Sinbad7104

May 23

Yep my bad. Forgot i moved some of the budgets around and it, Its a great tool. Thanks for sharing!

May 14

May be a silly question but am i right in thinking you imput your 'Total wage buget' when they come through at the start of the season and then leave it until the following season?

The reason i ask is, Start of the new season i imput said total wage buget, All my player wages etc, then a couple weeks later after a few new signings i noticed my 'Total Wage Budget' in my finances had changed so updated it in the spreedsheet which pushed alot of players wages above the new values set for them.

Also if you have 'Breakthrough prospects' in your first team that you use, do you bother putting them on the sheet as its already calculated or does that only effect the youth teams?

Many thanks

February 17

On 31/01/2024 at 02:36, crusadertsar said:

Master of The Art of Football Pragmatism

Seeing the latest news that Jose Mourinho has been sacked by AS Roma owners, has got me thinking. I don’t think “Pragmatic” managers are as much appreciated in football as they should be. Specifically in Jose’s case he was very much loved by Roma fans because he managed to achieve some pretty great things (winning Europa Conference title in 2022 and becoming runner-up for Europa League in 2023) with a club which previously was going through the biggest slump in its long history. Sure they have had less than great results in Serie A this season (sitting in 8th position as of writing this) but then one must surely take into account that Italian Serie A has been among the most competitive European football leagues with 4 different clubs winning the title in as many years.

And yet Mourinho’s Roma has achieved some pretty interesting statistics such as being amongst the teams with least league goals conceded. Unfortunately, also in his 96 games with AS Roma Mourinho’s team has also become the Roma side with the least points per game ratio (1.61). This just shows what kind of coach Mourinho has always been. Not one who is overly reckless or aggressive in his tactics or one who is too concerned with style. In fact he has always been a very pragmatic manager whose only concern is winning each game (and one goal difference is usually all it takes) and not to create a flashy show. Even the latest European disappointment where Roma came up short in Europa Final was a match that hinged on a single goal! Roma were one penalty goal away from walking away as victors. But that is the fickle nature of football and sports in general. I just wish that club owners were less fickle sometimes.

Where am I going with this you may ask? I guess I wanted to use an example of one pragmatic manager to highlight another Master of The Art of Football Pragmatism. Ernesto Valverde whose management of Athletic Bilbao has been stellar to say the least. The Basque manager has always been very consistent over the last two seasons with Athletic Club. But again due to the nature (or lack of style of you will) of football that he has his team playing he has not been getting the attention and praise that he deserves. It’s also interesting in the context of FM24 because I think it’s a tactical system that can be translated into the game rather well. Especially in this year’s version of FM which had a lot attention given to Positional Play. Athletic is not a side that plays flashy possession football like Man City or Barcelona but instead implements an interesting pragmatic style that blends directness with smart role rotations and gives much-needed purpose to possession. Even more interestingly, Valverde’s tactics change from game to game (as is the case with most pragmatic managers) to adapt to the opposition. Even his often-used 4-2-3-1 formation is a hybrid one that plays differently in possession and looks more like a 433 during attack.

Ernesto Valverde - The perfect image of managerial intensity.

Valverde’s tactical flexibility and willingness to adjust the way his team plays against each opponent is only one side of Football Pragmatism. At Athletic Club this is reflected in how he has his side play with “controlled directness”. Despite using the same 4-2-3-1 for most matches, the team will play very differently depending on the opponent. They tend to take a more possession-dominant approach and try to control the match when faced with weaker opponent who sit back and defend more. On the other hand Athletic Club switch to a more defensive/direct strategy against a superior possession-hungry team like Barcelona. A perfect example was the way Bilbao dismantled the Catalan side during last week’s Copa Del Ray Quarter Finals.

The other side of pragmatism, and what made Valverde so successful not just at Bilbao but at other clubs like Olympiacos, is the manager’s ability to work with and get the best out of limited personnel. At Olympiakos it was making a club from a lower level league competitive in the Champions League. While at Athletic Club this is due to their famous policy to only using players from the Basque country. Furthermore, Ernesto likes to use mostly the same First XI at Athletic Club. Within his smart and flexible tactic, they have been thriving.

Ernesto Valverde’s pragmatism is a perfect fit at Athletic Bilbao. It seems like a match made in heaven and it is. Valverde’s reserved and balanced approach to football as well as his ability to get the best results from rather limited resources is what led him to manage in Bilbao on 4 occasions now. And with him at the helm the club has been reaching Continental football qualification spots more consistently than ever before.

Defend Like A 4-4-2

Out of possession Athletic Club tend to defend in a compact 4-4-2 midblock. Here you have wingers dropping back and the attacking midfielder pushing up alongside the striker. The two banks of four has historically been one of the most reliable defensive strategies. Not only does it provide coverage across the whole width of the pitch but is also very centrally compact (especially with the “play narrow” instruction). Additionally, Athletic Club is perfectly suited to this formation because most of their wide attacking players possess high work rate attributes (at least 14 or more). The 4-4-2 shape allows Athletic Bilbao to have key moments of ball control (in midfield) even in matches where they are not expected to dominate overall possession. It is a perfect basis for fluid counter-attacking. So even if the opponent has more of the ball, it is where they have it that matters more. Athletic Bilbao can win if their opponent cannot create anything centrally and is rather restricted to trying low-percent chances from the wings (that Copa Del Ray game against Barcelona being the perfect example). By tempting the opponents to send the ball out wide, Bilbao’s hard-working wide players can then close them down against the touchline. While Bilbao does not press high, they do tend to win the ball back in advanced wide areas.

The Fast Transition Phase

Winning the ball high up the field is one thing, but it is of no use if such advanced turnovers don’t lead to quality chances created during transition phase. Bilbao’s 4-4-2 defensive shape acts as an important springboard which makes Valverde’s Basque side so dangerous in attacking transitions. Basically as soon as Bilbao lose possession, their wingers run forward through the channels between the opposition fullback and the centreback. In turn, the central striker attempts to run in behind the defence. At the same time, the attacking midfielder (usually the club icon Munian) looks to find pockets of space between the lines to receive the ball. Munian’s off the ball, quickness, passing and vision are key here. For as soon as he gets on the ball, at least three attacking outlets, via the striker and the two wingers, become open as his passing options. The speed and, even more importantly, off the ball movement ability of these attackers, is what makes the tactic so dangerous during the transition phase. Their movement also helps in dragging the defenders apart and create more open spaces for Bibao players to exploit.

