Alright lads, if you've been struggling against those pesky five-back formations in FC 25, or if you're dreading facing them in Weekend League, then listen up! This 4-1-4-1 setup has been absolutely destroying five-back formations for me. Let's dive into the tactics, shall we?
Tactical Setup: Building the Foundation
First things first, we're keeping the Build Up Play on Balanced. I'm not a massive fan of committing to one style, but I like the flexibility of balanced with short passing and counter. We're also working on some counter-attack tactics, which I think suit the three and five-back formations. However, this 4-1-4-1 is specifically designed to dominate five-backs. You'll see why when we switch the view later on.
Next up, the Defensive Depth is set to 65. Don't go too close to 70, because those counter-attack meta players will try to lob the ball in behind you. 65 is the sweet spot.
Player Instructions: The Heart of the Formation
Let's get into the player instructions, starting with the man between the sticks.
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Goalkeeper: Sweeper Keeper. I recommend this, especially if your goalkeeper has Goalkeeper Plus+. If they have both on a plus, definitely use sweeper keeper. They come out for crosses better. On the regular goalkeeper setting, when you use the right stick to drag them out to collect crosses, sometimes as the balls coming in they run back to goal. Sweeper keeper is the best one to try.
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Right Back: Stay Back While Attacking and Balanced. We don't have him on defend because they tuck too far in. We're not looking to create a three-back setting in this formation. We want to cover those wide areas.
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Center Backs: Defend and Focus Defend. We want them just kind of there. I like stopper a lot, but because we've got that DM in front of the back four, I don't really feel the need to have your center backs step out too much.
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Left Back: Wing Back and Balanced. I do like attacking Wing Back, and if I'm losing, I go into attacking Wing Back, especially with Rao on the plus plus. But for the most part, I just want them to be stepping into that midfield, creating more passing options around the halfway line.
The Midfield Maestro: The CDM
Now, the CDM is crucial.
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CDM: Cover Center. I love this Alex Garcia. He's like 20K and 84 rated Squad and 82 rated Squad and he's amazing. He's got like press proven plus which in the CDM position press proven especially when you're playing the people that play really high pressure having someone that can Shield the ball turn well when back away from goal is really good because it'll get you a lot of tight spots and you's got some good base passing play styles with ping pan Ticky Taker and then additionally he's got dead ball silver which is really nice off those Corners lad so definitely get this one done he's cheap as chips and covers a whole host of roles for you. You want them to have some defensive attributes like Alex Garcia has anticipate Sila which is fantastic for this position. You just want this player to be solely focused on taking the ball off your opposition and then being able to pass the ball.
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Central Midfielders (LCM & RCM): Box to Box and Balanced. I recommend you have these guys that can do a bit of everything. Like a Patry is amazing because she can play the passes in behind for p but she can also take a pop Frankie dong is a cheat Cod because the outside the foot shot with him he's got the travella plr which is play style and which is mental so he can do the outside the foot shots against those five backs which is important when they're dropping into the box the reason why this formation dominates the five backs so much is because of the way it's set up when we have the ball.
Attacking Prowess: Wide Players and Striker
Let's move on to the attacking players.
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Left and Right Midfielders: Inside Forward and Balanced. We don't have them on attack because it doesn't really change too much in terms of their positioning. They're a little bit higher up, but they don't come back and defend at all. You do need them coming back because the way the five back operates, you've got the left the left back and the right back which bomb on so you need the left mid and right mid in this formation to track them because otherwise they're going to be one-on-one with your fullback the entire time and it doesn't give you much room for error so having them on balance just gives them they'll be there they score loads of goals as you probably see from the clips but they will help you out more defensively on a balance which is really really nice and as you can see from my the guys that I've chosen lad you need players that can shoot score and basically are like stri anaki Williams is pretty much a striker he will be getting replaced with n Williams or yamal and then parello she has a power shot which is nice and she just pry she's pretty much a striker lad.
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Striker: Advanced Forward and Attack. If you have someone with a like a like a poacher plus and doesn't have um advant Advance forward plus I'll put into poacha cuz poacha is really good as well there's not too much of a difference between Advanced forward and poacha plus um Advanced forward they'll come a touch deeper sometimes and show for passes I really like Advanced forward but for the most part there's not too much difference between this and poacher I would just go with whatever one they have as a plus because you are going to get better runs better animations out of them because those the plus and plus pluses if you're using harand in this position you're using poacher plus plus lads basically.
The Tactical Advantage: Overrunning the Midfield
The beauty of this formation lies in how it overloads the midfield. When we have the ball, the midfield lines up in almost a five, completely filling that area. You've always got the extra pass in midfield, even if they play a 5-4-1. The fullbacks provide the out option. When you lose the ball, it defends really well, dropping back into that 4-1-4-1 setup with the four midfielders and the DM in behind. It defends well against counters because of that DM. You've got a lot of attacking options wide and through the middle. This formation is attack packing against the five-backs. I've not had a formation that I've loved more than breaking down the five-backs with this formation.
That's the 4-1-4-1, lads! My favorite formation of the year so far, just because you can break down five-backs with it rather than just having to struggle through the middle with every other formation. Let me know in the comments if you use it!