andre_costa

My scouts at Milan say that he is a definite purchase :eek: (Too bad we can only sign 1 non-EU player each season )

jorisvanhulst

Let's get back on topic, this is not the good player forum

I've been playing some matches with the sweeper. One of the things I noticed is that the sweeper doesn't really seem to behind my DC's, he's standing between theam really. I just put my DC's on tight marking and high closing down. My sweeper is on really low mentality, low closing down and no tight markin.

It's really a shame that the man marking thing hasn't been resolved. Would be great to have your DC's man mark and your sweeper mark zonal..

martin jol

do a good job imo, otherwise we would have dirty streets

jorisvanhulst

Real bad joke..

Anyway: did any notice how you can have your sweeper have a barrow? I'm going to try this, because I don't like how my sweeper is right between my defenders, instead of behind them.

Let's hope he's not going to handle the ball every single time, 'cause the arrows aiming at my GK

martin jol

if you do that i think maybe you will have to barrow your cbs as otherwise there may be a gap in the box for the opposition to exploit. they will never be offside?

jorisvanhulst

Yeah they sometimes try to pass trough balls, but that's where my sweeper comes in and.. sweeps. He's really fast, 18 pace/acceleration, so those long balls aren't really effective.

Just noticed a funny bug: when you put a barrow on any of your players towards the GK position and you ask your assistant to pick the selection, he will put a goalkeeper in the sweeper position
I'll post this in the bug forum.

oescus

I would love to be able to play a sweeper system. The only difficulty that I find is to find at least two bonafide sweepers within the game. It is hard enough when managing Hull City to get any and damn near impossible when I manage either Chester City or Southport.
For what it is worth, here is my sweeper system.

=== ST== ST ===

== LCM=CM=RCM ==

LWB ======== RWB

=== CD == CD ===

====== SW ======

====== GK =======

The sweeper has a first stage farrow. As do the two wing backs and the CM. My team instructions would be of a fairly defensive nature with counter attacking. As you well know sorting out the indivudual player instructions depend 100% upon their abilities. I hope that this is of some little interest to some of you managers out there. Kind regards.

mcf

If you're having problems with your sweeper getting between your centre-backs, try setting your sweeper's closing down HIGHER than your centre-backs - if all three are on zonal marking, this should have your centre-backs pushing slightly ahead of the sweeper in an effort to pick up interceptions. Having a more defensive mentality on your sweeper, compared to your centre-backs, will help, too.

For signings to consider, check out Aaron Galindo, a Mexican SW/DC who starts out as solid and ends up spectacular. Of course, there is always AVB who makes a perfect sweeper

Alexei Eremenko

The main problem that I always have is covering the full distance of the pitch using only four at the back. Using two center backs and a defensive midfielder gets you destroyed down the flanks, even with wingbacks or middies tracking back, and using two full backs and a center back leaves gargantuan channels for the strikers.

My other issues include finding a sweeper with good enough stats. I typically think a sweeper should be able to do a bit of everything, passing, tackling, positioning, anticipation, basically everything a center back should have plus defensive playmaker skills. I also try to get decent enough physical stats, and all these expectations combined make it difficult to find the right player.

Also, getting newgens that can play sweeper is rare, especially with the high expectations I have.

And finally, the player setting are also troublesome. The sweeper is usually a crucial attacking player. But if his mentality is relatively high he practically piggy-backs the center backs. I also struggle with creative freedom because I don't want to give him too much, yet he needs enough to function at 100%. This is also applicable with his passing.

mcf

Try side arrows on your centre-backs, it really does make a difference. If you're still having problems with exposed flanks, play your DMC as a centre-back with a forward arrow - the flat back 3 will take shape on opposition attacking moves. This is what I was talking about in my first post on the subject of a sweeper based defense - CAN be exposed by a quick opposition attack. If this is happening, you might also want to consider setting your centre-backs to man-mark your opponent's dangerman - your DMC and sweeper should provide sufficient cover through the centre of the park to make this work.

I usually don't have problems with easily exploitable channels, although against decent teams my sweepers invariably have the highest tackle count and tend to leave most of the attacking play to the DMC.