Bilbao During Possession

Although Athletic Club’s formation is usually a type of 4-2-3-1 on paper, the team essentially turns into a 4-3-3 while in possession. When playing against inferior or equal strength sides, Bilbao tend to dominate possession. But it’s not all about higher possession numbers. What allows them to break down even the most staunch defensive sides is the sweet combination of attacking movements and wingplay afforded by their hybrid shape. The strength of Valverde’s tactic is really in creating and exploiting space smartly through both wide and half-space channel movements. The two midfielders (the AMC and right DM Volante) are both instrumental in this. These two attack-focused midfielders are granted the most positional freedom, to push forward, and generally roam around and pop up in areas where they are least expected.

In an above video, you can clearly see how Bilbao can rapidly create an overload on one flank while at the same time flooding the opposition box with bodies to finish off any resulting chances. The RCM (or DM really because Bilbao’s midfielders tend to sit rather deep) Oihan Sancet is also very capable of exploiting the gaps that appear due to his good off the ball ability and acceleration. The combination of advanced and deep runners is utilized very well in Bilbao’s formation.

Thanks to the positional play rotation changes in FM24, the movements of AMC, SV are much more intelligent and complimentary. As the Segundo Volante makes his late forward run, the AMC will move aside to open a channel. This behavior will free up SV to push up alongside AMC and essentially become a second number 10 role. Because of this Bilbao’s hybrid 4-3-3 (or 4-1-4-1 to be more precise) in possession and attack can be recreated in the game.

The two fullbacks are encourages to run forward (both have “gets forward” trait in the game) but they usually do this via late timed runs rather than then aggressive overlapping movements. Instead you see the wingers acting as the main width generators by staying high and wide. They do so in a rather free, open fashion and are not constrained by typical winger behavior of only dribbling and crossing. Rather when the ball is on his side the near-side winger will hug the touchline while his far-side partner will move a little inwards to become better available to passes from the midfield. This only happens in the final third though. Such behavior is a bit more tricky to recreate in-game but perhaps an IW or WM roles could work. I believe that these two roles are better suited to represent such complex movement than either the standard Winger or Inside Forward (which might start cutting in too early).

The central striker behavior is a bit harder to narrow down as we often see Inaki Williams (who is often the main striker) drifting wide or even dropping deep. I think either a simple Pressing Forward (A) or perhaps DLF (A) with added roam more instruction would be a good way to represent such movements. The reason we see the natural winger Inaki Williams selected as the primary striker is probably due to his key attribute strengths – Acceleration, Pace and Workrate which would indeed make him into a great Pressing Forward.

As you can see in the set-up of roles and instructions, Bilbao’s attack is focused through the centre of the pitch (due to the concentration of attack duties there) while the wings provide support and work in tandem with fullbacks to create overloads and defend wide. This set-up embodies the “controlled directness” of Valverde’s tactic while staying away from pure Route One “cross and hope for the best” football. When the team is a heavy favourite and the opposition is expected to sit back in a parked bus then adding work into box, slowing down tempo and making passing shorter would be more suited. These instructions would aid in keeping possession away from opposition defenders (who are trying to waste time anyway) as well as generate more chances through carefully working the ball into final third. Some of the roles or duties could also be altered to better control possession. Switching SV from Attack to Support duty for one, or giving the front striker a supporting role.

At the end of the day, to be a good pragmatic Defence-First manager in the vein of Mourinho and Valverde one must not shy away from changing the changing the game plan. It’s rather amazing how a simple 4-2-3-1 can be so flexible so as to play direct forward-moving football in one match and the more patient controlled possession in another. All with a simple change in a few roles and instructions.

Must of missed this when i had a little break from FM (Save went stale and weren't feeling it) but its just what i need to bring something fresh back to my save with Nice.

Who i think in real life have only scored 22 goals in about 22 games and currently have the best defensive only conceding 15 but currently sit 2nd.

Is there any player instructions involved? i know you usual mention but weren't sure if you was going to go into further detail in future about you using this.

Thanks

December 25, 2023

On 16/12/2023 at 16:20, crusadertsar said:

Tactical Showcase - Narrow Diamond

I really got to stop changing my tactics mid-season. But that's the curse of an incessant tactical tinkerer. Although to spread some blame around, I was partly inspired by the comments from some of the followers in this thread. You know who you are

I really like the Narrow Diamond 442 for the two following reasons. It can be an exciting high-scoring tactic so I often switch to it when I just want to have some fun with a save and break some league records. Or just to underachieve as an underdog sometimes.

Secondly, and this plays into the fun part again, it gives me less headaches and feeling of uncertainty when it comes to role selection. I find that in wide formations I can never settle on the optimal wide roles selection. Lately FM has given us much to think about when it comes to our winger and fullback/wingback selection. There are just so many roles and combinations that can work together! And it's made even building a simple 433 a potentially daunting task. Especially, If you are a tinkerer who obsesses about every detail in the tactic and want to make it as efficient as possible. If you are like me then with certain formations you will never feel like your tactic is complete.

Well, with a Narrow Diamond there are no wingers and it actually brings me some peace of mind. To me Narrow Diamond is a definition of FM-Zen.

It is kind of funny how by limiting a tactic you can actually make it easier to set up and understand. I guess I am a minimalist at heart who seeks a break from some of the tactical complexity involved in FM tactical creation. Another reason that Narrow Diamond is so easy to create and work with is because some of the roles that work really well in it just MAKE SENSE in this formation. In some ways, they were designed with a narrow formation in mind. So while there are so many things that you can do wrong in tactical crafting, at least you can feel confident that you cannot really mess up your role selection.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before you decide that you want to give Narrow Diamond a try, you need to see if your current squad is even capable of this formation. Like I mentioned before it is not a very demanding formation as it already cuts down your shopping list in terms of the wide attacker department. Nevertheless there is still a shopping list of requirements for a good balanced Narrow Diamond. A say "Balanced" because my objective in this tread still remains to showcase Defensively-responsible tactics. So naturally my Narrow Diamond will be more like Mourinho's Porto rather than Ancelotti's Real Madrid.

My Defence-First Narrow Diamond Requirements:

1) Complementary Wingbacks - One Complete Wingback who is very capable in attack. Another wingback should be more defence-conscious. So while one pushes aggressively forward the other can cover for him (and allow other players in your formation to be more attacking).

2) Hard-Working Specialized Midfielders. The midfield diamond is essential to this formation so naturally we need very good players here. BUT as an underdog you can get away with lesser quality players here IF they are: 1) Hard-Working Teamplayers and 2) Complement each other's strengths. That is having 3 midfielders who individually can fill the 3 roles of Runner/Water Carrier, Destroyer and Creator, without necessarily having players that can fit all three roles themselves. When managing on a budget you want hard-working specialists to fill your diamond, not total footballers.

3) AMC Wildcard Player (Creative and Attacking). This is the role that is missing from the standard flat 4-4-2 and it's arguably what makes Narrow 4-4-2 so special. Because it could be a player that contributes to both attack and creative support. If your team is lucky to have one, then you could stick your playmaking wizard here, the fantasista player, the creative mastermind through whom most the attacks can be channeled.

