Winning away from home

Argh!

I always struggle in my second season, whether or not I make major summer changes.

I've done reasonably well with my two strikers really firing in the goals.

I'm on a 5 match winning streak at Anfield but then it's Bolton away. I lose 1 - 0

I've tried everything, honestly everything. I lost 1 - 0 to;

Preston

Cardiff

Everton

Man Utd

Arsenal

Middlesbrough

How do you do it?

I've tried to;

Control the game and dominate

Defend and attack with rapid counter attacks

Slow attacking build up

Long balls

You name it, I tried it.

I really need to nip this in the bud because it's costing me in the league, whilst doing alright in other competitions.

Amy advice?

this is a problem for me too, some seasons I do well away, some I don't. A bit luck in it i suppose.

Try to lessen your width to normal, time wasting to normal and defensive line normal when playing away. This way you tighten up both horisontal and vertical. Remember to lower one central midfielders mentality to a few notches less than your central defenders to tighten up the gap between midfield and backline. Also try counter attack and focus passing both flanks.

Me too, I have massive trouble winning away. I'm in BSS and I've played 26 league games- currently sitting fifth but only on the strength of my home form. I've tried everything to play tighter away from home- narrower, higher line, higher pressing from front to back, possession, swift counter, lobbing a DMF in to shore up the back 4- but off my own turf my 3-goal-a-game strikeforce turn into a shambles and my defence has more holes than Swiss cheese.

HOME: 12 wins out of 12. 34 scored, 8 conceded.

AWAY: Only 1 win, 4 draws and 9 losses from 14. 12 scored, 28 conceded.

So its not like I'm terrible team, I'm scoring at 3 a game at home, and a rock solid defence. I'm 7 points off top so two draws into wins and 3 losses into draws and I'd be top. But away from home I get absolutely battered by everyone in the league. I was just chuffed to 'steal' an away point off a bottom 4 side with only 1 home win and no goals in 4 games. My advice is to put 11 men in defence and go on holiday. Normally I defend SI when people moan, because it usually is their tactics- but I can't be doing anything drastically wrong to still be in 5th and a 100% home record.

Me too, I have massive trouble winning away. I'm in BSS and I've played 26 league games- currently sitting fifth but only on the strength of my home form. I've tried everything to play tighter away from home- narrower, higher line, higher pressing from front to back, possession, swift counter, lobbing a DMF in to shore up the back 4- but off my own turf my 3-goal-a-game strikeforce turn into a shambles and my defence has more holes than Swiss cheese.

HOME: 12 wins out of 12. 34 scored, 8 conceded.

AWAY: Only 1 win, 4 draws and 9 losses from 14. 12 scored, 28 conceded.

So its not like I'm terrible team, I'm scoring at 3 a game at home, and a rock solid defence. I'm 7 points off top so two draws into wins and 3 losses into draws and I'd be top. But away from home I get absolutely battered by everyone in the league. I was just chuffed to 'steal' an away point off a bottom 4 side with only 1 home win and no goals in 4 games. My advice is to put 11 men in defence and go on holiday. Normally I defend SI when people moan, because it usually is their tactics- but I can't be doing anything drastically wrong to still be in 5th and a 100% home record.

Similar situation to you mate, I'm with FC United, haven't lost a single competitive home game in a year and a bit at the club, and won the vast majority of those, but away form is dire. I have to micromanage so bleedin' much just to get a point it hardly seems worth it!

Second season syndrome.

As for your away matches, away matches are always harder. No team wants to be beaten in their patch and try harder. Try a more attacking style.

Yip exactly the same with me home record's terrific but away record is just terrible one of the worst in the league and is stopping me from winning the league dont know how to stop it either :S

Same lol, just need help on away

Second season syndrome.

As for your away matches, away matches are always harder. No team wants to be beaten in their patch and try harder. Try a more attacking style.

You kidding right?

I tried to attack Stoke and was smashed 4 - 0 on counter attacks.

If you show them even the littlest space, they take advantage.

I'm going to REALLY study the match engine and stats on away games. I need it, hell... WE NEED IT!

Ottey_swe - You may have something. I was losing 2 - 0 away to Arsenal and changed to your advice. I hammered them, really did. I had over 75% posession but I was vulnerable to counter-attacks. They beat me 3 - 0 in the end.

Keep the posts coming.

I needed to win this away game to wrap up EPL 2nd season with Lpool.

I too struggle away from home I'll beat the 1st place team by 3 goals at home but then I lose to the bottom team 3-0, I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Since I've taken over at Norwich these are my home and away stats:

Home-W 10-D 0-L 2-GF 26-GA 11-GD +15

Away-W 0-D 0-L 11-GF 7-GA 31- GD -24

Its just abyssmal to be honest, maybe I'll do better next season.

Now my players are gelled, but struggle to beat mid table teams away, and lose to top sides everytime.

