The Tactic
I wanted to create a counter formation that was attractive, it's almost attacking really. You won't get many clean sheets but you will score goals, maybe you'll get those cleans sheets that eluded me if you try this tactic with a big team. I find the midfield moves the ball around well and the CWB provide a natural width and are vital in many attacks. So you'll often see you two centre backs all alone in their half when your team attacks, like I said this formation is counter but really its based around fast, short passing attacks, getting as many men forward as possible, while hassling the opposition when you don't have the ball.
The Players
GK - someone solid, doesn't need to be good on the ball or at passing.CWB/L/R - Will mostly attack and need great stamina. Decent crossing and shooting will help in the final third.
CB - Strong, good in the air, 6ft or over, half decent pace as they will be left to cover the CWB often.
BWM - The anchor in the midfield, will sit back mostly so pure defensive attributes and decent passing needed.
DLP - Will both defend and link up with attack. Good creativity and passing, but also needs decent defending attributes.
AMC - All need to be good creative players. The middle of the three will sit back more and tend to be the main creative outlet. The two outer midfielders will get into more scoring positions so need to be good finishers.
DLF - The striker will support the midfield, dropping back and allowing the two attacking mids to run past him. So a mix of finishing and creative attributes will be needed. In the first season El Arabi scored 18 league goals, but in his second season he only managed 6 (due to injury and the African Cup of Nations) so I loaned Robinho who managed 8 in 19 games.
League Tables
1st Season
2nd Season
3rd Season
4th Season
5th Season
During my 5th season I finally ended my trophy draught when I took the Champions League back to little Granada!
This formation is the best I have ever created, it's so consistent as 5 consecutive top 3 finishes with Granada suggests. My most recent season saw me come as close as I've been to the title, finishing on joint point with Barcelona, but this season would not be yet another without silverware. Finally I did it, I won a trophy and what a trophy it was, the Champions League, unbelievable, tight 0-0 draw ended with an epic penalty shoot out win for my Granada boys.
Why not give this formation a go, perhaps with a bigger and better side or maybe even try it in non-league and let me know how you get on, good luck fellow FMers
Discussion: Megalo's 4-2-3-1 Counter v2.0
25 comments have been posted so far.
BTW beside my Feyenoord save I am also testing this tactic on my Glasgow Rangers team. My aim is to get the 55th Premiership title, and qualify for Champions League. :-) As you probably know Gers is in League 1 in FM2014.
So, I am testing the tactic at a higher level, and I will come back soon.
We have won the Jupiler League with Almere City FC. We have managed to streghen the team on vital positions (goalie, center-back, midfield, striker). The first match against Feyenoord (H) looked encouraging, 0-0 final score, but we were slightly better. Then we went to AZ Alkmaar (A), and after leading 3-0, we "managed achieve" 3-3. :-( Third match against Roda JC (A), after leading 2-0, Roda JC scored 3 goals in a row, and following a fantastic comback we won 4-3 in the 90th minute. I started to train defense immediantely, because 6 goals in two matches look too much to me. Let us see the further results. :-)
I've spend only 2 million on him with an option to extend his one-year deal for a further year. I think I got a decent player here.
Thanks for help Megalo!
My team scored 45 goals which meaned we were 4th top scoring team and they conceded 28 goals for 3rd best defence in the league.
I am happy with this kind of results, but I have second guessing about my strikers (Olić and Dost) as they managed to score 7 goals combined.
Maybe you have any advice on which striker I should buy during the summer?
Thanks in advance for the advice and thanks for this tactis
scorpy95 - I know how you feel this tactic does concede goals at first but I think that once you get quality centre backs and a solid BWM you should see improvements. I even trained my DLP and BWM to drop deep to get the ball, this helped me defensively. Also if you notice your team is conceding just change your training to defence and defensive positioning until you see an improvement.
Let us see how this tactic works in the top division, where we are predicted to 13th position. We managed to keep the squad together, which is good. Neto Baiano had a very good season scoring over 30 goals, and left and right running backs (Patric and Marcelo Cordeiro) with tonns of assists.