Tactics The Black Hawk

[DanEnglish]

4 hours ago, captaintsubasa said:

My friend, I love you very much, you are a very helpful person, but I cannot enjoy playing in big clubs, I want to raise a small team and I have financial difficulties. If you choose these countries, is there a country where you think you can find good players cheaply?

You can get good players cheap in ALL countries - see my tips below 

 

… plus you can develop your own academy youth players also 🔥 

[fufi]

33 minutes ago, DanEnglish said:

Puedes conseguir buenos jugadores baratos en TODOS los países: consulta mis consejos a continuación 

 

… además, también puedes desarrollar a tus propios jugadores juveniles de la academia 🔥 

What would your Twitter be like?

[DanEnglish]

1 minute ago, fufi said:

What would your Twitter be like?

Empty. I’m not on twitter

[tummidge22]

10 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

You can get good players cheap in ALL countries - see my tips below 

 

… plus you can develop your own academy youth players also 🔥 

With transfer listed and expiring players it is best to go into the offer by first making an enquiry as they may be available for much cheaper than their reported value.

Get a scout out there looking only at expiring players and they can sift through and find young players with decent potential too.

[Kavver]

First of all. Still a brilliant tactic. And I’m so thankful that black hawk shared this with us.

However there has been a slight decrease in its effectiveness. I have played with this tactic for many seasons. Both before and after the update. 
 

It still good though. 
I just wonder if the original tactic from 2023 is more relevant again. I will try that. 
 

[captaintsubasa]

Hi @Kara Şahin 

I will try this tactic, but most of the players with the characteristics you want are very costly and my club is financially very bad, what should I do?

[DanEnglish]

6 hours ago, captaintsubasa said:

Hi @Kara Şahin 

I will try this tactic, but most of the players with the characteristics you want are very costly and my club is financially very bad, what should I do?

Either pick a different tactic …

… or rebuild the squad. Usually you can sell +50% of your team (aggressively ‘offer out’ them) + rebuild with better or younger players (or loanees).

[Schwantz34]

On 11/11/2023 at 22:53, Black Hawk said:

Hey guys!

I hadn't planned on playing the new version of FM because of Netflix, but I received some requests to see what I could do in this version of the game so I decided to test my old The Black Hawk in this edition.

Now, anyone who followed the tactic thread of 2023 version, the various save tests and tweaks I made, must remember what I'm looking for with this tactic. For those who haven't followed, in short this is a control tactic (I'm a control freak) designed to maintain possession of the ball for as long as possible, involving the entire team in the offensive process and pushing the opponent into their own area in such a way that they cannot even attack - even if they recover the ball, they will be so far from our goalkeeper that they will not be able to create any danger.

I'm not going to lie, the tactic has a serious problem just as it did last year: defensively, the team is not solid when we don't have the ball. The entire success of the tactic is based on having the ball to prevent the opponent from creating danger. Or, as a famous pundit in my country famously responded when asked who defends in an offensive team: "Who defends? The opponent defends".

With a well-built team, I believe that the tactic will allow the team to dominate the overwhelming majority of games. There will always be a handful of games in which we are let down by an underperforming player, or in which the opponents score two goals in two shots, but I think no tactic can stop this. The goal is to ensure that these exceptions are just that: exceptions.

 

The Black Hawk

 

 

Those who already knew the tactic may have noticed that this is what I called the "tweaked version" of the original The Black Hawk. When I decided to test this new version of FM, I chose to start with the last version of the tactic I created to see what works and what doesn't, but I found that it worked really well in the two tests I've already done and which I'll talk about in a moment.

 

Points to remember:

 

1) this tactic will require a lot of movement without the ball, as almost all individual instructions are aimed at making players move (Wing Backs, Roaming Playmakers, Box-to-Box, Pressing Forward...);

2) attributes such as Passing, Movement and Stamina are essential in all positions, later on I may not mention them in the list of attributes for each position because they are important in all of them!;

3) all players must feel comfortable with the ball at their feet, players who only serve to destroy the opponent's game are useless.

 

Wing Backs

Must have Pace, Movement and Crossing.

Helps if they have Technique, Positioning and Tackling.

 

Ball Playing Defenders

Must have Speed and Aerial (i cannot stress enough how Speed is key for all this to work!).

Helps if they have Technique, Dribbling and Positioning.

If anyone don't has good centre backs to be Ball Playing Defenders, it may be changed to regular Central Defenders.

 

Roaming Playmaker

This is the engine of this tactic. The defensive midfielder is actually an undercover attacking midfielder, so look for attributes that suit them (last year Bellingham was the best RP I tested).

Must have Movement, Passing, Creativity and Decisions.

Helps a lot if he has Shooting as he will have a lot of shooting chances just outside of the box.

 

Box-to-Box

Must have all the usual attributes of a B2B, like Passing, Tackling, Decisions, Movement and Teamwork.

Bonus if they have Dribbling, Shooting and Creativity.

 

Inside Forwards

Must have all the usual attributes of an IF, like Movement, Pace, Creativity, Decisions, Passing, Shooting. Bonus if they have Crossing.

I use IFs with their foot exchanged - don't know how to say it in English, but this is to use a right footed on the left and a left footed on the right.

 

Pressing Forward

Now, this one is tricky. Stamina, of course, but here we have two options: to go for a striker to score or to go for a striker to create spaces for others to score.

Last year, my favorites for this were Osimhen, Scamacca and Beto (the one from Udinese, now Everton). They all had in common Agression, Aerial and Movement as I found that these three attributes together are just overkill.

If they have these, it will work, but if they also have Teamwork, Shooting, Passing and Pace, the better.

Anyway, with these three guys I mentioned you guys probably are already seeing what kind of striker to look for.

 

After all this, here are two save tests I did to get some numbers. The save tests are the same I did with the tactic last year: the first with Sporting CP (a top team) and the other withy hometown Amora FC (an underdog team, this year really an awful team).

 

The first save test -> Sporting CP

 

 

 

 

 

So, this went really well. I played with Sporting CP original squad, no signings, I only recalled two youngsters midfielders from their loans as Sporting CP has a shortage of them.

Last year this The Black Hawk did 33W-0D-1L in 34 games, this year I got 32W-2D-0L, which is almost the same. This year it performed better defensively (9 goals conceded is insane in a first season) while also providing a staggering 84 goals (2,47 goals per game) which is fantastic for a control tactic. These are numbers for a overload tactic.

We won all domestic competitions and only lose against Paris SG on semi finals of Europa League, our only defeat all season. Not ashamed of it, they are really strong and we battled them toe to toe.

 

 

Starting with my IFs, as trying to put them to work was the reason I designed this tactic last year, they were really strong. They scored a total of 59 goals and made 39 assists, which was Incredible.

I think they are stronger this year. They cut inside more to shoot outside of the box, they run more behind opponents back to create 1x1 against the goalkeepers, overall they look more active than last season.

All the others performed as I expected. My three main midfielders (Hjulmand, Bragança and Morita) are not suited to the roles I assigned them (Hjulmand is not gifted as RP, the others are not good at Movement), but still did well. Gyokeres is an absolute beast and must be a good signing for any team.

As Sporting CP is one of the "Big Three" of Portugal, I was not convinced as this might have been because of the overall strong squad The Lions have, so I tried a season with my Amora FC to see how it would perform.

 

The second save test -> Amora FC

 

Now, let me just say about Amora FC that we are a small team. We play on Liga 3 (portuguese third tier) and this season we have a weak, awful squad. Really, I'm afraid we end up relegated by the end of the season on real life. That would crush me...

Anyway, Amora FC is a good team to test this tactic on an underdog, as that is what we are this season.

We play on Liga 3, a league that has 20 teams divided on two regional groups (north and south), each with 10 teams. The first regular phase has the top 4 teams of each group go to a final promotion phase (8 teams, the 4 top teams of each group), all the others go to a relegation phase.

 

 

 

 

As it can be seen, we won the first phase and got a place on the promotion phase. We ended up second place, so we not won the league, but were promoted. Also, we were knocked out of Portuguese Cup by Farense only on extra time, they are a team from portuguese first tier.

I'm really proud of all this. Amora FC has one of the worst squads of the league (it can be seen how almost all games were graded as 3 or 4 of difficulty), but we managed to get promoted.

