Work In Progress; My Own 4-6-0

Over the past few months, I have heard quite a few people moaning about the 4-6-0 and this tactic being an exploit of the match engine, since it overcrowds the midfield and uses no real striker. The main reason I have heard is that “using a tactic with no strikers just isn’t realistic as no real life team does this.”

I have read this excellent article on the development of tactics throughout history and the 4-6-0 in particular. Apparently it can be done and is done in real life, most notably by AS Roma two seasons ago, as they fielded Francesco Totti to operate in the hole between attack and defence, with no-one upfront.

Operating as a focal point as for example Didier Drogba was for Chelsea, he held up the ball, drifted, and created space for his team-mates to break into. Roma's 4-1-4-1 formation frequently became 4-1-5-0, a formation with no real striker, which resembles the 4-6-0 idea we encounter in FM Live.

Reading the information I have found, I decided to give this a go myself. After all, it’s all about learning new tricks and the concept sounds pretty solid in theory. As was stated in the article, the history of tactics is the story of the attempt to achieve the greatest balance of attacking fluidity and defensive solidity, which is pretty much what FM and FM Live are all about.

With all of this in mind, I started reading up on what others had achieved working with the 4-6-0. There’s no need to invent everything all over again, especially when others have left well documented settings. Threads I found particularly useful were this one and this one, as they provided me with some settings and tips.

As I started experimenting, I quickly noticed that a system with no forwards places a premium on fast, accurate passing through the midfield, which is fine on a good day. However, there will always be days when the passing fails to click, or when a team is forced on to the back foot and needs an outlet for holding the ball and relieving the pressure.

This is where your AMC becomes important. As general fitness improves, so the demands on attacking midfielders and forwards change, not least because defences cannot be relied upon to lose shape as they become exhausted. The AMC in this formation must be a universalist, a hybrid of the old strike-partnerships. He must be quick and strong, as he has to hold up the ball but he must also be able to chase after a through ball.

Ideally, you’re looking for an AM/FC in FM-terms. Players like Stevan Jovetic, Giuseppe Rossi, Antonio Cassano and Goran Pandev are ideally suited for this role. They are hybrids. A combination of the playmaker and the forward. They have the skill and technique to hold up the ball yet they are also blessed with stamina and the running power to move forward to pounce on loose balls.

From what I’ve seen so far, this formation works well enough. Defenders are having difficulties realizing who to pick up, as the running midfielders seem to catch the defenders off guard quite a bit. I will elaborate on settings and formations later on, as this is all work in progress at the moment.