Struggling for a Possession Tactic for 20.3

[PODSYMAN]

Any ideas, folks?

I was using a tweaked version of Sir Goalalot's 19.3 and it was brilliant for high-possession stats.

But 20.3 seems to have killed it. I only play with Barca, Ajax or my QPR and I want to always aim for possession tactics, even if results sometimes suffer.

Can anyone suggest a tactic for 20.3 so I can do this, please?

Thanks in advance.

[Experienced Defender]

3 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

I was using a tweaked version of Sir Goalalot's 19.3 and it was brilliant for high-possession stats.

But 20.3 seems to have killed it

I assume it was an (exploit) plug'n'play tactic you downloaded?

If so, you should look in the Tactics sharing and download center (sub-section of this forum).

[PODSYMAN]

Thanks. Experienced Defender,

It was to begin with, but I always alter heavily.

I have my own pure-possession tactic tonight, based on (nearly 30) years of experience and  I'm winning games but the possession stat is low against big or medium teams.

I've looked in  the sharing section but there seems to be an acceptance that possession tactics are obsolete, no-one even quotes percentages.

[Pep468]

14 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

Thanks. Experienced Defender,

It was to begin with, but I always alter heavily.

I have my own pure-possession tactic tonight, based on (nearly 30) years of experience and  I'm winning games but the possession stat is low against big or medium teams.

I've looked in  the sharing section but there seems to be an acceptance that possession tactics are obsolete, no-one even quotes percentages.

Could you share your pure possession tactic please?

[XuluBak]

If you want advice on your tactics, then it's very helpful for you to share them. 

[PODSYMAN]

I would, but it's not working now!

[crusadertsar]

4 minutes ago, PODSYMAN said:

I would, but it's not working now!

If it's not working, then isn't that reason enough to show it to us? That's what most threads on this forum are, people asking for how to improve their tactic. But to help you we need to see your instructions and roles at least.

[PODSYMAN]

This is it, at the moment.

Hope it works. I haven't shared files on here before.

 

Sir Goalalot 2019 - 20.3 Ajax.fmf

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, PODSYMAN said:

This is it, at the moment.

Hope it works. I haven't shared files on here before.

 

Sir Goalalot 2019 - 20.3 Ajax.fmf 43.66 kB · 0 downloads

I think you misunderstood people. They asked you to share the tactic (a screenshot) so that we could offer you some advice on how you can improve it, not for us to download it.

[PODSYMAN]

I did both, ED.

Or tried to. Can you not see the screenshot?

[Experienced Defender]

6 minutes ago, PODSYMAN said:

Can you not see the screenshot?

I see the screenshot, it's okay 

I was referring to something else, but never mind.

[PODSYMAN]

Cool, thanks.

 

[Malin11]

20 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

Thanks. Experienced Defender,

It was to begin with, but I always alter heavily.

I have my own pure-possession tactic tonight, based on (nearly 30) years of experience and  I'm winning games but the possession stat is low against big or medium teams.

I've looked in  the sharing section but there seems to be an acceptance that possession tactics are obsolete, no-one even quotes percentages.

Low and medium level teams that have no interest in attacking just pass the ball between the defenders and the goalie racking up pass and possession stats this way.

Just had a game against Southampton and their gk + 3 CBs got over nearly 600 passes completed between them with 95%+ accuracy while my attackers just kept running in circles trying to dispossess them unsuccessfully.

[Francisco94]

Hello Friend, First of all, I am from Argentina, I speak Spanish and my level of English is very low so I help myself with the google translator to help you.

I am a fervent fan of maintaining a high possession in the game, always. (More than 65%) and for several years I have been testing and downloading different tactics to fulfill my obsession.

In this FM, there are 2 tactics that meet this goal.

One of them is the "Emulate Guardiola Tiki Tiki Barcelona 2009/10" tactic that you can find in Passion4FM. The truth about this tactic is that the game is VERY good, very entertaining and high possession works in most cases but the results, after all, end up being very very bad so you will end up getting tired.

The second is a tactic called "Guardiola Confidential" published in FMKorea and replicated in some forum that I already forgot. I guess if you search on Google you will find it. With regard to this tactic, possession also works but I didn't try it enough to deeply evaluate the results. Anyway, I hope you find my contribution useful.

Unfortunately, FMs are coming with a very defective match engine and difficult to develop possession tactics, which is a huge frustration for people like us who are obsessed with this attribute.

