[FM21] Building my ideal 4-3-3 (Short-Play/Slightly Higher Risk/Aggressive Defending/Asymmetrical Roles)

[xnovoxx]

Disclaimer

I am by no means an expert in football. Creating this post for two purposes; first being to compile the time I've spent in researching and understanding FM21's mechanics with the hope it helps others and second to put my thoughts down on paper for feedback from the community to further my knowledge.

Tools

First, I'd like to highlight some of the tools I've used in the development of this formation. Big shoutout to the FMGuide/GuideToFootball. 

Development of the tactic

A) Identifying Style

Borrowing on FMGuides terminology, we'll break down the selected style into three components. The intent is to develop a system that is a hybrid of Possession and Pass and Move football (Reference: https://www.guidetofm.com/?s=SHORT-PLAY+FOOTBALL). 

1) Core Style (Underlining Risk Taking/Mentality): Balanced

2) Attacking Style: Short

3) Defending Style: Aggressive

Below is an illustration of the Primary tactical style I've put together incorporating the above system philosophy. Note that this is not a "plug-and-play" style. Instead, this is the baseline we will use going into a match. 

B) Identifying Roles suitable to your players

Secondly, my objective was to 1) create a unique system that uses asymmetrical roles and 2) takes advantage of the players I have at my disposal. One key component of the development this system is developing overlaps and overloads. To ensure the system is 1) well-balanced and 2) has the right partnerships to implement the intended style of play, I reference the following system analyzer: https://www.guidetofm.com/tactics/role-combinations/

Note that the below roles on their own do not generate the recommended level of supporting roles in attacking phases for the intended style of play. The are a few ways to solve for this; 1) change roles or 2) use personal instructions. We had to implement the following instructions to achieve balance.

Instructions required to balance system

1) Underlap or Overlap Left Flank

2) Instruct right-sided full back to get further forward

Additional Instructions

In order to emphasize the intended style of play as well as balance the slightly higher risk taking the current roles and system implements, we have also added the following

1) Striker (PF Support): Dribble Less, Roam from Position and Move into Channels

Note: using a PF-Support effectively instructs your team to use a "target-man" approach. If you have creative center-forward, you may decide to use a complete-forward. Unfortunately, the game currently does not offer any other supporting center-forward roles that do not take higher risks other than PF. This is the only reason I've selected PF. The addition of roam from position and move into channels is to ensure we are adequately stretching-play since our wide players (AML/AMR & DL/DR) only contribute to it. 

2) MCL (CM Attack): Take Fewer Risks

3) AMR (IF Support): Shoot Less Often

4) DL/DR (FB Support): Cross from Byline

Analysis

Below are the resulting scores and target scores for our style/system.

Penetrating Score: 10 (Target: Minimum 9.5)

Solidity Score: 17 (Target: Minimum 15.5)

Supporting Score: 14 (Target: Minimum 13.5)

The midfield has a mix of roles that all adequate perform the required duties of providing A) Attacking cover B) Defensive Cover C) Defensive Pressure D) Stretching Play

Forward Partnerships

Left Flank: Overlapping

Right Flank: Interchanging

Central: Two Direct Partnerships, 3 Overlapping and 1 Interchanging

C) Identifying System Risks

To understand the risk of the below instructions, we used the following style analyzer: https://www.guidetofm.com/tactics/playing-style-implementation/

Overall, what we learn is the following

1) The style incorporates a slightly higher risk taking level which is important to understand before entering any match against an opposition which is superior.

2) Looking at the in-possession and out-of-possession instructions specifically, we can see that the below style is balanced when in-possession however we take higher risks out of possession.

What we learn is that throughout the game, we have to keep an eye on the following:

1) Are we creating chances? If not, we should look at increasing in-possession risks such as: Pass into Space, Balanced Tempo, Shoot On Sight, Hit Early Crosses (this one contradicts our intended style of play) or increasing our overall mentality to Positive (Though note that this will also effect out-of-possession)

2) Are we effectively restricting the opposition. If not, we may be taking too many risks out-of-possession. It's important here to identify if we are struggling in transitions or not. If we are struggling, consider using the following: Regroup (instead of counter-press),  Lowering your line of engagement or defensive lines, defending narrower.

Final Thoughts

You can use the above tools commonly referenced on this forum to help identify whether your system is in balance and if it is implementing the right risk taking you intend to in your system. One of my common issues learning FM in general is getting roles and duties to interact the way I intend them to and the above tools helped me develop a system that plays the way I intend it to, win or lose. 

Let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,