Welcome back! So far we’ve looked at two tactics which utilised direct as a playing style and resulted in a boat load of goals. Sure, 2-3-1-2-2 and 4-2-3-1 had some wonderful results, but what if you don’t have the players for those formations? What if you want to play three centre halves…

Once again the people of Twitter came to me with a suggestion

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3 – 4 – 1 – 2. With the no full backs or wing backs. But 2 wingers pushing on. The 1 had to be creatively 15 or more.

— Al Good-Things (@al_things) 24 July 2017

This intrigued me. It was different, and the type of formation you use with a good team who have loads of attacking players and few defenders. I stoked a game up and opted for Liverpool, the latest to try and get ahead of Man Utd

Some obvious problems, mainly that I want Berger in the AMC role meaning I need a left winger and somebody who isn’t Jamie Redknapp in central midfield. We’ll get to that. Firstly though, more from my latest tactics friend Al_Things:

The 3 being 3 CB’s. No full backs or wing backs. The wide 2 of the 4 being wingers pushing on. The 1 had to have creativity of 15 or more. Ideally passing and set pieces of 15 too. Normally a attacking centre mid would play this role. This was the key role in the team.

I had lots of success getting teams promoted from Division 3 to Premiership with this formation. Usually within 5 seasons. During your first season they would be several strange results. Losing heavily or losing in high scoring games. But stick with it and get the right players in it always turns out good in the end. Got Exeter, Torquay, and Doncaster all promoted to Premier League with this formation. Also used it at Forest, Sevilla, Spurs, Real Madrid & Everton. Winning various league, cups, and European trophies. Also used it with England won Euros but never World Cup.

So, the credentials are there, and with a few additions, this Liverpool team can fly.

Firstly, that left winger. Darren Eadie fits the bill

The Liverpool squad is riddled with injuries at the start of the game, including Fowler, and with no more additions through the door by game 1, this is what I’m working with

Let’s see them in their new formation:

Luckily, it’s only Palace at home on day one and they are a long way from having stars like Zaha and Benteke. Just an old Lombardo and Bruce Dyer. It’s an easy win.

If that’s beign eased in, our first away match is a trip to Highbury…and a sign of things to come

Liverpool love a late goal. Especially against Newcastle

One thing that became apparent very early is that whilst the other tactics seemed to take out the “super keeper” problem, I found that against lesser teams we could have over 20 shots and barely score

Even Steve Ogrizovic had a great time

Having said that, more often than not it just rained goals. Just 12-7 on aggregate.

Lars Ricken arrived to bolster my midfield options, just a few months after scoring a wonderful goal in the Champions League final. £4m…imagine that in today’s market!

Anyway, results were positive but a loss at Old Trafford happens to the best of us.

The tactic is outstanding at home, from my 10 home games we netted 27 times and conceded only 6. Away from home though, we scored and conceded 18. With better defenders and definitely a better goalkeeper though there’s no doubt it would be more effective. David James was at his crisp packet hands worst and Brad Friedel isn’t much better. We did see off Bordeaux though

So whilst maybe not as devestating as the other tactics, it’s certainly a useful option if you don’t want to play full backs. It sitll comfortably outscored the AI over 19 games but the defending wasn’t up to much. Again though, that might be the players we have. Poor Razor Ruddock.

The average ratings back up what our friend Al said – the AMC is vital, and Berger did a great job, whilst the forwards thrived with plenty of service. Even Wright and Ruddock did pretty well, both earned England recalls, whilst Kvarme was far better than Dom Matteo.

Goals were flowing…

Assists were predominantly from the AMC – I wanted Bakayoko for the position but he wasn’t even on the database. Serves me right for only loading an 8MB database. Berger did a grand job but it could have been even better.

In summary then this is another fun tactic. If you’ve got a good keeper and a boat loading of attacking players I’d say this is worth giving a go. It gets 7.5 Bakayoko’s out of 10 from me, but let me know how you get on.

We’ll be back next week with the final tactic in the series. See you there!

It’s been a busy week on CM9798.co.uk. Catch up on my interview with Cashing In author Sid Lambert or take a look at my guide to using the data editor.