This is a system I used on the demo and it worked really well for me. I played a 4-2-3-1 formation with Leeds. I needed to sign a couple of wingers as Leeds are short of quality out wide.
I managed to bring in Junior Stanislas and Jobi McAnuff from Burnley and Reading respectively, they came quite cheap. I also signed Sylvan Ebanks-Blake as he was available for free.
This is how we lined up from the midfield upwards:
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Austin played as a defensive BWM whilst Murphy was employed as a defensive DLP which was helpful in the transitional phase as we had two players coming deep for the ball.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was employed as a false 9 whilst Ross McCormack was played as a shadow striker. This meant that I had Ebanks-Blake coming deep and pulling the centre-backs out of position leaving room for McCormack to run at the keeper when he received the ball as he would then move into a more advanced position. My inside forwards (Stanislas and McAnuff) would then expose gaps left at the back.
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The above diagram looks complicated, so I'll draw up a key:
9 Ebanks-Blake (F9)
44 McCormack (SS)
17 Stanislas (IF)
11 McAnuff (IF)
6 Murphy (DLP)
8 Austin (BWM)
15 Warnock (FB)
25 Byram (FB)
Solid arrow: Leeds run
Dotted arrow: Opposition run
Red dots: Opposing players
Curved line: Leeds pass
What happens is Ebanks-Blake draws a centre-back out of position. McCormack then has space to run at the remaining centre back. Stanislas and McAnuff will then cut inside drawing the opposing full backs into a central position. Those full backs would fail as markers if they don't follow my inside forwards which leaves them in a dilemma. This then leaves space out wide for my full backs (Byram and Warnock) to come forward should the ball come back to Austin or Murphy, providing the team with crossing options so the team can either score by exploiting the space that Ebanks-Blake has left behind, or by using the crossing options at full back by which point there are four white shirts in the box and two more sitting outside (Murphy and Austin)
I managed to bring in Junior Stanislas and Jobi McAnuff from Burnley and Reading respectively, they came quite cheap. I also signed Sylvan Ebanks-Blake as he was available for free.
This is how we lined up from the midfield upwards:
Austin played as a defensive BWM whilst Murphy was employed as a defensive DLP which was helpful in the transitional phase as we had two players coming deep for the ball.
Sylvan Ebanks-Blake was employed as a false 9 whilst Ross McCormack was played as a shadow striker. This meant that I had Ebanks-Blake coming deep and pulling the centre-backs out of position leaving room for McCormack to run at the keeper when he received the ball as he would then move into a more advanced position. My inside forwards (Stanislas and McAnuff) would then expose gaps left at the back.
The above diagram looks complicated, so I'll draw up a key:
9 Ebanks-Blake (F9)
44 McCormack (SS)
17 Stanislas (IF)
11 McAnuff (IF)
6 Murphy (DLP)
8 Austin (BWM)
15 Warnock (FB)
25 Byram (FB)
Solid arrow: Leeds run
Dotted arrow: Opposition run
Red dots: Opposing players
Curved line: Leeds pass
What happens is Ebanks-Blake draws a centre-back out of position. McCormack then has space to run at the remaining centre back. Stanislas and McAnuff will then cut inside drawing the opposing full backs into a central position. Those full backs would fail as markers if they don't follow my inside forwards which leaves them in a dilemma. This then leaves space out wide for my full backs (Byram and Warnock) to come forward should the ball come back to Austin or Murphy, providing the team with crossing options so the team can either score by exploiting the space that Ebanks-Blake has left behind, or by using the crossing options at full back by which point there are four white shirts in the box and two more sitting outside (Murphy and Austin)
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