Love it when youre talking specific tactics. Especially with the important attributes for each role. That helped a lot in understanding not only the theory but also the practical side of it. Keep it up, you're an inspiration.
The hidden key to this formation is that on attack you've essentially taken two players out of the game- the opposition fullbacks. The strikers are covered by CBs. The midfielders are generally covered by a midfield 3. The fullbacks should be covered by wingers. But the opposition fullbacks are defending an empty space unless they're drawn extremely narrow, at which point generally the center backs and fullbacks will then have to communicate who is marking the striker. And the marauding central run hits it home because generally the fullbacks are not extremely narrow, so the center backs have to decide whether to leave an advanced forward with a path to goal (bad), or a central midfielder (slightly better).
Counter would be a 433 with wingers pinning down the fullbacks, with your own fullbacks operating as inverted wingbacks. The inverted wingbacks would have all that empty space in which to operate.
A diamond or some variation of it i.e 4132, 4312, have always been op in FM. Like I'm talking since the first game was released. Defensively its super solid. The middle is well protected and if you use attacking fullbacks the counter is protected by the wider mids or you can keep the fullbacks back and get your width with your strikers or playing mezzala's. Its super versatile and easy to transition to 433 if you really need pressure to get a goal. Legit used this for nearly a decade and always works with any team. Just sell your wingers or convert them to another position. Especially good tactic to use for a weak team or a to turn results around for a struggling one. Only real problem is other teams that play the same style, AI seems to always favour an opponent playing the diamond against you. Best thing there is to play aggressive and switch to the 433, force them back and the extra striker will win you the game.
I have to say that I was green with a jealous rage when I saw the 4-1-3-2 formation pop up on the screen. I've been using that formation since FM21 and have sworn to anyone who will listen that it's the most effective I've ever used. Could never find anyone else really running the same tactic until, of course, it pops up on a Zealand video thus validating my managerial savvy. Very chuffed but also feel like the small, unknown indie band I dearly love has hit the big time.
Is there anything Zealand hasn't covered or is simply different to your style of this tactic? Also, have you always been using 2 x AFs or found yourself successful with using for example DLF and AF? I'm still playing FM21 and always thought about this tactic but never fully committed.
@@ketonidas3679 It has some differences, the CM-A is the big role that makes it tick, a mezzala and B2B/Carilero on either side, counter/counter press, but I used a DLF or target man (when I had a good one) on support or attack depending. Two AFs is a good idea and works in FM21 (except they don't defend) but as I think Z pointed out they come up to make plays on the ball fairly deep so it makes sense how it would work well for this tactic. I'd also have pass into space and be more expressive on in mine and usually keep the DM on a generic DM-support role because I never had any luck with a DLP. It's a great tactic, you just have to commit to it because you won't use wingers anymore so it's hard to switch back and forth from. The reason I put the tactic together in the first place is because wingers were so useless in FM21, but they can be great to retrain for the CM-A role. I won Champions League with Yeovil using the tactic in a relatively short time after promotion from the Championship, I'd have to look at my save but it was the 2nd or 3rd season up in the Prem. It's a great tactic!
@@billyaugust That's pretty much the same reason I thought about this tactic in my head back at the beginning of FM21. I hate those regen wingers with no finishing one being a carbon copy of another and fullbacks who are actually smaller and a bit faster CBs. it's like the game almost forces you to play 4-4-2 and I never really enjoyed playing this formation but I still wanted to play with 2 strikers. This 4-1-3-2 just makes sense.
Every time I've seen this tactics screen on your live YT episodes, I've constantly remembered my time playing CM 00/01 where this was the go-to system!
Dortmund under Marco Rose always play this on FM and dominate, they were the hardest team to beat in my Leverkusen save when they used this. Their wingbacks used to get so high and used to dominate with Haaland as CF and a speedy striker as AF
Couldn’t agree more, playing Dortmund in the Champions League seemed to dominate me regardless of what tactical tweaks I could make in-game. I guess now I’ll just have to give them a dose of their own medicine 😂
I have watched a lot of your videos, and this one is definitely the best. It feels very grown up, no waste of time with silly stuff 😆just great content.
I came up with smthg similar since a game against City in UCL, were they played a 442 with no ball winner. We won and since then, i use this formation every time, tweaking it at each game to counter my opponents. Last season, we were champions with 35w, 2d and 1L in LaLiga.
Easily my favourite tactic too. Saw you use is and have copied it too and the results are absolute madness. Obviously changing the tactic depending on who you’re facing and who you have available etc gives you a lovely bit of flexibility. Just managed to take Boreham Wood from Non-League to Champions League winners in 2034. Moving on to Bodo Glimt now 👀👀👀
@@Yessee23 I sometimes change the role of the defensive mid to a halfback when playing against a 4231. Or when they don't have a central attacking midfielder you could move the dm to be a central attacking midfielder for example. Or when they don't use wingers, you could move your fullbacks up. It al depends on their formation and the quality of team you're playing against. Having said this, I haven't used this tactic, but seeing him use it has helped me understand tactics and what changes you could make better.
I hate hearing things like that. Makes the game seem so broken and easy. I wouldn’t want to ever be able to take a non-league team to champs league. Prefer to do a more realistic journeyman save. But thats just me
@@BionicBeats awesome info, so you are changing tactics depending on the opposition ? Even when you are a top tier team ? Maybe its arrogance but when im a top team i have the attitude of "i wont change , they can change for me"
@@brotherben6715 When I have an amazing team, I don’t really change my tactics against anyone because I also sometimes suffer from that arrogance lol, except opposition instructions or some player roles and when I see some stuff isn’t working during the match. In a CL-final I played a 424 against a 4231 and got dominated in the first half, so I changed to a 433 with a halfback and I eventually won. So I do recommend at least keeping an eye out during the match.
