Fast Fluid Football 4231(ish) - 100 points with Arsenal

After winning the treble in season 1, I wanted to come up with a tactic where Odegaard played a bit deeper, and freed up Eze and all of Arsenals promising youngsters (+ the signing of Can Uzun) to get more game time, so I came up with this for season 2 and ended up getting 100 points in the league as part of the domestic treble, but falling to Barca in the UCL final after David Raya came to the edge of his box and played a hospital ball that Ferran latched onto and slotted into an open net, to put them 2-1 up late in the game (utterly infuriating!)

The kind of football and goals I most enjoy watching involve short, sharp passing, one-twos, 3rd man runs, and players all over the pitch having the freedom to make that decisive run in behind the defense to get on the end of a great move. Obviously this requires intelligent attacking players with great technical quality the execute effectively, not sure how well weaker sides would be able to implement this.

The Tactic:






Results:


I also sometimes tried to overload the right hand ide by swapping the roles of the LB and RB, leaving out left flank pretty empty once we got into the other half.

OOP is a pretty straightforward 442 High press, similar to Arsenal in real lift currently


GK: (BGK/SK) Pretty standard for what you'd expect from a modern top team, no extra PIs.

RB: (IWB/PFB) Moves into midfield next to the DM, and frees up the MPM to be able to roam around and influence the game in whatever way they see fit. PFB to support the press and stop the opposition having an easy out ball to a winger in space. PIs are stay wider, run wide with ball, tackle harder. want him to get a bit wider than a normal IWB, firstly to offer more support to the winger who can get isolated sometimes, and also to give them less distance to cover to get tight to the opposing left winger. Tackle harder is just to try and counteract how OP wingers dribbling down the flank is currently in FM26.

CB x2: (BCB/CB) PIs are mark tighter, then you can potentially add dribble more based on the personnel and shoot less. For example I have Saliba on dribble more as he has great composure and is good on the ball.

LB: (FB/PFB) In possession the main role is to maintain width while also having the freedom to move inside if they want. Opponents have the choice of leaving someone wide to mark the left back and giving us a potential central overload, or leaving the left back unmarked, allowing us to switch the ball to him so he can play in the LW/ST, or get to the by-line and deliver. PIs are sit narrow, cut inside, dribble more (again dependant on personnel but MLS is a great ball carrier) make more runs, shoot less often, tackle harder (same reason as RB).

DM: (DM/DM) Job is to receive the ball from the centre backs, and play forward to the more creative players further up the pitch. Also to recycle possession when needed. PIs are shoot less, more direct passing (put on standard if not a great passer).

CM: (MPM/DM) The link between our defense and attack, our shape and other roles allows this player to pop up all over the pitch, even in the left half space in certain situations, allowing them to stamp their authority on the game. This should be a very intelligent playmaker, that you trust to dictate the tempo and choose the right pass. PI just to mark tighter, can also tell them to roam from position if you want to play even less structured but they should roam quite freely even without it.

RW: (W/WMF) Similar to the LB we want this player to stay wide and create a dilemma for the opposition. Should be a good 1-on-1 dribbler that can go past their man on the outside or the inside to create and get shots off. Generally doesn't join in with the quick combination play of the front 3 but is always ready to take advantage of how many defenders that draws into the centre of the park. PIs are stay wide, cut inside, dribble more, more runs, cross from by-line.

AM: (AM/TCF) Moves from left to right as we progress up the pitch, obviously as the left ST OOP, then quite central when we are building up, then the IF kind of pushes them to the right as we progress. We want them linking up, playing one-twos and making 3rd man runs, sometimes playing in the RW when those options aren't available. PIs are press more, mark tighter, tackle harder.

LW: (IF/WMF) Stays wide when building up, then moves inside to overload the middle as we progress up the pitch. Mainly want them to make runs between the RB and CB and be a goal threat, play quick one-tows with the AM and ST when they receive the ball into feet. PIs are the same as the RW, IFs and IWs come very very narrow this year compared to previous FMs so stay wider doesn't really have much effect once we're in the opponents half.

ST: (DLF/OCF) Needs to be a fairly complete striker, equally capable of receiving with their back to goal and combining with the LW and AM as they are capable of getting on the end of moves and putting the ball in the net. will often drop between the AM and LW, overloading the opponents defensive midfield area. PIs are move into channels, roam, press more & mark tighter.