My Favourite Role on FMM - Deep Lying Playmaker

 

When I think of a deep lying playmaker (DLP), players such as Michael Carrick, Xabi Alonso and of course Andrea Pirlo instantly come to mind. These are the guys that just seem to have that extra split second on the ball to get their head up and assess the situation and then pick the perfect pass. They make the whole team tick by controlling the tempo of the game and getting the ball from defence and moving it on to players in better positions further up the pitch

 

I cannot think of a successful tactic I have ever used which doesn’t contain a DLP in the midfield and to be honest I never even think of not including one when I create my tactic. Of course, like real football everyone has their opinions and preferred ways of doing things within FMM. This article isn’t intended to say this is how you must play the game. Its more this is how I see one role within the game and how I utilise that role. Maybe you don’t rate DLPs and never use them if so let me know in the comments below why.

 

The role

 

Let’s start with what FMM tells us about DLP. This can be found in Tactics > Roles and then click on the i icon.

The DLP operates in the space between the defence and the midfield and aims to initiate moves via pinpoint passes to players positioned higher up the pitch.

I have some screenshots that I hope will demonstrate this better later in the article but first let’s look at what abilities you need in this type of player.

The DLP can be played in both centre midfield and defensive midfield and the stats you require depend on how much you expect from that player. The following screenshot shows Danny Drinkwater who along with Jordan Henderson play the DLP role in my England save. Neither are the best DLPs in the game but they play the role well. I have highlighted in red the stats that I believe are vital to play the DLP role effectively, of course in lower leagues you may not fulfil every requirement but you should look for as high a rating as you can get.

 

 Passing and creativity are linked and simply you want these stats as high as you can get. The DLP main job is to pass the ball and not just simple sideways and backwards passes but also defence splitting passes so they need the creativity to be able to do that.

 Having a high decisions rating means they will pick the right times to try those more ambitious passes and when they should keep it simple and just give it to the nearest teammate.

With good movement, your DLP will pick up good positions to receive the ball from team mates. Often a DLP won’t have the best physical stats (think Andrea Pirlo or Luka Modric) so they need this on field intelligence to compensate.

The DLP is the heartbeat of the team and needs to work well with his teammates that’s where a high teamwork rating comes in useful.

You may want a little more from your DLP. I often have my DLP playing in the defensive midfield position and acting as my most defensive minded midfielder. In this case you will want to look for some additional stats on top of the stats above which I have marked in yellow on this screenshot of our man Drinkwater.

 

I think tackling and strength speak for themselves you want him contributing to the defence so these are important. You could add aggression in as well but I don’t worry too much about that when looking for a DLP.

Positioning obviously affects if your player takes up the right positions on the pitch. A high rating here could compensate for lower tackling and strength. This is because if your DLP can take up good positions in front of your centre backs he can intercept passes and win the ball back without the need to tackle the opposition. If you want or need to play counter attacking football look for good positioning in your DLP as he can win the ball back whilst keeping the shape of the team. This is because he won’t need to dive into tackles and get caught out of position which cause openings for your opponent to exploit.

In practice

 

All this theory is great but how does it look on the pitch. As I mentioned above you can utilise a DLP in centre midfield and defensive midfield. There are so many formations and player roles you could combine with your DLP that I can’t go through them all but there are a couple of rules I think you should try to remember.

1.   Think about the style of play you want. If you are playing a direct style you will probably want your DLP to be your main creative out let using his passing ability to get the ball forwards quickly to the wingers or strikers. If you’re playing shorter passing the DLP will be a link man getting the ball from the defence and either retaining possession with short passes or he will look to get the ball to an advanced playmaker further up the pitch.

2.   It sounds obvious but your DLP needs players to pass the ball to and remember the DLP is quite a static role who won’t make many forward runs. Make sure in a shorter passing game you have plenty of options around the DLP for him to pass to and that you have options further forward on the pitch for him. This can be in attacking midfield or centre midfield just so long as there are players making forward runs or in advanced positions otherwise the DLP becomes redundant within the team.

