ARussell's 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 (Rock Solid Defence) Football Manager 2013 Tactics and Training

If you some of you remember me from last years fm forum you probably remember my Aston Villa team and the tactics i created for them, will i have been alot less active on this years forum because i havent really got into this years fm.

This has been down to several reasons, firstly i havent been able to implement my possession style of play on this years game as effectively as previous games, secondly i think my villa team kinda spoilt everything for me, meaning with that team i could pretty much develop any tactic and it would have been a success due to the insaneness of my players and my better knowledge and understanding of the fm 12 match engine and finally im not sure if i was the only one who has had this problem but for the most part defenders and goalkeepers are just plain stupid. Well basically this thread is to show that sometimes if you persist with something it is possible to get some kind of enjoyment and even implement everything i want from the game.

So this is were we get onto my season, I have had a Man Utd save since the day i brought the game and ive had many great successes on the save winning pretty much everything there is to be won sometimes easily and sometimes not, however ive always stuck to my philosophies from last years game but one thing i havent been able to do i regularly get a steady defence. However i have made 2 tactics that i rotate depending on how they perform and they have managed to achieve both, i will now give you a short insight to how my season has gone.

As you can see I won 34 out of the 38 possible game and drew the other 4 so in this aspect it wasnt perfect winning all the games would have been special but the stand out stats are really the 108 goals for and the miserly 11 goals for meaning i ending up with a incredibly goal difference of 97 which is the highest goal difference i have personally seen in any of my games or seasons.

As you can see the stand out games were 2-0 away to Chelsea ( who have a Falcao who has finished top goalscorer in what seems everything all the time) 2-0 at home to Spurs, 2-0 at home to Man City, 4-1 against Liverpool, 10-0 at home to Leeds and 4-0 to Chelsea. Also at certain times during the league season i kept 7 clean sheets in a row twice and once kept 9 clean sheets in a row.

As you can see i had a pretty easy group but the knockout stages was alot harder. But as you can see keeping cleansheets in both legs against Dortmund and Madrid. Also the 5-0 first leg match against Spurs proves it scores goals aswell as clean sheets. Finally the final keep a clean sheet against Barcelona (who have Messi and Aguero) is a big achievement.

As you can see it didnt start all that well with us needing a replay to beat Chelsea but in both matches we managed to keep a clean sheet, after this we also managed to keep a clean sheet against Spurs and Blackburn but the last few games we didnt manage to keep the clean sheets but still got the results.

As you can see i only coincided 1 goal on the way to lifting the cup and even beat Arsenal 5-0 in the second leg.

The Two Tactics:

As with what seems to be the norm of this years fm i went with a wide 4-2-3-1 with a winger on one side and an inside forward on the other. As with my tactics from last years tactics it implements a short passing possession style of play but with a more crossing oriented attack.

This tactic is alittle different to the other because it implements two inside forwards and an anchor man, it also has a higher defensive line, plays down the wings and through the middle instead of just through the middle and is also alot slower in the play.

The Players:

As far as the players needed for the two tactics I will show you screenshots of my players and there stats and you should try to get players as close as you can to these players.

Defensive:

Midfield:

Striker:

Just a side note on my striker I realise he is very good but he did miss any exceptional amount of opportunities.

Match Prep:

I had it on defensive until they were fully trained with it then changed to attacking, as for pitch dimensions mine is on normal however the tactics work well on big pitches aswell I am not to sure with small so use at your own risk.

Disclaimer:

As with any tactics please give your team time to adjust, so this is not a 'plug and play' tactic.

The Tactics:

4-2-3-1: Russell 4-2-3-1.tac

4-5-1: man utd 4-5-1.tac
I look forward to hearing any input anybody has and would love to hear on any improvements you may make.

Best Of Football Manager article

ARussell's 4-2-3-1/4-5-1 (Rock Solid Defence) Football Manager 2013 Tactics and Training

Best Of Football Manager article

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