retired_infinite_dreams

This post will present the 4-3-3 tactic set that i have developed and tested during the last weeks.

Background

About 1-2 months ago i developed two tactics based on the 4-3-3 formation (one home and one away tactics). The development of these tactic’s can be found in this post. Original post

That post also go much deeper into detail about the 4-3-3 formation and hoe i want the team to play. This post will only present the different formations in the 4-3-3 tactics set and describe them shortly.

Those two tactics worked very well for me, but there is always things to improve.

After testing the two tactics for several seasons i found out that the away tactic was very solid and good to use away at hard games or home against though teams that i thought i couldn’t outplay using my normal attacking style.

The drawback with the away formation was that when it was used it away against a opponent that played a defensive tactic against me it sometimes didn’t have the firepower to win the game.

The home tactic was mostly used at home in games where i thought i could dominate and outplay my opponent, but also in away games where i was a big favourite. Overall the home tactic also worked satisfying, producing a fair amout of goals and good football but i wanted to improve it in some areas.

One drawback was that even that it was a attacking tactic it sometimes had hard breaking down teams that absolutly didnt want to play football and put all their players in the box defending the one point they had at the start of hte game. The tactic still worked good but sometimes a big underdog could get away from a game i had dominated totaly with a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 victory. But that happens in real football to.

After some season’s of testing i found that i was tweaking the home and away tactic from game to game depending on how strong i had calculated the opposition to be. That was when i got the idea to make a tactic set with versions of the home and away tactic that i just could load before the game and easy change in the game depending on how the game developed.

I decided that i needed to make a more attacking home tactic to really put pressure on teams that was ultra defensive against me, I also thought that i needed to make a more attacking version of the away tactic to give it more firepower when needed. So i came up with the following tactics for home and away, and these later became the 4-3-3 tactics set.

Home Tactics

1.4-3-3 Ultra Attacking (H)
2.4-3-3 Attacking (H)
3.4-3-3 Normal (H)
4.4-3-3 Defensive (H)

Away Tactics

5.4-3-3 Attacking (A)
6.4-3-3 Normal (A)
7.4-3-3 Defensive (A)

I also made two tactic’s that i could switch to during the last 10-15 minutes of the game if i needed to defend a lead in an important game or go for a late goal to draw or win a game.

8. 4-3-3 Defend points
9. 4-3-3 Get a goal


The 4-3-3 Formation

I will here describe the main idea and the different positions in the formation and what the role of the player is. This way one can get an understanding of what player that is best for each position in the formation. And what playes that will be needed in the squad.

First of all the reason why i choose to use the 4-3-3 formation is because it offers alot of flexibility by just changing the role of the wingers. If the wingers is more defensive minded then the formation will look more like a 4-5-1 formation that is very good for counter attacking. Since the midfield is crowded by five players it is a big chance that the team win the midfield battle. And as soon the ball is won the wingers sprint forward on the flanks to try and launch a counter attack. Bur on the other hand if you have offensive wingers you get a attacking 4-3-3 formation. The benfit from this is that the three forwards players can draw the opposition defence appart and make space for other players..

GK – The goalkeeper should act like a sweeper that get of the line to pick up or clear the long ball played over the defence.

DC – The central defenders in the tactics should do nothing more then defending and link the ball to the midfielders when the goalkeeper let the defender collect it.

FB – The fullbacks main responsibility is defend and to close the flanks for the opposition. In some of the more attacking tactics the fullback get the option to join the attack. This is a big difference from the first tactics that i created, there they only concentrated on defending in both the home and away tactic. With this change to some of the tactics the team get more attacking options and could more easy break down deep defending teams.

DMC – The role of the defensive midfielder is to break down the attacks before they reach the defensive line. The defensive midfielder is also responsible to link the ball from the defence to the more attacking central midfielders, or to pick a long range pass out to one of the wingers. In some of the more attacking tactics the defensive midfilder is deployed as a MCd and forming a flat three man central midfield to give more attacking options.

MC – The central midfilders is the engine room of the tactic, these players should help in both attack and defence. They should get the ball from the defenders or the defensive midfielder and start the attack either through the middle or down the flanks.

Wingers – The wingers should mainly concentrate on attacking. They should take on the defender try to get past him and deliver a ball to the striker. In some tactic’s the wingers get a more defensive role when one need to close the opposition flanks.

Striker – This player should only concentrate on two things, and that is to score goals and get the ball from the midfield and try to set a winger clear if it is possible.
Sice i have developed a set of different tactics using the 4-3-3 formation some changes to the different positions and how the player should act is made between them. I will go through the roles more in detail when i present each of the tactics using the 4-3-3 formation.

