It seems I have finally managed to create a good Barcelona tactic for FM 2013, I’ve been testing and testing since the beta. Now I can say that the testing is (almost) over, and I’m happy to offer it to you for download. This tactic gave me good possession, plenty of chances each game and lots of sexy football to enjoy. Let’s see how it works and, most important, what kind of results I was able to achieve with this FM 13 tactic.
FM 2013 Barcelona Tactic formation
The formation is fairly simple, a 4-3-3 involving a defensive midfielder and a pair on inside forwards. The key element in this tactic is the trequartista, he’s the man who will have the most chances and probably score the most goals. The two central midfielders are also very important as they will hold the team together on both ends of the pitch. The full backs are also quite important on both ends as they will often support the attack and even move into the penalty area to score their own goals.
FM 2013 Barcelona Tactic team instructions
The team instructions screen shot is fairly self-explanatory: fluid style, attacking strategy, short passing, lots of creative freedom, aggressive when it comes to pressing, the players are allowed to roam from their positions (especially the attacking trio), a fairly high defensive line.
Please note: there also are some individual player instructions set, mostly restricting their shooting from distance and tweaking their passing style. You also have to know that there is no designated playmaker and no designated target man.
Here’s how they stand on the pitch, fairly compact, just as I like it ;)
FM 2013 Barcelona Tactic in action
I’ve taken a few screen shots to illustrate how the tactic works. The first one shows how the team defends. As you can see the back four form an almost perfect line at the edge of the penalty area, but they will rush out of that line to intercept when needed. The three midfielders stick together, pressing the opposition midfield, while the two inside forwards tend to stay fairly close to the opposition fullbacks. The trequartista keeps the opposition centre backs pinned and will run at them if we get the ball back and launch a counter attack.
And that is shown in the second screen shot: the midfielders got the ball back inside our own half, passed it to Messi who then picked David Villa’s run on the left flank. This move ended with a goal :)
And now a normal positional attack. The players tend to pass the ball first time quite often, and in this case it gave us a goal. Pedro cut inside from the right flank, passed short to Alex Song (CMR) who then passed first time through the hole and inside the penalty area to Messi, who then scored. The blue spray paint arrows show an alternative ending to this attack, in which Song could have passed to Fabregas (CML) who then could have passed it through to David Villa inside the box.
The last of these screen shots shows the surprise element that the fullbacks can bring. In this case Jordi Alba went higher up the pitch than David Villa, who retreated outside the box to receive a short pass from Fabregas before playing it through for Alba. It was a clear cut chance but unfortunately Alba smashed it against the near post.
FM 2013 Barcelona Tactic results
I haven’t played a full season this time before posting, I have played just five competitive games. But I have two reasons for that, or maybe three. Firstly, the results of those five games were impeccable: five straight wins, including two over Real Madrid and another good away success at Atletico Madrid. Messi, Villa, Xavi and Pedro scored two apiece in these games but it was Messi who had the most clear cut chances, by far.
Secondly, the team played so well, even though they were not yet fully familiar with the new tactic. Just a few numbers:
Clear cut chances created in those five games: 3 per game on average, 7 in the best game.
Clear cut chances against: 0.6 per game on average, not more than 1 in a game.
Ball possession: 57% on average, 63% in the best game.
And I am sure that those numbers will improve once the team reaches higher familiarity levels.
Last but not least, I haven’t played a full season because I want to start a story on our forum with this save! It will be a game with a twist, but I won’t be revealing more now, just visit the forum and you will find out soon enough. ;)
Click the image below to download the Barcelona FM 2013 tactic:
How to install the tactic in FM 2013
1. Put the downloaded file into this folder: Documents>Sports Interactive>Football Manager 2013>tactics
2. Start your game and go to your team’s tactics screen.
3. Click on the little arrow located to the right of your starting tactic name, move your mouse cursor over “archived tactics” and select “Barcelona_4-3-3″ from the menu.
If you like this tactic please share it with your friends on the social networks, that helps them get better results and it also helps us reach a wider audience. If you have questions or comments, go right ahead, I’m here to answer.
Conor
11 ноября, 2012 at 13:31
This tactic looks phenomenal! Really looking forward to using it! Just wondering is there going to be any stories on the main site soon?
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 13:46
No, all the stories (including mine) are and will be here: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/forum/index.php?/forum/13-stories/
Peter_G
15 ноября, 2012 at 10:09
Thats a shame, I think the format is much better when published on the mine site. As am in work, when I look at the forums, the pictures don’t load so it would be a bit pointless to read them. Any reasoning behind this?
Johnny Karp
15 ноября, 2012 at 10:13
I don’t see a problem with the pictures on the forum, they load more or less identically to the ones on the main site. And the format is almost the same for most stories but each author is free to choose a format that he likes.
LocoLohan
11 ноября, 2012 at 14:42
Looks great! Gonna try it with my Milan save and buy som Technical gifted players. I return on how it go about a seasons time.
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 14:58
Good, looking forward to that feedback.
Steve
11 ноября, 2012 at 14:44
Looks great and just the sort of tactic I like to play with.
