04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 I guess to save me from getting too negative, we at least clinched the Serie A title on the last day of the season. Heading into this game, we had a 2 point lead over Juventus. They were playing Atalanta away, a tough game with them being qualified for the Euro's, and we were playing Napoli away. Also a tough game, although Napoli is only 9th in the table. We were finally back on our form to win it, and that wraps a good overall second season, although we were on the cusp of a very memorable season. It shows me that we are on the right track, as with some better luck with injuries, no HUGE mess ups with registration, we should have a much better depth situation going forward. Our youngsters are developing well, and if our key players can keep playing well in their prime, through early 30s, we should really be a force to be reckoned with. I'll do a proper season wrap next. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNZ-8 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 33 minutes ago, 04texag said: I was waiting to see if you noticed! Yes, it's been a good system for us in big games and against 2 striker formations. @04texag Thanks. Out tactics are slightly different but apply the same principals and the style remains the same. The main difference is the midfield concept. Both my MC's are holding their position. One is a MC on support and he has the 'Hold position" instruction, the second one is a DLP(s) - Locatelli - and therefore he keeps his position by default. Also, while my MC's are more conservative than yours, my AMC is more aggressive, he goes into space and attacks the box taking advantage of space created by my forward who comes deep. (he's a DLF on support). Most of these choices - as usual - are dictated by the players I have at my disposal. My forward (Caputo) is 34, has fantastic mental attributes, but pace and acceleration are gone, so I had to create a system that would have someone else accelerating and going into space to reach those great through balls coming from the midfield or the wings. In any case, I want to give it a try and have my MC a bit freer and moving forward and see if we remain defensively solid. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 (edited) Season Review I really like the new season review feature, so I'm going to do a post with screenshots from that first. Best New Arrivals We had some big impacts from new arrivals. It's funny though, I rate them differently by far sometimes than the board. For instance, the young central mid Marcos Antonio has been stellar in my opinion. In half a season, at 21, he registered 5 goals, 4 assists, 3 player of the match awards, and 31 key passes. Excellent for half a season of play and added depth to the squad. Gianluigi Donnarumma is another young stud. He played pretty much every first team game, and was a force. He allowed 34 goals in 56 games across all comps, and had 30 shutouts, 24 in league play. Amazing for a 23 year old. Our league results standout as a highlight for the season. We got 93 points and were on top for most of the season. We had a few late season losses due to severe fixture congestion amidst injury problems, so rotation and exhaustion became a huge issue. I still don't know why people don't come to our games. We had 76% attendance, not sure what to do here. Champions League, honestly, we did pretty darned well. Look at this list of competition we faced this year in CL play, and made it to the semi final. Arsenal, Bayern Munich, A.Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester City. That's a tough lineup.... I completely agree that our match to remember was our away win at Bayern Munich. This really set the table for us to progress out of our very difficult group draw. Very excited on this next screenshot, our club reputation has increased from Continental to Worldwide! Surprised to see our prize money is down, as we went further into the CL than prior season. Looking at our best 11, our initial stars from day 1 are clearly still that, and I hope that each of them has at least 2-4 more good years left, although Ciro is the oldest and needs a successor more immediately. Luis Alberto, Correa, Immobile, and Lazzari are clearly are best, but new players Catrovilli and Antonio had great seasons as well. Finally, here is out final analyst report, which I'm quite happy with. I've looked into the shots on target percent and it's actually a bit higher when considering the blocked shots. Interestingly, the club board now wants to modify our club vision to include playing tactically the way we have been, solid defensive soccer, with possession and pressing. They also gave us 65 million for transfers and still want to see us spend it all. I'm really not sure where I will spend this to be honest, as my young players will all be returning and are looking really sharp. I'll likely need to splash some money on a young but high PA striker for Ciro's backup, as even though I could retrain some of my young AM's for this, they are really probably better in the AM strata. Edited December 4, 2020 by 04texag 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 12 minutes ago, DNZ-8 said: @04texag Thanks. Out tactics are slightly different but apply the same principals and the style remains the same. The main difference is the midfield concept. Both my MC's are holding their position. One is a MC on support and he has the 'Hold position" instruction, the second one is a DLP(s) - Locatelli - and therefore he keeps his position by default. Also, while my MC's are more conservative than yours, my AMC is more aggressive, he goes into space and attacks the box taking advantage of space created by my forward who comes deep. (he's a DLF on support). Most of these choices - as usual - are dictated by the players I have at my disposal. My forward (Caputo) is 34, has fantastic mental attributes, but pace and acceleration are gone, so I had to create a system that would have someone else accelerating and going into space to reach those great through balls coming from the midfield or the wings. In any case, I want to give it a try and have my MC a bit freer and moving forward and see if we remain defensively solid. I definitely agree that with different players you have to make small adjustments. So comparing our strikers and number 10's it makes sense that they are essentially flipped in their tactical focus. Would love to see some results for how your save gets on. