retired_katiehouse

The 2-6-2-Rule. An Approach To Creating Tactics In FM 08.

To be honest: This is the first time I am writing a post on creating tactics. So please forgive me the length of the post or if it gets kind of complicated... But I want you to understand my thoughts and observations on FM08. Maybe this is just a fixed idea, maybe I am onto something. You decide. I'll be happy to get some feedback on it.


// A short look back

I play FM since CM 03/04, always looking for ideas on tactics and aspects of the game in forums, trying to implement what I think makes sense into my games.

Examples: I used the RoT with great success (FM06+07). I did try RoO in FM07 (for me without much success). And also one of the best and most helpful insights into the game - the observations from Abramovic on the AI tactical behaviour, which I think were outstanding (thank you).

But, as with every generation of the game, SI eliminates the holes that are found. In FM08 I started with huge problems creating a tactic that works well. RoT was too wide. RoO was too offensive or too defensive. AI could not be observed anymore. Heavy closing-down worked well in the first place, but not reliably. I played teams from different leagues and countries. But there was no theory that delivered consistent results.

So I started a game with a mid/lower-table German team (Frankfurt) that in FM lacks quality in several parts of the squad. My goal was to rebuild the squad with young players with good potential and some loans and to build a tactic around them that starts with a tight defense and quick players being able to play successful counters. The first season went quite well using a 4-4-2 and some of the ideas out of this forum. I even reached a position to play internationally the second season.

Then re-ranking came... Season 2 started with one defeat after another. The midfield was uninspired and ineffective, my strikers did not score, my defense had huge gaps, the whole formation was anything but tight, especially against defensive-minded opponents.

I then started to replay some of the defeats tons of times, trying to tweak one detail after another, to find a solid framework before moving on. I tried split mentalities for defense, midfield and attack. But as wwfan already described in „TT&F IV“ I still had gaps in or behind my defense. I tried global mentality with one striker high on attacking, as assumed in the „AI tactical behaviour“. But the the defense regularly went out of position. The sliders and mirroring went up and down - but there was no way, I could produce results for more than 3 games.

That was when I thought about taking a look into actual football tactics and strategy, to get some inspiration or ideas on how to solve this problem. Knowing, that some of them might not be translated into the game. But after a while something happened...


// A look into real life

In football today, the team as a whole has to try to defend, build up play and attack as a whole while being in a constant movement. Attackers have defensive duties, defenders should be able to open up play etc.

A lot of the successful teams use the so called Team Defense. They defend all together to get pressure on the ball at all times and to regain shape quickly, when one of the defending players is beaten. When the ball is won, they work together to bring the ball back into attack as effectively as possible.

The system is mainly based on possession, meaning moving the ball to a player with more space at all times, having at least two options available for the player with the ball (triangular movement).



So the style of play has to be variable and cannot be direct, as long passes to the attackers would have the forwards being outnumbered by the opposing defenders.

=> Passing: mixed or short
=> Mentalities: possibly close together

Team Defense is based on the Pressure-Cover-Balance positioning. The defender closest (1st defender) to the ball has to put Pressure on the ball, to possibly tackle the ball and to disturb the attack in order to prevent the attacker from shooting and/or gaining possession.

The second-closest defender has to provide Cover, to either become the pressure player, if the first one is beaten or to mark off another attacker.

The defender closest to the goal (and all other players) has to provide Balance, meaning additional cover for the other two with an eye to additional attackers, who might try to run at space behind the defense.





This theory does not apply to the defenders only, but to the whole team. A midfielder has to become a pressuring defender, when he realizes that he is closest to the ball. And he needs to run back in order to provide cover for the defender behind in case he might be beaten.

This type of positonal play can not be used by a man-on-man team defense. This requires a good zonal defense.

=> Marking: zonal

The distance between the defensive line and the midfield line/diamond should be kept constant. With pressure on the opponent, the distance can be reduced. When the opponents move close to the penalty area, even the midfielders should move back. But when there is no pressure on the opponent, the defensive line should stand off (stay back) in order to avoid through balls.



So the defending team will offer low resistance, until the attacking team has reached a certain height on the pitch.

