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4-1-2-1-2 Diamond The AC Milan of Carlo Anchelotti

Background:
Welcome to my workshop. Here I will show you how I recreated the famous 4-4-2/4-1-2-1-2 Diamond formation used by AC Milan during Carlo Ancelotti’s time as manager between 2001 and 2009. And also in his 2 years as manager of Chelsea in 2009-2011. The formation won the Champions League and Milan were twice more finalists also won the Copa Italia, World Club Cup, UEFA Super Cup and left an indelible mark on me of how to play “The Italian way.”
Here, I fit the tactic into the Football Manager 16 match engine and have had wonderful results.

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What you will see.
A lovingly recreated version of the Formation for FM16 utilising the updated tactics engine and player default skills.
The formation focuses on Defensive and Possession play in the middle of the park. Using both a Deep and an advanced playmaker forward and a Complete wing back on one side. Highly successful over a 3 season testing period with Wigan Athletic beginning in English tier 3 and ending in tier 1.

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Defensive in nature.
Moderately deep defensive line.
CWB Overload on players side.
Pleasing approach play.
Expect to defend against crosses constantly.
Possession based but most of time is spent without the ball.
Deliberately makes your opponents play crosses. (Teams with small players up front will not win most crosses vs you)
Maintains high foul count (Stops opponent’s gathering momentum)
Difficult to breakdown through the middle.
Tires opponents out over the course of 90 mins.
Can be MIRRORED to switch build up over opposite flank.

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Team Makeup.
By design, you do not need fast or athletic players on the whole (Other than the CWB). This tactic favours teams with players of high mental and technical ability. A team full of aging pros will benefit from this approach.
Key Attributes and PPM’s per position.
As usual, I recommend trying to get players who fit the roles with AT LEAST one of the required PPM’s in each position and to learn the missing ones ASAP.

GK: (PPM) None
(Stats)- Aerial Ability, Kicking, Command of Area. Communication, Jumping Reach, Height. Taller = better.
CWB: Gets forward whenever possible, Sticks to (Correct) side of pitch when dibbling.
- Stamina, Work rate, Natural Fitness, Anticipation, Acceleration, Pace, Team Work.
CD: Marks opponents tightly.
-Strength, Jumping Reach, Heading, Bravery, Tackling, Aggression, Decisions, Concentration.
FB: Stays on feet.
-Positioning, Anticipation, Tackling, Team work, Concentration, Decisions, Strength.
Regista: Dictates Tempo, Tries Long Range Passes, Comes Deep to get ball.
-Passing, Vision, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, First Touch,
BWM: Plays short passes.
-Tackling, Bravery, Positioning, Work Rate, Stamina, Strength, Aggression, Balance, Anticipation, Concentration.
CMA: Shoots from Distance
-Long Shots, Anticipation, Stamina, Work Rate, Concentration, Passing, First Touch, Off The Ball, Team Work.
AP: Moves into channels, Tries killer Balls often.
-Flair, Vision, Passing, Technique, Acceleration, Dribbling, Composure, Off the ball, First Touch.
DLF: none
-Heading, Aggression, Off the ball, Finishing, Composure, Team Work, Work Rate, Anticipation,
AF: Tries to beat offside trap, Places shots, Plays One-Twos, Plays short passes.
-Acceleration, Pace, Off The Ball, Finishing, Composure, Concentration, Anticipation, Agility, First Touch.
REMEMBER, the above list is the IDEAL and that you should try as best you can to get high scores in the required stats as possible based on the league you are playing in.
Player specific instructions
Only change from the default on all players is I set the Keeper to KICK LONG and play OVER THE DEFENCE.

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TACTICAL TIPS.
The wonderful thing about this formation is that with one substitution (or none if you are lucky) You can just flip everything. MIRRORING the formation is a great idea as the default focuses attack where the CWB’s side. (Right) if you are not having much luck on that side just switch to the mirrored formation and try on the left hand side. Now the focus of attacks will be down the other flank. The AI doesn’t seem to cope with this very well and can be the key to turning a draw into a win. Remember, to flip the Midfield pair around too so the BWM can provide cover for the marauding CWB if he is ever caught out of position.

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Set Pieces.
No advice. (yet)

Pictures and stats to follow when I am able.
Please vote up and share any feedback you have. I don’t take it personally :D