De Zerbi inspired build-up, relationism, and a narrow 4-2-3-1 - full FM24 tactic recreation and results
Filipe Luís enjoyed a successful career, of which he played as a left-back for the likes of Chelsea and Atletico Madrid, before spending his twilight years at Flamengo – upon retiring from his playing career, he would gain his coaching badges and bag a role as Flamengo U17 Manager, before undergoing two promotions to become the club’s new Head Coach, albeit on an interim basis, taking the reins of dismissed Tite.
Since his appointment, Luís has transformed Flamengo and, thus, been given the job on a full-time basis, much to the delight of the Flamengo fandom – Luís has only managed fewer than 70 competitive games as Flamengo manager, however, he’s already achieved mass success and has attracted the interest of many foreign football fans around the world, as he appears to be the next tactical genius in world football.
In this article, I’ll be providing my brief analysis of his tactics at Flamengo, before demonstrating my recreation of said tactics in Football Manager 2024 and showcasing the outstanding results said recreation achieved in testing. Firstly, let’s analyse Filipe’s Flamengo tactically.
De Zerbi-inspired Build-up
Filipe Luís’ Flamengo, in build-up, conform to the ideas introduced by Roberto De Zerbi in his time at Shakhtar, Sassuolo and Brighton, where the goal-keeper and centre-backs delay their next move in an attempt to draw the opposition press high, thus theoretically creating space between the lines of which can be exploited by players dropping from the attacking line. Filipe Luís sets his Flamengo side up in a particularly narrow 4-2-3-1 formation, and this formation remains during the side’s build-up phase – from here, the full-backs move higher and wider, the centre-backs split very wide and the double-pivot drops slightly deeper to provide central connective points, crucial to enacting the third-man principle. The goal-keeper will put his foot on the ball, awaiting the opposition’s high-press, of which triggers Filipe Luís’ shorter passing-based build-up.
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Relationism Principles
Filipe Luís’ Flamengo, as aforementioned, set up in a particularly narrow 4-2-3-1, with the usual ‘wingers’ actually positioned inside the half-spaces, essentially creating a three-‘10’s shape – this positioning sees the ‘wingers’ vacate the wide areas, allowing the full-backs to hold the team’s width in-possession. As such, Luís’ Flamengo create a flexible 2-2-6/3-1-6 in-possession shape, with the latter shape seeing one of the holding midfielders dropping between/beside the centre-backs to form the necessary back-three. Having three ‘10s’ positioned so close to each other creates central clusters for Flamengo to distribute the ball to – from here, the players residing within the cluster/s will link-up to create chaos, often leading to a player running clean through on goal. Additionally, to increase the effectiveness of said central clusters, the ‘10s’ can roam around to find pockets of space to receive the ball.
Let’s Break Down the Tactic
In Possession:
When they have the ball, Flamengo will play out from the back and will do so at a relatively lower pace whilst using shorter passes, in an attempt to draw in the opponent’s high-press – if successful, they can progress play with line-breaking passes into central areas. Once they have progressed from build-up, Flamengo place a huge emphasis on play in central areas and verticality, the latter results in a lot of through balls in-behind for the attackers to chase. Finally, when Flamengo reach the final third, they remain patient in their box penetration, although, their players are given complete licence to roam and interchange with one another; Cut-backs are created regularly.
In Transition:
When Flamengo lose possession, they immediately look to win it back by deploying an aggressive counter-press. When they win back possession, on the other hand, their players will assess the game’s situation before deciding whether to launch a counter-attack or not. Finally, from goal-kicks, their ‘keeper will slow the pace of the game down to try and invite the opposition’s high-press, before distributing with shorter kicks.
Out of Possession:
When Flamengo don’t have possession, they will press high in a horizontally compact 4-2-3-1 – a shape they aim to preserve by not incessantly pressing at every opportunity, despite their preference to initially press in a man-oriented fashion. To supplement their high press, their defensive line is positioned higher to compact the midfield space. Finally, their players are particularly aggressive in duels/tackles.
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Player Roles
Sweeper Keeper – Support:
In this system, the ‘keeper moves slightly higher to join build-up, however, is only really a secondary passing option as he doesn’t move in-line with the backline. When Flamengo don’t have the ball, the ‘keeper is pro-active in sweeping and cross-claiming. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.