Roberto Baggio, the famous #10 often comes to mind as a perfect example of this role. In fact, Italian soil has been quite fruitful in yielding some of the best #10s in recent memory. AS Roma's Totti was another one. Anyway, you get my point.

Even Jose Mourinho had his own talismanic fantasista wildcard player at Porto, Deco. Also your AMC does not necessarily have to be a playmaker. Personally, I am rather partial to Shadow Strikers. And that is one role that absolutely thrive in a Narrow Diamond. I will explain more of that later. We are not finished with our Narrow Diamond shopping list.

4) Finally for a successful Narrow Diamond, you will need a strong pairing in central defence. Since enemy attacks will come often via crosses from the flanks, you cannot get away with less quality here. Your centrebacks will need to be among your best players, if not outright stars of the team. Or at least try to get ones with better than league average for their defensive attributes (such as the mental and physical ones I mentioned in my very first post in this thread).

And once you have your shopping list, it leads us to the strengths and weaknesses/limitations of the Narrow Diamond. Because why proceed with this formation? Is it worth the trouble, given its obvious width limitations?

YES! It is very much worth it. In fact, I noticed that recently on this forum some misleading information has been floating around. Some people are claiming that Narrow formations like 442 Narrow Diamond are somehow weaker and flawed in the current match engine. Well that is very far from truth. And I would very much like to dispel this misinformation. But at the same time one has to be objective. Narrow Diamond is not a perfect formation by any means. No shape in football is perfect actually. Likewise Narrow 442 has its limitations. Luckily some of these can be mitigate by clever use of roles and instructions. But once again more on that later.

Strengths:

1) Defensive Stability. One of the benefits of a midfield diamond is that one midfielder (usually the central one at the lower tip of the diamond) can be tasked with supporting the defence and drop deeper to form a passing triangle with the centrebacks. This can both help stop opposition attacks through the middle, help deal with crosses (if the player is tall) and aid in bringing the ball up from defence. By having a dedicated defensive midfielder, the Narrow Diamond sacrifices some attacking potential to ensure defensive stability. Which, given my aim of Defence-First Football, is perfectly fine. This extra man, the DM (or middle CM) destroyer, can easily step back into defence to act as the fifth defender if the team is under pressure. In some tactics (depending on the roles and instructions used) it can even lead to a transition in the form of a defensive 5-3-2. And thankfully to the Positional Play changes in FM24 match engine, such transitions are easier than ever to set up.

2) Midfield Control. Pretty self-explanatory. Three midfielders are always better than two when it comes to "bossing" the midfield and controlling the ball. It's even better when you have a hard-working AMC dropping deeper to help support as well. A player with high Workrate attribute will do so even in a seemingly ultra-attacking roles like Shadow Striker. "Comes deep to get the ball" trait can also help in increasing this behaviour. Furthermore, four midfielders ensure that there is no space for the opposition to string together passes in the build-up, which ultimately leaves them with two options — the long ball or cross from the flank. And luckily for us, there are specific team instructions that can help us deal with those two modes of attack pretty easily.

3) Boosted Attack. It is no secret that Narrow Diamond 442 can be an attacking formation on steroids. Afterall, you can essentially operate with two strikers and one shadow strikers. Albait the variaton of roles and duties is very important here since you will want to make sure that each of your final third attackers is doing something different that complements what the other two are doing. No 2-3 Advanced Forwards in my tactics, ever. You can try that, but that would be cheating and what's the fun in that?

Weaknesses:

To note here is that while Narrow Diamond has some clear weakness, they can all be mitigated to a certain degree. You may not be able to cancel them out completely but at least make them less of a liability. The important thing is to take advantage of the strengths to help you win games while reducing the weaknesses by specifically addressing the limitations.

1) Lack of Width. Another pretty obvious one. The Narrow Diamond is a very narrow formation due to the lack of wide players. But this can be addressed pretty easily through selection of roles. Having forwards (or AMC) which drift wide and move into channels. Some midfield roles such as Mezzala and Carrilero are also programmed to do exactly that and that is the reason why they are ideal for narrow formations. Similarly some wingback roles like CWB are designed to use the full extent of the flank. So even in a narrow formation, you can have a lot of attacks going through the flanks either via drifting forwards, midfielders, or fullbacks. It also helps to set the tactical width as wide as possible through team instructions. Or to move the traditional bottom of the diamond DM player up into CM strata and thus push the wider midfielders more towards the flanks. That is one reason why I prefer using 4-3-1-2 variation of Narrow Diamond over its 4-1-2-1-2 form.

2) Opposition Counterattack. Your centrebacks and defensive midfielder are usually the only defence against counterattacks. And these can be devastating to a formation that has less cover on the wings. To mitigate this I like to inject a healthy dose of Mourinho into my tactic. One wingback/fullback becomes more defensively-minded. Let the Mezzala in-front of him do all of the offensive heavy lifting. Obviously, you will need the right players for both roles to make this risky gambit work and not bite you in the backside.

An example of a nice Mezzala. He can run, tackle, pass and shoot and cross pretty well. The only thing he is missing is above average dribbling. But then you cannot have everything in life haha.

3) Increased Player Fatigue. Notoriously narrow formations are thought to require extremely fit central midfielders to cover ground, and fullbacks who can bomb up and down the pitch with ease for the whole 90+ minute duration of the match in some case. This may put a strain on the players, resulting in a possible decrease in efficiency over the course of the game or season. But it does not have to be that way. By applying some of the principles of Defence-First Football, which I already implemented in my previous tactics, I can largely mitigate the effect of fatigue. Even with a more-attacking Narrow 442 I can still maintain low-intensity balanced strategy. In fact a lot of the instructions that used in my previous 4-2DM-3-1, Le Verrou 433 tactics are still present. Observe how the tactic's name is still Le Verrou. All I did is change and move some roles around. Alot of our important instructions remained the same. And most importantly the overall Tactical Intensity (in upper right corner, outlined in red) is still below the red zone. My players can often play for the whole match and take long time to go down below 70% condition. In the image above (of the Man City victory) you can see just how much better our overall physical conditioning was when compared to Man City players'.

So in the end, after you read all this, do you still need another reason to use a Narrow Diamond? Especially when seemingly everyone is using the same ultra-attacking, intensely pressing 433 or 4231 tactics? 1) Sometimes you just want to go against the grain and succeed with an unpopular less-used formation. It’s the same drive that attracts us to managing underdogs. Achievement is usually more satisfying when it arrives at the end of a challenge.

Thus I would like to present to you my rather simple tactic which nevertheless gets the job done for me. And is also very solid defensively in LaLiga. Most importantly it does not tire my players out for the whole 90 minute duration, unlike all those popular attacking gegenpress meta tactics.