=> Closing-down: own half (upfront) to stand off (center-backs)

This system is one of the reasons, more and more teams successfully use a (or even two) defensive midfielders, often in a diamond formation or least behind the offensive midfielder. This position is crucial to make sure the offense is stopped even before the attacker reaches the defensive line. Examples: Makelele, Heargraves, Flamini, Mascherano, Frings etc.

With this tactic and a really good (and fast) team it is even possible to push up the defense far. Because even if an attacker beats the offside trap, the defense still has time to chase the striker before he is able to round the keeper.

=> Formation: diamond (4-1-2-1-2) with farrows on outside players/wingers instead of flat 4-4-2
=> Closing-down high for DMC

Now to the attacking part of this formation. In a flat back 4 with Team Defense, the general idea is to have two central defenders with mainly defensive duties, marking the center and playing out wide to stretch out the other teams attackers. And two fullbacks supporting the attack coming in from their side (as seen in the last pic above)- a set-up that was used in RoT with mentality higher than the DMC, making it possible to overlap.

The midfield is split into the DMC with a defensive role supporting the central defenders and covering the space behind the FBs when they are attacking. But also becoming part of the attack and creating play, when having possession. Together with the more creative MC/AMC who controls the tempo of the game upfront and is able to make dangerous moves behind the two strikers (offensive), while stopping the opponents midfield to easily pass the hole in the formations center (defensive).



=> FBs should primary have an attacking role (when „team defense“ is working...)
=> DMC positions defensively but cannot be on defensive mentality alone.

The two outside/wing players need to dominate the flanks and should play wide. Although some people tend to use them as forwards #3 and #4 sometimes with a higher mentality than one of the strikers, I think this is dangerous as they then open up the wings for the opponents. For me they have to close down the flanks for the opponents wingers and/or fullbacks and provide cover (defensive) for their own fullbacks when overlapping.



And at the same time (or even more so) they are build-up players that have to create scoring opportunities (offensive). In the first place for the strikers, not for themselves. (Different story when playing with 1 respectively 3 strikers, which I haven’t tested yet.)



=> Wingers need high closing-down and low creativity.
=> Wingers mentality must be lower than strikers.

The forwards mainly have attacking duties. Drag defenders out of the defensive line, use spaces. But help disturbing the opponents’ build-up-play if possible.

=> Mentalities both on attacking (if using target man, not on team average mentality!)


// A look at the framework

So where does all that lead to? I call it the „2-6-2 Rule“.

My assumption was, that not only the mentality setting in the instructions has an influence on the players’ play, but also the positioning on the pitch. Examples: Strikers with mentality on normal or defensive still try to shoot on goal. Defenders with mentality on attacking still do not stand in the opponent’s penalty area.

In order to get a tight formation and keep the players together to offer multiple passing options, the 6 central players involved in defense and offense get the same (team) mentality. Only the center-backs are purely defensive. Only the strikers are purely attacking. But both not to the ultimate extent (3 klicks from left, 3 klicks from right) to keep them closer to the rest of the team and let them help in the build-up play.

Mentality settings then look like this:

GK - team (or individual setting defensive to normal)

DC - defensive (3)
DC - defensive (3)

FBR - team
FBL - team
DMC - team
MR - team
ML - team
AMC - team

FR - attacking (17)
FL - attacking (17)

As the team mentality can be influenced via the team instructions slider, the mentalities of the central players of the team can now easily be tweaked according to the style of play, the opponent and the game situation. Even without changing the whole tactics.

For home games and counter attacking I use team mentality of 16, which is 2 klicks into attacking.
For away games attacking I use team mentality of 15, tougher ones 14.
For controlling the game I use mentality from 13 downwards (normal).
For defending a lead, the team mentality goes down to defensive (but only at the end of the game).
(If defending vs. a strong team, sliding down creative freedom, RwB and FwdR is still helpfull.)

With my team this produces a tight defense with no gaps in between. Although the DCs seem to be far away from the midfield when looking at the mentality setting, in the game they have the correct distance to the FBs and the DMC. The midfield comes back to help out the defense when the opponents enter the last third of the pitch, but is also upfront creating chances for the strikers when attacking.

Same with the strikers. Their role is to attack and get goals. So they stay upfront nearly all the times. But using these settings I have observed that they also get back two thirds of the field if needed. And as the AI nearly always leaves 2 to 3 defenders in their own half, you cannot get outnumbered in your own half.


