Tactics Red Devils Quad Champs 3-1-4-2

[Hazza8]

Hi folks,

This tactic worked wonders for me, guiding Utd to a domestic treble and Champions League victory in the first season. No new signings, occasionally playing players out of position. I had an A team and a B team outlined below.

Goals mainly from advanced forwards and the roaming playmaker, with wingers providing  assists.

Player Attributes. 

BPD - Pace Decision Passing Positioning 

CB - Arial, Decision, Passing Positioning 

RP - Movement, Decisions, Creativity, Stamina 

CM - Stamina, Teamwork, Positioning, Movement. 
 

Wingers - Movement Creativity Passing Dribbling 

Advanced Forward - Pace Movement Shooting Decisions  

Initially had tempo on fast but switched to normal to reduce offside goals without sacrificing shot output or chance creation. Unsure if it affects timing of players runs , but it made a positive difference.

Edited January 12, 2024 by Hazza8

[ministryofsillywalks]

Nice work @Hazza8!

May I ask, you have 2 wingers - but appear to be playing a left footer on the right and a right footer on the left, is that intentional as part of how the tactic plays?

[Hazza8]

Thank you. 

As the style of play is set to narrow the wingers automatically drift inside creating 3 attacking midfielders (along with roaming play-maker) behind the 2 advanced forwards we overload the centre of the pitch and the ''wingers'' find space on the edge of the box to provide assists or take shots. 

 When wide players are asked to come inside I prefer for them to cut in on their preferred foot.

[ministryofsillywalks]

3 hours ago, Hazza8 said:

Thank you. 

As the style of play is set to narrow the wingers automatically drift inside creating 3 attacking midfielders (along with roaming play-maker) behind the 2 advanced forwards we overload the centre of the pitch and the ''wingers'' find space on the edge of the box to provide assists or take shots. 

 When wide players are asked to come inside I prefer for them to cut in on their preferred foot.

Makes complete sense, thank you!

Do you need fast defenders at all? Noticed you were playing Maguire which would lead me to say no, but wondered with the offside trap being ticked that it may be beneficial?

Also, sorry @Hazza8 - what attributes do you look for in wingers, if they're not the traditional winger who you'd rely on crossing?

Edited January 5, 2024 by ministryofsillywalks

[Hazza8]

11 minutes ago, ministryofsillywalks said:

Makes complete sense, thank you!

Do you need fast defenders at all? Noticed you were playing Maguire which would lead me to say no, but wondered with the offside trap being ticked that it may be beneficial?

Also, sorry @Hazza8 - what attributes do you look for in wingers, if they're not the traditional winger who you'd rely on crossing?

Long story short - Yes fast defenders will help.
 

I would have preferred to of had fast defenders and not use Maguire. In the 38 games he played he finished with an average rating of 6.76 while Varane and Martinez finished with 7.50 & 7.10 respectively. I played Maguire in the centre so that he was not forced into uncompromising positions out wide. 
 

Winger attributes 

movement 

creativity 

Decisions 

passing 

As I had B team that played in cup competitions Stamina wasn’t much of an issue but it is a demanding role so that would also be something to look out for. 

[ministryofsillywalks]

2 minutes ago, Hazza8 said:

Long story short - Yes fast defenders will help.
 

I would have preferred to of had fast defenders and not use Maguire. In the 38 games he played he finished with an average rating of 6.76 while Varane and Martinez finished with 7.50 & 7.10 respectively. I played Maguire in the centre so that he was not forced into uncompromising positions out wide. 
 

Winger attributes 

movement 

creativity 

Decisions 

passing 

As I had B team that played in cup competitions Stamina wasn’t much of an issue but it is a demanding role so that would also be something to look out for. 

Thanks again.

There are some brilliant tactics on this forum, but I'm always swayed by 3 at the back.

Going to try this out on a new save and will let you know how I get on.

[ministryofsillywalks]

@Hazza8 I’m into January now, 2nd in the league and a few points behind city.

Sometimes we roll teams over and sometimes we just downright struggle. December was awful for form.

What makes up your ideal RP?

EDIT: would it be an idea to update the OP with some attributes for each position or recommendations? Like the note about the wingers being on opposite sides is very useful, fast defenders etc.

I have been playing Bruno in RP but looking at the templated attributes for a RP, another player in my squad - Brais Mendez- who I’ve been playing as RW, is better suited based on the attributes- hence me asking as I’m not sure I’m making the most of the tactic! 