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNZ-8 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 9 minutes ago, 04texag said: I definitely agree that with different players you have to make small adjustments. So comparing our strikers and number 10's it makes sense that they are essentially flipped in their tactical focus. Would love to see some results for how your save gets on. The results have been incredibley fantastic. I won the Seria A with 91 points! Almost an unbeaten season. Lost only the last game with Lazio Not sure how it exactly happened (incredible consistency of results) but we always manage to impose our possession (61% average) and somehow we usually find the deadly through ball which, with the clinical finish we have, that puts us on top. Then I usually change my tactical settings and with our capacity to slow down and keep the ball we kill the match, but remaining dangerous in quick transitions. One thing that definitely helped - reading your last post - is that we didn't have any major injury effecting our key players. Also Sassuolo usually has only one match per week, which gives us a huge advantage on our main competitors, specially in the Fall and in the Spring when the Champions league is on. Here is the table at the end of the season. This is my season report. Now I am about to start my second season at Sassuolo. Let's see what I am able to do in the transfer window... first objective is not to loose my best players... 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 1 minute ago, DNZ-8 said: The results have been incredibley fantastic. I won the Seria A with 91 points! Almost an unbeaten season. Lost only the last game with Lazio Not sure how it exactly happened (incredible consistency of results) but we always manage to impose our possession (61% average) and somehow we usually find the deadly through ball which, with the clinical finish we have, that puts us on top. Then I usually change my tactical settings and with our capacity to slow down and keep the ball we kill the match, but remaining dangerous in quick transitions. One thing that definitely helped - reading your last post - is that we didn't have any major injury effecting our key players. Also Sassuolo usually has only one match per week, which gives us a huge advantage on our main competitors, specially in the Fall and in the Spring when the Champions league is on. Here is the table at the end of the season. This is my season report. Now I am about to start my second season at Sassuolo. Let's see what I am able to do in the transfer window... first objective is not to loose my best players... A good second goal is to increase your depth to prepare for the CL schedule in your second season, as you will now have a much more packed schedule. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNZ-8 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 You are right... and it won’t be easy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatanera Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 1 hour ago, 04texag said: I still don't know why people don't come to our games. We had 76% attendance, not sure what to do here. From my experience with Roma, you'll never sell out Olimpico. I'm up to 84% in Serie A now, and our sell-outs (3 in the league last season) appear to be over-counted, unless there's a separation between ticket sales and attendances (which would be realistic), as I can count only 2 games - Juventus in Serie A and Arsenal in the Champions League - that actually got the full 68,530. 1 hour ago, 04texag said: They also gave us 65 million for transfers and still want to see us spend it all. I'm really not sure where I will spend this to be honest, as my young players will all be returning and are looking really sharp. I'll likely need to splash some money on a young but high PA striker for Ciro's backup, as even though I could retrain some of my young AM's for this, they are really probably better in the AM strata. If I do join the FM21 crew I can see that demand of actually spending the transfer budget will put me in trouble. I've currently got a big enough budget to buy Neymar and give PSG a profit, and that's with Roma so I think I'd have £1billion by now if I was managing Manchester United. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 31 minutes ago, zlatanera said: From my experience with Roma, you'll never sell out Olimpico. I'm up to 84% in Serie A now, and our sell-outs (3 in the league last season) appear to be over-counted, unless there's a separation between ticket sales and attendances (which would be realistic), as I can count only 2 games - Juventus in Serie A and Arsenal in the Champions League - that actually got the full 68,530. If I do join the FM21 crew I can see that demand of actually spending the transfer budget will put me in trouble. I've currently got a big enough budget to buy Neymar and give PSG a profit, and that's with Roma so I think I'd have £1billion by now if I was managing Manchester United. Ok good to know. To me it didn't look like too big of a stadium to fill but I guess that's just historically accurate there excluding massive games. Ya, I really don't know what to do with that transfer budget because I spent so much last season to satisfy that requirement that now we are stacked in our two deep. I want to give my youth projects time with the squad but I'm going to have to loan some out if I buy some higher quality talent. I'm likely to prioritize a backup striker for Ciro, and a starting CB who can play on the left alongside Luis Felipe. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 Also the other thing I was contemplating was a half back so that we can explore the 433 shape Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
zlatanera Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 26 minutes ago, 04texag said: Ok good to know. To me it didn't look like too big of a stadium to fill but I guess that's just historically accurate there excluding massive games. Ya, I really don't know what to do with that transfer budget because I spent so much last season to satisfy that requirement that now we are stacked in our two deep. I want to give my youth projects time with the squad but I'm going to have to loan some out if I buy some higher quality talent. I'm likely to prioritize a backup striker for Ciro, and a starting CB who can play on the left alongside Luis Felipe. Sign a "Backup" in the same way that I've backed up Jovic with England and then Italy's starting forwards I guess you could start hoarding hot prospects and loan them out for fees, turn yourselves into the Italian Chelski. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 15 minutes ago, zlatanera said: I guess you could start hoarding hot prospects and loan them out for fees, turn yourselves into the Italian Chelski. I really am tempted to do this. Right now, I have like 6 really great prospects all vying for the AMR/C/L slots, and so some will have to continue development elsewhere while some play for me. No reason not to keep doing so and pick up more, loaning them out for fees and letting their value rise while someone else pays their salary. Then flip the ones I like least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
