FM 13, Dummy Guide to Tactics - 442

[Rashidi]

Intro

I've been thinking of simplifying tactical creation for some time now. Having played this game for over 10 years now, some things have changed but the fundamentals remain the same. This is after all a game about football. If you want success you need to manage right. So where do we start?

You da Man!

The game begins and ends with you. If you don't have a system you will struggle. You need to decide what formations you will use, and you need to stick by them. Select players based on attributes not out of sentimentality, and above all except when you have failed. When that happens look at the highlights, try and spot the simple things they can all be rectified.

Tactical setup

This thread contains a lot of information about this so I will summarize. Tactics need to have multiple pivots. These are your attacking thrusts. You need to be able to score from multiple ways, but you can't do these all at the same time, cos you will get exposed. Balance needs to be maintained. So lets break things up using a basic 442.

• 1. Your system needs a counterattacking and at least a control variant
  
• 2. Your system needs partnerships in defense and in support
  
• 3. You need to learn how to analyse a game
  
• 4. You need to know how to make controlled changes to switch your focus
  

Lets focus on these 4 points first before we head on to training and match prep.

1. Your system needs a counterattacking and at least a control variant

Get out of the mentality that CA tactics are defensive, they aren't, in fact, they are basically the go to choice for any side in the game whether you are Manchester United or Mansfield. These tactics are all possession based. If you set passing to short you get patient football. Direct and you get fullbacks with goal assists from deep.

What many people fail to understand is that with simple shouts you can change the whole focus, which I will detail later. When you are just starting out with your team and they haven't gelled, go CA. Once your teamwork is there or once you start felling comfortable that your side is doing well, go control. This strategy is all about keeping your team in the middle of the park and with simple shouts you can push them higher or drop them deeper. Control strategies are low risk approaches that encourage players to play sensible passes and calculate risk/reward when they attack. How you increase your odds is via shouts.

2. Your system needs partnerships in defense and in support

Time to focus on the 442.

Lets set up our defense first, two orthodox defenders:set them as central defenders. Just keep it simple and set the other two as fullbacks, one on automatic and one on support. For your defenders you need partnerships so make sure they have these attributes. Absolutely, anticipation and concentration for your defenders. One of them must be great in the air, and the other must be a great marker and tackler. This allows them to work as a team. Fullbacks need concentration, passing, anticipation, determination, acceleration and tackling. They need passing if you truly want to have the magical throughball to your wingers.

When you set the tactic up go to the individual marking settings for your defenders and set them to tight marking. This will always make them play close to the shoulder of wingers and strikers. Their acceleration and anticipation will make them hard to beat. They won't always win, but more often than not, they will make it harder for them to be beaten.

Short passing or direct? They both have their merits. Short passing means you build up play for the back and if you use the shout hit early cross or pass into space, their passing will switch to direct for the through balls when the chance arises otherwise they will play it short. If you want quicker attacks or if the ground conditions dictate you can use more direct. This is where you need to do some homework.

On to our midfield. This is where pivots become important. For your tactic to create chances you need to build them up. We already have fullbacks who can launch attacks now we need players in the middle to do the same. For that to happen you need to create the combinations. You can set up for orthodox wingers, then focus on your midfield engine. This is where it gets interesting simply because of the permutations that are available:

• DLP and BWM for when you want to go 4411, to make your tactic play like a poor mans 4231
  
• Box2Box MC and DLP, a more offensive setup which is marginally better
  
• DLP and Advanced Playmaker, a pretty good setup, but demands a lot from your DLP, he wont be able to holdup ball and pass. So you need to untick this option
  

In my opinion for a 442 formation, I'd probably opt for the DLP and Advanced Playmaker, but therein lies its vulnerability. The fact that your pivots include one player that by default holds up ball makes this a vulnerability. He will win back the ball and hold it up..and if the AI is pressing the midfield as it usually is, this will cause you problems cos he will always have someone in close attendance. It can still work but this is where the most important attribute for this player becomes composure. When the DLP wins back the ball he needs to have the composure and the first touch to play the pass. If his work-rate and concentration are low struggle you will.

The combination between your two midfielders will form the pivot around which your central attacks will come from. Having a DLP with good passing, adds to the variety cos he will be able to switch flank attacks, but this shouldn't be your priority at the start so just worry whether he does the simple passes first. Whats important is winning the ball and playing it out to the flanks and to the other MC. Now lets look at the other MC and what it can offer. If you use an APM, the choice of DLP becomes critical, and to give the APM support you can opt to have the APM on support instead of attack. This forces the APM to be close to the DLP so he has an outlet.

If you find that you need to press higher up the pitch, you can get the DLP involved by setting him to support. He will still drop into the defensive hole but will go up when the opportunity presents itself.

What if you were to use a B2BMC? These midfielders are automatically support players, and they act as shuttlers between midfield and attack. The single most important attribute for this players is decisions thats the driving force for them to trigger their creativity, which in turn unlocks their ability to run at defenses. This is probably one of the hardest positions to get working right because successful B2BMCs require a lot of attributes, 18 if I am not mistaken from having acceleration to run through channels, vital to have first touch or they are pointless pivots. So if you are going to have a B2BMC make sure he has the aerobic and physical abilities. Its a tough ask and there arent a lot of players who can fill that role. Its not critical cos the APM is a far better choice.

An APM is a wise choice because you can have a combination of a Deep Lying Forward and an advanced forward. The DLF will play as a false nine, dropping deep to pull out markers, and if you choose the right one you will also see him pulling up to 4 defenders, to leave space for a APM or a B2BMC to exploit.

Having a DLP is almost mandatory in a 442 because you need someone to act as pivot from deep and having an APM or a DLP gives you another pivot up front. So imho its best to have a combination of a DLP, APM or B2BMC, a DLF and an Advanced Forward. Other managers have used a poacher and thats fine, whats more vital is how you've set up your midfield and your defense. Once you have set these up make sure you have a DLF and then you can combine that with a poacher or an advanced forward. A poacher will generally stand on the shoulder of defenders and an advanced forward will act like a targetman. Wingers..leave em as wingers.

3. You need to learn how to analyse a game

Now thats a bog basic 442. Its time to analyse what you need to do in the game. For a deeper analyses please refer to my thread on heatmaps. For more basic things to look out for you can also refer to this thread where I explain what I did with Stafford and then broke things down as a basic guideline.

Essentially you are looking at heatmaps to determine your defensive lines and how your forwards stack up vs the opposing defenders. If your defenders are too high up they will be turning around and chasing down through balls. Remember last season when City demolished United 6-1. Thats how it was done, which is why Fergie went counterattacking for their 3-2 win this season.

So if you find that your defensive line is too high, its time you dropped it if you find your players too high up. Choice 1, drop deeper. Choice 2 Change strategy.

When I analyze a game I always pay attention to rating fluctuations. If a player goes from 7 to low 6s..its very bad. If it goes down to 5 you absolutely have to do something. If your whole team is averaging below 6.5, the other team is doing better than you. If you are doing above 6.8 you are doing marginally better. So once you've seen the ratings, its time for you to analyse where things are happening or going wrong. When players are not playing well as a pair then its usually tactical. So if a fullback and a winger arent doing well, it usually means that that particular flank is being overrun. If the MCs are doing poorly then it means their passing is shot. So ratings are very important. You could once you've mastered the basics just look at ratings and commentary highlights win a game, but until you learn how to analyse the game thats an unwise route to take, which is why many recommend watching on comprehensive till you grasp analysis.