Now, what I learned from this save test is that in most of the games we were slightly better than our opponents, but we were let down by individual mistakes, both in our defense as our IFs missing goals (my IFs are terrible, terrible even for portuguese third tier).

Overall, we clearly overperformed and I do not believe an AI Amora FC ever to get even remotely close to get promoted as we did. For example, in the first save test with Sporting CP, Amora FC was dead last by a long range.

This was it. Two successful save tests, I believe the tactic has some tweaks in it to perform better, but by now I believe this is already good.

Now I will try it on Premier League, last year I did a save test with Wolves, this season I may do one with Brighton. Latter will post updates of how it went.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still using FMM23 and this version of your tactic is still one of if not the best of all tactics used so far.

My own or ones from here that includes.

[Rav44]

Does Black Hawk still work? The answer is a resounding yes. Used it over the past weekend with Leicester City and dominated the championship. Hardly conceded and scored lots of goals. I nearly went the whole season undefeated but lost in the last game.  
 

Some points I should mention:

- I mostly used it as plug and play but in some games where I was drawing with 20 mins to go I might change some things to try and get a victory such mentality to overload and/or taking a midfielder into Trequista or taking the wing back off for a more attacking player.

- in tough games where I only had a 1 goal lead for the last 10 mins I would turn the roaming playmaker into a defensive midfielder to ensure i don’t lose.

- I scored a lot of goals from corners. Set up in the screenshots.

- I bought the correct players to fit the tactic. This is really crucial most of all fast defenders.

-inside forwards did really well which I think was the reason Black Hawk invented the tactic

Edited August 26, 2024 by Rav44

[Helio]

Goodness gracious... And I thought this tactic was badly affected by the update...

[KarsonL]

Is this tactic still good after the update without using corner setup?

[Anders]

It's working well for me with Oldham Athletic. This is a recently started game on FM24. I'm in my third season, and we're top in League One having been promoted twice. (The board thought we'd valiantly battle relegation.)

It is important to follow the advice about players. I spend a lot of time searching for free, expiring and cheap players.

I've noticed it takes about 10 competitive games to really start dominating matches each season. This season, I had an excellent pre-season in friendlies and then lost my first league game.

I built two squads and rotate all 10 out field players almost every game.

(I don't know what the 'corner setup' is and I unfortunately rarely score from corners.)

Edited September 14, 2024 by Anders

[Schwantz34]

15 hours ago, KarsonL said:

Is this tactic still good after the update without using corner setup?

It's still very effective.

 

[edit]

Sorry I meant for 23 and this is a 24 thread. My fault 🤣

Edited September 15, 2024 by Schwantz34

[Cockers2505]

16 hours ago, Anders said:

It's working well for me with Oldham Athletic. This is a recently started game on FM24. I'm in my third season, and we're top in League One having been promoted twice. (The board thought we'd valiantly battle relegation.)

It is important to follow the advice about players. I spend a lot of time searching for free, expiring and cheap players.

I've noticed it takes about 10 competitive games to really start dominating matches each season. This season, I had an excellent pre-season in friendlies and then lost my first league game.

I built two squads and rotate all 10 out field players almost every game.

(I don't know what the 'corner setup' is and I unfortunately rarely score from corners.)

If only this was true, I watch them every week and the day I see the League table showing them in the First Division will be music to my ears, as a fellow Oldham Fan since 1977 we can only but wish we get there again one day.

[Justinegero]

hey, good tactic still but, did you change their roles, like retrain position?

[Xeneizeee22]

A question, a restrained cdm works worst than a natural one? 

[Harikeish]

On 31/12/2023 at 10:58, Shiftu said:

I've been using this for 5 seasons with Chelsea. I have only really had moderate success. I dominate most games but unlike many people have said.. my IFs and particularly my PF hardly score at all. Despite all three having excellent stats with 19 shooting. As a result I draw a lot of games where I had like 15-20 shots. Often many are off target but not always.. I still just score very few. Any suggestions?

I did try it with my Chelsea save and it was a very good tactic. I would rotate my team and still be winning games. I played my B team in FA cup and Carabao Cup and won both. I don't have screenshots but Nkunku was good playing him upfront. My IF would score less though. 

[DanEnglish]

On 02/10/2024 at 02:25, Xeneizeee22 said:

A question, a restrained cdm works worst than a natural one? 

Not really.Very similar - seems to be the same …

… but there could be a small difference (based on the behind-the-scenes hidden attributes - natural positions are 20/20, fully retrained max out at 19/20 I’m told 

[erictan]

Thank you for the tactics, which are working extremely well for me. I am now in the year 2047, and I can say that all of the players are regens. However, I am struggling to get my FC to score. Do you have any suggestions or tips?

[brloo7]

Worst tactic ever....or the update mess with it...if you want to tie all games or loose them...use this tactic is great for faillure....sorry guys I had to say that....everyone says very good about this tactic but....I guess Save and load is the magic here 😉 

[DanEnglish]

34 minutes ago, brloo7 said:

Worst tactic ever....or the update mess with it...if you want to tie all games or loose them...use this tactic is great for faillure....sorry guys I had to say that....everyone says very good about this tactic but....I guess Save and load is the magic here 😉 

Can I ask which club, which league, and which season you tested this with?

• Weak - if you are using a weak team in your division, then even if this tactic can can the best out of your players’ abilities, you’ll still lose or draw a lot. 
   
• Dominant - if you are using one of the best clubs in your division (Man City, Liverpool), then you may also get a lot of draws, as teams sit back to defend, and this tactic is ‘balanced’ / not super attacking, that’s why I created my ‘attacking 4213’, which is a more attacking version of the black hawk.

However this is one of the most popular tactics for ‘ok to good’ teams - because it’s very balanced (you mostly won’t get destroyed by an opposition AMC) and its plug and play (you don’t need to make lots of tweaks depending on the opposition formation).

So there’s no “OP tactic” (yet) which destroys the game. Instead this is one of the most balanced tactics, for ok to good teams.

PS. It performed best of the 8 tactics I tested for Man Utd - which I systematically tested and wrote up here

https://fmmvibe.com/forums/topic/48344-testing-tactics-‘plug-play’-with-man-united/

[Schwantz34]

On 07/11/2024 at 14:35, brloo7 said:

Worst tactic ever....or the update mess with it...if you want to tie all games or loose them...use this tactic is great for faillure....sorry guys I had to say that....everyone says very good about this tactic but....I guess Save and load is the magic here 😉 

It's worked with every team I've tried it with and that's a lot of teams.

Just won the SPL with Hibs in the first season with mostly their original starting squad. On FMM23 mind you but still, you can see how well it's worked for most people even on the 24 version.

Bit harsh to rubbish a tactic just because it hasn't worked out for you yet.

Edited November 12, 2024 by Schwantz34

[Black Hawk]

Hey guys.

I've been away for the last few months, I also haven't played FMM for a while due to lack of time, but the Rúben Amorim effect brought me back.

I received some requests about how to adapt the tactic to a three at the back system, and if I could try to design a tactic that had a three at the back line, which apparently is the tactic everyone now wants.

I confess that I'm not a big fan of playing with three at the back players. This is mainly because I'm too attached to my 4123, which I've been using for as long as I can remember playing FM and has remained when I transitioned to FMM 2022 - and the 4123 The Black Hawk still works wonders for me, I havent noticed any decline in its effectiveness.

However, since it seems to be the system everyone now wants to use, I decided to try and invent anything.

So, I bring here a small invention based on 4123 The Black Hawk.

 

 

This is the layout I tested, and as you can see the instructions are the same as those for 4123 The Black Hawk.

I actually haven't changed much. In general, it is basically the same tactic, with the same instructions, ideas and objectives. The only changes I made was in the positioning of the Defensive Midfielder (the Roaming Playmaker one) to be a CB with the Libero's instruction, and I changed the Wing Backs from the defensive line to one spot ahead (now they are proper Wing Backs).

Anyone who has used the 4123 The Black Hawk knows that the Roaming Playmaker is the engine of the tactic, so I was afraid that without it the tactic wouldn't work at all. I decided to follow Libero's instructions to try to get this CB to integrate more into the game's construction and to serve as support for the two Midfielders (who continue to be B2Bs).

This Libero ended up not doing exactly what I wanted, but the results weren't bad at all and it ended up giving different things to this new variant.

