Trouble creating decent chances and scoring

[RLC]

Hi.

I've tried to create a tactic after reading a lot here about balance and about roles/duties but I'm having a lot of problems creating chances and scoring, and even when I do manage to score I often concede a goal late, often after the opposition's winger/fullback sprints through my defence and score. The last 10 of my 30 goals conceded have come in the last 10 minutes of the game.

This is my tactic I'm using. My players have good morale och great cohesion and they are familiar with the tactic, but they are really struggling. I don' really have certain style of football I want to play, attacking but I don't really care about possession or style. But I need help to create chances and score, and at the moment Salah is my goalscoring threat but I would like to get Mane (who usually play AML) and Firmino to score more but how do I do that while still maintaining balance in attack? Thanks!

Also attaching the match stats from my last game.

 

[Experienced Defender]

6 hours ago, RLC said:

This tactic looks pretty good overall in the sense that there is nothing obviously wrong. In such cases, what you usually need to do is make very small gradual tweaks until you find the setup that ideally suits your players. 

I for example would set up this Liverpool team just a bit differently, but it does not mean that your setup (tactic) is bad. 

Btw, who is this guy Katterbach in LB? Is he better than Robertson?

[RLC]

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

I for example would set up this Liverpool team just a bit differently, but it does not mean that your setup (tactic) is bad. 

Thanks for taking the time to answer, appreciate any help. 
Is there a specific area that you think I should focus on? I was thinking about changing the carrilero to a B2B to get more penetration from midfield, or changing the AML to a IW or IF to get more players in the box. I seem to need more goalscoring threats but I don’t really know how. However changing the AML would require changing other roles as well on the left flank. What would you suggest? 
 

Do I need to change the TI and maybe go wider in possession? 
 

My tactic worked well first half of the season, but now teams are playing more defensive and cautious against me so that may of course explain my problem creating chances. 

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

Btw, who is this guy Katterbach in LB? Is he better than Robertson?

No he’s my 18 year old backup, Robertson was a bit tired, with high injury risk so he was just resting. 

[Experienced Defender]

Just now, RLC said:

I was thinking about changing the carrilero to a B2B to get more penetration from midfield

It might be an option worth considering (provided you keep both Salah and TAA in their current roles/duties). 

 

3 minutes ago, RLC said:

or changing the AML to a IW or IF to get more players in the box. I seem to need more goalscoring threats but I don’t really know how

I personally would prefer Mane as an IW on support duty in AML, but I would also set up those behind him a bit differently. 

 

6 minutes ago, RLC said:

However changing the AML would require changing other roles as well on the left flank. What would you suggest? 

Assuming you change Mane into IW on support (following my suggestion), this is how I would set up the left side:

IWsu

        CAR or BWMsu

WBat (Robertson)

8 minutes ago, RLC said:

Do I need to change the TI and maybe go wider in possession?

I would keep the attacking width on default and only tweak it occasionally during a match (you need to watch your matches at least in the comprehensive mode so that you could see which tweaks would make sense and when).

An instruction you may add is the Work ball into box, not only because you have the players capable of executing it but also to slightly offset the impact of the Be more expressive TI (when I manage top teams, I prefer to use these 2 instructions together). 

Low crosses make sense, although you may not need to insist on them all the time (sometimes it's better to just leave the crosses on default/mixed). Whipped crosses can also be useful sometimes, especially when you struggle to break down ultra-defensive opposition. 

15 minutes ago, RLC said:

My tactic worked well first half of the season, but now teams are playing more defensive and cautious against me so that may of course explain my problem creating chances

Generally speaking, it's always more tricky to create clear-cut chances against tight and deep defenses (just as it is in real-life football). However, when it comes to good chances, you should not rely exclusively on official match stats, because they can sometimes be misleading. A lot of really good chances are often not counted even as half-chances in match stats, so you need to watch highlights in order to get the real picture. 

[RLC]

11 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

I personally would prefer Mane as an IW on support duty in AML, but I would also set up those behind him a bit differently. 

 

Assuming you change Mane into IW on support (following my suggestion), this is how I would set up the left side:

IWsu

        CAR or BWMsu

WBat (Robertson)

Thanks, I think I'll try this setup for a while, but would you then go with the MCR as a B2B?

 

11 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Generally speaking, it's always more tricky to create clear-cut chances against tight and deep defenses (just as it is in real-life football). However, when it comes to good chances, you should not rely exclusively on official match stats, because they can sometimes be misleading. A lot of really good chances are often not counted even as half-chances in match stats, so you need to watch highlights in order to get the real picture. 

Yeah I try to always watch matches with comprehensive highlights, the problem is often that I don't know exactly how to adjust properly to what I'm seeing. So I appreciate your help.
Also, I was wondering what the difference between the F9 and the DLF is, the F9 roams more freely?

 

Ok so the tactic would look something likes this now, thanks again.
Btw, does it matter in any way what side the BPD plays on regarding my wingbacks, on on attack on on support (with TAA who often loses 1on1 situations against opposition wingers)?

 

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, RLC said:

Okay, this tactic looks pretty decent. Maybe Firmino as a trequartista would be an even better choice up front, so keep it in mind as an option to consider if needed. 

 

2 hours ago, RLC said:

I think I'll try this setup for a while, but would you then go with the MCR as a B2B?

Either BBM or mezzala on support duty (assuming Salah remains the IF on attack and Arnold WB on support). Try both roles (BBM/MEZ) to see which works better for you. I personally think that in this particular system - and taking into account that you are Liverpool - the mezzala would be a (slightly) better option, but try both roles anyway. 

 

2 hours ago, RLC said:

I was wondering what the difference between the F9 and the DLF is, the F9 roams more freely?

F9 is a more mobile and more technical role than DLF. For example, F9 is hard-coded to dribble more, while DLF is not. F9 does not hold up the ball, whereas DLF does. That's the main difference. Some players can play both roles, but some can struggle in one or the other. Firmino is one of those who can play both (in fact, he can play almost any striker role).

 

3 hours ago, RLC said:

does it matter in any way what side the BPD plays on regarding my wingbacks, on on attack on on support (with TAA who often loses 1on1 situations against opposition wingers)?

If your fullback often loses 1 on 1 against opposition players, then you should put the more defensively reliable CB on his side, regardless of whether he is a BPD or standard CD (or NCB). Alternatively, you can set the right CB on cover duty (but in that case you should remove the offside trap).  

[RLC]

2 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

Okay, this tactic looks pretty decent. Maybe Firmino as a trequartista would be an even better choice up front, so keep it in mind as an option to consider if needed. 

Thanks for all the help 👍