If I were to use it with a mid table team would you advise using a different strategy like counter and what shouts would you recommend?
Cheers
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 15:00
I guess a counter strategy would work but you have to try it first and see how it goes. The same goes for the shouts, I haven’t used any while testing this tactic, but you have to pay attention to what happens on the pitch and decide whether and which shout to use.
ManeXXX
11 ноября, 2012 at 14:48
This is so lame…..playing with Barca and creating a special tactic for it :D
Even 1-5-0-5 tactic would be great for that team, giving victories by at least 5 goals for an experienced FM player.
That;s it from me. Can’t wait for Real Madrid tactic hahaha :D
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 14:57
Hahaha, very funny. Please try the 1-5-0-5 and let me know how it goes.
Secondly, I have created such a tactic with Barcelona in FM 12 too, then used it to win the Champions League with a Romanian 2nd division club. Then thousands of people downloaded it and had good results. Pretty lame, eh?
Darren Smith
11 ноября, 2012 at 16:29
Nice tactic Johnny, yet again your obsession for finding the Barca way to play succeeds. I’ll have to follow your story in the forum and see how the continued results look.
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 17:06
It is an obsession indeed and since it worked well in FM 12 I thought I’d try that again with a slightly different formation.
fayon
11 ноября, 2012 at 15:29
The positioning of the players looks quite alright, but how many passes do the theam do, or most importantly how many completed passes reach Xavi? Have you reached the 100 passes mark?
Cheers!
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 15:34
I haven’t checked those stats as I don’t think they are that important. I do pay attention to how many chances we create, how many goals we score and how much possession we get.
Yash Agarwal
11 ноября, 2012 at 16:47
How do I upload pictures?I wanted to show you guys my progress with this tactic.
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 17:05
You can upload to an image sharing website such as photobucket.com and then post the link to that picture here.
Yash Agarwal
11 ноября, 2012 at 21:55
http://s1282.photobucket.com/albums/a534/sirspamsalot9/?action=view¤t=ScreenShot2012-11-11at101415PM.png
I tweaked the tactic slightly for my liverpool save and it worked wonders!Awesome pass completion stats!
Johnny Karp
12 ноября, 2012 at 06:39
That’s not bad at all, well done? Just curious, what tweaks did you make?
Yash Agarwal
12 ноября, 2012 at 09:35
lucas levia/defour/naingollan function as deep lying play makers for me.Jordan Henderson plays functions as an Advanced playmaker who doesn’t cross much,kinda like a real life iniesta.Joe allen as a xavi-esque role.Skrtel is a limited defender and agger is a ball playing defender(stopper).When gerrard generally plays as an arm(advanced playmaker) when he’s fit.
Yash Agarwal
12 ноября, 2012 at 09:37
I concede a lot of goals against similar rated opposition.Only thing i can do is hope that suarez or gerrard manage to score from a set piece or I hope that i somehow outscore them.
Mariano
11 ноября, 2012 at 17:11
Hi Jonnhy!
Long time I haven´t comment on the site.
I also started to get use to FM 13 with a Barcelona save, I will try your tactic.
Just one question:
Iniesta as an inside foward?
And you leave Mascherano and Villa in the bench?
Im sure this tactic will be amazing as the previous ones which were great , specially the Notts Co 4-4-2!:)
And congratulations for the site, it became amazing and you are making a wonderful work!
Cheers
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 18:30
Hi mate!
So far I’ve employed Iniesta both as a winger (on both sides) and as a CM and he did well in each role, probably thanks to his amazing skills. Mascherano usually plays instead of Busquets, I rotate those two quite often, while Villa usually plays on the left when I employ Iniesta in midfield.
GauravChaddah
11 ноября, 2012 at 19:22
Excellent work mate, really nice tactic, similar to the one I had last year however I had a playmaker in the centre of midfield.
I will go and check out your story now!
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 20:23
Thanks mate.
Kevin
11 ноября, 2012 at 19:58
Very nicely done. As you’ve been using FM 2013 longer than me do you think a DMC is critical as part of any formation? I don’t have one available for my team and even with a high defensive line there seems to be a big gap in the middle. I generally like to use one. Thoughts?
Cheers,
Kevin
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 20:21
If there’s a gap you should use a DMC. But if the defensive line is high there shouldn’t be a gap there, so you might consider tweaking the roles of the CMs as well.
George T Dobson
11 ноября, 2012 at 20:53
Great tactic but how do you adjust the shooting and the passing of the players? Thanks :)
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 21:02
You can do that in the player instructions on the tactics screen, there are several things you can tweak in there.
George T Dobson
13 ноября, 2012 at 19:41
Thanks Johnny :)
Matias Goncalves
11 ноября, 2012 at 21:17
its very easy to play with Barcelona and Madrid
im a Blancos Fan, and played a save with Madrid with an own tactic, i havent a good first season, but with a couple of signs, i managed to win La Liga, and Champions League twice in a row… then i felt bored and started my monaco save, what is far more struggling…
i managed to get a tactic what at least is satisfactory, a 4-4-1-1… 2 flat lines, a trequartista and a poacher…
Johnny Karp
11 ноября, 2012 at 21:28
Why haven’t you won the title in the first season if it’s so «very easy»?