 

 

This is what this Líbero gave to the team. Mainly, the guy roams a bit forward to give passing options on the early stages of our plays, both to our defenders and midfielders.

As can be seen above, he runs forward (green arrow). The team often do what can be seen on the first print (dashed green arrow): the CB passes the ball to the WB, who often passes it to the Líbero. He then has space to run a bit before giving it to someone ahead.

The thing on second print doesnt happen too much, but sometimes the Líbero runs a bit to provide passing chances to the midfielders (on that print, B2B Hjulmand passes the ball to him).

Unfortunately, most of times when we are in possession close to our opponents box the Líbero does not run forward and stays at the back. I didnt find (yet) a way to convince the guy to run forward at all times.

Defensively, the three guys at the back provide more cover, but theres a catch: without a DM, sometimes an opponent midfielder can and will run freely against our defensive line. One of them three CBs will break formation to press him, so the other two have to close the gap he opens while doing that.

This means that CBs must have Positioning (to better cover the gaps), Aggresion (to faster reaction times) and Pace (to get to those gaps faster).

The Líbero CB must have the attributes recomended when we choose the role. They recommend Movement, Creativity and Decisions, but it is not easy to find CBs with these high attributes. At least Movement and Decisions help a lot, as they are what will allow the player to recognize when to go up the field and quickly reach the desired location. Technique is obviously important, but this is a requirement for all positions whenever possible.

Anyway, that gave some other good things to the team. At the end I analyze what I saw, what I liked and didn't like, but first I share the results of the tests I carried out.

The tests I did were the same ones I conducted for the 4123 The Black Hawk, but this time with the DB from the last update: Sporting CP, Amora FC and Brighton.

 

First Save Test: Sporting Clube de Portugal

 

As I do whenever I want to test a new tactic or some variant of one of my tactics, I started a new save test with my beloved Sporting Clube de Portugal.

 

 

Compared to the save test I did for 4123 The Black Hawk (first post in this topic), this Sporting is a little different. St. Juste starts injured and has not reached the level necessary to be a starter until the end of the season; I can't confirm, but Fresneda seems to have been nerfed in some update because it is weaker overall; and the second lines in general seem weaker to me, especially in midfield and attack. I only had one good substitute for the three attacking positions, whenever I had to rotate the team it was with a clear downgrade.

The rest of the team is good, but overall I had maybe 15 good players, the rest were out of their depth.

The results were as follows.

 

 

The results in the Primeira Liga were quite similar to the 4123 The Black Hawk. At the time we made 90 points, scoring 84 times and conceding 9 goals. With this variant, we made 91 points (+1), scored 82 times (-2) and conceded 7 times (-2). We had the same goal difference.

Also, we won both domestic cups and the Europa League. In this last one, the highlight was the knocking out of Arsenal on the Round of 16 (3-1 on aggregate).

Don't get excited, because not everything was good. The team was not as obscenely dominating as with the 4123 The Black Hawk, there were about 4/5 League games that could have perfectly not been won.

What I learned from this test was that games become more balanced, we tend to have a little less possession of the ball and look more often for a vertical game, that is, trying to find one of the three forwards with direct passes in some circumstances.

In my opinion, this was because of the lack of Roaming Playmaker in midfield. I also felt his absence in some games where our opponents were close to their on box and without the Roaming Playmaker there was one less player attacking, which sometimes came in handy.

The good thing is that a third CB made the team defense more solid. One of the 4123 The Black Hawk's flaws is leaving just two defenders behind, almost always alone and too exposed to counterattacks.

With three CBs, even if one of them was beaten in the serial duel that follows we still had two other CBs to cover our defense. This resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances awarded to our opponents - the majority of goals conceded were shots from outside the box.

Additionally, it is worth highlighting that of the three CBs I have used more often, only one is relatively fast (Diomande). In other words, these results were achieved with CBs that do not meet what is the biggest recommendation I always give for the 4123 The Black Hawk: pacy CBs!

 

 

Statistically there were no major differences in relation to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk.

Gyokeres continued to be a goal scoring machine (scored about the same with both variants), Pedro Gonçalves scored less but because he failed more (not because he had fewer opportunities), Trincão even had the same goals and assists!

The two B2Bs scored and assisted more due to the absence of Roaming Playmaker. In fact, between them, the two had about the same goals and assists that in the 4123 The Black Hawk were distributed between the three midfielders!

This was the test with a top team, which is what Sporting is in Portugal. The other two tests aimed to test this variant with teams at other levels.

 

Second Save Test: Amora Futebol Clube

 

Amora Futebol Clube is a small team from my hometown. They played in 2023/24 in Liga 3 (Portuguese 3rd Tier) and had a weak squad that resulted, to my great sadness, in relegation to the Portuguese 4th Tier.

 

 

This was the team design that I used most times throughout the year.

The team is terrible. The CBs are slow and have little Tackling and Technique, the IFs also don't have Technique, in fact almost the entire team is technically fragile. Half of the team needed to retrain their positions to adapt to this variant (both WBs only knew how to play as Full Backs, Pape Assane was an DM that I had to adapt to CB, some midfielders were only AM or DM and had to be retrained as CM, and as can be seen, some of them were not yet comfortable playing in their designated position by the end of the season).

As you can imagine, it's no surprise that in reality the team was relegated and in most of the saves I played they were also relegated.

In any case, we played with what was available. Liga 3 is played in two phases. The first is the Regular Phase and has 18 games where the top 4 is classified to go on to a Championship Phase where 14 games are played and the top2 are promoted.

 

 

This test went better than expected!

I'm not going to lie and say this was a piece of cake. It wasn't. Some games were terrible, we achieved some victories that could not have been, but we also had unfair draws and defeats. Overall, I would say there was some balance between the two and the results achieved were fair.

In relation to the test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, in the Regular Phase we made 5 fewer points (42 with the 4123 and 37 with this 343), scored 6 fewer goals (30 instead of 36) and conceded 3 fewer goals (15 instead of 18). In the Championship Phase, we made the same points (24) and scored 5 fewer goals (20 instead of 25), but in return we only conceded 10 goals, 8 fewer than with the 4123 The Black Hawk!

 

 

The stats of our players were what one can expect with a The Black Hawk tactic. The striker scored some goals, out IFs were involved too, our B2B gave mixed respondes because one was good, but the others not so much.

All in all, to a team like Amora FC that was terrible last season, these are good results. It could have gone wrong at some points, so I cannot guarantee the same results if I run another save test with Amora FC, but this one went well.

This was the save test with an underdog team, so the other one was to test this with a mid team.

 

Third Save Test: Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club

 

When I invented the 4123 The Black Hawk, at the time for FMM 23, I did the usual save tests with Sporting CP and Amora FC. The final test in the Premier League was with Wolves, and at the time it was a success.

For FMM 24, I did the same test with Brighton and ended up winning the title in the first season, having only signing two CBs who adapted to the tactics (i.e., two fast CBs, at the time Maxence Lacroix and Davinson Sánchez).

 

 

This time I went with the original team, without any signings.

The defensive line was formed by Lewis Dunk, Jean Paul Van Hecke and Igor, of which only Igor can be considered fast.

The biggest problem I found at Brighton for this test was the defensive line (lack of speed and few alternatives to the three starters) and the second lines in most positions.

On the wings, Brighton have Lamptey and Estupiñan who are very good, but the alternatives are fragile. Barco evolves, but he starts too weak for the Premier League level, and on the right there was no alternative, I ended up using Hinshelwood and Milner when I needed to change Lamptey.

In midfield, the alternatives were Lallana, Milner and Baleba. Lallana fell a lot in level throughout the season and stopped being a solid alternative, Baleba only reached a reasonable level towards the end of the season. In other words, besides Milner, there were no great alternatives.

Brighton's attack is good, so I can't complain.

The results were as follows.

 

 

So, we were champions and won the Carabao Cup!

Compared to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, we did worse because we missed out on the FA Cup title. We were also eliminated early from the Europa League (in the save test with version 4123 we went to the Semi Finals), but interestingly we were eliminated by the same team in both tests: Paris SG.

In the Premier League, we made 1 point more than with version 4123 (91 instead of 90). The biggest difference was in goals: we scored less (71 instead of 86) and we conceded less (31 instead of 33).

