Re: Common standard formations in online play? Advantages / disadvantages?

Well it is hard to answer what the most common formation is. On the top level players (ASL1 and top in general), mostly 442 and 523 are used. But also Sweep, 352/532 and 424 is up there. There are a few people who play really good on underused formations such as 343 (FOKA), and 541 (Manuel). But the better you know your formation the better you play both in attack and defense, AND BOTH ARE EQUALLY IMPORTANT IN SWOS!

From personal experience I think the 442 has the least weaknesses and best allround attack (most ways to score due to positions), and you can add sweep to this category aswell, only the defense is a little different. If you like high pressure 442 is better, and if you like to wait out your opponent more then Sweep is your choice in my opinion.

If you create your own custom tactic you can mix it up untill you are satisfied, but surely there are some limitations. Ie if you create a tactic that has positions to far away from the standards you will get too many x s and then players will not perform at their best. This is again a compromise between your preferred positions and performance.

I also have to add the importance of your team choice. If you play safe passing on the ground, pick a strong passing team. And if you play more direct you should look at some other stats.

Ie if you like to use the new teams and 352/532, you should pick a team with fast central defenders/midfielders for the defensive midfielders for optimal performance. If you only look at fast defenders, that leaves you with only 2 teams in the 16/17 which are Real and Bayern. In the old version only Brazil 96/97 has this. This is of course only general thinking, but if you use a formation with important players in the center pick a team that has fast players on those positions. If you like to play 424 or 523 then you need faster players on the sides.

Besides playing countless of times, if you want to get better with one type of formation go to the tactics editor and import it. Click on the ball and move it around on the pitch. Then you can see your players movement around the pitch, and thus get a better idea of where they will move to in the next situation.

Hope any of this info is useful to you. HF GG GL GH

GL is of course Good Luck