For the FM20, it seems that 4-4-2 is the tactic that works best.

I say goodbye, greetings from Argentina and success with the search for ball possession.

Francisco

[PODSYMAN]

7 minutes ago, Malin11 said:

Low and medium level teams that have no interest in attacking just pass the ball between the defenders and the goalie racking up pass and possession stats this way.

Just had a game against Southampton and their gk + 3 CBs got over nearly 600 passes completed between them with 95%+ accuracy while my attackers just kept running in circles trying to dispossess them unsuccessfully.

That makes sense. I'll watch out for that. Thanks.

[Francisco94]

I'm will waiting for news about your experience with this tactics.

[PODSYMAN]

3 minutes ago, Francisco94 said:

Hello Friend, First of all, I am from Argentina, I speak Spanish and my level of English is very low so I help myself with the google translator to help you.

I am a fervent fan of maintaining a high possession in the game, always. (More than 65%) and for several years I have been testing and downloading different tactics to fulfill my obsession.

In this FM, there are 2 tactics that meet this goal.

One of them is the "Emulate Guardiola Tiki Tiki Barcelona 2009/10" tactic that you can find in Passion4FM. The truth about this tactic is that the game is VERY good, very entertaining and high possession works in most cases but the results, after all, end up being very very bad so you will end up getting tired.

The second is a tactic called "Guardiola Confidential" published in FMKorea and replicated in some forum that I already forgot. I guess if you search on Google you will find it. With regard to this tactic, possession also works but I didn't try it enough to deeply evaluate the results. Anyway, I hope you find my contribution useful.

Unfortunately, FMs are coming with a very defective match engine and difficult to develop possession tactics, which is a huge frustration for people like us who are obsessed with this attribute.

For the FM20, it seems that 4-4-2 is the tactic that works best.

I say goodbye, greetings from Argentina and success with the search for ball possession.

Francisco

Thanks a million, Francisco. Gracias!

I have tweaked my tactic for the last few games.

Tempo - much slower
Passing - much shorter

So far, so good. It's upped my possession considerably but not affected my goalscoring threat.

Still too early to celebrate so all other tips welcome!!!
 

[Zemahh]

23 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

I only play with Barca, Ajax or my QPR and I want to always aim for possession tactics, even if results sometimes suffer.

I'd suggest the following changes then:

• Lower Mentality - the higher the Mentality, the higher the risk-taking. You want players prioritizing safe options, rather than risky ones. I'd start with Standard and then make changes depending on how it goes.
• Remove Pass Into Space - passes into feet are generally safer than passes into space, which your players have to chase after.
• Remove Run At Defence, add Dribble Less - you want a pass-first mentality, rather than players dribbling themselves out of possession.
• Remove Much Higher Tempo, add Lower Tempo - give your players more time to look for support/get into positions where they can be safely passed to, rather than rushing their attacking transitions.

Personally, I also wouldn't use two out-and-out Wingers, if my main goal was possession football. They'll both look to run at their man and get into a crossing/shooting opportunity, instead of keeping possession first and foremost.

Instead, I'd make one of them a goal threat and then also use one of the striker roles that drop deep, instead of an Advanced Forward—that way you get an extra passing option in the midfield during build-up and create some more movement.

[PODSYMAN]

Great tips, Zemahh. Thanks!

What roles would you use for the wide men? IF, support, maybe?

Also, how would you "make one of them a goal threat"?

Thanks again.

[DarJ]

57 minutes ago, Francisco94 said:

 

Unfortunately, FMs are coming with a very defective match engine and difficult to develop possession tactics, which is a huge frustration for people like us who are obsessed with this attribute.

 

I'd have to disagree with that. 

I'm playing a possession based tactic with an average possession of 61% and I've lost only 1 game in the season so far.

Can everyone just stop with the narrative that the match engine is defective when something doesn't work for them and I know the match engine is not perfect but don't blame everything on the match engine

[PODSYMAN]

13 minutes ago, DarJ said:

I'd have to disagree with that. 

I'm playing a possession based tactic with an average possession of 61% and I've lost only 1 game in the season so far.

Can everyone just stop with the narrative that the match engine is defective when something doesn't work for them and I know the match engine is not perfect but don't blame everything on the match engine

That's encouraging to hear, DarJ

I've played FM/CM since CM93. It's supposed to be hard. 

Since 20.3 I was really struggling to play possession with success but I'm encouraged by this thread.