This is why I'm stockpiling outfield players over 6'1", but I normally play with wide wingers and two tall strikers at the front as well, so it would be interesting to see how the three CM's occupy space out wide.
I had an entire 1st team where that was my smallest player completely by accident!! I’ve mentioned this on this channel before but I used a 3-4-3 and my forwards were 6 foot 4 and 2 guys at 6 foot 5…I scored a lot of set pieces and didn’t conceded off any, unsurprisingly!!
@@adeniranye Only up to a certain point. A 6'11" guy with 5 jumping reach will still beat a 5' guy with 20 jumping reach. Speaking from actual experience here.
I'm using a *very* similar tactic as one of my three basic ones. The idea with mine was specifically for use against narrow formations. The midfielders on the side are told to stay wide, run wide with ball, whatever, stretching out play with my fullbacks. Then, on defense, the natural shape of the formation takes hold, and becomes more narrow, countering the opponent's numerical superiority in midfield. Because of the wide playstyle on attack, though, I always make sure to have a tall striker as one (or both) of my two guys up front. Still, pretty close. I call the tactic 'Wide Guilt'.
I used the same tactic with Barrow in League 2 but had Hudlin as a Target Forward. Added instruction “play for set pieces” as well and worked wonders. Hudlin ended up with 50 goals.
Anyone remember this from CM 01/02? 4-1-3-2 with long arrows forward on the CMs was the only thing I played for YEARS. I always tried to make it work on later iterations and finally it is back!
Yup ! First thoughts when I saw this was "Oh, the de-evolution of tactics ! We're back at where we started with CM 01/02 !" :D Now all we need is Taribo West on a free transfer and Mike Duff for 250k :D
RL: played friendly, our firsts vs. neighbouring towns 1sts: lost 6-5 in a fast-counter 3-5-2 Following week: played our 2nds vs the same firsts: won 3-2 in a box overload 4-3-1-2, which is pretty much this tactic. (the 8's have to get forward) The crucial twist for us, was having one striker track back the whole time - burning him out - and getting the defense to stream in and fill that 5man screen, WHILE ACTIVELY GOING BACKWARDS that point was hard to get across - giving up ground vertically, to recover and ping it back up the middle with tired legs
I've been watching your streams for ages, watching you use this formation, and I didn't realise this tactic would work perfectly for my team. I'd accidentally gathered the perfect squad of players to enact this tactic and didn't even realise.
Great tactic Z. The curious thing is that Eduardo Coudet, Celta de Vigo manager, uses this formation for life IRL. Previously he used it at Internacional from Brazil, the team i support, and it was the best team we had in 10 years maybe? The amount of press that this tactic offers is a nightmare for the opposition. It's impossible to count the number of times that we stole the ball on the opponents half or even their own box. Keep the great work Z, your videos are the very best.
I used a system similar to this in FM15 and 17 where my emphasis was similar, but not as refined. I was playing as Man Utd with a group of 5 others, so I had better access to talented players and I had experience saying, that I'd have to be able to win in more than one way, however effective that one way might be. So my focus on the 4-1-3-2/4-3-1-2 (varied a bit) was basically, that I either focused attacks through the middle with support from full backs, like what Z explains in the video or I would play less midfield-centric, where the onus was more on getting the ball out to the backs who then had options to cross or play back. It's an immensely fun way to play as it's very open to variations and attacking in different ways, while almost always being sound defensively. As I've always loved wingers and played winger myself, I won't comment on the dis. Sadface. :(
Mr Zealand, this is an excellent tutorial. I've been trying to get a 4-1-3-2 to work in FM21 for a few months now, but didnt really understand what I was doing wrong. This explains it. Basically, I was incorporating too many defensive players and leaning towards "Don't lose!". KUTGW!
Glad I share pretty much the same tactic and principles as this one! I usually share the same formation as well, although I've been pushing myself to alter it in order to be able to cope with (far) better opposition. I used two AMs (several roles can work if you know what you're doing) instead of two STs, dropped the DM to play as a Libero, used him as anchor sometimes while turning CBs into BPDs, dropped the wide CMs to be SV(A), managed to have great success with both high and low tempos, etc. As long as you have a player who can have a great impact being a 4th midfielder in transition and a late runner in attack, and as long as you know what you're doing when picking roles, every opposition will fall and pray 😈
In almost every sport there is, if you control the centre you control the game.. I have always favoured a 442 diamond and this, a 4132. As you say, energetic full backs are key! Four if them .. preferably one or two who can play on either side, that way you have constant rotation where needed even with an injury... While the more rotation you do the less injuries you should have... I have had great success with this formation in the past, and it urks me that my team in real life, West Ham, have always neglected the CM role overall. Great video once again Z
I’d got Sheffield United promoted at the first time of asking and spent two seasons fighting relegation (avoided on goal difference both times). I switched to this tactic for the start of my 3rd season in the Prem and finished 2nd. All Hail Zealand
@@mariusandres35 The players I have recently signed won’t be possible for you staying in the Chanpionsho. But, I would keep hold of Berge and Brewster as long as you can to start with. I didn’t think McGoldrick, Mcburnie, or Sharp we’re good enough so sold those 3 and signed Sesko when I got promoted. I signed Sam Johnstone and he’s still solid, Rhys Williams works really well in this tactic, and Alex Mowatt is great too - those 3 are probably realistic for you at the moment. Good luck!
I was struggling to win games in sky bet league 2 with my newly promoted team. But then I switched to this tactic and I haven't lost a game in the last 10. I haven't scored a lot because I had a lot of strong wingers that I'm having to retrain. But having fast advanced forwards that don't score but stretch the field was a game changer.
