FM 2013 Tactic Review: Paris’ 4-3-3

Hey guys, and welcome to another FM 2013 tactic review. Today we’ll discuss Paris’ 4-3-3, a shape I’m drawn to myself, 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 Paris and evolves around a 4-3-3. Lets take a look at that now.

Formation

Paris sees this formation as a 4-3-3, maybe because the wingers tend to join the lone striker. Some may call it a 4-3-2-1 and other a 4-5-1. The back four are simple, two central defenders and two full backs with attack duty. The full backs overlap the attacking wingers who tend to cut inside naturally. The middle three have different functions, a ball winning midfielder breaks up play, the deep lying playmaker links up while the advanced playmaker connects midfield to attack. The strikers role is target man, the end product of a forward moving phase.

Team Instructions

Very fluid philosophy allows defensive players to contribute going forward but also the attacking players to defend. Short passing, pressing football is topped off with attacking strategy so this tactic has one main direction, attack. The defensive line pushes up to connect with midfield, while play is kept very narrow and the build up is extremely slow, something I personally don’t think works too well with counter attacking Football.

Average Positions

The average positions tell a story. Fairly compact and organised but you can see the full backs attack duty is adhered too, they break the defensive line on average bombing forward to support the wingers.

Defending

This tactic is possession orientated and if the oppositions build up is slow then the back line remain strong. However, against better opposition who press and move the ball around quickly we were soon found out. Messing about in midfield (maybe due to slow tempo) led to loss of the ball and dynamic attacks punished us.

The situation above shows this, Lampard won possession. He then passed to Mata, Kaboul came charging in for the tackle leaving space in behind for a through pass to Jovetic, this led to a goal. The two centre backs may be asked to close down in their own area, but still have man marking  and tight marking set which leads to these situations, where they attack the man as opposed to waiting and covering space. That mixed with the high line caused most of our defensive issues.

Attacking

This tactic did however create some lovely attacking movement. The full backs bomb forward making it tough for the opposition full backs to make a decision, ‘ should I mark the winger, or the opposing full back? ‘

The midfield three make for a nice protective line and the middle man, the advanced playmaker seems to get many assists. With the two wingers cutting inside the target man stands on the last mans shoulder waiting to spin accepting the AP’s pin point passes, this is demonstrated above.

Results

After the first game I couldn’t wait to click continue, the Football on show was scintillating. However, better organised teams survived our onslaughts, picking us off on the counter. This led to four wins, one draw against Swansea and a drumming at Stamford Bridge.

Statistics

Goals scored: 13 (2.17 per game)

Goals conceded: 5 (0.83 per game)

Shots on target for: 7.67 per game

Shots on target against: 2.5 per game

Clear cut chances for: 1.83 per game

Clear cut chances against: 0.67 per game

Half chances for: 3.33 per game

Half chances against: 0.67 per game

Ball possession average: 57%

Lots of goals and half chances, mixed with great possession stats. However, we conceded too many goals and although the opposition chances were limited they were too good to miss. 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 Paris’ 4-3-3.

+

Nice possession orientated play

The wingers create havoc and the advanced playmaker really shines

Full backs overlap the wingers creating problems for the opposition and opening up space. (As show below.)

—

Unstable at the back, against better opposition

A little too slow building forward and attacking

Felt very much on edge against Chelsea and Swansea, every opposition attack felt dangerous.

Suggested Tweaks

Usually this part is difficult, but I think there are simple adjustments that will help here. First of all change the DC’s marking to zonal and ask them to not mark tightly. Bring the defensive line back just a couple of notches and reconsider the tempo setting, I personally think the bar should be just above half way. Finally consider counter strategy for very tough matches.

FM 2013 Tactic Download

Download the 4-3-3 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.

That’s all folks, I hope you enjoyed this review and please do share your thoughts below in the comment box. Johnny will share our final review next week, before we take a short break. We won’t be taking any more review requests just yet but the gates will re-open soon.