Shaun
11 ноября, 2012 at 23:31
Hi Johnny. You Barcelona tactic last year was epic, what made it so succesful was its diamonds it created, is this one similar ? I’m slightly sceptical being as it hasn’t been testic much and What tests it has had has been with such an incredibly top team, in fairness.
Johnny Karp
12 ноября, 2012 at 06:40
I’d say this one is fairly similar, most of the settings are identical and just the formation is slightly different. So if last year’s tactic was good I’d say this one should be at least as good.
rob
12 ноября, 2012 at 16:57
Nice tactic,
I gonna try this with a lower league team, maybe Kermit Erasmus can play the «Messi 10» ?
Johnny Karp
12 ноября, 2012 at 17:20
Could be, he has the skills.
rob
13 ноября, 2012 at 00:04
I will try it, I take Feyenoord, sign Kermit for free (because Feyenoord can sign Supersport players for free) and give it a go.
Steffe
12 ноября, 2012 at 19:42
I´ve tried this with Burnly in Champ. Got good results at home, and against weeker teams away. But against good teams away I got crusched. I also find it hard to hold on to a lead, and control the game when the opponent is attacking and pressing hard.
I would like to see a defensive/conter-tactic as an complement for us who play with a weeker team like Burnly.
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 11:31
Have you tried switching the strategy to counter against tougher teams or when trying to defend a lead?
Steffe
13 ноября, 2012 at 21:11
Yes I have. But I still don´t feel that´s enough.
I´m a newbee, at this game. So when I change strategy, doe´s the players intructions change as well, or just the teams?
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 21:27
Yes, some of the player instructions change as well. Generally the whole team will move a bit deeper towards your own goal when you switch strategy to counter.
Cameron Moulton
12 ноября, 2012 at 21:01
To make this tactic work do you need a world class Trequartisa like Messi and if so Johnny who would you suggest cheaper options would be best as I’m only my favourite team QPR. Quick reply would be beast
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 11:32
No, you don’t necessarily need Messi. Any player with good speed and technique should do well there.
rob
13 ноября, 2012 at 19:23
So maybe you could use a good pacher too? Like Ademilson? Should I set his role as poacher then?
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 19:48
Changing the role to poacher might leave that player too far up the pitch, I like him to be closer to the midfielders in order to get into combinations with them. But you can try, it could work. However, I think Ademilson would adapt well to the trequartista role too but you might have to work on his speed a little bit.
rob
13 ноября, 2012 at 19:56
Yeah that’s true, a poacher will be very high on the pitch, is speed that important? Because a treq. does not have speed + acc. on his attribute list.
Van Persie is not very quick too, so he is not good enough for that role if you play United in this formation?
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 21:30
Speed will surely give him a few more opportunities to score, and when I say speed I mean pace+acceleration. But Van Persie would probably do extremely well thanks to his great off the ball movement and technique. I don’t really care about the «official» attributes list to be honest, I just watch the games and make my own judgements.
Sidd Vicious
13 ноября, 2012 at 11:29
I’m in love with this tactic, ive just started my 2nd season with Blackburn. We’re back in the BPL and 3-0 to start the season using your tactic. The reasons why I think its working so well with my «lowly» rovers is because a) I’ve made quite a few changes to bring in high quality CMs and players who are built for possession tactics.
B)Jordan Rhodes has developed into a great Trequarista and really excels in the final third.
Thanks again for this beautiful tactic!
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 11:33
Thanks for the feedback, good to know you had wonderful results. And yes, bringing new players to suit the tactic was the right decision.
Cameron Moulton
13 ноября, 2012 at 16:23
Thanks Johnny I think I’m going to use Wellington Nem good idea? Also if you could help me out with finding a couple of suggestions for cheap inside forwards for this tactic, it would be much appreciated
Johnny Karp
13 ноября, 2012 at 18:54
Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. As for players, I suggest having a look at our scouting network, I’m sure you will find something there: footballmanagerstory.com/scout
Sidd Vicious
14 ноября, 2012 at 02:43
I’ve had a couple issues(mainly getting CCCs) with defensive minded/counter attacking teams. Would you just recommend setting the strategy to Control or would you recommend something else?
Johnny Karp
14 ноября, 2012 at 07:18
Control can be an option in certain games, but it’s you who should decide based on what you see in your team’s games. I haven’t seen your team in action so I can’t really give you a clear solution.
rob
15 ноября, 2012 at 17:56
The attacking strategy is too much, in away games, I use normal or control. At home control or attacking.
When I play against a (much) better team I use counter or defend.
YB
18 ноября, 2012 at 10:06
After trying a lot of various diff tactics with my Milan side i reluctantly used yours,since i didn’t have any good players and was playing with the default team. Managed to go up from 5th to League Champions. Also won the Italian cup. Great tactic. No shouts used. Used it plug and play. Chicarito on loan scored 24 and Robinho on the Wings had 19 Goals and 19 assists. Thanks for a great tactic :)
Johnny Karp
18 ноября, 2012 at 11:16
Thanks, glad to hear you had good results with it, even though I’m a Napoli fan :P
Kishan Frostbite
19 ноября, 2012 at 05:51
gonna.. try.. using your tactics
but using man utd.. :D
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2012 at 06:23
Good luck!
