rashidi1

I expect loads of people to get hammered, or disappointed the first time around. I doubt anyone will just step in smile and start hammering teams 5 nil.

Buxton

I remember a span of time when all I did was keep playing the demo over and over again, just to check on the closing down of defenders. I have used high closing down for defenders and low closing down just to see the difference. Honestly because the defenders are the last line of defence they will close down anyway, whether they are on high or low. The difference i see is when the box is packed. When the box is packed there is a higher chance that the CB gets pulled out to follow someone and sometimes you see him tracking across the face of the goal. Which is why I think the ideal set up is to have them on low closing down and tight marking. It seems to work really well.

There are times when they get caught out by a quick turn, but honestly, that should happen in real life. I would expect players like Bramble to get themselves turned inside out by the Rooneys. But if you give them low closing down, they will go in on the player they are tight marking, but they will not track him across the face of the goal because they are tight marking their zone and not the player.

If you want to play high closing down for defenders its risky and not advisable for centrebacks. If you look at actual football games, you will see centrebacks marking their zone tightly. But the moment the player leaves their zone, someone else picks them up. The only players who close down early are the DMCs and the strikers.

Every formation we design requres planning. There are different requirements for 343 and 442 and 4132 formations. Different players have different roles. I think if we try and translate them into the game they could work.

Once I'm done with the diamond I'm going to work on other formations and then test them all out with lower league sides. And I strongly believe the impact of player attributes/sliders is going to be even more dramatic, when they play a good side.

One other thing, I have been playing the same formation for the last 13 games in the premiership and we have a goal scoring ratio of 3 vs 0.5 conceded per game. I'm happy that I don't need to change formations, and this gives me a lot of joy. Do you hear me Buxton!!! </BLOCKQUOTE>

Don't talk to me in bold son

Watch the Newcastle game tonight to prove the above doesn't really ring true

I'll crack the game, just you wait and see!

Cleon

No, go elsewhere

Noel Gallagher

Having everyone on low closing down is effectively getting everyone behind the ball when the opposition get it, rather than closing them down.

I played a couple of games like this and it looked quite promising. The defence looked surprisingly good because the opponents found it hard to break us down cos we were getting in front of them and not diving out to them.

Then on the attack, we had more space to pass the ball around. I think there might be something in that

Benoit2

Ive been following this thread from the beginning and have also just read wwfan's new topic from today, and all in all it are many different theories and I find it hard to figure out what belongs in which scenario etc.

Basically, I want to create a tactic with a certain philosophy, but I need your help to tell me what my tactic actually needs.

I (always) play with Chelsea and I want to play 4-3-3, with a wide formation and attacking down the flanks in a quick tempo (which would presumably be together with direct passing). It would seem obvious to set tempo, passing and width to 15 then.

However, condsidering I am Chelsea and I will pretty much always play lower quality teams, do my settings seem logical, or perhaps contradictory? (just like it is advised to play a slow tempo when playing the ultra defensive formation, at least according to wwfan, I believe).

Just as a side note, I do intend to have a second tactic designed for strong teams (Arsenal, Man U and Liverpool in England and the top clubs in the Champions League), though I would prefer if it didnt deviate too much from my "base" tactic.

The idea that is inside my head, is that I have one centre forward and two strikers (wingers) playing very wide (stretching the pitch) and up front giving full-backs a really hard time (if they arent gone attacking in the first place, in which case my wingers should be in loads of space.) If the full-backs stay narrow, my wingers have lots of space. If the full-backs defend wide, my striker and Lampard and Ballack should have a lot of space against two centre-backs.

After testing with the demo, I found that only when my wingers where in these positions, they would be in the place I want them to be. In the AMR/L spot they would drop back far too much, even with farrows.

My midfield consists of three man. I have them on the same line, because otherwise they would form a slight triangle and be far too narrow on the midfield.

Big question for me though is, would it really work to play in such a way against non-top teams, or would I just be making it far too difficult on myself by playing this counterattacking style? I would love to have this tactic working though..

After reading wwfans thread of yesterday, I figured that against the non-top teams, my defence would be best set up with high closing down and my full backs be attacking(ish). How much should my midfield and attack be closing down though then?

Against the top teams, I have the idea of doing low closing down all over to make my men get behind the wall (according to a recent post in this thread anyway) and form a brick wall which you need a lot of skill and class to break through and then using the counter attack as a powerful tool to attack. In this scenario, I would have my fullbacks be more like centre backs (playing Boulahrouz on the right instead of Ferreira, for example), focusing on defensive stability over attacking options. I value clean sheets and conceding few goals very highly! Rather win 1-0 then 3-1, though scoring just one goal a match is too low still.. :p

Anyway, when I think about it, Im just getting more and more doubts, since I dont really see why I wouldnt be able to employ this last system against all teams, not just the very strong ones. Like I indicated before, I find it pretty difficult to decide what tactical option works best/worst in a given situation.