99 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 5 horas atrás, 04texag disse: The CWB is a PRD that will occasionally come inside more than a standard WB will, and with the two players I have, I definitely want them to do this. Mhm, there's something that I can work with! Thanks mate. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 Quick summer update. So on the financials, the season summary hits and gives you a financial update, but the CL final hasn't been played yet, so we still got another 20 million from our CL performance that hadn't hit yet. So we did in fact haul in a fair bit more than last season. Our finances are looking great, so we hit up the board for some improvements. One of our personal, and game/board, goals is to have the best youth setup: So, we hit up the board to start working on that: The youth facilities improvement was approved back at the winter window, but construction on that is starting now. We asked for the second two though, which will get us to excellent academy coaching and exceptional youth recruitment. The board still keeps rejecting, even after we discussed with the board this time, any request for new affiliates, so we will have to be satisfied with that. Transfers We have some goings and comings. First off, we got rid of some very disappointing performers. Domenico Berardi was a total flop for us. He never performed and ended up riding the bench having a pity party for himself. We also had to let Andreas Christensen go as he never settled, he wanted to only play as a BPD, but with injuries, we had to have him play for Lazzari at right back, and he got pissed. Kind of dumb in my opinion, but whatever. I was really surprised that Manuel Locatelli popped up as looking for a move away from Sassuolo, so we were able to swoop him up. IF we end up wanting to try any 433, he will be great at the DM slot, but if not, he can play our CM-d/CM-s role just great. He's an all around good player, Italian, resolute, and excited to have him. Aside from him, we've signed 5 different u18 players all of whom have high potential. We are currently trying to unsettle a young defender at Arsenal, and so hopefully we can get him on board as well. If we can get him, he's going to cost a lot, but that actually solve my problem of spending money. One thing to note, as far as spending the transfer budget, I have been signing contract extensions for some of our younger stars. I am wondering if we go over our payroll budget, but then adjust the transfer budget towards wages, if that will count towards using the transfer budget??? I guess we will find out. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 My on-the-field results continue to be excellent, but I notice that a few of my regulars have suffered falloffs in several physical skills, particularly pace, stamina, acceleration and balance. Is this a calculation of match fatigue, overtraining, or possibly both? I've just noticed this one day after a match, so I'm wondering if it's temporary and they'll bounce back with rest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 9 minutes ago, gunnerfan said: My on-the-field results continue to be excellent, but I notice that a few of my regulars have suffered falloffs in several physical skills, particularly pace, stamina, acceleration and balance. Is this a calculation of match fatigue, overtraining, or possibly both? I've just noticed this one day after a match, so I'm wondering if it's temporary and they'll bounce back with rest. Maybe look at their overall condition by hovering over the heart on the tactical screen, maybe they are fatigued? It's on the bottom. This would mean they need a rest from some matches. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 6 minutes ago, 04texag said: Maybe look at their overall condition by hovering over the heart on the tactical screen, maybe they are fatigued? It's on the bottom. This would mean they need a rest from some matches. I checked, and the three players with the worst drops all show "Low" levels of fatigue, two show match load as heavy and one as medium. I'm wondering if I need to incorporate some quickness or endurance training on an individual basis for these guys. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 2 minutes ago, gunnerfan said: I checked, and the three players with the worst drops all show "Low" levels of fatigue, two show match load as heavy and one as medium. I'm wondering if I need to incorporate some quickness or endurance training on an individual basis for these guys. How old are they and what is their natural fitness rating? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PequenoGenio Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 3 horas atrás, 04texag disse: Quick summer update. So on the financials, the season summary hits and gives you a financial update, but the CL final hasn't been played yet, so we still got another 20 million from our CL performance that hadn't hit yet. So we did in fact haul in a fair bit more than last season. Our finances are looking great, so we hit up the board for some improvements. One of our personal, and game/board, goals is to have the best youth setup: So, we hit up the board to start working on that: The youth facilities improvement was approved back at the winter window, but construction on that is starting now. We asked for the second two though, which will get us to excellent academy coaching and exceptional youth recruitment. The board still keeps rejecting, even after we discussed with the board this time, any request for new affiliates, so we will have to be satisfied with that. Transfers We have some goings and comings. First off, we got rid of some very disappointing performers. Domenico Berardi was a total flop for us. He never performed and ended up riding the bench having a pity party for himself. We also had to let Andreas Christensen go as he never settled, he wanted to only play as a BPD, but with injuries, we had to have him play for Lazzari at right back, and he got pissed. Kind of dumb in my opinion, but whatever. I was really surprised that Manuel Locatelli popped up as looking for a move away from Sassuolo, so we were able to swoop him up. IF we end up wanting to try any 433, he will be great at the DM slot, but if not, he can play our CM-d/CM-s role just great. He's an all around good player, Italian, resolute, and excited to have him. Aside from him, we've signed 5 different u18 players all of whom have high potential. We are currently trying to unsettle a young defender at Arsenal, and so hopefully we can get him on board as well. If we can get him, he's going to cost a lot, but that actually solve my problem of spending money. One thing to note, as far as spending the transfer budget, I have been signing contract extensions for some of our younger stars. I am wondering if we go over our payroll budget, but then adjust the transfer budget towards wages, if that will count towards using the transfer budget??? I guess we will find out. It's been great to keep up with this... If you sign Papetti they could turn into a beast. