2013 How To Play Like Brendan Rodgers:

[Ashez]

How To Play Like Brendan Rodgers:

Hello and welcome to my guide on how to play like Brendan Rodgers, this guide could become part one since this focuses on his 4-3-3 formation and not the 4-2-3-1 he used in the second half of the season, so depending on the interest I might also do his 4-2-3-1 formation.

For this guide I have used many different sources of information from my general knowledge of football as well as many different website which produce stats, guides,formations and various other bits and pieces of information.

Who Is Brendan Rodgers?

If you seriously don't know who he is..Where have you been? Brendan Rodgers has taken the Premier League by storm in this past year thanks to the amazing way he set out his Swansea City side to play. Most bookies and fans alike had Swansea as the automatic team to fall back down into the Championship but after only a few games you knew Swansea and Rodgers ment business. They kept the ball in a similar way as Arsenal do, they passed and moved while keeping things simple and playing in triangles to help create space for each other.

Rodgers was able to create this “Tika-Taka” type of football on a shoe string budget compared to the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona and use it well, his philosophy was that the opposite can't score if we've got the ball.

Rodgers got his players to move the ball around but the main objective was to keep possession of the ball and focus on the quality of the goal scoring opportunities created not the quantity.

This style of play got Rodgers all kinds of publicity within the footballing world while it also led Swansea City into another season involved in the top flight of the English game.

Unfortunately for Swansea though Brendan Rodgers has now left them behind and has began a new journey at Liverpool Football Club, many fans are optimistic about this appointment while many believe it could be an extremely shrewd move...Lets find out.

“I like to control games. I like to be responsible for our own destiny. If you are better than your opponent with the ball you have a 79 per cent chance of winning the game…for me it is quite logical. It doesn’t matter how big or small you are, if you don’t have the ball you can’t score.” (Rodgers 2012)

The Strategy:

I've already called this formation a 4-3-3 which it is at a push but in truth it is much more a 2-1-2-2-2-1 and the reasoning for this is that Brendan Rodgers once plotted out his tactics for a journalist and gave details about how his team should play.

Rodgers firstly broke up the pitch into eight zones, once this was done he included his formation while making a point that each player when in possession has a role for the team, including the goal keeper and central defenders.

So as you can see this formation steps away from the standard formations and focuses on the zones within the pitch.

“My template for everything is organisation. With the ball you have to know the movement patterns, the rotation, the fluidity and positioning of the team. Then there’s our defensive organisation…so if it is not going well we have a default mechanism which makes us hard to beat and we can pass our way into the game again. Rest with the ball. Then we’ll build again.” (Rodgers 2012)

Breaking Up The Zones And The Player Roles:

If No Instruction Are Given Its Default.

Zone 1 – The Goal Keeper:

This formation uses a “Sweeper Keeper” which is a player who as the name suggests is a mixture between a goal keeper and a sweeper. As a goal keeper his main job is to keep the ball out of the net but his sweeper instincts will enable him to start of moves with short passing while also being able to defend or “sweep” if a player gets behind the defensive line. For this role the goal keeper must have the standard goal keeping attributes while also having decent pace, tackling and decisions to ensure he knows when he should venture of his line.

Unfortunately the IOS game doesn't currently offer a “sweeper keeper” option so you'll have to settle with a standard GK.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS – GK

PSP -

Passing: Short

Tackling: Team

Pressing: Yes

Free Role: Yes

Recommended Players:

Joe Hart

Jose Manual Reina

Zone 2 – The Central Defenders:

The main job of the defenders is to protect there goal but they also have a large part to play in the whole keep possession mentality this formation uses and to be a pressure release for the midfielders.

Player One:

The first central defenders role is to be the physical presence who's main job is to defend and keep the ball moving, this physical defender needs to have decent defending attributes like heading, tackling,positioning and strength while passing would be a nice bonus.

