Your Favourite Tactical Quirks.

[R0ca]

I was just playing against West Ham. I went 1-0 up after 10 minutes, a goal from a corner. This prompted West Ham to abandon their 4-2-3-1 and change to a 4-1-4-1 and there you have the backdrop to this thread!

West Ham's change of shape was literally cake to a fat kid, they basically begged me to employ my favourite tactical quirk. Let me explain a bit further.

What West Ham did in essence was Isolate there main goal scoring threat:-

Now as you can see he's quick, and he can finish. He'll do well with the ball played into feet or with a ball played in behind. It's my job to now neutralise this threat and he is a threat.

In order to this what i did was first of all change my defensive roles. I started out with a flat back four 2 full back's on automatic and 2 CB's on defend. The Cb's in question are more naturally stopper and cover players 1 is natural very quick and has good mental stats. The other being Phil jones a aggressive stopper who loves to attack the ball Perfect! I then changed them to Cover and Stopper and manually Tweaked the Stopper's mentality increasing him to the final notch of attacking. Hard tackling and closing down all over the pitch. I figured if Jones missed anything Vazquez is quick enough to sweep up behind him.

I also increased the pressing level for the entire team. The reason is 2 fold to isolate gasparanini effectively it was imperative to limit West Ham's time on the ball, so hard pressing all the way throughout the team lead to a big gulf emerging as i pressed there entire team and made them play long balls which Jones gobbled up like the fat kid with the cake.

Now usually I'd go hard tackling throughout the team as well. However the referee was laid his marker out by booking my winger for a inocious challenge within 2 mins of kick off so i decided against this for this particular game.

I'd also usually push higher up but with gasparini's pace and me not needing a goal i decided against going any higher risk in this game.

So to summarise the shouts i used were:- Hassle Opponents, Push Higher up & Get stuck in.

Feel free to share your little quirks!

[Tom14]

I personally love a team who play quite narrow. Leaves a lot of room for my accurate wingers and full back to whip in a perfect cross.

[R0ca]

I personally love a team who play quite narrow. Leaves a lot of room for my accurate wingers and full back to whip in a perfect cross.

Do you do anything in particular to maximise this?

[lucatonix]

Using the attack strategy to start against Chelsea away from home. It makes my wingers exploit the space left on the wing by the full backs and increases the urgency of the attacks as well as increases the closing down to try and pressurise them so they are forced to finish their move before their full backs can offer them the vital width they need so they spend a lot of time in no man's land (not covering my wingers or supporting the attack).

By playing wider and more aggressively it makes the counter attacks more successful. It also tires out the opposition since their diamond essentially chases our team as we play the ball to the open full-back constantly just keeping possession so their attempt to press is pretty futile.

[R0ca]

Using the attack strategy to start against Chelsea away from home. It makes my wingers exploit the space left on the wing by the full backs and increases the urgency of the attacks as well as increases the closing down to try and pressurise them so they are forced to finish their move before their full backs can offer them the vital width they need so they spend a lot of time in no man's land (not covering my wingers or supporting the attack).

By playing wider and more aggressively it makes the counter attacks more successful. It also tires out the opposition since their diamond essentially chases our team as we play the ball to the open full-back constantly just keeping possession so their attempt to press is pretty futile.

This is a very sound strategy with a bit of thought and some re-search it can be very enjoyable watching your team negate your opponents threat and totally disrupt the flow of there game without altering your own way of playing. The actual theory is very similar to my post where your stopping the opposition in the first phase of play.

Luca if you don't already try to employ this with an aggressive CB as i've suggested in my OP you will be able to pin your opponents right back in there own half and dictate play in there half. It's real satisfying watching tactical theory take affect so well on the pitch.

[lucatonix]

This is a very sound strategy with a bit of thought and some re-search it can be very enjoyable watching your team negate your opponents threat and totally disrupt the flow of there game without altering your own way of playing. The actual theory is very similar to my post where your stopping the opposition in the first phase of play.

Luca if you don't already try to employ this with an aggressive CB as i've suggested in my OP you will be able to pin your opponents right back in there own half and dictate play in there half. It's real satisfying watching tactical theory take affect so well on the pitch.

I might try this but the problem is too aggressive and they will go after the AMC which is a big no no when they have two STs as well. Also my CBs at the moment aren't great with Jones and Varane still developing, I have no stopper with Vermaelen and Koscielny currently starting. Both are more cover defenders so a defend defend combination works well for the time being.

[R0ca]

I might try this but the problem is too aggressive and they will go after the AMC which is a big no no when they have two STs as well. Also my CBs at the moment aren't great with Jones and Varane still developing, I have no stopper with Vermaelen and Koscielny currently starting. Both are more cover defenders so a defend defend combination works well for the time being.

Good point, this won't work so well if someone's sitting in the hole. What system do you play Luca? I think if i was playing my 4-2-3-1 against this system i'd be more inclined to drop deeper and play narrower and do as you've said have my wingers pushed right up against their fullbacks. I fully concur that the best way to stop the diamond is in the first phase of possession, letting it advance upfield can present you with such a multitude of problems. I'm at loathe to change my formation too!

[lucatonix]

I play a 4231 but do sometimes use a 433 (wingers at AMR/AML) when against teams with AMC. I tend to stick with my 4231 against Chelsea and basically aim to tire out the team and hit them on the break. It does require very hard working midfielders though so only one creative player in the middle of the park fits the bill - Cesc Fabregas.

[Tom14]

Do you do anything in particular to maximise this?

I use touchline shouts play narrow and exploit flanks. It seems like a contradiction but it helps me not give up ground in the middle of the pitch and means my players will focus on passing out wide where I have acres of space. I also instruct my full backs to cross often.

[R0ca]

I use touchline shouts play narrow and exploit flanks. It seems like a contradiction but it helps me not give up ground in the middle of the pitch and means my players will focus on passing out wide where I have acres of space. I also instruct my full backs to cross often.

Makes perfect sense to, compress the play in the centre of the pitch and get the ball out wide quickly to make use of the vacated space. There's just so many variations and styles of play to choose from it's interesting to see how others attack the same game as myself.

I'm currently enjoying FM more than i ever have. Playing my matches in full detail is awesome and has really improved my understanding of the implications of my own decisions.

[Tom14]

I always view full matches. Really helps in that you can see where your players are positioning themselves, etc.

[Kawee]

Favourite Tactical Quirks?

Full pitch man-to-man marking + channeling attacks + sweeper, used when I'm trying to close out a game.

What I do is a reduce closing down of every playing to very low (not lowest, but very low,) and set each and every single one of them to specifically man mark someone, except for me striker. However, I leave their CBs alone in terms of marking, and set OI to never closing down. Without pressure on the ball, and no one in space to pass to, those CBs are forced to hoof the ball up, where I trust my players to win the ball back, and counter-attack. The sweeper is just there as insurance policy.

I rarely ever do this, but it's still fun to watch none the less.