 

I played two matches to give you some examples of the DLP in action. In the first game against Spain I used the DLP in defensive midfield. This was a tough game for the DLP to make an impact in due to Spain playing the same formation as us and cutting out the passing options for him. What I did get was some good examples of how he can help out in defence and show some of the limitations he faced when he had the ball. Henderson played the full 90 minutes and was wearing Number 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Our centre back has broken out of the back line to challenge Alcacer in the air from the goal kick. You can see Henderson is dropping back into the defence to cover for Keane being out of position.

 

 

 We are on the attack here and you can see Henderson sitting in front of the defence filling the gap between the two centre backs. As he is unmarked he also provides an option for Ward-Prowse to pass back to if he needs to which can help us keep possession.

 

 

 

 Here we can see Henderson is possession having received a pass from our centre back (No 5). You can see that our other midfield players are well covered by the Spanish midfield although Alli (No 7) is becoming available for a pass due to the Spanish midfielder moving across to closs down Henderson. On this occasion Henderson looks for the ball over the top by hitting it into space for our left winger (No 10) to use his pace to get onto. 

 

The second game I played was against Wales and I started with a 4-2-3-1 with the DLP in centre midfield position. Danny Drinkwater played in this game wearing the number 7 shirt.

 

 

 

You can see here that Danny has joined the attack and is on the edge of the area. This is a great position as if the cross was cleared it could fall to him and give him the chance of shooting a at least retaining possession and pressure on the Welsh defence. The only negative is that if the winger gave away possession there is a large open space with an unmarked Welsh player and a well-placed clearance could find him and start a counter for Wales. In this case the cross deflected of the defender and we won a corner.

 

 

 

 We moved to a 4-4-2 in the second half with Drinkwater still the DLP in centre midfield. He has the ball deep in the midfield and sends a direct pass forwards to Rashford (No 11) looking to initiate a quick attack.

 

 

Rashford isn’t able to hold the ball up and its cleared by the Wales defender but it goes straight back to Drinkwater. He has a few options available to him and little bit of time to pick a pass. We had moved to direct passing so he is our only playmaker in the team and he is keen to pass it forwards trying to unlock the defence. He doesn’t pick the best option this time as he attempts to pass it to number 20 who is offside this is a situation where you need a player with good decision making as the better options where a short pass to Rashford or out wide to our full back (No 3) or winger (No9).

 

Whatever style you are playing you shouldn’t necessary expect bucket loads of assists from your DLP. As I have said earlier he is a link man within the team, his job is to get the ball to the glory players in the team such as the advanced playmaker or wingers who then deliver that killer pass or cross and get the glory of an assist. It’s a very unsung role and much of what he does for the team can go unnoticed. I find them to be very versatile in both attack and defence and really wouldn’t want a team without one.

I would love to hear your opinions on the DLP maybe you never use one and It would be great to hear your reasons for not having one.

Do you have a role that you always use in every tactic that you make? Or maybe there is a role you would like me to look into and write an article about just let me know in the comments below.

I hope you have enjoy this article and thank you for reading.  

[Scratch]

Great article! Before FMM 2017 I never gave DLPs a chance, I was always went with more attacking options - but now they are probably the most important midfield role for me. They get a lot of assists for me too.

[Mr.Manager]

Great article mate! I love DPs too, although i look for slightly different attributes to you - I'm not so bothered about movement, and i look for dribbling, positioning and stamina too. I don't really know why, they just seemed to be the attributes that the best DPs at the beginning of the game had.

[Jeroenvk94]

Well written mate ! I love the DLP role too, there's always room for one of them in my squad!

[Meow]

I've always been using the DLP-AP midfield pairing, love it, I don't often see many tactics on Vibe using that pairing, rather the BBM-AP one seems the more common one of Vibe.

As for defensive midfield, I'll never play one, because I don't ever play 433. Partly because a player in the defensive midfield never plays well. Having a centre back drive forward can be effective, but can often be a huge risk, especially devastating if dealing with a quick no. 10 because the covering DLP aren't usually very pacy players. So I much prefer to keep my centre backs behind, passing forward to a DLP (placed further up in the CM position) or with wing backs (usually left) looking for an early cross.

Finally just a nice little thing I've noticed, DLP don't often score too much. But when they do, it's often a really really good long shot, 20-35 yards out.

[FuddledFox]

4 hours ago, Risheek said:

Very well written! Great piece mate! I'm no expert with player roles and these kind of pieces are very entertaining for me! Great work!

Thank you I'm glad you enjoyed it.

