A 4-2-3-1 inspired by mourinhos inter

[mourinho-herrera-defense]

i have only started to play FM for a week and i'm sorta addicted, i particularly love counter attacks as they seem as though they magically arise out of nowhere and analyzing its mechanisms can be fun, so my love for mourinho is understandable, i'm going to try and forge a 4-2-3-1 inspired by his inter side, seeing as though i've only started playing football manager since last week forgive any strategic mistakes on my part

i typically go with a 4-2-3-1 with two defensive midfielders, the right sided midfielder is a deep lying playmaker, on the left i have a traditional anchor-man to shield my backfour, one of my fullbacks normally pushes in an attacking role (and thus it dictates how my double pivot is placed, for eg. if the fullback that pushes up is on the right i'll shift my anchor man there and vice versa) then i have two wingers in attacking roles, if one of my fullbacks pushes up i use my wingers in more of an inside forward or a supporting role, and my striker is an advanced forward supplemented by an attacking midfielder (with a supporting role) right behind him

i'm not using many team instructions, my passing is more direct and i've thought that my players should be more disciplined with regards to positioning, i think all others are balanced, except my forward presses up higher alongside the winger that i've had in an attacking role to close down more

suggestions? i'm particularly just thinking about the space between my forward line and midfield but i think with a deeplying playmaker i can shift the ball out to many options in the front as it can even go further to support or supplement the attack if i'm feeling more aggressive

[herne79]

Welcome to the forum .

32 minutes ago, mourinho-herrera-defense said:

i have only started to play FM for a week and i'm sorta addicted

We got another one!  It's a slippery slope and before you know it'll be FM36 and you'll be wondering where the years went .

If you're looking at a Counter Attacking strategy with the 4231, I think it's absolutely right you're playing with a deep 4231.  In FM (and real life) the idea with this sort of strategy is to sit deep, let the opposition come onto you so that they over commit players forward, win the ball back and then break with a lightening fast attack of your own before the opposition can regroup.  It's easier to do that when using a deep formation rather than a top heavy formation (such as the higher 4231 which doesn't use defensive midfielders).

If you don't mind a little reading, there's a guide pinned at the top of the forum which goes into this strategy in much more detail.

 

[mourinho-herrera-defense]

3 hours ago, herne79 said:

Welcome to the forum .

We got another one!  It's a slippery slope and before you know it'll be FM36 and you'll be wondering where the years went .

If you're looking at a Counter Attacking strategy with the 4231, I think it's absolutely right you're playing with a deep 4231.  In FM (and real life) the idea with this sort of strategy is to sit deep, let the opposition come onto you so that they over commit players forward, win the ball back and then break with a lightening fast attack of your own before the opposition can regroup.  It's easier to do that when using a deep formation rather than a top heavy formation (such as the higher 4231 which doesn't use defensive midfielders).

If you don't mind a little reading, there's a guide pinned at the top of the forum which goes into this strategy in much more detail.

 

thank you, i found that very helpful

it does make me consider forging a more aggressive system than counter attacking for weaker opponents, though i'm too naive and scared to not defend deep and leaving space in behind, i'll first try out my own system(s) (i have another 4-1-2-3 one which i use against much stronger opponents), i hope the 4-2-3-1 can be more aggressive with 4 attack minded players vs the 3 in the 4-1-2-3

[mourinho-herrera-defense]

just a little update, i got thrashed by real sociedad (im managing a team in serie B) but then i had a preseason friendly with a vastly inferior side and we destroyed them in the first half 3-0 and they had a man sent off, so i got to thinking, i read westy's tactic with using only 1 TI and i used that version (with a little tweaks, i still had my deep lying playmaker and the central midfielder was only playing a supporting role) of 4-2-3-1 to paralyze the opposition since they'd lost any attacking threat and i'd decided i'd take advantage of my extra man, so that ended up 6-0