Using a similar shape, although I changed the 2 B2M for 2 mezzela and the WBs for IWB. The DM is a halfback as well. The idea is that the 3 midfielders "spread out" when going forward and the 2x IWB step into midfield to help cover for the mezzela and the DM drops into the defensive line to keep us solid
I thought IWB’s only come inside if they have no wide player ahead of them? At that point, you’re widest players are mezzala’s and they only go into the half spaces, not properly on the wing. If it works it works, i just don’t understand how!
If you wanna a tip with Novais name. This 'shh' sound is just the Portuguese accent, the Brazilian one is cleaner, like the first time you said it (08:59). And the strong syllable is the 'va' No-VA-is.
Used this Tactic in my latest save, where I started unemployed and ended up at Leyton Orient as my first job. Smashed the League 2 Title with a record points haul, most wins, fewest draws and fewest defeats records. Went to League 1 in second season and was leading the league at the end of January. Then for no reason I can see the tactic stopped working, we never won a match February, March, April and May. We managed to win the league via 1 point off the back of our early season excellence, but I’m concerned why the tactic just stopped delivering results, especially when there were no player differences between the start and end of season, with some good loans and recruitment in January to boost the squad strength. I’m a bit concerned now as I navigate the summer period before our first run in the Championship begins that this tactic is going to get me instantly relegated if we can’t start winning again and get off to a good start and maintain it for the whole season.
Man I feel you, I began unemployed, started with Tuzla City in the Bosnian league, created a tactic, won the title, smashed all the records, resigned and somehow got a job at Eintracht Frankfurt, started excellent with the same tactic, was fighting for the first place, most goals scored and past mid season just started struggling with every team I came accross and dropped to number six. Ended up tweaking a lot and thank God came back third, winning the Conference League, winning the DFB pokal. I would recommend changing your attacking pattern, just to confuse the AI. I switched from IFat and IWsu to two Ws and created an underlap threat with two IWB and two CM with the deep playmaker in between instead of AP behind the striker, the instructions stayed the same except for forcing underlaps. Sometimes you just have to change your approach completely, analyze which formations you are struggling against, try to see why and adjust
@@hamzam5394 tactic doesn’t use any wingers or attacking midfielders. This tactic has 3 CM and Defensive Midfielder and has 2 Advanced Forwards up top. I’m certainly not about to start changing roles or duties because then you’re effectively playing with a different tactic and are no longer using this one. I just need to try and figure out why it stopped working after performing excellently for a season and a half.
Zealand, This seems very much like Leeds play with Jesse Marsh a Red Bull tactic. IRL the tactic works well if a team tries to play through the midfield but if a team bypasses the press by passing over it. We get done with being so narrow.
This was such a pleasant surprise1 I have a very similar tactic myself though 4-3-3 instead of 4-1-3-2 with similar ideas and it's nice to see it supported by the legend himself!
The left-footed RCM/right-footed LCM is something I've definitely planned on using in a 4-3-3 on Fantasy Draft (which is the main mode I play because I find the pure focus on player combinations and tactics more enjoyable than thinking about the dystopian hellscape of modern football finance 😂) - inswinging crosses from the half-spaces were what I thought about but the idea of them potentially shooting or cutting back to a DM with that foot too makes total sense.
"novais" is a tough one because of the last s. the first syllable is like "noo" from "noob. the second syllable is like "vei" from surname "Weiss" and the last "S" is a "sh" sound. so kind of like "noo-vei-sh"
I use a 442 narrow diamond which is very similar. One of the problems I initially had was creating width - obviously this is normally done with the full backs. But I decided to give my strikers and central midfielders the instruction to run wide with the ball and this created a boatload of chances and goals. The effect is to drag defenders away from their goal, creating space for other players in the team to attack. I found that defensive problems increased by giving the instruction to midfielders - if the ball is turned over, the opposition have a gaping hole in midfield to attack. Having both of the more attacking midfielders dribble more also helped a lot because they would often run wide with the ball and cause problems for the opposition's shape.
Hi Zealand, I didn’t hear you talking about player traits in this tactic, have you trained specific traits that fits this tactic by position? Maybe an interesting next video tip😁
I guided a club from fourth division of Portugal called Länk FC Vilaverdense to the very top inside the country (two consecutive league titles, three league cups and one actual Cup) and Champions League final in 8 years. What magic formation did I use all that time? 4-3-3. Now I am experimenting with something like 4-1-3-2 because of overwhelming amount of talented midfielders I got recently and it works pretty good too. However, I prefer more patient style, so the tempo is standard while one of the forwards is either a Target one or Complete one (that's because I have a player who is somewhere between those two roles, actually, looking forward to playing Trequartista or False Nine there after he goes out). Also double Mezzala with Central Midfielder on Attack does work pretty well in this case, they are creating a lot of beautiful runs inside the box from different angles.
I played this in the Bundesliga and got 2nd. Then the next year with the same players I got fired before Winter and was 15th. Got fmd to the max in half the games
4132 was the first formation I achieved dominance in FM with, back in FM13. Haven't gone back to it in a while but have been tinkering with one lately in FM21 that I'd like to put into use once I have the players for it. Getting bored of my 433.
I've just started a 23 game playing 5-1-2-1-1. Going great so far. Opposition get very few shots on target. The crntre forward is getting a tonne of goals
I'd love to see you build this tactic with the best players in the world for each of the positions you described, and maybe a handful of subs for versatility.
May i add to this grreat tactic, that if you play against a 3 mand defence u can benefit of changing one of the forwards to a DLF on attack and change the pressing line to standard. That way your attackers wont run into the opponents defenders all the time.
