I built the whole formation with this in mind, which is why I opted for Lazio and Sergej Milinkovic Savic (SMS). Having looked at the role and the stats required for it, I knew he would be someone with great potential for the role. I started retraining his position as the first thing I did on my save.
The Libero role needed someone who had an excellent first touch, passing range and vision. However, it also needed to be someone who could defend and have the physical attributes to get up and down the pitch. Joining in with attacks but also shuttling back to when possession was lost also required great stamina.
The other two players suitable for this formation would be Camavinga or Blind. Anyway, SMS had an excellent season but the save became so much more than just the Libero star I was creating. I went on to win the league comfortably with a few games to spare, beating Inter in the Coppa Italia Final, Juventus in their version of the Charity Shield and also the Europa League.
Some information on the formation-
I set the team to positive, with playing out from the back and through the middle. I toyed around with a deeper line for a while but found it worked best with the defensive line and the line of engagement as high as they could be. All 3 of these factors allowed my libero to play centre stage. He was high up the pitch to dictate when we had the ball and found my wing backs with his vision and passing.
One worry I did have was being caught over the top when we lost the ball. However this very rarely happened and when it did, I simply dropped both lines back a little.
If I was winning or playing a better team like Juve, I would be more balanced with my mindset and put the wingbacks onto support.
My AMC Luis Alberto racked up 22 assists. This was a combo of amazing set piece delivery and the fact we played through the middle of the pitch.
With the two centre mids I played one as a mezzala meaning he was slightly wider and not in the same position as my Libero. The other was a box to box.
The forward pair I had was a target man support and an advanced forward. The target man support idea was to hold up the ball for the on rushing Luis Alberto which did work well.
I am now keen to try this formation out with another team. I really wasn't expecting to win Serie A in the first season and the other 3 trophies.
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Discussion: FM20 Quadruple Winning Tactic w/ Libero
8 comments have been posted so far.
I suppose you could call it the above Lazio tactics cousin.
No ‘get stuck in’ on tackling intensity as I felt it would not suit my squad - left it untouched. Squad is not great on the tackling and very lightweight. I played a false 9 with an AF. I also played a AP with the Mez on attack in centre midfield. For some reason I have an abundance of DLP creative types in the squad. So I also played very short passing.
The defensive width is set to very wide. Attacking width wide. Pass into space selected.
Bit of background to my save. I am playing as Chertanovo in Russia where I cannot sign any players at all. In fact the only way I can get any players, is for the Director of Football to sign players from the recommended youth intake every season. I had previously created a 3-5-2 wing backs libero. It was OK. But I always seem to struggle against the top teams.
I have just being keeping my head above water and I am in season 12 in the Russian PL. Still fighting relegation. Current season I was really struggling had seven games left.
Tried 3-5-2 wingers tactic with the above tweaks and I could believe the instant impact. Just seven games to avoid falling into the relegation play off. Out of those seven games I only lost two games narrowly 1-0 to bigger sides. In the other five games I won four and drew one.
I have a AF 17yo who previously could not hit a barn door and never scored for the club in 20 games - he scored crucial goals in the fifth and sixth games. This tactic and its offshoots can really work even with even the poorest of squads, The players seemed suddenly to really play above the sum of their parts. Men possessed. Possession stats go off the charts, a really good side possibly would go unbeaten with it.
What I've found using this tactics is that you don't really need a superior player as the Libero; just make sure that the player is just about decent enough on his technique & intelligence with the ball, and fairly good pace for dealing with counter-attacks. What you always need to keep in mind on each matches is how to keep the opposition overwhelmed with numbers to make sure that the Libero can freely running the show relatively unchecked. I'm using Marvin Knoll as the Libero (SPOILER: his CA/PA is pretty bad lol) and he's still racking up MotMs in the top flight football