retired_truebamichael

I've spent a long time tinkering with tactics and after about 10 years of playing CM/FM I think I may have cracked it, so I thought I'd share it with you.

The formation is as follows:

GK

RB CB CB LB

DM DM

CM

<--AM AM-->

ST

The full backs also have forward arrows.

An alternative is to play the 3 midfielders (2xDM and 1xCM) in the middle of the park together but with the 2 DM's having back arrows.

The whole principle is to have the 2 defensive midfielders protecting the back four, and their mentality is set to Ultra Defensive. They don't make forward runs, and their closing down is set to high.

The central midfielder is the playmaker - everything goes through him and he has licence to get forward as much as possible as the 2 DM's cover for him.

Also, because of the 2 DM's, the FB's are able to get forward and they usually help out the attack well, chipping with quite a few goals and assists.

The 2 AM's close down the defenders and support the ST, who is purely there to run at defenders and score, no other work required so he can conserve energy.

The style is set to short passing, with an offside trap and a high defensive line, and attacking down the middle is favoured over the flanks.

Now for the results.....

I took over ABC FC in the Brazilian 3rd Division and my first competition was the State Championship.

I had an idea about what attributes I wanted for each position, so I brought a RB with pace, tackling, crossing and passing - I already had a LB with these stats. I also brought in a CB with heading, marking, tackling and passing - I already had one with these attributes and pace.

I brought in 2 DM's with tackling, workrate and stamina - 1 of them also had heading and passing, whereas the other had creativity and pace.

I used an existing CM with passing and long shots, and he has good creativity too.

I bought 2 AM's with off the ball, creativity, flair, pace, finishing and passing (or as many as those as possible), then brought in a ST with finishing and pace (both 16 or above). If your striker has heading then even better.

The State Championship for ABC FC (Potiguar State) is a 13 game group stage where the top 8 of the 14 teams qualify for the quarter finals.

I won't go through all the results, but I won 9 and drew 4 of the 13 league games, including a 1-0 win over America(RN) who are a 1st Division side. I scored plenty of goals, 30 in total, and only conceded 5, although the top scorer only had 4. Everyone in the team was chipping in, including one 94th minute equaliser from a sub who I hadn't really rated (and that was when we were down to 9 men).

The quarter final was a one-off game against a team I had already beaten 3-0, but it took a last minute equaliser from the same super-sub to salvage a 1-1 draw - we then won on penalties.

The semi-final was against America(RN) - the first leg was away. I played the 2 DM's just in front of the defence as opposed to in the heart of the midfield in order to play for a draw, but managed to nick it 1-0 and actually dominated the game. The 2nd leg at home was different, and I think this is because I forgot to man-mark their dangerman as I did in the 1st leg. America took a 2-0 lead but we got them back to 2-1 and it went to extra time (no away goal rule). No goals in extra time so another penalty shoot-out, which we lost.

So, no great shakes, but the style of play was impressive to watch and we dominated virtually every game we played which is what makes me think this tactic is a cut above what I've done before.

On to the Brazilian 3rd Division - my first 3 games have been a 3-0 win away to the best team in the group, Treze (I know they're the best team due to a previous game in Brazil when I was sacked), and a 4-1 win at home against some nobodies. Then a 2-2 draw away when we dominated.

I'm off to play some more now, but would be interested in people's comments - if you need more info to understand the tactic then please let me know. Also, I do think that having the right players is important to this - it's how the players fit in to the tactic that matters more than the tactic itself I'd say.

Happy playing
Andy