The 4-3-3 tactic’s set

Here i will present the different tactics that belong to the 4-3-3 tactic set. I won’t go into all the specific settings on the sliders for the players since you will see them if you download and try the tactic. What i will do is to give a picture on how the team should act and what is expected of the players.


1. 4-3-3 Ultra Attacking (H)

First out is the most attacking tactic in the set the 4-3-3 Ultra Attacking (H) after the special 4-3-3 Get a goal tactic. This tactic is a home tactis that is ment to be used when the team is expected to encounter a very weak opponent that will defend deep and isnt intrested of attacking.

If we start from the back, the players is positioned in a flat back four with forward arrows on the fullbacks. This way they will play a bit higher up the pitch when attacking and support the atttack to help with breaking down the very weak team. The fullbacks in this tactic are encuraged to play as overlaping fullbacks so they will try to make forward rund and run with the ball. I found that this is a important change to the original two tactics that i had made, this way eight players will be able to join the attack and break down the opposition that have put all the players in the box.

The midfield consists of a three man flat midfield (the defensive midfielder moved to a MC position). The midfielder in the center is the defensive midfielder and have a back arrow to the DMC position. This way he will drop back when he needs to defend and he will engage the opposition attack before they get to the defence. By playing three man in the center the other two midfilders will be forced to play closer to the flanks. The benefit by having them closer to the flank will show both when attacking and defending. When attacking they will support the winger and full backs since he is much closer to them when the attack is built up on that flank. In terms of defence he will help the winger and fullback close the flank when the opposition attack on that flank.

The wingers is moved from the AMR to the FR positon and from the AML to the FL position. In this formation they shouldnt be thinking much in terms of defence. When playing them in a FL and FR position they will have more chance to draw the defence appart and creat space for the striker and the midfielders to drop into.

The striker in this formation should concentrate on attacking and scoring goals.

Notes on 4-3-3 Ultra Attacking (H)

Apart from other very attacking tactis that i have created this attacking tactic use a quick and direct/mixed style of play. Normaly i use a short/slow style of play when building a tactic that should dominate teams. But during my testing i found that a quick and direct/mixed style of play works very well. Using a quicker tempo have the advantage that you strike your opponent quick before they get organized. I have seen that when playing a slow tempo you do the opponents a favour by letting them get time to put many players behind the ball and organize the defence. The draw back using a quick and direct/mixed passing style is that you wont have as much possesssion as if you where using a short and slow style.

This tactic uses a play maker as all the other “home” tactics in the set, and focus play is set to mixed.

This is a very attacking tactic and shouldnt be used against teams that have some quality, since most players in this tactic will concentrate on attacking the team could easy be caught out of position if the opposition have fast wingers and fast strikers. I would also think twice about using this formation against a team that plays with a shadow striker (FC or AMC), when playing against such a team the shadow striker can drop into the space that is created between the midfield and the defensive line.

I mainly use this formation when playing a team of much lesser quality for example in a domestic cup or against the worst teams in the league. I do very rarely start with this formation, but i can cange to it during a game if the opponent get one player sent off for example.


2. 4-3-3 Attacking (H)

The 4-3-3 Attacking (H) is much like the Ultra Attacking in many ways. But this formation is used to handle teams that defend deep but also have the quality to go up attacking.

What i have done mainly is to reduced the mentality of the whole team, the will to attack on the fullbacks is also lowerd. The forward arrow on the fullbacks is also removed so they dont go as high up the pitch as in the Ultra attacking one. This way they get less chance to get caught out of position if the opponent go for a quick attack. I have also given the FL and FR back arrows so they track back a bit when the team dont have the ball. This way they can close down and eliminate the threat of the opposition fullbacks better.

Notes on 4-3-3 Attacking (H)

This formation is also much like the ultra attacking one, but changes have been made to make it a bit more defensive. This formation i only start with against teams in the that is of very poor quality where im a huge favourite to win.

3. 4-3-3 Normal (H)

Hence the name “normal” this is still considerd to be more of a attacking formation, but more focus is put on the defence then in the above two. The 4-3-3 Normal (H) move the FL and FR back to AML and AML positions in this tactic to give better defence on the flanks. The mentality is tuned down even furter to give it more balance in terms of attack and defence. The fullbacks will very rarely join the attack, and the wingers will shut the opposition fullbacks out of the game even more. This is the tactic i will use mostly when im a comfortable favourite in the game.

