Sunderland Tactic In Need

[SitDownCrew]

So I have been trying to return Sunderland to their former glory. If they ever had any.. (apologies any Sunderland fans :P). However am struggling to find a tactic that works well. I was hoping that there may be some people out there who have done a Sunderland save already on FM 17 and have had some good success. If this is you, would you be so kind and show me/explain to me how I can get the best results out of the squad?

Thanks

[carlmiles1879]

18 hours ago, SitDownCrew said:

So I have been trying to return Sunderland to their former glory. If they ever had any.. (apologies any Sunderland fans :P). However am struggling to find a tactic that works well. I was hoping that there may be some people out there who have done a Sunderland save already on FM 17 and have had some good success. If this is you, would you be so kind and show me/explain to me how I can get the best results out of the squad?

Thanks

Bit harsh I died a little inside reading that insult.

In seriousness though Sunderland at the moment are tricky, we have some decent CB's only one LB who is great going forward but rubbish in defence a few RB's who are usually better forward than defence, we have some good defensive midfielders (although allot of injury proneness and the red card machine that is Catts in this position) Khazri and Januzaj are our only really effective attacking midfielders first season (love Seb IRL but he's is on a long injury and not quite good enough in game now) Strikers we have Anichebe who can run through walls and throw defenders into orbit but doesn't score too often and Jermain Defoe who will score chances that leave you scratching your head wondering how he pulled it off.

Tactic wise you pretty much need to either buy a very good striker 1st season and build your team around him or if you cant manage that build your first tactic around Defoe, my preference is a 3-2-2-1-2 formation with 3CB's to cover our dodgy defence, 2 wingbacks because PVA cannot be relied on to defend and may as well use one of our RB's the same to give a bit of symmetry to the team, 2 center midfielders one with a defensive mindset either DLP or BWM Kirchoff if you can keep him fit protects the defence wonderfully 1 CAM (Khazri does well so can Januzaj but I personally retrained Januzaj to a RWB for his impressive crossing and because ours are awful) and upfront a Anichebe target man support to win the ball and hold it up for overlapping full backs or balls to Defoe and Defoe in his prefered AF role. Play a counter attacking game and have low crosses as Defoe has the ability to find space in any situation (seriously he could find space in a phone booth with the hulk) this way attacking through the centre Khazri can pull of some great through balls or on the wings your WB's can put in crosses for Defoe to tap in or for Anichebe to possibly pick up and move defenders out of his way to get to the ball,

[Jean-Luc]

@carlmiles1879 has said already a lot of important things. I just add my experience.

Let's assess the different parts:

Central Defence: You have two very tall and sturdy DC in Koné and Djilobodji. They should make sure that you are not too vulnerable to flanks (which is important, given your weakness on the FB position). Djilobodji is even a decent BPD. He likes to play as a stopper, but I have found often that a simple CD (D) double pairing works best, especially if the defence is a bit fragile.

Full Backs: The right side has to decent option in Manquillo and Jones, although both are not exceptionally good in moving forward. The left side has Van Aanholt, who lacks defensive stability, but who is a really useful weapon going forward. Also: He is fast, so he can actually sometimes make up for his fragility defending by at least running back as quick as possible. I first identified him as my weakness and wanted to replace him, but I actually find him very useful. Give him a Support duty and let him run.

Central Midfield: Given the fact that you have a right full back who is not the best in defense, I say you need a rather defensive role here - an anchor man or a half back. It depends a bit on who your opponent is. A DLP might also work if you are not under high pressure, and he will distribute your balls forward. I also advise a second midfield role in DM or CM, and I think you profit from a good BWM who will relentlessly chase the ball and try to take it away from the opposition. The problem with the BWM role is that it gets easily drawn out of position, so you should not see it as a defensive role, but rather as a mean to launch a counter attack.

Wingers: You have two very interesting wingers in Januzaj and Khazri. Both are fast, which is important, and both know how to keep the ball. Both tend to go central, but as you don't have a real target man, giving both the IF role is actually not even that bad. Again, it depends a bit on your opponent. I use the wingers flexibly and see if my opponent blocks my paths, sometimes I switch between the W(S) and the IF(S) roles.

Attacking Midfield: In my opinion, your great weakness. Pienaar is not very convincing in FM17, and there is not much talent else. As you do have 2m transfer budget to spare, you might want to look for a decen AMC - or look for another winger, and put Khazri into the AMC role. I found Khazri quite useful there, he has nice acceleration and an eye for opportunities.

Forwards: Defoe can be awesome if used right. Don't be decieved by his attributes. Anichibe is also much more useful than he seems, because he can really hold the ball and is not easily dispossessed, which can be very important when defenders are closing in on you. He's not good at shooting, so he's more the DF type of guy.

This all sums up for me to something like this:

There are two names which you won't recognize, Schwegler is my replacement for Kirchhoff (for whom I got a lucrative offer), so just imagine Kirchhoff in DM, he should work as well. Grifo is my new addition as winger, so I did exactly what I was talking about earlier: Shifting Khazri to the center and investing into an new winger.

Alternatively, you can try something like this:

This makes full use of Van Aanholt's ability to attack, but still keeping him a bit deep, so that he can run back to help out in defence. Again, replace Schwegler = Kirchhoff and Grifo = Khazri. You can also switch between Ndong and Cattermole in the CM position. The important feature here is the Anichibe/Defoe pairing which can really break through an opponent's defence.

In terms of instructions, I am normally very basic. I use both formations on Standard as default, switching between Counter and Control. Counter can work very nice, because you have some pacey midfielders in Januzaj and Khazri (and also in Watmore), and Defoe knows how to move into the right channels.

Apart from that, I use "Tighter marking", and also often "Work ball into the box". You can also try the occasional "Close down more" or "Get stuck in", depending on the situation.

 

[evertonmarc]

"Give the ball to Defoe".........

[OhHoopedOne]

Bang balls into the corners for Anichebe  to shield with his big backside and lay off to defoe

[OhHoopedOne]

I've found playing a defensive, structured 4_1_2_3 with low tempo, short passing, retain possession and work ball into the box works quite well. I play with my fullbacks on support, 2 bp centre halves, deep lying playmaker on defend 2 box to box midfielders, 2 inside forwards on support and a deep lying forward on support( switching to a false nine against 4_4_2). I keep plenty clean sheets, winning most games 1 or 2 nil(with the odd o_0 draw) and bore the opposition to death.