3 hours ago, scratch99 said:

Great article! Before FMM 2017 I never gave DLPs a chance, I was always went with more attacking options - but now they are probably the most important midfield role for me. They get a lot of assists for me too.

I love having their creativity from deep positions and they always offer a chance to recycle the ball if a move breaks down further forward. Interesting that you get lots of assists from DLPs. I don't tend to so maybe we use them in different ways which is what I love about the game their is always more than one way to do things and be successful.

3 hours ago, Mr.Manager said:

Great article mate! I love DPs too, although i look for slightly different attributes to you - I'm not so bothered about movement, and i look for dribbling, positioning and stamina too. I don't really know why, they just seemed to be the attributes that the best DPs at the beginning of the game had.

I have never thought of looking for dribbling but it does make sense as its important they are good on the ball.

3 hours ago, Jeroenvk94 said:

Well written mate ! I love the DLP role too, there's always room for one of them in my squad!

Thank you and glad to hear you always have a place for a DLP.

1 hour ago, Meow said:

I've always been using the DLP-AP midfield pairing, love it, I don't often see many tactics on Vibe using that pairing, rather the BBM-AP one seems the more common one of Vibe.

As for defensive midfield, I'll never play one, because I don't ever play 433. Partly because a player in the defensive midfield never plays well. Having a centre back drive forward can be effective, but can often be a huge risk, especially devastating if dealing with a quick no. 10 because the covering DLP aren't usually very pacy players. So I much prefer to keep my centre backs behind, passing forward to a DLP (placed further up in the CM position) or with wing backs (usually left) looking for an early cross.

Finally just a nice little thing I've noticed, DLP don't often score too much. But when they do, it's often a really really good long shot, 20-35 yards out.

I love a DLP-AP pairing as well think it gives you so much creativity from both deep positions and around the box. What I love about FMM is that their is so many different ways to play and still be successful.

[samhardy]

Very good analysis mate, something I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I've actually used the role a lot more this year as I feel it's been 'fixed' in some ways - in previous years it hasn't really been clear what it brings to the table as there always seemed to be inconsistent performances and odd positionings on the match engine.

[FuddledFox]

Thank you very much I'm glad you enjoyed reading.

[Scratch]

16 hours ago, fuddledfoxFM said:

I love having their creativity from deep positions and they always offer a chance to recycle the ball if a move breaks down further forward. Interesting that you get lots of assists from DLPs. I don't tend to so maybe we use them in different ways which is what I love about the game their is always more than one way to do things and be successful.

I use them in a three person midfield: CM AP DLP. I think part of it is that there are so many great DLPs in the game. I always go with one who has high Passing Creativity and Decisions - I don't care about the other stats at all - so if nothing else, they should be good at finding the striker. I generally play Direct through the Centre so they get lots of chances to make that killer pass. 

[Fish18ish]

This is a terrific article, brilliant use of screenshots too. However the DLP is very much a specialist role so plenty of smaller teams don't have players who can fulfill it. How do you DLPs do for average ratings? In my experience they struggle to get more than 7, but perhaps I'm using them wrong.

[Snip]

Great article.. I tend not to play any minefielder in the defensive position.. I know match ratings aren't the be all and end all but I find a def mid of any sort just hardly gets over a 7 rating and often less.. anyone else find that?

[Taff]

Fantastic article dude, incredibly in depth and insightful 

I must admit it's a position I rearly use, but reading this has me re-thinking things

[Taff]

1 hour ago, scratch99 said:

I use them in a three person midfield: CM AP DLP. I think part of it is that there are so many great DLPs in the game. I always go with one who has high Passing Creativity and Decisions - I don't care about the other stats at all - so if nothing else, they should be good at finding the striker. I generally play Direct through the Centre so they get lots of chances to make that killer pass. 

See I was always under the impression that having this sort of set up meant no physical CM's (BWM/BBM) which I was always told you needed rather than three passing players, but maybe I need to re-think my approach

[Scratch]

47 minutes ago, Taff said:

See I was always under the impression that having this sort of set up meant no physical CM's (BWM/BBM) which I was always told you needed rather than three passing players, but maybe I need to re-think my approach

Well, you have to remember that I'm pretty much always playing a 1KC, so I'm focusing on scoring goals, even at the expense of balance, conceding goals, etc. That said, I'd probably go with the AP, DLP, CM combo anyway.