This reinforced the perception I had in the save test with Sporting CP: the team is less dominant on the field and often tries to get ahead quickly rather than go there in short ball exchanges, but in compensation the third CB provides greater solidity at the back and allows fewer Clear Cut Chances to opponents.

For example, those games with version 4123 in which we are dominating and the opponent kicks forward and someone appears isolated behind our defense, that happens less. It continues to happen, especially because my defensive line wasn't exactly fast, but I noticed a decrease in that. The team with three CBs is not as dominating on the pitch as the 4123, but becames more resilient.

Speaking of which, just to show some examples of this resilience, I would like to take the opportunity to comment on the failure in the FA Cup.

We were eliminated in the Semi Finals against Man Utd, but I felt it was one of the biggest injustices I have ever suffered in any version of the FMM. We eliminated Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City on the way to the Semi Finals. Man City were dispatched with a 4-0 result, Tottenham were defeated after playing two games against them (we drew the first away game), and Chelsea were defeated with this incredible game.

 

 

Gross was sent off 25 minutes into the game and we played more than 90 minutes with one less player (including extra time). During that time we came from behind three times and scored five goals playing with just ten players!

Then, we went to the semi finals against Man Utd and something very similar occured again...

 

 

This time it was Lamptey who was sent off at the start of the second half. We managed to draw and force extra time, only to have the misfortune of Lallana, who had just come into the game, getting injured and leaving us playing with just nine players.

We resisted until the last minute, when Man Utd scored the goal that eliminated us.

As you can see in both games, the statistics are balanced despite having played longer with numerical inferiority than in equality numbers in both games.

 

 

The statistics were overall similar to those of 4123 The Black Hawk.

The difference in goals scored (in the Premier League we scored 71 in this version instead of 86) seems to me to come mainly from weaker seasons for Solly March and Pascal Gross, who together scored 11 fewer goals.

Anyway, it was a good season for most of the team and not to forget I played this time without any signings and with some not so fast CBs. That was surprising and made me really proud.

 

Conclusions and Final Considerations

 

So what do I have to say about this variant of The Black Hawk?

 

1) First of all, the team isn't as dominating as it is with 4123 The Black Hawk. This, in my opinion, is due to the absence of the Defensive Midfielder (Roaming Playmaker), who used to run the entire field providing a passing line behind when it was difficult to find spaces to progress with the ball.

Without it, players seek to progress more frequently, making the team more vertical, which results in less ball possession (because the team risks more in this vertical game and sometimes we lose possession on the process).

 

2) As we have less possession of the ball, the games seem more divided and statistically they sometimes seem close, but most of the time (especially in the save tests with Sporting CP and Brighton) we create better scoring chances than the opponents, because most of the shots they make are made from afar.

 

3) In compensation for the issue of losing ball possession and being less dominant, the team seems more solid at the back.

This is because instead of two CBs, we now have three CBs. Most of the scoring chances in version 4123 come from counterattacks in which we are left with just the two CBs behind, all it takes is for one of them to be caught in a misplaced position or lose the aerial duel so that the opponents can run towards our goal unopposed.

With three CBs, even if one of them loses the aerial duel we still have two CBs covering the space to our goal, which resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances granted.

This is consistent with the fact that I conceded fewer goals in the three save tests I did.

 

4) The difference in goals scored was more evident in the save test with Brighton than in the others, where the difference was almost irrelevant. Numbers can be deceiving. Even though we scored less, I didn't feel that the team was less offensive.

In the save test with version 4123, I noticed in several games that the team had difficulty Times scoring in games where we had 15+ shots and sometimes 4 or 5 Clear Cut Chances. With this version, we didn't need to create as many chances to score goals, sometimes we scored two or three goals in five or so shots. The team seems to be more cynical.

In fact, I've already noticed and more people have talked about it, that the game seems to make us concede goals when we score a lot or have less effectiveness when we shoot more. Maybe this also causes greater effectiveness when we shoot less?

 

As I said at the beginning, this variant was a test I did in response to some requests to design a variant with three at the back similar to Rúben Amorim's tactics. The way Man Utd's new coach got Sporting CP to play doesn't differ much from how the teams played in the three save tests I did.

The main difference is that Rúben Amorim at Sporting had a more fixed central CB and the right and left CBs moved up with the ball, sometimes functioning more as full-backs than as CBs.

Unfortunately, there is no instruction in the FMM that makes CBs do this. The closest is the Libero, which I used on the central CB, but which only makes him Run forward in the first phases of ball possession, as I showed in those two prints at the beginning of the post.

It may be possible to replicate Amorim routine better if the right and left CBs are Liberos and the central CB is a Central Defender or Ball Playing Defender. It can even be an alternative to be used in some games in which the opponents have an AM playing in the zone that the Libero will occupy when moving up the field, for example. It could be an interesting test to do.

Furthermore, despite some differences, this new variant continues to be The Black Hawk, with the same ideas and objectives as version 4123. It may not work in all contexts, I do not guarantee that it will always work. Maybe it needs to be refined as it's still a tested variant with instructions thinking of a 4123, so maybe some tweaks with some instructions could improve it - that's also why I'm sharing this here, maybe someone smarter than me can help making this variant works better.

In any case, it can be used as an alternative to the 4123, especially in games against much stronger opponents when we have more modest teams, or when we face an attack with two very fast forwards and we want to have more protection at the back, or simply if we have a weaker side who struggles with possession and the 4123 doesnt work that well.

I don't know, there are several situations in which we might find it useful to change from the 4123 to this 343. Or the opposite, ir, to play with this 343 and change to the 4123 if we want another player to move up the field, like if we need to score towards the end of the game against an opponent who is only defending.

Overall, the goal is to help people having fun playing FMM, so I hope anyone who feel tempted to try it out to have fun with this.

Edited December 4, 2024 by Black Hawk

[LiamTaylor]

1 hour ago, Black Hawk said:

Hey guys.

I've been away for the last few months, I also haven't played FMM for a while due to lack of time, but the Rúben Amorim effect brought me back.

I received some requests about how to adapt the tactic to a three at the back system, and if I could try to design a tactic that had a three at the back line, which apparently is the tactic everyone now wants.

I confess that I'm not a big fan of playing with three at the back players. This is mainly because I'm too attached to my 4123, which I've been using for as long as I can remember playing FM and has remained when I transitioned to FMM 2022 - and the 4123 The Black Hawk still works wonders for me, I havent noticed any decline in its effectiveness.

However, since it seems to be the system everyone now wants to use, I decided to try and invent anything.

So, I bring here a small invention based on 4123 The Black Hawk.

 

 

This is the layout I tested, and as you can see the instructions are the same as those for 4123 The Black Hawk.

I actually haven't changed much. In general, it is basically the same tactic, with the same instructions, ideas and objectives. The only changes I made was in the positioning of the Defensive Midfielder (the Roaming Playmaker one) to be a CB with the Libero's instruction, and I changed the Wing Backs from the defensive line to one spot ahead (now they are proper Wing Backs).

Anyone who has used the 4123 The Black Hawk knows that the Roaming Playmaker is the engine of the tactic, so I was afraid that without it the tactic wouldn't work at all. I decided to follow Libero's instructions to try to get this CB to integrate more into the game's construction and to serve as support for the two Midfielders (who continue to be B2Bs).

This Libero ended up not doing exactly what I wanted, but the results weren't bad at all and it ended up giving different things to this new variant.

 

 

This is what this Líbero gave to the team. Mainly, the guy roams a bit forward to give passing options on the early stages of our plays, both to our defenders and midfielders.

As can be seen above, he runs forward (green arrow). The team often do what can be seen on the first print (dashed green arrow): the CB passes the ball to the WB, who often passes it to the Líbero. He then has space to run a bit before giving it to someone ahead.

The thing on second print doesnt happen too much, but sometimes the Líbero runs a bit to provide passing chances to the midfielders (on that print, B2B Hjulmand passes the ball to him).

Unfortunately, most of times when we are in possession close to our opponents box the Líbero does not run forward and stays at the back. I didnt find (yet) a way to convince the guy to run forward at all times.

Defensively, the three guys at the back provide more cover, but theres a catch: without a DM, sometimes an opponent midfielder can and will run freely against our defensive line. One of them three CBs will break formation to press him, so the other two have to close the gap he opens while doing that.