Kishan Frostbite
21 ноября, 2012 at 14:04
little change of your tactics..
change of trequartista-role
to.. complete forward..
just wan to exploit
rvp potential.. what do you think abt it.. ?
Johnny Karp
21 ноября, 2012 at 16:58
My only concern is that the striker will be too high up the pitch and too far from the midfielders. But, as always, you can’t know until you try.
Kishan Frostbite
4 февраля, 2013 at 21:18
it was awesome, van persie scored 32 goals
now managing barca
using trequartista-role for messi
he is neeting goals as always..
thx 4 the awesome tactics.. :)
Andreas Andersson
19 ноября, 2012 at 19:35
Hey Johnny!
Youre tactic is truly amazing, but in case of an injury on messi, who do you play instead, and do you change the trequartista-role if changing player?
Johnny Karp
19 ноября, 2012 at 20:04
I use either Villa or Sanchez with no role change. Villa does very well, Sanchez not so well but he’s having an off season overall.
James
20 ноября, 2012 at 20:39
I downloaded your tactic for use with Birmingham and made a few minor changes to suit my players. It’s February and Hayden Mullins has scored 14 goals in all competitions which is just insane! Great tactic.
Johnny Karp
20 ноября, 2012 at 21:10
Thanks for the feedback mate, good luck for the rest of the season.
varyy
22 ноября, 2012 at 02:23
How is this working with the newest patch (13.1.3) and ME changes?
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2012 at 07:02
It’s working great, maybe even a bit better than before.
varyy
23 ноября, 2012 at 04:06
Thanks for reply. I tried this pre-patch with Real Madrid, and it worked ok for me, but not great. Do you think Benzema as the T up front with CR7 on the left and Di Maria on the right is a good setup for this?
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2012 at 08:27
Should be good, but I’d try Di Maria and Ronaldo on the opposite flanks and see where they are doing best.
krish
22 ноября, 2012 at 21:03
What do you think about Luis Suarez as an trequartista? And Who would you reccomend? Can a train a player as a striker?
Johnny Karp
22 ноября, 2012 at 21:06
Suarez should do well there. I recommend any striker with good off the ball, finishing, passing, dribbling (speed can also be a plus).
krish
22 ноября, 2012 at 21:37
Thank you for the answer, i have one more question. Do you make any changes when you play against better/just as good opponents? Thanks for the tactic i won PL first season with liverpool. Had a bad run in the spring and changed to your tactic and never looked back:)
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2012 at 08:29
No, I haven’t made any changes because of the opponents. The only change I have made a few times, during some games, was to change the strategy to counter during the final 15/20 minutes.
Steven
23 ноября, 2012 at 03:36
Hi Johnny,
Looks awesome, i also seen this on FM-Base and it looks very good! Could be what i am looking for!
What General Training and match prep do you use?!
Thanks for the help in advance.
Johnny Karp
23 ноября, 2012 at 08:27
I left those to the assistant.
Steven
23 ноября, 2012 at 22:54
Has this been updated for the new ME i meant to ask?
Cheers!
Johnny Karp
24 ноября, 2012 at 08:35
No, I don’t think there is a need to do that.
Gard Halvorsen
24 ноября, 2012 at 03:11
Any OI?
Johnny Karp
24 ноября, 2012 at 08:34
I think I’ve already said that I’ve used the assistant’s opposition instructions.
Marcel
26 ноября, 2012 at 21:23
Hi Johnny,
Great tactic. I really fan of your tactics. Played 2 seasons with Liverpool and 2 seasons with Feyenoord. Won The fa cup and The league 2 times in à row.
I see in those 4 seasons That i win my home games very easily but The away are very hard to win. I had a lot of draws or lost The game.
Have you got any advice how i have play The tactic in away games? Do you have an away tactic?
Johnny Karp
27 ноября, 2012 at 07:23
I’m not using an away tactic but my advice is to alter the strategy for away games, try «standard» for instance and see how that works, or even «counter».
Gav
27 ноября, 2012 at 09:37
Hi what are your shouts, keep possession, press? please list them for me. thank s :)
Johnny Karp
27 ноября, 2012 at 09:53
No shouts at all. That’s a pretty short list :D
Gav
27 ноября, 2012 at 10:06
Haha thanks mate, gonna give this a blast at the weekend with Arsenal as I would like to emulate Barca style and sexy football! one question if i did do keep possession shout will this destroy this tactic? would love be hitting 60% possession wise is alot of games :) excuse my ignorance just trying to picking an experts brains
Johnny Karp
27 ноября, 2012 at 10:20
I get above 60% in most games without the shout but I guess you can try that shout, can’t do much harm I guess.
Jack
29 ноября, 2012 at 13:43
This tactic is boss.
Won the league in my first year as Newcastle and just qualified for the knockout stages of the Champs League (unbeaten in group).
Good work!
Johnny Karp
29 ноября, 2012 at 13:56
That’s pretty good, well done!
