FM 2014 TActic: 4-3-3 Offensive

The idea:

You have three strikers, give them the ball and they'll score! This tactic is an offensive tactic, you will create chances without leaking in the defense. The idea is actually to have a solid back four that wins the ball back and quickly provide long-balls for the strikers. Unlike Dutch 4-3-3 which is a possession based tactic this is purelt based on quick long-balls linking defense and atack as soon as possible. In the midfield it's a bit thin, therefor you need your only central midfielder to work hard as if you had two CM.

The core is though in the offensive. Three strikers with different roles gives you many dimensions. For the opposition it's hard to defend in all dimensions. The Target Man uses his aerial ability to start an attack, but if he is marked you have a Deep Lying Forward that can drop and receive the ball. Also you have an Atcking Forward ready to exploit the smallest mistakes by the opposition with his speed and runs behind the defensive lines.

Purple: The Deep Lying Forward is starting the attack from a very deep position.
Red: The two opposition Midfielder are tempted to press the DLF (purple)
Light Blue: Three players starts to run, especially on the flanks that are wide open

Red: The two opposition midfield went forward to press the DLF (Ibarra)
Black: The ball pathway exploiting the huge spae behind the two midfielder (in red)
Light Blue: Players running and exploiting the huge space on the flanks.
Result? Goal :)

Team instruction:

This is as the name suggest a 4-3-3 tactic. In the back four you will have a very ordinary defense, no Wingbacks just Fullbacks. In midfiels you have two on the flank and one box to box CM. In Atack there is one TM one DLF and finally a AF. Tactic is offensive and the fluidity is balanced..

Defensibly you need to win the ball back quickly, therefor you Hassle the opposition, have a high defensive line. With high defensive lines comes offside traps.

Offensively you want to start the offensive ASAP. To do so you cross the ball early, even though the players aren't ready to receive the cross. But you play with float crosses, this will give time for your player to be ready to receive the cross. It's also a high tempo to overwhelm the opposition defense.

Player instruction:

• Goalkeeper:
  Sweeper Keeper - support
  Instr. More Direct Pass, Take Long Kicks
  First of all, with a high defensive line sweeper keeper is a must. Remember Eccentricity is important here, 
• Defender Right/Left:
  Full Back - Defend
  Instr. Mark Tighter, Run Wide With Ball, Ease Off Tackles, More Direct Pass, Cross more often, Cross aim at Target Man
• Central Defender Right/Left:
  Ball playing defender - cover
  Instr. mark tighter, More Direct pass, Ease off Tackles
  They don't do anything stupid. They stay on their feet and keeps a solid defensive line. No risking here!
• Midfielder Right:
  Winger - Support
  Instr. Tackle Harder, Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Cross From Depth, Get Further Forward, Stay Wider, Shoot More Often, Cross Aim Target Man
• Midfielder Central:
  Box To Box Midfield - Support
  Instr. More Direct Pass, Close Down More, Tacle Harder, Mark Tighter, Roam From Position, Shoot More Often
• Midfielder Left:
  Wide Midfielder - Attack
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Cross From Depth, Stay Wider, Shoot More Often, Cross Aim Target Man
• Striker Central Right: Target Man - Support
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Roam From Position, Tackle Harder
• Striker Central:
  Deep Lying Forward - Support
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Roam from position
• Striker Central Right:
  Advanced Forward - Attack
  Instr. Mark Tighter, More Direct Passes, Hold Position, Tackle Harder, Move Into Channels

DOWNLOAD TACTIC HERE

FM 2014 TACTIC: Defending CORNER

Introduction:

It is one of the hardest part of FM throughout the game series as far as I can remember. This tactic is not a guarantee for keeping clean sheets from corners but more helping your chances. On the other hand this tactic is great to counter attack the opposition. Also you will find that this tactic spreads out the player more than the standard settings which reduce the risk of the ball bouncing into the goal because it's too crowdy.

Instructions & Requirements:

• Mark Far/Near post: Both post needs to be marked, it is important roles but in my opinion any player who are somewhat tall and okay in the air can mark these post. Don't wast your best aerial players for these role! Also as they don't really move a lot it doesn't matter if they have terrible seped stats
• Mark Six Yard Box: For this role you do not need a speedy player, however it is important that the player is competent in the air. Usually a slow Central defender
• Mark Tall Player: This role is the most important. For this role you chose your best defender. This role require he has good Air, Speed, Concentration and Marking stats. Also it's very important he is tall, 1,85 m tall or more.
• Man Mark: Someone with good aerial and defending stats. Especially important is obviously marking.
• Edge of Area: No need to waste a player with good aerial stats for this role. go for the best passer you have, speed and technical stats are a plus. This player is the one that that collects balls heading out and starts counters.
• Stay Forward: Very important role. He needs very good speed and attacking stats. Usually this is a role for a speedy striker.
• Go Back: Three of your player will have this role. It is for all the players left over that didn't get any other role, observe that this does not mean they are the worst in the air, or slowest just that they weren't cut out for the other roles.

Does it work?

At the end it all comes down to the result and Yes, I am confident that it works. Using this tactic I haven't even needed to set Match Training at "Def. Set Piece" and still I get good result. Mostly I'm proud of the number of counter attacks this defending corner tactic provides. Down below is the result from the previous 30 Matches (it's for that long I've been using this defending tactic).

Just to be clear, don't expect miracles. The best way to keep clean sheets on corners is still to have good players and set Match Training to "Def. Set Piece". With that said I don't wan't you to underestimate the benefit from a working corner tactic either.

