Formation 4-3-1-2 is a total failure of whoever took it. Twice I've played with it and it occurred to me the same thing, and I watched the other games where he was the same situation as with me. Thus, the two attackers are at the center and do not go on the attack, absolutely. The only one who is going to attack is the offensive midfield, but still lose the ball because there is no where to pass the ball. Maybe it's a bug, I do not know. My advice is to solve it in a way that attackers move forward (somehow?!), or the formation ejected from the game. Until then, do not take it in any case, people! :)

It could be that nobody has the right players for the formation yet. Perhaps you need forwards with extremely high speed and tactics to get to the ball and higher scoring to shoot more effectively from further away, or something to that effect. Having an attacking forward with high scoring and passing and the team player special attribute (more likely to pass and gets a passing bonus) might help.

I've certainly found side forwards to often be less effective than I would have hoped.

Well, the analysing tool showed me that usually when I have a very tough games the best formation for my team is 4-3-1-2. So I used it few times (and in a tough games) and usually it worked quite good for my team. Actually yesterday I won against my main rival in the israeli league using this formation (http://rockingsoccer.com/en/soccer/info/match-171218). I also scored four goals and against a very strong defence so I guess you can still score some goals with this formation.

I haven't had much success with formations with 3 forwards. What I found is that the final pass often comes from a forward, so you don't get the scoring bonus you would normally get from a midfielder making that final pass. But, this also weakens your midfield or defence by removing an extra player from that part of the field.

I must admit, I haven't tried it very often & only in friendlies or using analysis. But even against very weak teams, it did not have the desired effect and scores were much lower than I would have got loading up with 5 midfielders like I usually do against the weak teams.

Having said that, in a recent match someone did use 3 forwards against me, with reasonable success (they didn't win, but they did score a few goals). I probably need to go analyse that match a bit closer & see what sort of players they had & why it worked so well.

I tried 3-4-3 and 4-3-3 and they are not good to my team. I still like 4-2-2 because it looks more stable when you are either home or away.

I do found some people try 4-2-4 and in some particular games, it is very successful. I believe the best performance of line-up comes from the ability of your players and a comparison to your opponet's players.

when joest 5 wrote 4-3-1-2 he meant 4 defenders, 3 midfields, 1 attack midfield and 2 strikers
it worked for him great against me and from my expirience it's one of the best formatians

@muky

The same happens to me when i play 4 defenders, DM CM CM AM, and two forwards. The AM runs past my two forwards, gets into the box and passes backwards to one of my forwards who shoot from outside the box. I figuerd this was because he had higher speed and tactic than both my forwards.

I suppose it comes to strength of players, namely his tactics and speed, as some have concluded, and that's why, for me, this formation was a bad choice. But speaking of the formation, what are your experiences with other formations, which have shown you the best when playing at home or away. What is the best formation to you at all?

4231 is the most reliable formation for me. It gives you a very high pressure and balance between defense and attack. Unfortunatly you only have one striker and midfielders refuse to shoot the ball in this game.

I also really liked 41212 with DM, CM, CM, AM. Very compact midfield which makes it hard for the opposition to get trough balls or utilize his CM/AM.

I used to stick to the 4-4-2 diamond, but that stopped being effective for me last year. This year, the 4-4-2 defensive formation has been extremely productive for me for some reason.

Generally, a formation that prevents long passes (assuming that you have sufficient tactics) except for by players with very good passing should be effective as a possibility, before considering whether it will be effective as a countertactic.

For me, ideal tactic is 4-4-2 diamond, and I use it alomost in every game. In first seasons I started experimenting with tactic and it didn't do any good. So I stay at this. One other tactic, when I'm playing against home, better side is 5-3-2 sweeper. I have good defence (the best in league) so I can afford it. I put my DMC on sweeper position, and my AMC on MC. It works quite well against stronger or equal opponents away from home.

I often play with 3 forwards in away games. It often results in a dominating match, with many shots.

Try the 3-2-2-3 formation once, it is able to hold back the 3-5-2 formation which is a very tough one for my team.

4-4-2 diamond is an other one I like, hard to break for most of my opponents. I must admit I prefer playing with a sweeper and make it a double diamond formation in def and mid