Another area you want to pay attention to is pass completion rates for your offensive pivots and for your DLP or BWM their passing rate as well as their tackling % completion rate. If for instance your wingers are running too far ahead they get isolated and players need to play long direct passes to them which are easily intercepted. So visual attention to detail is important. So pay attention to:

• Pass Completion rate for MC
  
• Tackling rate for DLP
  
• Successful Headers for DC
  
• Cross blockages by your fullbacks Your fullbacks can block a lot of crosses, how you do this is entirely based on your defensive line, so your strategy needs to be right. Wingers will beat your fullbacks sometimes and that is where your DCs need good concentration, anticipation and jumping to clear the danger.
  
• Pay attention to how the AI is attacking you, is it coming down the flanks, middle or both?
  

I will add more on how to handle all this soon..I need to go and sleep now...*yawn*

[Tha Real behanger]

After reading this, I finaly can win. Eventhough I play as man utd!!

[JackDavies]

Top notch post.

[lam]

Really enjoy reading your posts..... so much detail...... hate the font though

Are you playing a 442 now? I am SOOOOO tempted to move back to one, but I am learning so much by playing the 41221.

[qadsawee79]

Very good post ... opened up alot in my horizons .. would you consider doing a similar one on 4-2-3-1 ??

[Smac]

After reading this, I finaly can win. Eventhough I play as man utd!!

haha!

Nice post rashidi. I'm looking forward to further sections or responding to game as it unfolds (shouts, tactical changes, mentality changes).

[Kazza]

As someone who uses a simple 442 I will follow this with interest. I have set up a another 442 tactic, based on some of the ideas you have presented in your op.

Where my current 442 differs from the one you have outlined is really only in the midfield roles, I have one DPL on defense and was using either another DLP in support (with hold up the ball unchecked), or a CM on support duties and the poacher/AF role. Look forward to see how you will set the "Playing Style(s)". Though, unlike yourself, I have not studied the post analysis stats and heat maps so that will be one area I need to brush up and learn how to interpret.

Nice to see 442 getting a good airing in the tactics forum.There's a couple of good threads now.

[Rashidi]

hate the font though

Are you playing a 442 now? I am SOOOOO tempted to move back to one, but I am learning so much by playing the 41221.

Yeah i copied and pasted from my blog, I do hate the font when it copies over as well..I did play a 442 for a short while, but I was after creating the poor mans 4231, and i did it really fast.

As someone who uses a simple 442 I will follow this with interest. I have set up a another 442 tactic, based on some of the ideas you have presented in your op.

Where my current 442 differs from the one you have outlined is really only in the midfield roles, I have one DPL on defense and was using either another DLP in support (with hold up the ball unchecked), or a CM on support duties and the poacher/AF role. Look forward to see how you will set the "Playing Style(s)". Though, unlike yourself, I have not studied the post analysis stats and heat maps so that will be one are I need to brush up and learn how to interpret.

Nice to see 442 getting a good airing in the tactics forum.There's a couple of good threads now.

The 442 is one of the easiest to set up imho, the midfield pivots arent hard to set up, and the most successful ones will usually have someone deep screening the defense. Thats really the key for all formations, whether its a 442, 4132, 451, 352. There needs to be a screen, and an attacking pivot. Once thats set up then its a matter of how well you've balanced your tactic vs the other managers tactics.

[Rashidi]

Alright time to make the 442

Setting it up with Fluid and Counter Philosophy with these settings:

442 Settings

My team are expected to lose to Bolton, on paper we have nothing to offer. Bolton are physically better than us in every way. Personally if you want to go 442, you need the physical players to dominate, otherwise you are gonna get shot.

Bolton come out with a 4231. The rationale behind me tactic is pretty simple:

I want the right side of my formation to feature an overlapping fullback while the winger lends support to the DLP, on the left side of the pitch I am expecting to see winger runs down the left. My central midfield is weak with only 10 tackling, so they need all the help they can get. So I set my formation to pass to feet, work ball into box, play narrow, hit early crosses. Since I am counterattacking, hit early crosses is a natural shout to use. Work ball into box simply removes long shots and pass to feet should help me with possession.

After 19 minutes I notice that my fullbacks are doing a good job of keeping crosses cut off, we are keeping fairly good control of midfield, we score off some good work down the middle when we score the first goal. My dawdling MCs worry me and rightly so as we concede a goal from play breaking up. Our ratings are still 7.0 so I reckon there is nothing much I should panic over. Its a natural mistake and I shouldnt overreact. We then miss an open sitter and I know that we have got the balance right.

When I look at the heat maps it suggests that I should take advantage of the middle and watch my flanks, the AI manager continues to pour forward and we score another goal off a rapid counter. We go into the break a goal to the good. The second half starts and the pressure begins. I should have gone down to defensive, but we are making some great chances as my overlapping fullback does a complete Glen Johnson, including missing. By now the AI manager is intent to score a goal as he makes substitutions, we continue to concede corners and I know that eventually we will concede, half the AIs shots are from range, and its from set pieces that I am most vulnerable. True enough we concede off a corner thats half cleared, the resulting volley from outside the box is a gem, wished it was ours.

We finish the game 2-2. Its Staffords first time out with a 442, not a bad day in the office all round. The biggest weakness a 442 has is that dangerzone in front of the dcs. If you dont have capable MCs you absolutely need to have players there just acting like a screen. The 442 has holes that are easily exploitable simply because it operates with 2 clear lines of players. Pull one member out and the line falls apart which is why the holding midfielder is important. You also need to make sure that your wingers are physical enough to track the runs of the opposing players. Its a formation that demands you pay attention to player attributes. I need a defensive midfielder badly. The 41221 is such a "secure" formation in that it simply places that extra body in front of your DCs protecting that dangerzone.

[OBK1]

Amazing thread, thank you!

[Elliath]

Thank you rashidi.

I already knew most things, but I'm not comfortable in this new ME yet. You assured me, that my basic principles still work.

[lam]

I loved my 442. It was hugely successful.

I can't remember the exact roles and duties, but it was very similar to what Rashidi is explaining here.

I had one column of my midfield sitting deeper in their roles, something like a CM©, DLP(D) and a DLF(S), to the flank of this there were attacking, so WB(A), WINGER(A) (with IF settings) and the other flank tended to be alittle more cautious.

It made for some very nice supporting players and surprisingly, there was always support available.

I think if you can find some decent players the 442 will be powerful in this ME. When played with a wide setting, it is a nightmare to mark and close down. So far I have found that playing against 442' in this generation of the game is much tougher than previous versions (refering to the flat 442).

[Mattp1980]

Great thread I love 442, I would just like to add in regards to the 2 central midfielders that two deep lying play makers works superbly and in my opinion pretty much mirrors how United plan in real life. I think if you want to play a 442 in the modern era you need to "pivot" the central midfield and pretty much set the 4 in front of them "free" so to speak.

