If you can't be arsed to read it all, I've highlighted some key points.
This formation is for the brave, the very good, and certainly not for the light hearted. The only time I've been beaten with this set up was the first game I tried it, and after a few games a tight 4-3 defeat against McNab, the games I did win at first were a struggle. I dismissed the set up thinking it just didn't work with the way I like to play, but how I was wrong, a few tiny tweaks and plenty of time to get used to it and I've honed it to near perfection.
I reccomend it for playing against humans, but I haven't really tried it against the computer, I imagine it will exploit the formation's weaknesses more effectively. Also you can't trick the computer, it always knows what is going on, you can trick a human by swapping the default and formation A, so you start with a 4-4-2, but when you press L2 it switches to the 2-6-2 all out, and your opponent just thinks you are using 4-4-2, because that's all he saw on your formation screen. He won't know what's hit him. Otherwise the second formation in the diagram is useless, I wouldn't even bother with it.
Although the team is based around Classic Brazil, it can be easily translated into another side, or your master league team, but if the players aren't good enough it may fail terribly. If you get the strongest player for every position, you should be nigh on unbeatable, I haven't had the time to set up an ML team yet, but I imagine PES5 is a while off yet so I have time in the future.
To get away with using this formation
you need to be inventive, and you need to be very good at passing the ball around, and I don't mean "yeah, I can press X and a direction." I mean you need to have the ability to pick out the right ball at the right time, knowing whether a long or short pass might be better, and knowing when to dummy. Not to mention
your defensive abilities will be tested, I garuantee it, no matter how good you are, it's just the nature of the formation.
It's not a 'cheat' formation, where you can easily win without trying, you really need to play to get anywhere. The results are worth all the work you need to put in, although it doesn't feel like work when your 25th intricate pass has just reached Zico in front of an open goal to put you 4-0 up.
It doesn't work well in PES3, at all, but because everything is smoother and the players are better
in PES4, it works a treat. I have tried it on both games, and on PES3 I instantly noticed the lack of the new short passing system, it was difficult to get the ball across the pitch quickly without using the ropey manual stick system. But in PES4 you have a combination of features that make it easier to play
real football, thus rendering this setup irresistable.
You'll be stretching the play a lot and using all the pitch, keep looking for clusters of your players just hanging around in space.
The more you move the ball around and across the pitch, the more stretched the opposition will get, then with all your players forward, you'll easily spot huge gaps. At times it feels like you've got 15 players on the pitch, all hungry for goals, and anyone in the team is capable of scoring.
Dig out all your old World Cup footage and learn from the greatest,
take notes from Holland and Brazil when they were at their best, you basically need to play like that. 1 touch passing is very much the order of the day, but not the only ingredient. As you move up the field, most of your players will join the attack, leaving you spoilt for choice on who to pass to. Delve into the coaching manual and use all the
triangles and 1-2's you can fit in making sure you
do not lose the ball. Push up one side to get the oppositions defence to close you down, then stretch the opposition by putting the ball over to the other side with a long or hard ground pass, where you should find plenty of men waiting virtualy unmarked. After you've made the defence run about for long enough it's just a case of getting the final ball into the box, and of course you have some of the best shooting players in the history of football, so you aren't limited on the type of goal you can score.
Try plenty of crazy shots, if the keeper stops it, it'll rebound 9 times out of 10 because of the power these players have and there will always be a player running in to tap it in.
Try to be patient and only pass when you know it's on, if you lose the ball high up the pitch against a good counter attacking team, they may punish you.
Keep the ball as much as you can, even if you have to play it all the way back to the keeper. This gives you a psychological edge too, as no-one likes chasing the ball all game, and it will soon
frustrate them into mistakes, which you can exploit.
The team is based entirely on possession attacking, so try not to play defensively unless you really need to, which should be never by the way. If you score early, which you should,
keep probing and if you have 3 by half time you should be safe and sound. The oppositions mentality will be low and it should be easier to add more goals.
Never sit back on a lead unless you change the formation to suit. Don't worry about conceding the odd scrappy goal as you should always be able to score more. I've been averaging 6 a game with this side against my mates, and conceded an average of 2. I also worked out that in ten games I averaged 24 shots a game and 17 on target. Obviously I can't claim to be the tactical master without logging some data on how effective my teams are, and looking at it on paper, of all the setups I have tried, this has an alarming success rate.
In situations where a striker is through against your last defender, just try to sheperd him wide while the rest of your team gets back to defend. Make sure you
stay between him and the goal so he can't get a shot off, then when your players get back, try to mark any possible passes so you can snatch the ball and counter.
Stay on your feet unless you're absolutely sure, and always stay in front of any attacking player, if he gets past you don't want to be sat on your arse after a missed slide.
Then assuming you get the ball,
don't just whack it over the top, look at your radar, play it on nice and simple. Wherever you are on the pitch you should outnumber the other team, just keep the ball,
don't rush it. If you can, put it really close to the opposition when you pass, then once it's past them they are totally cut out until they chase again.
Wear them out and tease them, if they chase, just keep knocking it around.
It doesn't matter about counter attacking every single time, cos every now and again you will spot the perfect pass down the wing for someone totally unmarked. Just wait for the right ball,
it's not about taking risks, it's about being sure whether you make a long or short pass it's going to work, sometimes you only need a simple five yard pass, sometimes it's better to ping a 60 yd long ball across the pitch.
The radar is king, I find I look at that more than the actual players. Or if you can get away with it, the birds eye cam, you get an amazing view of how many players are in space. I can't use it very well but someone will.
To get the most out of this patient style you should play no less than
15 minutes a game really, because it could take time to build up a goal. I've only played on 5 or 6 stars, so I don't know if there are even more goals in this team on a lower difficulty setting, although I don't know if it makes a difference in match mode, we've always put it on 5/6 stars so it shows when you save a goal. If you aren't bothered about looking like arguably the greatest ever team, then you may not like this set up, but if you are like me and you like to
play football, show off, and most importantly, entertain anyone watching, you should love it. I only wish the crowd cheered for every pass.
This could be my last input for a good while, so I tried to make sure it was a good one that you could make the most of. If you like my thread I'd be grateful if you could keep it alive until I come back, I will be back. I ask only one thing of the people who use my teachings, when you score a beautiful, well made, team goal against a bitter rival, dedicate it to me.
