Erling Moe Molde Tactic
If I say Norway and Molde, do you think of Erling Haaland or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer? Well, you should also think about Erling Moe.
Erling Moe is the current football manager of Molde, in Norway and has played football actively for Traeff until he was 26 years old.
He then became head coach at Træff from 1999 to 2002. During this period, the club played in 2. divisjon, the third-highest level in Norwegian football.
The team was relegated to the 3. divisjon in his last season at the club.
Erling Moe has been a part of the coaching staff at Molde since 2005, except for being head coach of third tier club Kristiansund for the second half of the 2011 season.
He was caretaker manager for a while until Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was appointed manager in 2018.
But, after the Norwegian has left for Manchester United, Erling Moe took over as Molde manager.
In his first full season, Molde won the league title, undefeated at home and with a 14-point gap margin to runners-up Bodø/Glimt.
For Molde, this was won with the biggest title-winning margin.
He has a 62.85%-win percentage for his time at Molde and he applies counterattacking principles in his tactics.
Of course, it does not always work, evidence are Molde’s recent placements in the league, but when it does work, this style of play it’s unstoppable.
As a formation, the 3-5-2 was used often. This formation helps Molde absorb opposition’s pressure and attacks. Followed by quick transitions into attack.
As an example, recently they had Datro Fofana at the club and they could sit deeper in defence, having confidence that Fofana’s speed will help carrying the ball forward.
After Datro Fofana left the club, though, the team had to adapt to slower transitions and more intricate passes.
As a result, the opponent has time to adjust in defence, which makes it more difficult for Molde to attack the goal.
However, this could be by-passed by quick one-two passes or off the ball movement that would unbalance the opposition’s defensive shape.
In goal, we have a sweeper keeper on defend duty. This is not needed; a normal goalkeeper role would do the job. However, maybe you would like to be covered in case the defence cannot deal with a loose ball.
The back three is made of two wide center backs on defend and one central defender on defend.
The wide center backs are used to give width to the tactic when playing out from the back as they are naturally going to position themselves wider.
Two wing backs on support, one Segundo volante on support and one defensive midfielder on defend make up the area in front of the defence.
This setup allows for the wing backs to give natural width to the tactic. While the defensive midfielder screens the defence and the Segundo volante goes up gradually in attack.
The wing backs are told to cross more often and stay wider. The Segundo volante to get further forward and mark tighter and the defensive midfielder to mark tighter.
The mark tighter instruction tells the players to get into the opposition’s path, giving them as little time on the ball as possible and forcing their mistake.
A central midfielder on support makes up the midfield. He is told to get further forward, roam from position and mark tighter.
Roam from position is necessary, and this player must read the game very well and place himself on the pitch according to his teammates.
The two strikers are a pressing forward and an advanced forward. The advanced forward is told to mark tighter.
As mentality I chose positive, as Molde looks to win every game they play.
In possession, fairly wide attacking width, pass into space and play out of defence. Shorter passing directness and a slightly higher tempo.
And play for set pieces.
Make sure to tick off pass into space if the opposition sits deep.
In transition, counter-press, counter and distribute the ball to the defence, through short kicks.
And out of possession, a mid block and a standard defensive line. Trigger press more often, prevent the goalkeeper short distribution and trap outside.
Molde seem to try to recover the ball fast, but if this does not happen, they regroup in their defensive positions and press their opponent on the ball, trying to force the mistake in the buildup.
This tactic led my Bayer Leverkusen team to the 4th place in the Bundesliga, two points behind Borussia Dortmund.
This may be an indication that it does not work with all teams/players or in all leagues.
However, the tactic helped us reach the final of the DFB Pokal and the semi final of the UEFA Champions League.
As in the case with Datro Fofana, I would recommend tweaking the tactic to fit the players in your squad.
Erling Moe’s Molde may be a bit far from the league title now, but this tactic provides stability to the team, and I am sure it’s a tactic that could help you get good results in Football Manager.
