How do I stop this

First of all this has happened a fair few times and the reason ill put it in here instead of the Tactics as it is a little bit of a rant and yet i would like to know where/how I can improve to stop this.

So basically away to a very poor everton side, containing a few of their starting players five or six years older and a few decent prem to championship players. Also I am newcastle won the prem twice in a row and easily a better side than them.

The game starts of with me dominating I get a goal then not long after i get a second, cue their domination baring in mind I havn't changed anything so, I would think that we should keep our performance up and carry on taking the game to them. They get a goal from a corner obviously it was coming, then two more from me and it 4-1 at half time. I thought well this is over so i'll keep the same formation tactics etc... and they should contine to dominate, for the first five minutes of the second half this is true, however they get a chance and score, cue their domination of the second half, they made no real changes of note and i only made minor changes changing nothing to the tactics that five minutes ago were walking all over them, so the game end 4-3 and i hang on for dear life. This has happened several times throughout the season, so is their anything I can actually do about it or do i basically have to accept that the worst thing to do is go 4-1 up by half time because it will cue their domination of the rest of the game.

Comments and help welcome.

Maybe a slow tempo short passing game for the second half might help you keep posession more and slow them down

You see I thought about this and would normally change my tactics if it was a tighter more even game, but what i didn't understand was how I can go from dominating the game quite easily up until the point of going more than two goals up, for example, up until 2-0 I dominated then they dominate until they get a goal then it goes back to me dominating till i get another two, etc... That is the only reason I am reluctant to change but I will definately try it next time. Thanks

What team talk did you give at half-time? As this can have quite an effect on players without you noticing.

I expect they also made some tactical adjustments. If you are 4-1 up away from home, you shouldn't stay the same and assume you will win 8-2, because the opposition will make major changes to get back in the game. You should slow the game down, play narrow and defensive, and counter-attack.

I do think this would be better off in the tactics forum, as I think you need tactical advice from them. I take your point about the mini "rant" (not a rant IMO as you were relatively even-handed in your comments), but it's tactical advice you're after. Fwiw, I agree with Dar2000 - I'd look to slow the game down after taking the lead. NOTE: I'm not suggesting you go ultra defensive, but slow the game down and have an emphasis on keeping possession. That'll tire them out and you can try to hit them on the counter or when they're tired. If they play a high line, exploit that with an explosive player. If not, put a big lump at front, even if he's not your first choice striker, and get a nippy forward/winger playing near him that can pick up the pieces.

4-1 up at half time, all teams change tactics. And don't confuse "tactics" with "formation". Teams stick mostly with the same formation, but their tactics within that formation change.

Think, too, if you are 4-1 DOWN at half time. You'd change YOUR tactics, mentality etc, wouldn't you? And if the opposition didn't change theirs you'd probably dominate like hell.

Someone else mentioned team talk, which is an area where we either need more options for FM10 ("Well done, lads, but don't get complacent" rather than one or the other would be nice) or more transparancy as to what they mean in what situation. I think I do okay these days, but it took a few months.

Kk cheers guys the reason why I didn't take there change of tactics into account is because they were completely full of championship standard or lower premiership standard players and i figured if they went more attacking then we would overrun them or if they take a more counter-attacking approach then I would dominate possession further. So suggestions are basically when winning by two goals or more you should look to simply play the game out and not carry on going for an annilhation.

Considering the lack of strength in their team do you think the game takes tactics to much into account when one team is clearly better. For example my premiership winning side should still be too strong for them when 4-1 up even taking tactics into account. I personally feel this is the case when one team is and i stress CLEARLY better than the other. Thoughts and opinions welcome.

I also agree with Backpackant in that we need more options or just better options ofr team talks. For example I was clearly pleased with 4-1 up away at half time thus I would say pleased, however I also wanted them to carry on and not get complacent but I could only say one or the other which IMO didn't reflect what I wanted to say.

GillsMan thanks for the advice but yeah the reason i didn't put it into the tactics forum is because to me that felt like it could have been a rant, especially as I typed it up straight after the game due to frustration. I just don't want to get to a point in the game where it's more detrimental to go up 4-1 at half time than it is to keep the game at 0-0 and scrape every victory while dominating the game

Thanks for advice and opinions

What are the presonalities and determination of your players, chances are like you they thought the game was won at half-time and switched off in the second half, Everton's manager motivated his players they went out and got a goal which further motiviated them.

Chances are if you'd held out and Everton didn't get the early second goal their heads would have gone back down and you'd have won comfortably.

And as other people have said Everton may have tweaked their tactics, if all four of your goals were similar they may have noticed the weakness and tweaked things.

Cheers I tried it at home against HSV in the Champs League, I went 3-0 up so I tried it and I conceded abit more possession but I think it was down to them going counter attacking and sitting deep. I noticed this as they only ever had their strikers up top and they were just hitting it as soon as they got it, anyway I ended up winning 4-0 as most 'my highlights' ended up in a CCC. Then the last ten mins i switched back to try and take advantage of any tired legs (as i play a quick and short game) and I took possession again but didn't score.

All in all a success at home now ill try it away and see. Cheers for the help guys.

Throw your computer out the window. Then it won't happen again.