Just Low-to-mid intensity mid-block Balanced tactic. No more than 3 attack duties. NO Counterpress. NO Highpressing/Get Stuck In, Highest Closing down typical gegenpress "exploity" instructions. Just instructions that would make sense in real football and channel AI into areas where your diamond holds the advantage. Trap the AI and force them to exhaust themselves hitting the wall while you hit them with quick crosses and smart movement into half-spaces. That's all it takes. And Narrow Diamond is just such a great set-up for this kind of football. Especially given how there are roles in FM that were designed and exist specifically with this formation in mind. I am looking at you, Complete Wingback, Mezzala and Carrilero.

PS: I also usually select "overlap right" to give a bit more attacking oumph to my CWB.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

im curious about why you chose to use the PF-S, is that just because of the player profile you had? or looking for him to do a certain job? i would of thought you'd want a role that drops deeper and lets the SS push pass him. Im finding it to play like a more lopsided 433 narrow as it stands but im training my PF-S to come deeper to see if that helps create that diamond shape.

Either way its been doing great for me.

December 17, 2023

On 16/12/2023 at 16:20, crusadertsar said:

Tactical Showcase - Narrow Diamond

I really got to stop changing my tactics mid-season. But that's the curse of an incessant tactical tinkerer. Although to spread some blame around, I was partly inspired by the comments from some of the followers in this thread. You know who you are

I really like the Narrow Diamond 442 for the two following reasons. It can be an exciting high-scoring tactic so I often switch to it when I just want to have some fun with a save and break some league records. Or just to underachieve as an underdog sometimes.

Secondly, and this plays into the fun part again, it gives me less headaches and feeling of uncertainty when it comes to role selection. I find that in wide formations I can never settle on the optimal wide roles selection. Lately FM has given us much to think about when it comes to our winger and fullback/wingback selection. There are just so many roles and combinations that can work together! And it's made even building a simple 433 a potentially daunting task. Especially, If you are a tinkerer who obsesses about every detail in the tactic and want to make it as efficient as possible. If you are like me then with certain formations you will never feel like your tactic is complete.

Well, with a Narrow Diamond there are no wingers and it actually brings me some peace of mind. To me Narrow Diamond is a definition of FM-Zen.

It is kind of funny how by limiting a tactic you can actually make it easier to set up and understand. I guess I am a minimalist at heart who seeks a break from some of the tactical complexity involved in FM tactical creation. Another reason that Narrow Diamond is so easy to create and work with is because some of the roles that work really well in it just MAKE SENSE in this formation. In some ways, they were designed with a narrow formation in mind. So while there are so many things that you can do wrong in tactical crafting, at least you can feel confident that you cannot really mess up your role selection.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Before you decide that you want to give Narrow Diamond a try, you need to see if your current squad is even capable of this formation. Like I mentioned before it is not a very demanding formation as it already cuts down your shopping list in terms of the wide attacker department. Nevertheless there is still a shopping list of requirements for a good balanced Narrow Diamond. A say "Balanced" because my objective in this tread still remains to showcase Defensively-responsible tactics. So naturally my Narrow Diamond will be more like Mourinho's Porto rather than Ancelotti's Real Madrid.

My Defence-First Narrow Diamond Requirements:

1) Complementary Wingbacks - One Complete Wingback who is very capable in attack. Another wingback should be more defence-conscious. So while one pushes aggressively forward the other can cover for him (and allow other players in your formation to be more attacking).

2) Hard-Working Specialized Midfielders. The midfield diamond is essential to this formation so naturally we need very good players here. BUT as an underdog you can get away with lesser quality players here IF they are: 1) Hard-Working Teamplayers and 2) Complement each other's strengths. That is having 3 midfielders who individually can fill the 3 roles of Runner/Water Carrier, Destroyer and Creator, without necessarily having players that can fit all three roles themselves. When managing on a budget you want hard-working specialists to fill your diamond, not total footballers.

3) AMC Wildcard Player (Creative and Attacking). This is the role that is missing from the standard flat 4-4-2 and it's arguably what makes Narrow 4-4-2 so special. Because it could be a player that contributes to both attack and creative support. If your team is lucky to have one, then you could stick your playmaking wizard here, the fantasista player, the creative mastermind through whom most the attacks can be channeled.

Roberto Baggio, the famous #10 often comes to mind as a perfect example of this role. In fact, Italian soil has been quite fruitful in yielding some of the best #10s in recent memory. AS Roma's Totti was another one. Anyway, you get my point.

Even Jose Mourinho had his own talismanic fantasista wildcard player at Porto, Deco. Also your AMC does not necessarily have to be a playmaker. Personally, I am rather partial to Shadow Strikers. And that is one role that absolutely thrive in a Narrow Diamond. I will explain more of that later. We are not finished with our Narrow Diamond shopping list.

4) Finally for a successful Narrow Diamond, you will need a strong pairing in central defence. Since enemy attacks will come often via crosses from the flanks, you cannot get away with less quality here. Your centrebacks will need to be among your best players, if not outright stars of the team. Or at least try to get ones with better than league average for their defensive attributes (such as the mental and physical ones I mentioned in my very first post in this thread).

And once you have your shopping list, it leads us to the strengths and weaknesses/limitations of the Narrow Diamond. Because why proceed with this formation? Is it worth the trouble, given its obvious width limitations?

YES! It is very much worth it. In fact, I noticed that recently on this forum some misleading information has been floating around. Some people are claiming that Narrow formations like 442 Narrow Diamond are somehow weaker and flawed in the current match engine. Well that is very far from truth. And I would very much like to dispel this misinformation. But at the same time one has to be objective. Narrow Diamond is not a perfect formation by any means. No shape in football is perfect actually. Likewise Narrow 442 has its limitations. Luckily some of these can be mitigate by clever use of roles and instructions. But once again more on that later.

Strengths:

1) Defensive Stability. One of the benefits of a midfield diamond is that one midfielder (usually the central one at the lower tip of the diamond) can be tasked with supporting the defence and drop deeper to form a passing triangle with the centrebacks. This can both help stop opposition attacks through the middle, help deal with crosses (if the player is tall) and aid in bringing the ball up from defence. By having a dedicated defensive midfielder, the Narrow Diamond sacrifices some attacking potential to ensure defensive stability. Which, given my aim of Defence-First Football, is perfectly fine. This extra man, the DM (or middle CM) destroyer, can easily step back into defence to act as the fifth defender if the team is under pressure. In some tactics (depending on the roles and instructions used) it can even lead to a transition in the form of a defensive 5-3-2. And thankfully to the Positional Play changes in FM24 match engine, such transitions are easier than ever to set up.

