rashidi1

iApologies first for not being able to contribute as much as before but there are limits to my resources nowadays.. What follows is a methodology where I approach making tactics using a simple philosophy.

Goal
The goal here is to use a simple structured approach to make a 433 tactic. The tactic should not require major tweaking and should be a tool for an average side in the premiership

Assumptions

<UL TYPE=SQUARE>
<LI>Using default attacking 433 with some modifications
<LI>The team is expected to finish in the upper half
<LI>Team talk managed by Assman
<LI>The team has come off a string of losses, my next game is a home game and I am the slight favourite
</UL>

Tactical Overview
Before I begin any tactic I like to have an overview of what my players are expected to do. The goal is to keep things simple.
- Short passing will be employed, with only the FBs and DCs on direct passing.
- There won't be a huge emphasis on possession, however, the team is expected to build up play and score goals. When I want to increase pressure on any side I will raise the D-Line. On default the tactic will play deep and wide. This will mean that my wings can be devastating. Unmarked runs by the wingforwards will be where most of the threats will come from.
- To emphasise the fact that we will build up play and attack more, hold up ball and TTB should be employed with quite a few players. Tempo should also be on the highest notch of low. Global Attacking mentality will be used. I will not employ individual mentalities.
- Closing down instructions are important as they prevent flank overruns. So LMC and RMC along with AML AMR and FC will be on 20. The fullbacks on 16, the DC and MC on 10 and the last dc on 6. No tight marking will be used and no man marking. There is a danger that aggressive closing down of this sort could leave huge gaps. Its a risk I'm willing to take because : the AMs and the MCs are going to end up making a 5 man midfield that will be tough to break down. The central MC will drop back to defend, because he has no FWR on.
- I will have a mixed attack. Attacks can come from wings but with the wide settings it should be enough. However if need be, and faced against a superior AI I have the option of going to normal in width. The danger of this is that my wingforwards may go missing and this is when I will need to employ a strong centreforward.
- Try long shots, I really hate this so only 2 players have it on.
-Cross from instructions...ok no cross from byelines, lets have everyone on mixed. Let decisions and passing rule the day.
- Not the best in the head my team, so Creative freedom will not be liberally used. the 5 I expect to be playing a defensive role are on low. The team settings is normal.

-I've also changed the settings for the set-pieces.


To get more people in play I need to do:

a. Hold up ball will be an instruction for all the MCs, and definitely the FC.

b. TTB will be on for all. With the exception of the 3 MCs the rest of the team is on normal while the exceptions are on often

c. Free roles will be employed by the winforwards and the FC. The wingforwards with FR will drop back to help the defense if need be.

By setting up the overview like this I should expect the following:-
The fullbacks to play dangerous crossfield balls that go to unmarked AMs.

The central MC should have no FWR. Neither should the DCs. But the rest of the team will have FWR on often. Risky against really good opposition, but I'm playing at home in the next game and I really want to take the match to the AI.


Was the objective achieved
Going into my next match I made sure all my midfielders could at least win the ball with an average rating of 15 for tackling, the central MC had high decisions and passing as well. Upfront, pace was the order of the day. We beat Man City 4-0 at home. It could have been 5 had the penalty been converted. If that had happened my striker would have bagged a hattrick. 3 of the goals came from open play and one from a set-piece. One of the goals was a great flank switch with the move initiated by the fullback. Overall, I'm happy with the result.

If I were playing against another team my only changes would be either:- Increase the DL to put pressure on the other team, or reduce width if i found myself under pressure. Those would be the only tweaks I'd do Thing is, tactic making shouldn't require you to have to spend hours working on the perfect formulae, having a reasoned approach and managing your expectations should be the key.

Abramovic

Great thread rashidi :thup:

people have gotten an idea that in order to succeed or create a winning tactic you need to adjust everything hence micro managing the side. This is a prime example on how to play the game as default tactics are balanced as is and all that is needed is light adjustment to match your teams stats and the way you want to play

aston_martin

Very, very good thread, as abramovic said it shows that you don't need to change everything for every match

WP:thup:

ron.e

I know this might sound like a silly question but what does TTB mean?

mr.rooney

TTB = Try Through Balls

arteta is god

What team are you?

rashidi1

Merthyr Tydfil, second season in the premiership, Season 2015/2016. We're currently sixth in the league after 5 games.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2012/13 Finished 9th2013/14 Finished 3rd2014/15 Finished 6thHighest position in premiership 1stLowest position in premiership 17th - Latest season, (historical 11th)</pre>


Last season I was using the default 442 with some minor changes, this season, I've decided to use the default 433 cos we have a better side with much better wingforwards.

rashidi1

More on my tweaks:

Having beaten Boro at home, my next match pitted us against Man City a side who haven't conceded a goal in 4 matches.

I started my home game without making the adjustment to my tactic I normally do and we started playing deep. Big mistake, City came at us and we conceded a goal within the first 2 mins.

Immediately I pushed my side up and ticked the offside instruction. By the 34th min we had equalised and we extended the lead before halftime. Both goals coming from open play and from some nice interchanging passes to find my lone striker up front.

Into the second half and my DC makes a schoolboy error by misjudging his header gifting them with another goal. I make another adjustment. My wingforward on the right is not playing well so I move my lone striker to the right. He has good speed. dribbling and crossing skills along with the sub for the AMR, they proceed to harass City my AMR now scores another goal. With 10 minutes to go. City switch to an attacking 424, I reduce my DL to normal, remove offside and score another making it 4-2 before City give me a few anxious moments with a late goal.

Final score 4-3.

Only adjustments make, mucking about with DL and 2 subs.

SunDevil

I really do enjoy these threads, but when the thread is based on premiership teams, and my focus being on low league teams, what sort of extra or different adjustments are recommended based on the player ratings and the competition? Again, thanks for the thread.

rashidi1

Fair enough.

Technical skills outweigh other skills in the premiership. Knowing what kind of skills you need to invest in for LLM play is winning half the match before you start.

You need to focus on pace and physical fitness. Pace is by far the most important attribute imho.

Whether you're in the conference or in the premiership you need to assess your teams attributes relative to the league you're playing in.

For example. I know that for my side, my average pace for my frontmen is around 16, which is high. Because decisions,passing and tackling are important in the premiership, I make sure that I at least have 15 or higher for passing in my midfield room. Unfortunately for me my left MC has only got 11 for decisions which is low compared to the top 5 sides. So against them I sub him for another player who has higher decisions and average passing. I hope you get the idea.

In LLM if you find that your side is better relative to other teams you can still adopt the same approach. You can still adopt an attacking mentality, if passing as a whole is not good at the back then you may want to reduce TTB.

Reducing TTB means you get less misplaced passes, but it does reduce your attacking passes as well.
Remember this, if you have pace upfront, use it. In LLM football this often wins the day. The formation I'm using now will bang in goals for me in LLM as well, i have no doubt about it. Playing with DLine and width should give you enough to tweak whether you wanna sit back and soak or you want to set up camp.