With the arrival of FM delayed until March of next year, we thought we would return to one of our favourite aspects of FM: tactic testing.
Recently, in my personal save, I have been testing various tactics just for the sake of variety. One of the tactics I tried was 415 FiveStars 100Pts by Pbopeer 3352.
It produced really good results, so I thought it would be an ideal tactic for one of our tactic testing articles.
The conditions of the save
For the save, I went back to using Everton as my test team. I used a data update found from the Steam workshop, with all the transfers and other data updated to November.
As usual, I set my tactic at the start of the season and holidayed without making any changes or transfers.
How is the team set up?
At first, I wasn’t sure this tactic would suit the current Everton squad. However, it turned out really well and brought out the best in many members of the team.
The tactic starts with a sweeper keeper on defend duty. In front of the last line of defence are two wing-backs on attack, flanking two ball-playing defenders.
Protecting the defence is a ball-winning midfielder on defend. They are one of only three players in the team with the defend duty.
Further forward, the tactic has two attacking midfielders on support duty, each side of a shadow striker who is on attack. At the top of the team is an advanced forward on attack and a complete forward on support.
Looking at the tactics screen at the end of the season, the tactic encouraged good relationships with certain players. The centre-backs developed a strong understanding, while the attacking midfielders also developed good relationships with the two forwards.
How did the tactic go?
Well, to say that the tactic overperformed would be an understatement. The team was predicted to finish in 16th place in the table.
Instead of a relegation dogfight, the team finished in second place behind eventual champions and arch-rivals Liverpool.
Unsurprisingly, with such an attacking formation, the team’s main strength was in attack. The team’s goal tally of 113 goals was by far the highest in the league. It was nearly 30 goals clear of the next-highest scorers in the league.
As you would expect with this sort of tactic, it wasn’t great defensively, as the team had the worst defensive record of the league’s top six. However, the sheer number of goals negated the poor defensive record, giving the team a goal difference of 56.
When it came to other records, only Arsenal had a better home record in the Premier League. The team also finished the season strongly by winning four and drawing just one of their final league games of the season to ensure they finished as runners-up.
The team didn’t fare well in the cup competitions, though, as they exited the FA Cup in the third round against Crystal Palace, and Newcastle knocked them out of the Carabao Cup in the fourth round.
What players were the top performers using this tactic?
This tactic certainly brought the best out of several key players in the team. The two forwards, in particular, thrived using the tactic.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who played as a complete striker for the season, earned an average rating of 7.62, the highest of any player on the team. He scored an impressive 25 goals and produced 13 assists.
His striker partner for much of the campaign, Beto, got the team’s second-highest rating of the season at 7.40. He was the team’s top goalscorer with 28 goals and also produced three assists. Only Manchester City’s Erling Haaland scored more Premier League goals.
Abdoulaye Doucoure was also one of the top players for goals, scoring 14 times from his role as the shadow striker. He was also reasonably creative, picking up six assists for the season.
On-loan Armando Broja scored 11 times despite just 13 of his 33 appearances coming from the start.
Another loan player, Jesper Lindstrom, contributed to the team’s attacking efforts, scoring 11 goals and providing nine assists.
Fellow attacking midfielder Jack Harrison also scored on nine occasions while producing seven assists. Centre-back Jarrad Branthwaite also weighed in with seven goals, presumably most from set-pieces.
When it came to assists, Everton’s current leading creator, Dwight McNeil, was highly productive, getting 19 assists, which was the highest number of assists of any player in the Premier League.
Wing-back Vitaliy Mykolenko created 13 goals and also scored once. In the opposite full-back position, Nathan Patterson produced ten assists despite starting just 20 games and making 15 substitute appearances.
The Scotland international shared the right-back role with veteran full-back Seamus Coleman, who also produced eight assists.
Ball-winning midfielder James Garner’s attacking numbers were surprisingly good due to his role. However, he scored three times and also produced nine assists.
Versatile veteran Ashley Young also deserves a mention for his attacking contribution.
He scored four goals and produced five assists, having started just ten games. He also came off the substitute bench on 15 occasions, making 19 appearances at left-back and just one at right-back, a position he has played for much of his Everton career.
Surprisingly, summer signing Iliman Ndiaye started just two games all season and stepped off the bench on 18 occasions.
What are our conclusions on this tactic?
I have to say I have really enjoyed using this tactic during my personal save. My team is an elite team on my personal save that dominates against most opponents.
Given this, I wasn’t sure that this tactic would be as effective with a team with lesser-quality players. However, it worked brilliantly.
Although I preach about balance, watching your team play excellent attacking football and score loads of goals is great. To make such an attacking set-up achieve results is often a difficult thing to master.
If you have the players to use this tactic, I highly recommend it, especially if you are looking for sheer entertainment in your game.
Have you ever used the 415 FiveStars 100Pts by Pbopeer 3352? If so, let us know your thoughts via our socials