I needed to win this away game to wrap up EPL 2nd season with Lpool.

err...did you win?

and on topic i would believe the tactics i employ (score 1 more than they do) would be what i would use in this situation. everybody is attacking, full back, midfielders even the defence push up deep crosses from 1 side, byline from the other stevie g would be having af ree role ofc javier "mad jack" mascherano would be running around the pitch like the argentine express going in HARD on anyone with the ball.

xabi alonso would be spraying passes from every corner of the pitch from every angle with max creativy and mixed passing.

and with players like the one and onle prince el niño well he just does what he does. crativity for him is over med and run with the ball it set to often.

just love the style i play can never be accused of boring football!

Didn't someone actually confirm that away games are actually statistically more difficult to win than they would be in real life? Something like that anyway. So that's why everyone here is struggling.

Here it is, a quotation from WWFan:

For those struggling with away games, home performance is slightly overtweaked in FM (by about 6%) so winning away is difficult.

A bit rubbish really. I've been noticing it in my save recently.

C.

Here it is, a quotation from WWFan:

A bit rubbish really. I've been noticing it in my save recently.

C.

Finally!! Do you remember me and my Espanyol and our debate about away games...?

Away games are very difficult, and in some situations those are even more difficult than in other situations.

If you have a world-class team, you can overcome difficulty in away games with good tactic and the help of quality in your side that compensates the advantage home team has.

If you have a relegation-fodder team, you can do wonders with counter-attacking, because home teams attacks from the very first minute. Also, your expectations are not overly high.

The most difficult situation is with team below to above average quality. Against worse teams your squad is not great enough to dominate the matches. Against teams of your own level, their home advantage is too much to handle and against world class teams you know what will happen...

Im now in my fifth season in Espanyol, last season I was 7th. Now finally I have managed to turn losses to draws in away matches bacause my squad quality is getting better and better. My record in away matches is currently 2-6-2...So slowly going into right direction.

Finally!! Do you remember me and my Espanyol and our debate about away games...?

Yes, I remember Lerho!

I didn't really notice it in my previous save though. Maybe because my team in that game was actually better than I thought it was?

It is frustrating but it seems that you are managing to overcome it Lerho?

C.

Yes, I remember Lerho!

I didn't really notice it in my previous save though. Maybe because my team in that game was actually better than I thought it was?

It is frustrating but it seems that you are managing to overcome it Lerho?

C.

Yeah, specially if one plays in lower division, its more difficult to see true quality of the team. Most of the time you have a better squad for that level than you realize.

Yes, I have learned couple of things that seems to be very important, specially in away matches. Team gelling and motivation are of course really important. Bad team-talk really destroys you.

In tactical side I have noticed couple of things comparing to home games. Last season I was great at home, 3rd best in fact with a 15-2-2 record. My tactic was mostly 4312 formation -no wingers, slow tempo, possession oriented. But that formation even with many different playstyles just didnt work in away matches at all. So after the season I purchased some new players and changed my tactic in away matches to 433-formation. The idea is to eliminate flank play from home team as well as possible. And because my midfield is DM+ 2xMC I can pretty much eliminate their attacks from the center also. Other very important thing seems to be no man marking at all. Tight zonal does the trick very well indeed. My away matches have improved radically, not just results-wise but specially performance is much better now. Results like 0-0 against Barcelona and 1-1 against Villarreal with a great chances to win those matches. In fact I have been very unlucky not to win more matches this season. In previous seasons those teams hammered me completely. Im now in january and in 5th position fighting for UCL places, so it really looks much better now.

My results aren't actually totally awful away from home in the current save I am playing. I mean, they could be better. I can often manage draws against the very top sides but what I find is that I get absolutely pummeled early on and rarely come away with the superior statistics.

Often, I improve as the match goes on, and maybe in the end I find that the stats are a little more even. I find it is possible to get results but very difficult to dominate the game unless you are playing against a relatively poor side.

As many people have pointed out, the home form is no problem at all. It seems far too easy to get results at home. My current record at home is something like w11, d2, l0!

As you say, I think the motivation can be a huge factor away from home, which doesn't help me as this is my weakest part of the game!

C.

I needed to win this away game to wrap up EPL 2nd season with Lpool.

Pfft. That was a close one.

My results aren't actually totally awful away from home in the current save I am playing. I mean, they could be better. I can often manage draws against the very top sides but what I find is that I get absolutely pummeled early on and rarely come away with the superior statistics.

Often, I improve as the match goes on, and maybe in the end I find that the stats are a little more even. I find it is possible to get results but very difficult to dominate the game unless you are playing against a relatively poor side.

As many people have pointed out, the home form is no problem at all. It seems far too easy to get results at home. My current record at home is something like w11, d2, l0!