4. 4-3-3 Defensive (H)

Hence the name “defensive” this is still a attacking formation, but more actions have been made to make it more solid at the back. Here the defensive midfielder is moved from a MC position back to the DMC position to reduce space between the midfield and defence for the oppostion to exploit This is the formation i will use if think that i can outplay my opponent but still need to be careful with their attackt. This tactic i use when it’s a even game or im a close favourite but i still think that i have enought quality to dictate the play.

5. 4-3-3 Attacking (A)

The 4-3-3 Attacking (A) formation have the players positioned the same way as the 4-3-3 Attacking (H) formation. But the big difference is that this formation have a defensive mentality, deep defensive line and use counter attack and not a play maker as all the home formations do. This formation isnt used by me so often, but if i have a very strong back four and midfielders i feel i can leave the wingers in forward positions to be more dangerous when i switch to counter attack. This tactic (as all the away ones) uses counter attack and focus play down the flanks. I have found out that focus play down the flanks works good as a defensive option, since it wont be as dangerous to the team if they loose the ball on the flank as in the middle.

I have seen that others uses high time wasting in defensive formations, but i have never done that. Reason why is that i dont want to waste time when i play counter attack, i want to take every chance to attack fast while the opponents isnt oganized, even that it means that im takning a goal kick faster or taking a throw faster. I only switch to time wasting when im defending a lead late in the game.

I dont use this formation as much as the other “away” formations, but i have found that this one also has it uses from time to time, thats why i added it to this set.

6. 4-3-3 Normal (A)

This formation has the same positioning as the 4-3-3 Normal (H). But the AMR/AML is given back arrows to the ML and MR positon to provide a better cover of the flanks. Apart from that the mentality is also tuned to be a bit more defensive then the 4-3-3 Attacking (A)

This formation i use very often in away games where im a slight underdog or even to win.

7. 4-3-3 Defensive (A)

This is the most defensive formation of all the “normal” ones in the set, dont counting “4-3-3 Defend point”. This formation moves the defensive MC to the DMC position to give better cover infront of the back four. The wingers still play in AML and AMR positions but have back arrows to the ML and MR positon to cover the flanks. Here the mentality is further tweaked so it is more defensive then the 4-3-3 Normal (A). I use this formation when im a big underdog to loose a game. I have also found that it provides good cover for formations that use a AMC or a FC that drops deep to get the ball. The DMC will reduce the space infront of the defence.

8. 4-3-3 Get a goal

This is a tactic that i sometimes use very late in the game when i need to get a result. This tactic has a very high tempo, low time wasting and a push up defensive line. I only use this as a last resort in games where i need to get a result.

9. 4-3-3 Defend point

This tactic i switch to during the last 10-15 minutes when i need to defend a lead to not get a draw. This formation is very defensive, using a deep defensive line, and high time wasting. In this tactic the AML and AMR is in the ML and MR position. The full backs have back arrows to deal with the wingers in the opponents tactic.

Note on the tactics in the set

First of all, just because the tactics is called "home" and "away", it dont mean that you should only use the home tactic at home games and the away tactic at away games. I often use one of the more defensive "away" tactics at home games if im a underdog at home and playing against a very strong side that i cant outplay. And i also use the more attacking "home" tactics away if i play against a weaker side that will defend against me at their home pitch.

The “home” tactic’s use a playmaker and all the “away” tactics use counter attack. I have tried using a playmaker in many different positions, but i have found that it works best using the DMC/MCd as a playmaker. The reason why this tend to works best is that this player have more time with the ball than the other midfielders. If you have a DMC in your squad that has a prefferd move as “Dictates Tempo” and have good stats for a playmaker this should be your choice.

I also recomend that one should have two types of fullbacks in the squad, first one need a attacking fullback for the more attacking tactics. Then one also should have a strong full back for the more defensive tactics. I think that it is important to have a squad of different players for one position. Look at Mancester United for example, they have two types of different fullbacks. First they have the attacking fullback (Evra) that mostly is used in games that isnt that physical and where Unided is attacking almost all the time. And in harder games that is though physical and where United need to defend much they could choose the stronger fullback Heinze.

In the tactics i also put a targetman in the list and choose the supply to him depending on his strengths. I put a target man in the list even though i dont have “Use target man” box ticked. I have found that if you have a target man in the list and the supply to him on the head, more balls will be played to him on the head even that the target man box isnt ticked.

