Being the most standard of all my formations, this seems like a great place to start. Featuring a 4-man midfield and a 3-man attack, its creates a numerical advantage in two key areas of the pitch. These advantages make it easy to create overloads and double-teams. In return, I only have a single player on each flank, making me vulnerable to the same out wide. In attack, The strikers each look to win a 1v1 with an opposing CD, freeing up the BBM(s) and SS(a) to attack the A & B Gaps. The FB(a) try to prevent the opposing wide defenders from assisting with the B Gap or covering the strikers and punish them with runs and crosses from the C Gap if they do. Defensively, the team looks to clog the central areas and hope that with support from the BBM(s), the FB(a) can hold the flanks.

I often use this formation to counter the 4-2-3-1. The 3-man attack applies aggressive pressure A Gap pressure with a 3v2 and the BBM(s) and FB(a) occupy the opposing midfielders and wide defenders, isolating them from assisting. Defensively, the biggest threat is the opposing wide attackers and getting caught in transition, but even if it does, the DLP(d) stays deep with the CD(d) and even in the worst case, 4v3 on the break, situation, my 3 players are all centrally located to potentially stop a cross or shot. Once the defense gets set, the back 4 has the width and numbers to defend well against the 3 wide attackers and the DLP(d) can form a bracket with a CD to double-team either the striker or AMC. The 3 BBM(s) and SS(a) gets a good matchup with the opposing midfield due to the man advantage and it frees up somebody to go wide or back to assist the defensive line or flanks if needed.

Featuring a 3 man midfield and 5 wide attack, this formation resembles a 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1. This formation is my most balanced formation and is my go to when nothing else working or I meet an exotic formation that I don’t know how to handle. I build my roster around trying to get my best 11 players into this formation.

Offensively, it aggressively attacks Gaps. The static DLF(s) sits right in the middle of the attack, which makes it significantly harder for opposing teams to defend the movement of the 5 wide attack. If the opposing CDs do not shift in unison to cover the movement, they can free him up for a shot on goal or feed a through-ball to a WM(a) or SS(a) rushing through the gap. His central location also helps ensure he has inside leverage against whatever CD is covering him to make him more effective in the passing game. Defensively, the back 4 have considerable width and the DMC(s) pair offer plenty of cover and depth to the defense through the middle. Particularly the 2 DMC(s) in the middle are tough to play through as they like to bracket advanced attackers in transition with the CD(d) and then step up to aggressively defend the 0,1,2 zones in defense.

This is a strikerless formation combining the 5 wide attack with the 4 man midfield. This formation completely overloads the middle third from sideline to sideline to control action in the other 2 thirds. Defensively, it gets compact and defends in depth by keeping all 10 players behind the ball. This creates numerical advantages to ensure that there are always players in the passing lanes, even if somebody steps up to apply pressure. This allows the team to very effectively defend teams, even if they are significantly more talented.

Where the 4-4-2 Hybrid attacked Gaps, the 4-6-0 attacks the 0,1,2,3 zones in front and behind the LOS. In transition, he team springs up the field resembling a 4-1-2-3 and can put together some aggressive passing sequences without much effort thanks to the compact nature and close support created with the 5 aggressive roaming players moving forward. But while the formation moves through the middle third with ease, it can get struggle turning that into goals and sometimes even just getting the ball to a shooter. The formation lacks a true scorer and can find itself getting bullied by opposing defenders if they are allowed to set their line. For this reason, the team really needs space either in front or behind the LOS to take advantage of, and if given that space, can keep defenders guessing all game.

I find this formation is best used in situations where I am going up against a significantly better team, a team who is going to either very aggressively press, defend very deep, or against 3 CD formations. Up against significantly better teams, the formation brings numbers in defense and midfield allowing me to prevent the opposing team from getting and advancing the ball through both defense and possession, largely nullify the opposing attack. This leaves my team to focus on the task of trying to get that goal or two to get the upset. Versus extremely aggressive or defensive approaches, teams will find that this formation will exploit the space the other team leaves undefended. And with so many players and depth, anybody trying to get the ball forward aggressively against me (whether via attack or counter) is going to find it very tough as I am not giving up any space for them to work. Last, 3 CD formations shrink the A,B Gaps my players are normally looking to exploit. Rather than play into their strength, I play in front or behind it trying to work the zones. This also has the added benefit of giving me an even greater numerical advantage on defense as they are guaranteed to have at least a 3 player disadvantage moving forward.

This is the last of my base formations. It uses a 3 man attack and 3 man midfield and combines it with a 3 man backline to specifically counter the 4-4-2 formation. This gives me a man advantage at every level in the center of the pitch. In defense, the back 3 combine with the 2 DMC(s) in front to bracket both opposing strikers in, making it difficult for the opposing team to finish their attacks. In the midfield, the 3v2 ensures that there is always a free player in space in transition and in the 0,1,2 zones on attack. The 3 man attack can outnumber the 2 CD and get a free player into the A Gap with regularity. And n order to further isolate the CD from the rest of the defense, I use wide midfielders to control the flank. This is because the W(s) aggressively attack the C Gap and the opposing wide players are less apt to leave them in space vs the space they will give to an attacking fullback. This often results in 2v1 against my W(s), which is a bad matchup for the W(s) but is ideal for the team as it allows my central attack to proceed without interference from the wide players.

