The Libero

The Libero is a position that pretty much died out in football. Nowadays we see defenses with 2 central defenders standing next to eachother, forming the defensive central. In most teams, those guys are no nonsense guys, tall and strong. 

The libero is a player that plays behind a central defender but in front of the keeper. He is literally the last line of defense.

Not only did a libero have to be strong and fast. They had a much more important role in transition play.

When a team is in attack, the libero moved forward, acting like a playmaker in the lower midfields, directing the play. That's why they usually have an above average ball controll and passing ability.

Some great examples of the libero :

• Franz Beckenbauer
• Ronald Koeman
• Franco Baresi

Just because it's not used too much in modern football, the libero still exists. They have extraordinary vision, great passing and nice dribbling skills that could easily benefit teams in transition play.

A great modern day example of a libero is Mats Hummels. With a great pass and excellent vision he can easily move forward in transition, directing the play, acting more like a '6' when the team is on the offensive.

The libero in FMM2019

I believe that in FMM the libero is a great addition to teams with an attacking mindset. It allows you to have your central midfielders more up the pitch, whilst still having someone in the lower midfield with excellent ball controll.

The stats you want to look out for :

• Movement
• Tackling
• Strength
• Dribbling
• Positioning
• Leadership
• Passing

I think everyone knows that movement and positioning are extremely important, especially when it comes down to transition play. You need a player that can find the right position both offensively and defensively.

Tackling and strength speaks for itself. The libero is essentially a defender.

Passing and dribbling is where it gets interesting. Most defenders don't excel in those two, but in order to effectively use a libero, the player needs to have the ability to make intelligent runs with the ball and the ability to switch the play.

Leadership is something that is 't essential, but I added it because I like to have the leader of my team, aka my captain, to be the center of the play, involved in any part of the pitch. This makes the libero a great leader. Besides, it's no coincidence that Beckenbauer, Koeman and Baresi were all great leaders in their time.

Have you used the libero yet? If you have, let me know what your feelings on it are!

Happy playing lads!

[Nucleus]

You can use a Libero and Sweeper in a defensive duo this year 😀 what they’ve done is got rid of the “sweeper posistion”

Nice read, Well done mate

[Jeroenvk94]

44 minutes ago, Nucleus said:

You can use a Libero and Sweeper in a defensive duo this year 😀 what they’ve done is got rid of the “sweeper posistion”

Nice read, Well done mate

Nice! We can try some good old '70s defense.

[BatiGoal]

Enjoyable read, thanks. 

The reason I didn't use a tactic with a Libero or Sweeper in FMM18 was because there were only a handful of players in the entire DB that covered this position. Will still be fun to see if I can get a working formation with one and if I do I'll need to find a couple decent retrainable victims. Otherwise I don't see the point tbh, not exactly ideal, but could make for a "more unique" formation on Vibe. 

[veerus]

Based on the in-game descriptions, I'd say don't play the Libero or Sweeper with a high defensive line. 

Play Libero if you want to reinforce the midfield with a defender who likes to go forward. He's almost like an IWB in the space he would occupy in attack*. Probably most useful with short passes.

If you're pumping long balls or playing direct, use BPD instead (provided the player has the passing capacity for it).

* theorycraft statement based on role descriptions. Would need testing to confirm. 

[Jeroenvk94]

3 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Enjoyable read, thanks. 

The reason I didn't use a tactic with a Libero or Sweeper in FMM18 was because there were only a handful of players in the entire DB that covered this position. Will still be fun to see if I can get a working formation with one and if I do I'll need to find a couple decent retrainable victims. Otherwise I don't see the point tbh, not exactly ideal, but could make for a "more unique" formation on Vibe. 

I think the new training feature allows us that push players into a certain direction much more. This can certainly help into building players for a special position, in this case, Libero.

17 minutes ago, veerus said:

Based on the in-game descriptions, I'd say don't play the Libero or Sweeper with a high defensive line. 

Play Libero if you want to reinforce the midfield with a defender who likes to go forward. He's almost like an IWB in the space he would occupy in attack*. Probably most useful with short passes.

If you're pumping long balls or playing direct, use BPD instead (provided the player has the passing capacity for it).

* theorycraft statement based on role descriptions. Would need testing to confirm. 

I normally don't play high defense. I always keep my defense back so I won't get outcountered