Ashez & Foxy Present Gegenpressing!
Ashez 92 replies 32,327 Views
-
Join in on the discussion
Register now to FMM Vibe to be able to download files, create discussions, get help, and pass on your experiences to others.
Register Now Free, Quick and Easy -
New Topics
-
-
Latest Posts
-
Welcome to this second tactic recreation from @Ashez and myself which we found a real labour of love as we have looked to recreate the “heavy metal football” style of Jurgen Klopp better known as Gegenpressing. Liverpool’s high tempo and relentless attacking approach wowed football fans around the world last season as they blitzed teams both home and away especially on route to the Champions League final.
The basis of this tactic at least in the back 6 is actually our Tiki-Taka tactic that you can find here as they are two styles that share some similarities such as high pressing to try and win the ball back quickly and a desire to play the ball out from the back to instigate attacking moves. That’s where the similarity ends though as this tactic is far more relentless going forward as we look to overwhelm opponents with our pace, power and shear numbers in attack and we especially want to see our teams counter attack quickly and clinically.
So sit back and relax as we bring you Klopp’s Gegenpressing.
The Gegenpress Back 6
I'm not going to pull the wool over your eyes as this back 6 is identical to the one used in the Tiki-Taka article, however it is identical in role name only. You see with a change of mentality this back six has completely changed how the match is played as you can clearly see differences in how our Tiki-Taka and Gegen players approached their roles. In this system you will still witness playing out from the back but it's not as controlled as the previous version with more risks being taken, another big difference is the central defenders push up the pitch a lot higher with it not being uncommon to find them in the opposition's half. The main difference however is how the wingbacks play their position as in this tactic your wingbacks are second wingers who will continually bomb up and down the flacks and be a lot more attacking than their tiki-taka counter parts. The wingbacks pushing up higher is also the first line of our Gegenpress as this player will be expected to press the opposition wide players and pin them back into their own half, doing this eliminates an attacking avenue for the opposition while handing yourself an attacking advantage. When the wingback wins possession in these areas of the pitch he'll be expected to play a pass infield or forward while maintaining his width and attack to be open for a return ball down the side of the opposition, as well as partnering with his wide teammate to out number the defending teams fullbacks. Due to this positioning, decisions, stamina and pace are vital attributes for these players to ensure they can recover if they get caught out and so they go forward at the right times.
The principles of this section of the system are similar to the Tiki-Taka guide so for a detailed breakdown of why these roles were used I'd suggest reading that. In simple terms the playing out from the back is a way to create pockets of space which you aim to exploit through various methods. While the Tiki-Taka system looks to exploit this space via short passes and possession the Gegenpressing style is more direct looking for faster balls into creative players or ones with pace on the flanks to get behind the opposition to create opportunities.
The Press
In the midfield section of the recreation we desired one thing more than anything else and that was energy! Klopp's central midfield is the main area of the press as this duo have to close down the opposition and win the ball back, the fact box to box midfielders will roam around the pitch means they're useful in attacking and defensive situations as they'll get around the pitch pressing anyone they can. The legs in this midfield also helps out in an attacking sense as you'll see both midfielders joining the attack and acting as runners, having two extra bodies entering the attacking third causes havoc for the opposition and in this panic one of our forwards or runners is likely to be free. Having two running midfielders combined with two running wingbacks means we can have up to four traditionally deep players pushing forward, pressing and finding space while the deep lying playmaker adds defensive support to the central defence. This tactic overloads the opposition and pins them in but as it's full of runners you can usually get back to stop a counter, however for this system to work you need top players with key stats like positioning, stamina, decisions, teamwork and pace as they need to venture forward at the right times, be positionally aware so they don't leave exploitable holes, be able to press as a team and not individually while pace and stamina will ensure they're getting around the pitch at speed to join or stop attacks.
The High Press
The high press is likely the most influential part of this system as the higher you win the ball back the more dangerous the chance you create will be. This was one vital aspect of the tactic we wanted to see while we were also after exciting interplay by the front three as seen by Mane, Firmino and Salah at Liverpool this season. The one play in particular we wanted to recreate was the ball into a wide runner, then back central to a midfielder or Firmino followed up by a ball back wide/forward into an attacking opportunity. That concept led to this attacking three as we new we wanted the striker deep, a more attacking threat on the right and a runner on the left which created the types of play we wanted.
