Claudio Ranieri's 4-4-2 tested with Leicester

Hi all and Welcome to my first ever guide, I know that might scare some of you away but I have been playing Football manager for a very long time and have well above 1k hours in each game i've played so I reckon i've got some kind of insight into the game and particularly the tactics side of it.

So what i wanted to do for this years fm18 is try a couple of one-season-challenges and basically, I've had a go at recreating sort of a Claudio Ranieri Premier League Winning tactic with Leicester in the 2015/2016 season

This is the general look of the tactic a flat 4-4-2



And here are the Team Instructions i've used.

The Defense:

GK (D): Kasper Schmeichel usually does a bit of sweeping for Leicester but much like his father is more a traditional goalkeeper except that they have a bit of eccentricity and flair to their goalkeeping play. Nothing more than the usual is required, I do like to play it out from the back usually so maybe passing, first touch and composure is good for your GK here but not necessary.

Wingbacks (S): I went with the role of Wingbacks on the support duty they probably played more as fullbacks during the 15/16 campaign but I enjoyed more success with them as WB's (S) they need good physicals as they will be running up and down the line creating width and of course passing and crossing. Whats good about Fuchs and Simpson is that they have decent physicals, crossing and are solid defenders all which we enjoy having at our fullbacks.

Ball Playing Defenders (D): Now this might not be true for the defenders Leicester had at the time during the 15/16 Campaign but with Harry Maguire joining the ranks they now have a very strong Ball playing defender, and sometimes he likes to carry the ball out of from the back and for me he managed a couple of long-range assists to either Vardy or Iheanacho.

The Midfield:

Inverted Wingers (A): What a beautiful role SI put into the game, I have had great success with Inverted wingers thus far in fm18 but nothing quite as special as the season I've had with Mahrez and Damarai Gray at the positions. These guys have been racking assists after assists, as well as, key passes which I'll show you all later on. You would want them to be pacey, have good flair and dribbling to get past their man, decision-making, passing and crossing is the next thing you want so they can pick out the right pass or cross at the right minute. Work rate and teamwork never hurt and I generally always look for players with a decent to high score in those two abilities.

Ball-winning-midfielder (D): Nothing special for this guy, he needs to be physical, have good tackling and marking, as well as, a high work rate and teamwork also passing is important as we don't want this guy to give it away quickly to an opponent but rather up the field to a winger or his partner beside him.

Box-to-Box midfielder (S): Ndidi was perfect for me at this role, the ultimate dynamic, constantly moving everywhere on the pitch, a lot is required of this guy in our team it's sort of the N'Golo Kanté of my team he needs to be solid all around with amazing physicals. He chips in with assists and goals regularly but needs to remember his defensive duties, therefore, stamina, natural fitness, Work rate and teamwork are a must to have a high score in.

The Attack:

Complete Forward (A): So in the beginning of the save I played around with having Vardy on a defensive forward (S) role but it didn't quite click and it wasn't as effective as I would have wanted. So i Switched him around to a complete forward on an attacking duty, sharing the same role with his right-hand partner Iheanacho. Those two... I mean such a great partnership, scoring, as well as, creating goals for one another, they're going to get a lot of long balls behind the defensive therefore, they need to be very pacey and have good work rate and stamina but to be effective when we create our chances they need solid finishing, decisions and composure



We finished 3rd after Man Utd and Chelsea, I think that's a rather decent result especially considering I simulated the last 16 games (after the 22nd game) which tells me the game engine likes this system.

Results:



Stats:


Vardy and Iheanacho 20 goals each that's an insane amount of goals, in my opinion.



I've never seen anything quite like this. 3 players from Leicester lead the line with 97, 96 and 90 key passes respectively between, Gray, Mahrez and Vardy. 4th place isn't anywhere near the numbers we've created with Jordan Ibe being at 70 key passes

Now unto assists:



Yet again we find ourselves with two top spots and a shared 4th place with 13,12 and 11 assists between 3 players.

And last but not least an overview of the number of goals we scored as a team:



A staggering 82 goals compared to 2nd place city and utd at 69 goals respectively and Prem. Winners Chelsea at 67

So you know this tactic will get you goals and wins. it is somewhat leaky with 47 goals conceded but even that isn't too bad compared to the number of goals we scored.

As I mentioned earlier, the first tactic I've ever uploaded so be gentle with comments and I hope you all have the buzz I had playing this tactic!