Alright, what's up, guys? Zius here, back with another video! Today, we're diving deep into tactics, specifically an adaptation of my five-back. My word, this formation is absolutely disgusting! I think a lot of the five-backs have some similarities, but for this video, we're focusing on the 5-2-3. Let's get into it!
The 5-2-3: A Tactical Masterclass
This isn't my main account, by the way. I'm playing on a friend's account who I've been coaching for a while. I'm playing multiple accounts this weekend as part of a Weekend League service I offer. When I looked at his team, the players he had, and his budget, the 5-2-3 just seemed like the perfect fit. He had players like Rudy, Gakpo, and Salah, and needed a Premier League player for chemistry, so Van Dijk fit perfectly. The untradeables he had just made it a no-brainer.
I know how good the five-back is this year, especially with the player roles. You can customize formations quite a lot to suit your style of play. Don't just think a formation is OP and that's the be-all and end-all. You can make different formations play how you want.
Player Roles: The Key to Customization
Player roles are really important. You can see in this team I've got what, three, four, five, six, seven, eight players with plus plus. It makes a huge difference. For example, I've got Rodrigo and Nico Williams untradeable on my account. Nico Williams only gets player roles as in Plus or plus plus at left or right mid, Rodrigo only gets them at left or right wing. So I had to sacrifice one of them. I've sacrificed Rodrigo getting the player role plus because Nico gets a plus plus and I notice that Rodrigo sometimes just sits there when I win the ball and don't do anything whereas someone like Harland with plus plus soon as you win the ball he bums forward. So it does make a difference. I think players do play a lot better with it.
Tactics: Setting Up the 5-2-3
Let's get into the tactics.
- Offensive Style: Counter. The idea is to win the ball and get forward quickly down the wings.
- Defensive Style: Balanced.
- Defensive Width: 61.
- Defensive Depth: 95. I might adjust this, as I feel like it might leave me a little bit vulnerable.
- Build Up Play: Balanced.
- Chance Creation: Direct Passing.
- Offensive Width: 40.
- Players in Box: 6.
- Corners: 3.
- Free Kicks: 3.
Player Instructions: Fine-Tuning the Formation
- Goalkeeper: Sweeper Keeper.
- Center Backs: Ball Playing Defender on Virgil.
- Left Wing Back: Balanced.
- Right Wing Back: Balanced.
- Defensive Midfielders: One on Deep Line Playmaker, the other on Playmaker.
- Left and Right Wingers: Inside Forward.
- Striker: Poacher.
Key Gameplay Considerations
- Wing Backs: You can't play this with two completely defensive fullbacks. It just wouldn't work. It's pretty damn important that you have some attacking support from your fullbacks in this formation.
- Midfielders: I would have liked a deep line playmaker with a playmaker, but Rodri gets a role in this and I did find when I Tried Him holding or deep line playmaker maybe it's because you have the role it was a bit defensive and needed a bit more going forward.
- Attackers: For the striker, you've got two options in my opinion: poacher or Advanced forward. I go with what works best. If I have a poach plus plus or Advanced forward plus plus I'd probably go the poacher. You maybe could make this work with a false nine, especially if you've got two fairly attacking midfielders.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, this formation is disgusting! It's going to get you a lot of easy goals, in my opinion. When you counter, it's going to be very hard to defend. Even the elite defenders on this game do stand out. So, is it OP? I don't think there's a formation yet that I'm thinking is OP, but is it a formation that's going to get you easier wins and not require as much skill? Honestly, yes. Make of that what you will!