FM 2013 Tactic Review: Helius’ 5-3-2

Hey guys, and welcome to another FM 2013 tactic review. Today’s tactic has a rather peculiar shape and even includes a role we haven’t had the pleasure of reviewing yet, but before we delve into all that lets re-cap the testing process.

The testing procedure is quite simple: I will install the tactic and use it through pre-season plus six league matches with Spurs. Then I’ll watch each match closely, see what happens and come up with the best review I am capable of. I will also keep track of various statistics in order to be able to compare the essential numbers between this and other tactics that have been or will be analysed. It will be more or less like a benchmarking tool for FM 2013 tactics.

Today’s FM 2013 tactic review was made by Helius, used with Napoli and evolves around a 5-3-2, although the formation looks very different from the image you may conjure up. Lets take a look at that now.

Formation

The formation is a…well I don’t know what to call it really, 5-3-2 is probably the best bet. Two central defenders are supported by a Libero, who must cover sweeping up play just behind the defensive line, but also bomb forward during the attacking play. I guess you could say he’s a sweeper while defending but a defensive midfielder while supporting and attacking. The two wing backs offer the only width while two MC’s have support and defend duty…they are the limited players that hold their line and don’t look to move about too much.

In the attacking third we have a Trequartista at AMC, he is also the playmaker. Upfront one striker is set to complete forward with attack duty and the other deep lying forward with support duty.

Team Instructions

I think its in the team instructions that we lose a bit of attacking identity. While the team are asked to play fluid, attacking Football and even roam from their positions. The play is very direct, using counter attacks and even standing off the opponent allowing them time on the ball. This works very well in a defensive sense but does lead to a lack of chances unless you have Messi like stars going forward.

Average Positions

The average positions show where attacks may break down. There’s great opportunity for the wings to be exploited as the middle is over crowded which will draw the opposition narrow. Yet as shown above the wing backs, on average, don’t get forward enough, despite the attacking duty. (And this opinion isn’t just formed from the average positions, its a fact of what happened in the match engine, on countless occasions.)

Leaving a deep lying forward with support duty and a Trequartista in AMC can lead to two players running the same circles and with the supporting MC not far behind the roles may need to be addressed. There is a cluster of bodies working the same area in the middle with a lot of space on the wings.

Defending

The upside of crowding the middle comes in defensive movement. This tactic creates a firm wall that is so, so tough to break. The two MC’s just sit in front of the defence as the first line, then the wing backs track back to form a back five with the two DC’s and Libero. The DC’s make the tackles while the Libero cleans up the loose ball and acts as a final line of defence. The opposition are just a ticking time bomb waiting to give away possession and get hit on the counter…probably why this tactic works best against greater opposition.

Attacking

In all honesty this tactic didn’t create enough going forward, the most dangerous moves came when both wing backs bombed on in support, but that wasn’t often enough. As shown above their are too many players working the same area when other hotspots need to be exploited, however this did lead to some nice goals at times. The one above saw Bale played through by Adebayor before curling the ball home.

I do have to say that with the right player at AMC, he can track out wide at times and uses the space really well, seemed like our most dangerous player throughout.

Results

Due to some excellent defensive displays we have great results. A weird match against Swansea saw the only dropped points and Spurs looked largely impenetrable throughout. The best performance was against Chelsea who we seemed to outclass, the defence were brilliant and due to Chelsea throwing men forward we had much more space to use on the counter.

All in all the results were a perfect reflection on this tactics defensive capabilities but maybe a a little deceiving on the attacking side. Watching the match engine we just didn’t seem to create enough clear cut chances.

Statistics

Goals scored: 12 (2 per game)

Goals conceded: 2 (0.33 per game)

Shots on target for: 5.5 per game

Shots on target against: 2.67 per game

Clear cut chances for: 1.33 per game

Clear cut chances against: 1.17 per game

Half chances for: 2.33 per game

Half chances against: 0.83 per game

Ball possession average: 50.67%

As guessed this tactic was the 4th worst out of 15 for chances created. It also didn’t hold much possession (to be expected really) but it boasts the second best defensive record out of all our reviews to date. So as summarized, great defensively and a stalwart against the big teams, but just not enough in attack. You can compare these stats to other tactics in the FM13 Tactics Index table, this is used to compare the stats from all our reviews. Now lets analyse the main pro’s and con’s of Helius’ 5-3-2.

+

Excellent results

Amazing defensive stats and performances

AMC performs very well which is a tough position to get working.

—

Too much going on in the middle

Not enough clear cut chances created.

The wing backs take too long joining the attack, which leaves space on the wings unexploited. (See below.)

Suggested Tweaks

Its hard to adjust a tactic that is so great defensively without effecting that side of the system, but here goes nothing. So, I’d change the tempo to around the halfway mark (so the wing backs have more time to join the attack,) I’d also nudge the defensive line up a couple of notches. I think the deep lying forward should be changed to poacher, that way he won’t support and get in the AMC’s way.

I would also be tempted to switch the passing to short, but without testing I don’t know for sure if this would work for the best, but I’d certainly try it.

FM 2013 Tactic Download

Download the 5-3-2 FM 2013 tactic by clicking on the image below:

After downloading the tactic follow these simple steps to install it 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 this tactic from the menu.

Well another great FM13 tactic tested and onto the next one, over to Johnny. But until then I hope you enjoyed this review and encourage you to comment below, thanks for reading.

Please note We won’t be taking any more entries from you at this point because we already have plenty of tactics on the waiting list.