If you think of how United play this is pretty much it, Carrick will sit deep (DLP-Defend) with the other CM just behind play offering a pass backwards for the more forward players and basically supporting them in a risk free role (DLP-Support).

The problem I found with the other pairings was that with a DLP/BWM pairing the ball winning midfielder would go breaking the shape chasing the ball in areas it just wasn't required of him, I think since most teams now play with 3 in the middle it's essential the 2 in the middle keep shape just like the CBs behind them and so this was the undoing of the tactic.

I also found the DLP and APM pairing whilst working well pretty much created too much space in the middle for the opponent to play in especially when they played with 3.

The box to box I've never actually tried so I can't comment on this pairing.

I'm not saying the other pairings cannot work I just think it will always be the undoing of your tactic where as if you pivot them it wont. Just my two cents!

[spankie]

Strangely enough my team plays better against a flat 4-4-2 then they do against any other of the usual formations.

Perhaps because I use no specialist roles and a Very Fluid/Defensive strategy. AF(A) and DLF(S) up front and midfield of CM(S) and CM(D) with wingers on attacking and fullback support. So as 4-4-2s go it's pretty basic.

[Rashidi]

The one formation in this whole game which I believe has more exploitable flaws than any other is the 442, the key to making the 442 competitive is getting really good hardworking physical players. The english showed how it can best be used prior to Heysel.

[Mattp1980]

The one formation in this whole game which I believe has more exploitable flaws than any other is the 442, the key to making the 442 competitive is getting really good hardworking physical players. The english showed how it can best be used prior to Heysel.

When you say hardworking are you referring to mental or physical? I've been trying to figure out why despite have the right players for the player roles my 442 which brought me much success at United failed at Milan, I hadn't considered the formation would require more than just the key attributes for the roles.

[Cleon]

When you say hardworking are you referring to mental or physical? I've been trying to figure out why despite have the right players for the player roles my 442 which brought me much success at United failed at Milan, I hadn't considered the formation would require more than just the key attributes for the roles.

Hardworking as in teamwork & workrate I think he means. When someone steps out of position the player next to him needs to know he has to cover the space and fill the gap etc

[Rashidi]

yeah what he said ;-)

[Rashidi]

Great thread I love 442, I would just like to add in regards to the 2 central midfielders that two deep lying play makers works superbly and in my opinion pretty much mirrors how United plan in real life. I think if you want to play a 442 in the modern era you need to "pivot" the central midfield and pretty much set the 4 in front of them "free" so to speak.

If you think of how United play this is pretty much it, Carrick will sit deep (DLP-Defend) with the other CM just behind play offering a pass backwards for the more forward players and basically supporting them in a risk free role (DLP-Support).

The problem I found with the other pairings was that with a DLP/BWM pairing the ball winning midfielder would go breaking the shape chasing the ball in areas it just wasn't required of him, I think since most teams now play with 3 in the middle it's essential the 2 in the middle keep shape just like the CBs behind them and so this was the undoing of the tactic.

I also found the DLP and APM pairing whilst working well pretty much created too much space in the middle for the opponent to play in especially when they played with 3.

The box to box I've never actually tried so I can't comment on this pairing.

I'm not saying the other pairings cannot work I just think it will always be the undoing of your tactic where as if you pivot them it wont. Just my two cents!

I agree, its much harder to make it work than with a pure defensive pairing as pivots, especially when you start messing with the philosophy settings. The challenge in the engine is managing the space where the 2 MCs operate. If you can get them working as a unit then its good, when they both start leaving their positions then they actually expose the backline.

[Mattp1980]

Hardworking as in teamwork & workrate I think he means. When someone steps out of position the player next to him needs to know he has to cover the space and fill the gap etc

Thanks guys will investigate further

[Rashidi]

One way to get the MC pairing to work ...with an APM and a DLP is by removing the DLPs HUB and giving it to the APM, its an option since having the DLP hold up ball so close to the defensive line can be very dangerous.

[nonleague]

I loved my 442. It was hugely successful.

I can't remember the exact roles and duties, but it was very similar to what Rashidi is explaining here.

I had one column of my midfield sitting deeper in their roles, something like a CM©, DLP(D) and a DLF(S), to the flank of this there were attacking, so WB(A), WINGER(A) (with IF settings) and the other flank tended to be alittle more cautious.

It made for some very nice supporting players and surprisingly, there was always support available.

I think if you can find some decent players the 442 will be powerful in this ME. When played with a wide setting, it is a nightmare to mark and close down. So far I have found that playing against 442' in this generation of the game is much tougher than previous versions (refering to the flat 442).

I quite enjoy playing against the flat 442. I generally have my team play wide and then exploit the middle, usually over-running them through the middle.

[noikeee]

I'm a bit of a hater of the flat 4-4-2, I think it's a slightly outdated tactic for real life modern football. 3 man midfields have pretty much beaten it sistematically at the highest level for a few years now, and the rare teams getting it working (like Man Utd) have hugely fluid systems so that it morphs into 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-4 at various stages of games. Bringing this thinking into FM I've played mostly 4-2-3-1 in my FM11 and FM12 careers, had a short while trying the 4-4-2 wide diamond, then was very unsuccessful using the 4-1-2-2-1 (4-3-3) in my first FM13 attempts at lower league.

Following that last stint I now took over of a side in the Malaysian second division. The team is rubbish, lacks midfielders, and I'm keen to get back to basics, so flat 4-4-2 it is. From memory I've set them up like this:

GK: GK/D

DL: FB/auto

DCL: CD/D

DCR: CD/D

DR: FB/S

ML: W/A

MCL: CM/D

MCR: DLP/S

MR: W/A

STL: P

STR: DLF/S

Rigid/Counter/More Direct/More Disciplined

This team has loads of pace both upfront and at the back, that's brilliant and what I'm trying to exploit; however it also has one very big weakness which is total lack of height. All my strikers are short, all my centre-backs have awful jumping bar one guy who's injured. Which is why I went into my first match with these shouts:

Push Higher Up/Play Through Defence/Pass Into Space

Push Higher is detrimental to my sit deep and hit them with pace strategy, but it'd be suicidal to wait deep for crosses when both my CBs have 5 for jumping. Now, it did work, I won 1-0 away with a bit of luck, but at least the opposition was harmless, all but 1 of their shots was from long.

My questions are:

- Once my tall CB is back from injury, is it worth going into a stopper/cover duo? I've found both CBs on defend tend to work better in FM, but if one guy's an aerial monster and the other a dwarf...

- My DLF was appalling, had no influence in the game. What can I do to get him right? Maybe switch him sideways with the poacher (in line with the CM/d instead of the DLP/s)? All my strikers are of the quick, no creativity, no jumping type, which doesn't really fit a DLF role but it's what I have, I'm not going into a match with 2 poachers. Defensive forward role instead, maybe?

- Ideally to exploit my all-round pace I'd compress my team into a very compact band of close lines, my defence sitting high and my attack sitting deep. In FM that probably translates to playing Fluid or Very Fluid, but I'm afraid of switching to that with such a poor team. Do I stick with rigid or go fluid?

- I've initially considered going "stick to position" with my roaming, to make this a very no-nonsense positional side, but then that would lead to a static game of crosses and my short forwards wouldn't like that. "More roaming" perhaps is better for them, however I'm not sure whether that might be a bit conflicting when I'm also setting them to Rigid and More Disciplined?

