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A tactic born from my first campaign as a Lower league Manager, I haven't had much time to play since so I thought I'd drop it here, see where it goes. I've played 4 seasons with Vauxhall Motors, got them promoted in the 2nd season and am on the verge of promotion in the 4th. I haven't been able to test it out with clubs in the higher divisions so I'm not sure of it's versatility as yet. I'm optimistic though.
Anyway the tactic.
Formation
The formation is 4-4-2. It's simple yet versatile. It's got a good balance of defenders, midfielders and strikers so replacing players shouldn't be too difficult.
Team Instructions
I believe in taking the initiative so mentality is attacking. CF is kept low so team keeps close to the team instructions regardless of whether player has high creativity attributes. An exception are the attacking players. Width is relative. 8 looks to be the sweet spot but depending on circumstances, I may change it to 7 or up to 11 depending on how the opposing team is attacking. I don't like sitting back so Closing Down is high, generally. Defensive Line is relative again. I don't play offside so it's pretty low. Sometimes pushing up just a little (8-9) can make a difference and disrupt the opposing team's offense. Tackling is normal but this only applys to the defenders. The midfielders and strikers are high but if the ref is strict, I switch them all to normal. Focus passing is mixed. The way the team plays, although the wingers play an important role, the middlemen are capable of setting up the attack as well. Only if there's reason (eg. opposing team has narrow formation, missing a player, slow players, etc.) then I'll focus passing to the wings. The only time I've gone for through the middle is when I'm down a player and lacking the width. rarely though. Man Marking seems to be working so I'm not changing it. TM Supply is to feet although if the Target man is very quick (17+ acceleration) or the pitch is wet, then I'll try the run onto ball. Tight Marking, especially for defenders seems to be working alright too so I'm not changing it.
Mentality: 13
Creative Freedom: 4
Passing Style: 12
Width: 8
Closing Down: 15
Time Wasting: 5
Defensive Line: 7
Tackling: Normal
Focus Passing: Mixed
Marking: Man Marking
Target Man Supply: To Feet
Tight Marking: Yes
Use Target Man: Yes
GK Instructions
Defensive Mentality and low CF for obvious reasons. Closing down is 6 as I want the keeper to commit if there's a chance. Em, Cross Balls mixed so the keeper is more inclined to cross to the flanks than pass to the middle. Playing safe. Cross From deep so the keeper doesn't come out too far. Cross Aim is TM although ~50% of crosses are to wingers. Distribution is Long Kick, again, just to play safe.
Mentality: 2
Creative Freedom: 1
Passing Style: 18
Closing Down: 6
Tackling: Easy
Forward Runs: Rarely
Run With Ball: Rarely
Long Shots: Rarely
Through Balls: Rarely
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Deep
Cross Aim: Target Man
Distribution: Long Kick
Distribute To: (usually to the striker with the best header rating)
DR/L Instructions
Mentality is 6 to encourage attacking mentality when required while remaining defensive for rest of match. RWB mixed as they tend to build up play fairly well and I want them to be involved somewhat in the attacking play. Cross Ball is mixed to encourage crossing if required. Cross Aim is mixed as they're pretty effective in cross field crosses. When faced with aggressive wingers, I reduce FR to 3 and toggle RWB to rarely. This results in the defender being more defensive orientated and ensuring the flanks are protected.
Mentality: 6
Forward Runs: Rarely
Run With Ball: Mixed
Long Shots: Rarely
Through Balls: Rarely
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Deep
Cross Aim: Mixed
DC Instructions
The DC generally sits back and concentrates on defending. Direct Passing encouraged to prevent short passes from being intercepted and putting the defense under pressure. Also effective as a means of initiating a quick counter-attack. The opposing strikers are tightly man marked by the DC and this usually works out effectively well.
Mentality: 6
Passing Style: 13
Closing Down: 4
Forward Runs: Rarely
Run With Ball: Rarely
Long Shots: Rarely
Through Balls: Rarely
Cross Ball: Rarely
Cross From: Deep
Cross Aim: Centre
Marking: (man mark the strikers if possible)
Tight Marking: Yes
MR/ML Instructions:
Nothing notable to mention. I want these players to attack constantly and be aggressive in defending when required. RWB Often and Cross From Byline selected as I want these players to push forward as far as possible rather than make the strikers do all the running. The long farrow corresponds with that. Cross Aim of centre is a safe choice. If they're not effective or I want to strengthen the team defensively, the farrow comes down one notch and Cross From is changed to Mixed.
Mentality: 15
Passing Style: 13
Tackling: Hard
Forward Runs: Often
Run With Ball: Often
Long Shots: Mixed
Through Balls: Mixed
Cross Ball: Often
Cross From: Byline
Cross Aim: Centre
MC Instructions:
I tend to under-rate the value these players have in the game. Mentality is lower as I want them to concentrate on keeping the middle secure. Passing Style is different just so theres more options. In a way, these guys specialise in through balls whereas the side midfielders specialize in crossing. From time to time, long shots from them go in so its good to keep it at mixed.
