Lunatic In Charge at Red Star

[Hellas2]

Hello all, after a relatively successful save with Man Utd where I developed a fairly orthodox 4411 which provided functional but by no means exciting football I have decided to set myself a challenge of doing something completely different at a club and nation I have had zero FM experience in.

My goals :

I want to control possession and allow for as many natural passing triangles and simple passing options as possible.

I want to outscore the opposition and would rather win 4-3 than 1-0.

Utilise some of the new FM roles and get to understand their benefits and weaknesses.

With that in mind I have taken over at Red Star Belgrade in Serbia. This is a club with a good history and should be capable of winning its league in the first season with the added bonus of some first season Euro action.

Based on my goals I have come up with the following shape and initial player roles

I have got no idea if this will work at all, and in most likelihood it will be a disaster but I will try and jot down my ideas behind it. This shape puts each position within at least one passing triangle and therefore should allow good ball retention. It is also strikerless which I did have success with on FM13 and to compensate for I have tried to ensure I have enough attacking threat from midfield. I have started on very rigid on account of the number of specialised roles.

I have yet to include any team or player instructions as I would like to see the base shape and roles play out first before trying to tweak. Similar with the starting mentality which I hope to test out during pre season

Goalkeeper - for now bog standard Goalie.

Central Defenders - again for now nothing special.

Half back - First new FM14 role here. With only two starting defenders, my HB's job is two fold 1) to collect ball from defenders on starting attacks before simply passing to the DLP/wing backs and 2) to drop in to the defensive line to make a back three.

Central Midfield - Here I a have a DLP(S) who I hope to be main creative player in the team and a CM(A) who is going to be responsible to pushing forward and being a scoring threat.

Wide Players - Here, I think, is where this tactic will either live or die. I have two WB's who I want to be able to get forward, as well as provide some defensive cover. I have an attacking one on the DLP(S) side and a WB(S) on the CM(A) side, I think this should provide some balance. Ahead of them I have gone for a IF(A) on the left who I hope to be a big scorer in the side and who should allow for the WB(A) to overlap. On the right I have gone with a WTM(S). I really don't know how this will work and I expect this to be a role hugely dependant on the player there. My idea is for him to be a big strong physical presence who is always available for an outball from anyone on the pitch either through longer or shorter passing. I want him to be able to take control of the ball before laying off to the onrunning CM(A) and further forward to the SS.

Attacking Midfield - Shadow Striker because I need a goal from somewhere I guess!

My biggest worries are :

We are going to be shocking in defence

We have no strikers and hence struggle to score

My wide players just get in each others way

The mentalities of my left and right hand side result in too big a disjoint

If people are interested in this approach then I plan to update throughout the season with my findings and thoughts. I would also greatly appreciate discussion on my ideas, with any gaping holes highlighted

[RTHerringbone]

I love that formation and actually used it at Southampton on FM13.

It can be hugely strong centrally, but I'd be wary of your Roles there as nobody will be assertively winning the ball there, especially when the half back drops deep. However, you could use player instructions to firm up the behaviour of the CM and/or DLP.

Let me know how the half back works for you. Last time I tried it, the half back himself was great, but the defenders stayed too wide for too long even after the half back went back up field.

[Hellas2]

Thanks RT for the initial feedback. The fact someone has been able to get a shape like this to work before is very encouraging!

As for your comments, I was going to raise them in the analysis of my first pre-season match that I just played. In essence I was mortified by the playof the HB and two CB's! The type of play that you mention was happening to me to the extent that at half time I had to change the HB to a DM. I would be interested what you would suggest for the CB's as well because throughout the match

First Friendly - Home to Grasshoppers Zurich

A rather interesting match up I think!

Well one of my goals has been met in terms of lots of goals:applause: It's a bit of a false score however as 4 of the 8 goals came from either penalties or free kick deliveries. My two goals that weren't set pieces were quite impressive though. The fifth was exactly what I was hoping for in this tactic. My four central players passing it about very well making gains up the pitch before it opens up allowing a nice through ball for my SS to score. In defence the 2nd Zurich goal really shows the horrible HB/CBs play whilst the 3rd was a cross and finish at front post. I think my WB's might need some instructions to stick closer to opossing wide players.

Some decent stats IMO. On the whole passing is quite good although my left wing backs 12 crosses with 0% success rate is a worry.

Half time heat map. Very obvious the CB's positioning is well off here. Far too wide! I quite like the look of the midfield triangle however, close together without two cluttered. Wide players a little further out but reasonable IMO

Passing shows we had not enough play in the final third which I think is a product of no strikers there. GK distribution might be changed to shorter distribution

Conclusion

First friendly so everybody is still getting used to tactic and role. I will certainly be removing the HB for a DM(D) for now however. Any feedback welcome!

Also I've uploaded highlights of the game for any interested [video=youtube;5AAoTx3kq4Q]

[Hellas2]

OK so first actual game of the season sees me at home to Irish side Drogheda United in the Europa League qualifiers.

And teams lined up as follows. Only change from previous is the HB changed to a DM(D) which has been a lot better so far. I would love to go back to HB if fixed in ME.

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Again this seems to have ticked the box for all my objectives. Lots of goals, good possession and I was very impressed with the football on show at times. Big Onyilo has been excellent in pre-season for me as WTM. He is excellent in the air and although still only competent at AMR he is doing everything I hoped for in the position. Elsewhere my central section continues to look good, although the lack of a focal point in attack is causing some issues.

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I like how the heat map makes it difficult to say what the starting formation actually is. It could quite easily be a 41221 which shows I think a bit of stability but with a bit more fluidity than that formation. The players all played their roles rather well, particulary my DLP, Miljas, who ran the show in the middle. I could do with another CM(A) as Gogic is more of a defensive minded defender although with reasonably solid all round stats.

I don't think Drogheda were the best of opponents and their two goals came about as a result of a very poor keeping clearance and a bit of a wonder goal. My goals came from two corners, which isn't ideal, a nice cross from IF put in by WTM which pleased me and a wonderful finish from my IF after some great build up play in midfield.

[video=youtube;HI9EUFQSU3A]

[AnarchyAnt]

Great post!

I'll be following this to see how you do with your Shadow Striker as I haven't been able to get it to work with any of the players I have, but would like to use it in the future.

Instead of a Halfback, have you thought about a Libero in the sweeper position? I wonder if that would still push your CBs out wide?

[Hellas2]

Thanks AA for the feedback. Replacing my DM with a libero is definitely worth considering. If it works it could adequately compensate for my desired HB role and give something different to the team. My shadow striker so far has been really effective, and has played really well with my IF. Although enjoying my WTM, I wonder if he is a little to static and that possibly another IF could come in

Since my last post I defeated Drogheda comfortably away before also fairly convincingly defeating Austria Vienna over two legs giving me a final Europa League qualifier with Zilinia of Slovakia who I expect to beat. I had the chance of Udinese or Stuttgart who would have been too strong for me

I never had the chance to start the league campaign last night but will do so tonight and give some further analysis

On another note this Red Star team looks highly promising. My present first choice 11 contains only two players over the age of 21 and some of them, in particular my 17 year old keeper, look great prospects. I never expected a side challenge of this career to be developing young players but I think it is worth pursuing and hopefully I can make a long term save of it. The clubs finances are pretty awful for a club of its size hoeever, my wage budget is 50k a week and my top earner takes only 3k of that but I still have nothing spare! My two European games have brought in 40000 crowds so hopefully if I qualify for Europa League group stages and do well in league this will improve