Advanced Formations (Images)

[Pokervriend]

I have tried the 262 formation. It works pretty much the same as 442 with a super high defence. When you're playing a weaker opponent it works quite well.

[jMz]

Been doing a lot of experimenting with the formations lately, and though I'm not sure I have it completely mastered, I do have a good idea of how it all works. I'll warn you, this is all information I have come up with myself, so I can't guarantee it is 100% accurate, but (smug face) I'm pretty sure I'm right.

PES2012
So you set your default team up in the first slot, make this a balanced formation so you aren't being over-run at either end of the pitch, then you'll need a deep defensive formation, an attacking formation and maybe something a bit wild on the fourth.
I haven't found a way to base copy the formation into the next slot, and to be honest that makes it a bit of a pain as you have to keep going back and forward to get them right. If anyone knows a way to do this I'd be grateful if you could tell me.

Now it's really hard to give specific details as everyone's team is probably different, but what you need to do is to look for players in your team with multiple positions. For example, you could start with a 4-4-2, then maybe you have a DMF that can play CB, and two decent wing backs, in your attacking formation, push the wing backs up into midfield and drop the DMF back into CB giving you a 3-5-2.

The sliders are really where the action is when setting up your team. Most of them are pretty self explanatory, and they decide how deep your defence will sit, how wide across the pitch they will be (compactness), the pressing intensity, position switch frequency, and the support range, which I believe is how far players will be from the player with the ball, a narrow range will bring players to you making it easier to pass around on the ground, but this can leave you with nowhere to go if there is nobody in space, and a wide range will have the players move further out, wingers may push right to the line, great for long balls, but sometimes you can get stranded.

So the idea is to get a good balance between attack and defence, to suit your playing style, and suit your opponent. If you have too many too high or low you could find your players tiring too quickly.

Experiment, just a few changes can have a profound effect on your style. I tend to just use standard, then I'm not stuck in the constraints of the default ones and can have them as high or as low as I need.
When I mentioned the wild one earlier, you could use this for a very compact high pressure for short periods of the match.

I tend to find, as with most PES games, one formation is not superior to any other, it's how it's used, the ability of players in their positions, and how it fits against the team you are playing against. You'll need to find what works for you.

If you have any specific questions or want me to go deeper into a certain topic I'll try my best to help. Thanks for reading, I plan to update this thread with some pictures, but the truth is, I don't get as much free time as I used to these days!

[abu97]

I used this strategy every time
All out defense - Use the all-out attack tactic and formation on simple settings

Possession Game - Use the long-ball or all-out defense tactic and formation on simple settings (If you wanna play more creative, use long-ball. If not, use All-out Defense)

Quick Counter - All out defense tactic (If they use the physical route 1, then use 'out wide(Defensively)'

All-out attack - All-out Defense tactic and formation on simple settings

Long-ball - Use Possession Game tactic and formation on simple settings

Each tactics has their own set of sliders so I just leave them as they are or slightly alter them. It makes a perfect balanced match where no team can dominate the other