Possession, Shots, CCC and Match Engine and other stuff. Tactical discussion.

[AayushCFC]

I've seen numerous people post screenshots of how frustrated they are with the ME as they dominate the game with possession, shots, SOTs and yet lose or draw.
I was playing with Arsenal against Everton, I should've captured first half's screenshot but here are the stats and I was so frustrated.
Arsenal:
Shots 9
Shots on Target 6
Woodwork 1
CCC 2
Possession 76%

Everton: 0 Shots and 24% Possession.

I was using possession 4-2-3-1 short passing, retain possession, work ball into the bax and all the standard instructions, I changed it during half time and the result was totally different.
I changed to 4-3-3, High tempo, Run at defense, high defensive line, Everton had more possession in second half but since they were attacking and I wasn't crowding the box, space opened up and I scored.

Stats at FT.

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I finished with relatively low possession, but it's good that Arsenal board doesn't ask to play possession football.

So the point I'm making is, when you dominate the game in opposition's half, they park the bus, crowd the box. Players will take feeble powerless shots at goal which GK can easily save, it adds to stats, but doesn't tell the full story. Whereas when I was playing high tempo, my players would quickly change to attack after winning the ball so there was a lot of space to attack. Not everyone can play like Barcelona, they were special for a reason.

 

[Hector89]

Can you post results of other matches, mate? Even though the second half was good,the problem which many of them will have is they cannot control the game(most of us want that, believe me). Moreover, can you post all the instructions you used in the first half? If some things are tweaked, more chances will occur.

 

[LoCalXt]

My ongoing tactic tweaks aims to replicate the play style of BVB mix with Bayern Munich - Fast , smooth attacking play with solid defence. My idea of possession differs from other managers on here. I want my players to rush the defence , collect the ball and attack via quick passes. ( I got this idea from last years CL final , EVERY Bayern attack on Barcelona almost resulted in a goal) Yeah the tiki taka is all nice and attractive to watch but if you cant score IT MEANS NOTHING. ( Similar to Arsenal of 2-3 years ago)

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Perfect example of quick passing and attacking. Most shots Liverpool had were long shots. My defence and keeper by no means is deserving to be holding 2nd place in the BPL in season 1 with Hull. However, my attacking play makes up for it , when we have the ball , magic happens

View attachment 451016 Shots chart should always be like this , I hate long shots - unless I have a player with 16+ attribute. With better strikers , some of these shots might actually land in goal LOOL

 

[AayushCFC]

Can you post results of other matches, mate? Even though the second half was good,the problem which many of them will have is they cannot control the game(most of us want that, believe me). Moreover, can you post all the instructions you used in the first half? If some things are tweaked, more chances will occur.

I could not control the match in second half because Martinez plays possession football too and I gave him what he wanted so that I could hit him on the break instead of fighting for possession. When you play against Managers like Mourinho who don't play possession football, you'll control the match.

I have just started the season and have played 5 total games (3PL, 2CL qual.), I'll post screenshots in a bit, I do change tactics quite a bit in game according to situation, that's why I prefer players who can play in multiple positions.

 

[Hector89]

The reason I needed the instructions was because I wanted to know your pressing and defensive line. When playing possession football, it is important to play a high defensive line and hassle opponents and getting stuck in. This is something which Barca did and Bayern are doing under Pep. Its a great thing to change tactics when the situation demands(which I do based upon the opposition scouting report), but I wanted to see if the initial possession tactic was missing something.

 

[AayushCFC]

So here are both of my tactics,
1) The direct 4-3-3
View attachment 451006
With a couple of individual player instructions for almost every player except Fullbacks.

2) The possession 4-2-3-1
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Pass short instruction for some players, shoot less instruction for IFs.

Now, Matches.

This was my first match, I knew Swansea loves possession, so I played direct 4-3-3.

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Look at the stats, they had more possession.

Second match was against a minnow in CL qual. , but away match, I knew I may struggle controlling the possession so played 4-3-3

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Third match was West Ham away in PL, I wanted to stick with 4-3-3 but I hate using one tactic for too long, and this is a match I'd like to forget, horrible defending, Giroud saved the day with a brace. I came back to draw after falling behind twice.

View attachment 450999

4th match was home leg against POAK, I had 4-0 lead, it was done and dusted. I wanted to control the game.

View attachment 450997

Couldn't really control with only 57% possession but my tactics aren't even half fluid, yet.

I'll post more results when I get the time to play, I've been playing with Chelsea and they ask me to play Possession football so I don't really try High tempo quick football and I've struggled to score goals, scraped many wins 1-0 after going overload in last 20 mins and introducing a striker for a defender.

 

[AayushCFC]

The reason I needed the instructions was because I wanted to know your pressing and defensive line. When playing possession football, it is important to play a high defensive line and hassle opponents and getting stuck in. This is something which Barca did and Bayern are doing under Pep. Its a great thing to change tactics when the situation demands(which I do based upon the opposition scouting report), but I wanted to see if the initial possession tactic was missing something.

I use high defensive line and pressing in both, but my tackling instructions vary, I go Get stuck in in away games and stay at feet in which I wouldn't want to commit too much fouls. Main difference is Higher tempo, no short passing and running at defense, the last one being most important.

 

[Alienman]

I've been trying to play possession football with Maribor. I have been pretty successful, probably because my team is easily the strongest. At home I get 60-70% of the possession and a good number of chances while completing about 90% of my passes. On the road, a good game has 60% but I am normally forced to up the tempo and play wider to try to create better chances.

Now when I first started, I had a couple of matches where I was getting 70% possession and 90% pass completion, and my whole midfield triangle was getting over 100 passes but it was extremely negative football and looked more like training ground keep away among the midfielders. I had all three midfielders set to dribble less and pass short and it was going nowhere. I removed the pass it short instruction from my Advanced Playmaker and that seemed to do the trick, more balls were being played to my forward and winger resulting in chances and goals. I also changed my forward from Trequirista to Advanced Forward.

Moral of the story is if you want to play possession football that creates lots of chances and scores goals you are going to have to give up some of your possession. Allow your players to have a little more freedom and encourage them to get forward a bit more. You can make a tactic that passes around in triangles all day long but it wont score goals unless those triangles are moving forward and taking some risks.

 

[AayushCFC]

This is what I'm talking about when playing possession football like Barca and controlling the game in opposition's half. My team has already had 3 shots in 6 minutes, 2 on target, 1 CCC. But when I watched those shots, they were bad attempts, stats don't show quality, they only show quantity.

View attachment 450653

They have 8 of their players in the defensive third (except goalkeeper) and two others are marking my Midfielders. So it's very hard to pass and most players go for shots instead of passing to a player in better position/Striker.

 

[AayushCFC]

Another example. Look at the little space my players are allowed, the attempts are very poor then, long shots because it's hard to get ball in the box unless you have a tall target man. (Which is very effective). Even Suarez is defending, my DLP's deeper than him.

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