Help Tactical Instructions - Width and Passing Focus

[Adelrahn]

Good Ebenin,

i need help to understand what width and passing focus mean.

In possession, does width on 'narrow'/'wide' mean that my players will position themselves more centrally/more on the wings? The SI Online Manual says that the players will focus on playing more centrally/always using the wide areas. This makes me wonder if passing focus is 'overwritten' by width to a certain degree.

For example, if i set width on 'narrow' but passing focus on 'both wings' does this mean that my wingers will be isolated because all the midfielders stay centrally? Or will the players on the wing move inside and abandon the wide areas? And is there any way to make the whole midfield shift towards one side except the Winger/Wing Back on the opposite side?

Without the ball, if i want to pressure my opponents on the wings, do i have to choose 'narrow' width or 'wide'? The tactical preset for Wing-Play mentions that the tactic tries to lure opponents wide and to win the ball on the wings and the width is set to 'wide'. But if width means that my players position them more central or wider wouldn't it mean that i have to choose narrow in order to close down central areas?

I am very confused and would appreciate any help.

[DanEnglish]

Great questions 👍 I’ll take a first attempt to answer, then others can expand / disagree / etc 

• Width - decides how wide your players will position (when defending) + move (when attacking).

Spoiler

Example - Wingers on Narrow

Exanple - Wingers on Wide

Example - a back 3 (three DCs)

• when defending - on narrow, three DCs will position themselves very narrow, with lots of room down the flanks -
• when defending - on wide, the two wider DCs are much wider, so if they have decent pace, then they can cover the flanks better.
• when attacking - on narrow, the three DCs are very close together, so have very easy pssses available, but are easier for an opposition ST to close down
• when attacking - on wide, the three DCs are further away from each other, so have slightly more difficult passes available, but are harder for an opposition ST to close down. 
   

• Passing Focus - decides where your players will try to pass towards (when attacking)

Spoiler

Example - with long balls down the center, your DCs will look to play … er … long balls to your central STs.

Example - with short passing down the the center, your DCs will look to play … er … short passes to the other DCs / DMCs / less attacking MCs.

Example - with passing down the center - if there are no decent passes available, but your WB is in lots of space, then your player will still play it wide to them. They’ll just do it less often.

Example - your WB often has the ball in space on the flank:

• On central focus, they’ll look to pass inside more often.
• On mixed / both flanks focus, they’ll look to pass to a wide attacker (IF / Winger) or dribble + cross more often.

 

[DanEnglish]

So now to answer your specific questions - this is a lot of text (you asked a lot of questions) - but I hope it helps! 😄 

On 19/06/2023 at 22:26, Adelrahn said:

In possession, does width on 'narrow'/'wide' mean that my players will position themselves more centrally/more on the wings? Yes

This makes me wonder if passing focus is 'overwritten' by width to a certain degree. No. At least simplistically, they seem to do different things.

For example, if i set width on 'narrow' but passing focus on 'both wings' does this mean that my wingers will be isolated because all the midfielders stay centrally? No. On narrow, your wingers will move to be like central STs.

• if you have other wide players (e.g. WBs), then your players will try to pass to them more often - though ⚠️ this may mean your WBs are less effective, as they’re receiving the call earlier, in deeper / less dangerous positions ⚠️ 
• if you don’t have other wide players, then 🛑 your players will struggle to use both flanks if no-one is there! 🛑 

Or will the players on the wing move inside and abandon the wide areas? Depends on the role. FBs, WBs and DWs all seem to stay a little wider, while inverted players (IWBs, IFs, IWs) obviously move inside more.

And is there any way to make the whole midfield shift towards one side except the Winger/Wing Back on the opposite side? Good question. I don’t know! Perhaps with a DW / FB with man marking on the opposite flank will make them stay there? ❓

Without the ball, if i want to pressure my opponents on the wings, do i have to choose 'narrow' width or 'wide'? Depends on your formation and player roles.

