Quote Originally Posted by pcmacdaniel View Post
This formation has been a pain to play against, at least it has been for me.

He's obviously passing down the flanks, so maybe throw an extra body in attack and go 4-3w-3 and rely upon numerical superiority in terms of volume of attacking bodies! That's the last formation I've played against it that didn't lose. Just to note, that match was the champions league final (level 9), but even then the match was a struggle as it remained scoreless until past the 60th minute.

Ended up falling in CL group stages 1-3 against a similar formation 4-1-1-2w-2 while using 4-3w-3 in level 11. Then drew against it with 4-4-1-1 the following match.

Tried 3n-2w-2n-1-2 on a couple occasions in the CL groups stages (level 12 - 2 seasons ago). First match I started with 4-2-2-2 hexagon but found myself trailing 0-1 in the 60th minute; came back for a 2-1 win on the road with 3n-2w-2n-1-2. So next match I went back to the 3n-2w-2n-1-2 and got myself curb-stomped 0-3.

To be completely honest, counter-formations help but they aren't a guarantee to success. I've seen to many managers lose playing what is supposedly the counter-formation. Some players are just better than others (independent of quality) and play some formations/tactics better than others.
It is probably because of the orders (and/or arrows). Orders have a significant effect.
Orders and arrows can be standard, but for some matches, they must be adjusted as this depends on what orders and arrows the opponent put.