Sampdoria 2020 - The three approach err approach

[jcw163]

Afternoon everyone,

So, straight in, as I've mentioned a few times here and there I'm in the middle of a multiplayer FM game in Serie A in which I am managing Sampdoria. Five seasons are nearly completed (one game to go) and progress has been mostly good, finishing 10th, 5th, 3rd, 2nd and now.....9th (with a Champs League Quarter final but still, not good enough right?)

The problem with finishing 9th is that after 5 years of work the squad is now really quite strong, and should arguably be competing with a still immense Juventus for the title and at worst buzzing around the CL positions (top 4 at the moment) rather than narrowly missing the Europa League. Although we finished 2nd and 3rd the last two seasons these were both a result of fantastic late surges, which we were unable to replicate this season, and, crucially, we lost too many bad games and blew too many reasonable leads. As a result I am thinking of putting a whole new approach into place for the 2020-2021 season in order to restore Sampa to the business end of Serie A.

First of all, let's look at the players. The squad has been built broadly speaking with a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 shape in mind over the last few seasons, that is to say a back 4, two deeper midfielders (one destroyer, one creator), an out and out winger on the right hand side, a more cultured attacking midfielder on the left, a number 10 or a player who could surge from deep to support the forward, and a lone striker. As a result when employing a changed approach I don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater and start trying to play an inside forward on the right for example. The approach, which we'll look at in a moment, is to broadly use these same players and as such cannot be too radical in respect of formations.

THE APPROACH

What I wanted to do was disconnect my tactics from the creator a little bit, and most notably from the mentality option. I'm very used to seeing tactics in terms of "Control" vs "Standard" or even the idea of a "home" tactic and an "away" tactic. What I want to do for this season is view my tactics as being part of 3 possible approaches.

The first is a Proactive approach, which we should be using in games where we want to impose ourselves on proceedings, this should be independent of the on-paper strength of the opposition or where the match is being played. This approach should be characterised by moving the ball well when we're in possession in order to create chances through probing and movement as opposed to through a high ball into the box for example as well as by attempting to recover possession as quickly as possible when the ball is lost.

The second is a Reactive approach. This is for games where we expect we will be unable to impose our way of playing (ie, our proactive approach) and will instead have to respond to the opponent's performance and aim to take advantage of any mistakes made or gaps left. As such this should involve maintaining a structure when out of possession until the opposition give the ball away or resort to long shots, coupled with fast, direct attacks to expose these mistakes.

The third approach is a Containment approach. This is for games which are now a dead rubber, my Sampa side blew too many leads this season and something needs to be put in place to change this, or for games where we expect to be vastly outgunned and wish to take the sting out of the match. This approach would involve composed, structured defending as with the reactive approach, but when in possession there should be a safety-first approach, no long out balls or risky through passes should be attempted, possession should be retained at all costs and time should be wasted wherever possible.

So, with the above in mind, here's roughly how I see things going at the moment:-

Proactive

A 4-2-3-1 Deep, Control mentality, Fluid structure

SWGKs

FBs

DCd

BPDd

WBs

A

DLPs

Wa

APs

IFs

CFa

With instructions based around higher closing down, movement of players and shorter passing.

Reactive

A 4-2DM-2MR\L-1-1, Counter, Structured

GKd

FBs

DC

DC

FBs

A

DLPs

Ws

WMa

AMa

CFs

With instructions based around more direct passing, passes into space and maybe a focus on the flanks and the pace of the MR\L

Containment

A 4-2-3(Mid strata)-1, Contain, Structured

GKd

FBd

DC

DC

FBs

A

DLPd

Ws

BBM

WMa

DFs

With instructions based around ball retention, possible just retain possession with everything else left as is.

Any thoughts on this kind of approach to the game? Any thoughts on those systems? All are variations on a 4-2-3-1 with a proper winger on the right as that is how the squad is currently built. The logic of the positional selections seems ok to me, will be interested to see how any of it pans out over the next season.

[Soldatino]

Interesting thread, I'm using similar 3-way approach, although in my case it's defined above all by player roles/duties combinations.

Not really an advice, just a consideration and my own experience and preference: for my linking you have too few attacking support from your wing backs. As long as the player at your disposal has the required offensive attributes and stamina, I would consider setting the left one on attacking duty, probably in all three approaches, even in the containing one imho it serves to have a player that can do a tricky movement forward and maybe add/assist another goal.

In case you would feel it leaves your left side too much unprotected, you could consider switching the Anch and DLP.