tactical novice. help me realise my dream of exciting football

[tuffers007]

as the title suggests my goal is to play exciting football which is great to watch but would also like it to be solid in defence. my team is man united and my formation of choice is 442 as pictured.as you can see everything has been left to default (this is where you guys and girls come in) as what i ask of you is advice on team strategy and player roles but also an explanation as to why? (im hoping this will help me in the long run to understand the game)

i have gone for 442 as its very english and i believe it to be very underrated. also (being united) it seems daft not to benefit from the number of strikers at there desposal. along with the quality of wide players.due to this i would focus passing down both flanks. if i do this can i use the two central midfielders as more defensive players? who just pass the simple ball to the wings for the wingers to make runs forward to supply the forwards?

i have read a number of threads regarding tactics and player roles. have been especially impressed with cleons http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/344595-Planning-Ahead-The-Deep-Lying-Playmaker.

with this in mind i would definately like to employ one in my team.if my understanding is right. with a defend duty he will step back and fill the gap between midfield and defence while playing the simple ball to more creative players? while this is something i want to use im not sure what role to give the other CM. i would also like him to be more defense based due to the amount of goals i have conceded in past games. my initial thought was to use a BWM but i think i read somewhere that he will go chasing the ball (forgive me if i am wrong) if this is the case surely it will leave a gap in midfield? so i thought about using 2 DLPs but in not sure if they would just get in each others way or if it can work? really could do with advice on this one as not really sure what the other roles do or what they can acheive i.e B2B,AP etc. on the wings i would like to thing its more straight forward. pass to them, they run forward and deliver crosses to the forwards? is it worth leaving them as wide midfielders as shown above or move them up to the more attacking position? as i want them to deliver crosses im tempted to change there wide play to hug touch line or is best to leave as normal or change to move into channels.

with the centre backs im totally stuck. if im right in the DLP coming back to help behind him i thinking of putting the defender on a cover duty as i dont want them getting in each others way (please suggest if my understanding on this is wrong) the other defender i was thinking that he could move forward to fill the gap left by the marauding BWM? if so what is the best way to do it. initially i thought a BPD on a stopper duty but dont really understand the role so could a standard defender on a stopper duty have the desired effect? if i use this combo would it be wise to use a sweeper keeper to help with the covering defender? was going to have him play the ball out to one of the defenders to help with possession.

what i envisage for the full backs/wing backs is more of a supporting role.was thinking of using long passing for these two to play the quick counter attacking balls to catch the opposition on the back foot? am i right in believing that if i put these two on specific man marking (oppo wingers) they will still help out defensively?

the front two im planning on using a DLF on support threading numerous through balls for the poacher as i believe rooney and RVP would be effective in this role and welbeck and hernandez as in the poacher role?

for team instructions i have read that for big teams its best to use a balanced/fluid philosophy (will prob just swap between the two as unsure on the best one) i like the idea of playing counter attacking but is this not a too negative strategy for a team as attacking as united? would a control strategy be more suited? with closing down i like the idea of standing off my opponent and then catching them on the break (hence the full backs on long passing) if so what king off tackling and marking would make it work? with passing im thinking of trusting my players and leaving it as default? same with creative freedom?

if its best to man mark specific players then i will leave it as default on team settings and override it using player instructions. i want to try and avoid doing this on other aspects as dont really know what im doing!

taking into account of what i think this is what i have come up with

i have always been a fan of plug and play due to personal issues affecting the amount of game time per session but if some one can recommend any shouts that i can employ then please do!!!

i understand thats its a long post but if you do make it to the end, i thank you!!!!!!!!

[MeesterCat]

I'm by no means a tactical expert, far from it in fact, but I can share with you a 442 set up I've used in FM13 and it was pretty effective, much to my surprise.

I was trying to get my Portsmouth team to play in particular way and was not being especially succesful, so after reading WWFan's 12 step guide I went back to basics and came up with this 442:

GK : Standard

DL : Full back - Auto

DC : Defend

DC : Defend

DR : Full back - Auto

ML : Winger - Att

MCl: CM - Def

MCr: CM - Sup

MR : Winger - Att

STRl: DLF-S

STRr: AF-A

Standard/Balanced strategy/Philosophy

The only changes I made to the team settings were to Press More and for Zonal Marking.

I tended to use Pass Into Space, Play Out of Defence, Push Higher Up and Stay on Feet as my default shouts and only used others in the context of each match.

The team started playing some pretty nice stuff especially considering that, for the first half of the season at least, we were one of the weaker teams. (I should add that playing this formation got me a 9-1 victory in a particularly impressive run of form)

I know this formation doesn't use a DLP and you seemed keen to use one, but it may be that with the quality players you have, plus any PPMs they have you may get the CM-S playing in a kind of DLP role anyway.

So it might not be the complete answer, but it might help as a starting point that you can tweak as you see areas on the pitch that you want to change.