Issues with a lone forward in 4-1-4-1 DM Wide

[GoldenGoal]

Hi. I took over Monaco this season (2045 so only newgens) and noticed they had plenty of good two footed wingers and fast players everywhere, so I tried creating a tactic around that. I took the default wing play and made some adjustments.

I also want to keep a tight end at the back so I don't tend to have many players at attacking mentality. The idea is to distribute to the wingers so they can cross or come inside the box and look for pass or goal. I don't mind about possession much; if I'm playing a possession oriented team I up the pressure to try to get the ball more.

We are now 3rd in the league and fewest goals conceded, but I'm far from the goals scored compared to second and first place. A lot of victories are 1-0s with penalties and other scrapped goals. We are not in continental football because the team got 11th position last season but we seem to be in good position to qualify if Lyon and Guingamp don't pick up the pace.

The lone striker is rarely involved in the game. Most of the time they seem to sit at the box and just wait. Sometimes they get a through ball or rebound but it's hard to even find them for tap-ins because of the defenders surrounding them. Most goals scored are by the wingers, attacking midfielder, long range shots, set pieces and penalties. I've been experimenting with the striker roles and mentalities but didn't have much effect.

I like to play with an Anchor Man to better protect the defense, to recycle possession if its lost on the midfield or if the players need to pass back because they can't find a way in. The only individual instruction I added is Cross More Often for the WB/LB.

For the last 10 matches, out of 23 goals scored only 6 were scored by the strikers (1 was a penalty and on 1 the striker was playing as a winger RMD).

Looking for input.

More pics of the formation analysis here.

These are the players I have available for the striker position:

Main strikers:

Santiago Riffel - Main penalty taker. Form

Victor Tomarov - Form

Others available:

Cedric Moussa - I play him as the IF on the left but I can move him to striker if you believe he could be suitable.

Nicolás Cardozo - I play him as the AP on the midfield most of the time, occasionally on IF as well. Could try him on striker position.

Bastien Gourges - Reserve.

Igor Coric - I play him more as the CM and sometimes as the AP. Never tried him on striker position.

Edited July 14, 2020 by GoldenGoal

[Experienced Defender]

If you want a wing-play as your tactical style, then - among other things - you need a more simple and focused striker role (as opposed to highly creative and roaming). In your setup specifically, I would prefer DLF on attack duty, simply because you have an IF on attack in AML. Otherwise, my preferred choice would be PF on attack. 

But as I said, there are a couple more changes I think you should make if wing-play is really the style of football you want to play. I guess you have a good reason why you opted for that particular style and not something else. 

[GoldenGoal]

I tried setting strikers various things, from more simple roles to creative ones, but I'll give DLF - A a try.

What changes would you make for wing play? I chose it because wingers at the club are good and I was also interested in seeing IFs play since last club I played I didn't use them.

[Experienced Defender]

44 minutes ago, GoldenGoal said:

What changes would you make for wing play?

Instructions-wise, I would definitely remove both the overlap (L) and underlap (R). Because wing-play is more of a counter-attacking type of football than possession-oriented, so you don't need TIs that tend to slow down your attacking play. Focusing play down the flanks already encourages your fullbacks to be more attack-minded.

When it comes to roles/duties, I don't see much point in using an IWB as a role in a wing-play tactic. Other potential tweaks would depend on whether you insist on playing the IF in AML or not. 

[GoldenGoal]

Yeah I was just trying to make stuff more dynamic, hence the IWB to try to underlap while the winger stays wide. Wasn't going pure wide play I suppose, tried to have some alternative ways of attacking other than only wide. I'll remove the overlap and underlap and see how it goes.

[Experienced Defender]

Nothing wrong with an IWB as a role in general (provided you have the right player for it), just doesn't go hand in hand with wing-play. In a different style of football, an IWB on support behind an attacking AP and a winger would be a great role combo in terms of space creation and utilization.