[10.3] 4-2-4 Disruption

[maddognorway]

Hey Elhan, just sent you a PM regarding FML

[Elhan]

I finaly came around to make a second version, wich works a lot better for me, especially in the defense. For the V2, I decided to completely revamp the defense since the original version didn't work like I intended, and also spice up the attack part and give my team some fun options up front. I think I really nailed down the defense this time, this is how I originaly envisioned it to work. Keep in mind this tactic has been designed and tested with mid table PL teams in mind. I have no idea how it will work in the lower leagues or if will make your Man Utd side score 20 goals vs Blackpool in the year 2020. For me it, it allowed me to confortably win the PL with Sunderland in my first season, and the second season with all the expensive signings so far is proving even more succesfull. The key word here is success: this tactic was not designed to play pretty football, it aims to make your team overperform. If you like fast counterattacks and solid defending, then in can be considered "pretty" as well I guess, but you won't see any tiki taka fooball. So, some key pointers as to how this system works:

Style and Philosophy: This tactic is a sligh variation of a rigid mentality framework. It is primarily a counterattacking tactic, but not quite in the traditional sense. For example, in many games you might end up having the lion's share of possession amongst others. Keep in mind this is a safety first tactic, designed to make your team punch above its weight.You won't see cricket scores very often, but your team will be a very difficult one to beat.

The Defense: The idea is that the front four players will try to win the ball high up the pitch and launch a counterattack as soon as possession is lost. If that fails, the team will look to primarily retain its shape by employing a stand-offish zonal marking defense, and wait for the opportune moment to put in a good tackle or intercept a ball to launch a deadly counter. This for me has worked superbly, in my first season with Sunderland I won the league with 3 mathces to go and conceded just 15 goals. In my second season, I made some tweaks to make the team more attacking and I sit top of the table undefeated, with a 26/6 goals ratio. The "drawback" of this type of defending is that your opponents will get a significant number of long shots, so you must have a keeper with decent reflexes. Personaly I consider this a risk worth taking, as I'd much rather have to face long shots than defense splitting through balls or counterattacks.

The Attack: A direct, fast, counterattacking style with some interesting player moves. As far as the players go, the left winger is in fact an advanced playmaker in the style of Luca Modric. Cutting inside will drag the opposition's right fullback out of position, creating space for your left ST and your very attacking left wing back to move into. Furthermore, cutting inside will help ammend one of the 4-2-4's greatest problems: not having enough players in the middle of the pitch. The left ST is an advanced forward type of player who will look to move into the space the others create for him. The right ST is a complete forward with a support duty, he will look to drop deep and link with the midfield, create space for your left striker and your right winger and put some good through balls to them, but also make runs into space when possible. Your right winger is a Cristiano Ronaldo type of player: he will make direct diagonal runs into the the opposition's area, but also look to link up with the midfield and put some good passes for the strikers when the opportunity presents itself.

Player Attributes:

GK: A good shot-stoper. Reflexes, aerial ability, positioning would be the things to look out for primarily

Cheap Example: Federico Vilar

DC: Speed is a secondary concern. Positioning, anticipation, jumping, concentration are in my opinion more important.

Cheap Example: Tore Reginiussen

WB/L: A fast, attacking wing back with acceleration, pace, and some level of technical attributes like passing and crossing. Playing an aggresive fullback is not mandatory however, but more of a bonus, since the double pivot gives you the safety you need at the back. If it makes you feel safer you can play a more defensive player and adjust his settings, it wont make a massive difference offensively.

Cheap Example: Peter Masilela

FB/R: This is a more traditional defensive fullback. Speed would be the main thing to look for, I would say a minimum of 14 acceleration/speed would probably be enough for the PL. Other attributes would be the usual stuff you want from a defender.

Cheap Example: Nathanial Clyne

DM: A well rounded DM, if you can afford a guy that can both defend and has technical qualitites (Miguel Veloso for example), that would be great, otherwise Michael Essien type of players will do. Work rate, tackling, positioning, anticipation, stamina are all important, if he can put a good pass in as well all the better. Preferably don't buy players with the "Shoots From Distance" PPM, and also try to avoid players that have a tendency to pick up too many cards (Lee Catermole for example). If you do have such players make sure you have proper cover for them as they will miss some games, and sometimes they will need to be substituted early in a game. If you can't substitute them decreasing their tackling settings is a good idea.

Cheap Example: Anthony Annan (if you can handle his terrible discipline)

AML: A Luca Modric type of player. Needs to be very technical and creative, if he can use both his feet all the better if not make sure he playes on the "wrong" wing (e.g. if he is rightfooted, on the left wing). The attributes to look for would be flair and creativity with just about as many technical qualities as you can afford. Make sure he has a reasonable amount of stamina and speed as well, although this is more of a secondary concern. "Curls Ball", "Dictates Tempo", "Gets Into Opposition Area", "Arrives Late In Oposition Area", "Comes Deep To Get Ball" are all usefull PPMs. Try to avoid players with the "Shoots From Distance" ppm.

Cheap Example: Radja Nainggolan, Milan Badelj.

AMR: A Cristiano Ronaldo type of player. Needs to be really fast with excellent skills on the ball and either decent finishing stats or good balance and the "Rounds Keeper When One on One" ppm. So, pace, flair, dribling balance would be the attributes to look for.

Cheap Example: Gaston Fernandez, Yannick Djalo (you can retrain both of them)

ST/left: A standard advanced forward type of player. Pace, Acceleration, Off the Ball, Anticipation, Flair, Dribbling and either decent Finishing+Composure or Ballance+the "Rounds Keeper When One on One" ppm. Avoid anyone with "Shoots From Distance" ppm. If you can get a guy who is also not terrible in the air (Welliton for example) all the better.

Cheap Example: Gaston Fernandez, and Kadlec, Nemeth, Kramaric if you want to invest in future stars.

ST/right: needs to be a more technical type of player than the other striker, so buy yourself a Brazilian! Flair, Creativity, Finishing, Off the Ball, and Passing, Technique, First Touch if you can afford it. You can even retrain an attacking midfielder like Matias Fernandez for this role as well, you won't find too many strikers with such technical qualities. I believe that if you tweak the settings a bit you might be able to play a tall "target man" type of player here as long as he has some level of technical ability (Oscar Cardozo for example).

Cheap example: Robin Van Persie! Well, jokes aside you need a technicaly gifted player so it won't come too cheap. My personal favourite is Artem Milevskyi. Try to avoid players with the "Shoots From Distance" ppm unless their name is Diego Forlan.

Other Stuff: no OI, no playmakers, no target men. The pitch size I tested it on was normal, I don't know how it will do on other sizes but I suspect it will do just as well on long pitches and less well on minimum sized picthes.

Download Link: http://www.mediafire.com/?9y93g8p552nwp19

Results:

2009 PL Win: My 3 last games were draws since I had already won the title and I played mostly with reserves and youngsters.

The 2010 season so far: I haven't lost a game yet and the team is improving from game to game. Considering I made more than 10 new signings I thing we will only improve once the team gels.

[Elhan]

My best two games were away to Werder bremen, and away to Man City, both games I was expected to loose heavily.

VS Werder Bremen:

VS Manchester City (note that both times they hit the post was from corners headed by Adebayor, I just didn't have anyone as good in the air sadly)