As you say, I think the motivation can be a huge factor away from home, which doesn't help me as this is my weakest part of the game!

C.

Maybe start out a little cautious with a 4-5-1 and once your players have settled and got a hold of the ball take it up a gear.

Just like irl then?

Cheers for the advice DietSpam but I'm playing quite a cautious 4-4-1-1 anyway.

I'm currently playing with Liverpool just as a quick mess around game while I was trying a few new tactics out. As a result, I haven't really been paying attention to details like making new signings, using OIs, team talks, or press conferences etc. because I've just been solely focusing on my tactics.

I think some of my problems on the road might be due to the fact that I have taken over Liverpool with an automatic reputation making me unproven and meaning that half of the squad aren't motivated to play for me. I think that this motivation issue is probably what is causing me the problems away from home.

Just for interest, this is my home record: p13, w11, d2, l0.

This is my away record: p14, w5, d5, l4.

(The defeats came fairly early in the season when the squad was not gelled and Torres was missing with injury).

The good news is that I've played all of the top 4 away from home and have visited most of the difficult sides already, leaving me with easier games on the road for the rest of the season.

Anyway, that leaves me with 55points from 27 games.

Interestingly enough, that is exactly the same as Liverpool had in real life at the same point (i.e. after 27 games) of the season. Weird or what?

In real life, Liverpool actually had more points away than at home.

Their home form was a lot worse than mine at that point: w7, d6, l0 (27 points compared to my 33).

But their away form is miles better: w8, d4, l2. (28 points compared to my 20).

C.

I forgot to add, looking at the AI managed teams in my save shows that the home form and away form is definitely tweaked too far in favour of homes.

Most of the top sides practically have 95% home records, while they are all significantly worse off at home.

In real life, only Man Utd really have that kind of home record and most of the top sides are performing much better away from home in real life when compared to FM.

C.

normal mentality usually is the key to an away win IMO

I forgot to add, looking at the AI managed teams in my save shows that the home form and away form is definitely tweaked too far in favour of homes.

Most of the top sides practically have 95% home records, while they are all significantly worse off at home.

In real life, only Man Utd really have that kind of home record and most of the top sides are performing much better away from home in real life when compared to FM.

C.

Correct

It's the biggest bug bearer for me, even sides at the lower end of the table on the game have excellent home records.

It's far too easy to win at home...

It's far too difficult to win away...

If SI can even things up a little, then personally i reckon they'd have a totally fantastic game.

Until then I'll by sticking with FM07, which i feel has a proper balance between home and away form.

It's the biggest bug bearer for me, even sides at the lower end of the table on the game have excellent home records.

It's far too easy to win at home...

It's far too difficult to win away...

The only thing you can say as a comeback to that is that it is surely just the same for the other sides in the league, so probably doesn't have an effect on the playability but does have an effect on the verisimilitude.

Until then I'll by sticking with FM07, which i feel has a proper balance between home and away form.

Interesting that everyone talks about FM07. What about FM08?

C.

The only thing you can say as a comeback to that is that it is surely just the same for the other sides in the league, so probably doesn't have an effect on the playability but does have an effect on the verisimilitude.

Interesting that everyone talks about FM07. What about FM08?

C.

It does affect the playability though doesn't it, The amount of home wins are not realistic, therefore it's not a true reflection of real life.

There are many things that a game can't replicate from the real world for obvious reasons, but making the ratio of home/away wins more in line with real life is not too difficult, It was spot in FM07 after all...

As for FM08, I never got into that game, for me FM07 is still the best version of the game around, I like the match engine, I like the fact you can put together a good run of form away from home yet struggle at times at home, which of course happens to many teams IRL.

It just seems so much more balanced in terms of gameplay.

I've had the opposite. Playing as Hereford, I couldn't score at home but found my players competed better away. Away record wasn't amazing - only mid-table when I looked at away results - but it was acceptable enough (and saved us from relegation). Thing was, I didn't change from my base tactic much at all, in most games, and found if I tried to anticipate everything, I'd struggle.

Usually, I'd pick out one or two dangermen and put them on weaker foot, etc, but apart from that, I'd only really switch to playing the offside trap and having a slightly deeper defensive line than normal.

You have to still give your side the freedom to play, because going too defensive just means you get battered. Imagine a side turning up and just defending. As a fan, you think they're there for the taking and the crowd roars them on. If you can weather the storm, they'll eventually start moaning...but you have to weather the storm first.

It's probably about the team talk. I'm doing pretty well in my second season, my team is average, but because the morale of my players is superb, I'm right on the second place, just one point behind the first one, I only lost one game this season, and that was at home.

I'm playing Blyth Spartans, a team in the BSN, whose media prediction in the first season was 19th or something (and I finished 6th). I brought a few players in, but more than the half of my first 11 is from the original squad. So I'm pretty sure it has to do with the morale.