Been trying this tactic with Sevilla, where 3-4 other teams have been dominating the league for a few years. In my fourth season now, and have finished 4th every season with a team consisting mainly of leftovers, scraps, youngsters and now - recently - some up and coming youth prospects coming into their prime. The tactic is very solid! I only feel the need to adjust mentality from Positive to either Balanced or Cautious depending on who and where we play, and also use a lower intensity version on and off during matches, so most players can actually get through the game. For training I'm using "Mike's Best Ever Training Schedule" which seems to be working quite well.
How would you train your team to complement this tactic? what attacking, defending, and technical training do you pick and the individual roles of the positions?
I have played a lot with a very similar tactic. I've played a bit more direct and lower tempo, and I have used mezzalas for the outer midfielders and BBM for the central one. That also works really well, but I might experiment a little with higher tempo and BBMs.
@@gus6391 it downloads automatically when u subscribe to him in steam and than go in the game and go to load tactics in the tactics screen It should be there called dorfing
See when u download tactics u have to load them on to ur tactic screen see ur saved tactics on ur computer when ur in the game u have to upload a tactic u should see it in ur tactics that u have got saved and the tactic Will be there if u have subscribed to Zealand
@@gus6391 when I subscribed it download automatically tro steam to my computer than I just uploaded it in my tactics screen in game that's how I got it
I’ve been using a similar tactic for quite a while. However, I don’t necessarily agree with the take on the defensive midfielder. I use an anchor in that position, he’s an idiot, and it works fine. He just needs to stay back and prevent the counterattacks my two mezzalas start by losing the ball. My biggest problem is which roles the fullbacks should have - fullback, wingback or complete wingback. I can’t really decide. Also I find that a combination of an advanced forward and a pressing forward on attack works better than two advanced forwards. But that’s just me.
Using a similar tactics as well.i used Wing backs on attack All The Time and have a denfinsive midfielder protecting the centre back's.pressing forward and a DLF are very good to combine with the af
I have an abundance of mezzalas can i use them on support? Or would they not be good enough defensively? If so what roles would you recommend for the other 2 roles?
I used to use this formation back in 2000. Can't remember if it was championship manager or football manager at that point. Used to work well back then.
Thanks for the sharing. Didi you try this to play online? I think most of the tactics shared in RUclips are mostly for playing offline. Anyway I will have a try. Will let you know if it works out
I’ve been using a similar tactic for years. The main difference is I push the DLP and CM up a level. I hate wingers, I have never been able to pick them out. Prefer to get my width from my wide defenders just bombing up the field.
Don’t laugh at me, but I’d this still relevant for fm20? I think I’ll buy the next fm that comes out but just started to get back into it and am loving all these tip videos! Just unsure how relevant they are to the older versions!
i play through GamePass and cannot download the tactic because it seems to work only through steam. Is there another way for me to get it? I can tell most things from the vid but I don't know if you have special instructions by position. Thanks!!
I want to try this tactic, but have the game through gamepass (not steam - so the steam link won't work). Can someone post the tactic on another website please.
I've used this in the team I coach in real life (in Sunday league) and its surprisingly effective
You’ve got 2 box to box midfielders in a Sunday League team?? When I played we could barely get to 1 box, let alone BOTH of them 😂
@@GIBBO4182 luckily 2 fit guys haha
@@SuppOrlich 😂😂👍
Big question is did you use it because you’ve seen Zealand use it or is it just coincidence?
That's so cool! If I can ask, what is your team's name?
Love it when youre talking specific tactics. Especially with the important attributes for each role. That helped a lot in understanding not only the theory but also the practical side of it. Keep it up, you're an inspiration.
Is it maybe possible that in the future you are going to explain other tactics in the same way as this one?
I really want a series analysing each basic tactic and its uses in this format. It would be amazing!
Thats something i need in my life
I just tried this exact tactic and lost 4-0. You'll be hearing from my lawyer in due course.
Players need time to learn the tactic
👍🤣🤣🤣
Because of familiarity
People actually giving serious replies to this.. ☠️
The hidden key to this formation is that on attack you've essentially taken two players out of the game- the opposition fullbacks. The strikers are covered by CBs. The midfielders are generally covered by a midfield 3. The fullbacks should be covered by wingers. But the opposition fullbacks are defending an empty space unless they're drawn extremely narrow, at which point generally the center backs and fullbacks will then have to communicate who is marking the striker. And the marauding central run hits it home because generally the fullbacks are not extremely narrow, so the center backs have to decide whether to leave an advanced forward with a path to goal (bad), or a central midfielder (slightly better).
Counter would be a 433 with wingers pinning down the fullbacks, with your own fullbacks operating as inverted wingbacks. The inverted wingbacks would have all that empty space in which to operate.
A diamond or some variation of it i.e 4132, 4312, have always been op in FM. Like I'm talking since the first game was released. Defensively its super solid. The middle is well protected and if you use attacking fullbacks the counter is protected by the wider mids or you can keep the fullbacks back and get your width with your strikers or playing mezzala's. Its super versatile and easy to transition to 433 if you really need pressure to get a goal. Legit used this for nearly a decade and always works with any team. Just sell your wingers or convert them to another position. Especially good tactic to use for a weak team or a to turn results around for a struggling one. Only real problem is other teams that play the same style, AI seems to always favour an opponent playing the diamond against you. Best thing there is to play aggressive and switch to the 433, force them back and the extra striker will win you the game.
4:49 and now a couple of streams later Henneman is potentially one of the best strikers we've ever had.
I can’t believe the disrespect Zealand just gave Henneman haha
@@mickcrummey5163 Z just used berate IRL lmao
I have to say that I was green with a jealous rage when I saw the 4-1-3-2 formation pop up on the screen. I've been using that formation since FM21 and have sworn to anyone who will listen that it's the most effective I've ever used. Could never find anyone else really running the same tactic until, of course, it pops up on a Zealand video thus validating my managerial savvy. Very chuffed but also feel like the small, unknown indie band I dearly love has hit the big time.