I have also found out that using a MC then a AMC is a better option for the MC positions, since the MC players seems to be more balanced between defence and attack. I would only recomend to use a AMC in this positions when using a “home” attacking tactic.


Results

I have used this tactics for three seasons with Sunderland, first season i won the Championship in a convincing way. Second season i was in the top of the Premier League until the last 7-8 games, where a injury crisis and lost form made me slip down to a 6:th place, even that is was expected to fight for relegation. Third season isnt finished yet but im fighting at the top of the league, and my goal is to finish top four. Screenshots from this can be found at the original link that is given at the top of the page.

I have also tried it out for one and a half season with Porto. First season i won the league with Porto, and the result was more then good. Played 30 games in the league, won 24, draw 6 and dint loose a single one. And what else that can be cosiderd as good must be that i only conceded 14 goals in the league. Se screenshot below.

[img=http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/5629/portoleaguewinfl2.th.jpg]

P: 30 W: 24 D: 6 L: 0 For: 59 Ag: 14 G.D +45 Pts: 78


I also won the Portugise Cup, got to Semi-Final in the CL. Lost the semi-final against Chelsea (that won the cup), lost 3-1 away and won 1-0 home, so i wast knocked out with just one goal.


Here is a link to download the tactic:
Zenith's 4-3-3 Tactic set

If you download the tactic and have some questions regarding the tactic, best players to use on what positions etc. Just ask them and i will help as much as i can.

Cheers /Zenith

retired_shella12

Very nice tactic set. But I dont download other people's tactics. I just hope to learn from it.

retired_kellyascott

Great post Zenith!!!

I have been following your earlier thread for quite sometime and was waiting for this since yesterday. I really like the way you explain. I have adopted few things in my tactics which has really worked well especially the back four player instructions. That helped me concede much less than I was earlier. So first of all I wanted to thank you for relieving me the frustration of loosing and making changes in almost every game like so many others with FM07.

I will try to download your tactics later mainly to look at the various player instructions and adopt them in mine. In your earlier post you said that you will include a tactic which will use more than one striker for the special request from Kozma. Is this also included in the download? Actually I also prefer to play more than one striker and am looking for this more than the others tbh.

I just have one question. How do you tweak your tactics to counter bad weather? If I am playing a short passing game at home and I find at the matchday that its raining, my tactics gets screwed up. I know that in rains its better to play a long passing game and thats what I do, but that makes me loose possesion which I want to have, atleast in my home games. Its not a problem of winning but its a problem of how I am winning.

Once again thanks for the gr8 post!!!

bullworker

Brilliant post Zenith. I like to play 4-3-3, but have never been able to perfect mine who i would like.

Tried yours, and so far only played one game using the ultra attacking tactic. Played as Leeds in a friendly against Bordeaux. Went 2 - 0 up in first half, with plenty of possesion and Bordeaux didn't get into it. Second half I didn't change anything , to see how it went. Game followed 1st half, but Bordeaux got 2. Game finished 4 - 2 to Leeds.

Very impressed for first game. Will try other tactics.

retired_peg77

Who are you using as a playmaker?

Playmaker is ticked in the instructions but it doesn't say which position it should be?

Thanks for the tactic BTW

bullworker

Played 5 games and only one once - 3-0, didn't score at all in the others. The 3-0 win was an away game, and didn't score in first half, but in 2nd i change to the ultra attak (H), and i scored 3!!!

I'm using the central midfielder as the playmaker (he's also a defensive midfielder) Derry.

retired_infinite_dreams

This is what i wrote in the original post.

The “home” tactic’s use a playmaker and all the “away” tactics use counter attack. I have tried using a playmaker in many different positions, but i have found that it works best using the DMC/MCd as a playmaker. The reason why this tend to works best is that this player have more time with the ball than the other midfielders. If you have a DMC in your squad that has a prefferd move as “Dictates Tempo” and have good stats for a playmaker this should be your choice.

But perhaps it wasnt so clear, so ill try and explain it further.

Any player that plays in the midfield could be a playmaker. But i have found that the defensive midfielder, the central one with a back arrow (and the DMC in the 4-3-3 Defensive (H) tactic) works best as a palymaker. Reason for this is that he drops a little deeper then the other two and could collect balls from the defenders and distribute them to the midfielders or out on the flanks. If you have a DMC in your squad with the right attributes for a playmaker and the preferred moves "Dictates tempo" and "Likes to switch ball to other flank" you have a very good playmaker.

So my first choice would be the midfielder that plays in the middle of the three central midfielders (if he have the right stats). I he isnt sutible as a playmaker i would choose one of the other midfielder's as a playmaker (the one that has the best stats for it).

