Tactics Welcome to Wrexham (442) Updated & Great Again

[DutchTony]

Greetings

So after the success of the original tactic below created by@MarkD

 

And then some small tweaks I made to that version - the tactic was completely nerfed in one of the updates. I have now made a number of changes and I believe the tactic is close to being as good as it was in its glory days.

League Table

Tactic

Corner routine I used which generated around 20 league goals directly from corners

My starting 11

Some things to note for anyone interested in no particular order:

Firstly the most painfully obvious but I'll say it anyway - Train, focus train and mentor the FB's and Wingers on crossing and the central defenders and strikers on heading. This tactic relies on crosses and headers.

In-game tactical changes for this test - None. Usually if I am leading by 1 goal I might change something towards the end of the game to protect my lead, or if I'm doubtful I'll get a result or I'm chasing the game I'll make changes. For this test I made no in-game tactical changes whatsoever as I wanted to see how the tactic would do as it is. The only thing I did was make substitutions. On that note...

Substitutions - I always tried to make the same substitutions every game - unless of course I have injuries. Around the 65 minute mark as long as my BWM was above 85% - which he usually was, I would change the other 3 midfielders and both strikers. This resulted in keeping control of the game and I generally seemed to scored near the end of the game as well. If my BWM was below 85% I would sub off the whole midfield and the less productive striker depending on fitness.

Corner Routine - The corner routine I used generated around 20 league goals directly from corners. I mainly used Kostic to take them who started on 19 crossing and very quickly went to 20. Both Van Dijk and Konate ended up on 19 heading and Goretzka stayed on 16 heading all season. Van Dijk and Konate both scored 6 goals each and Goretzka scored 5 or 6. There were a couple of others who would also pop up with a goal here and there but the 3 listed above were the main men. It goes without saying if you use this corner routine both defenders and both central midfielders need to have high heading.

Man Marking - It's a must. Well for me anyway. Make sure both central defenders and the BWM have man marking switched on.

A note regarding wingers - I ran a few different tests over various amounts of time on the types of players to use on the wings. I did find generally that converting FB's/WB's (with good crossing) to wingers works really well for this tactic. The defensive attributes they have seem to make the team perform much better. The exception to this - for me at least, is Kostic. Yes he's only got 9 tackling and 11 positioning but he just performs so well. More on him below.

Player recommendations for half decent teams - Kostic! You can get him at the start for a maximum for 12.75M using the 50% sell on feature. You can actually get him cheaper if you haggle a bit - I ended up getting him for 9.25M plus 50% sell on but if you don't haggle then 12.75M for someone who will have 20 crossing in a month or so is such a bargain. In 41 games (where he played roughly 65 minutes) he got 22 assists and scored 6 goals.

Finally because someone will wonder - I was going to post this in the original tactic thread but@MarkDtold me to post it here.

Anyway hope this works as well for others as it did for me.

Edited April 5, 2023 by DutchTony

[till malkovich]

Did a quick test before my main BWM broke, a very reliable tactic - and what I noticed, the goals I missed were after my midfield got tired (after about 65-70 minutes of play, when BWM stamina was down to 84% - I immediately changed BWM, RP, W, AF. So I was able to save the match once (to tie and score in extra time). As I think that in this tactic BWM plays a key role ("chain dog" a la Gattuso/Sturaro or Khedira/Emre Can is needed - he should be watched closely during the match - the outcome of the match depends on it. Thanks Tony! Great job!

Edited April 5, 2023 by till malkovich

[Resurgam]

1 hour ago, till malkovich said:

Did a quick test before my main BWM broke, a very reliable tactic - and what I noticed, the goals I missed were after my midfield got tired (after about 65-70 minutes of play, when BWM stamina was down to 84% - I immediately changed BWM, RP, W, AF. So I was able to save the match once (to tie and score in extra time). As I think that in this tactic BWM plays a key role ("chain dog" a la Gattuso/Sturaro or Khedira/Emre Can is needed - he should be watched closely during the match - the outcome of the match depends on it. Thanks Tony! Great job!