- CMd/DLPs is a very defensive midfield, I just want them to stay there and screen the defence with the occasional through ball. So the danger must come from the wings. I probably should always play with the "Exploit The Flanks" shout, right?

Tks for any answers, I know I write too much.

[Jimmyrh94]

Hello.

I found your OP to be a very interesting read, especially because it focuses on a formation which is very much playable with the current United squad. After reading, I thought I would use one of the online tactic creator sites just to map out what my team would look like If i applied some of the instructions you advised in your OP. It actually produced quite a balanced and well thought out formation. Like you said there are various options of attack and pivots within the team...you have the left full back attacking, a dlp dropping back to restore the numbers in defence as well as acting as a deep focal point. You have the Ap pushing up and the DLF dropping back simultaneously, dragging defenders all over the place, this leaves your attacking wingers one on one with their full backs as the central midfielders and defenders are too concerned with what is going in the middle of the pitch. The Poacher, theoretically, should then be left unmarked at the top of the pitch ready for a through ball to slot in a goal.

Here is an image of your formation:

As you can see I opted for an automatic left back, a dlp (s) in carrick and an ap (s) in Rooney. Standard wingers and a poacher-DLF combination

[/img]

I haven't played much fm 13 as I can't get over my addiction of downloading tactics, but this guide has given me some inspiration (granted i say that a lot)

[Rashidi]

there is an online tactical creator site?

[Jimmyrh94]

there is an online tactical creator site?

Well not really, it's just a blank canvas on which you can manually put in your players. I use it to map formations after changing roles and duties of players as its quite hard to visualize it in your head. Do you want the link to the site, its quite handy?

Also, am I along the write lines with how I think the 442 is balanced, its what I have inferred from your post but it might not be specifically what you have implied.

[Rashidi]

I'm a bit of a hater of the flat 4-4-2, I think it's a slightly outdated tactic for real life modern football. 3 man midfields have pretty much beaten it sistematically at the highest level for a few years now, and the rare teams getting it working (like Man Utd) have hugely fluid systems so that it morphs into 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-4 at various stages of games. Bringing this thinking into FM I've played mostly 4-2-3-1 in my FM11 and FM12 careers, had a short while trying the 4-4-2 wide diamond, then was very unsuccessful using the 4-1-2-2-1 (4-3-3) in my first FM13 attempts at lower league.

Following that last stint I now took over of a side in the Malaysian second division. The team is rubbish, lacks midfielders, and I'm keen to get back to basics, so flat 4-4-2 it is. From memory I've set them up like this:

GK: GK/D

DL: FB/auto

DCL: CD/D

DCR: CD/D

DR: FB/S

ML: W/A

MCL: CM/D

MCR: DLP/S

MR: W/A

STL: P

STR: DLF/S

Rigid/Counter/More Direct/More Disciplined

This team has loads of pace both upfront and at the back, that's brilliant and what I'm trying to exploit; however it also has one very big weakness which is total lack of height. All my strikers are short, all my centre-backs have awful jumping bar one guy who's injured. Which is why I went into my first match with these shouts:

Push Higher Up/Play Through Defence/Pass Into Space

Push Higher is detrimental to my sit deep and hit them with pace strategy, but it'd be suicidal to wait deep for crosses when both my CBs have 5 for jumping. Now, it did work, I won 1-0 away with a bit of luck, but at least the opposition was harmless, all but 1 of their shots was from long.

My questions are:

- Once my tall CB is back from injury, is it worth going into a stopper/cover duo? I've found both CBs on defend tend to work better in FM, but if one guy's an aerial monster and the other a dwarf...

- My DLF was appalling, had no influence in the game. What can I do to get him right? Maybe switch him sideways with the poacher (in line with the CM/d instead of the DLP/s)? All my strikers are of the quick, no creativity, no jumping type, which doesn't really fit a DLF role but it's what I have, I'm not going into a match with 2 poachers. Defensive forward role instead, maybe?

- Ideally to exploit my all-round pace I'd compress my team into a very compact band of close lines, my defence sitting high and my attack sitting deep. In FM that probably translates to playing Fluid or Very Fluid, but I'm afraid of switching to that with such a poor team. Do I stick with rigid or go fluid?

- I've initially considered going "stick to position" with my roaming, to make this a very no-nonsense positional side, but then that would lead to a static game of crosses and my short forwards wouldn't like that. "More roaming" perhaps is better for them, however I'm not sure whether that might be a bit conflicting when I'm also setting them to Rigid and More Disciplined?

- CMd/DLPs is a very defensive midfield, I just want them to stay there and screen the defence with the occasional through ball. So the danger must come from the wings. I probably should always play with the "Exploit The Flanks" shout, right?

Tks for any answers, I know I write too much.

You may try to remove the DLF's hold up ball and if your wingers are on roam then you can untick them too, this should give you a lot more solidity. If you have a lot of pace on the flanks, you could control possession from the back by playing a short passing back and then look to play balls to flanks.. I would go with rigid cos then you wont need to have too many specialist roles, esp for a poor team. Balanced or rigid would be good options, though I would go with rigid first.

Even if you go stick to position it shouldnt give you too much concern, since your pace should create a lot of problems. I would prefer a quick passing game over one with more creativity, quick passing on a wide formation would allow your pacey players to exploit gaps. My 442 formation on the current public engine uses rigid settings, with slightly modified passing setups, and my keeper is set to long kick. With a 442 I tend to prefer keepers to kick the ball up, and I do have players who have high anticipation as well.

You dont need to use too many shouts play wide, pass to feet could be your default shouts. Since you have players who arent technically gifted, those two simple shouts should suffice. I cant remember what exploit the flanks shouts do..but in the majority of my games I hardly ever use that shout..it can be useful...i just need to figure out their place in my system

[Rashidi]

Well not really, it's just a blank canvas on which you can manually put in your players. I use it to map formations after changing roles and duties of players as its quite hard to visualize it in your head. Do you want the link to the site, its quite handy?

Also, am I along the write lines with how I think the 442 is balanced, its what I have inferred from your post but it might not be specifically what you have implied.

yes please..i have been drawing my own stuff on this appn i have on my ipad..if there is one online that i can use it will save me a lot of time..

actually it looks along the same lines as what you have indicated..at least the midfield and attacking strata. In defense tbh I am always changing my mind in matches..in some games i push a bit more using one of my fullbacks and in others he just supports. Whats vital in my 442 is the way my MCs interact. 442 formations live and die by the efficacy of the midfield partnership, and since I dont have tall attackers who can win balls in the air..i really need some creativity from midfield

[Cleon]

yes please..i have been drawing my own stuff on this appn i have on my ipad..if there is one online that i can use it will save me a lot of time..

actually it looks along the same lines as what you have indicated..at least the midfield and attacking strata. In defense tbh I am always changing my mind in matches..in some games i push a bit more using one of my fullbacks and in others he just supports. Whats vital in my 442 is the way my MCs interact. 442 formations live and die by the efficacy of the midfield partnership, and since I dont have tall attackers who can win balls in the air..i really need some creativity from midfield

I prefer this site

http://soccer.sharetheplay.com/

It allows you to create plays and you can make the images move etc.

