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Although I usually play with lower league teams I always use a top Premier League team when a new version of FM comes out. I find this is a good way to get used to the new game before the slog that is lower league management.
So for FM08 I chose Man Utd as the team use to get used to the new game.
I originally started out using a diamond 4-4-2 formation, and despite winning the Champions League and World Club Championship, after 2 seasons I'd only finished 3rd and then second in the league, and not won a single domestic cup.
So for season 3 it was back to the drawing board.
The Aim
Because I had a lot of players in my team who could play AMC/FC I wanted to try a formation that utilised these players with maximum effect. I also wanted to try and dominate the midfield and create a lot of well worked chances. As it turned out the tactic was fantastic.
The Tactic.
I opted for a 4-1-2-2-1 formation as this seemed the best way to use my AM/FC players without leaving holes in the midfield:
I wanted to keep the team instructions pretty simple so kept a medium tempo and mixed passing. I also left the team mentality in the middle and used individual mentalities to get the team working as I wanted. I used tight zonal marking so that my defenders wouldn't get pulled out of position like they tend to do when using man marking.
For the individual player instructions I wanted to full backs to generally stay back and be not to attacking. The defensive midfielder needs high work rate and stamina as his closing down is high, meaning he chases the ball alot and can get tired pretty quickly if he doesn't have the stamina.
The two attacking midfielders are the key to the formation, one is slightly more attacking than the other and the both have high creative freedom and a free role.
After using it for a season this tactic has worked very well for me. The team keeps possesion very well and the front three pass the ball around nicely looking for an opening. Towards the end of the season I was confident I would do the quadruple, being top of the league and having already won the league cup after a 5-2 whooping of Tottenham.
Unfortunately my right back decided to get sent off after only 8 minutes of my Champions League semi final home leg against Chelsea. Although I beat them in the return game the two away goals they had from the first leg were enough to see them through. I also lost the FA cup final to chelsea 1-0 after an excellent performance from Chelseas keeper.
Howeverm, I did win the premier league with a total of 95 points and a +64 goal difference.
Had Arsenal not had a season that ended with one of their strikers scoring an amazing 50 goals I would have won the league by a much bigger margin. But there were a satisfying 18 points between me and 3rd place Chelsea.
This tactic gets a lot of goals. My team scored over 150 goals in competative games over the season, including a couple of 4-0 victories over the impressive Arsenal.
Note: I won't be uploading this tactic because when I was learning all about tactics back at the start of FM07 I found it much more useful to copy someones instructions and implement them myself, rather than just using an uploaded tactic. This way you get an idea of how and why things work, and it only takes 10 minutes to set up to be honest. Plus, I didn't tweak the tactic at all during the season, or for away games. So once it's set up your done.
Hints and tips.
To be successful I always use the opposition instructions before a game.I look at the strikers and wingers and depending on what foot they favour I always instruct my team to show them onto the other foot. So for a left footed player I'd instruct my team to show the player onto his right foot. I also look at their bravery attribute. If it's 10 or less I instruct my team to tackle them hard in the hope of shaking them up a bit. This seems to work pretty well.
Moral is very important. At the start of a match I ask my assistant for a team talk and his suggestions seem to work. In general I always try to encourage my team rather than risk a slump in moral and results by getting angry at them if we're losing. So if we're only 1-0 down at half time I'll encourage them. I also use encouragement rather than saying I'm pleased when 1-0 up at half time. I see this as encouraging them to go on and get the job done.
If we lose I generally sympathise with the team or tell them it was a good effort, this seems to keep moral steady.
If behind in a game and its getting to the mid-point of the second half I'll up the team mentality to attacking and put forward arrows on the two wingers. If after ten minutes this hasn't worked I'll up the team mentality a bit more and put forward arrows on the DM, full backs and possibly the two AMC's.
Don't be tempted to tweak too quickly though. I've had a couple of situations where I've gone a goal down but just left the tactic as it is and gone onto win 3 or 4-1.
If I have a man sent off I tend to just rearrange so I'm playing with just the one AMC. This has done the trick for me and even seen me go onto beat teams quite heavily with 10 men (except Chelsea in the Champions League )
Conclusion
Although I've only tested this tactic with a top team it's worked exceptionally well so if other people could use it and let me know how they get on that would be great.
I'm doing ok on my Valencia game, but not setting the world alight though so I'll give it a go. Only thing is though I'm playing FM07 so we shall see......
There hasn't been a lot of interest in this tactic so far. I think this is down to the fact I haven't uploaded it and people can't be bothered to copy the instructions.
As I'm quite chuffed with this tactic and interested in finding out how well it works for other people I've decided to upload it after all:
hi chopper your tactic sounds good, i mite try it with my juventus game, all my players seem 2 struggle to get a good average rating in 2008 compared to 2007, maybe this tactic will do the trick.
Originally posted by albertos:
hi chopper your tactic sounds good, i mite try it with my juventus game, all my players seem 2 struggle to get a good average rating in 2008 compared to 2007, maybe this tactic will do the trick.
The ratings have been toned down a bit for '08. My highest rated player for the season was my defensive midfielder who finished with a 7.48 average. From what I've seen so far this is a pretty good average for the season.
The best thing about this tactic though is the passing in the midfield and the sheer number of goals you score.
Chopper's 4-1-2-2-1: The Red Arrows. 
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