The AMC role is the start of the central high press as the shadow striker will prowl this area of the pitch looking to win the ball back with BBM support from the opposition defenders, if he manages to claim the ball he'll have options on either wing or from midfield. As the striker has a free role he'll at times drop deep to help his midfield or venture further forward to act more like a striker which pulls the opposition defence out of position. If a defender follows him deep that defender has left a gaping hole one of the other attackers can exploit, if he drifts wide to occupy a wide defender he's freeing up the positioned attacker from that side to drift in field causing mayhem for the opposition.
The role of the left sided attacker took some debating as in Mane's case I think you could argue he's the perfect hybrid of APM, WNG and ISF but in the end we decided we wanted another runner in the team, granted this also could of led to the ISF role but making him a narrow winger means more space centrally for the other players. With the winger set as narrow he'll offer some width alongside the wingback but he'll naturally be more in field than hugging the touchline which leads to him being an unpredictable attacking threat. As one of the main aspects of a winger is to be a willing runner you'll notice this player will also press high and pin back the opposition wingback while attempting to get in behind for a cross or shooting opportunity. The fact wingers love to dribble with the ball into space also makes this a valuable weapon for the counters we're looking to create, another added benefit would be he'll have the pace to exploit any space created by our press or our playing out from the back. The unpredictably of him staying wide, running beyond or going in field keeps the opposition guessing all game while placing him in positions to link up with our other forwards and runners, you see his main job is to stretch teams and move the opposition around the pitch for others to exploit. If they double up on him at the RB position he's created space in field or on the left as the opposition move across, if he's occupying a player in field he's creating an overlap opportunity for the wingback or BBM and so on.
The final piece of the puzzle is a pushed up inside forward who will press high at pace while venturing around the pitch. This player is hard to pin down as he can appear basically anywhere in the attacking third as he looks to jump on any defensive mistakes or get on the end of through balls. This player will occupy his opposition wingback and right sided central defender all game which works perfectly with the other members of the attack, as it can basically lead to the AMC only having one maker to beat or if they gang up on him the ISF is now in a similar position, he could even be free if your wingback or BBM keeps the opposition wingback busy. Being the furthest forward the ISF is your most dangerous attacking threat as his free role will mean he's drifting for space but his pressing will also mean the opposition have no time on the ball, even if he's unable to claim it any rushed pass into the midfield could be easy pickings for our pressers and runners.
This front three works tremendously as it presses as a unit, has creatively, pace, goal threat, energy and fantastic interplay as the system is incredibly flexible. It pulls the opposition all over the pitch to keep them guessing which combined with the runners from deep leads to various attacks where you simply out number the opposition and keep them in their own half. The thought process of a through ball from midfield into Salah, a pass back to Firmino to spread it to the runner in Mane who can shoot or square it to someone else is simple but it leads to something deadly.
Team Instructions
Shape
Team Mentality: This is one of the most important decisions we made with this tactic and despite being the most attacking option it actually helps both offensively and defensively. On the attack it ensures that we get plenty of bodies forward to create overloads against the opposition and this is especially useful on the counter, because as soon as we win the ball back everyone in the team is on the front foot looking to get involved in the attack and take advantage of gaps in the opposition formation. This is where having all these fast players in the team really pays off.
In defence it enables us to press the opposition as high up the pitch as possible simply because our players are so advanced, at times you will see all 10 outfield players in the opposition half. With so many players pushed forward it makes it as hard as possible for the opposition to play their way out meaning they either risk losing possession and getting countered by us or they hit it long and invariably give away possession.
Width: We used narrow to ensure that we keep a compact shape, that will allow our players to press as a team as one player pressing on his own will simply create gaps that the opposition can exploit if they evade the press. This option is also to ensure that when the ball is won back there is options to pass to because we have our players close together. This option doesn’t mean we have no width though as the two WB’s and the left winger will naturally move wide when we have the ball.
Tempo: Play too slowly and teams will get players back to defend easily and play to quickly and we risk giving the ball away with rushed passes. With an overload mentality we will naturally play at a more attacking higher tempo anyway.