2) Midfield Control. Pretty self-explanatory. Three midfielders are always better than two when it comes to "bossing" the midfield and controlling the ball. It's even better when you have a hard-working AMC dropping deeper to help support as well. A player with high Workrate attribute will do so even in a seemingly ultra-attacking roles like Shadow Striker. "Comes deep to get the ball" trait can also help in increasing this behaviour. Furthermore, four midfielders ensure that there is no space for the opposition to string together passes in the build-up, which ultimately leaves them with two options — the long ball or cross from the flank. And luckily for us, there are specific team instructions that can help us deal with those two modes of attack pretty easily.

3) Boosted Attack. It is no secret that Narrow Diamond 442 can be an attacking formation on steroids. Afterall, you can essentially operate with two strikers and one shadow strikers. Albait the variaton of roles and duties is very important here since you will want to make sure that each of your final third attackers is doing something different that complements what the other two are doing. No 2-3 Advanced Forwards in my tactics, ever. You can try that, but that would be cheating and what's the fun in that?

Weaknesses:

To note here is that while Narrow Diamond has some clear weakness, they can all be mitigated to a certain degree. You may not be able to cancel them out completely but at least make them less of a liability. The important thing is to take advantage of the strengths to help you win games while reducing the weaknesses by specifically addressing the limitations.

1) Lack of Width. Another pretty obvious one. The Narrow Diamond is a very narrow formation due to the lack of wide players. But this can be addressed pretty easily through selection of roles. Having forwards (or AMC) which drift wide and move into channels. Some midfield roles such as Mezzala and Carrilero are also programmed to do exactly that and that is the reason why they are ideal for narrow formations. Similarly some wingback roles like CWB are designed to use the full extent of the flank. So even in a narrow formation, you can have a lot of attacks going through the flanks either via drifting forwards, midfielders, or fullbacks. It also helps to set the tactical width as wide as possible through team instructions. Or to move the traditional bottom of the diamond DM player up into CM strata and thus push the wider midfielders more towards the flanks. That is one reason why I prefer using 4-3-1-2 variation of Narrow Diamond over its 4-1-2-1-2 form.

2) Opposition Counterattack. Your centrebacks and defensive midfielder are usually the only defence against counterattacks. And these can be devastating to a formation that has less cover on the wings. To mitigate this I like to inject a healthy dose of Mourinho into my tactic. One wingback/fullback becomes more defensively-minded. Let the Mezzala in-front of him do all of the offensive heavy lifting. Obviously, you will need the right players for both roles to make this risky gambit work and not bite you in the backside.

An example of a nice Mezzala. He can run, tackle, pass and shoot and cross pretty well. The only thing he is missing is above average dribbling. But then you cannot have everything in life haha.

3) Increased Player Fatigue. Notoriously narrow formations are thought to require extremely fit central midfielders to cover ground, and fullbacks who can bomb up and down the pitch with ease for the whole 90+ minute duration of the match in some case. This may put a strain on the players, resulting in a possible decrease in efficiency over the course of the game or season. But it does not have to be that way. By applying some of the principles of Defence-First Football, which I already implemented in my previous tactics, I can largely mitigate the effect of fatigue. Even with a more-attacking Narrow 442 I can still maintain low-intensity balanced strategy. In fact a lot of the instructions that used in my previous 4-2DM-3-1, Le Verrou 433 tactics are still present. Observe how the tactic's name is still Le Verrou. All I did is change and move some roles around. Alot of our important instructions remained the same. And most importantly the overall Tactical Intensity (in upper right corner, outlined in red) is still below the red zone. My players can often play for the whole match and take long time to go down below 70% condition. In the image above (of the Man City victory) you can see just how much better our overall physical conditioning was when compared to Man City players'.

So in the end, after you read all this, do you still need another reason to use a Narrow Diamond? Especially when seemingly everyone is using the same ultra-attacking, intensely pressing 433 or 4231 tactics? 1) Sometimes you just want to go against the grain and succeed with an unpopular less-used formation. It’s the same drive that attracts us to managing underdogs. Achievement is usually more satisfying when it arrives at the end of a challenge.

Thus I would like to present to you my rather simple tactic which nevertheless gets the job done for me. And is also very solid defensively in LaLiga. Most importantly it does not tire my players out for the whole 90 minute duration, unlike all those popular attacking gegenpress meta tactics.

Just Low-to-mid intensity mid-block Balanced tactic. No more than 3 attack duties. NO Counterpress. NO Highpressing/Get Stuck In, Highest Closing down typical gegenpress "exploity" instructions. Just instructions that would make sense in real football and channel AI into areas where your diamond holds the advantage. Trap the AI and force them to exhaust themselves hitting the wall while you hit them with quick crosses and smart movement into half-spaces. That's all it takes. And Narrow Diamond is just such a great set-up for this kind of football. Especially given how there are roles in FM that were designed and exist specifically with this formation in mind. I am looking at you, Complete Wingback, Mezzala and Carrilero.

PS: I also usually select "overlap right" to give a bit more attacking oumph to my CWB.

TO BE CONTINUED ...

Loving this the few times i've switched to it. I was going to wait until next season to move over fully but i might just make the jump now.

One little question if i may? How would you go about chasing a goal. Normally i'd start making the attaccking width wider, hitting early crosses and being more expressive but thats already in play here. Im guessing it would be a case of pushing the lines up, Maybe quicker and more direct play into space? I Imainge taking regroup off and going on counter would leave us fairly vunerable. TI's have never been my strong point.

Cheers

October 28, 2023

5 hours ago, crusadertsar said:

3-2-5 = WM Shape: Learning From History

With both of my fullbacks tacking in to make solid 3-2 shape at the base of the formation, it should allow for more freedom for for the rest of my roles. This got me thinking why not make the midfield more more creative and more dangerous. Afterall in the old WM tactic as it was introduced by Herbert Chapman, you had two "inside forwards" in the middle. In modern football, its the #8 attacking midfielder that goes here. And this more progressive role is probably the most important element of the modern 433 formation.

But lets continue with the example of Herbert Chapman's WM. When it was first introduced by him at Arsenal in 1930s, it was a new and in some ways "eccentric" tactic which was frowned upon by contemporaries at the time. But it was crafted to take advantage of the new offside rule changes and as such had a distinct advantage against other popular tactics at the time. Or I should probably say more precisely lack of tactics. Chapman was a real football tactics "pioneer", in every sense of that word. Because his WM was probably the first real tactical innovation in history of football.

Chapman's WM went against how most teams played at the time. And they all played relatively similar. Not because there was a dominant tactic but because they viewed defending as something "beneath" a footballer. Attacking, running and dribbling was where the glory was. Hence most teams in Europe used 2-3-5 formation. Where there were 5 forwards and only two defenders (or fullbacks as they were known back then). This was the very first tactic if you will, The Pyramid formation. Except it was not really a tactic as once they were in control almost everyone attacked. The only transition being a fast counterattack.

Herbert Chapman - well-dressed happily smiling chap on the far left.