This means that CBs must have Positioning (to better cover the gaps), Aggresion (to faster reaction times) and Pace (to get to those gaps faster).

The Líbero CB must have the attributes recomended when we choose the role. They recommend Movement, Creativity and Decisions, but it is not easy to find CBs with these high attributes. At least Movement and Decisions help a lot, as they are what will allow the player to recognize when to go up the field and quickly reach the desired location. Technique is obviously important, but this is a requirement for all positions whenever possible.

Anyway, that gave some other good things to the team. At the end I analyze what I saw, what I liked and didn't like, but first I share the results of the tests I carried out.

The tests I did were the same ones I conducted for the 4123 The Black Hawk, but this time with the DB from the last update: Sporting CP, Amora FC and Brighton.

 

First Save Test: Sporting Clube de Portugal

 

As I do whenever I want to test a new tactic or some variant of one of my tactics, I started a new save test with my beloved Sporting Clube de Portugal.

 

 

Compared to the save test I did for 4123 The Black Hawk (first post in this topic), this Sporting is a little different. St. Juste starts injured and has not reached the level necessary to be a starter until the end of the season; I can't confirm, but Fresneda seems to have been nerfed in some update because it is weaker overall; and the second lines in general seem weaker to me, especially in midfield and attack. I only had one good substitute for the three attacking positions, whenever I had to rotate the team it was with a clear downgrade.

The rest of the team is good, but overall I had maybe 15 good players, the rest were out of their depth.

The results were as follows.

 

 

The results in the Primeira Liga were quite similar to the 4123 The Black Hawk. At the time we made 90 points, scoring 84 times and conceding 9 goals. With this variant, we made 91 points (+1), scored 82 times (-2) and conceded 7 times (-2). We had the same goal difference.

Also, we won both domestic cups and the Europa League. In this last one, the highlight was the knocking out of Arsenal on the Round of 16 (3-1 on aggregate).

Don't get excited, because not everything was good. The team was not as obscenely dominating as with the 4123 The Black Hawk, there were about 4/5 League games that could have perfectly not been won.

What I learned from this test was that games become more balanced, we tend to have a little less possession of the ball and look more often for a vertical game, that is, trying to find one of the three forwards with direct passes in some circumstances.

In my opinion, this was because of the lack of Roaming Playmaker in midfield. I also felt his absence in some games where our opponents were close to their on box and without the Roaming Playmaker there was one less player attacking, which sometimes came in handy.

The good thing is that a third CB made the team defense more solid. One of the 4123 The Black Hawk's flaws is leaving just two defenders behind, almost always alone and too exposed to counterattacks.

With three CBs, even if one of them was beaten in the serial duel that follows we still had two other CBs to cover our defense. This resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances awarded to our opponents - the majority of goals conceded were shots from outside the box.

Additionally, it is worth highlighting that of the three CBs I have used more often, only one is relatively fast (Diomande). In other words, these results were achieved with CBs that do not meet what is the biggest recommendation I always give for the 4123 The Black Hawk: pacy CBs!

 

 

Statistically there were no major differences in relation to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk.

Gyokeres continued to be a goal scoring machine (scored about the same with both variants), Pedro Gonçalves scored less but because he failed more (not because he had fewer opportunities), Trincão even had the same goals and assists!

The two B2Bs scored and assisted more due to the absence of Roaming Playmaker. In fact, between them, the two had about the same goals and assists that in the 4123 The Black Hawk were distributed between the three midfielders!

This was the test with a top team, which is what Sporting is in Portugal. The other two tests aimed to test this variant with teams at other levels.

 

Second Save Test: Amora Futebol Clube

 

Amora Futebol Clube is a small team from my hometown. They played in 2023/24 in Liga 3 (Portuguese 3rd Tier) and had a weak squad that resulted, to my great sadness, in relegation to the Portuguese 4th Tier.

 

 

This was the team design that I used most times throughout the year.

The team is terrible. The CBs are slow and have little Tackling and Technique, the IFs also don't have Technique, in fact almost the entire team is technically fragile. Half of the team needed to retrain their positions to adapt to this variant (both WBs only knew how to play as Full Backs, Pape Assane was an DM that I had to adapt to CB, some midfielders were only AM or DM and had to be retrained as CM, and as can be seen, some of them were not yet comfortable playing in their designated position by the end of the season).

As you can imagine, it's no surprise that in reality the team was relegated and in most of the saves I played they were also relegated.

In any case, we played with what was available. Liga 3 is played in two phases. The first is the Regular Phase and has 18 games where the top 4 is classified to go on to a Championship Phase where 14 games are played and the top2 are promoted.

 

 

This test went better than expected!

I'm not going to lie and say this was a piece of cake. It wasn't. Some games were terrible, we achieved some victories that could not have been, but we also had unfair draws and defeats. Overall, I would say there was some balance between the two and the results achieved were fair.

In relation to the test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, in the Regular Phase we made 5 fewer points (42 with the 4123 and 37 with this 343), scored 6 fewer goals (30 instead of 36) and conceded 3 fewer goals (15 instead of 18). In the Championship Phase, we made the same points (24) and scored 5 fewer goals (20 instead of 25), but in return we only conceded 10 goals, 8 fewer than with the 4123 The Black Hawk!

 

 

The stats of our players were what one can expect with a The Black Hawk tactic. The striker scored some goals, out IFs were involved too, our B2B gave mixed respondes because one was good, but the others not so much.

All in all, to a team like Amora FC that was terrible last season, these are good results. It could have gone wrong at some points, so I cannot guarantee the same results if I run another save test with Amora FC, but this one went well.

This was the save test with an underdog team, so the other one was to test this with a mid team.

 

Third Save Test: Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club

 

When I invented the 4123 The Black Hawk, at the time for FMM 23, I did the usual save tests with Sporting CP and Amora FC. The final test in the Premier League was with Wolves, and at the time it was a success.

For FMM 24, I did the same test with Brighton and ended up winning the title in the first season, having only signing two CBs who adapted to the tactics (i.e., two fast CBs, at the time Maxence Lacroix and Davinson Sánchez).

 

 

This time I went with the original team, without any signings.

The defensive line was formed by Lewis Dunk, Jean Paul Van Hecke and Igor, of which only Igor can be considered fast.

The biggest problem I found at Brighton for this test was the defensive line (lack of speed and few alternatives to the three starters) and the second lines in most positions.

On the wings, Brighton have Lamptey and Estupiñan who are very good, but the alternatives are fragile. Barco evolves, but he starts too weak for the Premier League level, and on the right there was no alternative, I ended up using Hinshelwood and Milner when I needed to change Lamptey.

In midfield, the alternatives were Lallana, Milner and Baleba. Lallana fell a lot in level throughout the season and stopped being a solid alternative, Baleba only reached a reasonable level towards the end of the season. In other words, besides Milner, there were no great alternatives.

Brighton's attack is good, so I can't complain.

The results were as follows.

 

 

So, we were champions and won the Carabao Cup!

Compared to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, we did worse because we missed out on the FA Cup title. We were also eliminated early from the Europa League (in the save test with version 4123 we went to the Semi Finals), but interestingly we were eliminated by the same team in both tests: Paris SG.

In the Premier League, we made 1 point more than with version 4123 (91 instead of 90). The biggest difference was in goals: we scored less (71 instead of 86) and we conceded less (31 instead of 33).

This reinforced the perception I had in the save test with Sporting CP: the team is less dominant on the field and often tries to get ahead quickly rather than go there in short ball exchanges, but in compensation the third CB provides greater solidity at the back and allows fewer Clear Cut Chances to opponents.

For example, those games with version 4123 in which we are dominating and the opponent kicks forward and someone appears isolated behind our defense, that happens less. It continues to happen, especially because my defensive line wasn't exactly fast, but I noticed a decrease in that. The team with three CBs is not as dominating on the pitch as the 4123, but becames more resilient.

Speaking of which, just to show some examples of this resilience, I would like to take the opportunity to comment on the failure in the FA Cup.

We were eliminated in the Semi Finals against Man Utd, but I felt it was one of the biggest injustices I have ever suffered in any version of the FMM. We eliminated Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City on the way to the Semi Finals. Man City were dispatched with a 4-0 result, Tottenham were defeated after playing two games against them (we drew the first away game), and Chelsea were defeated with this incredible game.