Creative Freedom: We want our players to express themselves in order to create chances and open up defences.
Defence
Defensive Line: We went with the deep line for the same reason we did with our Tiki-Taka tactic as we want to draw the opposition onto us so we can create space for us to exploit when we win the ball back and hit them on the break. The deep line also means that we can play out from the back as our defenders drop back deep to pick the ball up from the goalkeeper.
Closing Down: What other option would we use! We want to win the ball back as quickly as possible and as high up the pitch as possible so we can create good goal scoring chances.
We never felt we needed to use any other options in this menu in order to recreate the gegenpressing style.
Attack
Final Third: To fully exploit the wings with our wing backs we have Look for Overlap turned on, this coupled with our overload mentality leads to the wingbacks pushing high up the pitch to pin back the opposition full backs. To create the interchange of passes that we wanted from our forward players and BBM’s we have Work into Box turned on as well as Through Balls.
Passing Style: Gegenpressing isn’t solely based on short passing so neither is our tactic. The ball can be played quickly and directly into the front three or we can play it out from the back with shorter passes and mixed gives us both options as does our mixed Goalkeeper Distribution.
Passing Focus: We want to use our BBM’s to full effect and to do that we have chosen to go with a central passing focus, this also enables our wingbacks to get further forward and support our three attackers along with the BBM’s.
Coaches and Training
This tactic is extremely intensive with a number of roles involving a lot of running throughout the team, due to this it's important to plan for these potential issues. Below I'll explain the systems I put in place to try limit these issues from a coaching and training point of view, as it's not essential reading I've decided to place the section inside a spoiler.
Coaches
When you start up your save I'd advise you make yourself a fitness coach, I'd suggest this as that way you'll always have one with you throughout the save. If this option doesn't appeal to you I'd strongly recommend you sign one as soon as possible, you see the fitness coach will boost your players physical stats and you'll need all the extra stamina and pace you can get. The rest of the coaching staff are more optional and free to your personal tastes but to truly emulate Klopp's style I'd recommend an attacking coach within the set up. In the set up shown above I also included a motivational coach to ensure the players are up to the play style and a general coach since a lot of my players are on general training.
Physios
The physio decision is up to you but I'm in the camp of I'd rather try and limit injuries instead of being able to rush players back.
Training
General
Personally I don't trust having more than two areas on intensive so this is my general training, I tend to use this for all my balanced players like the midfielders. Admittedly it sucks not being able to include intensive fitness training on top of this for those players but it's a risk I don't like taking, however others swear by triple intensive set ups so use what works for you.
Specific Training
This is my specific training which I use for attackers and defenders with that slider changing depending on which one it is.
Sweeper Keeper Training
My keeper settings are more unique as I've substituted the fitness training for tactical training so he knows when to sweep, I've also put him on light attack and defence training so he's more useful when in possession or out of his box.
Squad Management
This is such an intensive tactic that it is important you spend some time considering how you build your squad and then how you manage through the season to ensure your star players stay fit. This squad management can be split into two categories.
1. Transfers and squad size.
2. Team selection and substitutions.
Transfers and Squad Size
This tactic includes some of the game’s most high energy roles including the BBM’s and WB’s so you need good back-ups within the squad because the players that player these roles will get tired. I’m sure we all try to make sure we have two players for every position plus three goalkeepers when we build a squad giving us a squad of 23 players but you might find you want to add a couple more to that when using this tactic to ensure you are well covered. This will ensure you can rotate the squad and have cover for any injuries or suspensions. The difficulty can come when you need to keep players happy with the playing time they get so it can help to have a few youngsters as the extra men in the squad who can be developed and used in easier cup ties or fill spots on the bench when required. Another useful type of player to have in the squad is the utility-man and by that I mean players that can player in a number of positions and do a job. A few players like this in the squad can make team selection much easier as the season goes on and you need to start juggling the team to fill all the roles. You can also create them yourself as many players can play multiple positions and of course we have the option to train them in more.
Take Trent Alexander-Arnold as an example, he is a natural RB or RWB but then can also play DM and CM and has a small amount of knowledge as a RW as well. He has some excellent attributes and with some position training he could easily become a natural BBM and RW and you could even train him in LWB to provide some cover there as well. I would concentrate on training him to be a natural CM first as it shouldn’t take too long and he will provide excellent cover for the BBM’s.