Nice
Is there anything Zealand hasn't covered or is simply different to your style of this tactic? Also, have you always been using 2 x AFs or found yourself successful with using for example DLF and AF? I'm still playing FM21 and always thought about this tactic but never fully committed.
@@ketonidas3679 It has some differences, the CM-A is the big role that makes it tick, a mezzala and B2B/Carilero on either side, counter/counter press, but I used a DLF or target man (when I had a good one) on support or attack depending. Two AFs is a good idea and works in FM21 (except they don't defend) but as I think Z pointed out they come up to make plays on the ball fairly deep so it makes sense how it would work well for this tactic. I'd also have pass into space and be more expressive on in mine and usually keep the DM on a generic DM-support role because I never had any luck with a DLP. It's a great tactic, you just have to commit to it because you won't use wingers anymore so it's hard to switch back and forth from. The reason I put the tactic together in the first place is because wingers were so useless in FM21, but they can be great to retrain for the CM-A role.
I won Champions League with Yeovil using the tactic in a relatively short time after promotion from the Championship, I'd have to look at my save but it was the 2nd or 3rd season up in the Prem. It's a great tactic!
@@billyaugust That's pretty much the same reason I thought about this tactic in my head back at the beginning of FM21. I hate those regen wingers with no finishing one being a carbon copy of another and fullbacks who are actually smaller and a bit faster CBs. it's like the game almost forces you to play 4-4-2 and I never really enjoyed playing this formation but I still wanted to play with 2 strikers. This 4-1-3-2 just makes sense.
"Henneman, who sucks!" - This is before the goal a game average in the next 10 matches i see!
Every time I've seen this tactics screen on your live YT episodes, I've constantly remembered my time playing CM 00/01 where this was the go-to system!
Dortmund under Marco Rose always play this on FM and dominate, they were the hardest team to beat in my Leverkusen save when they used this. Their wingbacks used to get so high and used to dominate with Haaland as CF and a speedy striker as AF
Couldn’t agree more, playing Dortmund in the Champions League seemed to dominate me regardless of what tactical tweaks I could make in-game. I guess now I’ll just have to give them a dose of their own medicine 😂
Same for me except some argentinian coach on bayern with mbappe
@@brotherben6715 gallardo probably, he made my life hell with valencia using this formation
@@adrianruiz1139 haha exactly thats the one ! Cant wait for him to move out of germany
I have watched a lot of your videos, and this one is definitely the best. It feels very grown up, no waste of time with silly stuff 😆just great content.
Great video Zea. Love the explanation. Got this as one of my tactics with Atalanta.
DAVE
I came up with smthg similar since a game against City in UCL, were they played a 442 with no ball winner. We won and since then, i use this formation every time, tweaking it at each game to counter my opponents. Last season, we were champions with 35w, 2d and 1L in LaLiga.
Easily my favourite tactic too. Saw you use is and have copied it too and the results are absolute madness. Obviously changing the tactic depending on who you’re facing and who you have available etc gives you a lovely bit of flexibility. Just managed to take Boreham Wood from Non-League to Champions League winners in 2034. Moving on to Bodo Glimt now 👀👀👀
Can you elaborate on what you change when you see something on your opponents team?
@@Yessee23 I sometimes change the role of the defensive mid to a halfback when playing against a 4231. Or when they don't have a central attacking midfielder you could move the dm to be a central attacking midfielder for example. Or when they don't use wingers, you could move your fullbacks up. It al depends on their formation and the quality of team you're playing against. Having said this, I haven't used this tactic, but seeing him use it has helped me understand tactics and what changes you could make better.
I hate hearing things like that. Makes the game seem so broken and easy. I wouldn’t want to ever be able to take a non-league team to champs league. Prefer to do a more realistic journeyman save. But thats just me
@@BionicBeats awesome info, so you are changing tactics depending on the opposition ? Even when you are a top tier team ? Maybe its arrogance but when im a top team i have the attitude of "i wont change , they can change for me"
@@brotherben6715 When I have an amazing team, I don’t really change my tactics against anyone because I also sometimes suffer from that arrogance lol, except opposition instructions or some player roles and when I see some stuff isn’t working during the match. In a CL-final I played a 424 against a 4231 and got dominated in the first half, so I changed to a 433 with a halfback and I eventually won. So I do recommend at least keeping an eye out during the match.
This is why I'm stockpiling outfield players over 6'1", but I normally play with wide wingers and two tall strikers at the front as well, so it would be interesting to see how the three CM's occupy space out wide.
I had an entire 1st team where that was my smallest player completely by accident!! I’ve mentioned this on this channel before but I used a 3-4-3 and my forwards were 6 foot 4 and 2 guys at 6 foot 5…I scored a lot of set pieces and didn’t conceded off any, unsurprisingly!!
I thought jumping reach mattered more than height
@@adeniranye Only up to a certain point. A 6'11" guy with 5 jumping reach will still beat a 5' guy with 20 jumping reach. Speaking from actual experience here.
@@BrockMak yeah that makes sense
I'm using a *very* similar tactic as one of my three basic ones. The idea with mine was specifically for use against narrow formations. The midfielders on the side are told to stay wide, run wide with ball, whatever, stretching out play with my fullbacks. Then, on defense, the natural shape of the formation takes hold, and becomes more narrow, countering the opponent's numerical superiority in midfield.
Because of the wide playstyle on attack, though, I always make sure to have a tall striker as one (or both) of my two guys up front. Still, pretty close.
I call the tactic 'Wide Guilt'.
I used the same tactic with Barrow in League 2 but had Hudlin as a Target Forward. Added instruction “play for set pieces” as well and worked wonders. Hudlin ended up with 50 goals.
