[Ask Me A Question - FM Related :-)]

Hi Rashidi!

I need your help. My formation is 4-3-2-1. My team plays aggressive and wide, but I want from my AML and AMR more movement. What I mean, take a look on our typical position in possession:

My DLF drops deep, dragging opponent defenders from their positions, but no one can exploit in, because IF and Winger too far away from him and from penalty area.

I want from my IF(a) and Winger(s) , without the ball to move inside of penalty area, transforming in something like this:

4-3-2-1 should convert into 4-3-3 in possession. What TI/PI should I use? First what comes to mind it's to play very narrow, but it will force to all my players stay narrow. This is what I want only from my wide players. Ty.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

i know, not so much players  still play in versions with slider system. Another match engine, etc.

 

But maybe anyone still on it, or in modern FM versions you notice same problem:

 

 

i want from my team (purple) to meet opponent near circle in the middle. This is a modern style of defending, doesn't matter what team use it, 90% of teams when they dont need to score asap - always drop behind line in the centre. I don't want this stupid pressing, when 6 players meet opponent on the their half of the pitch.

 

How AI always avoid this pressing - he wait till my winger start to close down him - he make easy pass to MC which make fast pass to winger - winger run with ball or make pass to striker, what opens wide. AI always build attacks in this style vs my teams. And i cant stop it, because my team push so high.

I tried everything: i set closing down to EVERY player on 1 click (on slider). i set tackling to easy. i set team instruction: closing down - less. i use loose zonal marking. i use OI - close down - never vs opponent back 4.
I also use FMRTE to give my team 100/100 tactic familiarity. NOTHING. Same sh*t.

On screenshot above you can see, what i use 4-4-1-1. Strategy: standart, Team shape: Flexible; Zonal loose marking, light tackling, "stand off" shout. Looks like stand-off, right?

Here we play 4-4-1 (my amc got red card), same settings as i said before - stand off; zonal loose marking, OI-close down never vs opponent back 4. Tactic familiarity 100/100.

 

In next 2 seconds my MR start to close down opponent DC.bravery and stupidity...

If anyone said, what you should use more defensive mentality... here we go: CONTAIN strategy

Anyway, this is stupid, when you should play with contain mentality just to make your players meet opponents on your own half. Why? because it's restrict your players mentality - mentality = riscs.

To make my players meet opponent on my own half of the pitch i should drag my ML/R to WBL/R and my MCs to DMCs. This is insane.  Specific marking just useless in this situation, i can say why.

P.s: i have no question to my players, when opponent comes deep into our half of the pitch, they always track back! I have questions to their positions, when opponent build their attacks from deep, when their defenders got the ball near their penalty area. It looks like Match Engine limitation, because you can't stop your players to occupy opponent half of the pitch. 

But I do not want to think like that, should be easy algorithm , why players, doesn't matter what mentality i use, push so high.

For example, i concede a lot of goals from corner kicks. And that I just did not try, nothing helps. I also started to think - ME limitation, nothing i can do here.

i made research, and find, what half goals from corners AI scores from far post. ~30% from near post.

With man marking AI just drag my tall players from dangerous positions. 2 his tall players get instruction: go forward (on this instruction they just staying in the middle of the penalty area, draging 2 my DC what following instruction to mark them). another 1 tall player go to "attack far post" or "attack near post", where he covered by my DL or DM/MC, what in 70% chances ends with amazing shot on or off target.
this is very random, sometimes my DC cover tall players in dangerous zones, sometimes not.

and i deside to find solution, how to make my dc ALWAYS stay near far post and near near post (lol).

and i find it.

Game understand command "go back" in count from the right: first go 2 fulbacks, or wingbacks, next DCR, DCL, after it MCR, MCL and etc. Example for better understanding, everyone go back in 4-4-2:

knowing this algorithm easy to stick players what i want where i want.

this is what i made in my 5-3-2

after week testing: this setup works very well! Players NOT sticked to opponent player, they cant be dragged, they guard zone, what i want from them. They focus on the ball, not on the player behind them. This more intellegent method work, and you dont need world class players for it (i play LLM in Scottland now), you dont need a lot of tall players, enough to have 2-3. I concede from corners only after this stupid deflections, or my defenders failed to intercept the ball (very rarely).

 

I'm so happy when i find this solution, but with issue what i described at the beginning of this post, idk. This is impossible, i tried everything  

If problem not in mentality/team shape/closing down/marking, than maybe problem relies in formation. What i noticed, for example in 3-5-2 (with ML/R), what my ML/R, because they play alone on the wing, ALWAYS drop deep to DL/WBL position, when opponent start building his attacks from his own half of the pitch. In another words, if player alone on his side, and no one behind him (in formation), he never push high when we defend.

[Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)]

i have big problems, when opponent close down us near our own penalty area. This is stressful for my defenders, they just start to launch useless long balls, what mainly go out of play or be intercepted. This is realy annoying, because i cant build up my attacks. I know, if they push so high to close down us, then they leave space behind, but I dont know how to exploit it!

4-1-2-3 with aggressive pressing always eats me, on short pitch its more painfull

 

typical examples

 

 

it's not the problem of formation, because i always struggle when AI start play in this style

i know what i want from my players, but i dont know how to create this movement:

 

ty.