Custom Tactics for 4-4-2

 

Alright, a small change of gears today.  Quite a few of you have been asking me to share my tactics, player instructions and overall impressions of the 4-4-2 formation in FIFA 21.  I should start by saying that this is way outside my comfort zone, I realize that there are a lot of superior players to me, and I just hope you can appreciate these are my guidelines and reasons for playing the way I do; not the FIFA 21 gospel to be followed blindly without your own personalized changes based on playstyle.  Additionally, I am an Elite 3 player and have not been able to break this threshold… so maybe there is a limit to these tactics, or maybe I am just not good enough.  Furthermore, I go over a lot of what I will be typing in the article within my video, which again is out of my comfort zone as I hate the sound of my recorded voice… so I am putting myself out there, go easy haha.  With that disclaimer out of the way, I should add one more… this gets a bit long... let’s get started.

 

Why 4-4-2?

For me the 4-4-2 remains one of the most balanced formations in the game.  I never really feel like I am being outnumbered or overwhelmed defensively and therefore do not concede a ton of goals.  Conversely, I have to work extremely hard to create situations where I am outnumbering my opponent to create “easy” scoring chances… often having to rely on beating my opponent 1v1 to create my chances.  In my mind, this then creates a situation where if I am better than my opponent I should win… and unfortunately the opposite is also true.  However, this means that if I am losing matches I can look at myself and fix individual areas such as how to properly jockey, applying proper pressure, and perfecting skill moves. So, with that, how is everything set up?

 

Tactics
 

 

Play Style

For many of the same reasons that I like the 4-4-2 formation, I have opted for a very balanced set up in my tactics.  I like the BALANCED Offensive and Defensive playing styles because they provide familiarity when playing.  95% of the time I know where my players are, what they are doing, and what to expect from them.  The upside to this comes in the form of creating and understanding the phases of play that will be successful for me.  This is cyclical and when I am rolling it is almost on auto-pilot as I move through the motions creating chances in the attacking phase of play… while shutting down my opponents in the defensive phase of play.  The negative of course comes in the form of… “what if it isn’t working?”  For me this is especially true in the attack which can get stagnant if I am not careful.  This is where learning skills and individual talent of the person holding the control comes into play… and I can only blame myself in the end if my opponent was just simply better.

 

Width 

Why so narrow?  For me, the narrow formation again suits how I want to play and how I think about the game.  Defensively I like the idea that I am protecting the middle of the pitch.  Yes, I am giving up a fair bit down the wing and it can affect my press when oppositions have a wide formation.  But in the end, I tell myself, “they always have to return to the middle of the pitch to score,” and so I set up my tactics to protect it.  In attack this is slightly different… by playing narrow I know I can always dribble the ball wide with my wingers when I need to create space or slow down the game to allow my players to get into position.  I started doing this last year after watching Tekkz streaming.  I realize you have to be careful trying to copy people far superior to you … going out and trying to smash a freekick with the same technique as CR7 doesn’t work if you can’t kick a ball… but I gave it a try anyway, and it truly has helped with my offensive build-up and the way that I keep the ball.

 

Depth

Now here is where I get the most questions when I share my tactics.  That is not a mistake, I play on 7 depth… and still once a weekend I get accused of being a drop back rat.  The reason is that due to the over-possession that many FUT Managers like to keep … it will naturally drop your defense further and further back regardless of the depth you are playing.  So for me, this tactic is most noticeable as your opponent tries to leave their own half and offers an early chance to turn the ball over and keep the pressure in their end.  When this works you can sustain pressure for literal halves at a time...  I will have matches where at halftime my opponent has had 1 or 2 shots total.  However, when it doesn’t work and I am not switched on properly, or making mistakes, or facing a superior opponent,  it can create a huge hole in behind to be played into.  It truly is a life by the sword, die by the sword style… and I love it.

 

Player Instructions

I do play with these from time to time… such as my second ST coming back to defend when playing really difficult opposition (especially if they keep a ton of possession).  However, this is my normal go-to set up:

ST #1: Speedster (whoever is the fastest) → Bal. Width - Get in Behind - Normal Int. - Bal. Support
ST #2: Playmaker (the other option) → Bal. Width - Mixed Attack - Normal Int. - Bal. or Def. Support

LM: Left Footed (I love fast, agile wingers) → All Default except - Cut Inside - Get in Box for Crosses
RM: Right Footed (I love fast, agile wingers) → All Default except - Cut Inside - Get in Box for Crosses 

CM #1: Magician → Bal. Attack - Get in Box for Crosses - Normal Int. - Stick Position - Cover Center
CM #2: Wrecking Ball → Stay Back Attacking - Balanced Cross - Normal Int. - Stick Position - Cover Center

LB: Left Footed (80 Pace Min) → Stay Back Attack - Normal Int. - Mixed Attack
RB: Right Footed (80 Pace Min) → Stay Back Attack - Normal Int. - Mixed Attack

CB’s: (70 Pace Min) → Stay Back Attacking - Normal Int.

GK: Normally Come for Crosses… but Ederson does it naturally which I love

 

Conclusion

There we go… the method to the madness and how I generally like to set up and play.  In the past, I have used different formations when behind.  However, this year I have just switched the in-game tactics to heavy pressure and overlapping wingbacks.  This has been an okay solution so far, but I think it is just okay and I really need to look at something better. Overall, I have been happy with the majority of this setup and while I plan on experimenting with others, I can see myself coming crawling back at the slightest adversity with other styles.  The 4-4-2 is familiar, is balanced, and generally sets me up to feel like I can win… can’t ask for much more than that.   My apologies if changing to these tactics costs you a loss or heaven forbid a smashed controller.  Again, I hope you can appreciate that this is way beyond my normal wheelhouse, just providing some alternatives to what is currently out there.  Let me know if you tried this out in the comments, I am interested to know how others find it.  Cheers for reading.

 

 

4-4-2 Custom Tactics Video: