The formation of your team in FIFA 23 can make or break the way your team is formed. The formation can also radically change the way each individual game is approached depending on your playing style.
Making sure you select the right type of system is vital – especially for competitive Ultimate Team modes like FUT Champions.
We will be showing you two different FIFA 23 squads in our best squad | Dedicated tactics guide to help new players better understand how to create their ideal squad to complement their playing style.
A guide to the best custom squads and tactics in FIFA 23
Some things to keep in mind when choosing a formation:
- You’ll always want to choose a strong attack/defense balance, which can be effective against any kind of offensive maneuver your opponents might come up with.
- You never want to rely solely on counter-attacks.
- Depending on whether you want to choose More Attack or Defense, you can select Balanced Attack for your CDM or Stay behind during the attack to ensure a strong defense system is in place.
- It aims to give CAM the ability to successfully create and receive permits.
- If possible, aim for a defensive “press after loss” style.
In FIFA 22, 4-1-2-1-2 (The Narrow) was considered to be among the most successfully used – and it certainly remains just as effective in FIFA 23.
This can help you fill in the midfield, while making it difficult for your opponent to break through. 4-1-2-1-2 provides a great deal of flexibility in changing settings.
For this type of setup, you will need the following:
- defensive tactics – balanced; Width 40-45, depth 50.
- offensive tactics – balanced; Running forward, width 40, players in the box 7 bars, corners + free kicks x 2 bars.
- Left Back and Right Back: Play defensive and stay behind while attacking.
- CDM: Help to cover the center.
- cm: crosses. get ahead.
- CAM: Stay ahead.
- ST: Stay ahead.
Alternatively, another great formation with the goal of holding leads is 4-2-3-1 (narrow). In this type of formation it is best to give CAM “Free Roam” as a tactic, along with building your play from the CDM when it comes to attacks. This means passing to LM or RM to help CAM receive more passes.
This kind of setup would look like:
- defensive style – balanced; Width 55, depth 50.
- attack style – balanced; Create a balanced chance, width 55, players in the box 5 bars, corners and free kicks x 2 bars.
- CAM: Free Roaming, Normal Interceptions, Basic Defense Support, Balanced Crossings.
- Right Back RB & LB: Staying behind during attack, holding position, mixed attack, and regular interceptions.
- CDM: Stay behind while attacking, balanced defensive, normal interceptions.
This mod is also very straightforward, and you only see changes/modifications with RB/LB, CDM and CAM.
How to change tactics in FIFA 23
If you are interested in how to change the preset or default tactics in FIFA 23, press R1 / RB or use the mouse to select “Club”.
Once you reach this menu option, select your squad and then go to Team Actions.
Scroll until you find “Custom Tactics” and select this option.
From this submenu, you will then be able to customize formations, tactics, and player coordination.