Anyone remember this from CM 01/02? 4-1-3-2 with long arrows forward on the CMs was the only thing I played for YEARS. I always tried to make it work on later iterations and finally it is back!
Always used 3-4-1-2, think it actually was 3-5-2 on the game!
Yup ! First thoughts when I saw this was "Oh, the de-evolution of tactics ! We're back at where we started with CM 01/02 !" :D
Now all we need is Taribo West on a free transfer and Mike Duff for 250k :D
Literally the same tactic zealand explains in this video was also OP in like Football Manager 2014 or 2015 xD
@@MXknowsHow “uwe roslers” Rainmaker FM 12 or 14 , he used FB attack otherwise the same had so much fun with that at Soligorsk
@@speedphlux was that the Partridge year ?
RL: played friendly, our firsts vs. neighbouring towns 1sts: lost 6-5 in a fast-counter 3-5-2
Following week: played our 2nds vs the same firsts: won 3-2 in a box overload 4-3-1-2, which is pretty much this tactic. (the 8's have to get forward)
The crucial twist for us, was having one striker track back the whole time - burning him out - and getting the defense to stream in and fill that 5man screen, WHILE ACTIVELY GOING BACKWARDS
that point was hard to get across - giving up ground vertically, to recover and ping it back up the middle with tired legs
I've been watching your streams for ages, watching you use this formation, and I didn't realise this tactic would work perfectly for my team. I'd accidentally gathered the perfect squad of players to enact this tactic and didn't even realise.
Great tactic Z. The curious thing is that Eduardo Coudet, Celta de Vigo manager, uses this formation for life IRL. Previously he used it at Internacional from Brazil, the team i support, and it was the best team we had in 10 years maybe? The amount of press that this tactic offers is a nightmare for the opposition. It's impossible to count the number of times that we stole the ball on the opponents half or even their own box. Keep the great work Z, your videos are the very best.
I used a system similar to this in FM15 and 17 where my emphasis was similar, but not as refined. I was playing as Man Utd with a group of 5 others, so I had better access to talented players and I had experience saying, that I'd have to be able to win in more than one way, however effective that one way might be. So my focus on the 4-1-3-2/4-3-1-2 (varied a bit) was basically, that I either focused attacks through the middle with support from full backs, like what Z explains in the video or I would play less midfield-centric, where the onus was more on getting the ball out to the backs who then had options to cross or play back. It's an immensely fun way to play as it's very open to variations and attacking in different ways, while almost always being sound defensively.
As I've always loved wingers and played winger myself, I won't comment on the dis. Sadface. :(
This is a really interesting way to break it down. Not seen this done this way before and it’s really good.
Mr Zealand, this is an excellent tutorial. I've been trying to get a 4-1-3-2 to work in FM21 for a few months now, but didnt really understand what I was doing wrong. This explains it. Basically, I was incorporating too many defensive players and leaning towards "Don't lose!". KUTGW!
Glad I share pretty much the same tactic and principles as this one!
I usually share the same formation as well, although I've been pushing myself to alter it in order to be able to cope with (far) better opposition.
I used two AMs (several roles can work if you know what you're doing) instead of two STs, dropped the DM to play as a Libero, used him as anchor sometimes while turning CBs into BPDs, dropped the wide CMs to be SV(A), managed to have great success with both high and low tempos, etc.
As long as you have a player who can have a great impact being a 4th midfielder in transition and a late runner in attack, and as long as you know what you're doing when picking roles, every opposition will fall and pray 😈
"Henneman, a new player, who sucks" hurt deep after yesterday's stream
In almost every sport there is, if you control the centre you control the game.. I have always favoured a 442 diamond and this, a 4132. As you say, energetic full backs are key! Four if them .. preferably one or two who can play on either side, that way you have constant rotation where needed even with an injury... While the more rotation you do the less injuries you should have... I have had great success with this formation in the past, and it urks me that my team in real life, West Ham, have always neglected the CM role overall. Great video once again Z
You always know a tactic will be effective when it's got the zeal of approval
I think I’m second. Loving the content you’ve helped me get into fm 🤟
I’d got Sheffield United promoted at the first time of asking and spent two seasons fighting relegation (avoided on goal difference both times). I switched to this tactic for the start of my 3rd season in the Prem and finished 2nd. All
Hail Zealand
just starting up with Sheffield now! any tips for signings and sales?
@@mariusandres35 The players I have recently signed won’t be possible for you staying in the Chanpionsho. But, I would keep hold of Berge and Brewster as long as you can to start with. I didn’t think McGoldrick, Mcburnie, or Sharp we’re good enough so sold those 3 and signed Sesko when I got promoted.
I signed Sam Johnstone and he’s still solid, Rhys Williams works really well in this tactic, and Alex Mowatt is great too - those 3 are probably realistic for you at the moment. Good luck!
I was struggling to win games in sky bet league 2 with my newly promoted team. But then I switched to this tactic and I haven't lost a game in the last 10. I haven't scored a lot because I had a lot of strong wingers that I'm having to retrain. But having fast advanced forwards that don't score but stretch the field was a game changer.
Using a similar shape, although I changed the 2 B2M for 2 mezzela and the WBs for IWB. The DM is a halfback as well.
The idea is that the 3 midfielders "spread out" when going forward and the 2x IWB step into midfield to help cover for the mezzela and the DM drops into the defensive line to keep us solid
Does it work with a pressing fW instead of AF ? (Asking in case you played with one Before using this Formation)
I thought IWB’s only come inside if they have no wide player ahead of them? At that point, you’re widest players are mezzala’s and they only go into the half spaces, not properly on the wing.
If it works it works, i just don’t understand how!
If you wanna a tip with Novais name.