Marcel
30 ноября, 2012 at 22:24
Hi Johnny,
What are The most important attributes of a trequartista?
And do i have to put à inside forward with his weaker on the other flank?
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2012 at 13:07
Passing, technique, finishing, creativity, off the ball, flair. As for the inside forwards, you should put them where they are more adapted to play, regardless of their weaker foot.
Marcel
1 декабря, 2012 at 15:26
Thans for your advice.
Last question, what attributes are important for The inside forward?
By The way, thans for your tactic, its really Great and it works excellent
Johnny Karp
1 декабря, 2012 at 15:35
Dribbling, passing, technique, flair, off the ball, acceleration, pace.
Ben
4 декабря, 2012 at 20:06
Hi Johnny!
What is The influence ifI put the left inside forward on change position during The game with The right inside forward?
rui
7 декабря, 2012 at 01:39
if i change the dmc for amc this tatic still works ?
Johnny Karp
7 декабря, 2012 at 09:23
Probably not, you would weaken the defence. But you can’t know for sure until you try.
rui
7 декабря, 2012 at 19:25
thanks mate
Ryan
7 декабря, 2012 at 23:21
For my FC Basel save, this tactic gets torn apart by a quick striker any suggestions?
Johnny Karp
8 декабря, 2012 at 09:54
Get quicker defenders or move the defensive line a bit deeper when facing such strikers (you might have to use counter strategy, that moves the whole team a bit deeper).
David Wiggins
9 декабря, 2012 at 04:19
Hi Johnny,
It appears you have a fan!
http://www.footballmanagerblog.org/2012/12/barcelona-tiki-taka-tactic-for-fm13.html
Just a couple of adjustments and shouts included but it’s pretty much your tactic!
Johnny Karp
9 декабря, 2012 at 14:26
Yeah, what can you do? Thanks for letting me know, I’ve left a nice comment over there.
Darren Smith
9 декабря, 2012 at 17:11
He could have at least tried to make the posts format completely different to hide the fact he’s taking credit for someone elses work, but even the layout is similar to this post…oh well, as mentioned, what can you do.
sverre cato johannessen
10 декабря, 2012 at 16:56
Johnny Karp can you try it whit me dear Rosenborg and tell me how the get and tell my how i can do that great whit my Rosenborg pleas
Johnny Karp
10 декабря, 2012 at 17:04
Yes, try to read our guides: https://www.footballmanagerstory.com/category/football-manager-guides/
Pjana
17 декабря, 2012 at 10:26
Hi Johnny,
I am big fan of 4-3-3 tactic so had to give it a go.
Managed to get to 3rd position with Aston Villa in 1st season with similar 4-3-3 tactic but then i tried some 4-4-2 and other tactics cause i made lot of changes in squad, still my team as much as it is better in players this season I am getting ripped apart from almost every team except in Europe where i have 3 wins in 3 rounds so far.
Now I started using your tactic just as a fresh start on a game day against PSZ and i beat them 4-1 away (Ibrahimovic got red card in 39th minute, cause he is cunt irl also :D)
Few questions:
1) What would you suggest to change if I play against top 5 clubs and later on in Europe?
2) Match preparations and team talks, how you organize that?
3) Some tips for underdog teams cause as Barcelona you have gods not a players? :D
Thanks again for awesome tactic you brought back a smile on my face and my monitor will not suffer from a coffee mug :D
Johnny Karp
17 декабря, 2012 at 10:30
1. You could try with a counter strategy instead of attacking, that goes for question 3 as well.
2. I left those to the assistant manager.
3. However, there are plenty of guys who have tried this tactic with lesser teams and they had good results.
Pjana
17 декабря, 2012 at 10:45
Thanks buddy !
Pjana
17 декабря, 2012 at 12:52
Used the the counter approach and after 2 months I can get a draw if lucky, against big teams i don`t even have a shoot on goal, i get totally smashed :(
Johnny Karp
17 декабря, 2012 at 14:53
You also have to consider familiarity with the new strategy, that might take some time to build.
Pjana
17 декабря, 2012 at 17:50
Took that in consideration but on the other hand you cant loose all games till they learn.
Main problem is that when I go good in game and get to 2-0 my team start to drop in game so fast that in the end it is 2-2. Or i start with 0-1 get to 2-1 and then from 85th till 92nd minute they score for a draw. Don`t know how to stop that. Tried to go counter, to go defensive, just cant prevent it. Any advice?
Johnny Karp
17 декабря, 2012 at 18:40
I don’t have any generic advice I’m afraid. You just have to keep your eyes open during the game, see where the goals are coming from and if there’s a pattern try to find a solution. You also have to watch out for any formation changes your opponent might make or any players creating danger and counter those through opposition instructions or tactical changes. You can also try to shout «retain possession» when defending a lead.
Anthony Olbison
19 декабря, 2012 at 10:25
Hi Johnny, i think this is an interesting tactic, im playing as ac milan after leaving newcastle after a few years. For me its a little inconsistent, im not sure why. I do dominate possession in every game. Like against roma and juventus i dominated but still got beat 2-0 without creating alot of clear cut chances
Johnny Karp
19 декабря, 2012 at 10:58
It’s good that you dominate possession, that’s where any team should start with this tactic. But I can’t know why your team is not creating clear cut chances, nor do I understand what «a lot of clear cut chances» means or how many you would expect.
