Tactics Narrow 3-1-3-3:Who needs width?(Improved Version Available!)

[RPA123456]

Alright so I was reading through an article about managers who used unorthodox tactics to succeed(it was a pretty interesting article and I got quite a few tactics I want to try out after I read it) and Louis van Gaal's 1994/1995 Ajax came up. 

Well I really can't be bothered to type up a proper introduction and all that so let's just jump straight into the juicy stuff now shall we? 

Here is what I came up with while doing a saviour cometh challenge with Southampton:

Edit:ah shit, I forgot to add in team shape

 

Now, the tactic is still in its early stages so these roles and instructions aren't set in stone. In fact, one of the reasons I'm posting this tactic here despite it not being fully formed yet is so I can get the expertise of you guys to help bring this tactic to its 100%. 

Also I want to point out that you're going to get 'Lack of Width' and 'Midfielders fail to get into box' often in your post match analysis, but that's nothing to worry about. 

And so, here's how I performed using this tactic:(i started the challenge one game before the Chelsea match-up, which was a 2-3 loss to West Ham) 

Honestly, other that the 4-1 loss to Man U... 

 

(Which was an absolute robbery) 

These results don't look too bad eh? (I also want to point out I played the matches as fast as I could while letting the AI auto pick the players, so If I had put in the time these results could have been better) 

And with that I'm handing over this tactic to you guys. 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by RPA123456

[bb]

This look interesting hope u would be making some improvements on it

[Ran7777]

This tactic looks good. I think it needs some improvement

[RPA123456]

Alright! After 8 seasons with this tactic, I feel I've made quite a few significant improvements to this tactic that has now become my favourite tactic I've ever made! 

So that's it for the tactics, and now let me explain some of the changes I've made. 

For team shape:

• I brought team mentality down from overload to control. The reasoning behind this is that with overload mentality your team becomes very prone to quick counter attacking goals. And also, in my opinion, control mentality is the best mentality to win with in this year's edition. 

And I changed team width to narrow from wide. Reason behind this is that with wide width the team starts to play too much on the wings. This leads to your BPD/BBM making runs out wide and attempting crosses as if they were wingers. Playing out wide like that is definitely not playing to the team's strength.

Defense is unchanged. 

I made some changes to attacking instructions, but I can't really tell why and how effective they are. But they do work for me so...

And for those of you guys who want to see how the results are with this tactic, check out the latest season in my Scottish RTG.(linked below) 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by RPA123456

[Chris99]

11 hours ago, RPA123456 said:

Alright! After 8 seasons with this tactic, I feel I've made quite a few significant improvements to this tactic that has now become my favourite tactic I've ever made! 

So that's it for the tactics, and now let me explain some of the changes I've made. 

For team shape:

• I brought team mentality down from overload to control. The reasoning behind this is that with overload mentality your team becomes very prone to quick counter attacking goals. And also, in my opinion, control mentality is the best mentality to win with in this year's edition. 

And I changed team width to narrow from wide. Reason behind this is that with wide width the team starts to play too much on the wings. This leads to your BPD/BBM making runs out wide and attempting crosses as if they were wingers. Playing out wide like that is definitely not playing to the team's strength.

Defense is unchanged. 

I made some changes to attacking instructions, but I can't really tell why and how effective they are. But they do work for me so...

And for those of you guys who want to see how the results are with this tactic, check out the latest season in my Scottish RTG.(linked below) 

 

 

I'm trying this tactic and I am halfway into the season with bad results. Its not working for me

[RPA123456]

1 hour ago, Chris99 said:

I'm trying this tactic and I am halfway into the season with bad results. Its not working for me

Hmm, that's odd. Why exactly are your results bad? Are you conceding too much or not scoring enough? How are you player stats during a match? Any weak links that could have potentially hampered the team? 

If you get me screenshots of your teams in-match stats(like the sample below) maybe we could work out why it's not not working out for you. 

Also another tip I want to share is that you can try to have your left and right midfielders/Strikers be reversed footed. So left defensive forward would be right footed and right BBM would be left footed. 

[lukaszw10]

Hm, quite interesting, but... Playing without wings is hard - less space in midfield and no option to quick counter by wingers. I think you have also great technique players in your squad to play tactic like that...

[RPA123456]

Hmm... So I just went and tested this out myself, I did three different Saviour Cometh challenges in the SkyBet League 2 with this tactic(didn't complete any of them, but did play at least 10 games).

And at all three clubs the story was the same. 

We were absolute shit. 

Which I found to be odd as I did use this tactic to gain promotion for the Scottish League 2 all the way to the Scottish Premiership but okay. 

So far I haven't figured why it is that the clubs I used played so poorly with this tactic, nor have I figured out any fixes for this. 

With that being said, I still don't think this is a bad tactic. But it isn't a good one either. It's a tactic where you have to build a team from scratch for it to work. But if you do manage to set up the system perfectly and find the best players for this system then it is a very good tactic. But you have to find the right players for the system. 

[kts365]

3-1-3-3 can work I agree. 

I have a tactic that seems to work. I find the key is always balancing attack with defence. 

If players are pushing up, is there someone to defend the space they've left open? 

