attacking trio

[nidhar.ram]

I have loaded a new Barcelona save and got me thinking on how to set-up my front three combining to produce movements making it hard for opposition defense. While the standard 4-3-3 with wide wingers is not a bad idea with Grizi and Messi as wide forwards and Suarez at no-9 as a CF  on support. the approach worked well and I won everything there is, but I didn't see that link-up play amongst the front 3 to be fluid as something similar to MSN.

Hence I wanted to put them close to each other so that they form a strong partnership and can read each other's movement really well and react to it. All the three players have great first touch, technique, anticipation, composure, off the ball, flair, agility and balance. This should enable them to produce excellent link-up play with fluid movements and quick exchange of passes between them.

I would like to get some feedback on the roles and duties in order to achieve this. Below is my current set-up. please share your thoughts. I have instructed both the strikers to stay wider.

 

[zyfon5]

19 minutes ago, nidhar.ram said:

I have loaded a new Barcelona save and got me thinking on how to set-up my front three combining to produce movements making it hard for opposition defense. While the standard 4-3-3 with wide wingers is not a bad idea with Grizi and Messi as wide forwards and Suarez at no-9 as a CF  on support. the approach worked well and I won everything there is, but I didn't see that link-up play amongst the front 3 to be fluid as something similar to MSN.

Hence I wanted to put them close to each other so that they form a strong partnership and can read each other's movement really well and react to it. All the three players have great first touch, technique, anticipation, composure, off the ball, flair, agility and balance. This should enable them to produce excellent link-up play with fluid movements and quick exchange of passes between them.

I would like to get some feedback on the roles and duties in order to achieve this. Below is my current set-up. please share your thoughts. I have instructed both the strikers to stay wider.

 

Can you share your full tactics here? A full picture of your tactics is needed as the tactical things in the game do not work independent of each other.

[nidhar.ram]

Below is my current set-up. It is still WIP and feedback to instructions/ roles and duties is welcome.

 

[TheJanitor]

I would consider playing Suarez with attacking duty. That way him and Griezmann would create more space for Messi to do his thing.

Also, maybe remove the overlap instructions, so the focus would be more on the middle?

[Spiegel]

Here's my take;

• What's immediately apparent by your selection of roles and duties is that your centre block (3CBs and 2 CMs) are drastically more conservative than your front three. 
• Your team instructions suggest (perhaps overly so) that you want to play a possession game. Combined with your roles, everyone bar your forwards, and perhaps your full backs, are playing defensively and taking minimal risks.
• Linking the items above - how are these instructions going to help you get the ball to your forwards?

I would change the following roles; 

• Both WBs to CWB(A). Both are capable playmakers, and they're your only source of attacking width, let's give them the freedom to do some damage.
• All three defenders to BPD. This will encourage them to move into the space behind your midfield look for your forwards with through balls. CD(D) will typically take the easiest passing option. 
• I agree with TheJanitor - I would also propose moving Suarez to attacking duty.

In terms of Team Instructions, you have every possession 'enhancing' instruction set up. The 5-3-2 doesn't give you the attacking width that a 4-3-3 does, so full on 'Tiki-Taka' isn't really an option. 

• Remove both overlaps. With no wingers, this only increases your wing back's mentality - we've done that by changing them to attacking duty. 
• Use 'Exploit the Middle' instead. This will increase the mentalities of your central players and balance things out a bit. 
• Change to 'Attacking' mentality. This will further balance out the mentalities of your central players.
• Increase tempo to medium. You need to get the ball to your forwards fairly quickly.
• Attacking width to medium. Most of your players are in the middle anyway.

I've attached a before/after image of your player mentalities using Oliver Jensen's superb mentality calculator (https://theresonlyoneball.com/2018/01/23/a-mentality-and-team-shape-calculator-for-football-manager-2018/) which gives a great indication of how your team shape will look.

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by Spiegel

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, nidhar.ram said:

Honestly, when it comes to the front 3, I personally would probably set them up this way (taking into account the players in question, of course):

F9       AF

TQ

F9 - Griezmann

AF - Suarez

The more attacking wing-back would be on the left - either WB on attack or CWB (on either duty). The RWB would remain a wing-back on support.

The CM duo looks okay, although perhaps you don't need another playmaker (because you already have Messi as a TQ up front). So De Jong could be switched either to a mezzala on support or a BBM (depending on which role better suits his attributes). 

In-possession instructions may prove a bit problematic in the sense of slowing play down too much. As Barca, you are going to face very defensive opposition in almost every match. By being so slow and patient when attacking, you are actually giving them too much time to regroup and consolidate defensively, which can cause you to struggle to break them down. Fairly narrow width also does not look like a good idea. Firstly because your formation is already narrow. Secondly, by narrowing your attacking play, you are limiting your players' options when they need to break down those tight and stubborn opposition defenses. 

[nidhar.ram]

I have taken advice and below is the set-up. I am going to play a couple of  matches and look for pros and cons. Mainly the link up at the top

 

[Experienced Defender]

5 minutes ago, nidhar.ram said:

I have taken advice and below is the set-up. I am going to play a couple of  matches and look for pros and cons. Mainly the link up at the top

 

This definitely looks better. Maybe a problem could be having 2 highly roaming and creative roles such as TQ and CF among the front 3, because none is really focused on attacking space and trying to score in a simple manner. That's why I suggested the AF role for Suarez.

But anyway, try the tactic out and see how it works