4231 struggle to control possession

[samcro_001]

Hi football manager gamers I need some help on how to control possession, the funny thing is result are great and I am on my fith season with Manchester United with 3 of them, domestic cups and a champions league going into my second final. I am still playing on fm20, I fail to have possession in most games even against lower league teams. The most I have is 43% at least but still create chances. I will say I am obsessed with possession and just want things to be quite realistic in most games I am expected to have most of the ball. This is my starting tactic and would love some input from everyone who's interested. 

 

In terms of player instruction the am is on roam from position and closing down more because I am using the split block, central defenders on short passing, full backs with low decision on short passing and sk on taking fewer riks 

[CARRERA]

you need to press higher and more intense if you want more possession. Your own possession is also related to restricting the other team in possession.

[samcro_001]

1 minute ago, CARRERA said:

you need to press higher and more intense if you want more possession. Your own possession is also related to restricting the other team in possession.

Thanks for the input. When you mean pressing I have to add Counter press and increase the pressings intensity. Should I also change anything in terms of player roles?

[CARRERA]

5 minutes ago, samcro_001 said:

Thanks for the input. When you mean pressing I have to add Counter press and increase the pressings intensity. Should I also change anything in terms of player roles?

If you watch your matches on a more extended detail level, you will proberbly notice, that many of your opponents will move very slowly up the pitch by making short passes. This is because your team clearly is the favourite and this is how they outnumber you in terms of possession. They can do so, because you are not preassuring them with a fairly mid block in defense and rather average pressing intensitiy. 

First thing you should do is to increase your Line of engagement, to engage them in earlier stages of their build up play. If you are still not satisfied, further increase your pressing intensitiy or add Counterpress

Edited May 21, 2021 by CARRERA

[samcro_001]

3 minutes ago, CARRERA said:

If you watch our matches on a more extended detail level, you will proberbly notice, that many of your opponents will move very slowly up the pitch by making short passes. This is because your team clearly is the favourite and this is how they outnumber you in terms of possession. They can do so, because you are not preassuring them with a fairly mid block in defense and rather average pressing intensitiy. 

First thing you should do is to increase your Line of engagement, to engage them in earlier stages of their build up play. If you are still not satisfied, further increase your pressing intensitiy or add Counterpress

Thanks very much again. I will give it a try and see if it has any effects. 😉

[Zemahh]

33 minutes ago, samcro_001 said:

I am still playing on fm20, I fail to have possession in most games even against lower league teams. The most I have is 43% at least but still create chances. I will say I am obsessed with possession and just want things to be quite realistic in most games I am expected to have most of the ball.

Personally, I think that's mostly down to your roles, rather than lack of pressing; 4-2-3-1 is a top-heavy formation with default starting lines high up the pitch and you're using a Positive mentality with Higher Defensive Line, so I'd say your Out Of Possession instructions are pretty sensible. As an elite team expected to win most of its matches you could try adding Counter-Press, but that's hardly going to shoot up your possession numbers by itself.

You're using a number of roles that will either dribble or look for risky passes, which goes against your preferred possession-friendly style:

• WBsu
• WBat
• DLPsu
• IFat
• IWsu
• DLFat

In addition to that, regardless of your Shorter Passing instruction, a Positive mentality in combination with multiple Attack duties can make things gung-hoey really fast (multiple Very Attacking individual mentalities).

In short, your possession numbers are most likely low because your players are being wasteful. Especially against stacked defences, which you're probably facing plenty of as Man United, you might need to tone things down a notch.

Here's a good read, if you're interested:

It's also worth noting that obsessing about possession can be a double-edged sword. You need to find a good balance between possession numbers (time on ball) and penetration (amount of risk-taking), otherwise you can quickly find yourself with all the ball in the world, but no ways to score goals.

[Experienced Defender]

Your tactic looks very well-designed, so I am not surprised you are 1st in the league 

However, I have to warn you that if you make changes to an otherwise good tactic only for the sake of more possession, you will needlessly put yourself at the risk of ruining a successful tactic. Therefore, be careful what you wish for  

1 hour ago, samcro_001 said:

I am obsessed with possession and just want things to be quite realistic in most games I am expected to have most of the ball

Why do you think it would be realistic if you had most of the ball in most games? It's not about how much possession you have, but how effectively you use it when you have it 

[samcro_001]

5 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Your tactic looks very well-designed, so I am not surprised you are 1st in the league 

However, I have to warn you that if you make changes to an otherwise good tactic only for the sake of more possession, you will needlessly put yourself at the risk of ruining a successful tactic. Therefore, be careful what you wish for  

Why do you think it would be realistic if you had most of the ball in most games? It's not about how much possession you have, but how effectively you use it when you have it 

 

6 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Why do you think it would be realistic if you had most of the ball in most games? It's not about how much possession you have, but how effectively you use it when you have it 

The fact that I play a team that has low passing and technique attributes but still manage to control possession even tough they don't cause any danger whatsoever. I am not really extra obsessed just that I feel like I should have most of the ball 

[samcro_001]

16 minutes ago, Zemahh said:

It's also worth noting that obsessing about possession can be a double-edged sword. You need to find a good balance between possession numbers (time on ball) and penetration (amount of risk-taking), otherwise you can quickly find yourself with all the ball in the world, but no ways to score goals.

Thanks for the input I think I am more inclined to wanting more penetration than having most of the ball without creating any chances 

[CARRERA]

Possession is a very broad spektrum of what someone expects his team to do, as it is an element of many tactical styles. So for example there are teams or just phases of a match where possession is used as an defensive style of play to rest themthelves and restrict the other team from being able to attack. This can be achieved by limiting both your player and ball movement. However this style is as mentioned before, a defensive style method, and will therefore lack in efficiency when it comes to attacking play. So adding up all possession TI's and "risk free" roles as well as more support duties, will simply lead to - nothing - but possession

But i think what most people are looking for on this forum when talking about possession, and i think @samcro_001is too, is a dominant style of play where possession is not used as a defensive style or for the sake of it, but as a RESULT of their teams dominance.