Hello fellow virtual coaches.
First of all, french man talking here, so pardon my english, i'll try to review my post to avoid any mistakes but a few might remain.
For my first post here, i'd like to present one of my all-time FM tactic, which I found to be very effective in FM13. As the title says, it is widely inspired by Antonio Conte's 3-5-2. To show you the effectiveness of this tactic, I chose a save with Schalke 04. In this save, I did something I do when I'm starting to get bored with FM : sell almost my entire team in the first mercato and only buy players under 22.
In this particular save, I only kept willfully the Central Defenders (Matip, Papadopoulos and Howedes) and the young goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall. I sold all the players i could and kept the ones i couldn't sell or who were in loan (but tried not to use them)
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381199080087031100.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200920026028300.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200950035869900.jpg
My tactic organizes itself very simply : 3 CD, 2 Wing backs, 1 Defensive Midfielder, 1 Central Midfielder, 1 Deep Lying Playmaker et 2 Center Forwards (1 Deep Lying Forward and 1 Poacher)
As you can see on the screenshot, it seems like a defensive tactic, the game itself considers it as a 5-1-2-2. The key is in the style and strategy choices. I always put them on Very Fluid and Overload. Even if i'm down 1 player and leading 1-0 in the most capital game of the season, i never changed those 2 settings. Call it a Zeman-like craziness, but on the long haul, it works. Other than that, i haven't changed any other tactical setting.
Talking about effectiveness, my save with Schalke 04 is currently at the starting of the 2016/2017 season. In the four previous seasons, I won 2 Bundesliga (2013/2014 and 2015/2016), 2 German cups, 2 back-to-back Champion's League (2015 and 2016) and one Coupe du monde des Clubs (2015). I also won 1 European Supercup. Considering the youth of my squad, i find it pretty interesting.
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200978005962600.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381201002049549800.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381201021058635800.jpg
To confirm this trend, let me tell you about the save where i first tried this tactic. I started with the national french squad and got recruited by OGC Nice in 2014 (Despite a 4th place finish last season, Nice is considered as a 8th-12th place team in France). After five seasons at Nice using this tactic, I won 3 Ligue 1 and 1 French Cup. I also used this tactic with my French Squad, winning the 2016 European Championship, the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup.
I also advised it for a friend playing with West Bromwich Albion and he never finished under the 5th place in 4 seasons, ranking 2nd in the 4th season. He also won 2 Europa Cup on the way.
Now that i showed you the effectiveness, what are the pros and cons of this full-attack 352 ?
Pros :
- Lot of goal opportunities every game (around 20 in average)
- All the players are involved in the game, the wing-backs play as wingers, lot of projection from the CM and the DM in the decisive area
- Overall, a very spectacular and fast-paced football is played by your players, you really got the sensation of overloading the opponent.
- Efficient both in possession and counter-attacks. Looks a little bit like last year Borussia Dortmund style, especially in the transition from defence to offense.
Cons :
- Need very specific players as wing-backs : high rates are recommended in Pace, Acceleration, Stamina, Cross and Tackling. In my Nice save, Diacko Fofana (to the right) and Ryan Bertrand (to the left) are great for mid-tier teams.
- Need particular CD : on top of all the classic attributes of a good CB, you want some very fast-paced CB because they are gonna play all the game in the middle of the field, being exposed in their back. Zouma, Matip or Papadopoulos are great for that.
- Your players can get very agressive, get booked frequently. It happened with West Brom and Nice, way less with Schalke. Still don't know if it depends of the tactic or the players.
I think I said what I thought could be useful but if you have any further questions, don't hesitate
Yours faithfully,
JeanneHusse
First of all, french man talking here, so pardon my english, i'll try to review my post to avoid any mistakes but a few might remain.
For my first post here, i'd like to present one of my all-time FM tactic, which I found to be very effective in FM13. As the title says, it is widely inspired by Antonio Conte's 3-5-2. To show you the effectiveness of this tactic, I chose a save with Schalke 04. In this save, I did something I do when I'm starting to get bored with FM : sell almost my entire team in the first mercato and only buy players under 22.
In this particular save, I only kept willfully the Central Defenders (Matip, Papadopoulos and Howedes) and the young goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall. I sold all the players i could and kept the ones i couldn't sell or who were in loan (but tried not to use them)
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381199080087031100.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200920026028300.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200950035869900.jpg
My tactic organizes itself very simply : 3 CD, 2 Wing backs, 1 Defensive Midfielder, 1 Central Midfielder, 1 Deep Lying Playmaker et 2 Center Forwards (1 Deep Lying Forward and 1 Poacher)
As you can see on the screenshot, it seems like a defensive tactic, the game itself considers it as a 5-1-2-2. The key is in the style and strategy choices. I always put them on Very Fluid and Overload. Even if i'm down 1 player and leading 1-0 in the most capital game of the season, i never changed those 2 settings. Call it a Zeman-like craziness, but on the long haul, it works. Other than that, i haven't changed any other tactical setting.
Talking about effectiveness, my save with Schalke 04 is currently at the starting of the 2016/2017 season. In the four previous seasons, I won 2 Bundesliga (2013/2014 and 2015/2016), 2 German cups, 2 back-to-back Champion's League (2015 and 2016) and one Coupe du monde des Clubs (2015). I also won 1 European Supercup. Considering the youth of my squad, i find it pretty interesting.
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381200978005962600.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381201002049549800.jpg
http://www.pixenli.com/images/1381/1381201021058635800.jpg
To confirm this trend, let me tell you about the save where i first tried this tactic. I started with the national french squad and got recruited by OGC Nice in 2014 (Despite a 4th place finish last season, Nice is considered as a 8th-12th place team in France). After five seasons at Nice using this tactic, I won 3 Ligue 1 and 1 French Cup. I also used this tactic with my French Squad, winning the 2016 European Championship, the 2017 Confederations Cup and the 2018 World Cup.
I also advised it for a friend playing with West Bromwich Albion and he never finished under the 5th place in 4 seasons, ranking 2nd in the 4th season. He also won 2 Europa Cup on the way.
Now that i showed you the effectiveness, what are the pros and cons of this full-attack 352 ?
Pros :
- Lot of goal opportunities every game (around 20 in average)
- All the players are involved in the game, the wing-backs play as wingers, lot of projection from the CM and the DM in the decisive area
- Overall, a very spectacular and fast-paced football is played by your players, you really got the sensation of overloading the opponent.
- Efficient both in possession and counter-attacks. Looks a little bit like last year Borussia Dortmund style, especially in the transition from defence to offense.
Cons :
- Need very specific players as wing-backs : high rates are recommended in Pace, Acceleration, Stamina, Cross and Tackling. In my Nice save, Diacko Fofana (to the right) and Ryan Bertrand (to the left) are great for mid-tier teams.
- Need particular CD : on top of all the classic attributes of a good CB, you want some very fast-paced CB because they are gonna play all the game in the middle of the field, being exposed in their back. Zouma, Matip or Papadopoulos are great for that.
- Your players can get very agressive, get booked frequently. It happened with West Brom and Nice, way less with Schalke. Still don't know if it depends of the tactic or the players.
I think I said what I thought could be useful but if you have any further questions, don't hesitate
Yours faithfully,
JeanneHusse