Hello people,
(first of all, English is not my first language so I do apologize for the mistakes I could do
)
Since FM2008 is out, I've been trying to set up a 4-1-3-2 tactic that would be defensively consistent and which would propose some nice offensive moves. Therefore I've been reading some threads in this forum, especially faeron's one and rashidi's one. Thank you for your ideas, guys.
The Basics : an idea of Football
I wanted to build a tactic based on a 4-1-2-1-2, because I like the idea of a team with two strikers, a AMC and a DMC 'a la Pirlo'. I'm also keen on domination football, with slow tempo and short passes, and I especially like when a team has a playmaker "from behind". I wanted to focus passing on the wings, with fullbacks overlapping my wingers and giving some solutions. My DMC should be the chief of my defence, and the first solution when lauching an attack. He'd be the basis of my tactic. Those were the basics on which I wanted to build my tactic.
Building the Tactic, part one : the sliders
Thanks to faeron, rashidi and Asmodeus, I had some ideas on how to set up the sliders. These are the rules I wanted to put into practice :
<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI> First Rule : match Team Mentality, Defensive Line, and Team Closing Down ;
<LI> Second Rule : match Width, Tempo, Passes, and Time Wasting ;
<LI> Third Rule : match Individual Mentality (IM) and Individual Closing Down (ICD) ;
<LI> Fourth Rule : Tight Zonal Marking and Normal Tackling for everyone (cf. part Three : Tweaking).
</UL>
As I wanted my DMC to be the first man to defend, I decided to set his IM/ICD at the same notch that my DL. Since my defence had to work together, I also set my FB and CB IM/ICD at the same notch that the DL. I then chose to increase by 1 the IM/ICD for the wingers/AMC, and 2 for the strikers. I built two versions of the tactics, which only differ by the DL : the offensive version has a DL of 14 (first notch of "high"), the defensive has a DL at 10 (center of slider).
I wanted to have a slow tempo, short passes system, and I set the corresponding sliders on 1 (first notch of the slider).
Building the Tactic, part two : individual instructions
First of all, my tactic is based on possession football. I must therefore avoid every loss, and I don't want my players to give the ball to my opponents, especially when I'm launching an attack. That's the reason why no player except the AMC will Try Through Balls.
Let's begin by the Man of the Tactic, that is to say my DMC. He's the playmaker, he must be available when the CB collect the ball. Therefore, he won't Run With Ball, he won't make any Forward Runs. He will Hold Up Ball because I want him to keep the ball while my fullbacks attack. My AMC is the second playmaker of my team. He must also give a solution to my DMC and my wingers. He won't RWB and won't make any FwR. He'll also be given high Creative Freedom and a Free Role - he'll be the guy who will lighten the game with his genius.
My fullbacks and wingers will RWB often, and will do lots of FwR. I have some gifted players so I let Crosses to Normal, which means it'll be up to them to make a decision.
Building the Tactic, part Three : Tweaking
At first I wanted a really aggressive defense, so I decided to put everyone on Hard Tackling and Individual Marking. Bad idea. I collected lots of yellow and red cards, and I saw my players trying to win the ball at all cost, often missing their tackles, which would lead to easy chances for my opponents.
I then decided to switch to Zonal Marking and Normal Tackling : bingo ! My players took the good decision, tackling only when they could get the ball, following their man until he left their zone.
I also saw the center of my defense was under heavy attack when facing a much more superior team ; I moved my ML/MR to MC with sarrows, and it solved my problems.
Apologies for being so long, but I really wanted to show you the path I had taken, from my RL-style of play to the FM tactic.
(to be continued in the next post)
Xavierm's 4-1-3-2 Project (French L1 approved) 
Linear Mode
