[Wolfsburg 523]

tbh I would not play Weghorst as a DLF. I would probably keep him closer to a TM on support then an attacking role. That way he'll get Brekelo into play. Keep the BBM but maybe consider switching the WB duties. I'd much prefer an attacking WB behind an IF as he cuts in and there will be space to attack. Not sure I'd have a double ball-playing defenders but that's just me.

[Wolfsburg 523]

I see this a lot but I really don't know why people have defensive duties in midfield when playing a 5 at the back formation. You have essentially 5 players at the back so why would you add another defensive player to that?

[Mentality equals aggression....yeah Mentality again.]

12 minutes ago, Herolover said:

I would tend to think of quicker vs slower transition as the Directness of Passing. More Direct you are moving the ball up the pitch quicker, shorter passes move the ball up the pitch slower.

Then you would be 100% wrong out of 50% of what you said.

Cautious + Direct and Positive + Direct obviously shows you a difference in transitions.

[Mentality equals aggression....yeah Mentality again.]

Mentality for me is the quickness of transitions into attack. Higher mentalities means you transition quicker into attack whilst lower mentalities means you're more passive.

[Maximum Effort aka Deadball - Tactical Story]

Well hello there fellow FM-stubaters. I'm n00bmaster69, you might know me as a superheroing, spandex wearing merc for hire (who should remain nameless). I'm here to share my feelings (awww) about my tactical musings with a little known soccerball club called Liverpool. Well, little known to us Canadians but any-hoot. Let's unzip our pants and get started:

The Formation:

 

 

So how did I get to this magical unicorn of a formation. Well I incorporated a formation and a playing style mixed with what the players enjoy doing on the field and voila, Deadball! Firstly I looked at the best players in the team and then wanted them to play in their best positions and roles to get the best out of them. In this case, Salah and Mane in goalscoring positions and the ball fondling defender Van Dijk in a distribution role at the back.

Instructions:

 

Here we have the instructions. I went with Positive as I'm a pretty darn positive person. But also because it gives the players more of a license to be positive in their play. I like the width it gives the FB's and the pressing it presents without being too extreme. There was some things I wanted to add though. Higher Tempo (Maximum Effort!) as I wanted to move the soccerball with a fast pace, play out of defence as it helps keep possession moving up the field. Plus I have enough players on support to help get it out of defence. Overlaps on both sides to get the FB's further forward but also to manipulate the compactness of the flanks. Salah on the right won't be too isolated with his high mentality and Mane on the other side will operate a little deeper so he isn't pushed too far up onto the opposition defence. It should, in theory, make the Mez more effective as they won't be on top of each other.

In transition it's a gegenpress strategy with Counter + Counter Press + Distribute Quickly. All about those fast transitions when we're winning the ball back.

Out of possession we look to push up, without being too extreme with a split press (Mez + Front Three) and an Offside Trap.

Player Roles

 

GK - Sweeper Keeper -  Alisson (Support) + Adrian/Kelleher (Defend) : Alisson is a sweeper keeper and Kelleher is the young apprentice learning the role. With the higher line on positive mentality I wanted someone to sweep up behind. He also suits the counter strategy with his PPM countering with long throws. When Adrian or Kelleher plays I'll select the defend role as their distribution is not good enough to take more risks.

DR - Wing Back - TAA/Milner/Williams (Support) : I could've gone for CWB for TAA as well but I didn't want to force the dribble and let him choose what to do from a dribbling/passing perspective. Milner and Williams backup for this role both suit the WB role. With overlap on they'll be more positive and get even further forward.

DC - Central Defenders - Matip, Gomez, Williams (Defend) BPD van Dijk (Defend) - Central Defenders by default, VVD is the only one that is given more license to hit riskier balls (ooh ball hitting) further forward.

DL - CWB - Robertson/Tsimikas (Support) I chose this role as Robertson likes to dribble with the ball anyway and he has a decent off the ball rating to be given more license to find space further forward. Should get a good combination going with Mane as they're closer together due to the overlap selected. Tsimikas has decent dribbling as well so will keep him on this role as well but could easily a simple WB.

DM - Defensive Midfielder - Fabinho/Hendo/Winaldum (Defend/Support) Fabinho will play here mostly with Winaldum shoehorned into his backup due to his decent defensive skills but mostly his pivot skills. Hendo can step into this role if needed with Thiago going to the DLP role. Will play this role on Support against defensive teams so the formation morphs more into a 4231 in attack but also it changes the shape in Fluid which gives more creative freedom in attack so it's a small change with quite big changes.

MC - Deep Lying Midfielder - Hendo/Thiago (Support) Hendo prefers playing on the right so by default he starts here but if I need to mirror the formation due to Salah out then he'll have to go to the left out of necessity.

MC - Mezzala - Keita/Ox/Jones (Attack) Reason I've gone for Keita here is because he has a relationship with Mane so should see some good combination plays going on here. Jones is the young apprentice and Ox the backup as he is injured at the start of the game.

AMR - Inside Forward - Salah (Attack) Shaqiri/Minamino (Support) When Salah plays he is the out and out striker, when Shaq plays the formation mirrors and he becomes more of the creative type.

AML - Inside Forward - Mane/Minamino (Support) Jota/Origi (Attack) Mane plays a little deeper then an Inside Forward on support would normally do as he prefers to get the ball to feet and attacking the box from a little deeper position. An inside forward on support by default is much higher up the field. When Jota plays without Salah on the other side, he becomes the out and out striker.

STC - Deep Lying Forward - Firmino/Minamino/Origi (Support) I actually prefer keeping Minamino as Bobby's backup due to his technique and creativity but Origi is there if needed.

 

Well there you have it scuzz-buckets. Let me know what you think and if you have any tips on how I can improve on Deadball but for now I like the way it plays. Maximum effort!