FC PORTO QUINTUPLE 4-2-3-1 (107 GOALS, GD +80) WON CHAMPIONS LEAGUE, LEAGUE, SUPERCUP, DOMESTIC CUPS

The 4-2-3-1 tactic is one of the most efficient tactics in FM24 (in FM23 I meanly used 4-3-3). For FM24 I used two base tactics, one with an attack minded setup and one to “close the door” to see the result out in the last 5-10 minutes of the game when needed. No OI’s used.

NO transfers in/out, so used the budget (almost no funds available) to keep the selection together, lowest spending in the whole league on transfers. 

In the January 2024 transfer window, I lost a very good player (Joao Mario) to Manchester City, no option to keep him and replaced him with a young signing (Sebastian Boselli 20, River Plate), who is promising but not of the same calibre, so we played the second part of the season with a slightly weakened squad. Lost traction as a result as many players were unhappy with Joao Mario leaving and several players asked for improved contracts and no funds available, this led to a drop in morale which is so vital to performances.

Despite all of this I managed to win the Portuguese League (only 1 loss away to Benfica, 0-1), drew 5 matches against weaker opponents due to needed squad rotation and lower morale (unhappy players). Won the Portuguese Super cup, both domestic cups and the Champions League (3-0 win in final). Eliminated PSG in semi-finals aggregate 4-1, while RB Leipzig eliminated Man City aggregate 2-1.

The main tactic (Attacking) uses underlaps (very efficient when using IF/IW), high intensity tactic with “NO hard tackles” instructions in PI and no “get stuck in” team instruction. There may be a slight advantage to use these settings but given the increased yellow/red cards, injuries, suspensions I decided to “play nice” and only used that for the Defensive tactic where you want to frustrate the opponent and see out the game. 

The defensive tactic aims also to play with a MID block and slightly higher defensive line to limit space and slightly more direct (less shorter passing) than the attacking variant.

Second highest in possession in the league, but that was not the focus for the tactics, highest in shots on goals and fewest shots against. A very solid tactic, not to keep “clean sheets” but more to “outscore the opponent”.