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 6 minutes ago, 04texag said: How old are they and what is their natural fitness rating? Santi Mina, age 25, NF rating 11. Iago Aspas, age 33, NF rating 14. Lucas Olaza, age 26, NF rating 15, Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 So, for me the question is whether this is a rest issue or a training issue. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 5 hours ago, gunnerfan said: So, for me the question is whether this is a rest issue or a training issue. It might be a combination of both. Check what the physio says about them on the rest tab of the training section. Then also, get a training report for each of them from your HOYD, and see what the training report says. Maybe one of those two spots will give you some info on what's happening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
yipster1986 Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 This thread is such an inspiration I'm trying to get a 4231 working with RSC Anderlecht, a top club in Belgium. They have an interesting mix of players, lots of Inside Forwards and good youngsters coming through. Although they are 100M in debt with repayments of about 7.5M per month; it's crazy, my finances don't look good The 4231 formation seems to be how they have to be set up; i just lack tactical knowledge to extract what I want from them. These posts are helping me Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 5 hours ago, yipster1986 said: This thread is such an inspiration I'm trying to get a 4231 working with RSC Anderlecht, a top club in Belgium. They have an interesting mix of players, lots of Inside Forwards and good youngsters coming through. Although they are 100M in debt with repayments of about 7.5M per month; it's crazy, my finances don't look good The 4231 formation seems to be how they have to be set up; i just lack tactical knowledge to extract what I want from them. These posts are helping me That's great, I'm glad the thread has been helping. That's definitely a huge debt and a hard start. Feel free to post any specific questions or updates as you go! Coming up later today I'll have a tactical update with a 433 we are using. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 12 hours ago, 04texag said: It might be a combination of both. Check what the physio says about them on the rest tab of the training section. Then also, get a training report for each of them from your HOYD, and see what the training report says. Maybe one of those two spots will give you some info on what's happening. Interesting result with Aspas. His medical report is that "the current training workload is causing a high risk of injury. Injury risk is heightened due to match fatigue and tactical intensity." Meanwhile, his training load is "light" (team training only) and his injury risk is due to a "recurring injury", a torn hamstring he suffered in 2009. I'll rest him for a week and see how that goes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 8 minutes ago, gunnerfan said: Interesting result with Aspas. His medical report is that "the current training workload is causing a high risk of injury. Injury risk is heightened due to match fatigue and tactical intensity." Meanwhile, his training load is "light" (team training only) and his injury risk is due to a "recurring injury", a torn hamstring he suffered in 2009. I'll rest him for a week and see how that goes. Ya give him rest and see what happens, I imagine that should do it. Though that's just one of the three you mentioned issues with. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 6, 2020 Share Posted December 6, 2020 3 hours ago, 04texag said: Ya give him rest and see what happens, I imagine that should do it. Though that's just one of the three you mentioned issues with. The other two probably need to have their training adjusted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick1408 Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 @04texag how have you found the attacking player in the CM position? I know the CM-De does site relatively deep but I found a MEZ-Su gave me better penetration and cover than the attack type. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 7, 2020 Author Share Posted December 7, 2020 5 hours ago, nick1408 said: @04texag how have you found the attacking player in the CM position? I know the CM-De does site relatively deep but I found a MEZ-Su gave me better penetration and cover than the attack type. Overall, I've been pleased with where the tactics are at right now. I have three options I'm using at different times, and I have a variety of midfield players that I can rotate amongst the different positions, with several that can play both a support and attack duty role very well. I need to get an update together soon with our progress in the first parts of season 3, but so far we are playing well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robterrace Posted December 8, 2020 Share Posted December 8, 2020 Little bit of work using an enganche in the AMC role.. #34 with an outstanding assist. 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 8, 2020 Author Share Posted December 8, 2020 1 hour ago, robterrace said: Little bit of work using an enganche in the AMC role.. #34 with an outstanding assist. Very nice team goal. Like the CF coming back to get the ball, passing it back to the 10 while also creating space for the AML to make his run. Good stuff! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 9, 2020 Author Share Posted December 9, 2020 2022 update, up to the start of the World Cup. So the team has been playing well, but had a few games where offense was hard to come by against parked buses. We got destroyed away at Man United in the CL, 4-0. But we saved face by beating them in the return home match, which put us on top of the group! We also had a very close draw to Milan in a game, 1-1, and their only goal came from Raul Moro, one of our players there on loan, so I guess that's an ok way to drop points. Our biggest issue which has contributed I think to the draws, is that we are not very clinical in front of goal. Heres the analyst report: Everything else shows we are playing very well. I'm not sure what I need to tweak to try to get our shots on target % up. I really don't want to play with work the ball into the box on as I feel it can slow things down too much. I may try on a few players adding the shoots less instruction instead. World Cup I have gone to the world cup to scout and watch games. This is something I had never done before until the end of my last FM20 save when I was managing Portsmouth. I have started sending scouts to most big match up and personall attending games that I think will be interesting. Of course, I'm looking for players, but also like to see how my players are fairing. We have a lot of players on the Italian team, and they have been playing well, winning their first two games in a difficult group. The shock so far has been a dysmal performance by argentina. They lost 4-0 to scotland! and then lost 3-0 to England, wow! