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+---- Thread: Attacking defender 12: pep waits for no man (/showthread.php?tid=3780)
- Sermokala - 2023-05-20
So an important thing about life is to never be comfortable in success and to keep looking at whats next to stay ahead.
Something that is rather game-changing for my fm philosopy and the overall method of how to build players that we've seen comes out of the man who famously changed the last major shift in tactics, Pep Guardiola.
What you may or may not know is recently he has recognized that the standard of ball work (and speed) in his Centre backs has eclipsed the standards of the past to the point where they can be legitimately trusted with the ball in possession. The three at the back recent shifts is a result of centrebacks being able to recycle possession while keeping the back safer than before.
If anyone knows the real dilemma of Pep is that he has always been absolutely flush with cash and can always afford the type of player to play wingback. now however he doesn't want those wingbacks. When this guy doesn't want wingbacks anymore you can be rest assured its not because he can't afford them.
What hes gone with instead of a three at the back is a nasty twist on the four at the back, a rotatable cast of 4 center backs. I want you dear reader to know this is both disgusting football terrorism and inspiring revolutionary thinking. In FM for years now my thinking has always been to recruit at the most 4 types of players. Goalies, attackers, midfielders, center backs, with an eye to find the kind of midfielders that can be center backs. The real thing is just having striker types as withdrawn wingers, AMC's, Midfielders as wide defenders and center midfielders, Centre backs as cornerbacks, more recently as pressing forwards. It simplifies recruitment, it makes you injury proof, and it allows you to make tactical decisions about special matches to adjust to different teams. Pep now has the confidence that he can find center backs that can be wide defenders that then invert, unlocking his midfield that then unlock his flanks, that then turns Haaland into the machine that you can see.
So what does this mean for me and this series then? It means that instead of recruiting four types of players I will now only recruit three types. Realistically for SSL it means that DL-DC-DR players should become the new meta. Because for all the IWB hype of turning unwanted defensive midfielders into inverted wingbacks, you could be looking to be centerbacks that can one day go out wide to be inverted wingbacks or center backs that can play as an attacker as well.
The Structure of a sim league lends itself to this a lot more though than normal fm. You can be efficient and become at least not a liability as a ball carrier relatively quickly even if you won't excel. From then on you can look at how to provide the most amount of value to your team by being able to be competent at more than one position. This can then allow your team flexibility to be rearrianged to counter different teams strengths.
I don't know things are changing though. The game just looks at lot different to me now.