball. Dribbling is key in addition to the defensive attributes of course. 

What happens though when you get the right player? well, I just had my left sided BPD do a dazzling run from my own half to the opponents penalty box. That's what you get with a proper BPD. How usefull is it? it appears to be not that much, because FM can't use the advantage properly, but it is fun to watch for sure! 

Also, you need a left footed player for the left BPD and right footed player for the right BPD. It might be obvious, but I have to mention it. Play a lesser player or train a midfielder to play there if you have to, but don't use a player with the opposite foot, because he will run in the centre of the pitch and create a mess. 

• Papu Gomez is nothing like hismelf with AMCs, even with the added instructions, so I tried something crazy. First, I wanted to try out Enganche, as I've never used it, but it just doesn't make sense. I want him moving around searching for space, not keeping company of the opponent's DM. The only thing that seems appropriate is the good old Trequartista. But why is that crazy? Well, in front of him Ilicic is also a Trequartista! Wait, what? Two treqs, one team?! WTF? Let me explain. 

First, I really wanted to play with a Treq, as I haven't done it since... FM 10 I think? And even then I remember vividly how Aguero sucked at it. From there on out I stayed away from the Trequartista. Recently though I saw a thread here on how awesome it is. I got intrigued! Then I saw someone here post that it worked for him and then I was sold. 

I changed Duvan Zapata to CFs and Ilicic to Treq. First game - brace for Ilicic. Movement and attacking thread - superb. Then I started playing with the idea of making Papu the Treq, but what do i do with Ilicic then? There really is nothing that will work so well so I just put them both on the Treq role and... it works! They don't go in eachother's way, quite the opposite. The seek the open spaces, they dribble and shoot often, it's really fun to watch. Before the change Papu didn't have a single highlight in like 5 games. After the change he is a lot more like himself. 

Note: Because of this, I had to do something to balance out the defensive side of the game. My solution was dropping the mentality on Positive. That doesn't change that much, it just lowers the mentalities very slightly and lowers the tempo a bit, which I wanted anyway. The rest of the team still plays the same.

But the key to make this work was to in the Opposition Instructions screen. There I added Close Down on every single position to counteract the Trequartista's lazyness. And boom - now we are chasing balls like pitbulls! 

Keep in mind that with CFs and a Treq up front, Duvan is the one that drops deeper to help defence, while Ilicic stays further up and only presses their defenders. Papu, however still drops deeper and performs his midfield duties. So, surprisingly the Trequartista role performs slighly different in the AMC and ST strata. Very interesting. It could be just the players different attributes making them play slightly different, but I'll take what I can get. 

What makes me the most happy about this tactic is that strikers are actually scoring goals! Wow, what a relief. It's so hard in this FM for them to be useful, but here it works(for now). 

Random Notes: The WBs are key. A world class player here can make all the difference. If my back up wingback with 8 finishing can score braces then imagine what a beast of a player can do here. I also like how many assists my Mezzala provides. Could be just form, but so far it's looking good. The Carriero is not very impressive so far, but it could be just that De Roon hates me  

Just as a general tip - make sure to train the players in the roles and duties they will play in the team. That maxes out familiarity and allows the tactic to play to it's best. 

TL;DR - I added Distribute to CBs and made sure to train the BPDs to bring the ball out of defence. I also dropped the mentality to Positive and I use Ilicic AND Gomez az double Trequartista. I'm loving it so far! 

Overall it plays well, wins games and it's fun to watch. Keep in mind that it's a very small sample size, but in FM you don't need that many games for a team to gel and see what works and what doesn't. It's definately more fun than anything else I've tried on FM 20. Thank you @SixPointer for making this! 

Am so glad to have inspired your game! and thrown up some new ideas and ideas other people have already hit with. It’s such a complex system. So it is hard for true replication but I feel I’ve gotten as close as the ME will allow. 

I’ve not done it with Atalanta. So it’s probably a little different. However I totally agree that I see illic as a TREQ I just never got a player capable of the role. 

again I agree with the BPD statements. I use players that are both capable of playing full back as well as a centre back. 
 

The Papu Gomez role am not sure I agree with but of course it’s down to interpretation. But he’s assisting and scoring goals as well as much other player. But again a TREQ was a role I tried to get that magical drifting he does. I intend to do a full update purely on him after I finish off my centre midfield one. 
 

i really look forward to hearing more from your trials and your findings the whole reason the thread was made was for inspiration and for bouncing ideas around. Love it. Thanks for you input. 
 

Edited September 15, 2020 by SixPointer

[Impacto]

Bad news boys, the double Treq combo is not as good as I want it to be. It does work and it can still be viable in some cases, but for me it wasn't consistant enough. 

Here is why it can work - the Trequartista is a "ball magnet" role, but since you don't have any playmakers in this system, you're only using 2 bms, which is the max recomended by people who are smarter than me and know how the game works. So you have 2 playmakers/strikers with lots of freedom do to their thing. They both look for space but in different aereas of the pitch. Because we're pressing high and our players have decent work rate, the double Treq is not lazy and actually helps the defence. The striker treq stays further up, but closes down when he needs to. The AMC treq actually drops deep and plays as any other midfielder in defence. Adding "close down" on every single position in the opposite instruction screen helps with that, but I feel it's a bit gaming the system. Also, make sure to turn that off for GKs, because I find that often both strikers go to press the goalie for no reason and leave spaces for the opponents to easily take. 

Here is what goes wrong - basically I couldn't get both Gomez and Ilicic to perform together. It was always one or the other. And in some games both disapeared. The team soon dropped off form and I had to bail on it. There were some glipses of brilliance, but it's not consistant enough. Constant 6.5 ratings even when we win on one of the Treqs. A single treq though remains very good option. Some great goals were scored by players in those roles. I've had Gomez do Messi-esque dribbles, belters from distance and Muriel culred one in with his outside of the boot from 30 meters or something. Fun stuff, but doesn't win games often enough. 

I went back to the original AMs role with TI instructions and it's good. Considering how hard it is to find a proper attacking role for Ilicic I think it's best to keep the Trequartista one for him instead of Gomez, but either way can work well.   

Half way trough the season we're 3 points off the 4th spot and it's looking ropey. My manager is low on rep and some players still hate me, so that is contributing for the inconsistency. My biggest concern is the lack of interaction on the field between the top trio. Everything else seems to be good, but I rarely see them three combining together and when they do, well... the keeper saves. Zapata doesn't score enough so I am experimenting with more attacking roles for him. 

So yeah, it's not overachieving or anything but it's more fun to watch and play with than anything else I've tried so far on FM 20. 

Keep in mind that this is a very small sample size and I still have a half a season to finish. Even then, it's just one season with one team. Could be millions of reasons why something works or doesn't work and on this FM it's very hard to tell for me at least.  

 

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, Impacto said:

Bad news boys, the double Treq combo is not as good as I want it to be. It does work and it can still be viable in some cases, but for me it wasn't consistant enough. 

Here is why it can work - the Trequartista is a "ball magnet" role, but since you don't have any playmakers in this system, you're only using 2 bms, which is the max recomended by people who are smarter than me and know how the game works. So you have 2 playmakers/strikers with lots of freedom do to their thing. They both look for space but in different aereas of the pitch. Because we're pressing high and our players have decent work rate, the double Treq is not lazy and actually helps the defence. The striker treq stays further up, but closes down when he needs to. The AMC treq actually drops deep and plays as any other midfielder in defence. Adding "close down" on every single position in the opposite instruction screen helps with that, but I feel it's a bit gaming the system. Also, make sure to turn that off for GKs, because I find that often both strikers go to press the goalie for no reason and leave spaces for the opponents to easily take. 