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharza_FM Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 2 hours ago, 04texag said: Our biggest issue which has contributed I think to the draws, is that we are not very clinical in front of goal. Heres the analyst report: Welcome to my world.. that is literally a carbon copy of my radar chart.. my shots on target ratio is that bad as well and that's been my preseason focus.. Here is what my current radar is looking like.. done a bit better scoring goals as the draws are what got us last season (hence me bringing in Haaland in the transfer window ) but as you see my shooting % is still really poor.. just generating more shots I think and that is where the goals are coming from. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 1 minute ago, Kharza_FM said: Welcome to my world.. that is literally a carbon copy of my radar chart.. my shots on target ratio is that bad as well and that's been my preseason focus.. Here is what my current radar is looking like.. done a bit better scoring goals as the draws are what got us last season (hence me bringing in Haaland in the transfer window ) but as you see my shooting % is still really poor.. just generating more shots I think and that is where the goals are coming from. Ya you have more goals than xG and I'm the flip. More shots too. You said you worked on it, did you do anything specific? Any special training? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharza_FM Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 Just now, 04texag said: Ya you have more goals than xG and I'm the flip. More shots too. You said you worked on it, did you do anything specific? Any special training? I channeled my inner Bielsa and went full heavy metal football.. still working on the kinks preseason but mate it creates some really good looking football.. (notice the tempo and pressing..). Had to give a little more width from the very narrow attacking shape but it's been working a treat so far. Need to really sit down and go deep in some game analysis and just haven't had the time yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 21 minutes ago, Kharza_FM said: I channeled my inner Bielsa and went full heavy metal football.. still working on the kinks preseason but mate it creates some really good looking football.. (notice the tempo and pressing..). Had to give a little more width from the very narrow attacking shape but it's been working a treat so far. Need to really sit down and go deep in some game analysis and just haven't had the time yet. How is halaand as a Treq?? Also, where's Pulisic? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharza_FM Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 11 hours ago, 04texag said: How is halaand as a Treq?? Also, where's Pulisic? Haaland is a beast as a Treq.. so it's been interesting to see the difference between Werner and Haaland there. Both have great off the ball movement but Werner is more this connecting poacher where Haaland is more like a creative target man. It's a real study on how players operate differently in the role. PPMs are different as well too so that makes a difference. Pulisic either goes where Mason Mount is playing or sometimes plays in the AML slot for Werner. Since he's been training as a ball winning midfielder I've noticed he continues to deliver better and better performances in the CMR slot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 24 minutes ago, Kharza_FM said: Since he's been training as a ball winning midfielder I've noticed he continues to deliver better and better performances in the CMR slot. Training as a BWM? That just sounds crazy. Are you doing that to target different mentals and defensive positioning? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kharza_FM Posted December 10, 2020 Share Posted December 10, 2020 1 minute ago, 04texag said: Training as a BWM? That just sounds crazy. Are you doing that to target different mentals and defensive positioning? All about the DNA! I need midfielders that are strong in both my defending and attacking DNA (high tempo AND high press).. Pulisic already has wonderful attacking stats but he needs better defensive stats to be a good solid midfielder in the system (i.e. makes him a more total footballer). BWM trains marking, tackling, anticipation, bravery, concentration, positioning, teamwork, work rate, agility, pace, stamina, strength.. augment that with a little final third additional focus for composure and decisions and boom you have the perfect training plan to augment his already super dribbling, first touch, flair, off the ball, vision, and acceleration. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 10, 2020 Author Share Posted December 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Kharza_FM said: All about the DNA! I need midfielders that are strong in both my defending and attacking DNA (high tempo AND high press).. Pulisic already has wonderful attacking stats but he needs better defensive stats to be a good solid midfielder in the system (i.e. makes him a more total footballer). BWM trains marking, tackling, anticipation, bravery, concentration, positioning, teamwork, work rate, agility, pace, stamina, strength.. augment that with a little final third additional focus for composure and decisions and boom you have the perfect training plan to augment his already super dribbling, first touch, flair, off the ball, vision, and acceleration. I like this. I have a few midfielders that could use this training to become more well rounded, I might give this a shot. