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After having great success in FM06 with my sexy football tactic i tried in vain in FM07 to create anything remotely as effective, and to be honest i just couldn't get into FM07. With FM08 i've managed to create a few ok tactics, ones in which if you have good players you'll succeed but if you dont you wont. I've downloaded a few to gain ideas, but haven't managed to find any that was either A) better than my own or B) Played the style of football i was looking for.
However after a night of restless sleep trying to think how i could create an effective 4-4-2, that plays like a nice brand of football, and one that will give promising results i got myself out of bed and started to create the staggering 4-4-2.
I've tried creating other 4-4-2 tactics with different mentalities for my centre mids and strkers, but nothing that i could shout home about. This time though i wasn't just going to give them split mentalities i was going to have them staggered, my idea behing this was they would be much harder to mark and would create space between the opposition, and low and behold it worked.
My first season playing as Oldham Athletic in League 1 the tactic started off pretty well but was a little to conservative, was excellent defensively but attacking wasn't to great after about half the season i altered the tactic to give the wingers long farrows and increasing the tempo. The results where excellent and started to play the football i was after it was excellent at home with a superb defensive record and away it got me 11 wins and a few draws but not quite as good defensively as it was at home. I won promotion my first season finishing 3rd and winning the play offs. So far half way through my season in the championship i'm sitting in 3rd a couple points of top not bad for a team that was expected to finish 21st, and one with a team that has had no really excellent signing as such.
Ok the left striker needs to be pacy with good composure and finishing should get quite a few one on ones, the deeper striker could be either an AMC or a striker put an AMC/FC would probably be better, good passing and creativity needed, aswell as finishing and composure.
The centre mids well ones a DMC, the other i tend to use an AMC who is comfortable playing as an MC, however if i'm winning and in the 2nd half i will usually substitute him for another DMC to sure things up a bit. Both midfielders are box to box midfielders though so need a fair amount of stamina.
Full Backs get forward often so need good crossing, stamina and aswell as good defensive attributes.
The only time i make alteration to the tactic is when the AI goes 4-2-4 i then take off RWB and FR off my full backs and get them to specifically man mark the FR/FL i also man mark their strikes with my DC's i lower team mentality to defensive, i lower tempo to slow and passing to short, i go to a narrow width first noth of normal and tick counter attack.
Before the game i always use opposition instruction, because my defenders arn't very quick any one with pace 13 or under i tight mark always and close down never, any one with pace above 13 i tight mark never and close down always. I close down always and AMC's/MC's, and close down their wingers aswell as show on to weaker foot.
The tactic plays some breathtaking football on occasions, and is set up so when the AI attacks my men get behind the ball aswell as having in effect 2 DMC's, when it attacks you often get passages of play with nice one touch football and passing triangles which will often give you a one on one opportunity.
I'm not proclaiming this tactic to be the best tactic created for FM. but it is one that plays that type of football i've been after for ages and one i've yet to find in any of my own hundreds of tactics that i've tried previously or any that i've downloaded. I've not tried this with a top club but i would imagine if it plays a nice brand of football in the lower leagues with poor players i would imagine it would fly with a club like Arsenal.
P.S the corner routine was taken from another tactic cant remember which though but it was far more effective than any i created kudos goes to the creator of that not me.
The Staggering 4-4-2 
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