When you are looking for signings or deciding which players to keep and which to sell it is worth considering a few attributes that can make them fit into this tactic.
As Mr Versatility himself James Milner is demonstrating you want players with good pace, stamina, decisions and teamwork from your players on top of the role specific attributes that you would usually look for.
Pace: You need quick players in this tactic to ensure that they can exploit the space that this tactic can create especially on the fast counter attacks. Defensively it also ensures that they can close down the opposition quickly and they can get back to defend as quickly as possible if an attack breaks down.
Stamina: This is a high energy tactic with rapid attacking and then very intensive pressing out of possession and to do this for the entire game your players will require high stamina.
Decisions: This tactic creates space for quick counter attacks but to exploit this you need players who can recognise this situation and then play the correct pass to exploit it.
Teamwork: To me this is an important attribute in any tactic as it ensures your players will work together and they will work hard but in this tactic it is vital as a player with low teamwork is less likely to press the opposition with the rest of the team and this will create gaps in the team that the opposition will exploit with relish.
Team Selection and Substitutions
If you want to compete in all competitions you will find you will be playing 65-67 games a season depending on what nation you are managing in and with that many games it is important that you rest key players in the most intensive roles in this tactic, with from our experience these are the WB’s, BBM’s and the front three. This is why you need to spend some time to build the squad to ensure you can rotate.I personally like to mix my teams up as the season goes on so that some of my best players play with my back-up players or youngsters but you may want to have two 11’s that you rotate depending on the importance of the game or the strength of the opposition. When picking your team for a game I wouldn’t risk any players who have a condition under 95% unless you really have to.
In matches you want to start thinking about substitutions after about 60 minutes of the match and you want to keep a close eye on the key positions of WB’s, BBM’s and the front three. As the season goes on you will get to know your players and who gets tired quickly and who can recover after a game and who can't. In my Liverpool save i knew that Alexander-Arnold would struggle to play two full 90 minutes in a week so I would need to sub him towards the end of games to ensure he was fit for the next match. I would aim to sub players when they get below 75% condition if you have a mid-week game and and you want them to be 100% for that but you obviously can’t sub everyone so you need to keep an eye on up coming games and work out who is going to be important in future matches and who you would be happy to rest if they need it.
Stat Showcase
This showcase has been done the same way as the Tiki-Taka one where I played half a season as Liverpool, once the 32 matches were played I went through them all collecting the key stats to show you. The signings on both saves were identical apart from on this attempt I also managed to bring in Shaqiri who I couldn't get on the Tiki-Taka save so this works as I decent way to compare the two.
Possession
While the Tiki-Taka formation was designed to keep possession this one takes more risks and relies on the opposition having the ball more so we can press and counter them as needed, thankfully this is shown as this tactic has around 10% less average possession when comparing the two. This tactic achieved a possession stat over 50% 5/32 compared to the 28/32 the Tiki-Taka formation achieved.
Shots
The shots per game stat is better in the Tiki-Taka formation by one in shots attempted and those conceded, however this again shows how this formation is more open in comparison. An average of 12 is still impressive however and this shape achieved 24/32 matches where it achieved 10 or more shots at goal while in 15/32 matches it allowed less than 5 shots on goal for the opposition.
Shots On Target
The shots on target for my teams were similar with this one achieving 6.5 and the Tiki-Taka one 6.2 which you might assume to be the wrong way around, as the slow precise nature of the Pep style should in theory have more, however I'd put this down to the reliance on ISF's in that tactic. When looking at the opposition chances however you get a clearer picture of how open this tactic is as the AI achieved an average of 2.9 shots on target while the Tiki-Taka style limited the opposition to an average of just 1.6.
Clear Cut Chances
In clear cut chances however the fact this tactic wins the ball in more advanced areas and looks to overwhelm the opposition leads to a lot more high chance chances as it averages a monstrous 1.6 good scoring opportunities a game compared to the Tiki-Taka's 1.2. The more open nature of this tactic is also showcased here however as this tactic gifts the opposition 0.44 good chances compared to the other tactics 0.1 average.
