Millie

The title may not have grabbed your attention, but I'll hop to it anyway.

Playing with these two formations with pretty much the same team instructions (wider than normal, quick tempo, direct passing) and the same individual instructions (more on that later) I managed to be the most average team ever. I'm actually quite pleased with it:

4-4-3

4-2-4

Why then, I hear you cry, should I post about this? Well, there are so many threads talking about downloading "soopertakticz lol" and winning the Champions' League with some random Bulgarian team. I'll be honest, I'm not into that.

So, I want to discuss where people would go from these solid bases. Using a combination of these two formations I reached the play-off final with an average Serie C2/B side that's I've groomed over the past couple of years.

Last Season:

4th : P34 W13 D16 L5 F45 A25 Pts55

Basic instructions:

Settings are pretty much, after a few tweaks, the same for both formations. The team usually play with a quick tempo and direct passing. The individual mentalities are set to a usual "Rule of Two" setting with the centre backs on 6 (I also use a defensive variant with the base as 4 and an attacking on with the base as 8). The width varies depending on who I play, as does the timewasting. The total of these two usually equals roughly 20 unless I'm trying to kill off or claw back a game.

My wingers are set to cross often as my main striker is usually quite tall. The full backs run forward often, but only when I'm not in the lead. The defensive midfielder is designed to close everything down, while the other midfielder tries to set up attacks. The strikers are on a split mentality. Nobody is told to shoot long.

As such these files are the same tactic, but a different shape.

Required players

I'm on a budget. That is, I have less than no money (half a million quid less than no money to be precise). So, this is designed to pretty much work with anything I can lay my hands on. Some individual settings may need to change, but in general I look for the following:

GK: the usual, but as I'm lower league agility and distribution are my two requirements. Anything else is a bonus.

CBs: pace isn't too much of a worry as I usually drag the line back in times of emergency. I'd go for marking, tackling, concentration and aerial attributes. Usually I play a tall one and a good tackler, but there's no actual difference in their individual mentalities

FBs: pace and dribbling are useful for getting up the wings, but non-essential. Tackling and passing (possibly crossing) help. Overall I'm looking for somebody that can launch a good forward ball and tackle back when needed.

DM: tackiling, workrate, strength, heading. Anything to get in the way of the ball and lay it off basically. This guy's the sweeper behind the attacking 4.

CM: creativity, passing. Just a guy who can distribute and maybe chip in with a goal or two. Seems to score quite a few headers from corners for some reason(?).

AMs: pace, and plenty of it. Crossing helps, as does dribbling. These guys need to get in behind the full backs and cross it in. If not, they need to be able to run in on goal. I've been known to play really poor technical players who have 18 pace just to exploit this. Usually works.

FCs: I like a tall one (heading, jumping) and a fast one (pace, dribbling). All the time I'm looking for composure and finishing. The usual suspects really.

And now over to you

Right, do any of you guys play something similar? And is it as mediocre as mine (seriously, check the draw column)? I like these guys because they're solid, but my games are a bit dull. Is this what you guys crave, or are you more interested in 4-3 thrillers?

Any comments would be great. Not ones that say it's crap though. I would be very surprised if they worked with any other team than mine. I'm interested in whether they're theoretically sound as you see the game.

Made for 7.0 (unpatched)

Cleon

The 433 is interesting, I use almost the exact saame up but 343. I scarifice 1 defender for extra DMC.

KennyWoo

I also like the look of the 4-3-3. Do you get hit on the break frequently? It looks like a weakness could be litte cover in the midfield once the ball is lost -- especially wide -- but I like the attacking look of it and the idea of playing 3 forwards to try to simply overwhelm the opposition.

As for your idea on pacey wingers, I totally agree, if they can get behind the defense they can cause all kinds of trouble even with garbage skills. It's amazing how many fouls they can draw, corners they can win, and defenders they can draw out so that even mediocre crosses can cause trouble. I also seem to score some own goals from crosses once my wings start to turn inside.

Millie

I'll be honest, the 4-3-3 has only existed in its current incarnation for one game: the second leg of the play-off final where I needed to win by two goals to get promoted.

Before it used to have those arrows going sideways and I'd use out-and-out strikers rather than wingers.

I have been hit on the break once or twice, but on the whole it's pretty solid. The point of it really is to focus more play down the middle of the field. Sometimes the wide play of the 4-2-4 just doesn't work so I need a different approach. I'll be tweaking it over the coming summer to be a little bit more solid, but also more attacking.

As you can see from my record last season I just couldn't finish a team off. A few fewer draws and I might have gone up automatically.

Millie

If proof were needed of these formations' defensive credentials, Juventus only managed 5 shots on target against me in a Copa Italia 1st Qualifying Round match. We also would have taken the lead had the match engine not decided to call a perfectly legitimate goal offside (the AI does cheat ).

recon

your 433 is almost identical in setup to the one who worked for me for a couple of seasons untill it decided not to anymore.
I had some trouble stopping crosses though.

Millie

Yes, it is a bit weak in that department, and I've also noticed the full backs get pulled out of position to cover those gaping holes.

However, I usually start with the 4-2-4 and only change when it's clear the other team aren't interested in scoring and/or the 4-2-4 isn't breaking the other team down.

Even more surprising is that Juve didn't like the 4-3-3 but seemed to deal with the 4-2-4 very easily by crossing into empty space. Odd.

This season will be my last with Foligno if I don't get promotion, so it will be a good time to test these babies with a new team in a new country (on the same save, naturally). And post-patch my 4-2-4 seems even more solid. And yet it still can't score.