Here is what goes wrong - basically I couldn't get both Gomez and Ilicic to perform together. It was always one or the other. And in some games both disapeared. The team soon dropped off form and I had to bail on it. There were some glipses of brilliance, but it's not consistant enough. Constant 6.5 ratings even when we win on one of the Treqs. A single treq though remains very good option. Some great goals were scored by players in those roles. I've had Gomez do Messi-esque dribbles, belters from distance and Muriel culred one in with his outside of the boot from 30 meters or something. Fun stuff, but doesn't win games often enough. 

I went back to the original AMs role with TI instructions and it's good. Considering how hard it is to find a proper attacking role for Ilicic I think it's best to keep the Trequartista one for him instead of Gomez, but either way can work well.   

Half way trough the season we're 3 points off the 4th spot and it's looking ropey. My manager is low on rep and some players still hate me, so that is contributing for the inconsistency. My biggest concern is the lack of interaction on the field between the top trio. Everything else seems to be good, but I rarely see them three combining together and when they do, well... the keeper saves. Zapata doesn't score enough so I am experimenting with more attacking roles for him. 

So yeah, it's not overachieving or anything but it's more fun to watch and play with than anything else I've tried so far on FM 20. 

Keep in mind that this is a very small sample size and I still have a half a season to finish. Even then, it's just one season with one team. Could be millions of reasons why something works or doesn't work and on this FM it's very hard to tell for me at least.  

 

Welcome to my world. I done a lot of trials and lot of pain and combinations to get to where I’ve got. Many things that would make sense IRL didn’t translate well into the game. I think that’s the real issue with GPG system. It’s really so fluid in particular the movement of the front 3 that’s it’s so hard to nail it down. 

[Impacto]

Yeah, it's a struggle. I think I want to try and implement this in FM 18. I wonder how it will look there. It could be amazing to play with, who knows. 

 

 

[sejo]

What about the midfielders combination? Do you still use CAR + MEZ?

[Impacto]

47 minutes ago, sejo said:

What about the midfielders combination? Do you still use CAR + MEZ?

If you're asking me - yes. Both worked well with Freuler as the Mezzala scoring a few screamers and adding some assists. 

 

[SixPointer]

3 hours ago, sejo said:

What about the midfielders combination? Do you still use CAR + MEZ?

Yeah I still do! Am working on my centre midfield episode as wee speak.

[SixPointer]

Gian Piero Gasperini Episode Five

Intro

Back again! after a long hard-working stint, I now have some time on my hands to hopefully finish of the final three episodes of the case study before FM 21 is released. Its been a quiet year in game time for me due to work being so crazy with covid 19 so it would be real result to get this finished off I would be truly delighted.

The Engine Room

Atalanta are well renowned for their free scoring and attacking football. Their free-flowing attack is admirable, but Gasperini’s setup would collapse in on itself if he didn’t have two integral pieces at its heart in Remo Freuler and Marten de Roon. The two pivots in the 3412 are responsible for so many jobs in the system. protecting the backline, breaking up play, providing options in early build up play, making late runs to support attack, essentially there responsible for every aspect of midfield play and both are hardworking all action! here we will take a closer look at the heartbeat of the side.

In the System

Defensive Positioning

In defence both will press and man mark there opposite number in the base shape, but both players also have to be very positionally aware in the sense that there expected to drop in for advancing CB's & WB's. This is more often attributed to De Roon than Freuler. De Roon often providing more cover than his partner, of course depending on what player has advanced.

Defensively, Freuler’s key abilities help stop counterattacks as they arise, which is the best way to get the team back into the attack phase once possession is lost as quickly and effectively as possible, as the player presses early and works to retrieve the ball from advanced areas of the opponent and return the  ball again to his teammates and thus keep the team in constant of attack. Again, De Roon can be tasked with this depending on situation.

Above you can see an example of de Roon’s defensive awareness and anticipation. Hateboer and Toloi have pushed out wide as they track their markers in Atalanta’s defensive structure. A Torino midfielder realised the gap in the defence due to this and looks to move into the space in the channel. De Roon acknowledges the danger and tracks the runner into this centre-half position, and then is able to intercept the pass as Torino look to craft an attacking opportunity.

As this pass is made, it triggers the second phase of Atalanta’s press, which involves de Roon. He has been sitting in front of the defensive line in this move, waiting for the opportunity to challenge any pass made by Inter. As he sees this pass made, he jumps forward to press Gagliardini before the midfielder has a chance to control possession. The result of this press forces the Inter player to make a desperate forward pass in the air which is won back by Atalanta.

These two examples give us a clear idea that he can be seen doing both jobs, albeit from deeper positions we can already see how adept he is positionally.

Here we see an example of Freuler’s advanced pressure, as he extracted the ball from the Milan players before the ball crossed the midfield line and prevented a counterattack and returned the ball to the Atalanta players.

Atalanta’s second stage of pressure is triggered, which includes Freuler, he was sitting in front of the defence in this move, waiting for the opportunity to challenge any pass from Paris. When he sees this pass, he jumps forward to pressure Neymar before he gets a chance to dominate possession.

Some fine examples of how freuler positions himself and how he defends. He doesn’t drop into the backline as much as De Roon, but he however is still positionally aware, he is however more aggressive in the press.

A great picture below shows both players defensive position well as Milan attack down Atalanta left, at the bottom of the picture, the home side are pressing to win possession back. De Roon has moved into a more central position to add defensive cover as Atalanta load players into this area for the press. Gómez is able to win possession back and it comes into a central area. Freuler is on hand to pick it up and dribble forward. He acknowledges the space he has to move forward and is supported by de Roon’s deeper positioning offering cover to allow him to progress the attack forward.

Build Up Play

Both players primary roles in the side are to drop into deeper positions when Atalanta have possession and facilitate attacks from these areas. This will often include them taking up a position as a Full-backs, or even dropping into the space between the left and right central centre-halves. In this area, they are able to move away from opposition’s pressing structures in order to be able to find ways to exploit spaces left open. Players such as Gómez and Iličić are consistently moving in these areas to find space to receive passes and look for opportunities towards goal.

Below you are able to see an example of this movement into the defensive line as a centre-half. Rafael Toloi (2) shifts to a right-back position, Hans Hateboer (33) moves forward, and Iličić drops into the midfield area to present a central option.

Clearly, we can see how key De Roon is to early build up phase. If he isn't dropping into the backline to get the ball and make something happen, he is moving into areas to allow other people get on the ball and make something happen.

It is interesting to notice the compact space between the front-three and back three in build-up, especially when Atalanta centre-backs move up in possession. Atalanta are able to work the ball through these situations with excellent interchanges like Freuler dropping in between the centre-backs, astute positional play, and well-rehearsed blind-sided movements. Freuler dropping deep, De Roon moving a marker out wide and Papu Gomez moving another marker out wide allow the centre-back to play a direct through ball to Josip Ilicic. The man in possession eventually plays the ball to Papu Gomez who turns and drives the ball forward to spread the ball out wide.

 

This shows Freuler does not come as deep as De Roon it, also points to the fact he doesn’t cover for players moving higher up as much but he does however look to get involved in playing out. He is more responsible for the quicker transitions from build up to attack compared to De Roon.

