Progress Report: The Fake 4-2-3-1

Last time out I talked about trying to work towards something akin to my old FM2012 4-2-3-1 tactic, and I began to toy with the idea of utilising a different formation that 'morphed' into the more attacking shape when we were on the offence.

So how did that work out for me? Here's my notes from that period of the season - as usual I've played way past this point, which you'll realise if you track my comments (moaning and griping) on Twitter, so whilst these were written up in the present tense, they actually represent stuff that is half a season or more in the past.




With strikers fit again (other than ‘Conan’ who still has a few weeks to go) I’ve been playing more of a tweaking game, generally 45 minutes or so on the 4-2-3-1 development, and 45 in our Direct 4-4-2 to try and ensure results. That makes it difficult to post analysis on some occasions, but I’ve been trying to catch some stuff at half time and the like.

In terms of the ‘hybrid’ 4-2-3-1 I decided to look at playing with a flat central trio, to give us a bit more defensive solidity. To get one of those three involved in attack I took a leaf out of Jonathon Aspey's book, and looked at adapting his ideas for a 'Central Winger' Role. (I'll continue to refer to that position as the Central Winger, albeit that I've made some tweaks to alter its behaviour slightly)

The personnel lineup may seem a touch radical in this screen-shot, but this was a game where injuries and suspensions hit us all at once. As a result I was forced to make up a back four consisting of two backup DCs and Valentini (usually playing in the IF slot). With Valentini at the back, Torres played out wide whereas I had been using him in the CM-A role with a degree of success.

The movement from the Central Winger should see him cause overloads up the right flank, often with the Wingback also getting in on the action, whilst the Inside Forward on that side sits a little deeper and can be an outlet for the central midfield guys.

Here we can see the sort of attacking move that I like in the 4-2-3-1 tactic, this is the kind of move that my FM2012 Blackburn Rovers side often produced. Salibaz (IF-R) drops a ball back to Yabo who is going to make space to find a ball to Micanski up front.

Salibaz makes the run into the channel, receiving a first-time ball from the striker in acres of space. Unfortunately, on this occasion, his aim is a little off and he only ripples the side netting.

Goal or not, the kind of pressure we’re applying is obvious and represents the sort of numbers I want to be seeing in and around the box. On this occasion, having pushed well up, Varnhagen (the Central Winger) has then dropped off a little – he wasn’t the key player in the move, but I’m not necessarily expecting him to be, as long as he’s getting into those spaces and causing the defence to have to adjust.

A few minutes later, here’s a break that we make on the counter. Notice Varnhagen (circled) who is making a lung busting run up the centre-right whilst much of the attention is focussed on our left flank – note also the more withdrawn pair from the central midfield trio, and their position both lateral and vertical by comparison to Varnhagen.

Varnhagen’s presence forces defenders to cover leaving Alibaz (red box) open at the back post. We score as a result of this move, albeit from a penalty when Micanski receives the ball and is brought down, but again it’s a good example of the ‘Central Winger’ featuring in an attacking line of three playing off Micanski’s support-striker role.

For a team that wants to continue to make use of physical presence up front, and a more direct passing style, this feels like a reasonable stop-gap on the way to my ultimate goal.

Here’s some detail on Varnhagen from the half-time performance analysis (Passes and Average Position), you can see how much he’s joining in the attack but I’m not sure that I want him to be pulling wide quite that often. I understand how it suits the way that Jonathon is wanting his side to play, and again it’s something that will probably perform admirably with the right personnel, but for me it feels like he may be operating too closely to the territory of my Inside Forward on that side.

Given that we’re playing a flat three, it may simply be a case of switching this player into the central position of that trio. He has instructions to ‘Run Wide With Ball’ but he hasn’t made a lot of dribbles in this game, therefore I suspect that it’s more the starting position that’s a factor. I’m also tempted to drop the Dribble More instruction, depending on the player, and just rely on Get Further Forward and Close Down More to see the player harassing players in the opposition’s defensive third; at the end of the day I’m looking less for a Central Winger and more for a rampaging midfielder – someone who does a lot more of the attacking side of a Box-to-Box with less of the tracking back towards our own area.

