I love this game, but there is one thing that has always bugged me!

As I said, I love this game but the one thing that bugs me more than anything is this.

I was just leading 3-0 away from home, playing very well restricting a better than average team to one shot, I tell them i'm pleased with them at half time.

So second half begins as first half but then a sub I brought on to rest a key player gets himself sent off for a wild tackle(aggression rating of 4, by the way). So I obviously go to a defensive style, then 5 mins later some guy with a long shot rating of 9 hits a screamer from edge of box, then 10 mins later with their next shot by the way, same guy scores another screamer this time from about 30 yards.

After this its like the alamo and I know exactly whats coming and sure enough they get the equalizer with 15 mins left and then unbelievably they dont get another shot;).

So in conclusion I knew exactly what was going to happen after their first goal went in and there was absolutely nothing I could of done to have changed the outcome and thats the bit that annoys me.

You could have changed your tactics?

Going defensive doesnt guarantee the opposition wont score.

I never go defensive as i always look to make sure the game is killed off

but this is very realistic, as often you can see a comeback or a goal coming IRL, and some players can play way beyond their attributes if fired up sufficiently.

so sorry mate but all in all, its down to bad tactics and a LOT of bad luck:thup:

so stay lucky pal:D

I did change tactics my friends, thats why I said I went defensively, I also realise it happens IRL, what I was saying is the fact I knew they would equalise. It was only a small winge, im not saying thats it im chucking the game away.

I did change tactics my friends, thats why I said I went defensively, I also realise it happens IRL, what I was saying is the fact I knew they would equalise. It was only a small winge, im not saying thats it im chucking the game away.

Your friends actually said that you could have changed your tactics after they scored two goals.

Did you set your players to close down the CMs? Turn them onto their weaker foot?

Going defensively as a team, in my experience, means they sit back to soak up pressure. Unless you specify certain things, ONLY changing that one aspect of your otherwise healthy tactic is asking for trouble. When I'm defending like that I'll set my usually-attacking players to "mixed" forward runs (wingers, playmaker, full-backs) and tick the "counter-attack" box. Team mentality WILL be defensive, but I'll also close down the MCs and sometimes the wingers. A few other things too, but you can work them out, I'm sure.

I usually ask my ass man's opinion at half time or at a time when I have to reshuffle. He usually pinpoints the players who have been most dangerous.

And don't forget, just because a player has a low long shot rating it doesn't mean he CAN'T score screamers. John Terry hit an impressive 18 yarder the other day (a scissor kick no less), and I remember Tony Adams plonking one in from 20-25 yards before.

Let's face it, a "9" rating for long-shots is actually 9/20, almost a 50% rating. You wouldn't expect a player like this to be hammering them in consistently but it's not impossible. Especially if his team is chasing the game and his manager gives him attacking mentality, plus his opposition are sitting back and not closing him down.

As I said, I love this game but the one thing that bugs me more than anything is this.

I was just leading 3-0 away from home, playing very well restricting a better than average team to one shot, I tell them i'm pleased with them at half time.

So second half begins as first half but then a sub I brought on to rest a key player gets himself sent off for a wild tackle(aggression rating of 4, by the way). So I obviously go to a defensive style, then 5 mins later some guy with a long shot rating of 9 hits a screamer from edge of box, then 10 mins later with their next shot by the way, same guy scores another screamer this time from about 30 yards.

After this its like the alamo and I know exactly whats coming and sure enough they get the equalizer with 15 mins left and then unbelievably they dont get another shot;).

So in conclusion I knew exactly what was going to happen after their first goal went in and there was absolutely nothing I could of done to have changed the outcome and thats the bit that annoys me.

Can I ask what position your player that got sent off was playing? What was your formation before and after the sending off?

“Going defensively as a team, in my experience, means they sit back to soak up pressure.”

So when is it a good time to go defensive, if not when you have a three goal lead? When you’re three goals down, perhaps?

There’ve been “gurus” on here stating if you want to attack more you must go defensive so you draw the enemy out and hit them on the counter.

Bog standard “fanboy” doublethink and contradictory bs advice.

This AI second half comeback thing can only rely on two things: the AI manager picking the right teamtalk. 2. The AI knowing how to dismantle your first half tactic.

So, to counter this you must 1. Also pick the right teamtalk, and 2. Fundamentally change your tactic.

I don’t know if teamtalks on FM9 are as wildly over-weighted as they were in FM8, I haven’t played it enough yet. But if they’re anything like it the game is fundamentally flawed, if you're looking to apply logic to it.

Do we take it that there is always a teamtalk option that will work in a particular scenario for your team? If yes, this cannot work logically as “correct” teamtalks in a certain situation will only work for a certain amount of time: if you continue to pick the “correct” talk for a certain scenario, the players will get fed up with hearing it, it looses it's effect, so another teamtalk will suddenly be the “correct” one for the same scenario. The logic of what motivates them has changed? Why? How are you supposed to know? If the original “correct” teamtalk was logical and deducable by the human player, the new teamtalk cannot possibly be logical and deducable.

So, you have effectively a randon re-setting of what constitutes a “correct” teamtalk for a particular scenario, based on your players mentalities.