This image below gives us a great oversight of how the midfield three act in early build up. Its no condescendence that De Roon is slightly deeper and wider than Freuler and that Gomez Is now starting to drop into the space left by both Freuler and De Roon moving into half spaces.

Attacking Structure

Attacking wise both players advance up the half spaces helping overload these areas, again this is well drilled and calculated much like the deeper rotations which can see them switch again higher up. There often making late runs to the edge of the area. De Roon often typically coming from deeper. They are also known to grab a goal or two from distance, but they are mainly there as support options. Freuler makes more penetrating runs sometimes beyond the strikers whereas De Roon tends to drift a little wider in the rotations.

Typically, De Roon would drop deep and get on the ball however here, de Roon takes the position and role of an inverted full-back. Here, he has the ability to dictate play from deep positions and also has the opportunity to get forward when the opportunity arises. this is an example of an area de Roon typically picks up possession, As you can see, he has plenty of room to operate as he has drifted into a deeper area as Iličić and Hateboer ahead of him stretch the Torino defensive structure.

This has given the wing-back on this right side the extra security and therefore ability to push higher up the pitch, therefore allowing time for his wing-back to make an over or under-lapping run and finding them behind the opposition’s defensive line.

You can see another similar pattern of play here. Above, De Roon is occupying a very wide position. He allows Hateboer to move up in line with Iličić. The Dutch international passes back into his central defender. This set the wheels in motion for some of Atalanta’s fantastic movement, De Roon drifts wider into a wing back role illic and Gomez drop into the space and Hateboer moves onto the last man this leaves De Roon for a free run.

This picture sort of typifies De Roon’s position when attacking down the right-hand side. Granted it’s impossible to replicate Toloi's positioning in the current ME but, de Roon is often there covering that area and on the odd occasion arriving to the edge of the area. He yet again shows just how integral he really is to the system with his intelligent movement and anticipation even in attack.

 

Below we have a great representation of Freuler superb off the ball running. Recognising the space in behind as Gomez cuts inside. Freuler’s run allows Gomez to either play a nice one two and get a shot away from the edge of the area or simply to slide freuler in behind the defence.

This move displays freuler fantastic ability to run into space to either receive the ball or to drag players out of position. His awareness of his teammates movement and ability to keep the ball moving between plays is an important role in keeping Atalanta’s team in constant attack.

Freuler again finding himself in the left-hand side overload looking to make things happen higher up the pitch.

Freuler drifting in at the far post to be unmarked, Great awareness and timing of the run leads him to being in a great goal scoring position another display of fantastic off the ball movement.

Conclusion

Both players are essential to GPG they represent the engine room and do fantastic job in doing so. They are intelligent in their movement and are extremely hardworking. Both are equally adept on the ball as well as being great readers of the game to snuff out counter attacks. They trigger key movements within the side to make space and begin attacks. Simply put Gasperini front three would not shine without these pair doing the work in behind them.

In Game Setup

By in no means am I am some sort of guru when it comes to this game so am open to debate, discussion and suggestion when it comes to the set up!

Having covered how they play in real life and some examples of how we matched up against it in game. I will now show you how I interpret it and transfer that into the football manager Like, other areas we have explored some things can’t be recreated or there aren’t roles that can cover every aspect but I have come up with something I feel gives us a good representation of what we have discussed above. As usual at the end ill have photos and highlights of the play. for ease Vera is Freuler and Belmonte De Roon

Player Roles

As you can imagine this was an area of great difficulty, both players are box to box in a sense, both players also drift wide into the half space, both players drop into the back line. Already its apparent that there are many aspects needing covered. I also needed to show the subtle differences to each other. There was a vast selection of pairings that came into mind I’ll take you through each and show my process of how I eventually came to an end result.

Basic CM's gives us the offset that Freuler is more technical and advanced than De Roon. Highly customable roles meaning I could try shape them into what I think was needed.

It definitely ticks some boxes and was a decent starting point but unfortunately it never ticked enough. One main reason is De Roon is not a defend duty, as we have seen he also roams and gets forward at times.

Getting the BBM involved was always going to be essential as that is what both are labelled as in real life. I paired it with a BWM to try and show the offset but still having two support duties.  

A few problems with this set up, for one De Roon doesn’t really charge forward and press instantly, he is more calculated in the way he does it. Far more intelligent in that he wouldn't risk losing that cover he provides for others. They both also didn't drift into the half spaces often enough for my liking. A real problem I had found up to this point was getting them to drop deep enough to bring the ball out which leads us on nicely to the next idea.

I tried using a half back and Volante combo to try and get both players dropping deep.

However, like before De Roon didn't support play enough and Freuler never really latched into the half spaces or really pressed enough but the volante did work in a sense and was used with a few other options but to no avail.

This pairing had some success, the mezzala in Particular gave us a lot of what we have seen in Freuler's game.

Although volante gave us a lot of what we wanted again we couldn't really get it moving wide either in attack or in cover sense even with the move into channels instruction. At this point I felt we had freuler pretty well nailed down.

So, the outcome is Mezzala(S) and Carrilero(S)

After delving more into my Atalanta study. the carrilero made so much more sense as, I learned more about De Roon specifically and realised how much covering and shifting wide he done, it all clicked into place. Simply put he wasn’t a box to box midfielder in the pure sense but slightly more conservative in the way he had a strong penchant for covering advancing players particular one’s going down the flank.

The only really issue here is getting him to drop into the back line to start build up play perhaps like a half back or even a DLP(d) might do, simply put there just wasn’t a role that could give me everything in the current ME. Things that I tried were using swap position with the RCB but to me it doesn't give true replication as they don’t switch position in terms of the situation or if one advances. its more rigid when switch position is added and not like the fluid rotations, we see IRL. Which again is similar to the dropping into the backline it’s not as set in stone as say a half back. One thing I did add and would be a good idea was to train the player to come deep to get the ball.

Similar to the carrilero situation after more exploring, I found freuler to be a lot more technical than De Roon and was more advanced particularly in the half space and linking with Papu Gomez, but with the ability to also drop deeper as well. He does work extremely hard of the ball which was a worry but with the team instructions we have ticked he does enough work for my liking.

Together this set up along with the team instructions and the tactic as a whole gives us so much of what I wanted that is available in the current ME in my opinion. People may think otherwise and have other ideas, I am by no means a guru in any sense of the word. so, am totally open to all suggestions and would love some debate.

We have the offset that freuler is more technical/advanced but not by a large margin. We have the cover type role that De Roon is often tasked with but not so much that it blunts his ability to make things happen and advance in the right situations. Both are support duties which was key to show their work rate in terms of being the engine room up and down. The pair drift nicely into each half space helping to form the diamond like shape that is so famous under Gian Piero Gasperini. Getting all of this along with dropping into backline was a difficult task that proved near impossible both do drop deep but never fully into the backline. To be honest the general exciting and fantastic rotations that take place in Atalanta’s play is more or less impossible to truly replicate at the minute if someone knows how to do it I’d love to hear it as it cause me many hours of frustration. Ill finish with some videos in a highlight reel.

Highlight Reel

First up we have an example of Vera (freuler) Pressing to win the ball back and falling back in to cover round the LCB who steps out.

Again freuler pressing aggressively wide this time he forces a bad ball into the Gomez role who is free to counter up the park also take note of the position of the De Roon role covering nicely in front of the back 3.

calculated press from Belmonte (De Roon) as the pass is a loose one he steps forward to press his man forcing him into a back pass. Fantastic reading of the game.