This 'shh' sound is just the Portuguese accent, the Brazilian one is cleaner, like the first time you said it (08:59).
And the strong syllable is the 'va' No-VA-is.
Used this Tactic in my latest save, where I started unemployed and ended up at Leyton Orient as my first job. Smashed the League 2 Title with a record points haul, most wins, fewest draws and fewest defeats records. Went to League 1 in second season and was leading the league at the end of January. Then for no reason I can see the tactic stopped working, we never won a match February, March, April and May. We managed to win the league via 1 point off the back of our early season excellence, but I’m concerned why the tactic just stopped delivering results, especially when there were no player differences between the start and end of season, with some good loans and recruitment in January to boost the squad strength.
I’m a bit concerned now as I navigate the summer period before our first run in the Championship begins that this tactic is going to get me instantly relegated if we can’t start winning again and get off to a good start and maintain it for the whole season.
Man I feel you, I began unemployed, started with Tuzla City in the Bosnian league, created a tactic, won the title, smashed all the records, resigned and somehow got a job at Eintracht Frankfurt, started excellent with the same tactic, was fighting for the first place, most goals scored and past mid season just started struggling with every team I came accross and dropped to number six. Ended up tweaking a lot and thank God came back third, winning the Conference League, winning the DFB pokal. I would recommend changing your attacking pattern, just to confuse the AI. I switched from IFat and IWsu to two Ws and created an underlap threat with two IWB and two CM with the deep playmaker in between instead of AP behind the striker, the instructions stayed the same except for forcing underlaps. Sometimes you just have to change your approach completely, analyze which formations you are struggling against, try to see why and adjust
@@hamzam5394 tactic doesn’t use any wingers or attacking midfielders. This tactic has 3 CM and Defensive Midfielder and has 2 Advanced Forwards up top. I’m certainly not about to start changing roles or duties because then you’re effectively playing with a different tactic and are no longer using this one. I just need to try and figure out why it stopped working after performing excellently for a season and a half.
More tactics explained like this! gratz =) Cheers from Mexico
Oh no... No download link - meaning I have to do it myself... life is so tough on me... whyyy why Zealand... :)
Great work - love your channel
Zealand, This seems very much like Leeds play with Jesse Marsh a Red Bull tactic. IRL the tactic works well if a team tries to play through the midfield but if a team bypasses the press by passing over it. We get done with being so narrow.
Absolutely fantastic video. In my opinion, your best.
This was such a pleasant surprise1 I have a very similar tactic myself though 4-3-3 instead of 4-1-3-2 with similar ideas and it's nice to see it supported by the legend himself!
The left-footed RCM/right-footed LCM is something I've definitely planned on using in a 4-3-3 on Fantasy Draft (which is the main mode I play because I find the pure focus on player combinations and tactics more enjoyable than thinking about the dystopian hellscape of modern football finance 😂) - inswinging crosses from the half-spaces were what I thought about but the idea of them potentially shooting or cutting back to a DM with that foot too makes total sense.
I’m digging the Forward Madison jersey, my dude!
Zealand right now: "I am Jose Mourinho"
Underlapping runs from CM are disgustingly broken this year
"novais" is a tough one because of the last s. the first syllable is like "noo" from "noob. the second syllable is like "vei" from surname "Weiss" and the last "S" is a "sh" sound. so kind of like "noo-vei-sh"
I use a 442 narrow diamond which is very similar. One of the problems I initially had was creating width - obviously this is normally done with the full backs. But I decided to give my strikers and central midfielders the instruction to run wide with the ball and this created a boatload of chances and goals.
The effect is to drag defenders away from their goal, creating space for other players in the team to attack.
I found that defensive problems increased by giving the instruction to midfielders - if the ball is turned over, the opposition have a gaping hole in midfield to attack.
Having both of the more attacking midfielders dribble more also helped a lot because they would often run wide with the ball and cause problems for the opposition's shape.
Hi Zealand, I didn’t hear you talking about player traits in this tactic, have you trained specific traits that fits this tactic by position?
Maybe an interesting next video tip😁
I guided a club from fourth division of Portugal called Länk FC Vilaverdense to the very top inside the country (two consecutive league titles, three league cups and one actual Cup) and Champions League final in 8 years. What magic formation did I use all that time? 4-3-3.
Now I am experimenting with something like 4-1-3-2 because of overwhelming amount of talented midfielders I got recently and it works pretty good too. However, I prefer more patient style, so the tempo is standard while one of the forwards is either a Target one or Complete one (that's because I have a player who is somewhere between those two roles, actually, looking forward to playing Trequartista or False Nine there after he goes out). Also double Mezzala with Central Midfielder on Attack does work pretty well in this case, they are creating a lot of beautiful runs inside the box from different angles.
What variation of the 433 were u using exactly ?
Hey Zealand, would you have any recommendations for individual additional player instructions?
Zealand, love your videos. On a next save, train a team from Brazil. The games is very different from playing on Europe. Cheers from Brazil!
I was playing this in FM21 also, was super effective.
This was the go to tactic during the Championship manager years
love the madison forwards kit Z !
Great video and most but not least, great explanation !!!
I played this in the Bundesliga and got 2nd. Then the next year with the same players I got fired before Winter and was 15th. Got fmd to the max in half the games
4132 was the first formation I achieved dominance in FM with, back in FM13. Haven't gone back to it in a while but have been tinkering with one lately in FM21 that I'd like to put into use once I have the players for it. Getting bored of my 433.
I've just started a 23 game playing 5-1-2-1-1. Going great so far. Opposition get very few shots on target. The crntre forward is getting a tonne of goals
Very similar style tactic to what I use but I play a 4-3-3 narrow. AF or PF, 2 IFs, BBM, CM att, DLP, 2 CBs, and 2 CWBs, SWGK support. Great video 👍
13:30 That's a 4-1-2-1-2 from fifa
the CAM forming a 3 man attack is deadly against the 2 CBs
I'd love to see you build this tactic with the best players in the world for each of the positions you described, and maybe a handful of subs for versatility.