WINTER WOES

Whilst on-field action has remained positive, despite a nervy run of four games which included three 1-1 draws, behind the scenes things have been less rose-tinted. After withdrawing his transfer request at the start of the season, Alibaz has started making noises again. I decided to deny his request on this occasion, and promptly received news of his intention to leave on a Bosman at the end of the season

Now you may be surprised that I’d let his contract get that close – particularly given how important a player he’s been for us. You’d be justified in that thinking, but you’d also be uncovering a massive issue that I’m encountering in this save. I have a bunch of contracts due up in the summer, including our entire central midfield and both of our Goalkeepers. My problem is that every single one of them wants ‘Key Player’ status, and anywhere between a 200% and 400% pay rise, and that includes backup players with a total of three or four first team appearances to their names. Factor in that I need to try and sign these guys up before the season is out, on our current wage structure and budget, and you get the idea.

I’ve tried reasoning with them, and a hell of a lot of patient negotiation, but talks keep breaking down and I’m starting to experience a combination of frustration and fear. When Reinhold Yabo signs a pre-contract agreement with SC Freigburg that feeling only gets worse. Yabo is on a £3.2k/week deal with us, with our highest earners being on £9k. I repeatedly tried to get him onto comparable terms, but instead he’ll be earning £14k+ with Freiburg. Now consider this, that I have second string players who are refusing to negotiate down from demands in the £8-10k range.

It’s a worrying situation that I find myself in, and it may be that I have to start loosening the purse-strings somewhat. In the meantime I’ll also be spending extra time pouring over scout reports and shortlists to find bargain players who (touch wood) may be able to hold their own in the Bundesliga.

INTO THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON

Making use of the mid-season break to play some friendlies, I continue to see some good stuff from the 4-3-2-1 hybrid shape as we rattle off some big wins against modest opposition. We also manage a 1-1 draw with a PSG Reserves side that includes Yohan Cabaye, Thiago Motta, and Cristian Tello – a nice little money-spinner game.

It’s not all positive, defeat at Kiel is wholly unacceptable, and an unbelievable stalemate game leaves me shaking my head in wonderment...

...not because of the scoreline, I’ve played FM long enough to live with that now, but because the opposition Keeper registered only a 6.8 rating!

Thankfully we came through the transfer window without losing anyone immediately, with Crystal Palace’s overtures toward Daniel Gordon having been fended off. All I can do is hope that the pair of Alibaz and Yabo remain professional about the remainder of this season, playing well whilst accepting that I’ll have to start giving their successors more game time.

I managed to sign up a couple more of our younger players to extended deals, but Varnhagen, Peitz, Orlishausen and Vollath are still proving tough negotiators; that still leaves me staring down the barrel of a gun when it comes to our entire Goalkeeping roster, and most of our central midfield.

4-2-3-1 from 4-3-2-1, a Mende Masterclass. 

Our first game back in the league is at home to Aalen, and Sven Mende – taking the central attacking midfield slot – delivers a performance that makes me believe that this hybrid shape is going to be a good one for us.

Mende’s contribution is highlighted, along with that of Valentini playing as one of our Inside Forwards.

Mende isn't a great dribbler of the ball, and his ‘Run’ stat reflects that – bear in mind that I hadn’t switched off the ‘Dribble More’ shout on this occasion. Still, the run that he does make results in our first goal of the game – he picks the ball up in midfield, and makes a charge for the byline creating a significant overload on our right before supplying the cross for Valentini.

His other assist, whilst not resulting from a run like the first, is still a reflection of the movement that he’s putting in – receiving a ball on the byline and cutting it back for Klingmann to tuck away as he arrives late in the box.

Another attack, and we see Mende charging beyond Micanski – the ‘support’ striker – to provide an extra target for Klingmann’s cross...

...and minutes later he’s out wide again, receiving Peitz’s knock-down header.

He’ll bend a run out to the flank, with Alibaz cutting inside, before delivering another dangerous cross...

...unfortunately neither Micanski nor Valentini anticipate this one, and the keeper collects safely. It’s great stuff though, not only is Mende providing attacking threat whilst starting from a deeper position, but he’s also interacting with the IF(R) to cause all sorts of confusion out wide – similar to what I was doing in FM2012 with the ‘Swap Position with...’ instruction.

UPDATE

That’ll do for now, I’ll just leave you with a quick update on the league standings after the Aalen game.

All that remains is to say 'so long, until next time' and offer my usual invitation for you to add your comments to the blog, or catch me over at Twitter: @flipsix3_FM

Cheers!