Ibarra (freuler) with a timely high press of his own. Once the initial press is broken he steps up to again force his man into a back pass great example of Freuler going about his business.

Belmonte (De Roon) dropping deep to get on the ball before spreading it wide and then covering the CB as he moves forward before switching again and moving forward and again releasing the wing back in behind. superb De Roon like play.

Here we have freuler winning the ball back at left back before launching a devastating counter attack and nearly getting on the end of the cross. superb shift threw the gears from the transition king.

Marvellous intricate passing on the edge of the box then great movement from freuler allows him to drive into the box and get a shot away.

Young Redondo doing a magnificent De Roon. Tracking and pressing his men wide ten winning the ball and breaking down the line. Text book De Roon this one.

     

Freuler coming deep to get the ball before breaking the lines with a fantastic run before getting his shot away.

 

Some lovely build up play before excellent of the ball movement sees De Roon run off Ilicic and threw on goal to score.

  

Superb football played in the opponents half shifting them from side to side then Freuler making him free on the edge from a knock down then a lay off he hits one the deflection aids it but great move deserved a goal.

 

Nice build up from freuler and Gomez leaves De Roon unmarked and he steps forward and rifles one home.

 

I hope that gives everyone a flavour of how the players are playing i had more highlights but not wanting to drag it out.

Sorry its taking so long I had been working on this all week and decided to delete it by accident wish the forum would give a save your work option for big posts luckily Microsoft word had most of it there but took some time arranging it all again. 

 

Hope everyone enjoys it. happy for loads of questions. First time writing on pictures as well home it works okay. 

thanks for the patience people

SixPointer 

[sejo]

11 ore fa, SixPointer ha scritto:

Similar to the carrilero situation after more exploring, I found freuler to be a lot more technical than De Roon and was more advanced particularly in the half space and linking with Papu Gomez, but with the ability to also drop deeper as well. He does work extremely hard of the ball which was a worry but with the team instructions we have ticked he does enough work for my liking.

Which team instructions? And what about PI about MEZ and CAR?

[SixPointer]

14 minutes ago, sejo said:

Which team instructions? And what about PI about MEZ and CAR?

Both players have no PI instructions that’s why I never listed them. Other than the ones that are hard coded as default. 

team instructions wise we have more urgent pressing which will help the two go about pressing more Aggressively along with counter press which if they loose the ball means they will try to win it back. This helps create this hard work ethic from the two players. And the fact both are support roles they help in defence and attack. 

[SixPointer]

Great when a bit of new timely arrives 

Like I said this is to try give us that De Roon like movement in early build up.

[SixPointer]

Looking for some feedback. 
 

how was the writing on the pictures? Especially the in game ones? 
Was it clear enough? Was it better than being underneath the picture? Is mix good?
 

just before I start my PAPU Gomez episode. 

[skyline72]

1 hour ago, SixPointer said:

Looking for some feedback. 
 

how was the writing on the pictures? Especially the in game ones? 
Was it clear enough? Was it better than being underneath the picture? Is mix good?
 

just before I start my PAPU Gomez episode. 

Good for me!

[SixPointer]

5 minutes ago, skyline72 said:

Good for me!

Nice one my man 👍🏻

[sejo]

4 ore fa, SixPointer ha scritto:

just before I start my PAPU Gomez episode. 

Can't wait

[SixPointer]

12 minutes ago, sejo said:

Can't wait

hopefully shouldn't be too long I am about half way through as we speak but ill be tuning in to watch Atalanta vs ajax later on so that may slow me down 

[SixPointer]

Gomez gives inspiration for the coming post right there!!

Edited October 27, 2020 by SixPointer

[Impacto]

23 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Looking for some feedback. 
 

how was the writing on the pictures? Especially the in game ones? 
Was it clear enough? Was it better than being underneath the picture? Is mix good?
 

just before I start my PAPU Gomez episode. 

Looks good to me, too. 

[SixPointer]

1 hour ago, Impacto said:

Looks good to me, too. 

Thanks bud 👍🏻

[Enzo_Francescoli]

Some of Atalanta's movement against Ajax were simply mesmerising. Your diamonds on the images look really great and I don't think it's possible to get any closer to how they play in real life. Sometime, hopefully in the not too distant future, the game will be able to replicate that level of fluidity, which, by the way, I think clearly is the next big thing in football strategy.

EDIT:

I know you have been trying out just about every possible role combination and I've only been experimenting with Atalanta since watching the game yesterday, but I think the enganche role is perfect for Gomez. It's the one role with the least possible vertical movement of all the AMC roles and the few games I've played with my ideas, I've seen that it moves around horizontally, helping out whichever of the wide diamonds needs it. It's actually awesome when it works.

Edited October 28, 2020 by Enzo_Francescoli

[SixPointer]

9 hours ago, Enzo_Francescoli said:

Some of Atalanta's movement against Ajax were simply mesmerising. Your diamonds on the images look really great and I don't think it's possible to get any closer to how they play in real life. Sometime, hopefully in the not too distant future, the game will be able to replicate that level of fluidity, which, by the way, I think clearly is the next big thing in football strategy.

EDIT:

I know you have been trying out just about every possible role combination and I've only been experimenting with Atalanta since watching the game yesterday, but I think the enganche role is perfect for Gomez. It's the one role with the least possible vertical movement of all the AMC roles and the few games I've played with my ideas, I've seen that it moves around horizontally, helping out whichever of the wide diamonds needs it. It's actually awesome when it works.

The movement and rotations are sublime. There goal tally and attacking stats drew me in when I began research it open a whole other door. I agree the ME will need to find away of pulling it off but it will be difficulty to program that sort of fluidity. 
 

in terms of Gomez I should have a post out Friday latest so I don’t really want to spoil it to much. But enganche is not meant to roam and Gomez roams a lot  and he does drop deep in early Build up. It also is hardcoded do dribble less and by god does that man dribble. 

 

But I’ll be totally honest with you it’s the one role I never tried for him so you could well be into something.
football the game in general and football manager is all about opinions and interpretations. So everyone’s view is different it’s what makes it’s so special 

Edited October 29, 2020 by SixPointer

[SixPointer]

Although the beta is out. I think I’ve got one last update. Bare with me. It’s nearly done people unfortunately think it’s came too late do the episode on strikers but hopefully have a Gomez episode out by the weekend 

[skyline72]

3 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Although the beta is out. I think I’ve got one last update. Bare with me. It’s nearly done people unfortunately think it’s came too late do the episode on strikers but hopefully have a Gomez episode out by the weekend 

No worries.

I believe the idea can be brought to FM21 as well. 

[Impacto]

4 hours ago, skyline72 said:

No worries.

I believe the idea can be brought to FM21 as well. 

The whole concept will probably work even better in FM 21. 

[SixPointer]

4 hours ago, skyline72 said:

No worries.

I believe the idea can be brought to FM21 as well. 

 

1 minute ago, Impacto said:

The whole concept will probably work even better in FM 21. 

I dare say it could as well. Time well tell. But I may shift to another concept. We will see. I feel I built a good solid replication on FM20 so may do another manager for 21. 

[SixPointer]

Gian Piero Gasperini Episode Six

 

Intro

The episode I have looked forward to writing the most and will likely be the last. I am afraid I have just run out of time with FM21 looming large. possibly do a quick glance over the strikers in this episode to round it off. Here I will cover all the fundamentals and wizardry of Papu Gomez’s game. I will look to compare him with our very own magician before showing you how I came to find his role then some highlights to round it off always. This time it will be more about in game than real life. Two reasons, it’s the role am privately asked about the most and secondly its extremely easy to find videos of how Papu Gomez plays IRL.