That’s FM22 no? I can only assume it’s more effective on 23

[DutchTony]

2 hours ago, till malkovich said:

Did a quick test before my main BWM broke, a very reliable tactic - and what I noticed, the goals I missed were after my midfield got tired (after about 65-70 minutes of play, when BWM stamina was down to 84% - I immediately changed BWM, RP, W, AF. So I was able to save the match once (to tie and score in extra time). As I think that in this tactic BWM plays a key role ("chain dog" a la Gattuso/Sturaro or Khedira/Emre Can is needed - he should be watched closely during the match - the outcome of the match depends on it. Thanks Tony! Great job!

In my experience with this tactic, for me the most important player is the RP followed closely by the BWM. Both should be powerhouses. As far as the subs go you're spot on mate - especially if the game is even or you're only leading by 1 goal. Sub off that midfield and 1 striker all day long.

Also I should mention this tactic gets even better as the season progresses. I had played 11 league games and conceded something like 5 goals and then I went on a run of 19 league games conceding 0 goals. In the test at the top I only conceded 7 league goals all season and in the final game away to Spurs I won 4-3 which took my conceded goals to 10 😠

Edited April 5, 2023 by DutchTony

[Rav44]

22 hours ago, DutchTony said:

Greetings

So after the success of the original tactic below created by@MarkD

 

And then some small tweaks I made to that version - the tactic was completely nerfed in one of the updates. I have now made a number of changes and I believe the tactic is close to being as good as it was in its glory days.

League Table

Tactic

Corner routine I used which generated around 20 league goals directly from corners

My starting 11

Some things to note for anyone interested in no particular order:

Firstly the most painfully obvious but I'll say it anyway - Train, focus train and mentor the FB's and Wingers on crossing and the central defenders and strikers on heading. This tactic relies on crosses and headers.

In-game tactical changes for this test - None. Usually if I am leading by 1 goal I might change something towards the end of the game to protect my lead, or if I'm doubtful I'll get a result or I'm chasing the game I'll make changes. For this test I made no in-game tactical changes whatsoever as I wanted to see how the tactic would do as it is. The only thing I did was make substitutions. On that note...

Substitutions - I always tried to make the same substitutions every game - unless of course I have injuries. Around the 65 minute mark as long as my BWM was above 85% - which he usually was, I would change the other 3 midfielders and both strikers. This resulted in keeping control of the game and I generally seemed to scored near the end of the game as well. If my BWM was below 85% I would sub off the whole midfield and the less productive striker depending on fitness.

Corner Routine - The corner routine I used generated around 20 league goals directly from corners. I mainly used Kostic to take them who started on 19 crossing and very quickly went to 20. Both Van Dijk and Konate ended up on 19 heading and Goretzka stayed on 16 heading all season. Van Dijk and Konate both scored 6 goals each and Goretzka scored 5 or 6. There were a couple of others who would also pop up with a goal here and there but the 3 listed above were the main men. It goes without saying if you use this corner routine both defenders and both central midfielders need to have high heading.

Man Marking - It's a must. Well for me anyway. Make sure both central defenders and the BWM have man marking switched on.

A note regarding wingers - I ran a few different tests over various amounts of time on the types of players to use on the wings. I did find generally that converting FB's/WB's (with good crossing) to wingers works really well for this tactic. The defensive attributes they have seem to make the team perform much better. The exception to this - for me at least, is Kostic. Yes he's only got 9 tackling and 11 positioning but he just performs so well. More on him below.

Player recommendations for half decent teams - Kostic! You can get him at the start for a maximum for 12.75M using the 50% sell on feature. You can actually get him cheaper if you haggle a bit - I ended up getting him for 9.25M plus 50% sell on but if you don't haggle then 12.75M for someone who will have 20 crossing in a month or so is such a bargain. In 41 games (where he played roughly 65 minutes) he got 22 assists and scored 6 goals.

Finally because someone will wonder - I was going to post this in the original tactic thread but@MarkDtold me to post it here.

Anyway hope this works as well for others as it did for me.

Looks superb. Well done. Are you able to share your player stats? What was the goal distribution like?

[DutchTony]

2 minutes ago, Rav44 said:

Looks superb. Well done. Are you able to share your player stats? What was the goal distribution like?

