Making the centre forward work in a 4-3-3 [FM21]

[phonicparty]

Long-term FM player here, always preferred 4-3-3, but struggling to get my centre forward involved in FM21 like never before. This is my current tactic:

It works well! I score lots of goals (over 90 league goals in five of the last 6 seasons, over 100 in three of those), barely concede (less than 15 in the league in each of the last 5 seasons, less than 10 in three of those), win a lot (6 PL in a row, 7 of the last 10 CL), and don't lose often (at one point I went a month short of three calendar years without losing in the league). I get goals from nearly all positions - both of the wide players, from central midfield, and occasionally from my left back, and always a few from others as well. So I'm pretty sure my basic system is sound.

But I really struggle to get the centre forward to get goals or assists. Over the last few seasons I've played with quite a few variations on this tactic, trying to find ways to bring the centre forward in more. Some examples of the main variations I've tried:

I've also tried using 'focus play through the middle', variations with a DLF(S), complete forward (A and S), a trequartista (both up top and out wide), a pressing forward (A and S), and various combinations across my front three of roles and duties. This includes changing the IW(S) to a W(S) to provide width on the right. I've tried switching up my midfield with MEZ-S or B2B instead of RPM, CM(A) instead of Mez(A), etc. My players are fully capable of all these roles and when I'm trying a new setup I make sure to train them in their new role to get them familiar with it. Here are my first and second choice strikers:

My wide players are all good players with excellent technical and mental attributes - my main left IF hit 31 league goals last year with 6 assists, though my main right IW underperformed a little with 9 goals and 9 assists. This was the first season of playing my main IF as an IF - before that he'd mostly played centrally as F9 or DLF-S and averaged less than 10 goals and assists combined over the last four or five seasons (despite having similar stats to the two I've posted here).

With all of these setups I'm scoring goals and winning games (though some are more effective than others). But generally my centre forward isn't doing much business - between my two first choice players, they got 23 league goals and 10 assists last season and each had a couple of lengthy droughts and poor ratings. That's actually an uptick from previous years (I think because I signed my first choice striker last summer), but I want more.

I have five star coaching across all training categories with light workloads for the coaches, top class training facilities, etc. Fitness and morale aren't an issue.

So - all advice welcome, any thoughts on how to improve this will be gratefully received!

[crusadertsar]

I think you might be asking for something from your False 9 role that it's not really meant to do. 

It is not meant to be a goalscoring machine. Not even an assist king like a perfect Number 10 AMC. Heck, I don't think any lone striker role in 4-3-3 can be very good at either. The whole point of the False 9, and I really love that role for it and rarely play anything else in similar 4-3-3 systems, is that it's a perfect role to drop deep, create overloads in midfield and most importantly create space for his other team mates to move into. I'm sure that False 9s get plenty of key passes that lead up to the goal, but not the assist that directly leads to goal. AMCs (when played directly behind a poacher) and deeper playmakers are usually more prone to those. 

No with False 9 the trick is to let him do his thing by pulling opposition defenders out of position and then allowing other roles to take advantage and score goals or assists. Roles like IF(A), Raumdeuter, CM(A) and Mezzala (a). So from that perspective your tactic seems to be very successful. Congratulations! You are getting a lot production from all these roles in your formation which is exactly what I would expect based on your set-up. It's exactly why I use and love False 9s in my own 4-3-3 tactics. That formation is perfect to get the best out this role.

PS: By the way, I'm just not sure whether Attacking team mentality is ideal for False 9 though. As a lone striker you need to give him more time for build. Remember he will be dropping deep. But with Attacking mentality you will be encouraging more direct passes and crosses forward. But then who will be there to receive these passes if your central striker is deep? Think about that. 

Edited March 9, 2023 by crusadertsar

[backpocket]

If you’re dying to get your false 9 to score and create it’s possible. But now you’ll need to solve these problems:

1. How do I get a player who drops deep to score?

2. How do I make him play the final ball?

Theyre all solvable, but there’s more than one way to do it. Just watch 5-10 in game minutes of a few games and see what the pattern is. Who gets most shots? Who creates the most chances? And why? Is it the mentality? Instruction? Role/duty?

I don’t have an answer for you because we all have different ideas and different players, but hopefully this will point you the right way.

[bababooey]

I think the key to getting any striker to work, regardless of shape or role, is to ensure they're getting the supply they need.

The problem here is, if you are determined to use the striker in a role that drops deep as a priority, it's going to be hard to expect a big goal outlay from that player. Especially if you have other players in roles that will be acting as goalscorers, like an IF-A or MEZ-A (to a lesser extent).  So, going back to my first point, the striker in this case is actually more involved with creating chances than finishing them off.

I suppose a way you could "force" the striker to finish chances is to set him as a poacher, but then you'd lose the benefit of him dropping into space, which creates problems for defenses.