4-1-1-4 asymetrical Zig Zag

This is my 4-1-1-4 Asymetrical 'Zig Zag' tactic. The reason for the zig zag is due to the players in the center of the pitch all being offset from each other.
This main premis of this tactic is to get the ball up the pitch very quickly so we can press high and draw players out of the box for late runners to get on the end of a through ball.
Interms of the outer part of the pitches the instructions take some inspiration from Ichsan, but ive changed the roles to ones that give me more width and more oportunities to drag players out of the box oposition box and allow us to reset better while on defense.
The main reason for the 'Zig Zag' is that it helps with Confusing the opposition on defence, allows our players to influence more areas of the pitch without getting congested, and also allowing for alot of cascading late runs into the box.
I have Used Vertical TIKA-TAKA as a base as it seems to play mostly like that.
Ive had a ton of success with this tactic, with multiple league titles, cups and a UCL with a struggling Villareal team before i took over. Ive decided to show this my most recent season, a season where i did not win the UCL, for a few reasons....
1. I went invincible in the league against very strong Madrid and Barca teams
2. I scored the most goals i have ever got in a season.
3. Some of the results i got were insane, such as the 8-0 thumping of chelsea in the UCL.
4. My youth teams won there respective leagues this year with the ai managers of them using my tactic, with most of my youth talent is either on loan, in my senior squad, or my B-team.









The tactic


Roles
GK:
Sk-De: This allows the goalkeeper some range to come out of the area to collect and get the ball back up the pitch but while keeping him cautious of getting caught out. No specific Instructions.
Central Def:
Bpd-De: The rock of the defense, must be tall, quick and have good anticipation as he will be main collecter of recyled balls that get cleared when the other team trys to break the high press. He has a dribble more instruction so that he may drive up the pitch and therefore pushing us higher up and dragging there frontline line back and our back line up with him.
Bpd-St: The first little stepping stone of our 'Zig Zag. The stoppers main role is to close down any stikers that will try to get on to any lose balls getting recycled from our press. with him being a Bpd too allows him to then get the ball quickly up the pitch hopefully quick enough so that the other teams counter attacking players are now out of posistion allowing more space for our forwards to work there magic. Again he has a dribble more instruction so that he may drive us up the pitch and compress the other team.

Fullbacks:
Fb-Sup: Both of our fullbacks have a support duty allowing them to get up the pitch providing width on attack while also being cautious of other teams trying to counter with balls out to the wings. The main ideas of the full backs are to maraud deep into the other teams final third while we have the ball and sit outside of the area to drag other teams wingers out of the area into spaces where they cant counter well while also not providing much defensive support. In terms of instructions they sit out wide while we have the ball to do what was previously said. While they themselves have the ball they cut inside causing confusion of who is going to pick them up. They also run to the byline for the cross to futher drag players out of those central areas where we want the ball while also providing opportunities to central players finding space in the centre of the box.

Defensive Midfielder:
Bwm-De: This player is crucial to winning the ball in central areas and then laying it off to our playmaker ahead of him or back to our Bpd's who can then drive forward to push us up the pitch. The Bwm needs to be quick,have good at anticipation and have good posisitioning too stop the counter from deep. He protects our back line while also working well with our stopper by helping him close down any maruading strikers who are trying to run up the pitch. No specific instructions required.
Central midfield:
Ap-At: The next step in our 'Zig Zag' Is our Hook to get the ball to all of the players who are making runs whether that be a through ball to our strikers with the extra space they have or to our wide players to help drag the other team out of the centre so he can himself make a late run into the box for a cut back. In this formation he almost acts like a Volante but looks for a pass instead of driving forward himself. This player needs good vision, passing and composure so that he can make killer balls to our forward players even while under the press. Extra Flair and long shots helps a bunch too. No specific Instructions.
Wingers:
IW-Sup: These players are going to be our assist machines. There main role is to pull players out of the central part of the area while also being able to provide killer balls to our strikers or full backs. The support role is there to mean that they are sitting deeper towards the edge of the box dragging out players from that central area, while also looking for that killer ball instead of going for goal themselves. These guys work with our full backs to cause confusion with the oposition fullbacks with them not knowing who to mark hopefully freeing either one for cut back or through ball. He has hold the ball up to allow our strikers to make there runs into the box while also allowing time for our fullbacks to come up the pitch and drag players out of position. i Hve them sitting narrower so that the opposition fullbacks hopefully get caught out between our wingers and fullbacks. I have them marking the Opposition full backs so that they come back and provide more shape on defense.

