Tactics DanEnglish’s Defensive 41410 (To Avoid Conceding Late Goals)

[DanEnglish]

DanEnglish’s
‘Park The Bus’ Defensive 41410

Conceding late goals? Annoyed when the opposition score a 90th minute equalizer? Want to protect your narrow 1-0 lead?!

Quote

“That tactic is drier
than a nun’s fanny”

@KloppySeconds on Discord

 
So here’s my favourite ‘park the bus’ tactic for FMM23. As the match engine is pretty much the same, this should work for FMM24 also.

• ✅ good to avoid conceding late goals (e.g. in the last 10-30 mins of a match)
• ⚠️ not good if you want to score
• ⛔️ do NOT use this as your main tactic! 
   

The Tactic
Here’s the ‘park the bus’ defensive 41410 to avoid conceding late goals. 

That’s right - no attackers, defensive mentality + disciplined. Solid.

A mid-press. We don’t care if the opposition DCs have the ball in their half. And we will time waste those last 10-30 minutes as much as possible.  
 

Variant 1 - Sterile Possession
This is the one I mostly use (+80% of the time) - short passing, to keep possession, so the opposition can’t get the ball + can’t create chances.

Suitable for good teams with good passing abilities.

  
 

Variant 2 - Down the Flanks
This is an alternative I sometimes use (<20% of the time) - direct passes to the flanks, to get the ball as far away from our goal as possible.

Suitable for poor teams with poor passing.

Explanation A
Why use DFBs + DWs on man-mark?

Spoiler

Because a common source of late goals is through opposition crosses + corners.

• DFBs - they don’t move forward. They stay back + help to mark opposition strikers / wide attackers.
• DWs (on man-mark) - they aggressively press + mark the opposition FBs / WBs. If those players can’t cross, then the opposition can’t score from crosses + corners 👍 

 
Explanation B
Why use a midfield diamond, with such simple roles? 

Spoiler

Because a common source of late goals are both opposition through balls (to their attackers) + opposition long shots (from their midfielders)

• Anchor - protects your defense by not moving. A DM would also work.
• CMs - don’t move forward on a defensive mentality. Will track back. Perfect.
• AP - will move around to be available for passes, but with a mid-press, he won’t press the opposition DCs, and will instead cover the opposition DMC. An AM role also works.

Summary
This is my favourite ‘park the bus’ defensive 41410 tactic for FMM23. As the match engine is pretty much the same, this should work for FMM24 also.

⛔️ This will NOT 100% eliminate conceding late goals ⛔️ 

✅ The good news is that it will significantly reduce the number of late goals you concede ✅
 

Enjoy! Thoughts? 🙂 

Edited January 1, 2024 by DanEnglish

[DanEnglish]

Want MORE like this?

Here is my 4 part guide to ‘preventing + defending against opposition set pieces’ …

… as their corners + free kicks are a key reason why opposition teams can score late goals against you.

https://fmmvibe.com/forums/topic/47804-help-with-set-pieces/#comment-472346

Edited January 1, 2024 by DanEnglish

[till malkovich]

As I recall you had another option that looked like BBM+IWB on only one side of the form for the ability to go on a rare attack.

[kmtuna]

Great tactic and comments, thank you!

How would you modify the formation or tactic if a player is sent off?

[DanEnglish]

8 hours ago, till malkovich said:

As I recall you had another option that looked like BBM+IWB on only one side of the form for the ability to go on a rare attack.

You either have a FANTASTIC memory or are great at searching through old Vibe threads!

You are absolutely right, sometimes I have one B2B and maybe an IWB to have a small attacking threat. If you do use this late in a match, make sure these are players who are subbed on, so they actually have the fitness / condition to get back into position!

7 hours ago, kmtuna said:

How would you modify the formation or tactic if a player is sent off?

Probably I’d (reluctantly) play without an AMC + use the 2nd variant to hit the balls direct to the flanks.

[till malkovich]

3 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

You either have a FANTASTIC memory or are great at searching through old Vibe threads!

You are absolutely right, sometimes I have one B2B and maybe an IWB to have a small attacking threat. If you do use this late in a match, make sure these are players who are subbed on, so they actually have the fitness / condition to get back into position!

Probably I’d (reluctantly) play without an AMC + use the 2nd variant to hit the balls direct to the flanks.

Thank you for confirming that such a version existed, which suddenly popped into my memory. 
       I'd like to add one more thing, there was this very strange tactic 4141 high possession, which allows you to achieve >70% ball possession (+1000 passes), but unfortunately is not able to score goals ( AF - gets 2-3 touches per match). That if you combine or alternate with your "Park the Bus" this abnormal possession tactic you can almost never concede goals. It remains only to develop how to score from free kicks and corner kicks, which is still a mystery to me, because it is like a lottery.

[DanEnglish]

On 02/01/2024 at 11:45, till malkovich said:

Thank you for confirming that such a version existed, which suddenly popped into my memory. 
       I'd like to add one more thing, there was this very strange tactic 4141 high possession, which allows you to achieve >70% ball possession (+1000 passes), but unfortunately is not able to score goals ( AF - gets 2-3 touches per match). That if you combine or alternate with your "Park the Bus" this abnormal possession tactic you can almost never concede goals. It remains only to develop how to score from free kicks and corner kicks, which is still a mystery to me, because it is like a lottery.

Was it one of these two tactics (see link below)? If not, if you can find the tactic, then I’d gladly take a look at it 👍

 

 

[bcfclee27]

This park

the bus tactic works really well for me Dan well done.

Dont think I’ve conceded since I’ve switched to it to close out a game 😍

[till malkovich]

2 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

Was it one of these two tactics (see link below)? If not, if you can find the tactic, then I’d gladly take a look at it 👍

 

 

 

2 hours ago, DanEnglish said:

Was it one of these two tactics (see link below)? If not, if you can find the tactic, then I’d gladly take a look at it 👍

 

 

No, the link you provided and ask is a pressing tactic to neutralize Man City's build-up, and I was referring to another tactic not yours - this tactic allows long possession of the ball resulting in a huge number of passes, but it is absolutely useless for goal scoring, you can't score a goal. Not bad on defense as you get a lot of possession:  - that's it :

Here's another option - also possesses the ball a lot, while allowing more goals than the tactics above, but has the disadvantage of being vulnerable in defense. This :

 

[DanEnglish]

10 hours ago, bcfclee27 said:

This park the bus tactic works really well for me Dan well done.

Dont think I’ve conceded since I’ve switched to it to close out a game 😍

Glad it’s working out for you 👍 
 

8 hours ago, till malkovich said:

Here's another option - also possesses the ball a lot, while allowing more goals than the tactics above, but has the disadvantage of being vulnerable in defense. This

Thanks for posting those two tactics. I’ll take a look 👍