 

 

Gross was sent off 25 minutes into the game and we played more than 90 minutes with one less player (including extra time). During that time we came from behind three times and scored five goals playing with just ten players!

Then, we went to the semi finals against Man Utd and something very similar occured again...

 

 

This time it was Lamptey who was sent off at the start of the second half. We managed to draw and force extra time, only to have the misfortune of Lallana, who had just come into the game, getting injured and leaving us playing with just nine players.

We resisted until the last minute, when Man Utd scored the goal that eliminated us.

As you can see in both games, the statistics are balanced despite having played longer with numerical inferiority than in equality numbers in both games.

 

 

The statistics were overall similar to those of 4123 The Black Hawk.

The difference in goals scored (in the Premier League we scored 71 in this version instead of 86) seems to me to come mainly from weaker seasons for Solly March and Pascal Gross, who together scored 11 fewer goals.

Anyway, it was a good season for most of the team and not to forget I played this time without any signings and with some not so fast CBs. That was surprising and made me really proud.

 

Conclusions and Final Considerations

 

So what do I have to say about this variant of The Black Hawk?

 

1) First of all, the team isn't as dominating as it is with 4123 The Black Hawk. This, in my opinion, is due to the absence of the Defensive Midfielder (Roaming Playmaker), who used to run the entire field providing a passing line behind when it was difficult to find spaces to progress with the ball.

Without it, players seek to progress more frequently, making the team more vertical, which results in less ball possession (because the team risks more in this vertical game and sometimes we lose possession on the process).

 

2) As we have less possession of the ball, the games seem more divided and statistically they sometimes seem close, but most of the time (especially in the save tests with Sporting CP and Brighton) we create better scoring chances than the opponents, because most of the shots they make are made from afar.

 

3) In compensation for the issue of losing ball possession and being less dominant, the team seems more solid at the back.

This is because instead of two CBs, we now have three CBs. Most of the scoring chances in version 4123 come from counterattacks in which we are left with just the two CBs behind, all it takes is for one of them to be caught in a misplaced position or lose the aerial duel so that the opponents can run towards our goal unopposed.

With three CBs, even if one of them loses the aerial duel we still have two CBs covering the space to our goal, which resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances granted.

This is consistent with the fact that I conceded fewer goals in the three save tests I did.

 

4) The difference in goals scored was more evident in the save test with Brighton than in the others, where the difference was almost irrelevant. Numbers can be deceiving. Even though we scored less, I didn't feel that the team was less offensive.

In the save test with version 4123, I noticed in several games that the team had difficulty Times scoring in games where we had 15+ shots and sometimes 4 or 5 Clear Cut Chances. With this version, we didn't need to create as many chances to score goals, sometimes we scored two or three goals in five or so shots. The team seems to be more cynical.

In fact, I've already noticed and more people have talked about it, that the game seems to make us concede goals when we score a lot or have less effectiveness when we shoot more. Maybe this also causes greater effectiveness when we shoot less?

 

As I said at the beginning, this variant was a test I did in response to some requests to design a variant with three at the back similar to Rúben Amorim's tactics. The way Man Utd's new coach got Sporting CP to play doesn't differ much from how the teams played in the three save tests I did.

The main difference is that Rúben Amorim at Sporting had a more fixed central CB and the right and left CBs moved up with the ball, sometimes functioning more as full-backs than as CBs.

Unfortunately, there is no instruction in the FMM that makes CBs do this. The closest is the Libero, which I used on the central CB, but which only makes him Run forward in the first phases of ball possession, as I showed in those two prints at the beginning of the post.

It may be possible to replicate Amorim routine better if the right and left CBs are Liberos and the central CB is a Central Defender or Ball Playing Defender. It can even be an alternative to be used in some games in which the opponents have an AM playing in the zone that the Libero will occupy when moving up the field, for example. It could be an interesting test to do.

Furthermore, despite some differences, this new variant continues to be The Black Hawk, with the same ideas and objectives as version 4123. It may not work in all contexts, I do not guarantee that it will always work. Maybe it needs to be refined as it's still a tested variant with instructions thinking of a 4123, so maybe some tweaks with some instructions could improve it - that's also why I'm sharing this here, maybe someone smarter than me can help making this variant works better.

In any case, it can be used as an alternative to the 4123, especially in games against much stronger opponents when we have more modest teams, or when we face an attack with two very fast forwards and we want to have more protection at the back, or simply if we have a weaker side who struggles with possession and the 4123 doesnt work that well.

I don't know, there are several situations in which we might find it useful to change from the 4123 to this 343. Or the opposite, ir, to play with this 343 and change to the 4123 if we want another player to move up the field, like if we need to score towards the end of the game against an opponent who is only defending.

Overall, the goal is to help people having fun playing FMM, so I hope anyone who feel tempted to try it out to have fun with this.

I am going to use this buddy and thanks for sharing this too 

[Helio]

2 hours ago, Black Hawk said:

Hey guys.

I've been away for the last few months, I also haven't played FMM for a while due to lack of time, but the Rúben Amorim effect brought me back.

I received some requests about how to adapt the tactic to a three at the back system, and if I could try to design a tactic that had a three at the back line, which apparently is the tactic everyone now wants.

I confess that I'm not a big fan of playing with three at the back players. This is mainly because I'm too attached to my 4123, which I've been using for as long as I can remember playing FM and has remained when I transitioned to FMM 2022 - and the 4123 The Black Hawk still works wonders for me, I havent noticed any decline in its effectiveness.

However, since it seems to be the system everyone now wants to use, I decided to try and invent anything.

So, I bring here a small invention based on 4123 The Black Hawk.

 

 

This is the layout I tested, and as you can see the instructions are the same as those for 4123 The Black Hawk.

I actually haven't changed much. In general, it is basically the same tactic, with the same instructions, ideas and objectives. The only changes I made was in the positioning of the Defensive Midfielder (the Roaming Playmaker one) to be a CB with the Libero's instruction, and I changed the Wing Backs from the defensive line to one spot ahead (now they are proper Wing Backs).

Anyone who has used the 4123 The Black Hawk knows that the Roaming Playmaker is the engine of the tactic, so I was afraid that without it the tactic wouldn't work at all. I decided to follow Libero's instructions to try to get this CB to integrate more into the game's construction and to serve as support for the two Midfielders (who continue to be B2Bs).

This Libero ended up not doing exactly what I wanted, but the results weren't bad at all and it ended up giving different things to this new variant.

 

 

This is what this Líbero gave to the team. Mainly, the guy roams a bit forward to give passing options on the early stages of our plays, both to our defenders and midfielders.

As can be seen above, he runs forward (green arrow). The team often do what can be seen on the first print (dashed green arrow): the CB passes the ball to the WB, who often passes it to the Líbero. He then has space to run a bit before giving it to someone ahead.

The thing on second print doesnt happen too much, but sometimes the Líbero runs a bit to provide passing chances to the midfielders (on that print, B2B Hjulmand passes the ball to him).

Unfortunately, most of times when we are in possession close to our opponents box the Líbero does not run forward and stays at the back. I didnt find (yet) a way to convince the guy to run forward at all times.

Defensively, the three guys at the back provide more cover, but theres a catch: without a DM, sometimes an opponent midfielder can and will run freely against our defensive line. One of them three CBs will break formation to press him, so the other two have to close the gap he opens while doing that.

This means that CBs must have Positioning (to better cover the gaps), Aggresion (to faster reaction times) and Pace (to get to those gaps faster).

The Líbero CB must have the attributes recomended when we choose the role. They recommend Movement, Creativity and Decisions, but it is not easy to find CBs with these high attributes. At least Movement and Decisions help a lot, as they are what will allow the player to recognize when to go up the field and quickly reach the desired location. Technique is obviously important, but this is a requirement for all positions whenever possible.

Anyway, that gave some other good things to the team. At the end I analyze what I saw, what I liked and didn't like, but first I share the results of the tests I carried out.

The tests I did were the same ones I conducted for the 4123 The Black Hawk, but this time with the DB from the last update: Sporting CP, Amora FC and Brighton.

 

First Save Test: Sporting Clube de Portugal

 

As I do whenever I want to test a new tactic or some variant of one of my tactics, I started a new save test with my beloved Sporting Clube de Portugal.