Attacking Midfield:
SS-At: This the next part of our 'Zig Zag' Is one of our main goalscoring threats. I have him sitting back in attacking mid field mainly so that he can provide a late run into the box while our striker is getting caught out by there central defenders being able to pick up on a late through ball or cut back/cross mostly unopposed as most teams dont tend to mark him out of the game as he normally roams from position. In defense he is the player that normally wins the ball high up the pitch picking up on any loose balls pressing on any Defensive midfielders or the forward CD of a back 5. Good compsosure, first touch and positioning is needed for this role as he will usually be picking up the ball on the edge or outer areas of the box.
Strikers:
AF-At: This is the last part of our 'Zig Zag' being our main focal point and goalscorer. This guy needs pace. If hes not fast he wont get away from his defender to get onto those through balls that will be coming thick and fast. His secondry function is to drag the opponents defense away from our late runners into the box. I have him marking the DCL so that he is always on the defenders shoulder and drgiing him away from where the SS will be running in from, with the added drawback of him tending to get caught offside a fair bit. But good anticipation can counter this well.

Added note: All players who can, have tackle harder on to help win those balls.

In Possession

In possession I want my players getting the ball up the pitch quickly and getting as many balls to my striker as possible. I use this by having my players play slightly more direct as i found this makes them try more through and killer balls for my strikers to get on the end of. The higher tempo also catches the other teams out when they are out of posistion and massively helps the counter.
I have low crosses on as this helps with more cut backs and throughballs. It doesnt stop you players playing it high but it tends to make them more accurate when they do it. My SS or AP tend to get on a fair few balls over the top as they tend to be unmarked adding even more goals.
I have play for set pieces as Corner tactics are OP and it would be stupid to not use them.
I have Play down the centre to make use of my AP and try encourage deep through balls or balls over the top for my striker to get on the end of.
The Underlap is mainly to cause confusion with the oposition wing backs as previously discussed.
I use fairly wide to try encourage my team to sit on the edges of the box to drag out the opposition defenders from the centre. The more expressive allow my team to move more and try those killer balls more often, both providing confusion and chances for my strikers.
I dont use pass into space as i find my players tend to play the balls in areas that arnt actually useful causing an attack to fizzle out when its turned on.


In Transition

Counter and counter press are key. I want the ball turned over quickly so i can get the ball over the top or through the midfield to my strikers as soon as possible.
I have distribute to centre backs on cause i want them to run with the ball and push us high up the pitch.

Out of Possession

I have my team in a high press and a much higher defensive line to A. win possession quickly B. compress the other team spreading them out to the wider areas causing confusion C. Encourage my players to get up the pitch and score goals.
I dont use max pressing as i find it tires out my players way too much as they will be running alot anyway and I also find that it tends to drag my players out of the places i want them to be far too often.
Tackle harder is a given, i want that ball, it encourages more tackling.
Warning, you will get a ton of yellow cards so you will need backups when alot of the guys get suspended.

Conclusion
Personally ive found alot of fun with this tactic. Ive scored alot of goals, like alot. It wins most games from outscoring the opponent, but you do get the occaisional loss from the teams that have fully world class players who have extremely high mentals and physicals. I have won many trophys with this tactic including a UCL. The year shown though, my players really took a massive hit when we had a penalty loss to Real Madrid causing a big dip of form just before the UCL semi with Arsenal In classic FM fashion. But I reckon if we came out on top of the Penalty shootout with a win we would waled away with another UCL. Even then we still mamaged to get an Invincible season which is a big achievement in a league with R-Madrid and Barca.
Another thing id like to add is that Its pretty good with allowing rotation, Like ive rotated alot of my youth in and out and theyve all had had really good performances, so it works well on a team youre still trying to rebuild or isnt up to scratch yet.
Another added benefit is that this tactic really works well for your youth teams with all 3 of my youth teams winning there respective leagues, which ive never really had before.
Any ways i hope you enjoy and have success with this tactic, Ive never uploaded on before but i thought this was way too good to share.
Ps. The media might say that you play route one.......