Sources

I stated in the opening post most of my sources of research but for this ill list them again in case people what to refresh their mind. Due to the fact it being the role am asked about most these sources may help others in their quest. These 4 are the main ones that were a main focus for Gomez. For the team as the whole I suggest checking the list on the OP.

 

 

https://serieaanalysis.com/analysis/player-analysis/alejandro-gomez-201920-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/team-analysis/atalanta-201920-using-rotations-scout-report-tactical-analysis-tactics

https://totalfootballanalysis.com/player-analysis/tactical-analysis-alejandro-gomez-atalanta-analysis-statistics

Mini Merlin

Alejandro “Papu” Gómez is magical diminutive player who truly has the ability to create something out of nothing, well renowned for being a technically gifted, intelligent, and hard-working footballer.

His short stature gives him a low centre of gravity this coupled with his dribbling skills and pace makes it’s a deadly combination for going past opponents. . His range and style of passing is truly mesmerising often being able to unlock defences at drop of the hat. His intelligent off the ball movement regularly allows him to find space to weave his magic. Although Highly creative goals still flow due to the fact, he has a deadly powerful long-range strike and is also a dead ball specialist. To round it all of he works incredibly hard off the ball pressing, tracking, tackling when out of possession.

Argentinos Juniors answer to Papu Gomez meet Matko Miljevic promoted to the AJ first team this season. First things first he plays in the same position as Gomez but not only that he is as flexible as the little man. Being able to play on the left as natural and having the traits cuts inside from left wing and tries killer balls just sings Gomez along with this, we have some key attributes listed that match.

• Dribbling, First Touch, Pace, Technique, Acceleration, Agility (Makes him great for going by players) Balance and flare need improvement.
• Passing, Technique, Composure, Decisions, Vison along with tries killer ball (renders him a very astute and clever passer of the ball) Crossing needs improvement.
• Anticipation, Decisions, Off the Ball, Positioning, Vision (Gives him all the necessary tools to read the game and have really intelligent movement) Concentration needs improvement.
• long Shots, Technique, Free kick & Penalty Taking, Corners (All make for him being a great striker of the ball and a dead ball specialist) Finishing needs improvement.
• Aggression, Determination, Teamwork, Work Rate, Natural Fitness, Stamina (shows he is an extremely hard worker on and off the ball) Bravery needs improvement.

There you have it you’ve met the man I have tasked with filling Merlin’s boots or cloak should I say.

The Numbers

More in depth and more Impressive here I have his creative numbers, averaging 3.19 key passes per ninety minutes, and registering 16 assists in Serie A last season. With an impressive shot volume of 2.89 open play shots per ninety minutes, his goals have followed the trend of roughly 0.25 open play expected goals per ninety minutes.

 

 

Statistics	Gomez	Miljevic
Key Pass Per 90	3.19	1.74
Assists	16	11
Shot Attempts Per 90	2.89	3.52
Goals Per 90	0.25	0.30
Goals	7	13

Miljevic out scores Gomez on all of his seasons bar one, when Gomez hit a remarkable 16, but Gomez at this stage plays more key passes per 90 and assists more than his young countryman. On the whole for a first season the stats are pretty well aligned. It’s also to be noted that I also feel his stats would have been much higher had the centre forwards hit the ground running earlier in the season. Below We can look more in depth at his season.

It is fair to say it was an unbelievable debut season for the young man. 11 man of the match awards average rating of 7.27 for a breakthrough season is astounding. 149 shots 78 key passes 2,035 completed passes and for an AMC Impressive 78 tackles along with 2.47 dribbles per 90 all point towards the master merlin. I would of course like to see more assists and more cross completion but like I state previously the front two only started to click in front of him towards the final third of the season.
The System

In previous years Papu Gomez used to predominantly occupy the left wing or half space, as of late the Argentine has undergone a progressive evolution that has expanded his range of actions into the centre and even as far as the right wing. He has now become a total midfielder, dropping into midfield to organize the play and act as the link between wings and truly becoming a number ten.

In Defence

Gomez is tasked with helping the front two press from the front, mainly he picks up the oppositions number 6 (DMC) or a number 8 (MC) if they drop to help the opponent build from the back. This is his main man marking role, If the press is beaten Gomez will track back and help defend with his midfield partners. As this is covered in depth in the opening two posts, I won’t bore you with defensive jargon from real life. Let’s be honest were all here to see his magic.

In Build Up

In the early stages of build up Gomez likes to drop deep and get on the ball this is aided by what I spoke about in episode 5 with Freuler and De Roon moving wider to create space for him. Gomez is the only player in GPG’s system that has no place in his beloved diamond shapes, Gomez instead is allowed to roam in and out them overloading them when he sees fit. (See Picture below) He does remarkable job of finding the space as he does drift In and out either making space for other or getting on the ball to make a killer pass.

Attacking Play

Gomez is clearly the most creative of the front 3 He regularly looks to slide that final killer ball into the front two down the channels and in behind their defence line, but its not always that killer ball, Papu is king of the one two frequently linking with the forwards on the edge of the box either getting himself free to score or them. With his outstanding dribbling he can often carry he ball from the middle into the final third and even beyond. His vicious long-range strike causes all sorts of problems if defenders back of him to block passing lanes or to stop being committed by him he can let fly from all sort of ranges and angles.

Think its best displayed in the video at the top for anyone who wants to see his sorcery!

In Game Setup

First of I had to work out where his best position actually was in terms of formation. Having tried out 3 options It was settled at AMC.

 You’re maybe wondering why it automatically would be then ten after talking about Gasperini moving him to there. Two reasons

• He still to an extent favours the left even from the number 10
• He drops deeper than a standard number 10

Ideas that I tried out in terms of formation was AML (inverted winger) to create that favouritism but it was far too much I then tried an offset AMLC if you like but he and the mezzala started to take each other spaces along with the fact he didn’t drift to the right hand half space enough.

I tried from the centre midfield role and the (Roaming Playmaker) role to be precise to get him coming deep in build up and giving him of course the ability roam into the wide diamonds at will. The problem here was he never got advanced enough to go beyond the front 2.

So, in terms of Formation he ended up in the central AMC Slot.

In terms of role selection, it was a tricky one and one where I don’t think you can isolate on its on especially when coming to duty. Like previous statements I knew I had to get the CM’s going wider to provide him space in the same sense I had to make sure the front two made space and the right movements this of course has a knock on effect.

I decided early on that it would need to be Two attacking duties for the strikers to give Gomez runners to get onto his passes but also to allow him space to work in. This leans me heavy towards The Gomez role having to be support. To give the team balance mainly but for other reason ill link to later.

The Trequartista role seemed tailor made “Aims to drop into the holes between defence & midfield” even its hardcoded instructions even suggest it.

• Roams from position
• Dribbles more
• Takes risks
• Moves into channels

All things that I wanted. But what proved to be issues was it’s a lazy role in terms of defence don’t get me wrong the right player will still press effectively this issue coupled with not dropping deep enough due to the fact it’s an attack duty which doesn’t suit the strikers and system as a hole wrote this one off for me.

Advanced playmaker another role just from its title you would assume yeah that’s him he is advanced, and he makes play. “Aims to drop into the holes between defence & midfield looks to turn defence into attack in an instant” Hardcoded instructions

• Take more risks
• Shoots less often

Well there is an issue right away, I want him shooting he shoots a lot, another issue that I found was again he didn’t get beyond the strikers enough and the ball magnet effect which is hardcoded due to the playmaking role was stagnating our wide play even with all TI’s I had put in place to funnel it there. Play became to predictable and he could be marked out the game easily.

