Pairs & Combinations FM2015 - UPDATED

[llama3]

Available for download, the recently updated version of Pairs & Combinations for FM2015. Including new information on roles and duties, as well as playing styles.

http://www.mediafire.com/view/ab40bznid7chl9i/Pairs_&_Combinations_FM2015.pdf

We have an Italian version of the FM14 edition available from the following link: http://www.fmita.it/955-fm-guida-tattica-coppie-e-combinazioni-42-pagine

We also have a Chinese version of the FM14 edition available from the following link: http://www.fmchina.cc/?p=1547

[vindapop]

I look forward to reading this tonight before bed!

[urizen7]

Awesome compilation of your guides. My brain is going bust from this much information.

[treble_yell_:-)]

Thanks for this. A fantastic guide.

[daleuk8]

Great thread. Can I ask how you find playing 4 at the back with the bugs?

[llama3]

No problems at all, never ever change from 4 at the back with Arsenal. Do not often use 3, but always made it work when I have.

[daleuk8]

A few games in using your advice and starting to get some enjoyment out of the game.

[llama3]

Top stuff - what advice in particular?

[daleuk8]

Top stuff - what advice in particular?

I always had issues with know how to play my midfield 3. Also the advice you gave regards to the team instructions you use and why. I'm currently Liverpool and being a reds fan I play a similar way to your Arsenal team. Although I play very rigid.

Now the patch is out things look even better. Two games in with the new patch and we came from behind to beat West Brom and a 0-0 with Arsenal.

Can I ask some advice? How would you go more attacking when either chasing a game or trying to hit a team early? I went more direct and a higher tempo. Also went Attacking.

[Steve Odom]

When you choose attacking, both specific instructions you gave will more or less be implemented anyway. Consider losing them.

If I want to attack a team directly from the start, I go attacking with e slightly higher D-line and more pressing. I hope to terrorize them from the beginning. That's just me though.

[PequenoGenio]

Amazing topic

[bababooey]

This is top-notch advice. Fantastic work! Thank you for all of this information!

[daleuk8]

When you choose attacking, both specific instructions you gave will more or less be implemented anyway. Consider losing them.

If I want to attack a team directly from the start, I go attacking with e slightly higher D-line and more pressing. I hope to terrorize them from the beginning. That's just me though.

Thanks. Will give that a go

[treble_yell_:-)]

So I tried to imminent some of this and turned my 2 world class AM's into 6.5 avr players

[llama3]

I am confused, it worked well or did not work well?

[treble_yell_:-)]

It didn't work well for me, which is more than likely just my poor implementation of your guide.

[llama3]

Need any advice or help?

[treble_yell_:-)]

I'm having trouble getting either of my wide men involved , either creatively or as a goal threat.

They just play no part. Munia sits too deep and does nothing after Rose goes by him, Lamela never goes by his man , never runs diagonally at the goal or takes a player away from the middle.

A lot of my attacks end like this :

with either Dembele or Eriksen sitting central and Soldado and the 2 wide men sitting narrow and on the shoulder of the last man, none of them seem keen to gamble and run in behind.

[llama3]

Is Soldado sitting too central? This could stop Lamela attacking the space. Muniain & Eriksen might be a similar problem, depends on their movement and interaction. They look quite narrow. Walker could be getting further down the right to help too.

[treble_yell_:-)]

Soldado does play rather central, but short of giving him a CF/s or DLF/s I dunno what to do with him. Lamela is absolutely lethal running in from the right onto balls played from Eriksen or from the wide left , but I can't see where to change things to make this a focal point of my attack.

I have 3 very technical and creative players in the AM strata, and cannot for the life of me take advantage of this

[llama3]

Soldado then needs to pull wide more, do you need to ask him to move into channels? Or run wide with the ball? Sounds like Lamela is offering an alternative route. Perhaps Eriksen drifting wide will create more space of Soldado or Muniain.

[rvd313]

You could try playing the AML as an Advanced Playmaker. I play the exact same system as you with that single modification and it works brilliantly.

[treble_yell_:-)]

Possession or direct ?

I should have posted my team instructions, but I play with a high or very high line, direct , roaming, more expression, pass into space.

