10-man Tactic That Seems to Work Great

[Joey Numbaz]

I've been using a 10-man tactic that really seems to be working well. I've got some ideas for why it works, and it's really a nice arrow to have in the quiver.

It's based off of the WM Tactic Cleon came up with for FM19. But it has been working great in FM20. And I don't even use the WM as one of my base tactics (although I did train it the first season of my save - this is season 3 now).

I didn't want to wait for the next time I need to use it for the screenshot. These are not the roles I would use if it wasn't ten men. The midfield roles would be different.

DLPs can also function as an Anchorman, especially if you don't need a goal.

I've used this for several seasons now, here's what it looked like in my FM19 save.

Pretty much the same thing.

The only PI is the WBRs sits narrower.

I have now played this 150 minutes this season, I've got 2 chances, opponents have 1, despite me being down a man.

First leg of the League Cup Semi, Iwobi goes out with a straight red against Southampton in the 11th minute. We grabbed a goal at 22' and won 1-0.

Away to Burnley we closed out a 2-1 win playing down a man for the last 15 minutes. 

In the FA Cup 4th round against Tottenham, Digne went out with a second yellow a little before halftime. We were only outshot 7-5 in the second half, and held onto our 1-0 lead. We weren't really threatened at all.

I know this is kind of small FM20 sample size at 150 minutes, but it also worked for me in FM19. And in previous seasons in this save.

Basically we still clog up the midfield. The Carrilero helps cover for the CWBa flying up and down the left flank. There is still plenty of offensive push, the opponent can't take our attack lightly. Even the center back as a BPD will take shots at big passes on the counter if it is on.

Player wise, I always have very defensively competent, hard working midfielders, so that helps a lot too I am sure.

Wondering what you guys think - anything I might be missing? Is there some fatal flaw I haven't run into yet?

Hope this helps you out in your saves. Took some experimentation, but I really don't get worried going down a man anymore.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Joey Numbaz

[Joey Numbaz]

Ah found this from a post I wrote about my FM19 save last year ... here's another example of it at work:

Quote

 

So this happened. Check out this 5th round FA Cup game vs. City. We were losing 2-1 in the 84th minute when Richarlison went down. We'd used all of our subs. I went with this tactic. I pushed Digne from WBs to CWBa. I made the MEZa at CARs, since I had no left winger. I made the Anchor Man a DLP on Support. The Roaming Playmaker became a CMa.

It kinda worked.

 

Yeah, all we did was score a 90+4' equalizer. And then two goals in ET. We outscored Manchester City 3-0 over the last 42 minutes once we were down to 10 men.

 

 

[04texag]

Unique topic but good to have backup plans like this for the odd chance when it comes up. I'll look to give this a go next time I'm down a man. Thanks!

[Joey Numbaz]

5 minutes ago, 04texag said:

Unique topic but good to have backup plans like this for the odd chance when it comes up. I'll look to give this a go next time I'm down a man. Thanks!

Yeah, I've been playing this game for 10 years and until that City game above, it never crossed my mind to have 10-man tactic waiting in the wings. That worked so well that I took a screenshot before the game ended (that isn't it - no Richarlison, so must have been from a later game) and I've been using it ever since.

Definitely interested to see how this works for other people, or if I've just been getting lucky/have the perfect players for it.

Edited July 18, 2020 by Joey Numbaz

[Amazingortega]

What’s your main tactic like ? 

[Joey Numbaz]

I use two, a 541 for most matches that is rock solid defensively, and scores enough. All four wide players have attack duties and it’s attacking mentality, but the formation is very hard to break down. I am almost always outpossesed - typically 60-40 or worse, but I still manage to get many more shots off than my opponents - and very few long shots. I’ve had games where I am out-possessed 63-37 and out-shoot the opponents 27-3 or something and win 2-0. Rosler posted that for FM19 and it works perfect on FM20 for me too.

As I get higher rep and start seeing more opponents park the bus, I use a 4-1-1-4 against smaller teams that play a defensive mentality against me. That one came from strikerless it’s the V-W formation and is not actually strikerless.

The formations and roles in the two compliment each other well and there isn’t a lot of difference in terms of player fit.

If I am up two goals in the second half, or one goal at around 83’-85’ I have started dropping the two B2B guys from the 541 back to an anchorman/volante-support combo that is even more defensive.

When building my squad, after getting great WBs if I don’t have them already, I always start from the back finding the best CD/DM and then CMers I can and eventually work towards getting better attackers. Once I have world class attackers 3-4 years in, it’s pretty amazing to watch. And as the defenders get to be world class I can feel safer using the V-W more often.

These tactics definitely need the right players to work but they’ve been a lot of fun. And the types of players I get also fit perfect into the 10-man tactic here!

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by Joey Numbaz

[Joey Numbaz]

Update. Champions League Semifinal May 2022. Second leg at Goodison Park against Juventus. After a 1-1 draw in Turin, we are up 2-0 in the 39th minute when Sandro Tonali gets a straight red for a horror tackle. Effectively we are up by a goal and a half. So here we go.

Stats at the time.

We were grinding it out before a complete defensive breakdown in the 86th minute led to a Dybala goal. So I had to sweat out the last 9 minutes, but we pulled it out. The tactic worked again and we are headed to the Champions League Final! Against Liverpool, which is going to be something else, but I digress.

Note, we outshot them 6-4 after Tonali went out.

Edited July 26, 2020 by Joey Numbaz

[Xavier Lukhas]

For whatever reason, 4-3-2 with dual MEZ, DM and fairly attacking fullbacks works well when I'm down. The interplay between the full backs and MEZ works fine, and the MEZ support the strikers well. I'd dare say it even works better than my regular tactics in some aspects, like creating space; even though I'm using identical duties on either side of the pitch save for the strikers...

Edited July 30, 2020 by Xavier Lukhas