[Jimmyrh94]

yes please..i have been drawing my own stuff on this appn i have on my ipad..if there is one online that i can use it will save me a lot of time..

actually it looks along the same lines as what you have indicated..at least the midfield and attacking strata. In defense tbh I am always changing my mind in matches..in some games i push a bit more using one of my fullbacks and in others he just supports. Whats vital in my 442 is the way my MCs interact. 442 formations live and die by the efficacy of the midfield partnership, and since I dont have tall attackers who can win balls in the air..i really need some creativity from midfield

Here you are : http://www.footballuser.com/post

One thing I didn't quite understand from your post was the whole thing about having a DLP who holds up the ball partnered with a supporting Playmaker? do you mind explaining this a bit for me?

Also with a 442, with a team like united, I'm sure I will be looking to "control" the game rather than "attack". However, philosophy has always been something that confuses me. If I'm playing a possession game, naturally I would look for a fluid tactic. However, with the roles and duties of my players allowing for pivots in midfield anyway, am I better off keeping the philosophy to balanced for a 442.

Surely a fluid approach would further integrate the lines of attack and defence and compromise the balance of the team. Can you enlighten me here?

[Mattp1980]

Here you are : http://www.footballuser.com/post

One thing I didn't quite understand from your post was the whole thing about having a DLP who holds up the ball partnered with a supporting Playmaker? do you mind explaining this a bit for me?

Also with a 442, with a team like united, I'm sure I will be looking to "control" the game rather than "attack". However, philosophy has always been something that confuses me. If I'm playing a possession game, naturally I would look for a fluid tactic. However, with the roles and duties of my players allowing for pivots in midfield anyway, am I better off keeping the philosophy to balanced for a 442.

Surely a fluid approach would further integrate the lines of attack and defence and compromise the balance of the team. Can you enlighten me here?

Noikeee's post above described Philosophy's well in my opinion, so read his first paragraph.

I also like to think it relates to how much a player will stick to his player role, a player within a rigid philosophy would follow his player role to the player instructions. A player within a fluid role would be playing the position more than the individual instructions and finally a player in a balanced system will play a particular role with the instructions to his particular strengths (or more likely his PPMs).

Of course I could be spectacularly wrong but it helps me better visualize the increases in creative freedom.

[Jimmyrh94]

Noikeee's post above described Philosophy's well in my opinion, so read his first paragraph.

I also like to think it relates to how much a player will stick to his player role, a player within a rigid philosophy would follow his player role to the player instructions. A player within a fluid role would be playing the position more than the individual instructions and finally a player in a balanced system will play a particular role with the instructions to his particular strengths (or more likely his PPMs).

Of course I could be spectacularly wrong but it helps me better visualize the increases in creative freedom.

With that said, it sounds very much like you are implying Balanced is perhaps the way to go? As it gives a greater balance between the position of the player, the instructions advised by the manager and the playing style (ppms) of the individual player ? Never really thought of it like that- usually I just think "Right I want to play like barca so I'm going to play fluid, end of!"

[Mattp1980]

With that said, it sounds very much like you are implying Balanced is perhaps the way to go? As it gives a greater balance between the position of the player, the instructions advised by the manager and the playing style (ppms) of the individual player ? Never really thought of it like that- usually I just think "Right I want to play like barca so I'm going to play fluid, end of!"

I imagine the reality is it's much more complex than this but for me that is half the problem, people are too keen to approach FM in the most complicated way possible.

I always try to approach FM like I would approach real footballers and so for me the approach I use works as I could imagine the philosophy's being handled the way I described.

Manager 1 (rigid): Do exactly as I say here is what I want from you.

Manager 2 (Balanced): Here are your instructions but don't be afraid to play to your strengths and take a risk if an opportunities arises.

Manager 3 (Fluid): I want you on the left wing get the ball to the target man.

[Rashidi]

Here you are : http://www.footballuser.com/post

One thing I didn't quite understand from your post was the whole thing about having a DLP who holds up the ball partnered with a supporting Playmaker? do you mind explaining this a bit for me?

Also with a 442, with a team like united, I'm sure I will be looking to "control" the game rather than "attack". However, philosophy has always been something that confuses me. If I'm playing a possession game, naturally I would look for a fluid tactic. However, with the roles and duties of my players allowing for pivots in midfield anyway, am I better off keeping the philosophy to balanced for a 442.

Surely a fluid approach would further integrate the lines of attack and defence and compromise the balance of the team. Can you enlighten me here?

In a 442 I dont really like having to have a hold up ball player in the middle of the park unless, this player is really physically strong and has great composure. If he loses the ball, chances are your defense will be exposed. And if one dc comes up to close it down then you will get ripped, which is why I have never liked having a DLP with hold up ball. I rather either have a DLP with hub unticked or even use a MC (D) as a ball winner, these then get supported with a PM who could be give the HUB instruction or not.

That way your midfield partnership acts like a proper pivot. When it comes to the 442 I am a bit of a coward, I stick to rigid or balanced..I've tried fluid but I didnt like the fact that almost the whole team was on one mentality. My successful 442 formations have either been balanced or rigid. Balanced or rigid can have more specialist positions. A very fluid or a fluid formation arent successful with more than 1 specialist role. And since I use a DLF, DLP or PM and an MCd..these are all specialist roles. A philosophy which has split mentality systems can have more specialist roles than one that doesnt (fluid)

The specialist roles are Target Man, Poacher, TQ, APM, B2BMC, DLP, BWM, Anchor Man..i think the libero should be here to..I am not sure about the rest..These are all specialist roles because they all have unique mentality settings and individual instructions, its the only way they will operate effectively, an advanced PM and a regular MC will have divergent mentality settings. A very fluid system has one mentality setting across the side, so if you pop in 5 specialized players, they will be the only players in the team with unique settings..and this can cause it not to work well..in a rigid system which can have more than 1 specialised role this will be possible. Balanced Rigid and Very rigid are more suited to formations that need more than one specialist role and fluid/v fluid are formations that can only take one and at the most two specialised roles.

In a nutshell..if you have a bunch of players and you want them to play exactly how you want them to ..go rigid..you not sure go balanced..you dont care go fluid

[noikeee]

You may try to remove the DLF's hold up ball and if your wingers are on roam then you can untick them too, this should give you a lot more solidity. If you have a lot of pace on the flanks, you could control possession from the back by playing a short passing back and then look to play balls to flanks.. I would go with rigid cos then you wont need to have too many specialist roles, esp for a poor team. Balanced or rigid would be good options, though I would go with rigid first.

Even if you go stick to position it shouldnt give you too much concern, since your pace should create a lot of problems. I would prefer a quick passing game over one with more creativity, quick passing on a wide formation would allow your pacey players to exploit gaps. My 442 formation on the current public engine uses rigid settings, with slightly modified passing setups, and my keeper is set to long kick. With a 442 I tend to prefer keepers to kick the ball up, and I do have players who have high anticipation as well.

You dont need to use too many shouts play wide, pass to feet could be your default shouts. Since you have players who arent technically gifted, those two simple shouts should suffice. I cant remember what exploit the flanks shouts do..but in the majority of my games I hardly ever use that shout..it can be useful...i just need to figure out their place in my system

I'm confused, your advice contradicts quite a lot of my line of thinking.

