Not As Good As 442Baz On 01-02

Not As Good As 442Baz On 01-02 is my attempt to recreate the basic philosophy of my legendary CM01/02 442Baz tactic rather than copy the formation literally. The original was built around a back four with both full-backs encouraged to get forward, two central midfielders holding the middle, wide players constantly pushing up the flanks and two forwards occupying the defence. In FM26 I've tried to recreate those same attacking lanes using modern roles: the wing-backs provide the overlap, the two DMs give the side the central base that the old midfield pairing provided, and the front four are designed to flood the areas where my wingers and strikers used to cause havoc. However, since FM26 hates strikers, this version has width on both sides with two Shadow Striker/attacking-midfield roles aggressively attacking the centre. It looks much less like a traditional 4-4-2 on the tactics screen, but the idea is the same: attack with numbers, stretch the pitch, get runners beyond the midfield and try to recreate the unbeatable football that made 442Baz so successful on CM01/02.


The tactic.


The inspiration.


Tested it with Everton for the purpose of this upload.


Won the Carabao Cup in the first season.


Finished second in the league, with the best defence and attack.



Might not score highly on the testing table but it's a nice change from the template and a very solid defensive tactic.

If it's well received I'll make a video breakdown on my YouTube channel.