Standard and Fluid ( I understand attacking is pointless if I'm setting it to H/VH D line etc ? ) the system is also conceding a lot of goals of late.

[rvd313]

I play with the following shouts: 'short passing', 'work ball into box', 'play out of defence', 'push higher up', 'hassle opponents', 'roam from position', 'be more expressive'.

Usually start on control as I'm expected to beat most of my opponents - and because I like attacking football, but not at the expense of needlessly giving away possession. At the same time I don't want to just keep the ball for the sake of it. I'm somewhere between Bielsa and Guardiola in that regard.

What kind of goals are you conceding?

[TIR669]

This helped. A lot.

Thanks for the effort, great guide.

[manreaction]

Thanks very much for this!

Do you find that your Advanced Forward completes a very small (around 10) number of passes per game? Is this an issue?

[llama3]

Thanks very much for this!

Do you find that your Advanced Forward completes a very small (around 10) number of passes per game? Is this an issue?

Depends on, well, everything; supply, opposition, individual player etc

[Shorno]

What a ridiculously good guide.

Up until wwfan's FM13 twelve step guide, I was an absolute amateur when it came to the tactical side of things.

Far too caught up on the definition of a word like attacking, control and overload - and not thinking about the other aspects of it.

In FM13 I learnt so much from the guides and support on this forum, actually started paying attention to the finer details and geting my teams to play how I want them to.

This just takes all that onto another level. A fantastic guide to pairs and combinations. I have got a save at the moment with Arsenal, and I play a 4-2DM-3-1 setup, with a similar system to you llama3.

I generally play:

Balanced, Standard, Higher Tempo, Pass Into Space and Direct Passing.

WB (A) - CD (D) - CD (D) - FB (S)

--------RGA (S) - BWM (D)

--W (A) ----- T (A) ------ AP (S)

-------------AF (A)

My system is still very much a work in progress (midway through second season) and I'm enjoying tweaking little bits each week to see how something else works. I'm definitely gonna try and incorporate some of your advice, and swich my wing back/full back to link with the wide players in front of them, and I'm gonna consider some of the other stuff to try and retain possession a bit more, cos that's one of my biggest struggles. I win a lot of matches, but I don't get much possession, which I would like to work on to be honest.

Thanks a lot for your guide tho, it's brilliant!

[llama3]

No worries man.

[RTHerringbone]

I generally play:

Balanced, Standard, Higher Tempo, Pass Into Space and Direct Passing.

WB (A) - CD (D) - CD (D) - FB (S)

--------RGA (S) - BWM (D)

--W (A) ----- T (A) ------ AP (S)

-------------AF (A)

Purely from the perspective of getting balance horizontally and vertically, I'd suggest that perhaps your WB (A) should be behind the AP (S) to overlap the narrower man, and that the FB (S) should be moving up field behind the W (A).

[Shorno]

Yeah I'm gonna give that a try tonight. I've got Dani Carvajal sat behind Walcott and I was going for the 'throw everything up the right wing' approach, but with Gibbs/Monreal (especially Monreal) I think I could get a lot more success with him pushing forward to overlap the tucking Cazorla.

Stupid question, but is it possible to set my left back to look for the overlap, without having my right back do it too? Cos with my AMR literally pegging the opposition left back very deep, I don't want Carvajal looking to overlap into no space and leaving a massive gap at the back?

Previously I've always played pretty balanced formations when using attacking wing backs (both wingers on support) and never really tried to push one up with one staying back, so not sure if it can be done just with player instructions alone?

[llama3]

Simply using the above set up suggested by RTHerringbone you will naturally create overlaps.

[yonko]

Yeah I'm gonna give that a try tonight. I've got Dani Carvajal sat behind Walcott and I was going for the 'throw everything up the right wing' approach, but with Gibbs/Monreal (especially Monreal) I think I could get a lot more success with him pushing forward to overlap the tucking Cazorla.

Stupid question, but is it possible to set my left back to look for the overlap, without having my right back do it too? Cos with my AMR literally pegging the opposition left back very deep, I don't want Carvajal looking to overlap into no space and leaving a massive gap at the back?

Previously I've always played pretty balanced formations when using attacking wing backs (both wingers on support) and never really tried to push one up with one staying back, so not sure if it can be done just with player instructions alone?

