Tactics The 0-4-2-1-3 By Ashez

[Ashez]

The 0-4-2-1-3
OME - Untested on EME

It's not often i post a tactics based thread anymore but i've decided to share this fun tactic with the community. A little while ago i was testing strikerless formations which naturally resulted in me getting curious about removing other areas of the field which resulted in me making this 0-4-2-1-3. As the name suggest this formation is one that has no defensive line present on the field. 

The Shape

The Creation

The second i thought about using this type of formation Barcelona became the obvious club to try and implement it with due to the class of players they have available while they also had players perfectly suited for this unusual creation. 

The goalkeeper was a tricky one as instinct makes you want to use a sweeper keeper due to the room in behind your "defence" but experience has taught me on this save that the last thing you should do is use a sweeper keeper! A sweeper keeper had a massive habit of running into no mans land and being beaten with ease, trust me you're much better using a standard keeper who will focus on keeping the ball out of the net. 

I started with the back line which didn't take much thought if truth be told as both DMC's were placed as BWM. BWM's are the closest midfield option to your standard central defender and with us playing such a high line roles that would break this line like DLP's or BBM's were instantly ruled out. One key reason for selecting Barcelona was because they had Alba and Vidal who would make ideal players for the wide areas, at first i went with the defensive winger role but i soon discovered the best option was to play both as standard wingbacks. 

Moving into the midfield two and again i stumbled onto this solution rather quickly as i added another BWM into the one slot as the idea of the formation is to press high and win the ball as close to the oppositions goal as possible and with this in mind i put a standard CM next to him. I did consider the other options available but i didn't like the idea of a DLP and with the forward's positions a BBM wouldn't have much room to operate in. 

From my experience a BWM and CM partnership feeding an APM is golden and this is why i decided to place one here to link the midfield to the attack. In front of the APM i decided to go with three poachers, in fairness this was no creative genius on my part but it was added due to lack of room to warrant the other roles and because from the formations i have seen the three poachers combo seems to be the way to go, in truth it seemed like the ideal time to test out the three poacher combo. In short credit to anyone who uses three poachers. 

The team instructions will be shown below, to be honest they are pretty much what you'd expect. I did decide on using central passing but i did find that playing to "both flanks" was also very effective, especially with the wide players i had. 

The Roles & Team Instructions

Does It Work?

Asking if it works is a good question, i'll post my result below and you can make up your own mind but in my opinion it does. Granted it's not a super formation to win you title after title but it's a goal filled fun fest that had me clicking continue over and over again!

The League Table

We pushed Madrid, arguably one of the best teams in the world until the last day, if they had lost to Valencia we would have been crowned as Champions. I think this shows how effective this formation can be as we've all seen more normal formations struggle vs the might and power of Madrid. I didn't expect it to work at all but we kept going and i was pleasantly surprised to have took it to the last day, if i wasn't testing at the start of the save i possibly could have just snuck the title. 

As For The Rest

The formation bombed in Europe as we crashed out the Champions League in the group stages but we did manage to make up for this by winning the Europa League, not a bad consolation prize. 

Does it work? As i said it depends on what you're after but i found it a very enjoyable tactic to use, now let's see how the players did.

Players Performances

Spoiler

 

Goals

As you can see the front players scored for fun, i did however rotate them often as i never focused on a set three or certain combination

AvR & Everything Else

Goals Conceded

Bravo also conceded 16, we conceded over 100 goals yet we still finished second and won a cup, as i said this formation is goal festing fun!

Cards

The main issue with this formation is it collects cards like crazy (three BWMs will do that) which means suspensions and ten men a lot of the time. I went into the save unprepared for the destruction this can cause so a word of warning, be prepared! 

 

The Results

Spoiler

 

The results screen is incredibly touchy/slidy this year but i tried to get them all in, likely missed some though. 
Just keep an eye out for the fun in these results!

I made some changes after the Sevilla game (changed to Wbs and removed the SK)

That Arsenal match was tough

Sevilla and teams with TMs gave us massive issues

A very up and down season but it was incredibly fun to play

 

Why Would I Use This Formation?

This isn't a serious formation in the slightest and i'd only suggest using it for fun or if you're sick of the match engine. Using a formation like this which you know has holes makes the higher AI scoring somewhat bearable and this was the most fun i've had with a save in ages. It can be successful as i've shown but i'm not sure that's the point of it, the point of it is it's pure fun, carnage and a joy to play with, unless you can't handle stupid scores and losing, if that's the case you should avoid this. 

Just look at those goals for and against! I saw 241 goals in one season, madness!

What About Moving The Defence Higher?

Were you thinking that too or am i crazy? Well for those of you wondering if you can move up another level pay attention now. 

Spoiler

 

Formation

 

Did I Make It To January?

I was in shock at this point in fairness, still in the job and only six points off top! 

Then The Wheels Fell Off

The goals dried up and we dropped like a stone, unfortunate! 

 

That's it for my look at the 0-4-2-1-3 formation and i hope you enjoyed the journey. The tactic was fun and i think you should try it if you fancy a laugh, however due to the nature of this tactic i won't be offering support with it or likely using it again myself. I would however love to see your results and if anyone tests it on the EME please let me know how it goes. 

As always thank you for following and please remember to leave a comment.  

[Ashez]

23 minutes ago, Risheek said:

It looks amazing, but the pics aren't working for me

All are working fine for me on both devices, anyone else having issues?

[Crowe]

4 minutes ago, Ashez said:

All are working fine for me on both devices, anyone else having issues?

Can see all pics fine mate.☺

[Ashez]

1 minute ago, Crowe said:

Can see all pics fine mate.☺

Cheers  

[Brenty92]

You don't half come up with some crazy content @Ashez keep them coming lol

[UKFootballScore]

That is pure epicness mate!! Loved that for a read!

[Ashez]

1 hour ago, Brenty92 said:

You don't half come up with some crazy content @Ashez keep them coming lol

 

1 hour ago, UKFootballScore said:

That is pure epicness mate!! Loved that for a read!

Cheers lads, I'm glad you enjoyed it  

[PriZe]

Hahah insane that's your new name! Nice one m8

[Ashez]

Thanks Prize  

[Statto_74]

Ashez: "We pushed Madrid, arguably one of the best teams in the world until the last day, if they had lost to Valencia we would have been crowned as Champions"

 

Aren't Barca one of the top teams in the world? Often beating RM to the title before the last day of the season?

[debaser]

They usually use defenders, however.

[Ashez]

On 12/10/2015 at 08:42, Statto_74 said:

Ashez: "We pushed Madrid, arguably one of the best teams in the world until the last day, if they had lost to Valencia we would have been crowned as Champions"

 

Aren't Barca one of the top teams in the world? Often beating RM to the title before the last day of the season?

And how much of that is down to the politics and rubbish that surround Madrid? In game Madrid is based on talent and not politics which makes them much more dangerous in game than in real life. If a Madrid manager could go in there and do things his own way they'd be a lot more dangerous than they are now which is just a collection of superstars which are far from being a team, never mind a balanced one. The manager can't play who he wants, sign who he wants or play how he wants and that is the reason they are not as powerful as they should be. 

 

On 12/10/2015 at 23:16, debaser said:

They usually use defenders, however.

Well said