retired_tazcrouch

Ok i was inspired by Cleons thread and thought i would give it a go and try and devise a sweeper system. Now i was thinking i did not want five at the back so that rules out playing a back four with a sweeper behind. So i decided on three at the back (2 cb's plus sweeper, the cbs have side arrows) My concern then was that things looked very narrow but like i said i do not want four at the back as such so i have gone with wing backs with very attacking mentality and forward arrows up to midfield position (possibly upto attacking midfield position, yet to decide on this one)

In midfield ive decided to go for one defensive midfielder playing in centre midfield position with a back arrow (very defensive mentality) and two centre midfielders either side of him with forward arrows (very attacking mentality)

I have then decided upon two up front one of which being a target man.

Normally i like to play wingers but by playing wingers things looked a little light weight in midfield so decided against that and have compensated by using very attacking wing backs.

My team instructions are attacking, deep defensive line, short passing, my width set to first point it says wide, i use a target man. I have also set my defense to zonal marking.

My next task is that i need to try and make the sweeper play as i want, i remember the likes of Sammer, Mattheus and Beckenbaur dominating things by sweeping up at the back and also being the focal point often of attacks coming forward with the ball often. I want my sweeper to play like that.

This is hard, ive tried setting my sweeper as a play maker, ive set his passing to long (want him to be spraying the ball around, perfect maybe for counter attacking quickly though i am reluctant to use counter attack in the team instructions as i do not want to invite too much pressure on to my defense). I have set the sweeper instruction as more defensive than my centre backs, also on high closing down. but also with mixed forward runs and mixed run with ball (remember he is also set as playmaker)

The next task is to find a player capable of doing this, not easy as there are not too many class sweepers around (Garay, Cabral spring to mind). So maybe a good option wouold be to retrain a centre back as a sweeper (currently doing this with vanden Borre and Micah Richards) but the more i thought about it the more the concept of re-training a defensive midfielder (eg Denilson) as a sweeper seems like a good idea.

Thats as far as i have got. Have yet to try all the above out but would like your help and advice on this.

As they say, your input would be appreciated.

barefootboo

SCREAMING IN THE TITLE DOESN'T HELP!!!!!!

Retraining players might be the only option, I would recommend a DM or actually a DL/R instead of a DC since they usually have more of the sweeper atributes.

I would advice against having the sweeper as the playmaker since this will make your team play backwards passes alot and also make you vulnerable if your sweeper comes under pressure. Putting him on TTB is a more viable option imo.

I would advice against using sarrows on your DCs since this will often reduce you to two defenders and no wing coverage on the opposite wing.

Good Luck!

retired_tazcrouch

TTB is try through balls right? LOL

retired_tazcrouch

Reason i hadnt set try through ball often is that i wanted the sweeper to spread the play as well as try through balls. Reason i had put side arrows on my cb's is to cover the wing backs when they are attacking. Thanks for the advice though. Will try that out.

retired_afaist

I utilize the same defensive setup as you, although I do play with counter attacks on. Admitted, I have some fairly good defenders and a very good team overall, but still the only team conceding less goals than me in the 3rd season was Chelsea. I won the treble (yay) with a little luck so it all worked out rather well.

What I do is man mark the oppositions' forwards with my dc's. If the opposition only play with one forward I mark him with one of my dc's while the other is set to zonal. Should the opposition decide to use an AMC, my dmc will mark him. My WB's will also be marking the oppositions wb's or (a)mr/(a)ml's. Seems to work. I'm still tweaking my tactic, but I will put it up in a few days I guess. Take a look if you want to.

Regarding mentality, I've tried implementing the approach mentioned by Chriseldiablo based on reversing the mentalities for your players (attacking defs, defensive attackers etc.).

retired_tazcrouch

Very interesting indeed. did you set your sweeper as playmaker? how did you make him play like sammer, mattheus etc?

retired_afaist

Sorry I didn't. I focused more on him being a reliable defender. He does score a few goals now and then, but I'm not currently utilizing a playmaker - sorry for any confusion created.

retired_chadwella

I have the same set up though i have my Sweeper largely defensive. in front of him is a DM and a MC so he doesn't need to go forward and start attacks.

I play very wide and attacking with MR/ML and FR/FL so the play isn't through the middle all the time.

As long as you have a decent DMC and MC with quick wide men you can start counter attacks fairly quickly, a lot like the current Man U set-up.

retired_cath90210

I tried to do this for about 6 game months. I retrained a tall playmaker (for headers) with some defensive abilities into a sweeper. I got him spraying balls about, but they were mostly just punts upfield that were swept up comfortably by the opposition defence or keeper if they were too long.

You might be able to do it with better players (I am in the conference) but i dont think its possible to get a really effective matthaus type sweeper in FM. You can certainly get a decent defensive sweeper, but its often a bit of a waste of a player to be honest.

retired_pennyyoung

try setting a dmc with a barrow to the sweeper. without the ball it looks like you have a SW!!! its the closest ive gotten to a sammer role.