Edited January 7, 2024 by ministryofsillywalks

[ministryofsillywalks]

Finished my first season with Newcastle - overall a good season but with some frustrations!

We finished 3rd in the league, which I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed by:

Too many losses and far too games that finished like these:

Conceding late goals was quite consistent and annoying, despite refreshing the team with fresh legs from the bench.

Maybe need some form of change with time wasting towards the end?

You’d then get complete opposites like this:

Despite that, we did win some things:

Very interesting overall though!

Going into the 2nd season it would be good to have some recommendations to go from as I’m sure it can be improved with the absolute right players!

[Hazza8]

I will apologise in advance for this lengthy response. 

Firstly thank you for given the tactic a go and I will update the OP with attributes for each position.

I have done a further test with Everton and agree the tactic is very much a working progress and can be frustrating at times. 

As you asked specifically about Roaming playmaker I would say the following is essential from my tests:
 

movement 

decisions 

stamina 

creativity 

Think of this position as an attacking player. The two centre mids in front are there to protect the back line. 
 

Late goals - this has been an issue in both tests I have overseen, more so with Everton. I would be interested to hear if this is something that most tactics are having issues with as there has definitely been an increase in late goals in real life due longer injury time being played: 

I did have some success with dropping the wingers back into full backs roles + time wasting and switching to balanced from attacking.

I did come across a few issues with Everton that I didn’t have with Utd which I will put down to a drop in the quality of player.
 

Control - When coming up against teams like City with Rodri I would often drop in an Advanced forward to a shadow Striker position to stop the build up from the opposition as none of the BWM press into Anchor area of the opposition and it was causing real issues. 

The second issue was our own build up with Everton from the back. With Utd Varane and Martinez were able to play forward and miss out the midfield when needed  whereas Everton defenders relied more on the build up through the centre mids. By having 2 BWM they seemed to be very static in possession and this caused issues as the wingers were to high up to receive passes from our side centre backs. I switched the BWM to centre midfielders which meant they would drop into space in side areas if needed to receive passes helping retain possession. 
player marking meant out of possession they did seem to act very similar to BWM and hold their position in front of the 3 man defence. 

I think the tactic still needs a little bit more fine tuning and I will be running further tests with different teams. 

I have always played the game when possible with an A and B team for cup competitions as I believe having a good “squad” morale makes a Huge difference in FM. Unfortunately I wasn’t in a position to do this with Everton as there was too big a gulf in standard from A to B. 

I like the formation and player roles therefore leaning more towards slight tweaks in instructions. 

From your test I think all in all winning the champions league in the first season would need to go down as a success. Thanks again for giving it a go.

Here are some screenshots from my Everton save.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2024 by Hazza8

[Hazza8]

Second season with Everton. 
 

 

[Hazza8]

Added Player Attributes to OP

Edited January 12, 2024 by Hazza8

[DanEnglish]

There is SO MUCH I like about this tactic.

• Front 4 - the two STs + two wingers (on narrow) overload the opposition center-backs. Just like the welcome to Wrexham 442. Very effective.
• Midfield 3 - the RP behind two MCs is a really good setup. Just like the black hawk. Definitely would not use BWMs. But am unsure whether two CMs or two B2Bs are better. Either way, it’s good.
• Back 3 - I do love a 3142, and think it’s one of the most versatile / defensively solid formations against all opposition formations. Solid.

Really like this tactic 👍 

Edited January 12, 2024 by DanEnglish

[Dnepr751]

I'm doing test with Bayer and I think try with Barca 

[Hazza8]

Thanks for everyone’s Feedback. 

@DanEnglish I definitely agree that BWM are not the way to go. I haven’t tried B2Bs as of yet but seem to be having success with CMs. You have a much better gauge of role movements than myself but part of the reason I wanted to use CMs was so they would drop into space out wide to fill the gap left by the Wingers are receive passes from BPD. My understanding is B2B have less horizontal movement? 
 

I have just competed my 3rd test with Real Sociedad. Points to mention is passing is a must attribute for BPD as they regular hit into space behind opposition full backs for our advanced forwards to run on to. 
 

I have Screenshot my wingers  I used below to give you an idea of attributes required as both had good seasons. 

I have no doubt had we a stronger squad we could have went further in European competition. 
 

Best defensive results to date. 

 

[ministryofsillywalks]

The tweaked version I’ve found is much better and more consistent.

See above, my keeper asked to go forward for a corner in the 94th minute and scored! 
 

My line up for the 2nd season above:

Much more stable at the back in this version - your updated list of attributes for the positions really helped too - thank you.