Hope that helped you choosing your plamaker mpb_1988. If you have more questions just ask them.

retired_trw422

Another great post Zenith, nice one!

But what happened to your 2 striker formation?

Mine only seems to be working well at home, not sure why but it's driving me mad?

retired_maluna

Hi Zenith im useing your tactic at the minute with my west ham team even tho it's my first game with your tactic and lost 2-1 i did notice a change in a number of performance coming from my midfeild and stikers, But the question i would like too ask what training do you use with your tactic's as i have created my own and wondering if that would have an effect . on my players. Thanks.



regards mmi

retired_infinite_dreams

Well actually i havent got it to worked as i planed (but im working on it), thats why i didnt include it into the set. The thing is it isnt a 2 striker tactic bur a 3 striker tactic so you could use almost all your great strikers Kozma ;-).

Reason why i dint go for a 2 striker tactic is that it is so many 4-4-2's out there already that seem to work good, and there is no need to invent the weel again. Another reason is that i found it hard to just change my 4-3-3 formation to have 2 strikers. It means that you will have to sacrifice one player in the middle, and as you know the hard working midfield is the engine of my 4-3-3 tactic. By removing the DMC you would stand before a serious defence problem since he is so important for defence in the tactic.

I have an idea of instead removing one of the defenders and play with a 3 man defence and get the extra stiker from that position. But i have just started to test this out, will take a while before i have some results to report and give a tactic that is solid. That tactic could be used at home games where you dominate, but would be very dangerous to use away when team's put pressure on you.

But im closer to release a 4-3-3 that uses 3 strikers (3 FC's). This tactic is also ment to be used at games where you totaly dominate teams. I have removed the wingers and set them as strikers instead and made the fullbacks very attacking so they are responsible to deliver the crosses into the area. In this tactic one should use a tall powerfull striker in the middle that is good in the air, and the other 2 strikers should be fast strikers that can take on his defender and get by him. You could play wingers or techniqual strikers in this positions, players like Robben, Ronaldo, Owen, Messi, Rooney, Martins, Saviola etc. In my testing i have seen that both strikers and wingers preform good in that position, one just need to tweek the creative freedom and some individual instructions depending on if you play a striker or winger in that position.

Only problem i have seen is that the 2 fast forwards isnt doing they defensive job so well, solotion is to put the strikers in the FL and FR position but then one is almost back to the original tactic again. This is some thing that im working on right now beside improving the tactics in the 4-3-3 tactics set.

A question for you Kozma, have you tried to use a striker in the AMR or AML position in the original tactic? I done so when both my first team wingers where out on long term injuries for more then half a season. I then used strikers that had good pace and technique and other winger like stats in the AML and AMR positon when i was playing "easy" games at home. And i found the result very pleasing, the strikers in the winger position made around 10-15 goals each and had double figures for assits also. The key behind this was the diagonal arrow from the winger positon up to the FC position next to the lone striker. This way they run in to the box, and if the cross/pass from the other flank or midfield missed the lone striker, they where in position to pick up the ball and slot it home.

So if i want to rest my first team winger and give my 2:nd or 3:rd striker some play time, without putting my first striker on the bench i put them in the winger position (AMR or AML) and adjust the instructions slightly to suit the striker more. This seem to work very well for me but it depends on your squad, if you have slow strong strikers they are unlikely to perform well in the winger positon, but if you have fast techniqual strikers they are almost as good as a winger. They wont produce as many assits but will score more goals instead. You could try to play one striker at either the AMR or AML positon and a winger on the other positon.

What you do then to maximize the threat of the striker is to put the winger on crossing to the far post so the cross go to the striker playing in the wing position and not the lone forward, the fullback crossing on the same side as the winger should also be set to cross to the far post. And on the side where you play your striker you set the striker and fullback to cross to the near post or the target man (lone striker).

This way one could have the best of both worlds, playing with a striker on one side and a winger on the other. The teams style of play wont be so static also, because the winger will play as a winger when attacking on that flank and the striker (in the winger positon) will go for goal more often when attacking on that flank. You should adjust the run with ball to "rare" or mixed for the striker in the wing positon and set forward runs to often or keep it at mixed. One could also lower the creative freedom on the striker in the wing positon and give the winger on the other side a bit more.

This is how i play at home for some games against very weak teams, i wouldnt encurage to use this style away since a striker almost always have worse stats for defending and then the winger and the opponents can exploit that flank if you encounter a attacking side away from home.