Penalties & Red Cards
Penalties - We won 3 penalties across this save conceding none. Compared to 5 and 2 in the other test.
Red Cards - The AI received 3 red cards in these 32 matches while we received 2. The Tiki-Taka formation saw the AI sent off 7 times in the same time period so this could be showcasing how frustrating it can be for players playing against a possession based opponent.
The Full Stats (Tiki-Taka Results)
LFC
Total Shots - 372 (416)
Total On Target - 210 (199)
Total CCC - 54 (41)
Actually Scored - 84 (68)
Opposition
Total Shots - 177 (146)
Total On Target - 95 (53)
Total CCC - 14 (3)
We Conceded - 20 (17)
As you can see this Klopp system is more open but it's far more clinical in front of goal as it had 44 less shots but achieved more on target, it also created a massive 13 more clear cut opportunities! Personally i'd put a lot of this on the hard wired shots from target issues I've discussed previously but these Results speak for themselves. Defensively the controller style of the Tiki-Taka experience is more solid as it performed better across the board so both tactics have their positive and negative attributes, it just depends on what type of manager you want to be.
The Results
Liverpool
This tactic was tested twice with Liverpool, once by Foxy and once by myself, however one slight disclaimer is I sent Foxy the save after the first ten games to save him setting up a fresh save to get his opinion.
Ashez Results
Foxy Results
Dortmund
Burnley - Well Worth A Look!
Villarreal
Manchester United - Thank You @kylieboi88
Once again we gifted Kyle out tactic to see what he could achieve with it.
Thanks again mate, it's very much appreciated.
FC Porto
I decided to have a fun rebuild test where I basically sold everyone and tried to build an ideal "budget" squad for this tactic.
The Dropped Points
You can already see this tactic is more consistent than its Tiki-Taka counter part but it can still drop points and be FMM'd as I'll showcase below.
Showcase Of Fast Starts
Another key aspect of Klopp teams is the fact they start strong and attempt to kill the match off as fast as possible, thankfully we can see this in FMM as below I'll showcase all the matches from saves I still have where we score two or more in around the first fifteen minutes.
There were a lot of examples of us scoring once early but I decided showcasing two early goals gets the point across more.
Showcase Of Blitzing Teams
It's not all about fast starts however as Liverpool are known to attack again after taking the lead in an attempt to blitz the opposition into defeat while they have momentum. Below you'll see examples of this tactic blitzing the opposition with fast follow up goals.
Ashez Conclusion
When talk of creating a Tiki-Taka tactic started the conversation drifted towards Klopp and his famous style but @Foxy accidentally laid down the challenge with the words "it can't be done." I'll admit I was in that same camp but being inspired by the Tiki-Taka recreation and it's response I thought it was at least worth a look, especially as a lot of the key principles were locked down during the first recreation, I dunno it just felt in reach so I talked Foxy into helping me look into it. Believe it or not we settled on the first test, the second I saw it I was giddy and I instantly sent the save to Foxy with the words "just try it", I like to imagine his jaw hitting the floor during that first match, from his response I knew we'd achieved the unthinkable! Foxy hits the nail on the head with his conclusion as while I'm proud of the Tiki-Taka system it has its flaws, mostly ones outside of our control but they're still there, this one however is just magic. If pure joy was a FMM tactic it would be this one.
Foxy's Conclusion
You would have to be very anti Liverpool to not enjoy the football they have produced over the last year or so under Klopp as it has been so exciting and as someone who was lucky enough to have seen them play live last season I am delighted to be able to recreate it in FMM. Our Tiki Taka tactic is great and I am proud of how close we got with that but this is another level up and I personally think it is much closer to the style that we are trying to recreate. I have lost count of the number of times I have used this tactic and I have blitzed teams in games and I have just sat there watching it thinking “yes this is Klopp’s Liverpool” and that says it all really. I am really looking forward to FMM19 now and seeing if myself and Ashez can get this to work as well in the new game and of course we may get some new options that could even enhance it even more!
Thank you for viewing and we both look forward to reading your comments and seeing your results so don't forget to comment!
PS - This was 100% a team effort so if you happen to press the +1/like feature on this article can you please also like a post from Foxy which I'm sure will be in this thread. Thank you.
Link to comment
Share on other sites