Player Two:

The second defenders role is that of a “ball playing defender” this players job is to bring the ball out of the defence and move it onto other plays within the midfield, since he's got the permission to move forward he'll also be the player the midfield will look for as a pressure release. This player will need to have the same defending attributes as his powerful partner and will also need to process decent technical, pace and decision making stats. These two center backs need to compliment each other well.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: CB

PSP:

Passing: Short

Tackling: Team

Hold Up Ball: Yes

Marking: Zonal

Player Two:

IOS: Ball Player Defender.

PSP:

Passing: Direct

Tackling: Team

Forward Runs: Yes

Marking: Zonal

Recommended Players:

Martin Skrtel and Danny Agger

Puyol and Gerrard Pique

Zone 3 -The Defensive Midfielder:

The defensive midfielder in this formation is crucial since he has a hand in all the pies, his primary job is to move the ball along quickly and effectively. He should receive the ball from a player behind him and look to move the ball on quickly and start of a move. Although sometimes this player will also need to go looking for the ball, so he also needs to be able to win it back. Key attributes for this role included tackling, passing, positioning, technique, teamwork and stamina.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: BWM or DLM

PSP:

Passing: Short

Tackling: Committed

Pressing: Yes

Hold Up Ball: Yes

Marking: Zonal

Play maker: Optional

Recommended Players:

Lucas

Leo Britton

Zone 4 – The Wing Backs:

The wing backs are the main source of width in this formation since both the wingers are inside forwards (we'll come to that shortly) so these two players need to be both excellent going forward and defending.

In a defending aspect they need to be able to stop the opposition wingers and wing backs breaking you down on the flanks which could be achieved by pinning back the opposition due to the attacking nature of these players. In the defending role these players need to have decent tackling, positioning, decisions making, pace, strength and stamina.

In the attacking department these players must be able to run up and down the by-line all match long so stamina is possibly the most important attribute for these player to have. Once they've found themselves in a more attacking position they'll be expected to cause problems for this reason these attributes are important: crossing, passing, pace, movement and team work.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: Wing Backs

PSP:

Passing: Team

Tackling: Team

Pressing: Yes

Forward Runs: Yes

Run With Ball: Yes

Cross Ball: Yes

Marking: Zonal

Recommended Players:

Glenn Johnson

Jose Enrique

Ashley Cole

Zone 5 – The Central Mid-fielders:

The central midfielders' role within the team is to balance themselves between attacking and defending. They are intended to help out with the dirty work towards there own goal by winning back the ball and maintaining possession but they also have a role to play going forward. Both these players are expected to find space on the pitch and constantly make themselves available to receive the ball by playing in triangles with the players around them. Once they have the ball there job turns a little more creative as they try to move the ball on and create an opportunity for the team. Recommended attributes for this role include – Stamina, passing, shooting, tackling, creativity, team work, movement and positioning.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: Box To Box

PSP:

Passing: Short

Tackling: Committed

Pressing: Yes

Forward Runs: Yes

Run With Ball: Yes

Long Shots: One on Yes the other on NO

Through Balls: Yes

Marking: Man

Recommended Players:

Jordan Henderson

Joe Allen

Luka Modric

Yaya Toure

Zone 6 – The Inside Forwards:

Both wingers in this formation are expected to drift in field to receive the ball and produce problems for the opposition, while also offering slight width to the team. Most of the time a player will play on the opposite side to there stronger foot so there encouraged to cut in field instead of going down the by-line then once they find themselves on there stronger foot they'll be able to fire off a shot or player a pass. A player in this role needs these attributes: Passing, shooting, pace, strength, dribbling, team work and technique

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: Inside Forward

PSP:

Passing: Direct

Tackling: Cautious

Pressing: Yes

Forward Runs: Yes

Run with Ball: Yes

Long Shots: Yes

Through balls: Yes

Cross Balls: No

Marking: None

Recommended Players:

Ronaldo

Sanchez

Sinclair

Suarez

Zone 7 – The Striker:

This formation require a new type of striker, a “technically gifted target man” but thankfully in FMH terms a standard target man will perform just fine. This striker is expected to link up the play while offering plenty of movement off the ball to help create space for the rest of the team to abuse.