Bro
26 декабря, 2012 at 10:06
nice tactic, here my ideas (average goal per match 3),
change xavi to deep lying midfielder
change puyol and pique mentality to very defensive
another suggestion :
pedro = inside forward ( attack) (cross : center[often], long shot [rarely])
adries iniesta = advance playmaker (attack)
and messi = poacher (wide play : normal),
and play it to feet, GOAL GALORE
thanks =)
Miles Smith
27 декабря, 2012 at 22:54
I decided to try this tactic with Tottenham. 1st season we took the BPL & Capital One Cup as well as the Europa League.
Second Season I managed the BPL again and won the BPL for the second year running. Early cup defeats but I beat Barcelona on penalties in the Champions League final 4-4 was the score. 5-3 on penalties I think.
Honestly a wonder tactic. Fair enough I started off with a 39 million budget which was expanded by selling quite a few players and spreading finance over longer periods but I have never got so much consistency from a tactic before, best defensive record in both seasons, plenty of clean sheets rarely conceding more than once a game but always second best goal scoring to Man UTD but that’s not so surprising with the like of Van Persie, Rooney etc & them buying Neymar in the second system.
My only criticism is that this tactic has been so successful for me that there it’s taken one of the most major parts of the game out for me :P
Miles Smith
27 декабря, 2012 at 22:56
Oh I forgot to mention I defeated Barca 4-1 in the (is it the Eufa super cup?)
Johnny Karp
28 декабря, 2012 at 15:11
Those are very good results, well done!
Miles Smith
28 декабря, 2012 at 21:53
It’s as much your success as mine.
Miles Smith
28 декабря, 2012 at 21:57
I find it amusing that there is an almost identical comment to mine on the copy site (assuming that it is a copy).
Johnny Karp
29 декабря, 2012 at 13:06
Well, the formation is 100% identical, I guess that says something.
miiqqula
7 января, 2013 at 13:53
great tactic. I just start testing this and i hammered Newcastle away 7-1!!! Next i play against ManU at home. I play with Arsenal
Johnny Karp
7 января, 2013 at 16:59
Thanks, glad you are enjoying good results and nice football.
Jakob Kühne Plambek
25 января, 2013 at 14:07
I´m using this tactic, and have unchecked the TREQ as the playmaker. My offense is good, but im have a real problem conceding goals via headers, and the IF´s is not helping the fullbacks. Any suggestions to solve this problem? I know I have small players, so my main focus is to deny the crosses.
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2013 at 18:34
The trequartista is not checked as playmaker in this tactic, or at least that’s how I remember it. About the flanks, you need good full backs to keep control there because they won’t get much help from the IFs, that’s true.
Cameron Moulton
9 февраля, 2013 at 15:34
this tactic stinks for me it doesn’t work to what you say it should and ships goal after goal
Johnny Karp
9 февраля, 2013 at 16:00
Well then, thanks for trying it and good luck in creating a better one yourself.
Cameron Moulton
9 февраля, 2013 at 20:24
Sorry johnny for my comment couldn’t buy a win and was just trying to blame it on anything but myself and my team and in the end we went on to spank teams 4 goals so sorry
Johnny Karp
9 февраля, 2013 at 21:27
No problem, I understand.
Martin
21 февраля, 2013 at 00:53
Currently managing Barca and still using the old Barca tactic that you posted some way back in 2010 which I’ve been using since fm10. I’ve dominated Spain but struggled in UCL which I won in a dirty manner (restarted the games I lost). Hope your tactic can help «cure» my «UCL fever» in my 2nd season.
Johnny Karp
21 февраля, 2013 at 09:13
Good luck! I can’t even remember the Barca tactic from 2010 :)
Darren
22 февраля, 2013 at 15:38
Mate i just started using your tactic with barca and its absolutely shredding everyone.
I just played SK Rapid Wien and I won 11-0. I didnt cheat in anyway — i play classic which means things like FMRTE dont work on it. I can post up the match if someone tells me how, i saved it.
Now brace yourself for the two craziest things about that win:
1. Messi was injured. Llorente started instead of him.
2. Llorente scored NINE (9) goals. That’s right, nine goals.
Been playing FM since like 05 or something, thats never ever happened to me.
Johnny Karp
23 февраля, 2013 at 17:32
Good to hear it’s working well for you, thanks for the feedback.
Darren
24 февраля, 2013 at 04:44
Another thing: the defence with this tactic is the best i have ever, ever had. In all competitions, I’ve played 26 and only conceded 2 goals. I’m currently on a run of 12 clean sheets in a row in all competitions.
Benjamin
9 марта, 2013 at 17:44
Where is located this?
Documents>Sports Interactive>Football Manager 2013>tactics
Johnny Karp
9 марта, 2013 at 17:52
In your computer, most likely C drive.
