Passing/Possession tactics

[Scottybee]

Now, for as long as I've created my own tactics on Football Manager I have favoured a fast, direct and gritty style of play - usually with a decent amount of success. Man marking, hard tackling, fast tempo, get it up to the wingers and in the box as fast as possible...Exciting, but not a lot of finesse.

I've always admired teams that play an exciting passing game, particularly Ajax and to an extent Barcelona (although they can frustrate me as they lack a plan B to me, sometimes a little bit of direct play is necessary). However, I had no admiration whatsoever for the Swansea City style of play under Brendan Rogers (all well and good tip tapping it around in your own half, they often showed a total lack of penetration at the other end).

My first save on FM13 is with Preston, who I am determined to get playing an attractive passing game. What I am finding difficult is exactly the above, I am getting 60-65% possession each game and having plenty of shots, but only 1-2 CCC per game. It is limiting the opposition to only having a few shots per game but at the same time they always seem to score from them! I feel as though it's not far away, I'm just struggling to find the tweaks to get it right.

My team set-up is:

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Should I change the poacher to target man, holding up the ball and dropping deeper or will he be alright with the winger and IF offering him support? I have messed around a lot with DM/AM - the DM allows a better link with the defence and better defensive play but then my AP is not pushing up into the hole to support so we have a little gap up front...

Also, I have turned off run with the ball for everyone except the wingers who are on mixed, I had crossing turned off but then I suppose I am falling in to the 'no plan b' trap I mentioned earlier.

I'm also finding the central midfielders are getting too close to each other, I'm trying to experiment with runs from deep and wide play, people running in to the channels to create space...any hints in that direction would be excellent. So far W 2 D 4 L 2.

[fireychariot]

I am exactly same as you. I am rotheram. I play both my wide men as IF and so the cut in but do want them to still cross though from an inside position as my forward is an advanced forward who has a liitle speed like a poacher but good in the air as well like a target man. However finding not enough crosses coming and they then tend to pass the ball infield centrally and they then try way too many long shots. I have tried bring my full backs forward and have them cross from deep but not being able to get decent full backs with this crossing attribute is hard. I play one of my central midfielders in the attacking midfielder to fill that gap you talk about.

However I too have all the possession and plenty of shots but so do they as well and do get goals against me. So fustrating sometimes.

[Piethief100]

I'm another in the same boat. Using the shouts of "work ball into box" and "play through defence" is a great way to reduce the amount of long shots you're taking, and really force up the CCCs per match I find.

Also, I have "more roaming" selected on the team tactics page. Rather counter-intuitively, I find it actually makes me more difficult to break down, as my inside forwards will get back more to help out my poor full backs. It might also help out your crowded midfield a little.

I'm currently experimenting with the shout "play through middle", it's called something like that anyway, but I'm struggling a little with it. The problem is, you stop passing wide and dragging the opposition defence out of shape, which, I find, means there no room to thread those through balls. I thought it might work in forcing your team to get right through the defence, rather than being restricted to long shots at the edge of the defence, but I really can't get it to work for me!

Oh and lastly - be careful with that attacking mentality. In FM12 at least, attacking meant taking more risks to try and force the game - more risks meaning attempting more difficult passes, and a higher tendency to shoot. This is going on personal experience only, I've never had a conversation on these boards about it, but I think balanced or control would be more conducive to a possession strategy. To give you fair warning , some might well disagree - though I think it's worth having a play with to see how it works for you.

[Scottybee]

still struggling with this, every now and then something clicks and we play some lovely stuff but more often than not it's just endless passes in a triangle about 10 yards outside the penalty area before long shot/give it away.

Has anyone had any success with this kind of tactic in the lower leagues, or is it just not really possible with the calibre of players at your disposal?