Another thought I have is that I don't have an IF or an IWB in this tactic. Maybe they're getting in each other's way?

[DarJ]

5 minutes ago, PODSYMAN said:

That's encouraging to hear, DarJ

I've played FM/CM since CM93. It's supposed to be hard. 

Since 20.3 I was really struggling to play possession with success but I'm encouraged by this thread.

Another thought I have is that I don't have an IF or an IWB in this tactic. Maybe they're getting in each other's way?

I have not played with a 4-2-3-1 yet but if I had to I don't think I'll be playing on attacking mentality (that doesn't mean it can't work) and I definitely won't be using that much instructions because I wouldn't be able to tell why things are not going how i expect them to

 

[crusadertsar]

I just don't understand why you need so many instructions to achieve high possession football. Is there an instruction you didn't use? 

Usually for possession all you need is play out of defence, work ball into space, short passing and low tempo. And even that is probably overkill.

[PODSYMAN]

I've moved to Balanced, strangely enough. Seems to be working. I hadn't before as my board always insists on attacking football. Let's see how they cope with this mini-mutiny!

[PODSYMAN]

2 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

I just don't understand why you need so many instructions to achieve high possession football. Is there an instruction you didn't use? 

Usually for possession all you need is play out of defence, work ball into space, short passing and low tempo. And even that is probably overkill.

Food for thought, thanks.

I suppose I've always tried to replicate what (in my mind) constitutes Cryuff football.

I'm open to ideas. Thanks for the views. I'll definitely consider them.

[crusadertsar]

Also @PODSYMAN I'm not surprised that after ticking off every instruction possible, you are struggling with possession. Could it be because you selected some contradictory instructions like high tempo and pass into space? Probably. You should take @Experienced Defender s advise to heart and stop using plug and play exploit tactics. They will just confuse you. Instead try to understand how possession works in the game. There's a few good guides on here by longtime users like @Cleon and @Rashidi And sometimes less is more.

Edited March 6, 2020 by crusadertsar

[crusadertsar]

3 minutes ago, PODSYMAN said:

Food for thought, thanks.

I suppose I've always tried to replicate what (in my mind) constitutes Cryuff football.

I'm open to ideas. Thanks for the views. I'll definitely consider them.

I'm trying to do a Total Football/Barcelonaesque tactic myself. If you are curious you can always check out the thread I started on here to learn from my mistakes if you wish . Sorry for the shameless self-plug 

[PODSYMAN]

Cool. 

Post a link, please, I'd be very interested.

 

[crusadertsar]

2 minutes ago, PODSYMAN said:

Cool. 

Post a link, please, I'd be very interested.

 

It's started as examination of Pep's overloads and how to create them in FM19 but in FM20 I'm doing just a general series on how to develop Ajax style 4-3-3 to achieve possession and scoring with current match engine.

 

[Zemahh]

11 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

What roles would you use for the wide men? IF, support, maybe?

Yes, I'd try some sort of IF-F9 link-up. Playing possession football with Ajax means you'll probably camp in front teams' packed defences very often, so you need to think in terms of creating movement, which creates space.

I'd try something like this:

• Mentality: Control
• Team Instructions: Play Out Of Defence, Dribble Less, Shorter Passing, Lower Tempo, Be More Expressive, Counter-Press, Higher Defensive Line

Potential changes during the game:

• Lower Mentality, add Work Ball Into Box after scoring, for less-risk taking (emphasize possession)
• Add More Urgent Closing Down, remove Lower Tempo when chasing the game, to increase urgency

10 hours ago, PODSYMAN said:

I hadn't before as my board always insists on attacking football.

"Attacking football" means your board wants you to score a lot of goals. Perhaps there's also some other factors they take into account, such as dominating games with possession and shots, but I don't think they actually care what Mentality you use.

[Francisco94]

On 06/03/2020 at 17:41, DarJ said:

Tendría que estar en desacuerdo con eso. 

Estoy jugando una táctica basada en la posesión con una posesión promedio del 61% y hasta ahora solo he perdido 1 juego en la temporada.

¿Todos podemos detectar con la narrativa de que el motor de fósforos es defectuoso cuando algo no funciona para ellos y sé que el motor de fósforos no es perfecto, pero no culpe a todo el motor de fósforos?

 

Tremendous! It would be great to have a tactic that has an average possession of 61% and that loses few matches. Please, can you share this tactic? I would like to download it and try it with my Manchester United