You could set up the LB as WB (A) to overlap Cazorla on the left side and you could set up the RB to cut inside since the right winger is set as attacking and stretching the defense. It should work well because on the right side the RB can combine with the Regista and Treq.

[dazbowski]

Ok this my last hope, I've tried to follow your instructions as best I can but am still getting knowhere. Here is a a couple of pics of my tactic and shouts. Can you advise where i'm going (badly) wrong please?

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[llama3]

Well what are your problems? Specifically what are you finding that is going wrong? What OI's do you use? You have built a well constructed system in my opinion.

[dazbowski]

I'm not creating enough, and seem to be giving up to many chances. I let my assistant do OI as i'm great at it. I don't know if its a problem with the match engine but I don't score any long shots and my one and one conversions isn't very good.

I'll post my last match stats up in a minute, i'm huge favourites but am getting dominated.

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[Wizard of Oz]

So finally I end up with this:

Goalkeeper* - Defend

Full Back - Support - Central Defender - Defend - Central Defender - Defend - Wing Back - Attack

Box to Box Midfielder*** - Support - Deep Lying Playmaker** - Defend

Winger - Attack - Advanced Playmaker**** - Support - Inside Forward***** - Support

Advanced Forward - Attack

* Distribute to Defenders

** Ball Winning Midfielder when Flamini plays

*** Deep Lying Playmaker when Flamini plays

**** Roams from Position

***** Sits Narrower

This was a great read - extremely detailed and thought provoking. I run a very similar system to the above although I use a DLF - support as my striker, with the AM on a attack role and some different CM settings. This is to fit the players I have at my disposal. I do exactly the same with counter/control strategy's and on occasion I drop the CM back to a DM position if the AI is finding too much space in front of my back four. I have tried to use a Ball Playing Defender as my defensive outlet simply because I wanted to try something different. I haven't yet quite got the right player, in that role, but its been an interesting exercise that I will persist with.

[llama3]

I'm not creating enough, and seem to be giving up to many chances. I let my assistant do OI as i'm great at it. I don't know if its a problem with the match engine but I don't score any long shots and my one and one conversions isn't very good.

I'll post my last match stats up in a minute, i'm huge favourites but am getting dominated.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Your system sits extremely deep, very few players high up the pitch, so pressing is not easy. You are not asking your players to press either, so norwich were untroubled at the back keeping hold of the ball, however you can see they pose little threat in your third though. Further you create more CCC's than them, despite the deficit of possession. You are basically playing a counter-attacking system, so it is unlikely you will have much of the ball anyway. You play in such a compact manner you are not stretching play much either. You do not seem to be playing badly i maintain, just not proactive enough if you want to press the ball.

[dazbowski]

Your system sits extremely deep, very few players high up the pitch, so pressing is not easy. You are not asking your players to press either, so norwich were untroubled at the back keeping hold of the ball, however you can see they pose little threat in your third though. Further you create more CCC's than them, despite the deficit of possession. You are basically playing a counter-attacking system, so it is unlikely you will have much of the ball anyway. You play in such a compact manner you are not stretching play much either. You do not seem to be playing badly i maintain, just not proactive enough if you want to press the ball.

Can you advise of some other AMC/striker combos that would work here? I'm struggling to make it work.

[peleJunior]

llama3, do you change your strategy to Counter when you play with your low block?

[Wizard of Oz]

I'm not creating enough, and seem to be giving up to many chances. I let my assistant do OI as i'm great at it. I don't know if its a problem with the match engine but I don't score any long shots and my one and one conversions isn't very good.

I'll post my last match stats up in a minute, i'm huge favourites but am getting dominated.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Personally I would try switching my passing to direct as you are looking to play on the break. I would also play wider as you are employing wing backs. You could also try hassle opponents so that you can try and win the ball back higher up the pitch as you are sitting deep

[dazbowski]

Personally I would try switching my passing to direct as you are looking to play on the break. I would also play wider as you are employing wing backs. You could also try hassle opponents so that you can try and win the ball back higher up the pitch as you are sitting deep

I'll give it a go. What other options do I have up front?

[llama3]

Can you advise of some other AMC/striker combos that would work here? I'm struggling to make it work.