@BatiGoal talked me out of using BWM (which I used to use a lot), with his theory that they run around chasing people and get out of position etc. And I don't want to use BBM because they score too much!

So I generally have one player (DLP) sitting deep who can link with the defenders, transition into attack and dictate the play; then one (AP) who gets forward and can link the midfield with the attack; and one (CM) who just hangs around and does whatever the other two don't. Seems to work for me! 

[Taff]

29 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

Well, you have to remember that I'm pretty much always playing a 1KC, so I'm focusing on scoring goals, even at the expense of balance, conceding goals, etc. That said, I'd probably go with the AP, DLP, CM combo anyway.

@BatiGoal talked me out of using BWM (which I used to use a lot), with his theory that they run around chasing people and get out of position etc. And I don't want to use BBM because they score too much!

So I generally have one player (DLP) sitting deep who can link with the defenders, transition into attack and dictate the play; then one (AP) who gets forward and can link the midfield with the attack; and one (CM) who just hangs around and does whatever the other two don't. Seems to work for me! 

Cheers dude, good to know

[FuddledFox]

Wow want expecting so many notifications when I came in for lunch. It seems you all enjoyed my article and that makes me so so happy.

Its pretty cool that a few of you might give the role a chance after reading this as well.

2 hours ago, Fish18ish said:

However the DLP is very much a specialist role so plenty of smaller teams don't have players who can fulfill it.

41 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

@BatiGoal talked me out of using BWM (which I used to use a lot), with his theory that they run around chasing people and get out of position etc. And I don't want to use BBM because they score too much!

That's the exact reason I don't like BWM and prefer DLP I simply feel you get far more out of DLP than you do a BWM who as @BatiGoalsays just run around a lot.

2 hours ago, Snip said:

I know match ratings aren't the be all and end all but I find a def mid of any sort just hardly gets over a 7 rating and often less.. anyone else find that?

 

2 hours ago, Fish18ish said:

How do you DLPs do for average ratings? In my experience they struggle to get more than 7, but perhaps I'm using them wrong.

I tend to get average low 7s for my DLP over a season. If they get a 7 rating in a match I'm happy with that any less and I hook them off. In the DM position they do a lot more link play and the unspectacular things that don't push the rating up but its the job I need them to do. 

2 hours ago, Fish18ish said:

However the DLP is very much a specialist role so plenty of smaller teams don't have players who can fulfill it.

I don't think that is true in my experience. You have to look for lower stats and you probably wont get every stat covered but I have had success using a DLP in lower leagues. I often ignore the suggested role on a players profile and look at the stats he has if they have enough decent numbers in a few key attributes I will give them a chance.

 

Hope I covered everything discussed

[Jwill11]

There isn't a single tactic that I currently use that does not have a DLP on the field. It just works so well for me in any midfield combination.

[Meow]

19 hours ago, Taff said:

See I was always under the impression that having this sort of set up meant no physical CM's (BWM/BBM) which I was always told you needed rather than three passing players, but maybe I need to re-think my approach

I don't think simply playing a DLP-AP midfield pairing or a AP-DLP-CM midfield trio means you don't get a physical centre midfielder. My DLP in my current save has 18 tackling and 20 strength, and when out of possession often makes good tackles and then passes to a striker hanging on the shoulder of the opponent's centre back or a winger running in. Just because you play a physical player (who has good passing and creativity) in the "delicate" DLP role, doesn't make him a less of physical monster.

 

20 hours ago, Snip said:

Great article.. I tend not to play any minefielder in the defensive position.. I know match ratings aren't the be all and end all but I find a def mid of any sort just hardly gets over a 7 rating and often less.. anyone else find that?

17 hours ago, fuddledfoxFM said:

I tend to get average low 7s for my DLP over a season. If they get a 7 rating in a match I'm happy with that any less and I hook them off. In the DM position they do a lot more link play and the unspectacular things that don't push the rating up but its the job I need them to do. 

I find DLP in a midfield 2 far more effective than a midfield 3. It's true that DLP don't have a glamourous role. It's not that difficult to hit an 8 for a DLP in the CM position, a few key passes and a handful of interceptions. No need for assists or goals, but being played further up means he can still get a few here and there. My better DLPs usually hit a 7.4 rating in an average season, with a peak of 7.55 average rating. Not so great backup ones hit a 7.20-ish, with 7.32 in their peak years.

