Alright lads, the gameplay this weekend has been absolutely tragic, but these 442 holding tactics carried me to Rank 2, so let's get into it!
Build-Up Play and Depth
Diving in with the tactics, lads, and don't worry, the code for these tactics will be in the description as well as at the end of the video, so no need to add these in manually.
- Build Up Play: Balanced. I'm not a fan of Counter or Short Passing. A lot of people like Counter, but I'm not a fan. If you're struggling with the buildup and you feel like you give away the ball a lot, Short Passing could be for you while you get used to it, and then change into Balanced at a later date. But Balanced is the way to go for me, lads.
- Depth: 70. To be honest, lad, I've tried 95, and that's ridiculous too. So just use whatever depth you find most comfortable. For this, I like to have tactics that have different depths. So for this weekend, we used 70 on this one.
Player Roles
In with the roles, lads, and it sets out as you can see:
- Goalkeeper: Sweeper Keeper. I do feel like this is the best role for the goalkeeper, just because, to be honest, the goalkeeper ones, they just kind of sit on the line. Plus, Ter Stegen is Sweeper Plus Plus, so I would be daft not to use it, and if you're using CWA, which a lot of you probably are, then he's perfect for that, especially with that rush out.
- Right Back: Stay Back. He's on Fullback and Balanced. I recommend having someone that is really, really good at defending in this position, cuz he's going to stay back and hold that line, especially against those faster wingers. Someone like a Koundé is really nice, but you can use whoever you want, just make sure they're solid defensively.
- Center Backs: Defender. Both Center Backs are on Defender, and that is all. You can use whatever role you like, but you need to make sure they're the same. So if you want one Center Back on Stopper, you need to make sure the other one is on Stopper too, otherwise, you'll get this weird imbalancing defense with one steps up, one stays, and it's easy to play in and around you. But I think the Defender, especially if they've got the Plus or Plus Plus, lads, is the best because they save their stamina, especially with the other ones, Stopper and Player, they always destroy their stamina. So if you're using those ones, you need to make sure they either got Relentless or you've got some subs because they will be tired late on.
- Left Back: Wing Back. He's going to kind of step up for us and then Balanced. We don't have it on anything; you can't have it on anything else; it's just Wing Back. And what he's going to do is kind of step into that midfield when we're attacking. What I will say, lads, is if you're not comfortable defensively, there's nothing wrong with changing this to Fullback, just to help you out defending. But if you're comfortable that you've got the two CDMs, I definitely recommend you give a Wing Back a go because you're going to have that extra passing option in midfield.
- CDM 1: Holding Plus Plus. Our first CDM is Matuidi, and he is holding. He is amazing, and his job is just to essentially break up the play, and you want someone like a Matuidi that's really good at those interceptions. Got some good defensive playstyles. You can use a bigger CDM; you can use someone that's a bit more of a bigger frame; that's also good because they're good at moving players off the board, but you just want them to be a great defender, lads.
- CDM 2: Deep Line Playmaker. And Roman. So, as you can see from the graph, the heat map, he'll kind of occupy all this space. So a lot of the time, he'll step forward and be just in front of Matuidi when we're attacking. And as you can see from the way with the ball or without the ball, was it with the ball? How is this? No, with the ball, he kind of steps up into that area where Griezmann is, so the passes are nice and short, and it just links your whole team together, lads. Roman, it doesn't necessarily mean that he goes too far away from this position; he kind of just stays in this sort of area, but he does have a bit more license to go forward. And I find with the CDMs, if you don't put Roman on them, they'll just kind of sit too deep, which is what you don't want. Quick pointer on the CDMs, lad, is I like a left footer on the left-hand side and a right footer on the right-hand side because sometimes you do get the opportunity to fire those travas, so you got the right players in position, you're good to go. It's a bit easier to pass as well when you've got the strong foot on the outside, especially when you're using those wide players.
- Left Mid and Right Mid: Inside Forward and Balanced. I've tried Attack, and I do like it when you're losing to go Attack; it kind of plays like a 4-2-4 when you do it like that, but I prefer it Balanced for the most part because you want those passing options, and you want players that can score. This is not optimal, to be honest. I would like a right footer again on the right-hand side and a left footer on the left-hand side. Nico Williams is five-star weak foot, but when it comes to firing travas, he always uses his right foot, so he's not really great on that side, but having that five-star weak foot for the regular driven shots across the goal, he is really nice for it, lads. But you want players that are good on the ball, good at creating, and bag to play Pace, lad, treat them like wingers.
- Strikers: The two strikers are on similar but slightly, well, I say slightly different instruction; they've got very different roles within the team. I got Griezmann, and as defenders get faster, Griezmann obviously is not the best player to be breaking in behind, but if you're using his False 9 Plus Plus, he's going to step away from the backline, which is what you want. You don't want to be getting into a pace race with most defenders with Griezmann, and what it does, it opens him up for best shots, which is so, so nice, lads. You're able to find the top corner a lot easier. You just find when you get the ball with Griezmann on a False 9, you've got time to turn and pick your spot with a finesse shot, whereas if you have him on like a Poacher or an Advanced Forward, sometimes the defender is so close behind him, you can't really make the most of that finesse shot, or on a False 9, you can. If you're not using someone with finesse shot, then I recommend you use the Advanced Forward or Poacher because that will, you know, you want them to get forward in that case. But I bring on Son in this position as well, but he stays on Advanced Forward because he's got the pace. And the only reason we put Griezmann on False 9 is because we're trying to mitigate how slow he is. So if you got a slower striker, like you've done that new Player of the Month Lewandowski, False 9 is nice, but you just need to make sure they got good passing stats, good dribbling stats, cuz they're going to be more involved in your build-up. And then the other striker is Triore for me, and he's on Advanced Forward and Attack. And the reason why, lads, is because he's going to be our out-and-out goal scorer. I was a bit skeptical of playing the whole weekend league with Adara Triore at striker, but he's not got any like Plus or Plus Plus in this position, but he is so rapid, and he's so good. He's one of the few forwards I found in this game that can actually hold off center backs, which is amazing.
But that's the 4-4-2 holding, lads. It is super, super solid. Recommend you give it a go. Leave in the comments if you use it, and I will catch you in another one. Code at the end of the video, code in the description.