I was left scratching my head a little at this point as I was certain either one of them would be totally suited to him. So, what I done was list the things I needed, started a fresh if you will.

• Works hard out of possession, presses and tracks back (needs to be able to close down more)
• Comes deep in early build up play (need to be able to roam)
•  Drifts into each half space (needs to be able to move into channels)
• Likes to dribble past players (needs to be able to dribble more)
• Shoots a lot from distance (needs to be able to shoot more often)

What came of all this was a eureka moment for me that I would personalise the standard AMC role. It gave me all of what I wanted above along with my support duty that I had decided on earlier on. I could customise the role perfectly to give me everything I was looking for.

This is how it all links in nicely I now have both CMS moving wide to give space both strikers on attack duty adding depth albeit one then dropping which does give Gomez the space to exploit. Throw in the play out of defence instruction and naturally he is the most central player and will look to drop into that space that’s left as the team tries to play out.

In Game Examples

Defensive Work

Examples I want

• Man Marking Number 6 Role or DMC for Simpler Terms
• Tracking Back if Press is Beaten
• Pressing from The Front Helping Both Strikers to Force Opponent

I’ve touched on it quite a lot in the opening post when I started the study and in this one. But these are great examples of what Gomez is about, man marking the deepest centre mid out of the game. What is genuinely great in the second picture is the man marking all over the pitch. Both Strikers tight to CB’s and CM’s tight CB man marking there centre forward. Wing backs are placed close enough. It’s a Great Atalanta man marking job.

From the picture all 3 players have positioned themselves fantastically to stop the opposition building from the back. The one spare player who receives the ball in the clip is immediately shut down from Gomez, who has laid him pressing trap, which forces him back to the goalkeeper who has to then clear long under immense pressure from Zapata and Gomez. The front three have just executed an exemplary Gian Piero Gasperini press.

Here the clip provides us with two Gomez(Hauche) defensive qualities. First, he is seen tracking back as the ball is turned over as he is aware his teammates have over committed. He then presses the deepest midfielder forcing him back before carrying on his press to force the centre back long which sees Toloi pick off the long ball and begin attacking move again. Counter pressing is key which you do see from several player as soon as the turnover happens.

Build Up Play

Examples I Want

• Dropping Deep to Get on The Ball
• Drifting into each Half Space to help Overload either Diamond

Above shows three instances when the Gomez role is taking advantage of space made for him by dropping deep to get on the ball in early build up stages. This is a key component of his game in real life as he often roams just looking for the space to then get on the ball and weave his magic. Freuler and De Roon roles do play a huge part in this by creating the space which again makes me even more happy with how its turned out.

Building from the goalkeeper you can see how the build-up shape is structured. The keeper then plays to his RCB who drives forward a little to commit the opposition CF to press he quickly shifts it to the CB who plays a quick one two by passing the press then playing into Miljevic who has dropped into the space. Nothing comes off it, so the ball is recycled, and it sets in motion a build-up. Twice showing the role effectively dropping deep if build up play is slow.

Again, building from the keeper but this time he opts to play to the LCB who finds the freuler role dropping deep to receive the ball. He then shifts it to the CB at this point the opposition CF is chasing shadows the ball is the knocked into Miljevic who has dropped deep a quick lay off to freuler (Vera) who then lays off into the CB the wheel turns again and the ball through a series off again quick passes sees the ball advance. Miljevic again coming deep twice in order to aid early build before being released on the turn to make something happen higher up.

Now above you can see four superb replications of how Gomez roams into half spaces on each side. Again, what is pleasing is the other players movement in the pictures as it typifies half spaces of GPG. You can see vary approaches as well to Gomez action sometimes its moving deeper when drifting in sometimes its drifting into the space as the CF moves deeper to allow him to move higher. Really happy with how this has worked out.

Miljevic drops deep to receive the ball. He the drives down the half space before interchanging with No7 (illcic) who has dropped deep. Who lays off to De Roon who then shifts it into the now on running Miljevic who is now able to drive at the defence. Nothing comes off it, but it shows the neat interchanges and rotations that can take place in the wide overloads half spaces.

The LCB is advancing down the line the half space is now taking shape into a nice overload. With the LWB advance and the CF moved wide. Freuler No6 has taking up position to allow him to be unmarked this has also allowed Miljevic the chance to roam in. As the LCB is pressed freuler moves forward allowing space for Miljevic to receive the ball a quick lay off and then a bursting run away shows how adept the role is at coming into the half space to link before again looking to find space higher up after the ball advances.

The RCB brings the ball up then passes into the RWB who has stretched the play he advances before checking back and playing into Miljevic who has now drifted into the half space increasing the overload with De Roon. He quickly off loads to De Roon who plays back to Toloi who quickly releases Miljevic who again is now free to drive into the open space In front of the defence. A real superb representation of Gomez wondering into the diamond like overloads before being set free after a lovely interchange very pleasing on the eye.

Similar to earlier the LCB has found him at the half way line in the half space a quick interchange with freuler (vera) and Miljevic who has now coasted into the overload completely unmarked sees him in space with the ball he plays wide to the LWB before again coming to show for the ball he then takes it and begins to drive up the half space drawing a foul in the process. Much like the clip above it’s a great example of how Gomez plays. Roaming unmarked taking up clever positions where he can really make things happen.

I hope these examples give everyone enough of an idea of how I have managed to recreate Gomez like build up. I feel give good representation to his movement whether it be deep or wide. My main highlight is how I managed to use the other roles and duties around how to actually create the space as well as giving him the tools to go and find the space and get on it. I have tried to resist taking it further than build up in the clips due to the fact I want to save some for the flurry of attacking coming up.

Attacking Prowess

Examples I want

• Killer through balls and assists
• Direct dribbling
• Precision crosses
• Delivery from set plays
• Shots from distance that burst the net

Passing

There is a mass of great passes I could pick and we could go on for days due to the fact he had 79 key passes over the season. So ill try to pick a variety and some of my favourite ones.

A few examples here of lifted through balls in behind the opponents defence. Great vison and awareness to pick the players out wings backs or forwards alike. Yet again showing the qualities and style of play much like his older countryman Papu. This is key to how Atalanta play often Gomez being the man to switch play or play that ball to turn the oppositions defence.

Here Miljevic shows his more direct deadly side. Finding a little bit of space before spotting a superb run and executing the perfect through ball on the turn. Supreme pass and unbelievable miss from his teammate. Little Gomez would be proud of that little deft pass. Remarkable vison from the 19-year-old and the technique to match great weight of pass.

Similar to the last one its show Miljevic basically mirroring Papu Gomez with the ability of making space for himself in a crowded area, his first touch and turn allows him to drag the centre back out to press him, opening up the space for the Illcic role who he then slides in clean through on goal who again misses a glorious chance. 

I particularly like this one. As it shows him stepping onto the ball dribbling to commit a player before picking out a cleverly weighted pass. Giving a great example of Papu how he can just turn something into nothing. Reads the knockdown and in seconds we are in behind the racing defence. Again, the centre forward lets the move down with the finish which as you can already see is a recurring theme.

And last but not least my favourite one. Everything about its screams Papu Gomez. Miljevic plucks the ball out of the sky first time pass in behind. Vison, Technique, Flair and no dam right in doing it haha. Yet again the striker fails to capitalise on the majestic pass.

