4-4-2 Diamond wide or narrow?

[thefmveteran86]

How would you approach this certain formation? does it depend on the players obviously or does it depend on what league you're in or both? 

[寸身辛木]

I don’t know too much about the FM logic of wide and narrow. I will just relate it with real life: Valencia 02/03 plays that wide 4-1-2-1-2 diamond with Aimar playing that No.10 and two wingers on the flanks against Arsenal in Champions League. It basically operates upon Aimar’s ability to link the four attacking players. It’s a tactic relies heavily on player strength so if you’re not sure if your players are capable maybe you should stick with the narrow. Especially when fm23 has improved player movement for narrow formations.

Edited November 9, 2022 by 寸身辛木

[ElJuanvito]

Wouldn't a wide diamond leave too many gaps in the middle? Also, you can use the 2 in a narrow diamond as carrileros or mezzale to add that extra width.

 

On the other hand, I did a wide diamond to good effect way back in FM07, so...

[Flußkrebs]

Agree with the previous replies, but some other alternatives are:

• 4312- setting your diamond up as a 4312 will push the LCM and RCM wider than if you set it up as a 41212 narrow. Could be a nice middle ground. 
• Wide 4132- i.e. LM-CM-RM with a DM behind the CM (wide diamond with the 10 withdrawn to middle strata). This will give you a diamond shape if you use a role like CM-A and DM-D, but should be a little more secure than a 41212 wide. 
• 4132 narrow- not really a diamond shape when playing, definitely a bit more of a DM holding and spraying the ball to three runners. But worth trying out. 

Edited November 10, 2022 by Flußkrebs

[NSWFat]

In the current FM23 match engine, I think wide diamond can perform better than narrow diamond. Now AI use double DMs and sometimes hard to find space through the middle

[sugarbear0511]

On 20/11/2022 at 08:17, NSWFat said:

In the current FM23 match engine, I think wide diamond can perform better than narrow diamond. Now AI use double DMs and sometimes hard to find space through the middle

I always use 442 diamond narrow and even though it's still ok in FM23 I find it way less effective compared to 22 which leads me to switch to 4231. I usually play my 442 diamond in 'fairly wide' setting (positive mentality) I don't think you should play it narrow unless you have really good physically strong midfielders otherwise you'll keep losing possession.

[phnompenhandy]

My initial squad had no viable wingers or wingbacks, so I started with a narrow diamond. It's working well.