On the flip side, does a striker have enough support? Its a fine balancing act. I am going to have a look at this tactic and see if I can improve it at all.

[kts365]

Tried some mods.

Tried to change as little as possible of your original tactic. 

Tried one season in Italy with parma and no signings.

[RPA123456]

4 hours ago, kts365 said:

Tried some mods.

Tried to change as little as possible of your original tactic. 

Tried one season in Italy with parma and no signings.

Hmm... 

So I played about 10 games with your version but unfortunately it didn't quite work out for me. It wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as the tactic I was already using. 

But there is one thing I loved about your version, and that was the DLP. I love how he offers just as much defensive contribution as the DM but is also more open to playing passes. 

 

Also great job breaking the Old Lady's monopoly on the Serie A. I'm not familiar with the Seria A but is winning the league with Parma something that is feasible or is it something that ordinarily would be impossible? 

[kts365]

Glad something worked for you then. 

I chose parma because they had just been promoted..... 3 times in a row, after being declared bankrupt in 2015 and relegated to Serie D. 

 

[RPA123456]

59 minutes ago, kts365 said:

Glad something worked for you then. 

I chose parma because they had just been promoted..... 3 times in a row, after being declared bankrupt in 2015 and relegated to Serie D. 

 

Damn, Parma just did a RTG in real life. 

And I personally feel there ain't any real 'best' tactic that works for every team every time. For me, this tactic works better than anything I've ever tried before. 

[DavidVilla07]

Used this tactic with Hamburg, won the German Second Division at a stroll with only loan signings.

Seasons Two & Three with a few signings and mainly loans, won the Bundesliga both seasons toppling Bayern.

Great tactic.

[RPA123456]

37 minutes ago, DavidVilla07 said:

Used this tactic with Hamburg, won the German Second Division at a stroll with only loan signings.

Seasons Two & Three with a few signings and mainly loans, won the Bundesliga both seasons toppling Bayern.

Great tactic.

Great to hear! 

Also, I would really appreciate it if you could get me a screenshot of your starting 11's stats(Goals, Assists and Avg Rating). I'm interested to see which role performed well and which didn't in a team other than my own is all. 

[DavidVilla07]

@RPA123456

 

I've overwritten the save, which i'm really pissed about! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Fiete Arp as the AF was a beast with a goal per game ratio, he left for 148 million as his release clause was activated and we are Hamburg so couldnt do much with his wages to get him to stay. He was the reason for me chooising Hamburg in the first instance actually, after my 1k with him last year.

Interestingly, the left sided forward also performed brilliantly, had David Selke there in the third season, got him for a decent price and a swap involving a fringe player and he contributed many goals.

Had Almiron for the two Bundesliga Seasons as the AP, provided goals and assists.

Tonali was virtually ever present during all three seasons as the Defensive Midfielder and was World Class in the thrid season.

Arne Maier as a box to box midfielder was a monster, provided so many assists and a fair share of goals.

Converted Vagnoman from a full back to a ball playing defender with great sucess and used Gideon Jung as the sweeper. Rick Van Drongelen in the Second tier and Felix Uduokhai & Dan-Axel Zagadou both on loan and then signed permanently for bargain fees were the defenders who all perfomed well.

[RPA123456]

1 hour ago, DavidVilla07 said:

@RPA123456

 

I've overwritten the save, which i'm really pissed about! Grrrrrrrrrr!

Fiete Arp as the AF was a beast with a goal per game ratio, he left for 148 million as his release clause was activated and we are Hamburg so couldnt do much with his wages to get him to stay. He was the reason for me chooising Hamburg in the first instance actually, after my 1k with him last year.

Interestingly, the left sided forward also performed brilliantly, had David Selke there in the third season, got him for a decent price and a swap involving a fringe player and he contributed many goals.

Had Almiron for the two Bundesliga Seasons as the AP, provided goals and assists.

Tonali was virtually ever present during all three seasons as the Defensive Midfielder and was World Class in the thrid season.

Arne Maier as a box to box midfielder was a monster, provided so many assists and a fair share of goals.

Converted Vagnoman from a full back to a ball playing defender with great sucess and used Gideon Jung as the sweeper. Rick Van Drongelen in the Second tier and Felix Uduokhai & Dan-Axel Zagadou both on loan and then signed permanently for bargain fees were the defenders who all perfomed well.

Damn that is one hell of a team you got there, I'd be pissed too if I lost a team that good. 

 The forwards are always fun as it's pretty hard to predict who will score and how, but normally there is a bias to the AF who will almost always score the most. 

The AM is a tough role for me however. On one hand l love his goal contribution(usually one of the highest together with the AF) but I hate that he scores so many goals as I want my forwards to score more. 

Also, this is probably the only tactic I've ever used where it's possible for a DM to get an AvG rating of over 7 for an entire season. 

When I first made this tactic I felt the defence would be the hardest to sort out but the combo has worked surprisingly well IMO. 

Overall, I'm glad to see that the tactic had added great success and fun to your games and I hope you adopt and adapt it for your future games. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by RPA123456

[DavidVilla07]

@RPA123456 I'm going to start over with Hamburg again, will get screenshots of the stats for you and update later.