Perhaps the main reason for that, is that playing a direct and quick tempo game makes for far too much possession loss. Can this be countered effectively, without losing the nature of the tactic. For example, should certain players never/always be direct passing? (I figure the front three should be on short).
Or maybe if I give Ballack and Lampard hold up ball instructions, they could dictate the tempo, keep possession when needed and still play those quick and direct diagional through balls to my wingers?

I dont know and therefore I would greatly appreciate if some of you tactical gurus could help me and give me advice, based on my philosophies I want to have in this tactic.

Summarised:

Defence first! Keeping clean sheets is very important.

4-3-3! One centre forward and two very advanced wingers trying to take advantage of space the oppositions full-back will often allow, stretching the pitch.

No slow tempo! Not a fan of that. I want movement and I want tempo. Besides, the English game is quick, right?

edit (\o/):

Anyway, end of the day I realise that with Chelsea I could just pretty much stick to a default tactic and still win, so I guess thats why I insist on playing a certain way, according to a certain philosophy. It may not be the worlds best tactic, but for sure with Chelsea I should be able to get any tactic to work (to work good enough anyway). So the focus therefore shifts from results, to a style of play of my liking. (whilst still getting results obviously).

Last point: Im still not sure whether you need good passing for short, or for direct passing. Since Ballack and Lampard are pretty good passers, would it be a waste of their talent to not have them play short, or would it actually be exploiting their talent ny having them play quick through balls down the wings? (when I put it like this, it seems the latter..)

Just to add, I swapped Ballacks flair and creativity in the editor (flair was 18 and creativity 12, should be the other way around) and I upped his passing to 16 (13 is too low for Ballack, Ive seen him hit some damn fine balls).

wwfan

In reference to my theories, I would suggest playing the wingers as AML/R with farrows, and short farrow the FBS to support them. For an ultra attacking system you may wish to play the MCs in an MC/AMC/MC split. For this to work I would suggest high CD for the defence with a d-line of 10ish (feel free to experiment with a lower line as theoretically this will spread the play more). Personally , I wouldn't close down with the front 3 as most defences will clear quickly against Chelsea rather than playing the ball around at the back.

As for tempo, early experiments have suggested tempo should match the CF for the front 3, so a 15/15 split may produce good results and match the English style you are looking for. However, you may decide a slower build up is better after a few tests. Please post back with some results.

I think a low CD defence works well when playing away against teams that are your equal. If they are better than you then this will work at home too. However, I feel it is limited against poorer opposition as it allows them too much time to regroup.

If ’06 was anything to go by, there will be a multitude of tactical approaches towards playing ’07, many of which will work. Your task is to pick the one that ‘feels’ best for you.

Good luck.

rashidi1

One other thing I've noticed is something we've all taken for granted but I think it may play a stronger part. Gell Factor. I've now reverted to using my 343 tactic after going on a 13 match winning run...and they whopped someone 7-0 in the ECL. Scoring 5 in the first half.

I believe they may have made some tweaks that cause the gelling to occur over more games than usual. Perhaps 5 games...not friendlies mind you.

Oh and Cleon...sorry for the delay in sending you Scramjet II. Will get around to it once i've sorted it out. Need to run with it somemore and see that these 7-0s are not a fluke.

I do know of someone else who's being banging in an average of 6 goals a match.

ednab

rashidi do you kind sending me your 3-4-3 tactic cause i seem to struggle with it....

or give some details for instructions.

thx.

Benoit2

I read what you are suggesting, but I still dont understand why, sorry

For example, are these suggestions to create a tactic against teams that are very strong, against the other teams, or are you trying to give tips to get a good overall tactic which can be used against any team?

Like I said in an earlier post, after experimenting with the positions of my wingers, I found that having them all the way up front is best for me. However, you are suggesting I put them as AMR/L. Is this for more defensive stability and does it not take away some of the essence of the tactic?
For example, if my midfielders get the ball, they wont be able to get the ball quick and direct to the wingers, because they arent up front yet. Or could this be solved by giving Ballack and Lampard hold up ball instructions?

Basically, what I am asking, is to please also explain why exactly are you suggesting something. Its the only way I can learn about it and it gives me your way of thinking which can probably only help me as well.

btw: according to the hints and tips in the game, creative freedom should be given sparingly. It lends me to believe that the effect of this slider has improved as well, and therefore it would be best to only give those to players with very high decisions.
SWP has 11, Kalou 12, Cole 14, Robben 15, Drogba 14 and Sheva 15, thats good enough? Having my front three on high CF is not a dangerous thing in FM07?

Romie

Im Currently playing with an excellent training schedule ive made. Its working well with my team and if it continues then i will post it on here soon.