Wing-Back – Attack:
In this system, both full-backs hold higher and wider positions – however, the right-back tends to be a bit more aggressive in his attacking exploits, constantly providing overlapping runs for interior team-mates to find. When he receives the ball, the right-back tends to carry the ball forward often, before sending in crosses. Finally, when Flamengo don’t have the ball, both full-backs are aggressive in tackling. Therefore, I felt this role was best-suit, with the added instructions below:
(DCR & DCL) Ball-Playing Defender – Defend:
In this system, both centre-backs are very important in enacting the idea as both have to be deep progressors of possession, using line-breaking/progressive passes and also carry the ball forward from a deeper position too. Finally, from build-up, both players will split wider to stretch the opposition’s high-press and open up passing lanes into central players. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect for both positions, with the added instructions below:
Wing-Back – Support:
As aforementioned, both full-backs in this system will move higher and wider – however, unlike the right-back, the left-back is slightly more reserved in his positioning and will be more thoughtful before making overlapping runs. When he receives the ball, however, he will attempt to reach the byline to supply cut-backs for the attackers. Finally, as with the right-back, the left-back is particularly aggressive in tackles. Therefore, I felt this role was most optimal, with the added instructions:
Defensive Midfielder – Support:
In the double-pivot in this system, both players will sit slightly above the opposition’s initial pressing line, allowing for more verticality from build-up if needed – from here, they can take turns to drop beside the centre-backs to create a 3-1 rest defence. In this position, Pulgar is less creative than Jorginho, thus the difference in roles. I felt this role was ideal, with the added instructions:
Deep Lying Playmaker – Support:
The double-pivot’s movements in-possession, as just described, remain a factor despite the difference in role – the difference in role reflects Jorginho’s tendencies to move towards the ball regularly and dictate play. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect, with the added instruction:
Advanced Playmaker – Support:
In this position, the ‘right-winger’ is positioned narrower within the right half-space – from here, the ‘right-winger’ will initially position himself in the right half-space, before constantly roaming around to cause positional chaos. The same can be said for the ‘left-winger’ on the opposite side – the difference in roles is due to the ‘right-winger’s’ particular tendency to drop off the front line to receive between the lines. Therefore, I felt this role was most optimal, with the added instructions:
Attacking Midfielder – Attack:
In this position, the central ‘10’ does a lot of what the two other ‘10s’ do – roaming, creating central clusters and linking up. However, he also has a tendency to make an off-ball run in-behind, sometimes seeing him being the receiver of a through ball as a result of link-up play in the central clusters; This is reflected in the role, with the added instructions:
Attacking Midfielder – Support:
In this position, the ‘left-winger/left-10’ will also roam around and help to form central clusters. However, unlike his opposite number (right-winger/right-10), he can often drift wider to link-up with the left-back – additionally, he typically moves higher than his opposite number, and that’s reflected in the role’s instructions:
Complete Forward – Support:
The striker, in this system, is the epitome of a ‘complete forward’, as he’s able to situationally drop deeper, run in-behind or run the channels – however, he is more likely to do the first one to help form Flamengo’s central clusters. Therefore, I felt this role was perfect. No added instructions.
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Results
Brasileiro:
We destroyed the Brasileiro in testing, as we won the league, winning an astonishing 34 league games – out of 38 games, whilst drawing 2 games and losing the other 2 games. In the league, we scored 129 goals and conceded just 25 goals – by far and away the league’s best in each respective stat.
We competed in SEVEN competitions in testing, thus meaning it’d take way too long to thoroughly break down our performance in each one – so, instead, I’m going to briefly state each competition and our position/finish in each, before ending with our Copa Libertadores and, eventual, Club World Cup campaigns!
- Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro – Winners
- Supercopa do Brasil – Winners
- CONMEBOL Recopa - Winners
- Copa do Brasil – Winners
Copa Libertadores:
We won the Copa Libertadores, and ultimately gained a place in the Club World Cup, after beating historic rivals Atlético Mineiro 3-2 in the final! On our way to the final, we beat another rival in Palmeiras (3-1 AGG), River Plate (3-0 AGG) and Columbian outfit Independiente Medellin (8-1 AGG), after successfully navigating a group containing Club Libertad, Melgar and Liverpool F.C.
FIFA Club World Cup:
Unfortunately, we couldn’t play the extended version of the FIFA Club World Cup – however, we did reach the final of the smaller version, having beaten Al-Ahly 6-0 in the semi-finals! We would face Manchester City with an unprecedented SEPTUPLE in sight… Heartbreak. The inevitable Erling Haaland bagged a brace as Manchester City won the final 2-0 – we’ll just have to settle for a sextuple instead.
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Conclusion
Filipe Luís has created one of the very best teams to watch in world football at Flamengo and, thankfully, we were all able to witness it in the FIFA Club World Cup in the summer just gone, as Flamengo bravely went toe-to-toe against one of Europe’s elite – surely, Filipe Luís will soon have clubs from around the world knocking on his door, although, his Flamengo side are quite exciting with him at the helm. If you want a taste of this extraordinary tactic, make sure to download the tactics using the link attached to this article and follow FM Blog and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with this tactic on your saves!
