Struggling to score goals

[Cam8]

The inspiration behind my system is Sarri's Napoli, however I'm really struggling to score goals or at least reproduce attractive football. I seem to be winning most games against mid-lower table teams in the league, but the majority of my goals in these games have come from long shots/set pieces. 

Can anyone give me advice on how I can approve my set up from an attacking sense? Thanks.

 

[Experienced Defender]

If you want to use a regista, I'd recommend a system that employs 2 DMs and pushes more players forward (not necessarily in terms of their positions but roles and duties, such as a deep version of 4231 or wide 4222 or deep 424 and so on). 

None of your flanks has a winger, or at least an overlapping attack-minded full/wing-back to provide some real penetration out wide in the attacking third (particularly as Morata is good in the air AFAIK). You don't even use an inverted winger, which is a beautiful role if you have the right player. Remember, you are Chelsea, so there is no need to be overly cautious. I myself for example am pretty much defensive-minded, but if I managed a team like Chelsea, I would certainly look to use my attacking potential as much as possible (in addition to making sure I am tight and stable enough at the back).

Formation-wise, I believe a 4141DM Wide (with AMR&L) would suit this Chelsea team much better than your conservative 451dm.

[RTHerringbone]

The obvious question to ask is: "What do you notice isn't working?" Not the fact that you aren't scoring enough - why? Are there not enough people in support, as an example.

It looks  bit too safe. The Mentality is neutral and your mix of in-out of possession settings has you pressing high and hard, but then playing a possession oriented game when you get the ball. It feels like a contradiction to me.

[Cam8]

1 hour ago, RTHerringbone said:

The obvious question to ask is: "What do you notice isn't working?" Not the fact that you aren't scoring enough - why? Are there not enough people in support, as an example.

It looks  bit too safe. The Mentality is neutral and your mix of in-out of possession settings has you pressing high and hard, but then playing a possession oriented game when you get the ball. It feels like a contradiction to me.

A contradiction in what sense? I believe many RL teams combine a high pressing system with a possession-oriented attacking style. This is what I was aiming for with my mentality/TIs (many of which is based on the vertical tika-take preset)

 

But yeah I can see where you guys are coming from regarding my tactic being too safe. My justification for using WMs instead of AMs is that they track back more readily and provide more customisable roles. I didn’t think this would have much impact in an attacking sense but I guess I was wrong.

 

I think part of the problem is when we have the ball in the final third against a packed defence. Our attack ends up quite narrow and there isn’t much space. There isn’t that much movement from our attacking players either. I’ll have a closer look as see what I can find.

 

[VinceLombardi]

You can use MR/L instead of AMR/L and get a good attack out of it, no problem. And if you are compressing up on the defense, then you are likely getting them forward enough that a switch to AMR/L isn't going to fix the problem.

The issue is more likely that you have a low risk (balance mentality, mitigated slightly with more creative TI), short passing, and low tempo attack. Even worse you are playing it with a team that most others are going to have a very defensive approach with.

Your passes are too short to catch defenders out, aren't quick enough to work around the defense, and your players aren't aggressive enough to force a pass into a tight space, opting instead for a low risk option. I would look to alter one or more of those instructions in order to get a bit more offense. 

[Robson 07]

Hi.  I think your mentality and passing instructions are fine.

However I would not play out of defence.  If you have Jorginho as a Regista role your team will look for him a lot anyway so you will tend to get the effect you are after.  Play out of defence on top of that may be a bit sterile.

Not too sure about the both wings and in particular the relationship between Hazard's and Barklay's roles.  I think they get in each others way.

Ultimately if you're struggling for goals it's part down to a single striker system with not enough support for Morata.  Simple answer is get more men in the box.