Chelsea FM18 help?

[Sarriball14]

Hi guys,

I've recently returned to FM after a few years away from the game. Ive downloaded the demo for now just to get back into the game and obviously things have changed since I last played the game.

My team is Chelsea so I always like to take them on as my first save in any new FM game. Ive been trying to create a tactic for them over the last week and I just seem to be getting no where with it. The board expectations are to play attacking football with a possession based build up. Now the tactic ive gone for is 3 at the back with wing backs. 2 central midfielders 2 wide attacking inside forwards and a lone striker which I personally think is the best formation with the current squad.

Obviously I'm not doing something right because I never dominate possession and I seem to concede just as mancy chances as I do create them. Now I claim to be no expert when it comes to creating a formation and ive ready several threads on here when it comes to making one and still nothing works. I'm guilty of being a plug and play gamer on previous games. Please can someone take a look and help me?

Thanks!

 

[wattzy]

Seems like too many instructions to me and some seem to contradict eachother. You want to play Narrow but then have your wing backs overlapping down the wings as soon as you get the ball/ play short passes to keep possession but at a higher temp/work the ball into the box whilst also running at the defence.

Some of these just don't seem to fit. I'm not an expert at all but I think you need to re-think how exactly you want to play. You're probably conceding chances because you're playing a high line with a defence that's pretty slow so you're susceptible to balls over the top maybe?

If you want to keep the ball then I wouldn't play on a high tempo, and it seems to me that an inside forward + complete forward could end up occupying pretty much the same space on the pitch. Maybe check your heat maps/average positions from the last few games and see if players are where you want them to be.

[Sarriball14]

14 minutes ago, wattzy said:

Seems like too many instructions to me and some seem to contradict eachother. You want to play Narrow but then have your wing backs overlapping down the wings as soon as you get the ball/ play short passes to keep possession but at a higher temp/work the ball into the box whilst also running at the defence.

Some of these just don't seem to fit. I'm not an expert at all but I think you need to re-think how exactly you want to play. You're probably conceding chances because you're playing a high line with a defence that's pretty slow so you're susceptible to balls over the top maybe?

If you want to keep the ball then I wouldn't play on a high tempo, and it seems to me that an inside forward + complete forward could end up occupying pretty much the same space on the pitch. Maybe check your heat maps/average positions from the last few games and see if players are where you want them to be.

Thanks for the advice, as I said I claim to be no expert when it comes to creating a tactic. Rudiger has pace of 16 and Christensen has 17? Luiz is only 13 however. Would him alone affect me playing a high defensive line?

[summatsupeer]

Attacking just means a good number of shots and possession just means more than 50%, you don't actually have to use attacking mentality.

Speaking of which, why do you expect to have lots of possession when telling the players to be very risky, dribble more, higher tempo and more expressive?  Shorter passing and work ball into box isn't going to do much to help your possession.

Plus what's the point in playing super fast risky football but then telling your wide forwards to hold up the ball and wait for the wingbacks to overlap only then to tell them not to cross as often?

I think you've just assumed what instructions you need without taking into account the mentality and what the roles & duties already have the team doing.

[wattzy]

On ‎13‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 14:22, Sarriball14 said:

Thanks for the advice, as I said I claim to be no expert when it comes to creating a tactic. Rudiger has pace of 16 and Christensen has 17? Luiz is only 13 however. Would him alone affect me playing a high defensive line?

He alone shouldn't have such an impact. I didn't realise the pace of the other 2, but I still don't think your high line is helping. As above, you're trying to pay too quickly and risky when on the ball, and your wing backs are bombing forward meaning you're open when your midfield inevitably lose the ball.

Again I'm no expert myself, but my suggestion would be to set up with the formation you want to use with just one or two  team instructions (Perhaps retain possession and one other). Then see what happens over the next few games and make tweaks as required.

It might even be worth dropping Kante back into a DM(L) role rather than the CM role. It won't look pretty but it's more in keeping with his position in the Chelsea side irl and would provide more cover for Alonso where he is set to attack.