 

 

Compared to the save test I did for 4123 The Black Hawk (first post in this topic), this Sporting is a little different. St. Juste starts injured and has not reached the level necessary to be a starter until the end of the season; I can't confirm, but Fresneda seems to have been nerfed in some update because it is weaker overall; and the second lines in general seem weaker to me, especially in midfield and attack. I only had one good substitute for the three attacking positions, whenever I had to rotate the team it was with a clear downgrade.

The rest of the team is good, but overall I had maybe 15 good players, the rest were out of their depth.

The results were as follows.

 

 

The results in the Primeira Liga were quite similar to the 4123 The Black Hawk. At the time we made 90 points, scoring 84 times and conceding 9 goals. With this variant, we made 91 points (+1), scored 82 times (-2) and conceded 7 times (-2). We had the same goal difference.

Also, we won both domestic cups and the Europa League. In this last one, the highlight was the knocking out of Arsenal on the Round of 16 (3-1 on aggregate).

Don't get excited, because not everything was good. The team was not as obscenely dominating as with the 4123 The Black Hawk, there were about 4/5 League games that could have perfectly not been won.

What I learned from this test was that games become more balanced, we tend to have a little less possession of the ball and look more often for a vertical game, that is, trying to find one of the three forwards with direct passes in some circumstances.

In my opinion, this was because of the lack of Roaming Playmaker in midfield. I also felt his absence in some games where our opponents were close to their on box and without the Roaming Playmaker there was one less player attacking, which sometimes came in handy.

The good thing is that a third CB made the team defense more solid. One of the 4123 The Black Hawk's flaws is leaving just two defenders behind, almost always alone and too exposed to counterattacks.

With three CBs, even if one of them was beaten in the serial duel that follows we still had two other CBs to cover our defense. This resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances awarded to our opponents - the majority of goals conceded were shots from outside the box.

Additionally, it is worth highlighting that of the three CBs I have used more often, only one is relatively fast (Diomande). In other words, these results were achieved with CBs that do not meet what is the biggest recommendation I always give for the 4123 The Black Hawk: pacy CBs!

 

 

Statistically there were no major differences in relation to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk.

Gyokeres continued to be a goal scoring machine (scored about the same with both variants), Pedro Gonçalves scored less but because he failed more (not because he had fewer opportunities), Trincão even had the same goals and assists!

The two B2Bs scored and assisted more due to the absence of Roaming Playmaker. In fact, between them, the two had about the same goals and assists that in the 4123 The Black Hawk were distributed between the three midfielders!

This was the test with a top team, which is what Sporting is in Portugal. The other two tests aimed to test this variant with teams at other levels.

 

Second Save Test: Amora Futebol Clube

 

Amora Futebol Clube is a small team from my hometown. They played in 2023/24 in Liga 3 (Portuguese 3rd Tier) and had a weak squad that resulted, to my great sadness, in relegation to the Portuguese 4th Tier.

 

 

This was the team design that I used most times throughout the year.

The team is terrible. The CBs are slow and have little Tackling and Technique, the IFs also don't have Technique, in fact almost the entire team is technically fragile. Half of the team needed to retrain their positions to adapt to this variant (both WBs only knew how to play as Full Backs, Pape Assane was an DM that I had to adapt to CB, some midfielders were only AM or DM and had to be retrained as CM, and as can be seen, some of them were not yet comfortable playing in their designated position by the end of the season).

As you can imagine, it's no surprise that in reality the team was relegated and in most of the saves I played they were also relegated.

In any case, we played with what was available. Liga 3 is played in two phases. The first is the Regular Phase and has 18 games where the top 4 is classified to go on to a Championship Phase where 14 games are played and the top2 are promoted.

 

 

This test went better than expected!

I'm not going to lie and say this was a piece of cake. It wasn't. Some games were terrible, we achieved some victories that could not have been, but we also had unfair draws and defeats. Overall, I would say there was some balance between the two and the results achieved were fair.

In relation to the test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, in the Regular Phase we made 5 fewer points (42 with the 4123 and 37 with this 343), scored 6 fewer goals (30 instead of 36) and conceded 3 fewer goals (15 instead of 18). In the Championship Phase, we made the same points (24) and scored 5 fewer goals (20 instead of 25), but in return we only conceded 10 goals, 8 fewer than with the 4123 The Black Hawk!

 

 

The stats of our players were what one can expect with a The Black Hawk tactic. The striker scored some goals, out IFs were involved too, our B2B gave mixed respondes because one was good, but the others not so much.

All in all, to a team like Amora FC that was terrible last season, these are good results. It could have gone wrong at some points, so I cannot guarantee the same results if I run another save test with Amora FC, but this one went well.

This was the save test with an underdog team, so the other one was to test this with a mid team.

 

Third Save Test: Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club

 

When I invented the 4123 The Black Hawk, at the time for FMM 23, I did the usual save tests with Sporting CP and Amora FC. The final test in the Premier League was with Wolves, and at the time it was a success.

For FMM 24, I did the same test with Brighton and ended up winning the title in the first season, having only signing two CBs who adapted to the tactics (i.e., two fast CBs, at the time Maxence Lacroix and Davinson Sánchez).

 

 

This time I went with the original team, without any signings.

The defensive line was formed by Lewis Dunk, Jean Paul Van Hecke and Igor, of which only Igor can be considered fast.

The biggest problem I found at Brighton for this test was the defensive line (lack of speed and few alternatives to the three starters) and the second lines in most positions.

On the wings, Brighton have Lamptey and Estupiñan who are very good, but the alternatives are fragile. Barco evolves, but he starts too weak for the Premier League level, and on the right there was no alternative, I ended up using Hinshelwood and Milner when I needed to change Lamptey.

In midfield, the alternatives were Lallana, Milner and Baleba. Lallana fell a lot in level throughout the season and stopped being a solid alternative, Baleba only reached a reasonable level towards the end of the season. In other words, besides Milner, there were no great alternatives.

Brighton's attack is good, so I can't complain.

The results were as follows.

 

 

So, we were champions and won the Carabao Cup!

Compared to the save test with the 4123 The Black Hawk, we did worse because we missed out on the FA Cup title. We were also eliminated early from the Europa League (in the save test with version 4123 we went to the Semi Finals), but interestingly we were eliminated by the same team in both tests: Paris SG.

In the Premier League, we made 1 point more than with version 4123 (91 instead of 90). The biggest difference was in goals: we scored less (71 instead of 86) and we conceded less (31 instead of 33).

This reinforced the perception I had in the save test with Sporting CP: the team is less dominant on the field and often tries to get ahead quickly rather than go there in short ball exchanges, but in compensation the third CB provides greater solidity at the back and allows fewer Clear Cut Chances to opponents.

For example, those games with version 4123 in which we are dominating and the opponent kicks forward and someone appears isolated behind our defense, that happens less. It continues to happen, especially because my defensive line wasn't exactly fast, but I noticed a decrease in that. The team with three CBs is not as dominating on the pitch as the 4123, but becames more resilient.

Speaking of which, just to show some examples of this resilience, I would like to take the opportunity to comment on the failure in the FA Cup.

We were eliminated in the Semi Finals against Man Utd, but I felt it was one of the biggest injustices I have ever suffered in any version of the FMM. We eliminated Tottenham, Chelsea and Man City on the way to the Semi Finals. Man City were dispatched with a 4-0 result, Tottenham were defeated after playing two games against them (we drew the first away game), and Chelsea were defeated with this incredible game.

 

 

Gross was sent off 25 minutes into the game and we played more than 90 minutes with one less player (including extra time). During that time we came from behind three times and scored five goals playing with just ten players!

Then, we went to the semi finals against Man Utd and something very similar occured again...

 

 

This time it was Lamptey who was sent off at the start of the second half. We managed to draw and force extra time, only to have the misfortune of Lallana, who had just come into the game, getting injured and leaving us playing with just nine players.

We resisted until the last minute, when Man Utd scored the goal that eliminated us.

As you can see in both games, the statistics are balanced despite having played longer with numerical inferiority than in equality numbers in both games.

 

 

The statistics were overall similar to those of 4123 The Black Hawk.

The difference in goals scored (in the Premier League we scored 71 in this version instead of 86) seems to me to come mainly from weaker seasons for Solly March and Pascal Gross, who together scored 11 fewer goals.