Don't have them mate. The only other screen shot I have are the fixtures which I just didn't bother uploading. I can tell you that the 2 strikers scored exactly 50 league goals between them - was possibly 23 and 27. RP had 12. Wingers had around 6 or 7 each. Defenders definitely got 6 each. Full backs got a few each.

[TehSpaceGiraffe]

This is a great tactic really nicely done. Doing a save with Southampton, goals everywhere. Clean sheets haven't quite happened yet but it's still early. 

This isn't a bad way to start. First game and all

[DutchTony]

7 hours ago, TehSpaceGiraffe said:

This is a great tactic really nicely done. Doing a save with Southampton, goals everywhere. Clean sheets haven't quite happened yet but it's still early. 

This isn't a bad way to start. First game and all

Very nice start!

[Mike Dodgson]

Love a good old 4-4-2, nice work!

Quick one for you; when it comes to picking corner takers - which players do you normally opt for? I don't mean the obvious, the ones with the best stars for it, more which ones to avoid taking them to not impact how effective your corner setup is?

[DutchTony]

10 minutes ago, Mike Dodgson said:

Love a good old 4-4-2, nice work!

Quick one for you; when it comes to picking corner takers - which players do you normally opt for? I don't mean the obvious, the ones with the best stars for it, more which ones to avoid taking them to not impact how effective your corner setup is?

In my corner setup - in an ideal world it would be one of the full backs as they are set to stay back, and I don't remember the last time I conceded a goal directly after I had a corner - if ever. If not 1 of the full backs then I choose 1 of the wingers. I would never choose anyone from the other 6 outfield positions.

A note on how I choose corner takers. I don't ever go by the SP stars. I choose the person with the highest crossing as long as they have the bit where it says "can deliver a good corner" or words to that effect.

Kostic had 20 crossing and could "deliver a good corner" but he only had 3 SP stars and the coach said "unconvincing free kick taker". All day long I would pick him over someone with 18 crossing and 4 SP stars. Stars are basically irrelevant for me when it comes to corners. That's just how I do it and it's worked really well so far.

[Rav44]

13 hours ago, DutchTony said:

Don't have them mate. The only other screen shot I have are the fixtures which I just didn't bother uploading. I can tell you that the 2 strikers scored exactly 50 league goals between them - was possibly 23 and 27. RP had 12. Wingers had around 6 or 7 each. Defenders definitely got 6 each. Full backs got a few each.

Thanks. I may be wrong but the strikers you had, Matinez and Nunez, don’t have amazing heading but still scored quite a few goals. Therefore do you feel the finishing, movement and pace were more important attributes for them?

 

[DutchTony]

On 06/04/2023 at 12:14, Rav44 said:

Thanks. I may be wrong but the strikers you had, Matinez and Nunez, don’t have amazing heading but still scored quite a few goals. Therefore do you feel the finishing, movement and pace were more important attributes for them?

 

Martinez started on 13 heading and went up to 14, and I don't remember what Nunez started on but heading ended up on 17. The reason I choose Martinez was his other abilities are so good and I was hoping his heading would reach 15. Plus he is always easy to get. Normally if you play as Liverpool he's just a straight swap with Thiago or Diaz plus 50% sell on fee. He'll score goals and be worth 100M soon enough.

I think you just need to get a good balance. For instance I wouldn't use someone up front with 8 heading no matter what their other attitudes are like.

Edit: Also I knew that I was only going to play for 1 season. If it was a real career I would have used youngsters and mentored them to have super heading as well as everything else.

Edited May 8, 2023 by DutchTony

[klaus_lukas99]

probably perfect tactic for clubs like Liverpool. but not for FC Andorra 😂😂😂

[BlackMacMiller]

Can you give a little insight into every position’s most important attributes? I think my players are quite good for Championship but I’m somehow mid-table. Scores a lot of goals but also concedes nearly as much, I’m not getting the defensive efficiency that you showed.

[TehSpaceGiraffe]

This is a really good tactic for goals but I'm leaking a lot, Chelsea and Liverpool both scored 5 against us. I don't know whether this is a bigger team tactic, as our defenders aren't too bad. Will try and tweak for the second part of the season 

[DutchTony]

46 minutes ago, TehSpaceGiraffe said:

This is a really good tactic for goals but I'm leaking a lot, Chelsea and Liverpool both scored 5 against us. I don't know whether this is a bigger team tactic, as our defenders aren't too bad. Will try and tweak for the second part of the season 

Send a pic of your team please and the full set up.