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 04texag Posted December 12, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted December 12, 2020 Tactical Update time I've been playing around with some different shapes, really as I plan more for the future. Ciro Immobile is amazing for a few years, but he's getting on in age. Typically, I prefer a much more mobile team focused striker, who will build up play from deeper. I also have always been a big fan of the 433. So with Ciro and Luis Alberto not getting any younger, I have been exploring a 433 shape with some of the youngsters, and it has been working quite well! Also, as @crusadertsar has been posting about in his wonderful thread, you do not need aggressive team mentalities in order to dominate a game and possession. @Experienced Defender is also one to talk about this a lot. So the below tactic is drawing from some of their fine work, but also from @Ö-zil to the Arsenal!'s fine thread: But, what really started all of this was finding a picture on my computer from an FM 19 balanced 4231 tactic that I had saved as it was working quite well for me. I tried the below out in a cup game and it was great. I was able to get the football i wanted, with MUCH few TI's. Which is always a goal, get the playstyle you want from team shape and PRD, not TONS of TI's. So once I had some success with this tactic, I morphed it into the flat 4141 (remember this is defensive shape, so plays like a 433 when you are the dominant team, moving into a 235). There are some key things that I have done in this flat 4141 which draw from my experiences and lessons learned doing the positional play/JdP over the last few months. I'll detail that out as it shows up in how you set the PI's to get this working right. Altarian Ball I love how the media in my save has started calling my playstyle by my manager name, super cool. So, in due course, I have named my tactical style as such. So, what I'm LOVING is the wide midfielders. They are really the bread and butter of why this tactic is working well compared to all of my prior flavors of it. The key reason, I can tell them to stay wide, hold position, AND CUT INSIDE still. It's like the best of all worlds from what I want in the AM strata flank players, stay wide and cut in, but without that feeling contradictory to the roles description. Here is the MR WM-SU PI This is fantastic. He will stay wide and hold position, which is paramount for true positional play. If you go all the way back to my first posts in the below thread, you will see that maintaining the AoC is super important. You must establish the playing field, and maintaining width is the primary way an attacking side can do this. But, I want diagonal runs when on the ball. So staying wide, getting possession, then driving into the heart of the defense to create overloads and space for other players, is exactly what we need and get from this role. Now, you'll notice that I have flank variation, which I think is super important. What I mean by this, is I'm mixing up the support and attack roles on the two flanks. (The WB-au is really a support, i'll explain why AU in a moment). So, on the left flank, we have a much more expansive attacking WM, but he still has key PI: This combo here is awesome as well, and not sure if you can get it otherwise. He has stay wider, which is important, but since he's on attack duty, he can't hold position (WB will do this, again later), but he also has roam from position and cut inside. This is a very dynamic position and you will want a really dynamic player here. So, on the right flank, the WM-s is maintaining width, and as I mentioned, on the left flank the WB-Au is. The AU is absolutely paramount, as it is the only way to tell him to hold position. Which we really need as, again see that other post, we HAVE to have someone hugging that sideline to maintain team width. Now for the CWB-A, this player does not need to maintain width, so I want them to be free to roam and attack all over the right flank and even cutting in. Thus, the complete wingback is perfect here. He will do all of the above, and I have this vanilla, no PI. Now, proper football is going to have at least one holding midfielder, so we have our DM-S for that. He has hold position ALWAYS, and then if we are facing a team with an AMC, I will add marking instructions for the AMC and mark tighter. Now, the playmaking duo, the CM-s and AP-A. The AP-A needs to be your true best playmaker, Luis Alberto and Gaetano Castrovilli man this spot for me. Both can dribble, have good off the ball, to go along with their fantastic playmaking ability. And I want someone to really push forward. The AP-A only has roams from position on. The CM-s is similar to the free eight role, which I hope you know the reference. Here is that player, which you could slot a lot of types of guys here, but needs good work rate, team work, and playmaking ability. Some finishing skills would be great too. That's pretty much it. The beauty of this is that I have a lot less going on tactically, but really only rely on the custom PRD, and not Ti to make this work. The end result though, is very much positional play, with few pieces maintaining the team width and team shape, and MORE players playing like roaming playmakers who maintain our AoMH. This means, we are more likely to create overloads all over the pitch, with very minimal tweaking. The only thing I've been doing in game is swapping some player positions, and shifting the tempo slider up and down to adjust for play. Again, in case you need a reminder, watch the other team to see how fast they close you down. Adjust tempo faster or slower to have players pass the ball just before the opposition get to them. If they aren't pressing you, lower tempo. If they are pressing you hard, raise it. That's it, hope you enjoy trying this one out. But before I go, how about some match info from one of our last games, where we destroyed our Rivals Roma 5-0 with this wonder. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrlor Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 @04texag Really interesting read mate, I have read a lot of @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! in his Benfica thread and it always tempts me back in for some FM. The work you are doing here in FM21 is very interesting too, it looks like you can actually get the tactics creator working for you the way that you want it too. As a side note, when I played FM19 I found that I had far more success with my wide midfielders when I played them in the midfield strata as WM rather than the more advanced IF or IW. Martial thrived coming from deep rather than starting further forward where it became congested quickly, and he actually contributed to my defensive shape. Looking at the tactic that you have created there, I am very tempted by an Ajax save on the FM21 demo to see if I could manage to replicate something similar, as I feel that I could probably run a 4-4-1-1 in the league games that I am expected to dominate then the 4-1-4-1 as a more conservative European tactic. I am interested in your assist locations in the above game, most of the goals and chances were centre of the box with a slight bias to the right hand side. I am guessing that the AP and WB(A) push forward there pulling the opposistion across leaving space for your free 8 and attacking WM to move into. Clearly Immobile is then able to get into a good position to score. Its also interesting that it's not a possesion heavy system per se, while you do have more of the ball its not a 60% ball hogging borefest with no penetration. I wonder what would happen if you changed the mentality to positive but dropped 2 attacking players to support players. