Got Whacked 4-1!

my team got whacked 4-1 at home in last night's Champions League Semi-final 1st leg. Opponent was about 2-3 quality lesser than me.

He was playing with 3DC, DML, DMR, 3MC and 2ST, a.k.a 5-3-2. I tried 4-4-2 classic and failed terribly.

How do I counter his wingbacks? This formation seems to cover all aspects as attacking through the middle is out of the qn and attack on flanks, his DML and DMR have got both flanks covered.

What formation/orders can I use to turn this tie around (its a tal order, but hey, anything can happen!)

I also have a crucial match coming up later this evening. top of the table clash. He employs 4-3N-3. Read that a good counter formation would be 4-1-4-1, with DR/DL, ML, MR and DMC motivated. How about team orders??

i have an idea and it worked for me one
you can only have 2 players on the same flanks in your entire team
lets start with your defense, your opponent attacks mainly from the middle because he has no ML/MR/AML/AMR, So you should play with only 3 defenders in the middle (3 DC'S).
Now you want to have 2 players on each flank on the remaining 3 options per side (DML/ML/AML and DMR/MR/AMR), i would go with DML, DMR, AML and AMR, on all of them put red arrows. Put also 2 MC's, so you should have 6 midfielders total, what will give you more possession, and finally one ST

----------ST----------
AML----------------AMR
------MC----MC-------
DML----------------DMR
----DC---DC---DC------

You put red arrows on the DML and DMR, and they will help out the MC'S in the midfield and also red arrows on the AML and AMR and they will help with the attacks on the wings
I would pressure on the whole pitch

Try this and let me know

For your evening game, you could do what you said, but i would play more on the wings again, because he has 3 midfielders in the middle but only 2 down the flanks in the midfield, but it depends on how strong are your wingers versus his.

You can play 4-5-1 V style

---------ST-----------
AML--------------AMR
-----MC------MC-----
---------DMC---------
DL--DC------DC---DR

for the 4-3-3, its

ST- ST - ST

MC - MC - MC

DC - DC - DC - DC

no wings whatsoever. thats why i will employ 4-1-4-1 to crowd the midfield (with the DMC offering cover), normal mentality, attack down flanks, and employ mixed passing. Normal tackling, zonal marking and switching counter-attacks on.

hope for the best!

i used the 4-1-4-1 formation and only managed a draw with the 4-3-3.. there goes my season... i am going to finish 2nd. now onwards towards trying to salvage my semi-final champions league tie... i lost 4-1 at home to a 5-3-2 (3DC, DML/DMR 3MC and 2ST)

should i employ 4-5-1V in the return leg? or try 4-3-1-2 (4DC, 3MC, 1AMC, 2ST)

what the hell are you talking about ??

Take this like an idea and hope you find out how to manage up finals !Attachment 4407

i employed the 3-4-1-2 formation, pressed whole pitch, short passing, attack down flanks and hard attacking and it worked against the 3DC, DML/DMR, 3MC and 2ST! won 2-0.. but alas was not enough to overcome the 1st leg 4-1 deficit. the thread on counter formations is really useful and i hope the experienced managers in the game will continue to contribute their great ideas and share their experience with us

4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 (with wingers or 2 amc) both are good vs 4-3-3.

Sorry for the league and cl tho :(