[Experienced Defender]

On 13/07/2018 at 14:24, Sarriball14 said:

Hi guys,

I've recently returned to FM after a few years away from the game. Ive downloaded the demo for now just to get back into the game and obviously things have changed since I last played the game.

My team is Chelsea so I always like to take them on as my first save in any new FM game. Ive been trying to create a tactic for them over the last week and I just seem to be getting no where with it. The board expectations are to play attacking football with a possession based build up. Now the tactic ive gone for is 3 at the back with wing backs. 2 central midfielders 2 wide attacking inside forwards and a lone striker which I personally think is the best formation with the current squad.

Obviously I'm not doing something right because I never dominate possession and I seem to concede just as mancy chances as I do create them. Now I claim to be no expert when it comes to creating a formation and ive ready several threads on here when it comes to making one and still nothing works. I'm guilty of being a plug and play gamer on previous games. Please can someone take a look and help me?

Thanks!

 

On 13/07/2018 at 14:24, Sarriball14 said:

The board expectations are to play attacking football with a possession based build up. Now the tactic ive gone for is 3 at the back with wing backs. 2 central midfielders 2 wide attacking inside forwards and a lone striker which I personally think is the best formation with the current squad.

 

Okay, let's see... Attacking+Fluid+Higher d-line+CD Much More+Higher Tempo... At the very least, it's a needlessly risky system defensively. Attacking mentality in itself already has relatively high tempo, d-line and pressing settings respectively, so why increase them further?

 

On 13/07/2018 at 14:24, Sarriball14 said:

The board expectations are to play attacking football with a possession based build up. Now the tactic ive gone for is 3 at the back with wing backs. 2 central midfielders 2 wide attacking inside forwards and a lone striker which I personally think is the best formation with the current squad.

How do you expect to play possession-based football with Higher tempo, and on the Attacking mentality at that? The formation is not a problem (and even roles and duties are basically okay). The problem are team instructions in the first place. For starters, try with Control, flexible, normal d-line, normal tempo and shorter passing, then watch how the team are playing and based on that decide which adjustments are possibly needed (if any).

[razaviv5]

Okay so I'm playing Chelsea right now (currently on the 4th season). I too struggled at the beginning and finished the first season 3rd in the league. I was unsure as well of what is the best tactic to use and I had to really think about a good way to solve that for a perfect match for Chelsea.

Luckily, I figured out a great tactic which works perfectly for me now. I also made some very great purchases on the market which I'd definitely be glad to recommend.

So for tactic - I use the 4-1-2-3 DM (I will upload a picture later), with the following instructions:

Tempo - Slower

Fluid

Attacking

Work ball into box

Play out of defense

Be more expressive

Dribble less - this is by far the most important instruction for my players, especially at home games

Retain possession

Pass into space

Low crosses

With these tactics I can get real dominance in the game. I really control the ball and create chances.

With that being said, I also made some valuable purchases to strengthen my team:

One of the best signing was Alex Sandro. He really poses a treat on the left wing when Hazard cuts inside. Other very significant purchases: Arthur, Assensio, Griezman, Caldara, Gelson Martins, Nabil Fekir, Rugani, Dybala (only bought him on the 4th season and he is an absolute beast), Kimmich. Sold Morata although he was good, just to have space for Dybala.

Let me know if you need anything specific and I can provide.

[Armistice]

Retain Possession and Pass into Space cancel each other out I think so why did you choose both? I’m curious.

[razaviv5]

32 minutes ago, Armistice said:

Retain Possession and Pass into Space cancel each other out I think so why did you choose both? I’m curious.

So for a long time I thought the same and I played only with the "Retain Possession" (until the 3rd season). On the 4th season I added the Pass Into Space instruction and it worked fluently. The thing is, that my midfielders are often with the ball just at around the middle point of the pitch, and then they always tend to pass the ball to Hazard/Griezmann upfront to their feet. This was frustrating because whenever they got the ball, 1-2 defenders rushed on them immediately and obtained the ball real quickly. Now when I changed it to Pass Into Space, they get the ball deeper, mostly behind the defensive line, which makes them very dangerous in the box area.