I thought playing direct football was a better way of exploiting pace than short passing. If I play possession-based, controlled short passes from the back, that will give the opposition time to organize itself and close the space on their backs. I was looking at forgetting possession altogether and hitting them quick.

The downfall of this may be long passes into my short forwards means too many lost aerial balls, but I want to play into the space in front of them, not to their heads (and if I'm forgetting possession, losing the ball often isn't a fundamental problem). If I play short and controlled the lack of height will be an issue anyway, because I'll then be forced more into crossing the ball.

According to this direct gameplan I don't understand why would I want to "pass to feet" instead of "pass to space" neither - surely with quick players you want to use the space ahead of them.

"Play wider" I'm terrified of using, particularly whilst I'm stuck using "push higher up" too due to my short defenders (the tall CB will come back from injury, and I'm looking at signing at least another one too - when they're available I'll ditch the push higher shout). I've had some pretty bad experiences using "Play wider" in my previous team, it gifts a lot of space in the middle for the opposition to play in and that was using a 3 man midfield with a DM.

"Exploit the flanks" I believe turns on the passing focus to both flanks, and tells the wide players to run more from deep, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm also considering using "Hit early crosses" again to exploit the forwards pace, but I'm not sure how much this clashes with "Exploit flanks". Ideally I'd like my team to sometimes hit throughballs towards the wingers' pace, sometimes from the wingers towards the forwards' pace, but the wingers can't be in 2 places at the same time...

This also begs the question of what happens when there's no space for any of our pacey players to run into, I would then need a plan B... With no creative or tall attacking players in my team that's going to be really hard to figure out.

[Jimmyrh94]

I imagine the reality is it's much more complex than this but for me that is half the problem, people are too keen to approach FM in the most complicated way possible.

I always try to approach FM like I would approach real footballers and so for me the approach I use works as I could imagine the philosophy's being handled the way I described.

Manager 1 (rigid): Do exactly as I say here is what I want from you.

Manager 2 (Balanced): Here are your instructions but don't be afraid to play to your strengths and take a risk if an opportunities arises.

Manager 3 (Fluid): I want you on the left wing get the ball to the target man.

In a 442 I dont really like having to have a hold up ball player in the middle of the park unless, this player is really physically strong and has great composure. If he loses the ball, chances are your defense will be exposed. And if one dc comes up to close it down then you will get ripped, which is why I have never liked having a DLP with hold up ball. I rather either have a DLP with hub unticked or even use a MC (D) as a ball winner, these then get supported with a PM who could be give the HUB instruction or not.

That way your midfield partnership acts like a proper pivot. When it comes to the 442 I am a bit of a coward, I stick to rigid or balanced..I've tried fluid but I didnt like the fact that almost the whole team was on one mentality. My successful 442 formations have either been balanced or rigid. Balanced or rigid can have more specialist positions. A very fluid or a fluid formation arent successful with more than 1 specialist role. And since I use a DLF, DLP or PM and an MCd..these are all specialist roles. A philosophy which has split mentality systems can have more specialist roles than one that doesnt (fluid)

The specialist roles are Target Man, Poacher, TQ, APM, B2BMC, DLP, BWM, Anchor Man..i think the libero should be here to..I am not sure about the rest..These are all specialist roles because they all have unique mentality settings and individual instructions, its the only way they will operate effectively, an advanced PM and a regular MC will have divergent mentality settings. A very fluid system has one mentality setting across the side, so if you pop in 5 specialized players, they will be the only players in the team with unique settings..and this can cause it not to work well..in a rigid system which can have more than 1 specialised role this will be possible. Balanced Rigid and Very rigid are more suited to formations that need more than one specialist role and fluid/v fluid are formations that can only take one and at the most two specialised roles.

In a nutshell..if you have a bunch of players and you want them to play exactly how you want them to ..go rigid..you not sure go balanced..you dont care go fluid

You don't realise how helpful you have both been. I have never really understood philosophy in fm which has meant I have had a misconstrued perception of how the team settings work as the philosophy affects these options.

[Rashidi]

I'm confused, your advice contradicts quite a lot of my line of thinking.

I thought playing direct football was a better way of exploiting pace than short passing. If I play possession-based, controlled short passes from the back, that will give the opposition time to organize itself and close the space on their backs. I was looking at forgetting possession altogether and hitting them quick.

Direct football demands you create space, so if you have pacey players you can still get them to find those players up front with through balls. And these will be long cutting incisive passes. You can play short passing at the back with a direct pattern from support to attack. That way you get controlled possession, or direct counterattacking football.

The downfall of this may be long passes into my short forwards means too many lost aerial balls, but I want to play into the space in front of them, not to their heads (and if I'm forgetting possession, losing the ball often isn't a fundamental problem). If I play short and controlled the lack of height will be an issue anyway, because I'll then be forced more into crossing the ball

I have short players in my side, and we are poorer in attributes forcing me to pass to feet the majority of time. If I had great passers of the ball with players who have good OTB then I would use pass into space.

According to this direct gameplan I don't understand why would I want to "pass to feet" instead of "pass to space" neither - surely with quick players you want to use the space ahead of them

Depends on players you have, my poorer players use pass to feet. Pass to space demands width, so you need to play wide, and players with the right attributes.

"Play wider" I'm terrified of using, particularly whilst I'm stuck using "push higher up" too due to my short defenders (the tall CB will come back from injury, and I'm looking at signing at least another one too - when they're available I'll ditch the push higher shout). I've had some pretty bad experiences using "Play wider" in my previous team, it gifts a lot of space in the middle for the opposition to play in and that was using a 3 man midfield with a DM.

Which is why I always say you need players with concentration anticipation at the back. If you elect to push up higher you must make sure that you pay attention to you defensive line and how your dcs are set up vs it..when you lose the ball and its going over the top..are they backtracking too much..then your dline is too far up. And if you elect to have that then you need to make sure those attributes i mentioned also include acceleration and pace. You can mitigate against this by having mcs who are defensively competitive

"Exploit the flanks" I believe turns on the passing focus to both flanks, and tells the wide players to run more from deep, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm also considering using "Hit early crosses" again to exploit the forwards pace, but I'm not sure how much this clashes with "Exploit flanks". Ideally I'd like my team to sometimes hit throughballs towards the wingers' pace, sometimes from the wingers towards the forwards' pace, but the wingers can't be in 2 places at the same time...

If you are counterattacking from deep, use hit early crosses, cos your players with good pace will get behind and run behind the defensive line.

This also begs the question of what happens when there's no space for any of our pacey players to run into, I would then need a plan B... With no creative or tall attacking players in my team that's going to be really hard to figure out.

My list of plan Bs, keeper long ball when I am under attack, if it creates enough mayhem its usually a through ball through centre, short passing at the back also gives me a better chance of keeping the ball if we are in opponents half and passing ball around. I also use exploit middle since I have a DLF and Poacher combination in my own 442 formation

[Giantplaything]

Strangely enough my team plays better against a flat 4-4-2 then they do against any other of the usual formations.

Perhaps because I use no specialist roles and a Very Fluid/Defensive strategy. AF(A) and DLF(S) up front and midfield of CM(S) and CM(D) with wingers on attacking and fullback support. So as 4-4-2s go it's pretty basic.

