Alright lads, today I've got two killer variations of the 4213 for you. One is a real attacking beast, designed to keep possession flowing, and the other is a rock-solid setup for seeing out those tight games. Let's dive in!
Attacking 4213: Possession is Key
This is the formation I usually kick things off with, the more attacking version of the 4213. My biggest issue with the 4213 is that I'm not really someone that loves to just ping the ball forward straight into the wingers on the counter. I like to build up play. This setup, with the false backs, lets you play a more possession-based style, which really suits my play style, and it might suit a lot of yours because a lot of you guys have probably used the 4213 and gone "I'm not really a fan of the quick fire ping the ball forward as quick as possible." You like to build up, and this variation is perfect for that.
- Build Up Play: Balanced
- Depth: 75. I've found recently that going a little bit higher on the depth is nice, especially now that I've gotten used to how to defend in the new patch and what areas I need to be looking out for. But just use whatever depth you find most comfortable.
Player Roles:
- Center Backs: Stay back while attacking. I will find you, you just need to leave your center backs on Defender.
- Left Back & Right Back: False Back, Defend. This is how we assist with this build-up play. Now, I did try balanced on the false backs, and you can't actually see the difference between them because it messes it all up. But false back defend, they kind of sit like this, they step into midfield and they almost act like left mid, right mid next to the CDMs. So it gives you a lot more passing options, especially if you're like me, you want to build up a little bit slower. You don't want to just ping the ball forward. This is perfect because you've got those bodies in midfield to pass through, you've got out balls, and then when you're playing someone that's using like a 4213 and they're really defensive with it, then you're going to overload their midfield, which is really, really good. You'll just dominate that game. You'll have the same formation, but you'll have more bodies in midfield, and a lot of people aren't really making the most of this false back setup. I really like the false backs. If you don't have anyone that has false back plus or plus plus, I definitely recommend they have minimum the plus because otherwise they're just weird on this set. If you don't, you can do Wing Back and Support, as you can see there's like a similar kind of thing where they go up and come inside, that's fine. But for false back defend, it doesn't push them as far forward, they almost stay level with the CDMs, which is nice.
- CDMs: One on Deep Line Playmaker and Defend, the other on Holding and Defend. I like the Deep Line Playmaker just 'cause they drop off a little bit and show for feet, which is nice when you're under pressure. I've just got someone that just holds down this midfield here, and it's Frankie De Jong. For both of these CDMs, I am not a massive fan nowadays of clunkier, heavy CDMs. I did have Kuman in, but what I was finding is in really bad gameplay, which you know we all experience, he is very, very challenging to get you know, move in at all, and you lose the ball because he's just so clunky. So having players that are responsive but obviously can defend in this position are amazing, and you want them to be able to play passes. They need to be able to give the ball to your CAM, give the ball to your wingers, and just overall help you with a buildup. You really need, especially in the false backs and the CDMs, players that can play football and are comfortable on the ball. Press Proven is a really good play style for these positions. If they've got any version, base or plus, Press Proven, that's really good.
- CAM: Playmaker, Balanced. I have dabbled in Shadow Striker, as you can see, it makes it a bit disjointed. I like Playmaker just because the gap between your CDMs and your attackers is not too big, whereas if you've got Shadow Striker, there can be a bit of a gap. I know some people like to play like that, but again, we're trying to build up in this formation, lads.
- Striker: Advanced Forward, Support. They are going to put a bit of AI pressure on their backline because we're higher depth. You will get a couple of opportunities where you win the ball back really high up.
- Left Winger & Right Winger: Inside Forward, Roam.
Defensive 4213: Seeing Out the Win
Now, let's talk about the more defensive version of the 4213, lads. I'll go into this especially if I'm finding I'm getting hit quite hard on the counterattack, and if they're using a 4213. Having the false backs, the only negative I find with the false backs is that if you get caught quickly on the counter, they can find that pocket of space on the wings. So just try not to give the ball away in stupid areas. But if I'm trying to see out a game, I go into this variation of the 4213. I'm not looking to push the fullbacks on too far.
- Build Up Play: Balanced
- Depth: 70. We do drop it down a touch, but I'm not a fan of dropping into my own box and trying to hold the box because that when you're in the box and when they've got you on the edge, it's such a hard place to be because you can't, it always feels like the ball bounces back. I'd much rather be trying to win the ball back around the halfway line and almost trying to keep them in their half. Again, if you're good at defending the box, then you can drop it down, but I definitely don't recommend you spending too much time around your own area because it's just, it's just not a fun place to be.
Player Roles:
- Center Backs: Defender and Defend.
- Goalkeeper: Sweeper.
- Fullbacks: Fullback and Defend. Again, we are looking to shore up that backline, and the best way to do that is have a consistent backline, and a lot of people you play using the 4213 will be using Fullback Defend, so this is a pretty much a traditional setup for this formation.
- CDMs: Deep Line Playmaker and Defend, and Holding and Defend. I like to have one of each. I've tried both on Deep Line Playmaker, I don't know why, you find like you get stuck more when you don't have, when you have two Deep Line Playmakers, 'cause they come too deep, so you don't progress as much as you should, whereas if the Holding is a touch higher, which doesn't really make sense, you'd think the Holding would be deeper than the Deep Line Playmaker, but it's not, so you can kind of progress the ball a bit nicer when you've got one of each.
- CAM: Playmaker and Roam. We want the CAM to be involved in a bit of everywhere. Because we've not got the false backs jumping up into midfield to help out, you need B. Matić and your CAM to be doing a lot more work, which is fine.
- Striker: Advanced Forward and Attack. Not support on this one, and we just want him to be right in the center again because you've not got that extra support from the false backs. I just want him to be staying in that strikey area, scoring those chances.
- Left Winger & Right Winger: Inside Forward, Roam. Which is I think is the best setup for this. You can use Attack if you prefer that, but I prefer this, the positions they take up in Roam, they especially if they got a plus or plus plus on Inside Forward, they do make some really good runs on the Roam setting.
So, that's both my setups for the 4213, lad. And again, lad, with any formation you have, it's always good to have two setups ready so you can change the way your team attacks, the way your team defends. Having just, if you love say the 4231, having two setups of that, one where you're you know, you're starting, and another for more defensive, and another for more attacking, it's going to help you a lot, and it's going to save you pauses, and we all know like these new menus with changing the tactics can be a bit fiddly and more importantly frustrating. You eliminate a frustration when you're setting up other tactics, you can kind of flip into it, it's just one last thing to worry about. But leave it in the comments if you use both these variations, definitely give the false back one a go, 'cause you destroy other people using the 4213 in this, because they're just using a generic setup.