To keep the story short, Herbert Chapman who became the manager of Arsenal in 1925. While manager of Arsenal he envisioned a new way of playing where each player followed distinct a role, much akin to how things are in modern football. He also wanted to counter the popular Pyramid tactic by moving the centrehalf (player between the two halfbacks) from midfield down to defence to act as a very first centreback. And the rest as they say is history.

This strategy of using 3 at the back was to counter the threat offered by the 5 forwards of a 2-3-5 Pyramid formation. And this move was met with much ridicule and opposition (before everyone realized how effective it was to be). Largely because the addition of an extra man in defence was viewed as a negative tactic and plainly not a very good idea. Why? Because in Pyramid formation, centrehalf was viewed as the main playmaker of the team, its tactical architect. It was considered to be a suicidal move at the time, sacrificing the main creative cog of the team and adding an additional player in a position that was popularly considered to be worthless. But Chapman had something else in mind. By shoring up his defence and making it much more difficult for the other team's forwards to break through, he could now afford to give more playmaking duties to the other four players between the defence and attack - The two Inside Forwards and two Halfbacks. The Box Midfield was born!

In a way, Chapman's Arsenal tactic were very simple at the time but also not all that alien to what we today might view as "good" football. He basically wanted his players to defend as a unit, retreat as a unit, invite pressure and hold shape, and hit the opposition on the counter attack when defending. And this was where their midfield advantage came in. Chapman’s teams enjoyed maintaining possession of the ball, and making short simple passes, what at the time became known as "pattern weaving approach".

The only individual instructions: "stay wider" and "get forward" on IW, "hold position" on DM and "close down more" on AF, Mez and IWB (because he is mainly operating in the midfield) to set up a partial split block.

The simple approach is something I decided to emulate as well in my own ever-evolving 433 tactic. In this latest iteration I decided to strip down some of the instructions and just allow the roles and the shape to dictate how the tactic should run. And the results have been not at all bad! At least when it comes to chance creation. So far after 2 months with the tactic, we starting to play some very entertaining, aesthetically-pleasing attacking football. Which is exactly what the Board and fans want to see at Braga in the Portuguese League. It's much too early to say how good this tactic can be but I am nevertheless happy to see that a simplistic approach can work so well in FM24.

Some of the football this plays :applause:

September 11, 2023

https://footballmanagerstory.com/football-manager-2022-preseason-best-fm22-preseason-guide/

Was written for fm22 but i've been using it this year and had no problems,

July 1, 2023

On 11/12/2022 at 19:49, crusadertsar said:

Tactics Creation in FM23: Maximising Space-Oriented Attack and Defence

I already wrote about a classic 4-4-2 before. Now I will try to break down and simplify a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond. The following tactical advise is loosely inspired by the work of one special Portuguese manager. I took a few concepts from one of his most iconic teams and tried to adapt them for the FM23 game. So please take this with a grain of salt. It's not meant to be an accurate tactical recreation. Instead, it's a showcase of how easy it is to take concepts from real football and apply them in the game. When creating a tactic, you'll need to think in terms of how real footballers move on the real pitch. Where do you want them to start in their defensive positioning? Where should they move with or without the ball? Which areas of the pitch do you want "overloaded"? Or in general, how do you want your footballers to move the ball towards opponent's goal area? Game's ultimate objective.

Variety in Your Tactical Toolbox

Tactical variety is the exotic spice that completes the recipe for any formation's success. In fact, in every one of my tactics, I go out of my way to make sure that every one of 11 players does something different. Every single role should be set up a little differently from all the others. Occupying a different space, moving into another area on the pitch, or in general focusing on varied behaviours (hardcoded individual instructions) from the player next to them. So when setting up a tactic, I strongly recommend you study every single role in your formation, especially their in-game descriptions and hard-coded instructions. Do this in order to really understand and better visualize the players' predicted behaviour within the larger tactic.

Just like putting more tools in your tactical toolbox, you can maximize your attacking potential by injecting more variety into your formation. Such as creating more than one outlet for your attack. In the image above, can you guess how many of the 10 outfield roles are involved in attacking? Or are designated as my primary goals-scorers? Those who consistently exploit half-spaces and put pressure on the opposition defences. Depending on their quality, you should be able to have at least 3-4 players like that in the above tactic. The pressing forward is one of course, but I foresee at least two other roles in two different tactical strata should be able to do that.

In attacking strata, there is the Pressing Forward (or Advanced Forward if you have a player suited to that role) who pins the opposition defenders back and is willing to move into channels. In the advanced midfield, the AP(A) occupies the advanced central area from where he can carry the ball through dribbling or killer passes. He is positioned perfectly to act as both creative and goal-scoring outlet. Depending on the attributes of your Target Forward, he could also act as another goal threat, but he is usually more of a creative/supporting role. Finally, in midfield, there is Mezzala, who like your PF(A) is another dedicated half-space operator.

Much like tactical variety, smart use of space is very important in football. In fact, the two work hand-in-hand. While you have your players all doing different things, you should also have them do these things in different areas of the pitch. So if the opposition concentrates its defences in one particular area (like midfield) then you will ensure that your attack will not be shut down easily by only attacking through the middle. Instead, you should have them maximise the use of the pitch space by splitting your attack between the two half-spaces and both flanks. A four-pronged attack.

In a good balanced tactic you cannot neglect any one element, be it midfield channels or width. And width is one of the main elements in any good tactic. You can also intentionally overload some areas with numerical superiority or ball-magnet roles (supporting roles and playmakers) to draw the opposition players there. While at the same time you position your more attack-duty players in other areas to pounce and exploit openings (created by opponents moving to the overload). Your opponent cannot possibly defend every part of the pitch equally. So by focusing on the flanks you are actually making it easier for your players to attack through the middle. Or vice versa.

Have your mezzala train in the "switch ball" trait and then have him push forward aggressively into his half-space channel to draw the opposition there. All in order to free up much-needed space for your pressing forward in the opposite half-space. At its best, football is like fencing, an elaborate game of bait (parry) and riposte. If your mezzala is a good dribbler and passer then he might create a perfect goal opportunity for your striker. Or he might just bring the ball all the way by himself.

The Extra Man - Midfield Diamond Advantage

In a 4-4-2 Narrow Diamond, unlike in its wide variant, you have the luxury of an extra midfielder, usually a dedicated defence-oriented player (Half-back if you are playing with a DM role) who can mainly focus on his holding/covering duties. But must not do this at the expense of the other traditional midfield tasks: link-up and support. So while the defensive midfielder screens your centrebacks, he should also be recycling possession, and linking with the ball-playing defender to progress the ball from defence towards other midfielders and attackers.