I can't find the quote but I'm sure it's been mentioned before that the more fluid a formation, the less specialist roles should be used.

Mine is similar to yours: Fluid, Standard tactic. MC(d) and MC(s) but AF(A) and T(a). The trechartista drops off to get the ball but can also head wide into the channels...lovely.

[Rashidi]

i have another 442 which is rigid and employs a modified trequartista in the other midfield slot as well. Yeah its fairly easy to understand why there are more specialists in rigid compared to fluid : the mentality system is split in rigid at least 3 ways and in fluid ones, they are hardly split. Specialist roles use different mentality, creative f and individual instructions.

[forte]

Interesting, will try to follow this thread. First season I got promoted with Sheffield United, second season I did well thanks to signing Kevin Davies and using him as a target man. In the end I lost 2-0 on aggregate to Cardiff in the play-offs. Now, in the middle of my third season, I still feel the same way as the first two seasons: I struggle to find consistency. I am in the middle of my third season, and after having implemented some of your recommendations regarding specific player roles, I beat Crystal Palace away (2-1), Peterborough away (5-1), and then lost at Sunderland 4-3 after being 3-0 up after 60 minutes. I guess I didn't react when they tried to get back in the game, very frustrating.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

My 442 findings for what it is worth.

With 2 good wingers I start with 442 with AMR & AML (roles to suit the players, not necessarily both as "winger" roles, it is effective but the AI sometimes works out how to islolate the 2 wingers so then I drop them back to ML & MR as "wide Midfielders" and they become more effective again.

Just a thought.....

[danny_123]

hi my only issue with this is which ever fb is on automatic seems to play poor i have tried it on the left and right with differnet players but no matter who is it or which side the winger and fb get poor ratings

[Rashidi]

I know this is going to sound really wierd but I would always favor the left fullback to make more attacking runs. Historically in 442s somehow the left side is more potent. I don't like setting fullbacks on auto, I rather they be attacking or defend. Auto means you need to use shouts to activate their runs, at least that's what I think. I just use one side and leave the other on support.

[danny_123]

long shots ? do i put rarely for them all as i find them so pointless i had 20 shots last game and 15 were from stupid places on the pitch

also i am struggling attacking i am not really making any chances some games i have kept it 0-0 but had 0 shots, the only time i get some shots off is when my players shoot from stupid places or in the cup when playing poor teams

[Rashidi]

Chances come from space and creativity. You need to look at heatmaps sometimes to see how the other team stacks up. And usually for me thats enough to give me ideas. Secondly with 442s, and this is why I am overly critical of them as a formation is that they inherently depend a lot on wingplay. This is one of the oldest formations in history, in fact it was a modification by some Russian of the 424 that Brazil had used in the 50s. And those formations were famous for their ambitious wingers like Garrincha. In todays game, with speed of passing and high pressing, the 442 becomes one of the formations that need physically strong and fast teams. Without the right players you will struggle to make chances as your fullbacks get closed down. In fact its a formation that has a lot of exploitable formations. Its the one formation that most FMLive players could shut down with ease, and I wont be surprised if the AI can do the same. To make it potent and stable you need to cover the danger zones effectively, with the right players, and attack with varied potency.

And this is where I like to make my 442s different. I will set one fullback on overlap and set him to support. That way he comes down the flank and supports play orchestrated from midfield by providing support to passing outlets. And the winger thats on his side is usually a great OTB player with good passing, decisions and acceleration. That way with the right midfield pivot you will see plays like cutting inside by wingers, and runs on goal. In fact in my 442 formation my fullback occasionally wanders into a central midfield position to make a run on goal.

On the left flank I prefer to keep it simple, an orthodox running horse as a winger supported by PM or a B2BMC, both of whom are really hard players to find. That way I can get a thrust from midfield when I choose to exploit the middle with a DLF upfront. This way I can have drilled passes from the right, drilled crosses from the left and one touch passing through the middle. To get the whole combination flowing, I will go narrow when I want to exploit the middle and go wide when i want to use the flanks. I dont even use shouts for that anymore. The way my system is set up, the shouts become redundant. When you are not scoring goals its important to analyse why. If they are shooting from ridiculous tight corners it only means that there isnt enough space around the penalty box, and this is where a DLF can come in handy. His ability to move defenses around is invaluable and so is the Midfield Playmaker. Using the midfield playmaker is a lot more riskier, but you get more options.

Finally I never ever like having ANY player in the middle of the pitch hold up ball unless they are DMCs. Others can make theirs work I am sure, but I cant. The current engine makes it really difficult, a HUB MC is going to lose the ball in the most dangerous area of the pitch if he is closed down heavily. I will be doing a bit more on the 442, before I turn my attention to the Wingless Wonders, which will be my next formation.

[noikeee]

I thought playing direct football was a better way of exploiting pace than short passing. If I play possession-based, controlled short passes from the back, that will give the opposition time to organize itself and close the space on their backs. I was looking at forgetting possession altogether and hitting them quick.

Direct football demands you create space, so if you have pacey players you can still get them to find those players up front with through balls. And these will be long cutting incisive passes. You can play short passing at the back with a direct pattern from support to attack. That way you get controlled possession, or direct counterattacking football.

But how do I do that without setting sliders everywhere splitting my passing strategies from the defenders to midfielders? "more direct" with "play out of defence" shout at the same time, maybe?

The downfall of this may be long passes into my short forwards means too many lost aerial balls, but I want to play into the space in front of them, not to their heads (and if I'm forgetting possession, losing the ball often isn't a fundamental problem). If I play short and controlled the lack of height will be an issue anyway, because I'll then be forced more into crossing the ball

I have short players in my side, and we are poorer in attributes forcing me to pass to feet the majority of time. If I had great passers of the ball with players who have good OTB then I would use pass into space.

According to this direct gameplan I don't understand why would I want to "pass to feet" instead of "pass to space" neither - surely with quick players you want to use the space ahead of them

Depends on players you have, my poorer players use pass to feet. Pass to space demands width, so you need to play wide, and players with the right attributes.

That's a good point which I hadn't thought of, yeah I need good passers. It's a bit of a can't-win scenario though, if I go pass into space the passes will go wayward because my passers are poor, if I pass to feet they won't exploit the pace of my forwards by placing balls ahead of them.

"Play wider" I'm terrified of using, particularly whilst I'm stuck using "push higher up" too due to my short defenders (the tall CB will come back from injury, and I'm looking at signing at least another one too - when they're available I'll ditch the push higher shout). I've had some pretty bad experiences using "Play wider" in my previous team, it gifts a lot of space in the middle for the opposition to play in and that was using a 3 man midfield with a DM.

Which is why I always say you need players with concentration anticipation at the back. If you elect to push up higher you must make sure that you pay attention to you defensive line and how your dcs are set up vs it..when you lose the ball and its going over the top..are they backtracking too much..then your dline is too far up. And if you elect to have that then you need to make sure those attributes i mentioned also include acceleration and pace. You can mitigate against this by having mcs who are defensively competitive

It's almost impossible to find players with concentration and anticipation at the low level I'm playing at. My first few matches I'm struggling too much when I play wider, my defenders can't cope, my MCs aren't good enough to help enough (despite the restricted defensive settings that a duo of CM/d DPL/s makes for). We just give way too much space for the opposition to exploit. Of course ditching play wider ruins the attacking plan of the 4-4-2 too so I'm stuck at the moment.