Player Roles And Instructions:

IOS: Target Man

PSP:

Passing: Short

Tackling: Cautious

Pressing: No

Free Role: No

Forward Runs: Yes

Run With Ball: No

Hold Up Ball: Yes

Long Shots: No

Marking: None

Recommended Players:

Danny Graham

Steven Fletcher

Andy Carroll

Peter Crouch

Zone 8:

Huh I hear you say, yes we have ran out of players but zone 8 is the most important zone. Zone 8 is the assist and scoring zone, in this area you need to ensure that players who are able to take there opportunities will find themselves here because wasted opportunities could become costly. Like I said at the start of this guide this tactic is all about the quality of chances not the quantity so if you only manage to create 4 chances a game you need to make sure that the players arriving in these areas are able to finish them.

So We Have The Settings But How Does It Look?

IOS

PSP

Does It Work and How Well Will Rodgers Do At Liverpool?

In short i would say yes, but i haven't tested it fully as yet because i'm happy with the results i've got.

PSP Results:

As you can see i played the first half of the season using this tactic and things were going great and i'd never be able to loose that lead so to me its a success, i'll likely carry on the save at some point but i've currently got to much other stuff to do on Vibe.

IOS Results:

Credit to AnfieldSquirrel for collecting these results for me, as you can see it does work equally as well on IOS and with a litte more luck the league could have been won.

Conclusion:

I'm fairly happy with the way this formation has turned out and i really hope you've enjoyed reading this guide and will test it out . I need to give a massive shout out to TenDirection and AnfieldSquirrel for all there help in this project, so thank you lads.

As always thank you for reading and a comment would be pure class

[Ashez]

This is comfirmed as working on 2013 by myself, i haven't played a full season but it seems to be having the same effect as last year

Enjoy

[rickybrick]

Team Instruction?

[Ashez]

Attacking Short Committed Pressing Off side trap

[anfieldsquirrel]

Gonna use this in my Rangers game

[Ashez]

Good luck

[Snoopy]

Loved this tactic on 2012, will try on iOS 2013 and post some results for you

[WelshBoa]

Fortunately he left Swansea City......#Laudrup

And whilst he did well to get us up, we were already playing that way with Martinez who started the keep ball passing philosophy.

However I shall try this tactic and report back!

[anfieldsquirrel]

Beat Feyenoord on away goals with Linfield in the champions league qualifying round.

[Ion]

I tried this tactics in 10 games and I dropped from 1st to 6th :|

[anfieldsquirrel]

Working wonders for me!

[Ashez]

I tried this tactics in 10 games and I dropped from 1st to 6th :|

Team? And i'm guessing you switched mid season which isn't ideal as the players need time to adjust, so what formation did you use before hand?

[Ion]

I tried this tactics in 10 games and I dropped from 1st to 6th :|

Team? And i'm guessing you switched mid season which isn't ideal as the players need time to adjust, so what formation did you use before hand?

I use Liverpool and I use 4-2-3-1 before switch to this

[AddictedFM]

Using this on my aberyswyth (sorry for the awful spelling) Town save! So far 5 games down, 5 games won!

[jimkuek12345]

I tried this tactic and it worked very well

With this tactic,I won the BPL title using LFC

[Ashez]

Great to hear lads

[kingeric]

looks like a good tactic, may give it a go with Newcastle once I get them out of the relegation battle i found them in,.. However Martinez was the founder of Swansea's attacking passing game, and you will see Wigan adopt a similar approach under Roberto. Long may it continue.

[MisterZhifei]

Great guide, I'm gonna partially base a tactic on this!

[Tommy 922]

Is the offside trap really necessary?

[Ashez]

Well it helps keep a high line which in turn would press the pitch/oppostion.

If you don't want to use the OST for some reason then try it with out .

[Tommy 922]

Should i go balanced away from home?

[Ashez]

I never changed tbh but it can help.

[Tommy 922]

Should i change it a week before the match or before kick off?

[Tommy 922]

I use this tactic often and I see sometimes a slump comes through once or twice

[Adamski2409]

Will it work for the Liverpool of this next season, however, that is the question!

[chinedukalu]

Nice tactics, am kop fan and tactics is one of the best