FM24 Player Roles: Part 5 - Defensive Midfielder roles and combinations (BWM, HB, DLP, A, RPM, Reg) 

While Zealand and FM scout got me involved and interested in FM back in 2018 YOU solely are keeping me interested. (Nothing against the first two at al) I am now constantly making little tweaks and trying to see them react with the engine. These videos make me want to build a winning tactic with non meta roles like a Regista or Roaming playmaker or using a libero. These types of videos keep people playing and discovering new ways to make the game fun for themselves. Really appreciate you comparing roles to past iconic players. We forget not every great holding mid was a DLP on defend 😜 Keep it up my man!!

A perfect example of segundo volante and a holding mid is Fenerbahçe this season. Fred plays very like a volante on attack duty to support tadic and dzeko in front and İsmail is our holding mid

1:09 Regista (Agressive playmaker who roams a lot; wants to get the ball) 4:01 Defensive Midfielder (Holding Midfielder) 5:14 Ball Winning Midfielder (DM who tackles harder and passes with less risk) 8:07 Anchorman (Conservative DM; good for lower blocks) 9:30 Deep Lying Playmaker Defend (Playmaker and holding midfielder) 10:35 Deep Lying Playmaker Support (Slightly higher; good in combo with SEG VOL) 11:59 Segundo Volante Support/Attack (Runner, best paired with holding midfielder) 15:46 Roaming Playmaker (Very similar to Regista, but less agressive and less customizable) 17:29 Half-Back (Drops between your CBs) 21:20 Pairing tips/remarks

The Segundo Volante is basically a staple of brazilian football, players like Bruno Guimarães, Douglas Luiz and Fred are Segundo Volantes by our standards. Most clubs in Brazil tend to play the two DM strata, and the pairing of a holding DM and a more mobile DM is so common that we just call it Primeiro e Segundo Volantes (First and Second Volante, also, we use Volante as a synonym of defensive midfielder). Segundo Volantes in Brazil also come in all shapes, as it can be the main creator of the team, someone that plays like a BWM on support and has the freedom to be really aggressive to win the ball or even the guy that arrives at the box to finish plays.

Nice explanation mate! Good work. Thanks!

Love it mate, great content.

Man, you are not only cristal clear about instructions, roles, movement, etc but you also are like a modern encyclopedia of football references. That Valencia one was spot on. Not sure if you are from USA or Canada (because of your accent) but I really appreciate northamerican people who knows so much about football/soccer because I think the sport isn't that big up there.

Great video series, thums up! The Volante actually does not necessarily need someone right next to him. We can still have a volante with an off-set midfield formation where he is positioned to one of the side DM slots (DMCR or DMCL). You can play a DLP-S on Central Midfield strata and get a similar combination. The Volante simply is not available in the middle DM slot, he wants to be the "secondary" guy in side slots as you mentioned. :) Keep up the great content ;)

Awesome!

Thank you for the video, :)

Very nice work, I'll hope you will make a video regarding the central midfield roles as well

Love your content man! I play FM 24 touch on my iPhone and your knowledge works pretty much well. Perhaps you could make a video on FM 24 touch in future, but videos which are lined keep them coming learning so much more! ❤️❤️

Half-back is great if you have aggressive wing backs on both sides, he always covers them in inverted wing back manner covering hole they leave if they are higher up

👏 another top, top video! I assume there will be one on CM pairings at some point?

Greetings, More please.

A very important thing when playing midfielders on defend duty, as a lot of the DM roles are that kind, is how they interact during build up. A CM on Defend will drop down, a DM on defend is already low, but they do not show to trigger the press. That is a key thing to note, because if you have a CD, NCB, Libero on Defend, they will not carry the ball and the DM will not show himself to receive it either. What those defend duties do is drop down to COVER for the ball carrying CBs. They will take the ball sometimes and turn with it, but only after the BPD has attracted the press away and passed it to them to now play out of pressure. Please, have at least one BPD/Libero on attack with these roles, because it doesn't affect just build up, but also recycling the ball high. EVEN if your players are not ideal for these roles you will be significantly better off than trying to play out from the back/control the play high with something like 2 CDs and a Halfback. There are special midfield roles that drop down to draw the press out themselves and play through it, rather than cover. A Regista will show up to either take the ball and progress it himself, or attract the press very deep in front of goal, pass it back to your CBs/Keeper who is now looking at a wide open midfield to safely and easily pass up. The Regista does not need BPDs and is way better off when paired with regular CBs. You can still use those roles together, but having three copies of the same key to a door does not make it unlock any better. DLP on Support and Advanced Playmaker will also play like that during build up/possession recycling.

Hello sir. Love the videos, as they are very insightful and educational. Is it possible to do a video about tweaking tactics pre game and during a match and also opposition instructions?

Half-Back used to be my favourite role in FM, especially as a Liverpool fan I could recreate that Emre Can role. Now I barely ever use it though

My midfield 3 . Bwm in deepest pos, AP and btb central positions

That thumbnail cracks me up 😂

Segundo Volante literally means "2nd chance" so he is there to arrive late and blast it on goal after a clearance

@Avgdad Really quality channel, some great videos. Talking about the DM position, what role would you describe the Pivot (usually Rodri) in Guardiola's single pivot tactics (before he started getting fancy with moving up Stones as a second pivot)?

Great Video. When is CM video up?

If you use a HB, you have to use Inverted Wingbacks to support the midfield.

It may be useful to know that "Regista" is Italian for (film) "Director". Basically he's the one who decides what happens.

I've been using a DLP on defend paired with a BWM on support. With the ball, the DLP gathers the ball and sprays it about, and the BWM sits slightly more upfield and makes himself available for a pass. Without the ball the BWM runs forward and joins in with the high press to pressure and win the ball back quickly while the DLP stays back and acts as the holding midfielder. It feels a little counter-intuitive and I have no idea if that's optimal or not but I haven't seen any problems so far. Seems to work well for me. The downside of this set up is neither of them charges forward in attack so I have to put one of the FBs on attack duty to join the front 4, so most attacks will flow out to the wing and rarely go through the centre.

I tried a double pivot the DM(d) + Regista, but both of them stay back with the ball which creates a huge gap with the offensive four men. I prefered the RPM instead as he goes higher on the field when the CBs have the ball.

Hi great video… I need your advice on the most suitable Dm role to play in behind two CMs on Mezzala attack duties in a 433 shape… I play on attacking with a high press

This is great, thank you! So, if I understand you correctly, in a 4231 (balanced mentality with slightly higher tempo, slightly more direct passes, high pressing, much higher defensive line, focussing wing play) with the front four being 2 winger (s), 1 am (a) and 1 af (a) you would not recommend using a dlp (s) and a dm (d) as the pivot in defensive midfield? This is what I have been doing and it is actually succesful regarding results (obviously being quite stable), but I am not scoring too much and I'm looking to improve goal scoring. I definitely like the dlp (s) as the quarterback but I do not have the impression that my central midfield is contributing very much offensively and that these roles do work well together im FM24. What would be your idea in this context? :)

you mentioned regista and DLP might not be the best pairing due to them both being playmakers, id assume that sentiment would extend to a roaming playmaker and DLP?

Does an anchor man on defend drop into the back line to create a back 3 in a tactic that has a back 4 with both wing backs on attack?

ca u do center mids and attacking midfielders next?

"listening to them talk.... * fakes boredom *" Wow - you're not exactly amazing to listen to either brother.