Can it work to have 2 CBs who get forward?

lessthanjake

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I think the title pretty much explains my question. There are some CBs like Pique and Lucio who have the PPM "get forward whenever possible." I am wondering if pairing two CBs like that is totally foolish.

Here's the main reason I am curious. I always play a 4-2-4 formation. The formation is extremely dangerous when counterattacking, but the main weakness in my opinion is the difficulty in keeping possession long enough to work the ball upfield when the other team's defense is back behind the ball. With only 2 midfielders, you can get bossed in midfield, especially by teams that play a 4-5-1. This is partially counteracted by the fact that the fullbacks push up and the AMR/AML inside forwards (and maybe a creative striker) can come deep to get the ball. I also play relatively narrow to help deal with this.

Still though, the main weakness is that the CMs can sometimes find it hard to keep possession long enough to push upfield and actually get the ball to the AMR/AML/Strikers in dangerous positions. The result is that the attack can frequently become simply getting the ball to an inside forward relatively deep and having him either try to beat his man and put in an early cross against a set defense (which can be successful, but not a high percentage of the time) or cut inside from pretty deep and try to make something happen (which usually results in a futile long range shot). Sometimes, in both these cases, the inside forward will pass it back to an unmarked fullback who will put in a cross from deep. Again, this can be successful but not that often, especially against defenses with CBs who are dominant in the air.

I was thinking that maybe having a CB pairing that pushes forward would help consolidate possession and help the CMs work the ball upfield without losing possession. It would still likely be hard for the CM to get the ball directly to the strikers, but it would be less hard because the CMs might be able to actually have stable possession in the final third.

Would this make my defense completely porous though? Most CBs who push forward a lot are also very pacy (for instance, Pique has like 15 pace and Lucio has even higher). I kind of figure that with the fullbacks pushing up too, this would just leave me with an extremely high defensive line. An extremely high defensive line is okay though if the CBs have a lot of pace. I also tend to get goalkeepers like Adler or Neuer in every game as they are fantastic at one-on-ones and rushing out (again minimizing the negatives of a high defensive line).

I know I could just try this myself, but my computer can't handle FM very well, so it takes a really long time to advance; I'd rather find out if this is a terrible idea now than spend like 5 hours in game only to figure out it doesnt work.
 
So I meant to put this in the tactics section, not the players section...
 
Personally, I would never use this tactic as I am more possession minded. I like seeing the 70%+ possession at the end of games so I flood the midfield.

However, you have explained what you aim to do and the reasoning behind it very well and I see no reason why it wouldn't work against smaller teams, the problem would occur when you faced teams around/above you in terms of ability. If you lose possession in midfield with the defenders pushing forward you will be very open to a counter-attack and if they have a pacey attacker, even with your fast CBs, you may not be able to catch him.

If you are very keen on pushing the CBs forward, limit it to one, or make the RB/LB full-backs so they wil stay back in place of the CBs.


Alternatively, drop your wingers back slightly or train them to "drop deep for ball"
 
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