Effective Strike Partnerships 1 - Little n' Large

To win football matches you have to score goals, right? (I am a genius!) and usually you will be looking at your strikers to get the majority of your goals. If you can't get your strikers firing then you are going to struggle to get anywhere fast in FM. But what makes an effective partnership? In this series of posts I'll be writing about 4 different partnerships that work. This is Part 1.

Little n' Large
A partnership which works well IRL and also in FM is the little n' large version. Here you have one small, fast good finisher playing alongside more of a "target man" (TM) - someone who is strong, agile and can win the ball in the air and hold it up.
Real Life Examples: Crouch + Defoe, Heskey + Owen

Does it work in FM?
It can yes, I think many players have proven this in the past, with the little striker getting a lot of goals, the TM most of the asists, but also sometimes the TM will get some goals - but not as many.

How should I set it up?
Little Striker -> An attacking mentality, forward runs often, run with ball often, CF normal, short passing.
TM -> He should be your target man, and have the ball supply at either "To Feet" or "To Head". His mentality should be normal, low CF and a mixed passing style. Forward runs mixed, run with ball mixed, Through Balls mixed (Often if he is good enough). Hold Up ball should be ticked.

Players make the Formation

Lots of people go out of their way on FM to sign players that will fit their killer formation they used in previous games. I think this is silly, your formation should fit the players, even if that means making a formation that is not "the norm". Take my Ruby tactic, when I was developing it, I realised with my current squad at Real Sociedad, I had no recognisable right winger. I had a good left winger, very good AMCs and good strikers. I knew I needed to have a AMC and also have two strikers, but without a right winger I wasnt sure what to do.

It seems I was being too rigid, that infact I should just put players where it made sense. So I ended up playing with a AML, AMC, two strikers, two MCs but not a AMR. Blimey you say! No AMR? Surely that leaves me outnumbered on my right flank?

It does but not as bad as you think, the MCr often comes across of his own accord to protect the flank, and with a good RB this is fine. Originally I made the mistake of making the RB more attacking, but all that happened was that my RB would be stranded up the pitch, so I gave up with that idea. Now my back four are just there to defend, and it works well. It's no killer tactic, but I'm now 16 games unbeaten and it could not be going any better.

If I had decided to play with a AMR it would have meant either:
1) Buying One. I think my team needed strenghtening else where so this was not an option.
2) Sacrificing the AMC for an AMR. Not good, as my AMCs (Mata & Jimenez) have both set up countless goals and scored a few as well.
3) Sacrifice a ST for an AMR. With 5 strikers, there was no way I was playing one up front.

So all I am trying to say, is don't be afraid to break the rules.

Tactic - Ruby V1.

People who know me through FM will know I always love messing with tactics. It all started back in 2008 when I decided to stop using other people's tactics and figure out my own. It was hard but finally I seemed to get it and now I try to release as many tactics as I can. This is my first big tactic for FM09, called Ruby.
The main tactic is above, and there is also a SUS version (Shut Up Shop) for defending a narrow lead later on.

Key Points
->If you have a AMR but not AML, just move the AML to AMR, the instructions should stay the same.
->Pacey strikers are important, if you can have all four of your attackers with pace, but if not you must have one ST with pace. If you only have one, put him at the right ST. Although from testing it makes little difference.
->Your MCd (The left MC) must be good, he has to hold the tactic together.
->Your RB needs to have good stamina, as he is doing the work of the RM as well at times. He will go forwards but not all the time.
->Your AMC will get a lot of chances so make sure they can shoot!
->I don't use Opp Instructions.

Tweaks/Ideas
->Something I have yet to try is moving the RB to WBR to try and compensate for the lack of an MR.
->Also if you told your MCr to man mark the opponent's left winger, that might help, but it would also drag your MC out wide, leaving just your DM.

You can download it from FMStyle - HERE DOWNLOAD RUBY V1. You will need to sign up.

What is in the download:
Ruby_N_V1, Ruby_N_V1.1, Ruby_SUS_V1
Start with V1 but if you dont have success with that try V1.1 The changes are minimal but I find V1.1 better, however I left V1 in as some people have done better with that.

Screenshots of success will come when I update with my current game, which will be tomorrow I hope, but I can tell you with Real Sociedad I have beaten Real Madrid 2-1, Sevilla 3-1 (away) and have Won 7 league games in a row. More to come on that soon!

Cheers!