Big troubles creating a simple 4-3-3

[Belkemi1]

I've had bad luck so far in FM21. My latest save is with Aston Villa and after eight games i have six draws and two losses.

My idea for the tactics was to create a simplistic 4-3-3 since I know that to many TI's can be bad. In my opinion I have the necessary TI's for creating a possession, high pressing game that I want.

My main idea was to create space and chances for Grealish. I I tried some variations of this tactics, but the one attached is the one who worked the least. I wanted Barkley as DLP so the opposition could focus on him, leaving room for Grealish.

When Jack has the ball:

- Targett overlaps to attract defenders

- Traore can link play with Grealish as well as being a goal scoring threat

- Trezeguet stretches the play and can score goals. 

But this hasn't worked at all. Do you have any idea why?
 

(Note: The tactics that gave me the draws saw Luiz as a DLP and Barkley as a mezzala. I also had a standard mentality. This worked slightly better)

[LHurlz]

Typically I have a lot of success with 433 but I've also struggled a bit with it this year, here's my two cents anyway.

Higher D line, LOE + more urgent pressing may be a bit excessive for a mid-table(ish) quality side like Villa. I would recommend dropping the LOE to Standard.

2 BPDs is probably overkill, go for just one or even none.

Potential lack of penetration from the midfield. You need someone to act as auxiliary 10, whether that be a Mez(A) or CM(A) is up to you.

BWM(D) can be a risky choice at DM due to the aggressive nature of the role. This coupled with your already aggressive pressing could be leaving you vulnerable.  DM(D) tends to be the safest option.

 

Those are just my opinions, I'm no tactics expert that's for sure  

[Johnny Ace]

You say you want a possession based tactic but have very few instructions for your team to keep possession. Positive team mentality will implement a higher tempo & more direct passing, so maybe town those down a notch

Two BPD's are two anti possession roles, try going with just the one

I'd try flipping the fullback roles, so the fullback stays behind behind the winger, the BBM's that side of midfield too, then a WB(A) on the left for cover on that flank with the IW(A) cutting in & the DLP should cover for him  

[Belkemi1]

7 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

You say you want a possession based tactic but have very few instructions for your team to keep possession. Positive team mentality will implement a higher tempo & more direct passing, so maybe town those down a notch

Two BPD's are two anti possession roles, try going with just the one

I'd try flipping the fullback roles, so the fullback stays behind behind the winger, the BBM's that side of midfield too, then a WB(A) on the left for cover on that flank with the IW(A) cutting in & the DLP should cover for him  

Thanks, great ideas!

[Belkemi1]

46 minutes ago, LHurlz said:

Typically I have a lot of success with 433 but I've also struggled a bit with it this year, here's my two cents anyway.

Higher D line, LOE + more urgent pressing may be a bit excessive for a mid-table(ish) quality side like Villa. I would recommend dropping the LOE to Standard.

2 BPDs is probably overkill, go for just one or even none.

Potential lack of penetration from the midfield. You need someone to act as auxiliary 10, whether that be a Mez(A) or CM(A) is up to you.

BWM(D) can be a risky choice at DM due to the aggressive nature of the role. This coupled with your already aggressive pressing could be leaving you vulnerable.  DM(D) tends to be the safest option.

 

Those are just my opinions, I'm no tactics expert that's for sure  

Thanks, will look in to it!

[odigweg]

I think what @Johnny Ace and @LHurlz said makes a lot of sense. And yeah I would definitely put a full back on the right instead of a wing back. Generally I think the major difference is that a Wing back (S/A) is generally for flanks with no wing support (or also with IW's and IF's). I'm also 75% sure the game says this too in the role description. Also, the first thing I considered when I looked at your tactic was the midfield. While the BBM technically is a runner, I always found it too conservative in attack, especially paired with a DLP(s). Generally, I love using the Mezzala(A) role for this, as his hard-coded behavior is different from any other role in the game. 

This brings me to my major issue with advanced wingers/IF's/IW's in Football Manager: They tend to go narrow way too early in the attacking phase (or when my team is in the opposition's third). This leads to my right winger and Mezzala getting in each other's way too often. So just like Johnny Ace said, you can probably use a CM(A) role with all the same instructions from a Mezzala except for "stay wider". 

However, my solution to this issue was to bring my right Inverted Winger into the midfield strata. From what I have seen, this seems to keep him wider longer as my team enters the final phase of play; which in turn allows the Mezzala to properly shine by giving him more space to work in. This has always been my guiding principle with regards to attacking play: give your most creative players as much space as possible while also giving them safe passing outlets and runners.

I'll go ahead and post my tactic below. Another thing, because of how aggressively the Mezzala gets forward, I find that build-up play from the right is awkward with a regular full back so I have an IWB. Another thing people don't notice is that when coupled with the "Overlap Right" TI, the IWB will play inside the pitch but then go wide when there's no wing support ahead of him (or when the winger ahead of him dribbles inward with the ball). I'm pretty sure the IWB behaves this way even without "Overlap Right" checked. I think that TI just makes him more likely to do it. Also, I tend to switch him to a Defend duty in tougher games so his tendency to go forward is a bit more cautious. 

Sorry for the essay, it's just I spent most of FM20 trying to recreate Pep's system at City with one or two of the Inverted Wingers staying wide at all times until they receive the ball. It only took me a year haha. This way, I've been able to recreate that on the right side of the pitch while on the left side I let my WB(A) always be the one to provide width. And because I've only done this on one side, I've found that we have different angles of attack on both sides of the pitch. I still tweak this from time to time but generally, this is the system I've landed on. I'll need to to get a better player than Bellerin in that IWB role. IMO, the player in that role should be one of the most complete footballers on the team: ideally having marking tackling, pace, acceleration, passing, vision, crossing, workrate, stamina, anticipation, decisions, etc. I could go on forever lol. However, such a player doesn't even exist in the game. 

Oh and some results of the tactic: I was able to get 13 goals and 12 assists in the league out of Phil Foden (my proudest achievement). Aubameyang finished with 15 goals from the left IF role (could have gotten much more but he started wilting badly in the middle of the season so I stopped playing him). My IW, Thauvin, tallied 5 goals & 11 assists while Laca finished with 18 goals and 3 assists. So largely what I expected from the different roles. My biggest issue is getting Bentancur (3G and 2A) to produce more consistently but this might be due to issues relating to Bentancur personally. We eventually finished top of the league in  my second season in charge.