Is narrow diamond effective against 4-4-2?

I had a cup match against an opponent with basic eleven quality of 29 and mine of 34, i am not used to counter others especially weaker so i was using mu standard 3N-3W-2N-1-1 (which was effective against other 4-4-2) against his 4-4-2 flat. I was winning 1-0 but he turned it to be 3-1, then i changed to narrow diamond and draw 3-3. What do you suggest for the second leg on his stadium. Use narrow diamond again? Thank you. I have 5*+ players for every position except MR and AML (which i dont have any) so please feel free for suggestions. Most of his players are 4* but he has a scout (the lowest level) at MC.

Yes Play with Narrow diamond, it is very effective against 4-4-2,,

thanks Fazil

What orders should be?

4-3N-1-2 set pass to through the middle will helps.

What about 4-1-3-1-1?

4-1-2-1-2 ND vs 4-4-2 is very debatable...

In fact, going by how this game works, the 4-4-2 should be beating the narrow diamond, why? despite being an AMC in there, the ML/MR are only marked once against the narrow diamond, so with red arrows on the ML/MR, it could be quite deadly if your midfield isn't very good.

Having said that, the narrow diamond has seemed to do well against the 4-4-2, however in the big matches I have seen it go the oother way.. So just be wary of that. A 3-2-2-2-1 butterfly will beat the 4-4-2.

Hey dv8r, i get your thinking, but unfortunatley i dont have AML, what do you think about putting the rest of the fomration and insted of an AML a ML with red arrow? thank you

You could even play an ML in an AML position. It's only 1 spot away from his normal position so you won't be penalised. Just don't make it a habit though...

You shouldn't play DML and ML, dunno why but it just doesn't seem right stacked up like that on the wing, prevents the free flowing football from where an AML should be so he can attack the area

Really thank you mate, and one last thing please, cause i never used butterfly again, attack through the wings?

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Originally Posted by dv8r

4-1-2-1-2 ND vs 4-4-2 is very debatable...

In fact, going by how this game works, the 4-4-2 should be beating the narrow diamond, why? despite being an AMC in there, the ML/MR are only marked once against the narrow diamond, so with red arrows on the ML/MR, it could be quite deadly if your midfield isn't very good.

Having said that, the narrow diamond has seemed to do well against the 4-4-2, however in the big matches I have seen it go the oother way.. So just be wary of that. A 3-2-2-2-1 butterfly will beat the 4-4-2.

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100% agree on ND .. but are you sure the butterfly will work ? it give me a bad headache last time i used it

i am gonna try both formations guys so to answer more questions later ;p Results at 17:00

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Originally Posted by shwanko07

100% agree on ND .. but are you sure the butterfly will work ? it give me a bad headache last time i used it

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Butterfly does a better job tbh

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Originally Posted by dv8r

Butterfly does a better job tbh

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i may be tempted then to play that system .. facing team no.2 in my league tomorrow
wasn't sure of using that or 3-1-4-2

narrow diamond yields mixed results against 4-4-2. If you have better players, go 3-5-2 or 3-4-1(amc)-2, hard attacking, play through the middle. 4-4-2 lends to breezy counter attacking football down the flanks, wide midfielders stop counters at source and having a man over through the middle hits 4-4-2's soft spot going forward. I tend to hammer anyone who uses 4-4-2, even teams with slightly higher rating.

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Originally Posted by Rob8

narrow diamond yields mixed results against 4-4-2. If you have better players, go 3-5-2 or 3-4-1(amc)-2, hard attacking, play through the middle. 4-4-2 lends to breezy counter attacking football down the flanks, wide midfielders stop counters at source and having a man over through the middle hits 4-4-2's soft spot going forward. I tend to hammer anyone who uses 4-4-2, even teams with slightly higher rating.

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what do you use then facing as good teams or slightly better?

Hello guys again, since i had a better look at his players, i noticed that his wings mid and backs had no assist at all, so i figured out that he is playing through the middle, so i started the match with narrow diamond, normal,through the middle,own half,mixed passing,hard tackling,zonal marking with counter attacks. I scored 2 goals in the first 15 minutes and dominated possesion 60-40, he then score from a penalty kick 2-1, i scored another one at 32 making it 3-1, at 36 3-2 and at 73 4-2 final score and qualification to next round. Thank you for your suggestions.

if the opponent is far too good, say you're 40 something and he's 50 something, go for 3 centre-halves, 2 wing backs, 2 central midfielders, a central attacking midfielder and 2 strikers. normal/defensive mentality(i never go defensive, mind you), through the middle, mark zonally because he'll beat your defenders in one-on-one situations. you could also overlap through the middle with your central centre-half and have a man over in attacks.