Tactic Help?

[jamesh123]

Just wondering if anyone is able to help me out with my tactic. Struggling to have any real impact on the attack, and defensively is hit and miss depending on the opposition. My aims are to be nice and compact, be threatening on the attack with quick transitions, creating overloads / multiple goalscoring opportunities and try to be more direct instead of passing it round for the sake of it. Any help would be much appreciated.

[YLSFM00]

22 minutes ago, jamesh123 said:

Just wondering if anyone is able to help me out with my tactic. Struggling to have any real impact on the attack, and defensively is hit and miss depending on the opposition. My aims are to be nice and compact, be threatening on the attack with quick transitions, creating overloads / multiple goalscoring opportunities and try to be more direct instead of passing it round for the sake of it. Any help would be much appreciated.

I'm not too good with tactics, but I'll try. If you're looking to play compact and then play with quick transitions, then I'd:

1. Make the High DL standard, LOE lower

2. Remove Offside Trap

3. Add Counter TI 

4. Remove Counter Press, leave that option undone. In replacement you can do Distribute Quickly

5. Make the Pressing Urgency default (more urgent doesn't really fit if you want to play compact)

[jamesh123]

2 minutes ago, YLSFM00 said:

I'm not too good with tactics, but I'll try. If you're looking to play compact and then play with quick transitions, then I'd:

1. Make the High DL standard, LOE lower

2. Remove Offside Trap

3. Add Counter TI 

4. Remove Counter Press, leave that option undone. In replacement you can do Distribute Quickly

5. Make the Pressing Urgency default (more urgent doesn't really fit if you want to play compact)

Yeah I forgot to mention I added counter press and upped the urgency for a game to see if It made a difference. But I'll give them a try thanks! Never normally use the counter TI as I didn't want us to just be looking for a direct counter attack as soon as we get the ball back all the time.

[YLSFM00]

5 minutes ago, jamesh123 said:

Yeah I forgot to mention I added counter press and upped the urgency for a game to see if It made a difference. But I'll give them a try thanks! Never normally use the counter TI as I didn't want us to just be looking for a direct counter attack as soon as we get the ball back all the time.

Good luck 👍

[Experienced Defender]

On 30/03/2021 at 21:15, jamesh123 said:

My aims are to be nice and compact

Can you explain what specifically you mean by "nice and compact"? 

 

On 30/03/2021 at 21:15, jamesh123 said:

be threatening on the attack with quick transitions, creating overloads / multiple goalscoring opportunities and try to be more direct instead of passing it round for the sake of it

In that case, playing the lone striker on attack duty and in a more direct role (as opposed to the currently roaming one) would make more sense IMHO. For example, DLF on attack instead of CF on support. 

Btw, instructions such as focus play, attacking width and the like are so-called secondary instructions and as such should rather be used on a situational basis than regularly (not least because their effectiveness can often depend on the opposition and how they play against you). 

[Experienced Defender]

And one more thing/question: don't you find a bit contradictory to opt for narrow width and focus in the middle but at the same time tell the keeper to distribute to fullbacks? 

[jamesh123]

7 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Can you explain what specifically you mean by "nice and compact"? 

 

In that case, playing the lone striker on attack duty and in a more direct role (as opposed to the currently roaming one) would make more sense IMHO. For example, DLF on attack instead of CF on support. 

Btw, instructions such as focus play, attacking width and the like are so-called secondary instructions and as such should rather be used on a situational basis than regularly (not least because their effectiveness can often depend on the opposition and how they play against you). 

Was a bit tired when posting it so didn't really explain as much as I should have. By nice and compact, I mean I want us to be compact in the middle, hard working and hard to break down, forcing the opposition outwide and having to try and pump crosses in the box. Although I feel by inviting them to cross the ball into the box could result in problems.

 

So, as I aim for my striker to be involved in linking the play aswell as scoring, would a DLF be more suited then on attack like you say? Or would aiming for my striker to play like that not be possible with the style of football I want to play?

 

Ah will take those off and keep them in mind then. And for the distribute to full backs, It was a way for me to try and play out from the back a bit without using the TI and not have my whole midfield drop a little deeper.

[Experienced Defender]

1 hour ago, jamesh123 said:

By nice and compact, I mean I want us to be compact in the middle, hard working and hard to break down, forcing the opposition outwide and having to try and pump crosses in the box

So you were referring to defensive compactness. In that case, I would switch the AML's duty to support and probably also lower the pressing urgency to default (mostly because you play with a higher D-line). Btw, switching the AML's duty to support should be logically followed by switching the striker's to attack (which was my suggestion in my previous comment anyway). 

 

1 hour ago, jamesh123 said:

Although I feel by inviting them to cross the ball into the box could result in problems

For which particular reason?

Anyway, if you fear crosses but don't want to defend wide either, simply leave defensive width on default. 

1 hour ago, jamesh123 said:

So, as I aim for my striker to be involved in linking the play aswell as scoring, would a DLF be more suited then on attack like you say? Or would aiming for my striker to play like that not be possible with the style of football I want to play?

If you want to achieve both of these at the same time, then DLF on attack duty looks like the most logical option (as was already suggested btw). 

 

1 hour ago, jamesh123 said:

And for the distribute to full backs, It was a way for me to try and play out from the back a bit without using the TI and not have my whole midfield drop a little deeper

Okay, but why then didn't you opt for distribution to both CBs and FBs (as opposed to FBs only)? That's what my question was actually about (in the context of the narrow width and focus through the middle). 

[jamesh123]

21 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

So you were referring to defensive compactness. In that case, I would switch the AML's duty to support and probably also lower the pressing urgency to default (mostly because you play with a higher D-line). Btw, switching the AML's duty to support should be logically followed by switching the striker's to attack (which was my suggestion in my previous comment anyway). 

 

For which particular reason?

Anyway, if you fear crosses but don't want to defend wide either, simply leave defensive width on default. 

If you want to achieve both of these at the same time, then DLF on attack duty looks like the most logical option (as was already suggested btw). 

 

Okay, but why then didn't you opt for distribution to both CBs and FBs (as opposed to FBs only)? That's what my question was actually about (in the context of the narrow width and focus through the middle). 

I'll give it a try with the changes you've suggested. And the fearing crosses isn't so much a doubt on my defenders ability to deal with them, more of just inviting unwanted pressure being put into the box. One of my CB's is 5'11 and needs replacing as soon as I can find a suitable replacement, so he would be the issue with defending narrow I would presume due to his height and dealing with crosses. Am i best playing a Sweeper Keeper on support or defensive If i'm playing a high line?

[jamesh123]

57 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

So you were referring to defensive compactness. In that case, I would switch the AML's duty to support and probably also lower the pressing urgency to default (mostly because you play with a higher D-line). Btw, switching the AML's duty to support should be logically followed by switching the striker's to attack (which was my suggestion in my previous comment anyway). 

 

For which particular reason?

Anyway, if you fear crosses but don't want to defend wide either, simply leave defensive width on default. 

If you want to achieve both of these at the same time, then DLF on attack duty looks like the most logical option (as was already suggested btw). 

 

Okay, but why then didn't you opt for distribution to both CBs and FBs (as opposed to FBs only)? That's what my question was actually about (in the context of the narrow width and focus through the middle). 

Had a play around with your suggestions, and this is what I settled on for my last game which resulted in a 5-1 win. Making tweaks, I've got a 5-1 win, 2-1 win over a top team in the league, a draw, defeat and another 5-1 win. The two games I struggled in, were against sides that defended in numbers, any tips on how to break down the teams that play with defensive systems and 5 at the back?