 

The issue with DLPs in a midfield 3 is that it is in the CDM position, the midfield is far too congested, so one midfielder often isn't involved in play that much. The one that usually suffers in a AP-DLP-CM trio is the DLP, who is played further back. And with centre backs and goalkeepers sometimes playing long, or wing backs pushing forwards, the one often skipped is your DLP shoved so far back in the CDM position.

[veerus]

Nice article.  Personally, I find that DLPs are pretty broken in this version.  Will be interesting to see if they get toned down in 2018.

[FuddledFox]

3 hours ago, Meow said:

And with centre backs and goalkeepers sometimes playing long, or wing backs pushing forwards, the one often skipped is your DLP shoved so far back in the CDM position

What I find is that with a DLP placed in CDM position it encourages the CB to pass the ball out. I don't use ball playing defenders but I still find they will look for the short pass to the DLP of course that come with a certain amount of risk! I usually use short passing and GK distribution which may be a factor in this.

2 hours ago, veerus said:

Nice article.  Personally, I find that DLPs are pretty broken in this version.  Will be interesting to see if they get toned down in 2018.

Glad you enjoyed the article. I'm interested why you say DLPs are broken? I tend to find they do what I want them to do. 

[mcandrew003]

Just found the time to give this a read and what an article it is! Really impressed, some fantastic analysis and you explained a lot of things very well. I for one always have to have a BBM in my team. 

[FuddledFox]

15 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Just found the time to give this a read and what an article it is! Really impressed, some fantastic analysis and you explained a lot of things very well. I for one always have to have a BBM in my team. 

Thank you mate I'm glad you enjoyed it. Not used BBMs much this year not for any real reason maybe need to give them ago myself

[veerus]

1 hour ago, fuddledfoxFM said:

I'm interested why you say DLPs are broken? I tend to find they do what I want them to do. 

DLPs are extremely effective at what they do.  If you've seen my El Ejido career, you'll know that I use 2x DLP in most of my formations and they form a very effective defensive wall.  My team are always near the top of goals conceded despite being underdogs in 95% of the matches.  And, as you pointed out, they're fairly decent going forward as well.

[Niall C]

Very good article. An interesting insight to what the player will do for you in different situations and tactics. Keep up the good work.

[Scratch]

I just thought I'd share this, which shows my DLP Ntcham and my AP Eugenio over the course of a season:

Almost identical! That's playing in a CM AP DLP three-man midfield (see my post above for playing style etc).

Of course there are so many variations that this can only be taken as a one-off eg rather than something that'd happen consistently. They both had brief stints filling in other positions, swapped to the bench when condition lower than 100%, etc. But my DLPs do consistently provide a lot of assists.

[Dar J]

On 8/18/2017 at 13:37, scratch99 said:

 

@BatiGoal talked me out of using BWM (which I used to use a lot), with his theory that they run around chasing people and get out of position etc. And I don't want to use BBM because they score too much!

Depends on who you pair the BWM with

[Ashez]

Wonderful article mate, by far the best tactical article Vibe has seen in a very long time. The only thing I'd liked to have seen added is some of the in match stats, I know many play by the visuals but the stats are always the key and could have helped with some of your explaining etc. Anyway that's a tiny nitpick as this was excellent , it's a shame I can only favourite it once!

Like others I've tended to use DLP's more in recent years although that's mainly because BWM are the most broken role on the game by far and are next to useless. I know why they're broken and if they aren't drastically improved for 2018 I'm debating about posting my research on the role which I passed to SI in private. Many say the role works fine but it doesn't, or on the off chance it does it just means there are way bigger issues with the EME but I'm going off topic. 

When you take the BWM off the table the DLP becomes your only real defensive role which is why it's gained popularity IMO. Personally I also like using a defensive minded standard CM at the DMC role on the EME and it can be effective, in one formation I was testing especially a CM/DMC was excellent. 

If BWM's worked I wouldn't use DLP's though in fairness, call me old fashioned but I love having a nasty, hard tackling, ball winning brute in my midfield who'll keep it simple and just rotate play. As much as I loved Alonso at Liverpool it was Mascherano who I always loved more, he was vital to our team and the one we regretted selling the most, he's also the one we've never replaced. 