[TehSpaceGiraffe]

7 hours ago, DutchTony said:

Send a pic of your team please and the full set up.

This is my best starting 11. Using the same instructions have changed nothing. Corner instructions are op btw 

[Steve Wright]

Good start with Aberdeen

[DutchTony]

4 hours ago, TehSpaceGiraffe said:

This is my best starting 11. Using the same instructions have changed nothing. Corner instructions are op btw 

My quick thoughts after looking at your 1st team and fixtures.

You lost to Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle - all away! These are some of the most difficult games you can play. Outside of those games, you lost to Arsenal at Home and Palace away - not ideal. Some of the draws are also concerning.

That being said my question would be - is there a reason you've only signed 1 player - Ndidi, to play in the first team? I only ask because both the players you're playing on the wings start the game yellow and your left back isn't a natural in that position and is also right footed?? Your right back is poor as well. Is it a case that you want to keep as many of the Southampton players as possible, or did you have trouble selling players and raising funds? If it's the first option then I would immediately drop your left winger back to left back which is his natural position, and then move either Walker-Peters or Livramento to right back - also their natural positions. If you're having trouble signing players, maybe try some exchanges?

I would play people all in their natural position and make sure your left back and left winger is left footed and vice versa. That should be a given if I'm honest. You don't even need expensive players to improve this team in my opinion. This defender is head and shoulders above either of your defenders, and you can buy him for 2.7M.

Edit: Marius Wolf

Another example - you could get Marius Wolf for the right wing and you can buy him for only 7.5M (less if you haggle) or 5M with 50% sell on fee. Or even better - exchange one of your squad players for him. He's natural in the role, the correct foot, and he's green in the majority of the attributes I would look for. I got him to sign for 45k per week.

Also I think Fer Nino could also get into your team and he's around 6M on a minimum fee - or exchange someone for him.

Finally if you're using the corner instructions I posted, does that mean you have Ward-Prowse set to attack the near post? If so I see he has 7 heading. Has he scored many?

My apologies as I feel I've rushed this but it's been a long day and I'm ready to crash.

Honestly if you need any assistance in finding good cheap players or help in exchanging them, let me know or send a msg and I will assist - after I've had some sleep 😂

Edited April 7, 2023 by DutchTony

[TehSpaceGiraffe]

11 hours ago, DutchTony said:

My quick thoughts after looking at your 1st team and fixtures.

You lost to Chelsea, Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle - all away! These are some of the most difficult games you can play. Outside of those games, you lost to Arsenal at Home and Palace away - not ideal. Some of the draws are also concerning.

That being said my question would be - is there a reason you've only signed 1 player - Ndidi, to play in the first team? I only ask because both the players you're playing on the wings start the game yellow and your left back isn't a natural in that position and is also right footed?? Your right back is poor as well. Is it a case that you want to keep as many of the Southampton players as possible, or did you have trouble selling players and raising funds? If it's the first option then I would immediately drop your left winger back to left back which is his natural position, and then move either Walker-Peters or Livramento to right back - also their natural positions. If you're having trouble signing players, maybe try some exchanges?

I would play people all in their natural position and make sure your left back and left winger is left footed and vice versa. That should be a given if I'm honest. You don't even need expensive players to improve this team in my opinion. This defender is head and shoulders above either of your defenders, and you can buy him for 2.7M.

Edit: Marius Wolf

Another example - you could get Marius Wolf for the right wing and you can buy him for only 7.5M (less if you haggle) or 5M with 50% sell on fee. Or even better - exchange one of your squad players for him. He's natural in the role, the correct foot, and he's green in the majority of the attributes I would look for. I got him to sign for 45k per week.

Also I think Fer Nino could also get into your team and he's around 6M on a minimum fee - or exchange someone for him.

Finally if you're using the corner instructions I posted, does that mean you have Ward-Prowse set to attack the near post? If so I see he has 7 heading. Has he scored many?

My apologies as I feel I've rushed this but it's been a long day and I'm ready to crash.

