Their defensive structure works well with their counter-attacking ability and fast, progressive style of play.
Cooper’s team attack at every opportunity using both space in the wide sectors and in the centre of the pitch depending on where they recover the ball.
A common pattern of play is to overload the center, playing the ball quickly to the wing again while rotating strikers and midfielders in the penalty area.
STEVE COOPER profile on tacticof.com
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Discussion: Steve Cooper 3-4-1-2 Nottingham Forest // FM22 Tactic
4 comments have been posted so far.
https://imgur.com/a/VPRDr6U
(Angileri is great crosser, that's why I switched the attacking duty to him, Yates can be also on support)
I'll take some time to make some testing. What I have already figured is, that combo of PF-S (Surridge) and PF-A (Johnson) replicates real life position quite well without sacrificing much of attacking power.
What I am fighting with is the role of AMC, AP-S seems to deep and ball seeking role. Shadow striker seems best for me now, although he roams verticaly a lot.
However, thanks again and as a Forest fan I am looking forward to any updates and new tactics ;-)
Replicating real-life tactics in FM always poses the same difficulties: how to find a compromise between real-life game picture and effectiveness in FM.
Some solutions from the pitch can't be effectively replicated 1:1 in FM, and yet I would like to see my tactics work well in FM while imitating the play of specific team.
You're right that Forest play in defence in the line and probably not as high as I've shown, but firstly a higher defensive line increases the number of second line tackles in FM (as it does in real life at Forest), and secondly, the WCB/a on the left forces wider movement for the DLP/w (Yates) in the first phase of building attack, which also happens in real life.
Spence in FM should be a CWB/a, but that doesn't allow a balance in defensively in FM with that midfield setup, so I compromised WB/a on both sides to preserve width in the offensive third.
As for AF/a defensive behaviour, in FM it's largely determined by the wings roles/duties and AM positioning. Play that version and see for yourself what AF/aheatmap looks like. You will be surprised.
Thanks for your comments. Regards.
Why do you have left wide central back on attack? I would say McKenna is playing as high as Worrall on the other side.
Also Djed Spence as WB is usually much higher/more attacking than Lowe/Colback on the left side.
Forest defends like 3-4-3. How do you achieve this with AF-A, he doesn't go that deep. Surridge - Zinckernagel - Johnson are usually defending in one line.
Would you really say Forest play with higher defensive line?
Thanks a lot for your answers, mate!