I chose to go with a CM(D) and keep all my of midfielders in the same strata. This has a nice knock-on effect of pushing my two other midfielders wider to give more coverage on the flanks, where we lack it due to the narrow nature of the tactic. Then when out of possession, another great thing about the CM(D) is that he still tends to play deeper, in the DM strata.

In the image above, you can see the average positioning of my players. The #3 CM(D) clearly drops deeper into DM position. No matter whether you are playing 4-3-1-2 or the 4-1-2-1-2 (with DM), you still need some kind of role to focus on defence while the rest of the midfield focuses on providing some width and supporting the attack. In my opinion, a half-back or any other holding midfielder (with defend duty) is absolutely essential in any tactic where you are primarily aiming to stretch the play with two fullbacks/wingbacks. A defend-duty midfielder also allows the other two midfielders to embrace more progressive/risk-taking roles and thus serve as better links with the attackers. Finally, if you possess a player who is both creative and defensively-aware then an actual playmaker DLP(D) role is ideal here.

Because I am using a winger-less formation, then it is extra important to have CML and CMR midfielders cover wider areas in central midfield. Both carrilero and mezzala roles are perfect for this and are specifically designed with "winger-less" formations in mind. Carrilero does this in more conservative manner, by acting as more of a "shuttler", covering role, between AM and DM strata. On the other hand mezzala is essentially an aggressive half-winger, who starts in midfield but then during attack quickly moves into, and primarily operates in, the advanced half-channel, an area usually reserved for inside forwards and AMCs. You could even add an instruction for both of these players to "run wide with the ball", provided that they are both comfortable on the ball and are decent dribblers.

You could even play a more progressive role like box-to-box midfielder, instead of the carrilero, in a match where you are the favourite or when you notice the opposition sitting back a bit too much and need to improve your attack. It all depends on what players you have. If you are fortunate enough to have two very well-rounded midfielders then I would probably go with the mezzala/box-to-box pairing. But ensure that your box-to-box role is then instructed to "stay wider".

One other thing that I like about the mezzala is also hard-coded into the role. As it says in the role description, mezzala likes to "drift wide and operate in the half-space". In other words, he moves into channels on regular basis. With the right player in this role, you can essentially operate with a dangerous central winger who will provide late goal threat and, from time to time, help to overload the wider area covered by the wingback. Thus to get the best out of your mezzala you'll need to take the behaviour of other adjacent roles, such as the fullbacks, into account.

Do I Need a Fullback, or a Wingback?

According to his default behaviour on attack duty, the fullback will go up and down the flank, providing much needed width to the narrow formation. But he will do so differently from the more technical wingback on the tactic's right side. There, behind the mezzala, you will definitely want the more technical, progressive role like a wingback (support). Such player will not charge forward and try to cross at every single opportunity. Rather he will attempt to stay in a more advanced position (while not neglecting his defensive responsibilities) from which he can better support the mezzala and link up with the target forward through the use of both crosses and passes. Think of the wingback as a more well-rounded and technical fullback. A wide box-to-box player if you will.

The left fullback (especially on attack duty) will mainly focus on stretching play out wide and providing crosses at every opportunity. On the other hand, the wingback has multiple tasks that he can perform. His job is more like wide generalized support rather that a specialized crosser. Of course when presented with an opportunity, a wingback will still cross. But he is as likely to help in the possession battle in midfield, close down opposition wingers in defence, block crosses and win back the ball, and even provide angled through balls from out wide. Thus a good wingback is someone who can cross, dribble, tackle and pass. And generally support both attack and defence all along his designated flank. He might not excel at any one thing but should be more than capable of supporting/complimenting players from defence to attack.

While the mezzala moves into opposition's left (your right in the tactic screen) half-space channel, the Target Forward stays more central. TF will play with his back to the goal (if he has the trait then this tendency is accentuated), ready to receive crosses and long passes and then flick them on to the onrushing mezzala or pressing forward. Thus it is important for your Target Forward to have a good combination of first touch, passing and teamwork (aside from the obvious jumping reach, balance and strength). It is one of the few striker roles which actually avoids channel movement unless individually instructed to do so. On the other hand his Pressing Forward partner will move into channels regularly. In my tactic, PF will usually occupy opposition's left channel.

So to summarize, in attack, every role has a specific space that it is assigned to. More importantly, they occupy spaces and move into areas different from other roles in the formation. Both half-space channels are occupied (mezzala and pressing forward), both flanks (fullback and wingback) and the advanced central space (target forward and advanced playmaker).

The advanced playmaker is a sort of wild-card "free" player who occupies more than one area and tends to fill in the gaps left behind by other players. The attack duty (which comes with increased individual mentality) and added individual instruction to "roam more" both contribute to this behavior.

If you slot a technical, intelligent, quick player in here then he will play an essential role in overloading certain areas of the pitch, as he sees fit. The reason why you will need an intelligent player (with good decision, anticipation, teamwork and vision) to make those kinds of complex decisions. He has to be the brain of the whole formation. Basically, he will move to wherever the ball is and will be better at retaining it (due to his good technical and mental attributes). For example, if the ball is with one of your players in the half-space then the AP will move there and will naturally create an overload (numerical advantage) there. This role is perfect for your most creative attacker, fantasista, a player who is constantly hungry for the ball at his feet. To help satiate this hunger, he should be given complete creative freedom to act like your playmaking pivot in attack.

That completes the look at the attacking portion of the tactic. Now on to defence, and the part that all successful tactics have in common. Even the most attacking systems, need a very solid defensive set-up.

Defence - Keeping It Tight

If anything, defence is easier to set up than attack. In this style of tactic at least. When you know exactly what you want from your defenders then the roles and instructions will follow naturally.

Simply, I want my defensive unit to narrow their working area as much as possible and be very tough to break down. The more compact they make this space the less distance they'll need to travel in order to press the opposition and regain the ball. And the more effectively they will be able to defend. This is no gegenpress (despite the game labelling it as such). It's still midblock, as we don't press high. I don't really care what opposition does in its own half. But in our half of the field, my players will work hard to try to disrupt opposition play at every opportunity (close down much more). Furthermore, I want my defenders to mark their opponents tightly. And make life very miserable for anyone entering our half of the field. Aside from "get stuck in", I add "mark tighter" instruction on all players involved in the midblock.

Finally, it would not be an article about setting up a tactic with varied roles, that compliment each other, without mentioning the most iconic of all role partnerships: stopper and covering centreback (sweeper). These two roles fit each other like a hand and a glove. They are so different in how they perform their duties. And yet that is why you cannot have one without the other.

The stopper is the uncontested physical beast in the duo. Possessing the powerful combination of strength and jumping reach and heading ability, there are very few who can challenge him in the air. Among the strongest and tallest players on your team, the stopper should have the physique to aggressively and bravely challenge any cross and outjump even the tallest opposition striker. Above average tackling, determination can also help him in this regard. But he is not perfect as he needs a fast and intelligent partner to sweep up any balls (or opposition forwards) that get past the slower stopper.