What chance have you got? Does the AI manager have this problem?

the team talks are indeed ludicrous in fm09. i can almost guarantee a win if going in a draw at half time with the disappointment one. the whole media / player and general "interpersonal" interaction in the game is poor at best

“Going defensively as a team, in my experience, means they sit back to soak up pressure.”

So when is it a good time to go defensive, if not when you have a three goal lead? When you’re three goals down, perhaps?

There’ve been “gurus” on here stating if you want to attack more you must go defensive so you draw the enemy out and hit them on the counter.

Bog standard “fanboy” doublethink and contradictory bs advice.

Read backpackant's post in full.

He says that while you adjust team mentality and reduce forward runs you should also increase closing down on the opposition wingers and CM's. You should also do other things but they should be fairly easy to figure out.

If you're three goals up, there's really no need to go too defensive, especially not for the whole second half. It will invite unnecessary pressure. To be honest, I don't go full defensive unless I'm only up by one with less than 10 minutes to go.

Replay the game few times each one with different approach and behaviour.

This will tell if FM scripts events in advance or if they can be slightly changed by the human player.

Let's us know, I'm curious

Well, I didn't expect to see this one still on the first page of threads.

To everyone that has asked what I did tactically, here is your answer.

First half I was playing flat back 4, 2 DM, 1LM, 1RM, 1AMC and 1 FW.

Full backs and wingers were FR often, DM FR mixed, when I subbed my RM at half time his replacement got sent off, so I moved my AMC to MR as it was a accomplished position for him, thus leaving me with no AMC.

I put my full backs and wingers on mixed FR and DM's on rarely. I increased my closing down on the important players.

I was really not that annoyed about it more laughable really.

It just made me laugh when the guy with average long shots hit two screamers in from two shots taken, incidentally their first two goals were from the first two chances they had after about 20 mins of second half, this also made me chuckle.

You just know they will get the third.

At half time I told them I was pleased what manger wouldn't after going in 3 nil up away from home, clearly this was the problem.

The AI thought to itself "how can I get this back to 3-3 because of the wrong team talk, I know i'll send off one of his players then score two out of two from outside the area, his team will then capitulate and I will get a goal from a corner to finish it off, yeah yeah I know he hasn't conceded from a corner so far this season but needs must";)

Well, I didn't expect to see this one still on the first page of threads.

To everyone that has asked what I did tactically, here is your answer.

First half I was playing flat back 4, 2 DM, 1LM, 1RM, 1AMC and 1 FW.

Full backs and wingers were FR often, DM FR mixed, when I subbed my RM at half time his replacement got sent off, so I moved my AMC to MR as it was a accomplished position for him, thus leaving me with no AMC.

I put my full backs and wingers on mixed FR and DM's on rarely. I increased my closing down on the important players.

I was really not that annoyed about it more laughable really.

It just made me laugh when the guy with average long shots hit two screamers in from two shots taken, incidentally their first two goals were from the first two chances they had after about 20 mins of second half, this also made me chuckle.

You just know they will get the third.

At half time I told them I was pleased what manger wouldn't after going in 3 nil up away from home, clearly this was the problem.

The AI thought to itself "how can I get this back to 3-3 because of the wrong team talk, I know i'll send off one of his players then score two out of two from outside the area, his team will then capitulate and I will get a goal from a corner to finish it off, yeah yeah I know he hasn't conceded from a corner so far this season but needs must";)

In my opinion (and that's all it is) I would have gone for a 3 man midfield in the centre of the park moving my LM into the MC/L position and keeping the AMC and left my tactics exactly the same until/unless the opposition changed their formation and/or tactics and I would then have reacted accordingly. I generally do find (particularly when having gone down to ten men) that if you go defensive when the AI has not changed their tactics or formation then even with a healthy league your team capitulates and you are in danger of drawing or losing.

Not a complaint but I find most of my goals are now conceded from long shots, but maybe it's because I'm so brilliant at defending from every other situation

I used to get this situation a lot, being 2-0 up at the break lots of times and then just praying that they didn't come back. Very often having been 2-0 or 3-0 up at the break would it finish 3-0 or 2-0 but now I manage to counter the AI:

I think going defensive that early on in the half (not helped by your sending off) did not help. Someone said it invites pressure which is correct, but there are different situations were inevitably you will invite pressure. 1-0 up with 10 minutes left, you are happy to sit back. Yet with 45 minutes still to play, I would have stuck with the same formation just without 1 attacking player (which you did) but would not have changed tactics. Then on 60 minutes I would think about going more defensive, then with 20 mins left I would shut up shop.

I think you had a particularly bad day at the office, does this happen regularly to you? I bet we all experience it on FM now and then

Having said all that, I was Sociedad and leading Barca 3-1 at the break. I had a man sent off (a substitute) on 48mins and decided to just go into my SUS formation, a 4-1-3-2 (but of course with 1 less forward) for 40 minutes. They had all the pressure, but rarely did they create good chances. So maybe it is your tactic? The one I use is the SUS version of the Ruby tactic I made.

If the AI team coming back from 2-0 or 3-0 down at half time really bugs you then one obvious solution is to avoid going 2-0 or 3-0 ahead by half time.

Simply send out your team to defend with 11 men behind the ball and waste time as much as possible. When you get to half time at 0-0 tell your team you are disappointed with their performance and resort to your normal tactics and voila! your team will trounce them in the second half and they won't annoy you by staging a heroic come back.

Are you being serious?