Obviously, that same 2v1 is a huge liability in defense. For starters, I man-mark my W(s) to the opposing wide midfielders to prevent them from getting stuck trying to switch off between the wide midfielder and fullback in defense. If there is an attacking fullback, then I roll my AF(a) to the side with the attacking fullback and have him set to man-mark that fullback. While none of this creates a great 1v1 in my favor, the simple fact of having a defender marked closely to the opposing wide players will dissuade the opposing team from trying to pass to them. But they will still get beat often and the real flank defense is the stout central defense. When the opposing team tries to attack through the wings before my attacking players can get back to cover, then the CD to the side will step up to at least slow down the attacking winger and force the ball back inside where I still have both strikers bracketed. This time is all my speedy wingers need to get back to their man, and often results in an inception as they force the ball into the double teamed striker. Similarly, when the opposing wide players beat their men and try to get a cross in, they are met with a significant number disadvantage in the box.

The bigger problem is when the 4-4-2 opts to push both FB forward. I can man mark out with the DLF(s) or SS(a) but do that really pulls them out of positions that I need them to be in for my transitions. (As opposed to the AF(a) who is significantly less involved in my transitions.) Instead, I look to my 4-4-2 Left/Right sub formations.

This is my first sub formation(s) and is an asymmetrical answer to create a powerful attack on the A Gap and strong-side (side with the WM(a)) B Gap and/or defensively respond to a strong flank attack brought on by the opposing team. Like the 3 man attack that makes its base, it is best used vs a back 4 without a DMC, but adds a WM(a) to get into the B Gap in addition to the pressure on the A Gap. This puts the CD defending the strong-side in a very difficult situation as they are stuck defending the DLF(s) who is sitting in front of them as well as the SS(a) and WM(a) that are trying to run on either side of them. Meanwhile, the AF(a) runs off the weak-side CD and my strong side FB(a) runs off the opposing strong side FB to isolate the strong side CD from any potential help. If the opposing weakside FB is causing problems when I’m defending, then man-marking the AF(a) against him is an easy solution. Its a relatively easy sub formation to get into for any base formation except for the 4-6-0. It is also a useful formation if I do not have both wide-midfielders available but still need a B Gap attack and will occasionally be used as a starting formation in that circumstance.

The other sub formation is a 4-5-1. It uses the 5 wide attack but alters the 3 man midfield slightly to provide an additional player that can attack the 0,1,2 zones and A,B Gap at the expense of one of the DMC(s) and the double pivot. This formation doesn’t offer much of an advantage defensively and because of spacing can allow attackers to work up the field between the central and wide midfielders relatively easily. However, with the 3 central midfielders stacked this way, it does become easy to cut the field in half and trap the ball against the sideline in defense. It is not as effective in protecting the middle but does have some use. This is likely one of my least used formations, but is an easy sub from either the 4-4-2 Hybrid or 4-6-0 and can be very helpful in getting that last little something to break down a stubborn side.

This goal line formation is likely my least used. In my opinion, the best way to protect a lead is to score again, so I am loathed to go back into this formation. Normally I would rather opt for a 4-4-2 Hybrid or 4-6-0 or stick with what had already been working. But sometimes you get that improbable lead and you need to close out those last few minutes and make that defensive stand. In such a case, I park this bus. It works well. The 5 man backline tightens up all the gaps and the 2 DMC(s) keep attackers out of the 0,1,2,3 zones. Meanwhile, 2 players on each flank ensure that the C Gap the 3,4,5 zones aren’t given away easily. With all the Gaps and zones covered redundantly, there really isn’t much space for anything other than a lucky long shot. Offensively it has all the struggles of the 4-6-0, and also lacks all of the movement and support it has. Still, it does have the entire 5 wide attack and the 3 man midfield so it does have all the parts and is just dangerous enough to allow you some time on the ball and give you a creditable counterattacking threat.

At the entire opposite end of the spectrum is this top heavy throwback, which takes the 4-4-2 diamond but trades the fullbacks for wingers and hopes lady luck is in our favor. The attack is simple enough, overload the A Gap with the 3 Man attack, isolate the opposing fullbacks 1v1 in the C Gap in a match-up that should be favorable to my wingers, and the pull until the B Gaps rip open for my BBM(s) to run into.

Defensively, it relies on prayer more than strategy or tactics. Still, the midfield is packed, making playing over the top the best option but even then, I do have a few players back who are good at jumping for those high balls. And when that gets through, and it will, the back 2 are supported by a DLP(d) and they can typically at least get in the way of 1 or 2 players to slow down the opposing attack long enough that somebody might be able to block or tackle the ball off. During all of this, the opposing team has come back out of their end and given me plenty of space to attack back into. This tactic essentially turns the game from an organized sport into a free-for-all ripe with opportunities for lucky bounces, schoolyard shenanigans, and heroic players making impossible plays. It is an edge of your seat roller coaster, but it can and does save games.