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Here are some tips about how to use the most popular formations in ML. You should use the formation that fits best your players and the one which is the best to annihilate the opponents formation.

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a) 4-4-2

	10	11
6	7	8	9
2	3	4	5
	1

This is probabily the most used formation in ML. It's very balanced. The midfielders are very important because their role is to provide good passes for the attackers, but they also have to help the defenders. To resist in front of a 5-midfielder foration, your midfielders should have good speed, passing and perception. The attackers will get the ball from the wing midfielders (6,9) and the central midfielders (7,8) will appear from time to time in shooting positions. The central defenders (3,4) will have the most important role in trying to get the ball out of your own penalty area.

Any playstyle can be played with 4-4-2, but the most efficient one seems to be continental, followed by mixed.

b) 4-3-3

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6		7		8
2	3		4		5
1

This is an unstable formation. It should be used when you need a comeback or when you want to score many goals. It's quite hard to avoid conceding goals yourself, because 3 midfielders can't always bring enough support for the defenders. The central attacker (10) will be the goal scoring man. The central midfielder (7) is the most important man on the field, he should be a very complete player.

This playstyle is usually vulnerable against teams with many midfielders.
4-3-3 should never be combined with continental. Longball seams to work best here.

c) 5-3-2

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7		8				9
2	3		4		5		6
1

This is formation is unbalanced. 2 Attackers combined with 3 midfielders won't usually bring you too much scoring chances. 5 Defenders might make you think that this formation will bring you security defending the goal, but actually it's rather risky, because of the low number of midfielders. The two attackers should be very efficient ones and the key player, the central midfielder (7), should be complete. He will have both defending and attacking duties and he might score goals aswell.

5-3-2 can be used with all playstyles. It is said that mixed works best here. Be carefull, your team might play very badly with certain playstyles here.

d) 3-5-2

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5	6		7		8		9
2		3				4
1

This is an interesting formation, which has many advantages. The low number of defenders is helped by many midfielders. The two attackers will recieve passes from all the midfielders. There is no key player on the field, which means that you won't have to rely on one player's performance, anybody can make the difference here.

The fact that the formation only uses 3 defenders makes it work well with the offside trap (but the team-stat attribute should be high enough too).

3-5-2 should never be used with longball. Even mixed is quite bad when you have 5 midfielders. Continental is surely the best here.

e) 3-4-3

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5	6		7		8
2		3		4
1

This formation is mostly used by desperate managers, who are trying a miracle comeback. It provides efficient attacking, but your back will probabily suffer alot. If you set this formation against a much stronger team, than the result can be disastrous.

Offside trap is good to use here, but it can't be unfortunately turned on from events.

3-4-3 works with continental and mixed. Longball doesnt't seem a great choice because of the 4 midfielders.