The covering centreback is everything that the stopper is not: fast and mentally astute. He might not have the raw physical strength and jumping reach of a stopper but he should more than make up for it with his exceptional defensive awareness. Specifically, the combination of anticipation and positioning that allows him to predict where he needs to be in order to sweep up any opposition through balls before the attackers get there. For this he needs the pace to be able to drop deep into a favourable defensive position and outmaneuver his opponent. If he also happens to be a technical player (with good passing, first touch, technique and vision) then using a ball-playing defender role is an obvious choice. Along with a good sweeper-keeper, a BPD can be a very effective counter-attack initiator. And once they form a partnership, a stopper/sweeper duo will be the rock that will keep your defence solid for years to come. And improve the tactic as a whole.

Would just like to thank you for this.

My current save had fallen into a bit of a rut, having won everything the past few years i was in that 'space bar smashing' mode.

Decided to switch to this from a 3 at the back system in November time and its been great and brought back the engagement for me. actually dropping the speed of my highlights and making tweaks in game something which im not used to. It's also pretty different tacticly from what i was using so I've now had to start ripping apart a winning team for a mini rebuild.

One question i do have though is when you're chasing a goal what would be the best way to go about it? Sorry if i missed it in the write up. Would it be best to just play with the mentality or go down the route of changing the width/lines/counter press.

Again many thanks for the brilliant work

April 20, 2022

Ok so i know its 2028 but im doing a Youth to Gold and my team is only just making Champions league knockouts to give you an idea of how good the squad is..

plugged this is at the end of December and heres how the following 16 games have gone.

The Boavista game can only be described as a blip giving up 2 late goals.

Very impressed so far!

April 19, 2022

Best defence always peaks my interest and the first match looked very nice!

Double Carrilerro's is something different as well. i just so happen to have the players to fill them perfectly

December 23, 2021

10 hours ago, Mr U Rosler said:

Really? I'd given up posting, every possible tactical set up and formation seems to already be covered elsewhere, no room for little 'ol me anymore.

I second that, Always keep an eye out for your stuff because it very rarely lets me down.

November 18, 2021

Loving this tactic right now :hammer:

August 18, 2021

https://strikerless.com/2020/05/28/my-youth-training-regimes/

April 12, 2021

On 09/04/2021 at 12:33, Sinbad7104 said:

First half of the season done has been kind. I have made a few tweaks though and the results picked up from then, this could be purely coincidental and my team 'clicked' at the same time but im putting it down to my tactical genius.

The CB's went on CD (d), Fullbacks went on WB (s) and i changed 'Get stuck in' to 'Stay on feet' as i noticed my defenders kept diving in and giving away pens. All them changes came in from the Wolfsburg game and its served me well since. Slapping Bayern in the process.

On another note I found the Defend tactic invites far to much pressure on and i normally end up conceding.

Apart from that I'm really enjoying this. Cant wait to see what it does when I've actually got players to really get the best out of it.

First season completed and not bad at all. We exceeded expectations in the league grabbing champions league football and even managed to pick up a trophy.

2nd half of the seasons results.

Player stats.

Theres a fair few players in there with low work rate/team work which obviously isn't great for a pressing tactic. I suspect the player ratings would be stronger with the right players.

I did struggle getting any consistency out of the fullbacks though, Despite trying out different roles etc.

Team Stats

I reckon that just about covers it. Roll on season 2

April 9, 2021

First half of the season done has been kind. I have made a few tweaks though and the results picked up from then, this could be purely coincidental and my team 'clicked' at the same time but im putting it down to my tactical genius.

The CB's went on CD (d), Fullbacks went on WB (s) and i changed 'Get stuck in' to 'Stay on feet' as i noticed my defenders kept diving in and giving away pens. All them changes came in from the Wolfsburg game and its served me well since. Slapping Bayern in the process.

On another note I found the Defend tactic invites far to much pressure on and i normally end up conceding.

Apart from that I'm really enjoying this. Cant wait to see what it does when I've actually got players to really get the best out of it.

April 8, 2021

Very promising so far. I'm almost considering starting a new save from what i've seen in the first 6 games

Edit: It made me start a new save, Hertha Berlin here we come :brock:

December 5, 2020

Working a charm for me at Udinese.

December 1, 2020

2 minutes ago, Jaydenoren said:

That’s weird, they shouldn’t be links at all, is it all the pictures that are like that?

All working fine for me.

December 1, 2020

1 hour ago, Mr U Rosler said:

Finished the manual Liverpool test. Its gone well, i'll try Fulham now.

Counter attacking with 15th lowest possession in the league

Having a lot of possession didn't help Man City (home or away), or Leeds.

Oh My :eek: Love a bit of counter attacking!

November 28, 2020

Three FM's later and I still find myself returning to this as my 'go to' training set up.

Don't suppose you've changed much over the years have you @Mr U Rosler?

November 22, 2020

12 minutes ago, crusadertsar said:

Thanks for telling me. I'll have to look into it.

Can anyone else confirm that they are getting the same problem?

Same issue here.

March 17, 2020

Been working well for me with a few different teams. My wingbacks seem to struggle more often than not though. anyone else found this?

February 26, 2020

So I've reached the winter break in Italy so here's a quick update.

On the face of it things are going great. Works a charm against big teams as you can see but as with most underdog tactics it can struggle to break down the more defensive and im gonna assuming i'll face this issue even more so in the second half of the season.

In regards to the goals scored.. I seem to get most of mine from the set pieces and long shots from the center mids. Here you can see the assist types, Most of them short passes are flick ons from the throw ins i think. Saying that when we do get a CCC we are fairly clinical with them.

Regarding that tweak i made changing 'Get stuck in' for 'Stay on feet'

Joint 3rd in tackle completion, Least amount of tackles won because i obviously make less, which has left me the 2nd least amount of fouls made which imo greatly reduces the chances of conceding from set pieces.

I've also given away 0 pens, 6 fewest yellow cards and 0 reds so far this season.

I got a feeling i may have to find a more attacking tactic going forward once they rejig the reputation and keep this for the big games and europe next season.

Great work again Mr Rosler

February 25, 2020

Bare in mind my team cohesion is still in the red, i plugged this in my last game of preseason so the team have not fully understood it yet.

George Graham would be proud.

Slight change i made was to take off 'Get stuck in' and put on 'Stay on feet' after i picked up 6 yellows in the lazio game. Which has left me with the following that i love because the yellow cards do my nut in.

February 10, 2020

Not got the squad to use this with atm but as far as set pieces go, Im currently using 4-2-3-1 Spirit of 2004 v1 thats on FMBase, and the set pieces on that are working a dream. Might be something worth checking out.

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Posts posted by Sinbad7104