Dribbling

Here was a little bit of an issue as the ME doesn't really portray trickery very well at this moment in time. But I have a few examples of dribbling. There is a lot of him driving through midfield but not a lot of him actually taking players on.

A little skip past a couple of players before firing a shot away. Tends to be a bit of  trademark in a lot of what am seeing from the role.

Really like this clip. As is shows Miljevic coming deep then the ball being advanced down the flank into Troyansky (illcic) showing how wide he will come before the ball comes back into Belmonte (De Roon) it shows a really nice right hand side overload before Gomez is set free into the space left by Ilicic to beat a man then get his shot away. A hint of the ROTATIONS that I have painfully tried to recreate. Problem is the move starts off as a throw in I feel that has a part to play.

Pulling on the space here losing his man on the turn before dribbling into the box and firing into the far corner. Although not beating anyone directly I feel its a good representation of how Papu Gomez plays around the edge of the area. Miljevic likes to power them as well as Papu.

 

One of my favourite goals all season, due to the fact it really nails down a like for like of Gomez. Tracking back to intercept in his own half, breaking forward beating men, driving at the heart of the defence before a lovely finish. Papu is that you? Miljevic really does help bring my Gomez role to life this is a great example of him living up to my hype of him. He really does possess so many of the same qualities.

Crossing

Most crossing will come intertwined with a bit of dribbling. Although I would say the crossing doesn't come from the bursting runs down the line as such but more edge of the area types which I like as often we see this in the Gomez video.

Couple of instances where he has picked up the ball wide from corners and he driven at his man to get by him and get the ball in the box. I like in the first clip how he controls the ball and the takes the man on turning back on himself to get the cross in very much like Papu Gomez in this instance. In the second clip I like the delivery of the cross how he just sorts of lifts it into the box again very comparable to Gomez.

Lovely run down the half space forcing the opponents back. Cross is probably just a little too deep to be effective. But nice nonetheless to see him getting into the channel and looking for that killer ball to set up a chance.

Another clip that really epitomises Gomez in real life. Miljevic coming deep to get on the ball, Beats a man on the halfway line leaving him on the floor as he skips by him, drives forward into the space, Beats another man on the edge and then picks out the RWB arriving late at the back post who should really hit the target. This and the other clip in the previous dribbling section show that the decision to go with a hybrid attacking midfielder role has really worked in creating that ability to carry the ball forward at his feet rather than just looking for killer balls.

Set Piece Delivery

A big area of Papu Gomez play. Miljevic undoubtedly matches him in this sense assisting 5 goals and scoring twice from the spot. Yet to see I direct freekick go in during a competitive game but sure has gone close. 

Talk about whipped in deliveries. True delighted for the players attacking the ball often leaving the opposition helpless due to them being the hardest crosses to defend in my eyes.

Another one of my favourite moments from "Magic" Miljevic what he has became to be know as. A devastating delivery between the defence line and goalkeeper, He cant come out for the cross and its forcing the defenders back towards there goal. Your taught that as a kid and am sure Papu Gomez would be proud of this kid at Argentinos Juniors.

Couple of well placed penalties to round off the set plays. A few direct freekicks would be welcome just to really round off this aspect of his game to be more like Gomez!

Goals Goals Goals

Well Gomez likes to Smash them in from range. I know someone else who does as well. Can you guess who?

Beautiful little triangle off build up play involving the roles of Freuler, De Roon, Zapata and of course Gomez. Neat play followed of by a magnificent low drive into the bottom corner!

Some brilliant Atalanta like play as the Toloi role finds the Ilicic role with a searching ball who the lays it off to Miljevic in the Gomez role who skips forward to unleash a wonder strike to win the game at Boca Juniors. Truly sublime Papu nods his head in acceptance.

You cant afford to give Papu Gomez that space therefore you cant give it to Miljevic. Makes himself a yard moves into the blasts into the top corner scintillating stuff from the young man.

To round it all off my goal of the season. Ball played in from a throw Zapata (Veron) squares it to the Miljevic on the edge of the box one touch and he pulls the trigger. A deadly assassin from the edge of the area. Half a yard and he is going to strike it. There we have his goal again I hyped the kid but he has proved he has the ability to score goals in the same vein as Papu Gomez.

Summary

When I set out in Argentina, I had one thing in my mind I wanted to make the number ten role great. I had seen many people struggling to get what they wanted from the role. This drove me onto the Atalanta idea in the beginning. I feel I really got what I wanted from the role Goals, Assists, Key passes, Set Plays, Pressing and marking you name it I got what I wanted from it and more.

The reason I think people struggle is they often look at a role or instructions in isolation again I discuss this a lot in the opening post. You need to look at your tactic as a whole. Are players making space for him? Does he have runners to pass to? Is he being man marked out the game? Are your team instructions contradicting and bypassing him? These are all key when trying to make the number ten work. Yes, there a dying breed but little Papu is still carrying the flame and I hope I have done testament to him in this recreation.

A Glance at the Strikers

Young Gaston Veron was probably chucked in at the deep end. Due to the fact I never had a like for like in the sense of how Zapata played and toiled to bring one in. Probably a good reason for in future to use the exact team for replications. His attributes also limited the role choice if am honest if I had the right player the role is probably more of Complete centre forward, I just never had the player to play it.

In the end it was an above average breakthrough season for the kid. 7 goals and 10 assists are not bad numbers, and he did do a job. Probably missed to many one on ones which cost him in the end. but he proved to be a decent target and his link up play was good. So, all in all he done the job.

Franco came in at Christmas to be our Josip Ilicic. Basically, he was the best I could tempt to the club. Not perfect by any means but he did have a lot of similar attributes and traits. So far on the thread I have had a lot of people question the role and yes, I a agree a Trequartista could well be more suited as an Ilicic type player. The deep lying forward has proved to also boast many of the football I wanted to see from this role in the replication. drifting wide at times, dropping deep, getting in the box, and playing on the last man.

In the end a very healthy return from the role. 15 goals 6 assists 4 man of the match awards and 21 key passes. Pretty happy with that to be honest.

Thread Summary

Its been a pleasure writing this is up. Granted at times its been slow due to my work and the ongoing Covid 19 issues. I hope everyone has enjoyed it as much as I have and its given inspiration, advice, and enjoyment to anyone who has taken a look. I set out to recreate what I thought was a difficult and innovative system IRL and in the game. I feel on personal level its been successful. I wish I had more game time, but I dedicated myself to the thread. I probably could have left it at the first post but felt I had more to give especially in terms on visual explanation.

What’s next with fm21 now well on its way I may do more recreations am open to suggestions on them as I haven’t decided what manager, team, DNA, or style I would like to base my game on. Which again I do all the time. Before I struggled with tactics in the game but after many hours reading the hero’s of the forum I found that if I go down the route of a real life idea its easier for me to see what’s working in the game. I am no guru at the game like I have stated before so there is hope for us all and this forum is truly the place to find it. I may well go back to a heavily tactically focused career update much like my Banik Ostrava game at the start of fm20 which allows for game time.

 

Thanks for all the readers, comments, debates, and support hope you enjoyed it.

SixPointer

[SixPointer]

Question?

This year I have been using the system below so far. Not a true Atalanta replication but I used some elements off there play.

I plan to do a small write up on the success of the system, what weapons its has along with some in depth set plays. Also its weakness and of course why and how I built it. 

BUT!