• With a 442 narrow diamond - you’d need wide width to get your STs / MCs to be closer to (+ easier close down) opposition FBs / WBs.
• With a formation with wide IFs / wide PFs / Wingers / DWs - any width should be ok, as your wide attackers are already closer to opposition FBs / WBs.

The tactical preset for Wing-Play mentions that the tactic tries to lure opponents wide and to win the ball on the wings and the width is set to 'wide'. But if width means that my players position them more central or wider wouldn't it mean that i have to choose narrow in order to close down central areas?

You are kind of correct. If you wanted to close down opposition FBs, you should give those FBs some space, but close them down + cut off all passing options. 

• e.g. a DW in the MR/L position isn’t positioned that close to an opposition FB (so they’re in space to receive the ball ✅) …
• … but will aggressively close the opposition FB down ✅
• then you’ll need a PF / SS / CMs to close off the central passing lanes to an opposition DC / DMC / MC …
• … and a FB to close off the passing lane to an opposition wide attacker. 

That gives you a 4411 for example - with a PF, SS, not attacking MC roles (e.g. MC) and a normal FB on that flank - behind your DW.

[Adelrahn]

Wow @DanEnglish, thank you very much for those in-depth explanations.

I'm currently working on a 5-2-3/3-4-3 that is inspired by Sporting CP/Rúben Amorim. The front three is very narrow without possesion and forces the opponent to go on either flank to get them stuck in there. Then the WB and the two midfielder push up to close the player down. However they are not playing with a high defensive line and instead leave a huge gap in midfield to lure the opponents in.

In possesion the striker (depending on opponent) stays more central and makes himself available for link-up play with the two forwards behind him. Those operate in the half spaces but normally shift towards either side with the ball to create overloads and isolate the WB on the other side. The two midfielder help with the build-up and transition to attack. The two wide CB's would normally push up but i don't think this is possible in FMM at the moment. The middle CB either plays long balls or moves up in the midfield to create an overload. They also play with a lot of crosses.

My problem is that in possesion in order to create overloads i would have to play the two forwards as AM or APM in order for them to operate in the half spaces and play close together. The problem is that they don't really press the players to the wings when out of possesion, leaving my WB against the opponents Winger + WB/FB. If i play them as IF as i do now, they occupie the WB/FB in build and open up the midfield where my opoonent can easily play against only two of my midfielders and if i play my wingers as IW i don't have enough players in the box for crosses as they offer little goal threat in this game-version.

Any idea on how to replicate this in FMM? The tactics i looked at in this forum don't really replicate the playing style of Sporting (imho) so im trying to work something out myself. Also i like to build a tactic and then develop it over the (in-game)-years so im any ideas on what i could change/try are very welcome. It already helped me to bring Leonesa from the 4th division in Spain into LaLiga 😀

Edited June 21, 2023 by Adelrahn

[DanEnglish]

Ok - two options for you in attack.

Option A - two AMCs + one ST
the closest I can think of is to to have 2 SS (AMCs) behind a central PF / ST.

Spoiler

Defensively - is very narrow + forces passes to the opposition flanks - where the SS will try to close down an opposition FB / WB.

Attacking - still is narrow, with the two SS pushing up. For your ST - while a PF is best for pressing, perhaps a DLF would better to link play.

Option B - three AMCs (no ST!)
If you want your SS positioned wider, to be closer to the opposition FBs/WBs, then having three AMCs could work:

Spoiler

Defensively - the wider SS will try to close down opposition FBs/WBs, while a central SS would then close down the central passing options into opposition DMCs.

Attacking - is a little wider, but if you want something different, you could try a central Treq / AP in between two wider SS. The Treq / AP won’t defend / press much, but will offer something different for your link up play.

 

[DanEnglish]

If you’d like to see screenshots + Gifs of how 3 AMCs would work, <here> is a deep analysis of mushy’s 5230 (with two SS) which is very similar to option B above.

If you’re going to do this, then I really recommend using DWs instead of WBs - as the DWs and SS will provide a far more effective press to the oppositions FBs/WBs.

Edited June 22, 2023 by DanEnglish