Darren
19 марта, 2013 at 04:19
Johnny,
I’m now in my 4th season with this tactic. Its absolutely unbeatable. I’m currently 73 games undefeated in the league (lost in the cup and champions league here and there). My first 3 seasons were all trebles…this year ive got 19 wins from 21 games in La Liga (no losses). I’m beating 2nd place by 5 points…and i have FIVE games in hand (because of super cups, cwc etc).
Johnny Karp
19 марта, 2013 at 06:46
Great to hear it’s working well for you, 73 games unbeaten is a very good run by any standards.
hfoster02
25 марта, 2013 at 13:20
I’ve been using this with liverpool. First season at the start of february and we’re 2nd, 3 pts behind city. I did make one change, changed the trequartista to a CF(A). This made a huge difference as at the start of the season Suarez was really struggling to make a contribution and getting consistently below avg ratings. It worked for me, as he’s now the top scorer and one of the top assist’ers in the league.
Johnny Karp
25 марта, 2013 at 13:52
Sounds like a good idea, Suarez is more of a complete forward rather than a trequartista.
Craig
5 апреля, 2013 at 17:28
have you removed this tactic from download? cause every time i click on download i just get a blank screen and can download other tactics on the site
Johnny Karp
5 апреля, 2013 at 17:53
The download link works just fine here so there might be something wrong at your end.
Craig
6 апреля, 2013 at 11:44
I’ve tried downloading it in internet explorer, Firefox and chrome and get the same result a blank screen so don’t know what else I can try but it’s strange that this is only tactic that will not download so I will have to keep trying to download it and going to use the 442 tactic until the download for this tactic works for me
Darren Smith
6 апреля, 2013 at 11:54
I can second what Johnny said, it shows up fine for me when clicking the download image using google chrome.
Johnny Karp
6 апреля, 2013 at 17:49
I’ve uploaded it somewhere else a few minutes ago, hope this link works for you: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yyfktixkbmezkgp/Barcelona_4-3-3.tac
Craig
6 апреля, 2013 at 20:20
thanks for the link and it lets me download the tactic
Jack
6 апреля, 2013 at 12:36
This is a class tactic, great job creating this. I felt like a change on my Manchester United save and, not only is this tactic great going forward, it’s defensively sound as well.
I have a question though. I’m finding it hard creating a 4-2-3-1 tactic this year using the number 10 role behind the striker. It’s driving me mad because it’s my favorite formation tbh. If I changed the defensive midfielder in your tactic for a number 10/amc etc, do you think it would damage the overall effectiveness of the tactic? I’d like to keep the way this tactic plays and feels but with the number 10. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
Johnny Karp
6 апреля, 2013 at 17:51
Taking out the DM would leave a pretty big gap between defence and midfield, so you should switch one of the two CMs to a more defensive role/duty/mentality. You can also give Darren’s tactic a go, moving the central CM up to AMC shouldn’t ruin it’s balance, at least in theory: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yyfktixkbmezkgp/Barcelona_4-3-3.tac
Jack
7 апреля, 2013 at 20:12
Cheers for that. I’ll have a mess about with it and see what happens.
One more question if you don’t mind please. I have Neymar in my team but, for whatever reason, he struggles to find motivation to play for me according to my assistant manager’s feedback. Is this something that is likely to carry on for a while? This is his first season with me by all accounts, but it’s still annoying…
Johnny Karp
8 апреля, 2013 at 07:14
I don’t know what to say really, I guess you should play him and as long as he scores the goals it shouldn’t be a problem. Bringing in a friend of his (player or staff) might help though.
Jack
8 апреля, 2013 at 13:45
He was scoring for fun when he first came, but now he just has moments of brilliance with no real consistency! It’s such a shame because he’s progressing really well in training so it’s a proper waste of his talents.
Do you think it might also have something to do with my reputation (continental) as opposed to his (worldwide)? He might turn his nose up at such a lowly manager haha.
I’ll try the friend/staff suggestion though, cheers for that.
Johnny Karp
10 апреля, 2013 at 08:13
I don’t think the reputation is an issue but if it is then you will solve it by winning some silverware.
Yves Sousa
12 апреля, 2013 at 03:00
What i put in Instruction during a game mate?
Please help me :(
Yves Sousa
12 апреля, 2013 at 03:02
I mean Instructions During a Game …
Johnny Karp
12 апреля, 2013 at 17:02
You mean opposition instructions or shouts? I rarely use shouts if that is what you meant.
Yves Sousa
12 апреля, 2013 at 17:18
Like:
Classic shout (which I start every match with):
Strategy: Control
— Clear ball to flanks
— Get stuck in
— Work ball into box
— Retain possession
— Hassle opponents
Defensive shout (I use it when I have an easy game and I don’t want my players to use all the energy or when I lead but don’t dominate the game):
Strategy: Contain
— Pump ball into box
— Drop deeper
— Get stuck in
— Pass to feet
— Work ball into box
— Retail posession
Attacking shout (I use this when I’m from 2 goals down in the first half or from 1 goal down in the second half. Though I’m not 100% sure that this is working every time when I use it)
Strategy: Overload
— Clear ball to flanks
— Push higher up
— Get stuck in
— Pass into space
— Work ball into box
— Get ball forward
— Hassle opponents
You understand me now?
