How to get the best out of Leverkusen's squad - Creating a Tactic

[Adonalsium]

This thread is about me being inspired by Xabi Alonso's achievements and wanting to see what I could come up with, tactically, to best exploit the strengths of this Bayer Leverkusen side. Let's start with the players we want to shine the most. Meet our key players:

Victor Boniface

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Florian Wirtz

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Álex Grimaldo

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Jeremie Frimpong

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Granit Xhaka

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When I set out to create the formation, I wanted to maximize the output of these five players. Boniface can be a true monster goalscorer with his attributes, but he also has the skillset to play a more supporting role as a Complete Forward if necessary. Florian Wirtz should be the creative fulcrum of your midfield and keep everything ticking over there, and so I'm determined to try to make him work as either an Advanced Playmaker or an Attacking Midfielder. Álex Grimaldo, like in real life, is more of a winger than a wing-back - therefore we need him high up the pitch, contributing offensively. I think he'll do best as a winger. Jeremie Frimpong is the best attacking wing-back in the world on the right side of the pitch, and so he should be given the role that warrants: let him loose to wreak havoc as a Complete Wing Back on Attack duty. Finally, Granit Xhaka is the guy who will keep possession ticking from deep in the field. And because I love the Regista role, I'm going to make him work as a Regista. Therefore, this is what I came up with:

The Tactic

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The idea of the system is to create devastating counters and to unleash Frimpong on the right flank. Palacios has the PI to Hold Position and Shoot Less Often.

Additional notes -

I quite often play with the Positive mentality as well.

The pressing set-up is up to the user - personally, I like to take a lot of risks with it, but I think you could very well employ a mid-block with this as well, as long as you tell your strikers to mark their midfielders. I've done this a couple of times.

I also like to lower the tempo to play a more possession-oriented style when warranted.

In terms of stats, I've won the Bundesliga with this tactic, achieving 60+% possession on average as well as scoring 90 goals during the season. I conceded 28 goals that season. It was an overperforming season, and just one person's result, so take that with a hefty grain of salt obviously!

I hope this formation will provide some food for thought!

 

 

 

Edited May 29 by Adonalsium

[bezzy1970]

Forgive me for asking but what skin are you using please? 

[Adonalsium]

This is the SAS24 skin.

[bezzy1970]

Thank you.

[Slipky]

Looks really solid. Could you capture the in-possession and out-of-possession shapes on an actual match? That got me curious.