Honestly if you need any assistance in finding good cheap players or help in exchanging them, let me know or send a msg and I will assist - after I've had some sleep 😂

Thanks mate appreciate the advice, I've started to move my wide players and have been on a better run, 5 wins 1 draw in 6. I also bought a couple of players back from loans who are positioned more naturally and they've done pretty well. I sort of wanted to keep as many players as possible but it's so hard to sell them outright as they're only meh quality teams dont want them, also saints dont have a very big transfer budget so you have to be a bit choosey at the start as to who you sign, I only had 1 natural BWM so I thought I'd prioritise that. I have made another signing up front and that's helped a lot.

I expected to lose against the bigger teams but it was the draws to Brentford and Everton for example that concerned me. 

JWP has 1 from a corner, 2 from open play and like 3 or 4 direct free kicks. I think the corner goal was a rebound

I have noticed that the wingers cut inside quite a lot, even if they're correctly footed for their position, they like to spray through balls to the strikers, wondering if youd noticed that too

[Legend288]

[TehSpaceGiraffe]

First season finished, did improve made a few positioning changes, played much better but still had some games where we didn't perform. These are games where I had to rotate and play the deadwood players who just weren't good enough. Onuachu was second in the goal totals though which was a big plus.

I have started a second season, cleared a load of players out and replenished the team and doing much better. Still quite open and conceding bs goals occasionally but definite progress. There is a certainty though that this tactic will get you goals, I like to have 1 TF type player and a P/PF type player, retrained as AF's of course 

[DutchTony]

13 hours ago, TehSpaceGiraffe said:

First season finished, did improve made a few positioning changes, played much better but still had some games where we didn't perform. These are games where I had to rotate and play the deadwood players who just weren't good enough. Onuachu was second in the goal totals though which was a big plus.

I have started a second season, cleared a load of players out and replenished the team and doing much better. Still quite open and conceding bs goals occasionally but definite progress. There is a certainty though that this tactic will get you goals, I like to have 1 TF type player and a P/PF type player, retrained as AF's of course 

I've started a Southampton save as well to see how I do. I'm working today but hopefully should be half way through the first season by tonight.

[vladinsky]

This just following the subs rule.

[DutchTony]

30 premier league games in

A Team

B Team

Transfers

Goals/Assists etc

Super quick write up:

I only kept 3 original players and signed 18 players for my 21 man squad. Also signed some for mentoring purposes and some cheap players incase of emergencies. The majority were exchanges so not much paid out in fees.

Bought only players who can actually play in their positions and with the attributes needed to make the tactic work.

Of course they needed time to develop relationships etc but it's worth it in the long run.

Disclaimer: I found out very quickly I was leaking too many goals so guess what I did - I started some games on balanced. I know it sounds crazy right... I still lost or drew against the likes of City, Liverpool, Chelsea etc but I'm really happy to be 2nd after 30 games.

Anyway this save is over now as I just wanted to see what can be achieved with this team.

Good luck

 

[EarlRagnar]

Great tactic, it’s been quite consistent. 
 

I do seem to be having one issue whereby my team cannot score more than 4 goals no matter what. I can score 4 before halftime and nothing at all after. This has happened far too many times. Can you help with this? @DutchTony

[DutchTony]

5 minutes ago, EarlRagnar said:

Great tactic, it’s been quite consistent. 
 

I do seem to be having one issue whereby my team cannot score more than 4 goals no matter what. I can score 4 before halftime and nothing at all after. This has happened far too many times. Can you help with this? @DutchTony

No sorry mate. I regularly get goals after making my 5 subs around the 65 minute mark. Glad it's working well for you though.

Edited April 20, 2023 by DutchTony

[EarlRagnar]

1 hour ago, DutchTony said:

No sorry mate. I regularly get goals after making my 5 subs around the 65 minute mark. Glad it's working well for you though.

Do you regularly score 5+ goals?

[DutchTony]

In the last season I scored 5 goals 7 times and 7 goals once.

[sussexpob]

Thank you for sharing. It's a good tactic, but having tested it with a couple of teams, it's really important to have the right players on the wings. I find if you place AMs wide the defensive stability of the formation becomes a wreck, and you get picked off without any benefit in the final third. Wingers need to have defensive qualities over attacking