"play for the draw" football

I was just thinking, 38 points seems to see teams safe in the premier league. This season is an exception because it is tight, but in a normal season and in most seasons I play it seems that 38 points is the cut-off point, if you don't make that points level, you go down. So I was thinking, for small teams coming into the premier league, couldn't they just play ultra defensive, not go for goals and instead just play as many men at the back as physically possible to get 38 draws, therefore a good goal difference and definite security in the premier league? Your thoughts please.

I was just thinking, 38 points seems to see teams safe in the premier league. This season is an exception because it is tight, but in a normal season and in most seasons I play it seems that 38 points is the cut-off point, if you don't make that points level, you go down. So I was thinking, for small teams coming into the premier league, couldn't they just play ultra defensive, not go for goals and instead just play as many men at the back as physically possible to get 38 draws, therefore a good goal difference and definite security in the premier league? Your thoughts please.

Not a good goal difference. 38 draws gets you no goal difference at all.

Not a good goal difference. 38 draws gets you no goal difference at all.

But by having no goal difference it will be better than the other teams at the bottom who will have negative goal difference.

Nobody would ever manage 38 draws anyway, you'd be under constant attack and unless youve got a good counter attack you wont get near their goal.

This is actually a feature I would like to see in FM.

Tell your team to "keep a clean sheet for the first 10mins" - where your side will play defensively automatically, or "don't let them score" - where your side will park the bus.

This should be a different level of mentality (off the current) scale and should only be used in dire cases.

Think Rangers away in the UEFA cup last year. Proper seige defending at its best.

Presently the ultra defensive isn't too effective I have found.

It would be incredibly difficult to manage 38 draws. I would also disagree that 38 points is the mark as it varies so much. If anything, I think the average figure is lower.

Figures shown are for the team which finished one above relegation:

NB: This only goes from 95-96 as prior to that four teams were relegated.

95-96 - 38

96-97 - 41

97-98 - 40

98-99 - 41 (37 would have been enough)

99-00 - 36

00-01 - 42 (35 would have done)

01-02 - 40 (37 whd)

02-03 - 44

03-04 - 39 (34 whd!)

04-05 - 34

05-06 - 38 (35)

06-07 - 38

07-08 - 36

Also, for the fans it would be awful! I remember watching Colwyn Bay manage 23 league draws in a season and it was pure torture!

lol, yeah but think about small teams attempting to establish themselves, 38 points and an even goal difference would be wonderful. Especially not losing to anyone.

It takes away the point of football, I know you want to stay safe in the league but surely everyone's motto is play to win?

lol, yeah but think about small teams attempting to establish themselves, 38 points and an even goal difference would be wonderful. Especially not losing to anyone.

Yeah but its never ever gonna happen. Teams play like that now, on certain days. Think about all the lower league teams against the big 4. They "park the bus" and still concede 2 to 3. Against mid-table teams if they do it, they concede a goal. If you tried it, you would be lucky to walk away with 20pts.

I've been considering doing something like that as an experiment. Seeing if a team would get relegated without losing a game, scoring a goal, conceding a goal. Obviously it will result in a load of reloading of the game

I've been considering doing something like that as an experiment. Seeing if a team would get relegated without losing a game, scoring a goal, conceding a goal. Obviously it will result in a load of reloading of the game

With all due respect, besides the fact that it looks cool and cute, it's really a waste of time. Heh......to each his own. Post a screenie when you finally get that to happen!

Lets be honest, it is very unlikely for a team to get 38 draws. Many premier league goals come from set-pieces and, no matter how many men you stick behind the ball, they are still as likely to score as they would against a normal system.

Also, the better teams in the division can play the ball around and slice the team in two and the star players will always have a say and pull up something special.

It would be almost impossible to acheive that. The teams coming up have poor defences and no matter how many men are behind the ball, teams will always score against them.