Are you not happy with them then? They weren't the aspect i was advising to change. I was referring to the 6 players in the D & DM strata. Either push more players, further upfield, or play more direct and accept you are built to play on the break.

[dazbowski]

Are you not happy with them then? They weren't the aspect i was advising to change. I was referring to the 6 players in the D & DM strata. Either push more players, further upfield, or play more direct and accept you are built to play on the break.

What changed would you recommend then?

[yonko]

Dazbowski,

How do you want your team to play? What is your vision?

IMO with the shouts that you're using your team is way too passive and stand off-ish. There is no reason to play with such defensive shouts when you're already using a defensive formation with Counter mentality. Unless your team is with the lead in the last minutes of the game.

Your formation and player roles seem solid, so that is a good start to build from. Maybe you need to remove all shouts and see how the team plays that way. Add shouts as needed.

[dazbowski]

Dazbowski,

How do you want your team to play? What is your vision?

IMO with the shouts that you're using your team is way too passive and stand off-ish. There is no reason to play with such defensive shouts when you're already using a defensive formation with Counter mentality. Unless your team is with the lead in the last minutes of the game.

Your formation and player roles seem solid, so that is a good start to build from. Maybe you need to remove all shouts and see how the team plays that way. Add shouts as needed.

Think that could be the best advice, i'm hurling far too many shouts about without really understanding their purpose. I'll go back to basics, I like my formation (i've tweaked it a bit, and will post it here later) so will work on the basics of it first then add shouts as needed.

[llama3]

I agree with Yonko's advice - less is more as far as shouts are concerned in my opinion. Basically dazbowski - your team shape is built to counter-attack, and your instructions enhance this - now it is not a problem if you are playing effectively on the break, but if you want to be more proactive, your shape needs to evolve and your instructions need to be more proactive.

[Jobnik]

Although I am having a good 2nd season with Southampton, and still leading the league 28 games in, I feel that the team is not playing well, and from a 9-12 point margin at the top, it became 1.

This is the formation I am using, and you also see the team instructions on the side:

http://i43.tinypic.com/fv9vkl.png

I play rigid with a standard mentality.

I feel the team is a little vulnerable at the back, with deep balls findins players a lot behind the centre backs\full backs.

Creating chances has also suddenly became a problem.

Any advice?

[yonko]

Although I am having a good 2nd season with Southampton, and still leading the league 28 games in, I feel that the team is not playing well, and from a 9-12 point margin at the top, it became 1.

This is the formation I am using, and you also see the team instructions on the side:

http://i43.tinypic.com/fv9vkl.png

I play rigid with a standard mentality.

I feel the team is a little vulnerable at the back, with deep balls findins players a lot behind the centre backs\full backs.

Creating chances has also suddenly became a problem.

Any advice?

Your opponents are killing you with through balls because your Mentality and D-line are too low to combine with Hassle Opponents and Use Offside Trap. You have to either squeeze the passer or cover the runners, you can't do both and it appears that you are not doing either.

Your offensive problems come from the fact that you are using Exploit the Flanks, Play Wider and Look for Overlap. That's an overkill IMO. If you want to focus down the flanks, just use Play Wider and switch your FBs to WBs role. Another problem is the fact that you don't use any playmaker on your team. I'd suggest you change AM to AP and/or BBM to DLP.

[Jobnik]

Your opponents are killing you with through balls because your Mentality and D-line are too low to combine with Hassle Opponents and Use Offside Trap. You have to either squeeze the passer or cover the runners, you can't do both and it appears that you are not doing either.

Your offensive problems come from the fact that you are using Exploit the Flanks, Play Wider and Look for Overlap. That's an overkill IMO. If you want to focus down the flanks, just use Play Wider and switch your FBs to WBs role. Another problem is the fact that you don't use any playmaker on your team. I'd suggest you change AM to AP and/or BBM to DLP.

You are correct regarding the team not pushing up. I see now the push higher up instruction in not marked. it used to be, probably un-marked it by mistake.

One other question I have and I've seen on other threads is regarding amount of team/player instructions. how much is too much team instructions? If I play rigid, I guess 7-8 team instructions are fine. What about player instructions? not specifically for my team and formation, but just in general.