A BBM APM with a BWM behind is my triangle of choice as it does exactly what I want it to do, the BWM wins the bal and simply passes it to someone who can do more damage, a DLP is slightly more unpredictable and risky. That's mainly why the BWM issues annoy me so much as IMO the BWM is the most important role on the pitch, look at any top side and they'll have a beast ball winner. On the OME I stick to the BWM role but on the EME I'm forced to be more adventurous so I've found a use for the DLP role at last. Back on the OME days and before the name recharge DLM's got hardly any love haha. 

Anyway fantastic work mate :). 

[FuddledFox]

On ‎22‎/‎08‎/‎2017 at 07:22, scratch99 said:

I just thought I'd share this, which shows my DLP Ntcham and my AP Eugenio over the course of a season:

Almost identical! That's playing in a CM AP DLP three-man midfield (see my post above for playing style etc).

Of course there are so many variations that this can only be taken as a one-off eg rather than something that'd happen consistently. They both had brief stints filling in other positions, swapped to the bench when condition lower than 100%, etc. But my DLPs do consistently provide a lot of assists.

That is some impressive work from both players , Interesting just how identical the stats are it looks like you have your tactics on point.

[FuddledFox]

1 hour ago, Ashez said:

Wonderful article mate, by far the best tactical article Vibe has seen in a very long time. The only thing I'd liked to have seen added is some of the in match stats, I know many play by the visuals but the stats are always the key and could have helped with some of your explaining etc. Anyway that's a tiny nitpick as this was excellent , it's a shame I can only favourite it once!

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. The feedback is appreciated as well and I will look to act on it. I was a little nervous about writing a tactical piece because I don't consider myself an expert and I wasn't sure if people would be interested. These types of articles I what I want to write for Vibe as they interest me and hopefully will interest others as well.

1 hour ago, Ashez said:

If BWM's worked I wouldn't use DLP's though in fairness, call me old fashioned but I love having a nasty, hard tackling, ball winning brute in my midfield who'll keep it simple and just rotate play. As much as I loved Alonso at Liverpool it was Mascherano who I always loved more, he was vital to our team and the one we regretted selling the most, he's also the one we've never replaced. 

I to like the old fashioned style BWM but do you not feel that role is dying out in modern football with the laws on tackling being made stricter?. One thing I am going to try is a DLP in defensive midfield and then have a BWM alongside the AP in central midfield to try and press higher up the pitch and win the ball back closer to the opposition goal. Not sure if it will work but it will be interesting to try.

[Ashez]

3 hours ago, fuddledfoxFM said:

Thank you very much. I'm glad you enjoyed it. The feedback is appreciated as well and I will look to act on it. I was a little nervous about writing a tactical piece because I don't consider myself an expert and I wasn't sure if people would be interested. These types of articles I what I want to write for Vibe as they interest me and hopefully will interest others as well.

I to like the old fashioned style BWM but do you not feel that role is dying out in modern football with the laws on tackling being made stricter?. One thing I am going to try is a DLP in defensive midfield and then have a BWM alongside the AP in central midfield to try and press higher up the pitch and win the ball back closer to the opposition goal. Not sure if it will work but it will be interesting to try.

I'd say the role is just changing to where they need to be smarter positionally so they don't have to dive in as much as we are used to. Covering the space to force the opposition wide or to pass it backwards is as important, tbh last gasp tackling just means they've been beaten or are in the wrong position. 

Take Matic as a great example as his presence alone allows the other United CMs to be more adventurous and when he gets the ball he keeps it simple or drives forward. Just the act of roaming the space, blocking passing routes and making the tackles makes them a million times better. The same could be said for Spurs as Wanyama and Dier do a similar job in protecting the back line and winning the ball back which allows the wingbacks to bomb on. Then you have LFC who play similarly but opt for a DLP in Henderson which constantly see's our back two exposed as Hendo can be caught out positionally. Hendo is a fantastic presser and has loads of energy and passing range but he lacks the ball winning mentality/defensive awareness I wish we had. 

BWM vs DLP, CB vs BPD and GK vs SKP are all similar debates really as both have rewards and negatives.