[Hazza8]

The keeper scoring in the last minute of the Champions League Final has to be a first! Glad the new version is working for you. 
 

I have completed my 4th & final test with Aberdeen. Plan to play on now and try an emulate Sir Alex. 

I feel the tactic is better balanced with the update and should be able to perform at most levels. 
 

I did use the loan system to my advantage to give us a fighting chance against the old firm but still had around 6 original squad members in my starting 11.

Miovski and Duk were very impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2024 by Hazza8

[ministryofsillywalks]

That’s some very impressive results mate - fantastic work!

Just finished my 3rd season and managed to bag the quadruple, conceding only 8 goals in the league!

 

[Barnsley1]

Wanting to give this a try but confused what is the tweaked version....OP player roles are different to later screenshots i.e BWM have changed to CM on man marking.

If im going to test what do i need to tweak from the OP.

 

Thanks

[ministryofsillywalks]

3 hours ago, Barnsley1 said:

Wanting to give this a try but confused what is the tweaked version....OP player roles are different to later screenshots i.e BWM have changed to CM on man marking.

If im going to test what do i need to tweak from the OP.

 

Thanks

The tweaked version is the one with CMs and man marking - that is the only change, all of the other instructions are exactly the same.

Be sure to try and have a right footed winger on the left and vice versa.

[Dnepr751]

On 1/19/2024 at 8:24 PM, ministryofsillywalks said:

The tweaked version is the one with CMs and man marking - that is the only change, all of the other instructions are exactly the same.

Be sure to try and have a right footed winger on the left and vice versa.

Who is man marking ? In the middle must be 1 CM and another ? 

[ministryofsillywalks]

15 hours ago, Dnepr751 said:

Who is man marking ? In the middle must be 1 CM and another ? 

The 2 x CMs.

Like on the team selection screenshot:

[emoovoqwew]

How do you set up your set-piece strategy

I've always wanted to know the set play of the three centre-backs 

 

thank

[Hazza8]

Set piece strategy set to default. 

I feel corners/free kicks strategy shouldn’t be included in a tactic post as an overpowered set-piece strategy can mislead how effective the tactic is. 
 

I don’t know if there is already but set plays should really have a stand alone thread. 

[Melv98]

I have been trying a tweaked version of this with good success.  I tried with Dortmund first on a new save and ended up as league champions (don’t play the German league very often so not sure if that is “easy” or not to achieve).  
 

Then I tried the tactic on along term save, currently managing Arsenal, again with good results.

The only changes I made from the original tactic are:

1. Change both strikers to pressing forwards

2. Change both central midfielders to Box To Box

3. Change Sweeper Keeper to Goalkeeper 

Thanks to Hazza8 for sharing the tactic. 👍🏻
 

[hoon87]

Spoiler

 

Thank you for the fun tactics. But what do you think about the attack situation, the strikers are only in the center, so there's a lot of side space empty?

[Hazza8]

Hi hoon87. Part of the tactic success is the overload in the attacking 3rd in the centre of the pitch. 
 

Wingers and Advanced forwards both attack central areas and outnumber the opposition. If you are looking for a high scoring tactics this is probably not the one for you. That said I wouldn’t say I found difficulties in any of my saves scoring goals. 

[oskarsson81]

This tactic (with CM and man marking) workes wonderful untile the last update. After this, it works only for games started before the update. 

End of quick sad story.

[Hazza8]

That is disappointing to read. I haven’t used the tactic since the update therefore not in a position to comment but will run another test shortly. 
 

I have been using a variation of the tactic before and after the update to good effect which I will upload in a new post to save confusion. 

[oskarsson81]

Thank You Hazza8. In a save started before update, the tactic works wonderful, in general 3-1-4-2 seems to be the more solid formation in the game. I restarted a career after the update because I would have a complete career with tactic ( in the previous save, the first year I used a 4-3-3 with vertical tiki taka with good success but some defensive problems.). In the games of new save, instead, I noticed few shoots and more goals against, due to the counterattacks. Maybe an Anchor instead the RP and one AP instead of one CM would improve the situation.

[oskarsson81]

Tactic seems come back to the original effectiveness.

I gave a quick try some days ago, smashing italian third league  with a medium level squad (95 goals scored -29 conceded).

These are the only changes I applied to improve defense and attack:

Midfield - two BBM instead of CC

Defense -  man marking on both BPD

I prefer also GK to SK, but I think this doesn't make a valuable difference.