"Exploit the flanks" I believe turns on the passing focus to both flanks, and tells the wide players to run more from deep, but I'm not 100% sure. I'm also considering using "Hit early crosses" again to exploit the forwards pace, but I'm not sure how much this clashes with "Exploit flanks". Ideally I'd like my team to sometimes hit throughballs towards the wingers' pace, sometimes from the wingers towards the forwards' pace, but the wingers can't be in 2 places at the same time...

If you are counterattacking from deep, use hit early crosses, cos your players with good pace will get behind and run behind the defensive line.

Yeah it's been one of my favoured shouts but I haven't noticed an obvious effect yet.

This also begs the question of what happens when there's no space for any of our pacey players to run into, I would then need a plan B... With no creative or tall attacking players in my team that's going to be really hard to figure out.

My list of plan Bs, keeper long ball when I am under attack, if it creates enough mayhem its usually a through ball through centre, short passing at the back also gives me a better chance of keeping the ball if we are in opponents half and passing ball around. I also use exploit middle since I have a DLF and Poacher combination in my own 442 formation

Those are some good ideas, thanks.

I'm considering hiring a veteran brazilian DMC/MC, he has absolutely fabulous mental attributes (over 10 for every attribute bar a 6 for work rate) but besides the work rate thing he is also slow and lacks strength.. he is miles better than my whole squad really, but I'm concerned his weaknesses are exactly some of the most prized things for playing in my system.. not sure whether I should go ahead or not?

[Rashidi]

But how do I do that without setting sliders everywhere splitting my passing strategies from the defenders to midfielders? "more direct" with "play out of defence" shout at the same time, maybe?

Yes its tough unless you spend every living moment like me working on tactics, what you can do is set your passing to short on the TC main screen, and then use your shouts to exploit flanks, it should set the passing to those players who need it

That's a good point which I hadn't thought of, yeah I need good passers. It's a bit of a can't-win scenario though, if I go pass into space the passes will go wayward because my passers are poor, if I pass to feet they won't exploit the pace of my forwards by placing balls ahead of them.

Yes unfortunately football is a zero sum game. When you want to exploit space and play that kind of game which i love as well..i need receivers who have great anticipation, acceleration, otb running, composure and first touch. For the passers, I need passing, decisions, flair, creativity. I generally assume flair+creativity = intelligence in the game. Its like cooking that perfect meal...and its not easy. Furthermore, we have all these unknowns that happen in a game. I had a game, absolute underdog, so I knew we would need to get out of the gates quick. Away from home I set it to standard, go narrow, exploit middle. 30 secs in we score a goal I am elated. Its exactly the goal I want ripping through the middle. 15 mins later we score our second, then I noticed it may have been the same but we were lucky, I set pass to feet, then one player gets a yellow, same player gets another yellow. We are down to 10men on the 30th minute. We go on to draw 2-2. You can do the best you can, but there are things that happen in the game that none of us can predict. The best we can do is create the perfect brew, what happens on the pitch is sometimes beyond our control.

It's almost impossible to find players with concentration and anticipation at the low level I'm playing at. My first few matches I'm struggling too much when I play wider, my defenders can't cope, my MCs aren't good enough to help enough (despite the restricted defensive settings that a duo of CM/d DPL/s makes for). We just give way too much space for the opposition to exploit. Of course ditching play wider ruins the attacking plan of the 4-4-2 too so I'm stuck at the moment.

You will be surprised. I have always been able to find players who have the right attributes..sometimes you need to choose the most important. When I started in BSP the highest value was 9 so I took players who had 9 or 10 in primary attributes. I explained what these primary ones were in my stafford thread. It takes a lot of work..a heck of a lot of time. MY preseason takes almost 3 whole days to complete.

I'm considering hiring a veteran brazilian DMC/MC, he has absolutely fabulous mental attributes (over 10 for every attribute bar a 6 for work rate) but besides the work rate thing he is also slow and lacks strength.. he is miles better than my whole squad really, but I'm concerned his weaknesses are exactly some of the most prized things for playing in my system.. not sure whether I should go ahead or not?

DMC, 6 is really low.

[Cleon]

I've been promoted 3 times in a row with Sheffield FC and am now nearing the football league. I used a simple 442 simliar to what Rashidi posted earlier in the thread except I use defensive wingers and a CM on attack with a DLP.

[noikeee]

Yes its tough unless you spend every living moment like me working on tactics, what you can do is set your passing to short on the TC main screen, and then use your shouts to exploit flanks, it should set the passing to those players who need it

It's not as much a question of time (though I'm finding less and less to time to play FM), more a matter of not wanting to ruin potential shouts by overriding settings...

Yes unfortunately football is a zero sum game. When you want to exploit space and play that kind of game which i love as well..i need receivers who have great anticipation, acceleration, otb running, composure and first touch. For the passers, I need passing, decisions, flair, creativity. I generally assume flair+creativity = intelligence in the game. Its like cooking that perfect meal...and its not easy. Furthermore, we have all these unknowns that happen in a game. I had a game, absolute underdog, so I knew we would need to get out of the gates quick. Away from home I set it to standard, go narrow, exploit middle. 30 secs in we score a goal I am elated. Its exactly the goal I want ripping through the middle. 15 mins later we score our second, then I noticed it may have been the same but we were lucky, I set pass to feet, then one player gets a yellow, same player gets another yellow. We are down to 10men on the 30th minute. We go on to draw 2-2. You can do the best you can, but there are things that happen in the game that none of us can predict. The best we can do is create the perfect brew, what happens on the pitch is sometimes beyond our control.

I realize any tactical choice has an advantage and a disadvantage, and that football is unpredictable, but the job of the manager is maximizing the advantages and minimizing the disadvantages, to his team... that's what this whole forum is about, controlling what we can.

I'm starting to think by default I shouldn't use neither pass to feet nor pass into space, a balanced default setting should be a decent compromise...

You will be surprised. I have always been able to find players who have the right attributes..sometimes you need to choose the most important. When I started in BSP the highest value was 9 so I took players who had 9 or 10 in primary attributes. I explained what these primary ones were in my stafford thread. It takes a lot of work..a heck of a lot of time. MY preseason takes almost 3 whole days to complete.

DMC, 6 is really low.

I know what you mean, I've managed a few times at lower level and realize that. However, it's still very difficult to find players that tick all the boxes even if "ticking a box" is only having 9 or 10 in a attribute... it's far more often to find players that are crazy good at something (13+) then lack badly something equally important.

For example the DMC, he lacks badly work rate but is infinitely better than my options... whereas besides him I'm not finding a single player in the search and scouting at the moment that is even better than my current guys. The transfer market at lower level is weird, you have to work with what you have or can find.

6 is awful for work rate but not a massive step down from my current duo who have 7 and 8 respectively... no wonder I'm struggling a bit then, heh. Think I'll eventually find some better hardworking MC though.

[danny_123]

i struggle with this tatic only one of my strikers get in the hame and my wingers are pathetic and no matter what i do things seem to get worse