With the winter update out, it wont be long until I embark on a new save. Which will spark a possible replication. My question or rather my request is for some good suggestions.

Ive thought about Julian Nagelsmann and that's where I am at right now. I like his flexibility and philosophy, plus he is probably one of the most exciting managers in the world.

But id like to hear what other people think. Happy to do a historic team/manager or someone right now. I would like it to be something quite unique or something that hasn't been done often. Such as Pep there is no point in that as there is many out there. More likely better than mine.

Thanks in advance 

[Ronnieekelund]

4 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Question?

This year I have been using the system below so far. Not a true Atalanta replication but I used some elements off there play.

I plan to do a small write up on the success of the system, what weapons its has along with some in depth set plays. Also its weakness and of course why and how I built it. 

BUT!

With the winter update out, it wont be long until I embark on a new save. Which will spark a possible replication. My question or rather my request is for some good suggestions.

Ive thought about Julian Nagelsmann and that's where I am at right now. I like his flexibility and philosophy, plus he is probably one of the most exciting managers in the world.

But id like to hear what other people think. Happy to do a historic team/manager or someone right now. I would like it to be something quite unique or something that hasn't been done often. Such as Pep there is no point in that as there is many out there. More likely better than mine.

Thanks in advance 

How about tuchel at Chelsea with his 3 centre backs and 1 and sometimes 2 floating number 10s?

[SixPointer]

9 hours ago, Ronnieekelund said:

How about tuchel at Chelsea with his 3 centre backs and 1 and sometimes 2 floating number 10s?

Yeah definitely an interesting system. Tbh I’ve just switched on my current save to 523 with both the outside strikers dropping a DLF AND F9. And it’s throwing up some tuchel moments. 
 

Good idea and one I’ll definitely consider when it comes to doing my replication post. 
 

thanks for your input. 

[halfspace3000]

Julian Nagelsmann will be very nice to see

[SixPointer]

56 minutes ago, halfspace3000 said:

Julian Nagelsmann will be very nice to see

Think that’s what am thinking! He has been done on the forums before. But not as much as others  

Pep is done loads 

biesla done loads 

[heutheo]

nagelsmann is versatile, sometimes playing 2 pure strikers up front but sometimes just playing attacking mids there, I assume tuchel is also doing some kind of tactical tricks

atalanta is very straight forward

would be interesting to see insights on when to make which tactical switch

[Valtte]

On 24/02/2021 at 20:02, SixPointer said:

My question or rather my request is for some good suggestions.

 

Nice topic!

My suggestion: Antonio Conte. Also 3 cb system but more defensive and direct.

I've watched Atalanta a lot and imo Zapata-Ilicic roles should be DLF combination, DLF-A & DLF-S.

[SixPointer]

36 minutes ago, Valtte said:

Nice topic!

My suggestion: Antonio Conte. Also 3 cb system but more defensive and direct.

I've watched Atalanta a lot and imo Zapata-Ilicic roles should be DLF combination, DLF-A & DLF-S.

another good option. problem being am using 343/352 at the minute and am going to write that up shortly. Not a replication just how I build my systems. 

eh in terms of the strikers in the setup here. I didn't really have the players to truly get them working. I think its actually a CF Treq combo but i havent watched Atalanta since Papu left!!!

[skyline72]

On 25/02/2021 at 02:02, SixPointer said:

Question?

This year I have been using the system below so far. Not a true Atalanta replication but I used some elements off there play.

I plan to do a small write up on the success of the system, what weapons its has along with some in depth set plays. Also its weakness and of course why and how I built it. 

BUT!

With the winter update out, it wont be long until I embark on a new save. Which will spark a possible replication. My question or rather my request is for some good suggestions.

Ive thought about Julian Nagelsmann and that's where I am at right now. I like his flexibility and philosophy, plus he is probably one of the most exciting managers in the world.

But id like to hear what other people think. Happy to do a historic team/manager or someone right now. I would like it to be something quite unique or something that hasn't been done often. Such as Pep there is no point in that as there is many out there. More likely better than mine.

Thanks in advance 

Sir Alex Ferguson!

1999 and 2006 to 2009!

[SixPointer]

2 hours ago, skyline72 said:

Sir Alex Ferguson!

1999 and 2006 to 2009!

Strange I have been thinking about that as well. I think my career update is about done and I plan on doing a tactical write up about what I’ve used in the save. Then I’m going to really look at a replication. But I may go down the route of a style than a actual team. 
 

so far am thinking either 

 

Louis van gaal ajax 

Diego Simone at athletico

alex Ferguson 1999

De zebri at sassulo

wenger invincibles 

[Louisking1992]

On 24/02/2021 at 18:02, SixPointer said:

Question?

This year I have been using the system below so far. Not a true Atalanta replication but I used some elements off there play.

I plan to do a small write up on the success of the system, what weapons its has along with some in depth set plays. Also its weakness and of course why and how I built it. 

BUT!

With the winter update out, it wont be long until I embark on a new save. Which will spark a possible replication. My question or rather my request is for some good suggestions.

Ive thought about Julian Nagelsmann and that's where I am at right now. I like his flexibility and philosophy, plus he is probably one of the most exciting managers in the world.

But id like to hear what other people think. Happy to do a historic team/manager or someone right now. I would like it to be something quite unique or something that hasn't been done often. Such as Pep there is no point in that as there is many out there. More likely better than mine.

Thanks in advance 

What about Marcelo Gallardo's 4-1-3-2 Narrow system that he uses at River Plate! 

[skyline72]

9 hours ago, SixPointer said:

Strange I have been thinking about that as well. I think my career update is about done and I plan on doing a tactical write up about what I’ve used in the save. Then I’m going to really look at a replication. But I may go down the route of a style than a actual team. 
 

so far am thinking either 

 

Louis van gaal ajax 

Diego Simone at athletico

alex Ferguson 1999

De zebri at sassulo

wenger invincibles 

Im interested in LvG Ajax and SAF 07/08(probably the greatest Man Utd side)

[SixPointer]

9 hours ago, Louisking1992 said:

What about Marcelo Gallardo's 4-1-3-2 Narrow system that he uses at River Plate! 

That could be very interesting. Only thing is the one am getting ready to write up is a winger less tactic so was maybe looking for something with wide men. But definitely will look into this as well 

[SixPointer]

5 hours ago, skyline72 said:

Im interested in LvG Ajax and SAF 07/08(probably the greatest Man Utd side)

They are definitely contenders! 

[SixPointer]

The other thing will be what time to use doing it. Which again will depend on the style. Using Argentinos juniors was mainly because they have a similar philosophy as Atalanta. And a player who could be like papa Gomez. Infact most players were covered apart from the strikers. So eventually it will be down to what team to replicate and what team do use in doing so! 

[skyline72]

You might want to consider Ancelotti christmas tree at AC!

[SixPointer]

4 hours ago, skyline72 said:

You might want to consider Ancelotti christmas tree at AC!

Another epic team and tactic!! Think the list will be huge by the end. I’ll maybe put it to some sort of vote when the time comes to do it 

[Fantasista10]

I really enjoyed this thread previously, and would love to know if anyone is having a crack at a Gasperini inspired tactic for FM22. 
 

With the new Wide Centreback role I think we can finally create those wide overloads/rotations that are so key to his system. 
 

I’m doing lots of tinkering at the moment but taking great inspiration from your good work here @SixPointer

[yellowforever]

I have something working at the moment with Atalanta that works very well. Lots of wide overloads and off the ball runs, the WCB definitely helps.