Need help with balancing between attack, possession and defending

[BrunosTaxi]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum. I recently got inspired by all the amazing contents here and decided to create my own tactics. 

All of my tactics are designed to dominate the possession and limit the opponents' attack just like Pep's City. However, I think I have trouble balancing between attack and defending.

This is the tactic I'm using in the first half of last season. Despite having over 60% possession every game and defending well, my team can't score, getting a lot of 1:0 or 0:0 games. 

 

In the second half of the season, I switched to a 4231 but the problem of not scoring is even worse. I saw my wingers and striker got no supports in game. So I tried to push both DM to the CM position and pull the wingers to LM RM and form a 4411. We got so much better in attack but then I'm not satisfied with the possession and defence. If I make some instruction to fix these problems (like adding 'Hold shape' 'Slower Tempo' 'Narrower' or adding more support roles), my team loses the attacking ability again.

This is the tactic I use now and some of the 'not ideal' results:

 

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And one more thing, I seem to be conceding a lot of goals from the half space area. My midfielders are just standing outside of the box and leave people open.

 

I'm really annoyed by these problems and it would be great if I can have some advice. Thanks.

 

Edited June 9 by BrunosTaxi

[Cloud9]

50 minutes ago, BrunosTaxi said:

 

The 4-3-3 is good but you are lacking engagement / cohesion in the front 3. W(s) + IW(s) is a fairly non threatening combination to opposition defenders. IW(s) in particular will get involved a lot in buildup play...I would look for at least one of these roles to be an attack duty.

Isak can be a great complete forward, which I would recommend for a style set up around controlling possession.

Opening up the width will help with what you're trying to do as well.

[BrunosTaxi]

53 分钟前, Cloud9说:

The 4-3-3 is good but you are lacking engagement / cohesion in the front 3. W(s) + IW(s) is a fairly non threatening combination to opposition defenders. IW(s) in particular will get involved a lot in buildup play...I would look for at least one of these roles to be an attack duty.

Isak can be a great complete forward, which I would recommend for a style set up around controlling possession.

Opening up the width will help with what you're trying to do as well.

Thanks for the feedbacks! Yes I do change Isak to complete forward when facing tougher opponents to get more control. About the IW, I was hoping to utilise Olise’s creativity to be more like a playmaker on the wing (something like Bernardo silva). Would it be better if I swap the RPM to the left so the 2 playmaker won’t be staying on the same side. Or should I change him to IWa or even APa?

[BrunosTaxi]

UPDATE

After struggling and doubting for a while, I looked at a lot of threads here and also asked some questions. And I think I've figured out something finally!

Thanks for everyone's amazing contents and especially @Cloud9 advice. I just want to make an update to show you my progress.

 

Here are some changes that I did on my previous 433 Libero tactic.

3-2 build up ---> 2-3 build up

As all of you can see on the above image. I was getting counter on the red highlighted areas a lot on my previous tactic using the IFB-CD-IFB setup. The 2 IFB are way too deep in my liking in order to intercept the opponents' long ball clearance.

So I pushed my fullbacks to the midfield area to create a 2-3. This helps me to control the match a lot more and reduce the damage from getting countered.

 

Livramento is not a IFB

I used Livramento as the right IFB in the previous tactic as I believe he has height and he can also play cb naturally. But this had limited his attacking ability and also leaving my wingers isolated.

Thats why I changed him to a WB and be one of the 3 in the 2-3 buildup. If he decides to push up to join the attack, RCM will cover his space to keep the shape.

This also provides more support to my RW Olise and allows him to stay narrower in order to further unleash his creativity.

 

Supporting the LW

Since my LB was a IFB previous and a IWB now. My left winger would be isolated without any supports. So I changed my LCM to a mezzala to stay closer to the LW and it works wonder!! They even interchange their position with the CF sometimes. These 3 often create chaos on the left side. 

Also, since my LCM (Joe Willock) has a profile that is similar to a winger. That's why I think he will perfect there!

 

And finally, here's my newly tweaked tactic! I got a lot more goals with this new tactic while maintaining the possession. We also conceded way less "unnecessary" goals and way more solid defensively.