HT-Zine - AIM vs. AOW: A tactical analysis

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Comment: The original website (www.htzine.net) is already gone for about half a year. Though they had several interesting articles on Hattrick. Together with the previous one they are great reading and although you should always be warned for some remarks being outdated the article could improve your performance in the game.

AIM vs. AOW: A tactical analysis

What does your team need to hit your opposition down the flanks or bulldoze through the centre? Find out here in an interesting analysis of arguably the two most used of the new tactics by Ainvar of US side Powder Kegs

Before getting to the article I would just like to introduce myself, since this is my first one. I'm Ainvar, owner of the Powder Kegs in the USA. I am from Bonn, Germany, currently in Roma, Italy, but with my permanent residence in Ft. Collins, Colorado. If you enjoy the article, please sign my guestbook.

While counterattacks was, in the beginning, the most discussed new tactic in conference, it is attack in middle (AIM) and attack on wings (AOW) that actually turned out to be the most used in practice. Let's take a look at the advantages and drawbacks of these two tactics. The first thing to ask yourself when you wish to use these tactics is why. Both carry substantial defensive penalties, so they should be used only if you have particularly good strikers or wingers, or if your opponent has a noticeable defensive weak point upon which you would like to concentrate.

Assuming you want to use the tactics, the first important thing to notice about them is that they are dependent on your outfielders' passing ability. This shouldn't be a problem because the players in question all benefit from passing anyway. It is, however, important when using these tactics to have midfielders with passing, and wingers and forwards with good secondary passing. The value of strong offensive midfielders cannot be overstated when using either AIM or AOW.

Another thing to keep in mind is that in both cases, your midfield is still going to be your most important department. Unlike counterattacks and pressing, which require a completely different tactical set-up, AIM and AOW are subtle tactics which are only variations on the normal tactic. Rather than drastically altering your team to play one of these tactics, you should look at the characterstics of your team and of your training program, and apply one of these tactics if it is compatible. That said, let's get to the point...

AIM:

As was shown in Norge's World Cup draw against Svergie, but also in countless less publicized games in Hattrick, AIM, especially with a 3-4-3, has become a very powerful tactic, rivalling the dominance of a straight 3-5-2. AIM was a godsend for scoring trainers, because playing with three forwards necessarily focuses your attacks in the middle. Even before tactics, 3-4-3 was the second most popular formation after 3-5-2. Now, playing 3-4-3 AIM with two offensive midfielders and either two wings towards middle or one wing TM and one extra midfielder is a very strong tactic. Of course, playing your wing offensively or normal is also an option if your midfield is strong enough. Another viable option, for non-scoring trainers, is 3-5-2 AIM with both wings towards middle. This tactic gives a ridiculously strong midfield, and also a good attack if midfielders with high passing are used offensively. Again, the wings may of course be played normal or offensively, depending on how much midfield you can spare. AIM does not focus every attack towards the middle, after all, just a higher percentage. It is very important to have strong forwards with good secondary passing in this tactic, and an offensive coach doesn't hurt.

Finally, if a defense trainer absolutely wants to play AIM, it should be done 5-3-2 with two offensive inner mids, an extra inner midfielder, and two very strong forwards. In this case, all outfielders must have high passing, as there are only 5 of them. The midfield can be further supported by offensive central defenders. The drawback of AIM is the lowered wing defense, thus a person using this tactic should play a symmetrical back line with two defensive wingbacks, and have a strong keeper. If you are going against an opponent with strong wing attacks, think carefully before applying this tactic.

AOW:

What AIM did for scoring trainers, AOW did for winger trainers, and then some. Many successful teams are running AOW with offensive wingers and, in many cases, offensive wingbacks as well. The best tactics for AOW are the ones which can be played with two wingers and two offensive midfielders, namely 4-5-1, 3-5-2, and, to a lesser extent, 4-4-2. The most popular AOW tactic is 4-5-1. Having two central defenders helps mitigate the central defense loss caused by AOW, and a second forward is not needed since the attacks will be focused on the wings. Defenders with strong playmaking may be used offensively to support your midfield, as well. Setting the forward to defensive is not recommended as you will still have some attacks in the middle.

Just as in AIM it is important to have offensive midfielders, since they contribute substantially to your wing attacks. Whether to play your wingbacks offensively or not depends on the situation, and on your keeper. Teams with a strong keeper or a defensive coach (or both) can probably spare the offensive wingbacks. This is especially the case if they are actually wingers-in-training, with higher winger values than defensive values. Teams wishing to use 3-5-2 with AOW should think carefully as to why, since in many cases it is better to just play it normal and not take the central defense hit. However, with a strong central defender, it is certainly a viable option, and the second forward will help for those attacks that don’t go to the wing. The main strength of AOW is that very strong wingers are easier to train and cheaper to buy than other positions, thus it is actually quite easy to get a relatively strong wing attack. AOW can obviously be used by non-winger trainers as well. For midfield trainers, the aforementioned 4-5-1 and 3-5-2 are the obvious choices, while defense trainers should probably use a 5-4-1. In the latter case, there are few players contributing their passing in the outfield, so the ones that do play should have it even higher. With this choice, the wingbacks really should be set offensively, and if the wing defense suffers too much, one or two central defenders can always be set towards wing.

Here's a quick summary of the above discussion. Note how for each tactic, there is an option for midfield and defense trainers. Scoring trainers should use AIM over AOW, and winger trainers should use AOW over AIM. * denotes my recommended formation for this tactic.

AIM:

Scoring trainers:

* 3-4-3 with three IM's and one wing TM (or with two IM's and two wings TM.) In both cases, two offensive midfielders.
Midfield trainers:
3-5-2 with any combination of wingers TM, normal, or offensive, depending.
Again, two offensive midfielders, and strong forwards.
Defense trainers:
5-3-2 with two offensive and one extra mid, and strong passing forwards.

AOW:

Winger or midfield trainers:

* 4-5-1 (or 3-5-2) with offensive wingers, midfielders, and possibly wingbacks.
Defense trainers:
5-4-1 with offensive wingers, midfielders, and wingbacks, and possibly central defenders towards wing or offensive, depending.

Posted by HomaridII