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 35 minutes ago, Garrlor said: @04texag Really interesting read mate, I have read a lot of @Ö-zil to the Arsenal! in his Benfica thread and it always tempts me back in for some FM. The work you are doing here in FM21 is very interesting too, it looks like you can actually get the tactics creator working for you the way that you want it too. As a side note, when I played FM19 I found that I had far more success with my wide midfielders when I played them in the midfield strata as WM rather than the more advanced IF or IW. Martial thrived coming from deep rather than starting further forward where it became congested quickly, and he actually contributed to my defensive shape. Looking at the tactic that you have created there, I am very tempted by an Ajax save on the FM21 demo to see if I could manage to replicate something similar, as I feel that I could probably run a 4-4-1-1 in the league games that I am expected to dominate then the 4-1-4-1 as a more conservative European tactic. I am interested in your assist locations in the above game, most of the goals and chances were centre of the box with a slight bias to the right hand side. I am guessing that the AP and WB(A) push forward there pulling the opposistion across leaving space for your free 8 and attacking WM to move into. Clearly Immobile is then able to get into a good position to score. Its also interesting that it's not a possesion heavy system per se, while you do have more of the ball its not a 60% ball hogging borefest with no penetration. I wonder what would happen if you changed the mentality to positive but dropped 2 attacking players to support players. Great stuff. It's still a work in progress and those are some interesting thoughts. I too have thought about a 4411 to get alberto back to the #10 when against weaker sides in the league. I'll also give positive and more support a try. Not ig atm so need to get back to you on assist types. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick1408 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 8 hours ago, 04texag said: Now, proper football is going to have at least one holding midfielder, so we have our DM-S for that. He has hold position ALWAYS, and then if we are facing a team with an AMC, I will add marking instructions for the AMC and mark tighter. First off great update. Quick question here - do you setup the DM like this defult: and if so how does he operate when there isn't an AMC? If not, I take it you do it game-by-game. I have actually been playing a 4-1-4-1 that I blatantly ripped off from @Rashidi. Similar to yours (at least the intent - there are a lot of role changes) with the biggest difference being I used a poacher up top instead of a link player: Most people would be concerned with the poacher being isolated but two Golden Boots to Dominic Calvert-Lewin would indicate there is enough supply. My question here is, did you consider any other roles for the striker or is the DLF-At working for you? Ciro Immobile doesn't scream DLF to me, that's all (although he does look like he could do the job well). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 12, 2020 Author Share Posted December 12, 2020 3 minutes ago, nick1408 said: First off great update. Quick question here - do you setup the DM like this defult: and if so how does he operate when there isn't an AMC? If not, I take it you do it game-by-game. I have actually been playing a 4-1-4-1 that I blatantly ripped off from @Rashidi. Similar to yours (at least the intent - there are a lot of role changes) with the biggest difference being I used a poacher up top instead of a link player: Most people would be concerned with the poacher being isolated but two Golden Boots to Dominic Calvert-Lewin would indicate there is enough supply. My question here is, did you consider any other roles for the striker or is the DLF-At working for you? Ciro Immobile doesn't scream DLF to me, that's all (although he does look like he could do the job well). Just hold position for the DM, on a game by game basis I add the marking instructions. When I play Ciro in this formation I'll use the CF-A. Thiago Almada has been developing really well and been playing as the dlf-a. I like Ciro as a poacher but haven't tried it. Thinking I might when doing a modified version of this as a 4411 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick1408 Posted December 12, 2020 Share Posted December 12, 2020 Just now, 04texag said: Just hold position for the DM, on a game by game basis I add the marking instructions. When I play Ciro in this formation I'll use the CF-A. Thiago Almada has been developing really well and been playing as the dlf-a. I like Ciro as a poacher but haven't tried it. Thinking I might when doing a modified version of this as a 4411 Yep, all makes sense. I thought it may have been Almada you had in mind for the DLF - he would kill it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DNZ-8 Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 @04texag Thanks for the update. I was thinking to start experimenting with a 4-4-1-1 as an alternative to my usual De Zerbi type of 4-2-3-1. In particular I like what you and @Garrlor are saying about the wingers in MC strata and the options that that gives you. I have a couple of questions in regard to this: 1. Are there some particular player traits that you favor for that role? For example, I guess that WM in attack gets into the box without a related trait, correct? I am asking in order to have a better idea of how you see that role, which is so crucial, but also because I have the impression that in FM21 player traits have a stronger impact on the game compared to FM20. I don't if it is just me or you have noticed the same. 2. In my 4-2-3-1 I use a split block with the front 4 pressing up high and urgently. What I noticed (but keep in mind I should do more testing) is that with the two WMs I lose something in terms of pressing. Is that your impression as well? Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrlor Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 7 hours ago, DNZ-8 said: @04texag Thanks for the update. I was thinking to start experimenting with a 4-4-1-1 as an alternative to my usual De Zerbi type of 4-2-3-1. In particular I like what you and @Garrlor are saying about the wingers in MC strata and the options that that gives you. I have a couple of questions in regard to this: 1. Are there some particular player traits that you favor for that role? For example, I guess that WM in attack gets into the box without a related trait, correct? I am asking in order to have a better idea of how you see that role, which is so crucial, but also because I have the impression that in FM21 player traits have a stronger impact on the game compared to FM20. I don't if it is just me or you have noticed the same. 2. In my 4-2-3-1 I use a split block with the front 4 pressing up high and urgently. What I noticed (but keep in mind I should do more testing) is that with the two WMs I lose something in terms of pressing. Is that your impression as well? Thanks! 