Assistance with my 4-2-3-1

[steveshaw1983]

Since the update I have been trying to make a decent and reliable 4-2-3-1 tactic. Mainly because Liverpool have the team to play this formation and I don't want to have to leave out the likes of Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho or Suso.

I have just completed my first season and have got to say I'm not too impressed with the results. I finished 7th in the league and wasn't very successful in either domestic cup. I found that I was scoring quite a lot of goals but I was also leaking goals, alot of them. I looked to see where most of these goals were created from and it was my right back area. I changed my right back to a defend mentality but that didn't seem to help. The tactic I have ended up with is as follows:

Please can I have some help with this to make some adjustments?

I'm not too concerned about possession, i'd be happy if every game was 50:50. What I want to achieve is a strong attacking unit which doesn't ship too many goals. I'd settle for conceding 30-40 a season in the league aslong as I was good in my attacking play.

I would appreciate it if you were also able to tell me why you would make the adjustments you recommend so I can understand the reasoning behind it.

Thanks in advance......

[THOG]

Your right flank is leaking goals because your DR has no cover or defensive support. As a CM(S), Gerrard will go forward to support attacking play while Sturridge will contribute little as a wide forward other than pressing in advanced areas. This leaves only Lucas shielding the defence in attack with only Gerrard reliably tracking back to help in defence. Hassle is also probably stretching your defensive structure which, already being undermanned, will leave huge gaps to exploit.

[steveshaw1983]

Thanks mate. Makes sense. Would changing the AMR to a winger help this at all? Or could I be better off changing the role of my CM S?

[THOG]

Thanks mate. Makes sense. Would changing the AMR to a winger help this at all? Or could I be better off changing the role of my CM S?

Changing the AMLR role won't make any difference. If you're playing with this many AMs, you will want Gerrard to be a DLP-S or on a defend duty. Is there a reason why Lucas is the deep playmaker as opposed to Gerrard? The way things are set up here, with Lucas and Coutinho as the two focal points of build-up, Gerrard isn't really doing anything anyway. It would make more sense to play them as a CM-D and DLP-S, IMO. That way Lucas drops deep with Gerrard slighly higher linking defence and attack but not crowding into Coutinho's area.

[llama3]

Issues:

• No movement at all wide right - if Sturridge plays IF(A) then Johnson at RB must get forward more - FB(A) or WB(S/A)
  
• Your centre is congested - Suarez drops deep, Coutinho stays central, Sturridge comes central, Gerrard pushes forward. More consideration required.
  
• Suso is hitting early crosses to no-one - Suarez is too busy dropping deep. Early crosses generally suit Target Men type, not quick mobile types.
  
• You cannot hassle opponents whilst using a counter strategy - it is illogical - sitting deep before chasing large distances, giving up your good defensive positions - choose 1 or other. Same goes for Push Higher.
  
• You could drop the MC to DM slots - Lucas is not a creative playmaker type - he keeps the ball moving, keeps it simple. Get Lucas playing a CM(D) or DM(D) (depending on position) with Gerrard the DLP(S) - this way you do not congest the centre.
  
• Suarez I would have on an attack duty - with Coutinho on a Support duty - so Suarez can lead the line, create chances by himself, as well as recieve crosses from Suso, and let Coutinho play with more space

[steveshaw1983]

Changing the AMLR role won't make any difference. If you're playing with this many AMs, you will want Gerrard to be a DLP-S or on a defend duty. Is there a reason why Lucas is the deep playmaker as opposed to Gerrard? The way things are set up here, with Lucas and Coutinho as the two focal points of build-up, Gerrard isn't really doing anything anyway. It would make more sense to play them as a CM-D and DLP-S, IMO. That way Lucas drops deep with Gerrard slighly higher linking defence and attack but not crowding into Coutinho's area.

There wasn't any particular reason why I just assumed he could play that role because of his stats however now I have just looked at his PPMs I understand why he cant :-)

[steveshaw1983]

Issues:

• No movement at all wide right - if Sturridge plays IF(A) then Johnson at RB must get forward more - FB(A) or WB(S/A)
  
• Your centre is congested - Suarez drops deep, Coutinho stays central, Sturridge comes central, Gerrard pushes forward. More consideration required.
  
• Suso is hitting early crosses to no-one - Suarez is too busy dropping deep. Early crosses generally suit Target Men type, not quick mobile types.
  
• You cannot hassle opponents whilst using a counter strategy - it is illogical - sitting deep before chasing large distances, giving up your good defensive positions - choose 1 or other. Same goes for Push Higher.
  
• You could drop the MC to DM slots - Lucas is not a creative playmaker type - he keeps the ball moving, keeps it simple. Get Lucas playing a CM(D) or DM(D) (depending on position) with Gerrard the DLP(S) - this way you do not congest the centre.
  
• Suarez I would have on an attack duty - with Coutinho on a Support duty - so Suarez can lead the line, create chances by himself, as well as recieve crosses from Suso, and let Coutinho play with more space

Thanks llama. So the issue with conceding on the right was less to do with my fullback but more to do with the lack of support he had. I want to play Sturridge as an inside forward because it's the only way I can slot him in the team with Suarez as I don't like 2 striker formations.

I have been changing the hassle opponents and push higher up all season as I couldn't make my mind up. Would you say the following formation looks more balanced then?

[THOG]

There wasn't any particular reason why I just assumed he could play that role because of his stats however now I have just looked at his PPMs I understand why he cant :-)

He can play the role as more of a tempo controller/short distributor; it's more a question of what that leaves for Gerrard to do.

[llama3]

Certainly better than before - see how it goes and then report back for any further help you need.

[steveshaw1983]

Certainly better than before - see how it goes and then report back for any further help you need.

Ok cheers

[steveshaw1983]

Ok so I decided to scrap the 4-2-3-1 as I didn't feel comfortable without the DM so I went back to my beloved 4-1-2-2-1......

It did not go well. The tactic above seemed to do ok attacking however defensively left alot to be desired. I tried this for about 9 games and conceded over 20 goals. Obviously this is not sustainable for an entire season therefore looking for some guidance on how I can improve this.

Near enough all of the goals I conceded, the assists were from my fullback areas

[llama3]

Potentially due to playing too narrow and not being able to prevent the crosses would be my guess from the information. How does that sound based on what you see?

[yhakaede]

What is your tactic familiarity during your test? I had the same problem with my similar tactics ( I had an AMC instead of 2 MCs) when it has low familiarity but it gets better and better with higher familiarity.(Although its still the main weakness). Try set your AML and AMR with tighter marking. If against strong teams with good wings (Lamela, fk him :x), set your Inside forwards to defensive wingers with indivdual instruction tighter marking and mark the specific player .

Also, What is the assist type? If it is crossing from the flanks then you may want to set fullbacks to close down more. If your fullbackis much slower then their wings, hard tackle will usually cause them being skinned off. If it is through ball towards the flank then you may want them to close down less to matain the tactic shape. For the through balls, you may also want to mark their creative player tighter every game.

Stand off oppoment may also helps, I am not sure about this tho.

Defensive forward is also a v. strong role as you got Suarez.(high work rate,aggression, bravery, anticpation and considerably good tackling as forward)