Never Relegated with 4-3-3 Dirty Dominance!

Hi, I'm Aries, I've been playing football manager for years and last year got very addicted having over 2.5k hours on FM22, this tactic I have created is the culmination of all the learning for yester-year and the week or so FM23 beta has been released! So without further due, let's get into it!

This tactic was tested by loading just the league of the team tested, plugging in just the tactic, then going on holiday using current match tactics until the end of the season. Due to this... YOUR RESULTS WILL BE BETTER

This 4-3-3 is Attacking and by how the game seems to be performing in the short time it's been out, it's apparent that once again, Attack is the best form of defence. Utilising off-the-ball movements gets between defences which is why the attacking Quartet of the attacking Mezzala, 2 Inside Forwards and the Advance Forward is used and provides great- if not the best attacking options in the game.

The Box-to-Box midfield role has been semi-OP in the past few iterations and is no different, decent Stamina/Work Rate will mean the player within this role will be a consistent attacking option AND get vital interceptions/blocks/tackles to halt attacks. Coupled with the counting option being enabled this player will also spearhead various attacks and be your consistent rock.

The Deep Lying Playmaker role is possibly the only part of my role you can change. Due to the attacking tendencies of this tactic you can be exposed at the back so if you're experiencing too much of this you are more than welcome to change to Defensive duties rather than support, the obvious caveat is less playmaking opportunities from deep which is also a great way to get behind opposition with deep balls to your pacey striker.

Sports Interactive have made many claims of how they plan on balancing the defensive side of FM which is been only implemented in 2 ways: Smarter/Better defensive structure/stability and WAY worse first touches. 2 Defensive Central defenders can, and will, take advantage of the bad touches and be good overall defensive options vs 1 or 2 striker tactics. The general knowledge increase to defensive players means that the 2 supporting wing backs will also be there halting attacks and starting their own, this seems to be a great balance.

In Possession the Instructions are put together to enhance attacking capabilities to the max. Again, this is an attacking strategy so utilising all ways of getting the ball into the back of the net are useful, when paired correctly, which is what this is.

The basis of a Gen-Gen tactic is for counter-pressing and Countering, due to Ten Haag / Guardiola / Klopp, this is becoming the standard of football so I can only expect these instructions to continue to be a stable part of FM culture going forward.

Out of Possesion, for me, Is THE MOST IMPORTANT as you can have an incredible attack, but if you don't back it up, you WILL lose! Both higher engagements accompany the rest well, if much higher defensive line was used I can only see opposition getting behind too much. Preventing short GK distribution leads to so many mistakes at the back, it is essential. Getting stuck in last game meant seriously running the risk of either a fine for too many yellows or a red card almost all games. This year they have clearly dialed this back and while physically stopping the opposition is still the best you get punished less by the ref for it, this is a massive win!

The 3 new defensive instructions are yet to be fully tested and unknown which work best, however, the combo of trap outside and stop crossing seems amazing but actually counteract each other leading to more goals. Definitely don't do this. Step up more also leads to balls over the top/through balls leaving them in the dust. Also definitely don't tick this.... ever. For this tactic, the only utilisable instruction is to stop crosses as well timed crosses and big strong strikers can lead to oppressive goals, this is a great option to stop this.

The Tactic:

Playtest 1: Lecce 54 for, 59 against Fin: 12th Expected : 20th



Playtest 2: Bochum 59 for, 51 against Fin : 8th Expected : 18th



Playtest 3: Girona 61 for, 68 against Fin : 11th Expected : 20th



Playtest 4: Bournemouth 58 for, 59 against Fin : 8th Expected 20th



Playtest 5: Ajaccio 65 for, 69 against Fin : 13th Expected : 20th



Thank you! Good luck managers!