ELI5: What does the Libero do? And how can/should I use one?

[max787]

What is a libero supposed to do? And how can I work one into a tactic?

[THOG]

A libero is a kind of sweeper. A sweeper is a nice man who sits behind the defence when the team does not have the ball. When a team does have the ball, a libero moves forward and joins the midfield. Liberos haven't really been used since your mum and dad were very young.

Is that how ELI5 works?

[Cleon]

A libero is supposed to be someone who defends when your side doesn't have the ball but when you do have possession, he is supposed to act as an extra midfielder. On FM you can have them playing like a MC/AMC. In order to get one working in a tactic then the most important thing is to remember not to use playmaker roles low down the field as this will stop the libero making forward runs or advancing past the DMC spot. It's also important you don't really have a DMC in his way either or again, he'll drop back and not advance.

People often confuse a libero with a sweeper, but both are very different from each other. A libero is more adventerous than a sweeper.

[max787]

A libero is a kind of sweeper. A sweeper is a nice man who sits behind the defence when the team does not have the ball. When a team does have the ball, a libero moves forward and joins the midfield. Liberos haven't really been used since your mum and dad were very young.

Is that how ELI5 works?

A libero is supposed to be someone who defends when your side doesn't have the ball but when you do have possession, he is supposed to act as an extra midfielder. On FM you can have them playing like a MC/AMC. In order to get one working in a tactic then the most important thing is to remember not to use playmaker roles low down the field as this will stop the libero making forward runs or advancing past the DMC spot. It's also important you don't really have a DMC in his way either or again, he'll drop back and not advance.

People often confuse a libero with a sweeper, but both are very different from each other. A libero is more adventerous than a sweeper.

Thanks thog and cleon, that's pretty much what I was thinking.

I specifically set up a tactic with no playmakers at all, and no defensive midfielders (or even sitting midfielders) and my libero had very disappointing performances unfortunately. Is there anything that's blatantly wrong with this setup (other than the purposefully very open midfield)?

I was kind of hoping that he would act like a DLPd when we had possession, sitting in the centre circle (or higher) spraying passes around and just generally being a deep passing outlet. Unfortunately, he was largely ignored by his teammates throughout matches and I eventually abandoned it.

GK - keeper defend

SW - Libero attack

CB - Central defender defend

CB - Central defender defend

WBR - Wing back attack

WBL - Wing back attack

CMR - B2B

CML - B2B

AMC - Attacking midfielder attack

STR - F9

STL - DLF support

[Cleon]

Well the player you use is probably more important than the tactic. It's not a role you can chuck anyone into and expect them to play the role. It has to be a very specific type of player or he won't venture forward and spray the balls around like you want. Also you mentioned nothing about structure, mentality or TI's and PI's.

As for the tactic, the B2B midfielders aren't allowing him to play like he should be as both are running into and using the space he is looking to occupy. And because you use two of the same role he's always going to be deeper than them because they start higher up than he does. But they're not allowing him to go past the half way line in your set up.

[THOG]

IMHO (and Cleon might disagree), I don't see any attacking benefit to a libero compared to a creative DMC (who will also drop into defence if you play the ball out from the keeper).

If you play a sweeper, it's because you want what a sweeper gives you in the defensive phase, but if you ask me, it just gives you a lot of problems by breaking your offside line.

[max787]

I used Bilbao during the beta, alternating between Laporte (a very complete ball playing defender) and Benat (a DLP basically) as my libero, both were largely ignored in general play.

Balanced

Defensive / counter (depended on the game)

Retain possession

Play narrower

shorter passing

Work ball into box

Play out of defence

I was looking to counter at pace if the break was on, otherwise I wanted to play possession football.

[Barnet]

Think Beckenbauer

http://soccersouls.com/2012/11/08/from-sweeper-to-defensive-mid-from-franz-beckenbauer-to-andrea-pirlo-the-evolution-in-football/

[Cleon]

IMHO (and Cleon might disagree), I don't see any attacking benefit to a libero compared to a creative DMC (who will also drop into defence if you play the ball out from the keeper).

If you play a sweeper, it's because you want what a sweeper gives you in the defensive phase, but if you ask me, it just gives you a lot of problems by breaking your offside line.

I kind of agree. A roaming playmaker or a Regista at DMC basically does the same thing but it doesn't tick the hipster box

[max787]

Yes, I've had success with a regista in previous versions and, now that I think about it, that is broadly similar to how I'd like the libero to play. I've just seen your edit, regarding the b2b midfielders occupying the space that the libero wants to use. Would more defensive roles in midfield be a better fit? Like a BWMs and a CMd for example?

[Pirlo's Beard]

While I mostly agree with HoG's statement about the libero, I might offer one small point of contention: If you want the ball player in question to collect the ball from the goalkeeper to start the attack, having a midfielder (e.g. Regista, DLP, HB, or RPM) drop deep to do this obviously pulls a man from midfield, meaning he has one less midfield option when starting the move. If the libero is collecting the ball and starting the attacking move, however, the team retains its full compliment of midfield numbers at the onset. One could argue that a BPD offers this as well; this is true, but not every team is blessed with a good BPD. Of course, with Athletic you've already got Laporte whom you're sometimes playing at Libero, so...

But I also agree with Cleon. To paraphrase Obi-wan: The Libero is not as clumsy or random as a centerback-- an elegant defender for a more civilized age.