1) So I like player traits a lot. For example, playing Juan Mata as a high up Winger in the AMC strata, he has the wingers instructions telling him to get to the bye line but his PPM's allow him to cut inside and get into the box. Effectively he becomes a hybrid winger/IF and can use his own decision making on when to cut inside or when to dribble past his man. Martial has the "gets into opposition area", "Cuts inside from the left" and "moves into channels" PPM's on FM18, which means when he starts from deep he naturally does a lot of the things you want from him as a deeper IF, with the benefit that you can tell him to stay wider too. He also has one of the best PPM's for JDP, plays one twos. Just two examples there of how traits can work and suit a role or even change it completely. 2) Pressing will suffer as you are deeper. However, counter press when you lose the ball to try and get it back then retreating to you defensive shape works just as well. If the other team is playing a 4-2-3-1, then the IF's are handled by the full backs, the AMC is handled by the DMC and the striker by the 2 centre backs. So effectively you are asking the 2 midfield players and your wide players to take care of the passing lanes and put pressure on the midfielders when they have the ball. Given that they are outnumbered 4 to 2 in that strata it makes it hard for them and you can maybe sieze on a mistake or force them to go long. If you want an early agressive press then I think you need the more aggressive formation of a 4-2-3-1 so you players naturally start higher up the pitch to put the pressure on the defence. Its simply a trade off to my mind. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
04texag Posted December 13, 2020 Author Share Posted December 13, 2020 13 hours ago, DNZ-8 said: @04texag Thanks for the update. I was thinking to start experimenting with a 4-4-1-1 as an alternative to my usual De Zerbi type of 4-2-3-1. In particular I like what you and @Garrlor are saying about the wingers in MC strata and the options that that gives you. I have a couple of questions in regard to this: 1. Are there some particular player traits that you favor for that role? For example, I guess that WM in attack gets into the box without a related trait, correct? I am asking in order to have a better idea of how you see that role, which is so crucial, but also because I have the impression that in FM21 player traits have a stronger impact on the game compared to FM20. I don't if it is just me or you have noticed the same. 2. In my 4-2-3-1 I use a split block with the front 4 pressing up high and urgently. What I noticed (but keep in mind I should do more testing) is that with the two WMs I lose something in terms of pressing. Is that your impression as well? Thanks! 5 hours ago, Garrlor said: 1) So I like player traits a lot. For example, playing Juan Mata as a high up Winger in the AMC strata, he has the wingers instructions telling him to get to the bye line but his PPM's allow him to cut inside and get into the box. Effectively he becomes a hybrid winger/IF and can use his own decision making on when to cut inside or when to dribble past his man. Martial has the "gets into opposition area", "Cuts inside from the left" and "moves into channels" PPM's on FM18, which means when he starts from deep he naturally does a lot of the things you want from him as a deeper IF, with the benefit that you can tell him to stay wider too. He also has one of the best PPM's for JDP, plays one twos. Just two examples there of how traits can work and suit a role or even change it completely. 2) Pressing will suffer as you are deeper. However, counter press when you lose the ball to try and get it back then retreating to you defensive shape works just as well. If the other team is playing a 4-2-3-1, then the IF's are handled by the full backs, the AMC is handled by the DMC and the striker by the 2 centre backs. So effectively you are asking the 2 midfield players and your wide players to take care of the passing lanes and put pressure on the midfielders when they have the ball. Given that they are outnumbered 4 to 2 in that strata it makes it hard for them and you can maybe sieze on a mistake or force them to go long. If you want an early agressive press then I think you need the more aggressive formation of a 4-2-3-1 so you players naturally start higher up the pitch to put the pressure on the defence. Its simply a trade off to my mind. I think Garrlor answered this just about perfectly, so not much to add here. For #1, I still haven't explored player traits as much as I'd like in FM21 as with my Lazio team, I either have a lot of players who are already fully developed at the start, or under 18 youngsters that I'm not focusing on traits with yet as they are working on attributes and PRD. I do like cut in from wings traits, and intend to get plays one twos on most of my mid fielders. #2, The 4141 does not press high as well, but as noted, you can really dominate the midfield game. I like to counter press heavily then when the midfield. Some high pressing against low composure CBS will result in them playing long balls that then you can easily win with better numbers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunnerfan Posted December 13, 2020 Share Posted December 13, 2020 3 hours ago, 04texag said: The 4141 does not press high as well, but as noted, you can really dominate the midfield game. I like to counter press heavily then when the midfield. Some high pressing against low composure CBS will result in them playing long balls that then you can easily win with better numbers. My Celta Vigo team is currently in 1st, 9 points clear with 6 to play, and we've already clinched a spot in the Champion's League next season. I've done a lot of tweaking with the JDP tactic, and have been fortunate to get here with a roster that is promising but not yet "there" and not at all deep (except MCs and CDs). I'm going to need a solid defensive set for CL, and would love to use the 4-1-4-1, but I have NO flank midfielders (only AMs). Also, I can only count on about $10 million for my transfer budget, so I probably won't be able to buy any (or at least none that I would want to rely on). I'm thinking of a 4-1-2-3 as an alternative, which would at least give me the marking protection at the back similar to the 4-1-4-1. But is there any way to get the wing AMs to track back on defense? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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