Johnny Karp
12 апреля, 2013 at 17:21
I do. I repeat, I rarely use shouts. The only ones I’ve used were «retain possession» and «hassle opponents» when trying to defend a lead.
Shawn
29 апреля, 2013 at 04:49
May I know how do I upload the tactics for you all to review?
Thank you. :D
Johnny Karp
29 апреля, 2013 at 09:05
We are not taking any new tactics for review at the moment because we already have a pretty long queue. You could post your tactic in our forum though.
rob
16 мая, 2013 at 11:26
I am going to try this tactic again with Feyenoord, because they have some very nice youngsters. I want to build the team around those young players like Vilhena, Indi, Clasie, de Vrij and Achabbar.
Of course I want to perform in my first season too, so is it possible to change the SK to a normal GK and set the strategy to control or normal in home games and counter attack in away games?
My central defence is a bit slow, Mathijsen and de Vrij only have 11 speed so I think attack strategy is not the smartest thing to do?
cheers
Rob
Johnny Karp
16 мая, 2013 at 11:31
You can try that and it might work but eventually you will have to get faster defenders.
rob
16 мая, 2013 at 13:30
I know mate, i know :)
What minimum should I look for in acc. and pace?
Johnny Karp
16 мая, 2013 at 13:40
Depends on the league but generally over 13 is good, over 15 is excellent. I think that acceleration is slightly more important than pace for central defenders.
rob
16 мая, 2013 at 14:17
awesome, thanks mate, I am gonna find a new central defender and start the league :)
rob
16 мая, 2013 at 22:22
It is going very well, only problem is that my nr.10 (Helenius) is taking too many long shots even if I reduce longs shots in player settings.
Should I look for some sideline shouts?
cheers
rob
Johnny Karp
17 мая, 2013 at 05:45
You can try the «work ball into box» shout, that usually does the trick. Maybe he has shooting from distance as one of his preferred moves?
rob
17 мая, 2013 at 15:47
He has «try first time shots» and «shoots with power», so I will use «work ball in the box» if does it again. Last games he did it very well maybe he needs to get used to our formation because he is new in our squad.
Love the tactic, keep up the good work when FM 2014 is released ;)
Dodo31
1 июня, 2013 at 10:37
Is it ok if I convert a slow defender eg heitinga or gary Caldwell to a DMc in this tactic? They can pass the ball quite well and should have an advantage in aerial balls from opposition goal kicks. Thanks and keep up the good work! :D
Johnny Karp
1 июня, 2013 at 20:11
That could work but I would buy a proper DM at some point, even though Heitinga and Caldwell seem to fit the bill.
Bayern Munich
5 июня, 2013 at 17:26
Hey man!
Playing with Atletico with Falcao up front. Do you think I should change the trequartista-role to something else?
Best regards,
Johnny Karp
6 июня, 2013 at 09:07
No, I don’t think you have to change the role.
ZidaneHagiZico
22 июня, 2013 at 16:19
Hey, Absolutely love this tactic, was just wondering would a DLF work instead of a trequartista? My Inside forwards score a fair few but my striker struggles to get goals or assists although his match rating is generally around the 7 mark which isn’t too bad?
Johnny Karp
23 июня, 2013 at 14:21
I guess that should work, you have to test various roles before finding the exact match for the players you have.
Fabian Vanham
29 июня, 2013 at 16:30
It’s an excellent attacking tactic, although it doesn’t really resemble the way barcelona play- the two cms are basically linking players with the dm as the main playmaker, which is more juve-esque really. Tried it with man utd though, and the valencia had over 30 assists virtue of the cms bombing into the box, finished with 99 points.
Poma
8 августа, 2013 at 08:31
Is this the same tactic as this one: http://www.footballmanagerblog.org/2012/12/barcelona-tiki-taka-tactic-for-fm13.html ?
Johnny Karp
9 августа, 2013 at 20:21
I have no idea. But since mine was published around a month before the other one I guess you should ask the other guy.
James
21 августа, 2013 at 02:25
Hey Johnny, even though its not the biggest challenge, I am managing Barca on my save, and I have to say that thanks to your tactic it is the best save I have had this year after loads of failed tactics I have tried. Thank you, quality tactic!
Johnny Karp
21 августа, 2013 at 05:50
Thanks, glad you’re enjoying it.
Gaurav Chaddah
21 августа, 2013 at 09:48
Don’t know if you mentioned this, sorry if I missed it. Juts going to test this out for a bit with Barca, did you you use attacking strategy for every game, even the big games Real Madrid, big CL games ect, ect.
Johnny Karp
21 августа, 2013 at 09:52
Yes, never changed that before a match. I think I’ve switched to counter but only during matches, for the last 20 mins or so, never before.
baezezeaze
27 ноября, 2013 at 11:33
What about OI?
Johnny Karp
27 ноября, 2013 at 11:34
I’ve used the assistant’s opposition instructions.
Rafi Hidayat
9 июня, 2014 at 06:09
I Try to apply this tactics with Real Madrid, Wish Me Luck