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Aaron Leya Iseka

Name: Aaron Leya Iseka

Nationality: Belgium/DR Congo
Contract: Anderlecht
Age: 16
Value: 8,5k£
Salary: 50£/week
Position: ST

Summary: Another Belgian talent on the making. He is the younger brother of Michy Batshuayi who is already a recognized striker in FM and IRL (though I failed to find out why their last names differ, anyone who knows why please write in the comment section, I'd like to know). Aaron is only 16 at start of the game and you should view him as a future investment rather than a competent striker. His determination attribute is at maximum 20, this almost guarantees he will fulfill his potential. He is good in the air and can certainly be a target man, but looking through his development he could equally play as a complete or advanced striker, in my save he is even leathal as a Deep Lying Forward so don't get hung up about his aerial stats. This lad will in the future guaranty goals for every team, top class. The downside is, he isn't going to be world class. He will definitely be a good and even classy striker, but not enough to be a "world class" player. Still he is so cheap and he doesn't ask for much for a salary.
Recommendation: 9/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Hiroshi Ibusuki

Name: Hiroshi Ibusuki

Nationality: Japan
Contract: Valencia CF
Age: 22
Value: 350k£
Salary: 2000£/week
Position: ST

Summary: I'll admit, he isn't looking like a world class player at the age of 22. Hiroshi Ibusuki is one of the footballers that comes through huge academies (in this case Valencia's) but they aren't good enough for the first team, but they are still too good to just release. He is far from useless, in fact using him as a Target Man (like in my Modern 4-4-2 Tactic) can get the better of him. He is steady developing into a leathal striker. I would describe him as a very effective striker and gives good service for teammates with headers. He isn't a speedy striker so don't waste time if you need a striker to round goalie, Hiroshi plays best as Target Man. To be fair he isn't any way near world class. He will develop to a good striker eventually and I'm sure he will please the midtable teams or lower. For English teams (maybe others aswell) work permit might be a problem. Otherwise he is cheap both transfer and salary-wise. Cannot give him more than a 6 out of ten
Recommendation: 6/10

Note, I had a better screenshot of him when he was at his best at age 29, problem was that I had forgot to turn the language to English (as I play in Swedish). Two FM years has passed on since then and in this screenshot he has lost a little bit of  his aerial, just wanted to notify.

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Humam Tariq

Name: Humam Tariq

Nationality: Iraq
Contract: Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya
Age: 18
Value: 250£
Salary: 425£/week
Position: AMC/AML

Summary: Don't you dare doubt Humam Tariq. Can you buy him, then do so because there is no way you could get disappointed. He is very chead, whatever you pay him will be a huge salary rise and you must almoast try to destroy his career on purpus if you don't want him to be a bargain. Very rarly I find world class wonderkid player but when I do they are usually very expensive, this guy isn't. IRL he is a huge talent, at the age of 18 he has already made 15 appearances and 3 goals for his national team! In Iraq were my parents come from the football society there consider him the biggest Iraqi talent yet, partly because he plays for an Iraqi football club he isn't as recognized around the world. Now you probably think, if he is as great super talent as you describe, why haven't any top football club signed him? Well he has actually been rumored that for example Manchester City, Feynoord and Lille tried to sign him but the problem is his nationality, he is Iraqi and therefor it's difficult to get a work permit and thats also a major problem in the game. To get him a work permit is a lot harder than you might think although it is not impossible to buy him and loan him to another EU-country if you have an afflicted club there. The thing is that I can't include the difficulty with the work permit in my recommendation rating, therefor I give this guy top recommendation. In my saved game he got an average rating of 7.03 in the Premier League. By the way IRL this guy eventually signed for a Dubai based club (Al-Ahli Sports) and I guess that alongside an emirate work permit he got a fat paycheck (I'm just guessing).
Recommendation: 10/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Alberto Brignoli

Name: Alberto Brignoli

Nationality: Italy
Contract: Ternana
Age: 21
Value: 550k£
Salary: 4800£/week
Position: GK

Summary: This guy is very special, he seems like an ordinary Serie B goalie but don't worry about what your scouts have to say about this guy. Alberto is like a secret wonderkid. I've never heard of him before, neither IRL nor in FM- world, which is why he is so important to bring up. First of all, he is playing in Serie B so he can't demand to much club reputation which helps if you try to sign him as a smaller team. He isn't asking for too much when it comes to salary and he isn't expensive to buy either. What you can expect from this guy is a cheap close-to-world-class-goalkeeper. He is very good at saving penalties (saved 4/5 penalties for me so far). He isn't bothering you at all, he is just a solid and great goalie. If there is one negative thing to say to this guy it is that he never really gets to be wold class. I recommend this guy, you won't regret buying him. He starts of with quit good determination stats and he is professional and therefor you can be safe to know that he will develop, all he needs is some match time. If only he could be a little better speed stats he would be a 10/10, but thats not the situation and I'm force to give this marvelous bargain a nine.
Recommendation: 9/10

FM 2014 PLAYER TO SIGN: Dória

Name: Matheus Dória Macedo

Nationality: Brazil
Contract: Botofago
Age: 18
Value: 6.25M£
Salary: 5 750£/week
Position: DC

Summary: The easiest way to describe Dória is world class. He is absolute world class and would be a superstar wherever he goes. He is tall, strong and quick, anytime your defense is leaking you can be sure Dória has nothing to do with it. IRL this guy has already played a match for Brazil, at age 18! I can't say anything bad about him and he is a stable defender which mean bad form is a rarity. So what's the problem? Economical, He is already at start of the game a great defender and is valuated at 6.25M£, expect to pay far more than 6.25M£ and he isn't going to ask for a small salary. But at the same time the best thing with him could besides that he is a world class defender also be that his value is rising (as you can see on my save game he is valuated 27M£ in 2018). I doubted my decision to give him a 10 out of 10 but he is one of the few world class talents out there and he isn't that expensive either (we're not talking about a galactico buy here) so in the end he gets a tad weak 10/10.
Recommendation: 10/10