Superb!
Great video, Do you use any special player instructions?
May i add to this grreat tactic, that if you play against a 3 mand defence u can benefit of changing one of the forwards to a DLF on attack and change the pressing line to standard. That way your attackers wont run into the opponents defenders all the time.
This formation is a 'Championship Manager' classic 😄
This video is sick. Really wanna play fm now
Been trying this tactic with Sevilla, where 3-4 other teams have been dominating the league for a few years. In my fourth season now, and have finished 4th every season with a team consisting mainly of leftovers, scraps, youngsters and now - recently - some up and coming youth prospects coming into their prime. The tactic is very solid! I only feel the need to adjust mentality from Positive to either Balanced or Cautious depending on who and where we play, and also use a lower intensity version on and off during matches, so most players can actually get through the game.
For training I'm using "Mike's Best Ever Training Schedule" which seems to be working quite well.
I just realise this is basically Ancelotti's tactic, example now at Real Madrid, the 2 AF is Vinicius and Rodrygo, the CM is Bellingham and ect
How would you train your team to complement this tactic? what attacking, defending, and technical training do you pick and the individual roles of the positions?
Yes, I would like to know as well ! Working on the tactic !
Zealand, I have to ask, how many pairs of glasses do you have? Sunglasses included.
I have played a lot with a very similar tactic. I've played a bit more direct and lower tempo, and I have used mezzalas for the outer midfielders and BBM for the central one. That also works really well, but I might experiment a little with higher tempo and BBMs.
Any update on the formation? Are you still using it?
'Bannan for scale' is the funniest joke I've ever added and it's all downhill from here.
Zealand your tactic is awesome pal I was Liverpool with this tactic and I won everythink with it in my first season 😀 I love that tactic
Where did you download because I can’t find it on steam ??
@@gus6391 it downloads automatically when u subscribe to him in steam and than go in the game and go to load tactics in the tactics screen It should be there called dorfing
@@Manchesterceltic I don’t see the tactic saved in the fm tactics ??
See when u download tactics u have to load them on to ur tactic screen see ur saved tactics on ur computer when ur in the game u have to upload a tactic u should see it in ur tactics that u have got saved and the tactic Will be there if u have subscribed to Zealand
@@gus6391 when I subscribed it download automatically tro steam to my computer than I just uploaded it in my tactics screen in game that's how I got it
I’ve been using a similar tactic for quite a while. However, I don’t necessarily agree with the take on the defensive midfielder. I use an anchor in that position, he’s an idiot, and it works fine. He just needs to stay back and prevent the counterattacks my two mezzalas start by losing the ball. My biggest problem is which roles the fullbacks should have - fullback, wingback or complete wingback. I can’t really decide. Also I find that a combination of an advanced forward and a pressing forward on attack works better than two advanced forwards. But that’s just me.
Using a similar tactics as well.i used Wing backs on attack All The Time and have a denfinsive midfielder protecting the centre back's.pressing forward and a DLF are very good to combine with the af
I have an abundance of mezzalas can i use them on support? Or would they not be good enough defensively? If so what roles would you recommend for the other 2 roles?
I used this tactic with a slow tempo which still produced an immediate response it faded with time.
Is this available to download anywhere else? I dont use steam
I used to use this formation back in 2000. Can't remember if it was championship manager or football manager at that point. Used to work well back then.
Someone edited Barry Banan's wikipedia to say he is 275 ft or 83.7 m tall.
Great video Zealand
The teacher look! Mr. Zealand!
Thanks for the sharing.
Didi you try this to play online?
I think most of the tactics shared in RUclips are mostly for playing offline.
Anyway I will have a try. Will let you know if it works out
I’ve been using a similar tactic for years. The main difference is I push the DLP and CM up a level. I hate wingers, I have never been able to pick them out. Prefer to get my width from my wide defenders just bombing up the field.
Zealand ! I used this tactic in my brentford save , its a great tactic !
I did a tweek or two i would like to show you those tweeks
I used this tactic in 2019 fm it was great
R there any player instructions for this tactic or do u just leave it to the default role. Also opposition instructions
This was my main formation on FM 20
where can i download this tatic to try it on my save?
Great jersey!
dude I was playing this tactic way back in footy manager 2012
Don’t laugh at me, but I’d this still relevant for fm20? I think I’ll buy the next fm that comes out but just started to get back into it and am loving all these tip videos! Just unsure how relevant they are to the older versions!
i play through GamePass and cannot download the tactic because it seems to work only through steam. Is there another way for me to get it? I can tell most things from the vid but I don't know if you have special instructions by position. Thanks!!
Z- i am playing on the Xbox, meaning i can not download the tactics. please can you post post player instructions? thank you!
I want to try this tactic, but have the game through gamepass (not steam - so the steam link won't work). Can someone post the tactic on another website please.
I got FM on Game Pass, can you send a download link thats not from steam?
Zealand should play Chewbacca in the next star wars, they can save a whole lot on not needing a costume for Zealand. He would fit perfectly
I don't have FM on Steam, can I just recreate this based off the video or are there additional player instructions that need to be added?
Can we get download link
i have a problem when am on the match i got my analysis showing all the time i tried to click on the score top left nothing happend can anyone help me
8:49 Reason 1 I boosted Matt Targett and Liberado Cacace. Both 6', but the former is too slow offensively, and the latter isn't good in the air.
Here for the Barry bannan appearance
Don't know why this video appeared on my feed after all this time but strangely this is almost identical to my tactic on fm24...