// A look at the settings

For the other settings, I will write down, what is important and/or worked for my team and my favourite style of play. Other settings may be possible, up to further testing. I prefer to give you the idea and the framework instead of a downloadable tac-file that might not suit your players. I also would like to do some more testing.

TEAM INSTRUCTIONS:

Team creative freedom is normal (10-12). I did not have many creative or skilled players at the beginnning and wanted them to stick to my setting.

Team passing style is lowest mixed (7). As described.

Tempo and width are set individually for the different situations and preferred styles of play. I use high for attacking, upper normal for counter, lower normal or low for high possession.

Team closing-down is on own-half (12). As described. I experimented with setting it on often, it did not work! I also tried to mirror the individual closing-down settings with mentality 2-6-2 - a disaster. There need to be more differentiations I suppose.

Time wasting is always on lower mixed and works well for me. A higher setting would need some testing, I just do not like to play with high time-wasting. I also tried setting time wasting to rarely - next disaster. Although being close to each other, the passes often arrived at the opponent's feet...

Defensive line is also depending on the situation, style of play - and the quality of the defense. I use higher normal (plus offside trap) when attacking, medium normal with counter, lower normal when playing tough opponents.

Tackling is normal, passing focus mixed, marking zonal, without tight marking! I tick the target man box and play to feet or mixed (as I do not have a striker outstanding in heading).

At the moment I am using a set of 3 tactics: home, away, counter (also works at home vs. arch rivals...). Making them more or less attacking with the team mentality slider, depending on the quality of the opposition.


KEY INDIVIDUAL INSTRUCTIONS:

GK
CF 2
PS team
CD 11
Tack normal
TTB mixed
Rest rarely
Cross from mixed
Distribution depending on his strengths

DCs
CF 2
PS 11
CD 5
Tack normal
TTB normal
Rest rarely
Cross from deep

FBs
CF 6
PS 9
CD 9 or 10
Tack hard
FwR often
RwB mixed
Long rarely
TTB often
Cross often
Cross from deep (away/counter), mixed (home)
Tight marking!

DMC
CF 5 (defensive/holding play) 7 (attacking)
PS team
CD whole pitch (to attack earlier than the defensive line)
Tack normal
FwR rarely (away/counter), mixed (home)
RwB rarely
Long depending on stats
TTB often
Cross mixed
Tight marking only w/counter in tough games or when defending (watch out for yellow cards!)

Wingers
CF 6 (I want them to stick to the sideline and only create chances!!!)
PS team
CD whole pitch (to close down the sidelines)
Tack team
FwR often
RwB mixed when attacking, often when on counter
Long rarely, but depending on stats
TTB often, mixed on tough away games
Cross often
Cross from byline (home), mixed (counter/away)

AMC
CF much
PS short
CD 11
Tack normal
FwR often
RwB often
Long rarely, depending on stats
TTB often
Cross mixed/rarely

Strikers
For them I made good experiences, using the preset settings for target man and striker in the game. Apart from mentality of course. Only tweaks to their instructions:
Striker crosses from mixed, cross aim is far post, closing down is low on „own area“.
Target man crosses from byline, closing down is on own half (12), no hold-up ball when on counter!


// A short look into training and persistence

Using this setting the players need a good fitness level, especially the midfielders. Three reasons for that: The formation is pretty tight, so they have to run up and down the pitch. They play a variable passing game, so they have to be in a constant movement to create passing options. They try to drag the opposition out of position and might get tackled a little more than usual. So please beware.

When I started with the tactics, my teams needed 3 to 4 games, to get the idea and play as I wanted. So if you choose to give it a try please don’t give up after 2 games.


// A look ahead

That’s about it. I hope the explanation is kind of clear. Feel free to ask me if you have any questions, though I can't be online all the time. Apart from that, feedback on the theory and the settings is more than welcome.

This whole thing was developed on 8.01. I tested this framework in games with my team for more than one season, but did not have the time to finish the second yet. The results of the first half season I used it:



I also tried the tactic with AC Milan in an older 8.0 game for a little more than half a season and it worked a treat. I have not tried to use the 2-6-2 with a flat 4-4-2 or formations without 2 strikers. This is subject to testing in the future.

Cheers.