Mentality: 10
Passing Style: MCR=8, MCL=9
Tackling: Hard
Closing Down: 15
Forward Runs: Mixed
Run With Ball: Mixed
Long Shots: Mixed
Through Balls: Often
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Deep
Cross Aim: Centre
ST Instructions
The Left Striker is the target man. I usually favour a pacey TM as this gives me more options attacking wise. Passing is short for the TM as I want him to attack the goal rather than pass. Vice versa for the Left Striker. Similiar instructions to MR/L except less emphasis on crossing. Zonal Marking is prefered as I don't want the strikers chasing after and wasting energy.
Mentality: 15
Passing Style: STR=11, STL=6
Closing Down: STR=15, STL=14
Forward Runs: Often
Run With Ball: Often
Long Shots: Mixed
Through Balls: Mixed
Cross Ball: Mixed
Cross From: Byline
Cross Aim: Centre
Marking: Zonal
Tight Marking: No
Tweaking Tactics
To play more defensively: (1)bring down the mentality of the DR/L to 4 or 5 and change RWB to rarely; (2)bring down mentality of DC to 3 or 4; (3)reduce farrow of MR/L to one notch and change cross from to mixed; (4)change team mentality to 9 or ultra defensive if you're desperately holding on; (5)change time wasting to 14 if you need to. alternatively, sub the right striker for a defender and have him as the third DC with the TM playing lone striker.
To play more offensively: try (3) above to see if that provides more opportunities; switch team mentality to all out attack; cut out time wasting; sub wisely.
For the set pieces, I've set it all individually although I think it still needs a bit of work. Generally, for corners, near post flick ons are quite effective. free kicks are still left to the mercy of the taker and short throw ins are preferred.
Oh, in case I forgot to mention, for some reason (maybe because I have a fast striker), I tend to do well in wet conditions.
Anyway, got questions, ask away. I welcome any feedback. Try it out with the big teams, see how it goes.
04-08-2007, 05:04 PM
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > Post #2
looks like a good solid tactic mate, the only problem i can see is the mentality gap between defence and midfield.
also with FWD runs often on the strikers, do you see them get caught offside a lot?
also i don't think tight marking or man marking would work well in the prem as the top quality teams will pull all your defenders out of position turn them and rip you apart
04-08-2007, 05:08 PM
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > Post #3
the only problem i can see is the mentality gap between defense and midfield.
I used to have the DR/L mentality on team (13) but I got tired of changing it back to 6 in order to be more defensive so I just left it as that. I don't think the gap's that big. 6 -> 10 -> 15 looks even. I prefer to have the defense line moving with cohesion thats why they're all the same. The furthest they tend to go is the halfway line and that's fine as they can pick up any back passes and are on hand to quell any counter attacks. I don't want them charging up the field and leave gaps behind which come to think of it isn't worth the risk. I've already got 6 players in attack. If that's not enough, that's not good enough. The closing down is quite high for the midfielders so that contributes to the defense.
The 2 DC concentrates on the strikers and generally sit in front of the keeper because of their low closing down, the DR and DL concentrates on preventing crosses while the midfielders pressures the other players in possession. Closing Down is team for almost all the players to prevent overlapping of responsibilities.
Quote:
with FWD runs often on the strikers, do you see them get caught offside a lot?
Yes, that happens. I'm not keen in being more conservative in attack as it would go against my philosophy. I like strikers being aggressive. From time to time it pays off so I'm comfortable in accepting a few offsides.
Quote:
i don't think tight marking or man marking would work well in the prem as the top quality teams will pull all your defenders out of position turn them and rip you apart
Indeed. I haven't had much opportunity to try this tactic in the Premiership but I recently played two games against Chelsea with Liverpool and I lost 1-2 and won 4-0. One thing though, playing against 3 strikers or 1 striker and 2 AM seem to require a bit of work so there's a possible weakness. I haven't had much chance to experiment with Zonal Marking so I don't know of its effectiveness.
Really, that's what I'm looking for - If it will be successful in the Premiership as it was for me in the Conference.
04-09-2007, 02:50 PM
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > Post #5
Originally posted by Frag:
Do the wingers and centre mid's chip in with goals?? Or is it mainly the front 2 in this tactic?
Frag
I'd say roughly around 1/4 of my goals come from the midfield. Wingers sometimes score goals from solo runs, other times, they come into the box and score from crosses. Either through headers or finishing off loose balls. The centre midfielders get a couple through longs shots and generally finish off poor clearances or rebounds. Most of my goals come from the strikers though. I usually have the fast striker as TM and the other striker is more of a distributer. They complement each other well so I'd say although the TM gets most of the attention, the other striker is more than capable of picking up any slack.
04-15-2007, 08:28 PM
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > Post #8
I'm using this tactic with fenerbahce. So far so good.17 games, 15 wins, 2 draws.37 goals scored and just 4 conceded. Qualified from 1st place in champions league group. That's about it for now. If you want screen shots tell me. I am too lazy to do this at this time. Cheers.
04-16-2007, 04:45 PM
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > Post #10
< Victory or Death Tactic by a former LLM > 
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