retired_mprabhat_nist

i'm used to working with very hard working players, maybe not techniquely brilliant but effective. i always use a tall target man and my tactics proved very effective.

i've just inherited a man utd squad who are very different. fast, creative and techniquely superb but i am failing to implement tactics that suit the players. i have fast strikers and wingers but no real aerial threat. really with the quality i have i should destroy teams but i'm struggling to dominate.

any tips on how to play attacking flowing football effectively? its not what i'm used too!!

thanks

retired_lswearne

attacking mentality(15-16)
short passing
slow tempo
counter attcking
ETC.
(this is my prefered style at the moment because it works; for my team anyway)

retired_marsha

well, i recommend the 4-3-3. implemented thusly:

team instructions:

mentality normal
tempo last notch of slow (however i do play in spain..)
passing style first noch of mixed
width the same as mentality
use playmaker (i use van der vaart. awesome)

individual passing instructions
-defenders on mixed
-defensive minded midfielders set more towardsshort
-forwards very short

3 forwards on freerole and CF set to 15
playmaker given high creative freedom

longshots rarely

and thats all i can remember but i tend to see some rathersexy footbll, the forwards often breaking out swift one touch passing moves, and van der vaart belting in long range efforts with satisfying regularity

retired_marsha

forgot the formation...

---------o----------

o----o------o-----o
-------------------
--------o-----------
--------------------
-----o-----o--------
------\------------
o------------------o
|--------o---------|

so thats arrow to amc for playmaker andarrows to fl/r for wingers, tho sometimesi set thse arrowsw to frc and flc

kbobforfun

Try a 4-2-3-1. Look up Van Gaal and he uses it for every team he coaches

retired_w0lfpack1

When I took over Argentina, internationally, I had a similar problem; I was used to grinding out results with a hard-working, low-flair side.

I found I got the biggest "bang for my buck" with a change to the individual instructions for my wingers.

I'd had them on something like:

Mentality: Normal
Creative Freedom: Normal
Closing Down: Mixed +
Forward Runs: Often
Run With Ball: Often
Long Shots: Rarely
Cross From: By-line

That worked for the grind-it-out club with a target-man quality striker, right? Take it to the by-line every time, curl it in, and trust he'll head home enough to make it worthwhile.

With some super-creative wingers, I changed their instructions to:

Mentality: Attacking
Creative Freedom: Much
Closing Down: Rarely
Forward Runs: Normal
Run With Ball: Mixed
Long Shots: Mixed
Cross From: Mixed

Basically right down the middle on everything: Make your own decisions, guys!

Suddenly, I saw them doing things like:
- fake towards the corner, then cut inside
- have a go from twenty-five yards
- carry the ball diagonally into the box looking to shoot
- overlap inside looking for the ball
- cross from deep
- or switch sides to each other if the other was unmarked
- reach the by-line, and cut dangerously in along it instead of crossing
- oh, and occasionally, do what they used to, crossing from the corner.

I felt like my squad was ten times more dangerous .. and I hadn't made ANY changes to my basic tactic, formation, or outlook.

Little things can go a long way!

retired_w0lfpack1

Obviously, taking that back down to the lower leagues doesn't work - its an instruction which works best when you give it to a winger with strong Decisions, Creativity, Passing, Finishing, and Long Shots to go with the usual pace, dribbling, crossing lot.

retired_cheyrlvano

Just want to start off by saying that by no means am I a tactically astute manager. However, I did stumble upon a tactic which works quite well for my Man Utd, and before that Palermo, of which I took from the bottom of the Serie A to the top in 3 seasons.

This tactic, though, does buck the conventional ideas that I read and learned from in this forum or the game's advice messages (passing and tempo should be linked, use free roles and creative freedom sparingly, etc) so I am not sure how sound this would work for other managers. But for whatever reason, it works in my game, and my team plays a fairly attacking style of football, with wingers flying down each side and usually scoring 2-3 goals a game.

In terms of team selection, I usually employ one attack minded CM and another one who is more defensively skilled (though I play them flat). Wingers I prefer pacey ones who can dribble and cross. For forwards I usually play one traditional ST and then a forward.

I play the traditional 4-4-2 formation, flat midfield, and a short farrow on either wings. Where it differs is in the team and player instructions:

team instructions

closing down

cross ball

free role

forward runs

hold up ball

individual mentality

run with ball

Notes:

-In my case, Coto is my more offensive CM while Clemence is my defensive one. Besagno is the striker while Milano is the Forward.

-Forgot the screencap, but I have throughball turned on to often for the whole team, except GK.

-I vary my instructions for Long Shots, depending on the players' ability. Usually though all of them are on mixed with the exception of the GK and the back four.

-This is a home tactic, and for away I'd turn the whole teams' closing down down a few notches, uncheck the free role for DR and DL, set the backline to normal, play a more direct game (a few notches left of the middle) and focus passing is mixed.

-Even though I've had a lot of success with this in my game, I honestly don't know if it is because of my tactics or sheer luck/quality of the players. Feel free to try it out though and let post your feedback. As well, I do find that the results tend to suffer initially, especially if you played a drastically (ie. slow, defensive) different brand of football previously. I found that changing these settings incrementally, especially in regards to tempo, helps a lot.