Anyway, it was a good season for most of the team and not to forget I played this time without any signings and with some not so fast CBs. That was surprising and made me really proud.

 

Conclusions and Final Considerations

 

So what do I have to say about this variant of The Black Hawk?

 

1) First of all, the team isn't as dominating as it is with 4123 The Black Hawk. This, in my opinion, is due to the absence of the Defensive Midfielder (Roaming Playmaker), who used to run the entire field providing a passing line behind when it was difficult to find spaces to progress with the ball.

Without it, players seek to progress more frequently, making the team more vertical, which results in less ball possession (because the team risks more in this vertical game and sometimes we lose possession on the process).

 

2) As we have less possession of the ball, the games seem more divided and statistically they sometimes seem close, but most of the time (especially in the save tests with Sporting CP and Brighton) we create better scoring chances than the opponents, because most of the shots they make are made from afar.

 

3) In compensation for the issue of losing ball possession and being less dominant, the team seems more solid at the back.

This is because instead of two CBs, we now have three CBs. Most of the scoring chances in version 4123 come from counterattacks in which we are left with just the two CBs behind, all it takes is for one of them to be caught in a misplaced position or lose the aerial duel so that the opponents can run towards our goal unopposed.

With three CBs, even if one of them loses the aerial duel we still have two CBs covering the space to our goal, which resulted in fewer Clear Cut Chances granted.

This is consistent with the fact that I conceded fewer goals in the three save tests I did.

 

4) The difference in goals scored was more evident in the save test with Brighton than in the others, where the difference was almost irrelevant. Numbers can be deceiving. Even though we scored less, I didn't feel that the team was less offensive.

In the save test with version 4123, I noticed in several games that the team had difficulty Times scoring in games where we had 15+ shots and sometimes 4 or 5 Clear Cut Chances. With this version, we didn't need to create as many chances to score goals, sometimes we scored two or three goals in five or so shots. The team seems to be more cynical.

In fact, I've already noticed and more people have talked about it, that the game seems to make us concede goals when we score a lot or have less effectiveness when we shoot more. Maybe this also causes greater effectiveness when we shoot less?

 

As I said at the beginning, this variant was a test I did in response to some requests to design a variant with three at the back similar to Rúben Amorim's tactics. The way Man Utd's new coach got Sporting CP to play doesn't differ much from how the teams played in the three save tests I did.

The main difference is that Rúben Amorim at Sporting had a more fixed central CB and the right and left CBs moved up with the ball, sometimes functioning more as full-backs than as CBs.

Unfortunately, there is no instruction in the FMM that makes CBs do this. The closest is the Libero, which I used on the central CB, but which only makes him Run forward in the first phases of ball possession, as I showed in those two prints at the beginning of the post.

It may be possible to replicate Amorim routine better if the right and left CBs are Liberos and the central CB is a Central Defender or Ball Playing Defender. It can even be an alternative to be used in some games in which the opponents have an AM playing in the zone that the Libero will occupy when moving up the field, for example. It could be an interesting test to do.

Furthermore, despite some differences, this new variant continues to be The Black Hawk, with the same ideas and objectives as version 4123. It may not work in all contexts, I do not guarantee that it will always work. Maybe it needs to be refined as it's still a tested variant with instructions thinking of a 4123, so maybe some tweaks with some instructions could improve it - that's also why I'm sharing this here, maybe someone smarter than me can help making this variant works better.

In any case, it can be used as an alternative to the 4123, especially in games against much stronger opponents when we have more modest teams, or when we face an attack with two very fast forwards and we want to have more protection at the back, or simply if we have a weaker side who struggles with possession and the 4123 doesnt work that well.

I don't know, there are several situations in which we might find it useful to change from the 4123 to this 343. Or the opposite, ir, to play with this 343 and change to the 4123 if we want another player to move up the field, like if we need to score towards the end of the game against an opponent who is only defending.

Overall, the goal is to help people having fun playing FMM, so I hope anyone who feel tempted to try it out to have fun with this.

A new post by Black Hawk is like if a new album by the Beatles was discovered.

[Max_Cowheel]

I think to find players with high creativity,movement,and decisions is to find players that play as full backs but there stats look more like Center-Backs for example is Man United Luke Shaw he has decent creativity,movement and decisions.

[Noise]

Hi blackhawk and all, new hero in forum and in fmm. I try ur tactic, i take a serie c team and i come in serie a in 3 season 🤯, i play 2 season in a and i stay stable on middle, but i have a big problem, in serie c and b a score a lot o gol, my iw score like a devil… in serie a i have a rly big problem with gol. My iw and fw do 8-10 gol in season , last 2 season i don’t go over 50gol and i lost most of game without score a single gol. I have 2 good iw and one good fw (follow ur stats prior on 1st page) but nothing. 10+ shot and no gol. How i can fix this?

[DutchTony]

Won the league with 8 games to spare 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼 

[DanEnglish]

21 hours ago, Noise said:

Hi blackhawk and all, new hero in forum and in fmm. I try ur tactic, i take a serie c team and i come in serie a in 3 season 🤯, i play 2 season in a and i stay stable on middle, but i have a big problem, in serie c and b a score a lot o gol, my iw score like a devil… in serie a i have a rly big problem with gol. My iw and fw do 8-10 gol in season , last 2 season i don’t go over 50gol and i lost most of game without score a single gol. I have 2 good iw and one good fw (follow ur stats prior on 1st page) but nothing. 10+ shot and no gol. How i can fix this?

Hi @Noise

Your situation is normal 👍

• Serie C + Serie B = score lots, concede few = win league
• Serie A = score less, concede more = mid-table finish 

Why? Because the top Division is MUCH harder - especially the ‘top 4’ to ‘top 8’ (depending on how the other clubs have developed). 

If you want to be a top 4 club in Serie A, your players will need to be MUCH better than the players who won the Championship - either from the existing players developing a LOT, or by getting new BETTER players.

If you post screenshots of (1) your attackers’ attributes, (2) your league table - then we can look at what’s happening 🙂 … plus (3) do you change / tweak your tactic in the last 10-30 mins of a match, to protect a narrow lead, or to try to score an equalizer? 

Edited December 12, 2024 by DanEnglish

[Black Hawk]

On 04/12/2024 at 23:09, Helio said:

A new post by Black Hawk is like if a new album by the Beatles was discovered.

Justo hope it is not received like the Let It Be album 😅

On 07/12/2024 at 14:01, Max_Cowheel said:

I think to find players with high creativity,movement,and decisions is to find players that play as full backs but there stats look more like Center-Backs for example is Man United Luke Shaw he has decent creativity,movement and decisions.

That's a really good idea 🤩

22 hours ago, Noise said:

Hi blackhawk and all, new hero in forum and in fmm. I try ur tactic, i take a serie c team and i come in serie a in 3 season 🤯, i play 2 season in a and i stay stable on middle, but i have a big problem, in serie c and b a score a lot o gol, my iw score like a devil… in serie a i have a rly big problem with gol. My iw and fw do 8-10 gol in season , last 2 season i don’t go over 50gol and i lost most of game without score a single gol. I have 2 good iw and one good fw (follow ur stats prior on 1st page) but nothing. 10+ shot and no gol. How i can fix this?

@DanEnglish reply is spot on, as always is. I agree with what he said.

4 hours ago, DutchTony said:

Won the league with 8 games to spare 👏🏼 👏🏼 👏🏼 

Wow, those numbers of goalscoring are fantastic! This was with the three at the back version?

1 hour ago, DanEnglish said:

Hi @Noise

Your situation is normal 👍

• Serie C + Serie B = score lots, concede few = win league
• Serie A = score less, concede more = mid-table finish 

Why? Because the top Division is MUCH harder - especially the ‘top 4’ to ‘top 8’ (depending on how the other clubs have developed). 

If you want to be a top 4 club in Serie A, your players will need to be MUCH better than the players who won the Championship - either from the existing players developing a LOT, or by getting new BETTER players.

If you post screenshots of (1) your attackers’ attributes, (2) your league table - then we can look at what’s happening 🙂 … plus (3) do you change / tweak your tactic in the last 10-30 mins of a match, to protect a narrow lead, or to try to score an equalizer? 

You are incredible, my friend ☺️