BJT 4411 WOM feat. The Fantasista, Roberto Baggio

BJT-4411-WOM-20.4 / Featuring The Fantasista, Roberto Baggio



Hi all. I’m back with another system. It's my first using the 4411 formation.

A favourite of the classic roles around in my footballing era of the 90s and early 2000s. After creating a system for the great Andrea Pirlo in the dieing Regista role, I’ve now decided to follow suit with the Italian theme – building a system that fully utilises the now redundant Trequartista role in Football Manager 2020.

A role suited for systems that like the Regista, playing with a degree of elegance,but this role roams around looking for the ball in the opponents third of the pitch.

Used to incorporate the most technically gifted, creative of players with sublime passing and dribbling skills that can finish, it is a role that can only truly be fulfilled by players such as Zidane, Ronaldinho, or one other Italian Roberto Baggio.

Features

My system uses a 4411 formation in an asymmetric structure. However rather than playing in a vey oldskool 90s manner, I have tried to incorporate the Fantasista in a more modern way of playing.

Although primarily tasked to drift into space all game and always be the main outlet to be looked for, I have instructed him to defensively keep a closer eye on the opposing DMC. I’ve never liked letting the opposition dictate the play.

Supplementing this is a higher line and extremely urgent pressing. The Fantasista doesn’t need to aggressively press like the wingers or advanced forward on the counter-press, but simply position himself smartly in the DM strata and help with any potential interceptions. Playing more compact will help achieve this.

Up top he’ll be playing off an Advanced Forward. The two combined should bring a good deal of fluidity and combination up top, in the hope they can create chances for each other.

I’ve gone for a winger / full back combination on one flank, with an inside forward and attacking wing-back on the right. I’ve never been a real fan of asymmetric systems, but with a Trequartista pulling the strings, adding greater variety to the offensive play was the objective here, especially with effectively playing a 4411 it isn’t going to be the most high scoring of systems.

In the middle I have a DLP-D and Box to Box Midfielder. With such an offensive presence in the Trequartista, we need some solid midfielders to control and cover for him.

The DLP-D will hold his position more so than the BBM, keeping things fairly simple and the team ticking when in possession. The BBM will get forward when the opportunity arises, and I’ve instructed his PIs to mimic that of a Steven Gerrard.

The ability to dribble and pass whilst getting up and down the pitch will give us another central creative outlet if the opponents shut down our Trequartista.

Also utilised is the offside trap and a Sweeper Keeper that will aim to distribute the ball to our full-backs promptly to support the more offensive game we play whilst looking to launch counters when the opportunity arises.

What you’ll need

-Star man has to be the Fantasista in the team. Very good technically, with great vision, passing ability, composure, decision making, dribbling and anticipation – with an eye for goal too.

He’ll be the player to unlock the opponent’s defensive structure and be the key of your side.

-A quality in creation, finishing and pacey advanced forward. With the team set to counter-attack and counter-press, having someone available to get in behind the opponents quickly is an important alternative option to the Trequartista.

-As the system uses a high back line and very high line of engagement, fairly quick defenders with anticipation will be needed. You’ll also need a hard-working and fit outfit to meet the higher intensity demands of the tactic.

-The tactic also focuses the play at a slower tempo and shorter style of passing, so it's not all gung-ho Klopp gegenpressing crazy at all. But generally this will be a system more suited to higher quality players with good technical ability.



Opposition Instructions

-Show all opponents wide players foot to the touchline
-Show opponents central striker to weaker foot

Results

Maybe I had some lucky seasons with this tactic. I’ve always liked to think luck is a skill =) But I was really pleased with the results on all the tests I ran.

Liverpool – Premiership (EPL/CC/FA/ECL - Quadruple)

A 103 points winning league tally whilst winning the Carabao Cup, the FA Cup, and the Champions League.



Chester - Vanerama North (League Winners)

A 96 points league total saw us comfortably win the league in first position and secure promotion.

This is surprising as the Trequartista role is often associated with a high quality graceful player on the pitch. But perhaps the solidity and the smart defensive marking helped the system succeed at this lower level of the game



Leeds United – Championship (League Winners / FA Cup Winners)

Perhaps this even surpassed my Liverpool season winning all 4 trophies and an EPL points league record.

Finishing on 108 points and breaking the Championship record we secured top spot and promotion.

But more miraculous was us winning the FA Cup in the final beating Liverpool AET 1-0.

We also beat Chelsea and Arsenal before this game – really big scalps so that was extremely pleasing.



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I’m not sure whether any systems have been created using the Trequartista as the focal point. So I thought let’s again try and re-produce something a little different and oldskool.

With the shorter passing and slower tempo also in play, you should hopefully get to see some pretty nice team moves as well.

So if you’re an oldskool football lover and love to watch one genius pulling all the strings, you’ll hopefully enjoy watching this system @ work.