tigerhgrrrrrr

"asEZas 442" - an FM08 (8.01) tactic to aid overachievement. This is my tactic, it will help you do better than expected and thats a good starting point.

We know that killer tactics are now practically impossible to create due to the current match engine's nuances (and Horray for that), but I wanted to develop a tactic that would lead to a club overachieving but without too much tactical shuffling, giving the simplicity & fun of 4132 on CM01/02 (for eg) but still requiring some of the tactical tweaking that the FM series added to that brand. This is my baby! (mocking pun intended!)

My first effort for FM08 (pre patch) was my "Sven Ghali 451" designed to imitate Sven's early successes at Man City, and I tested it with Man City. It was very productive, but I won't go into detail about that as it semed to fail when tested with other teams - Elano was the key to it and without that type & quality of player results disapointed. Then I wanted to create a tactic with a flat back 4 and a DMC (I love that position) but eventually the simplicity & flexibility of 442 hooked me, so "asEZas" was born.

At this point I have to acknowledge the following: SAFC8, Jimbokav 1971, wwfan and the excellent "Sheffield Utd project", all of which helped to shape this tactic of mine.

Before I detail the tactic I want to point out that I will not create a downloadable version.I do not believe in the ethics of downloads, you must understand the tactic you use as changes will inevitably sometimes be essential and if you cannot make informed tactical switches this is likely to be just "another useless tactic", and in my opinion you can only make such changes with a basic understanding of the tactic's creation.
Also I probably wont use screenshots to illustrate as I am working from 2 PC's (one without broadband!) and a Mac, and the technicalities of uploading files on these machines has addled my brain, however I believe I can make all necessary points effectively without them.

Set up:
Use the out of the box "normal 442", but long farrow the ML to FL, and MR to FR. Other farrows, barrows & sarrows, or adjustments to the farrows indicated will only be required if circumstances dictate - certainly not from kick off!

Team instructions:
Ment 6
CF 7
Pass style 8
Tempo 8
Width 7
CD 10
TW 0
DL 5
Tack 10
Focus pass through middle
Mark Zonal
Targ Man Supply to feet
Of the tick boxes only tick Counter attack on, all others off.

(*I have not experimented with any set piece except attacking corners so far)
Attacking corners:
Strongest player = challenge keeper
Best heading SC/FC = attack near post
Other SC/FC = stand on far post
2 x next best headers (excluding all the above) = Forward
make sure the remaining quantities of Back/Back when needed/Forward instructions are allocated to the remaining & most appropriate players, the balance of the default instructions should be kept.

Individual player instruction over-rides:
All players should have the following set to "Team" = Ment / CF / Pass style / CD / Tackling.
Also amend the following:
DC: Man mark, loose marking, CF 3, CD 5, tackle easy
MC: Ment 10
Everything else starts as default but tweaked in match as required.

Try to only tweak when the game is running away from you, ie score, possession & pass completion are all against you heavily, otherwise keep faith, make the right substitutions (like for like posuitions) & use team talk at half time wisely.

The following will be noted:
DC's: This set up is for v's 2 SC's, if against 1 then man mark with 1 DC only (selecting him as "always marked" via the Oppo instructions matchday screen). V's 3 SC's zonal mark tight with all of the back 4.
MC's: The 2 central men have similar instructions, I'm not denying this cannot be tweaked better to all instructions but set this way there is some lovely interplay and busting forward runs and the midfield is compact with no strung out problems where the MCa and the MCd get caught too narrow of each other.
SC's: if they are not seeing the ball much, both match rated at 6 or lower then tick "use target man" box. Only specify the TM if atributes dictate an obvious choice other wise leave open for either SC.

Of interest, when the AI opponents go 424 throwing it all in for the last few minutes I have found they have little sucess and this systems picks them off for an additional goal quite often.

One last thing, I use manual pre-match, HT & FT teamtalks using the Ass mans advice for all, however I tweak according to performance (eg if a player with v good morale has a 6 rating at HT no way will I allow an Ass Mans "pleased" comment, then "disppointed" or more harsh would be required).

NB. This tactic has been tested with the following: QPR, Leeds, Man City, Spurs, Bolton & Derby. (though not for multi seasons, only for part seasons or a full season at most).

OK, if you think this was rambling nonsense then I apologies for wasting your time, but if you want to set this up and have a go I would be delighted with any feedback. If it helps one person it was worth the effort. Enjoy!