Do tactics need to change for away games?

I have a file with Gateshead ATM, for our first season we won the league comfortably, both home and away games were fine, 2nd season, without changing tactics all that much we finished 7th which was ok, this current season (the 3rd) again I have hardly touched the tactics & the players I have brought in are all rated as good enough for Div 1 & 2 so the strength of my squad should be good enough.

Nearly at the end of the season now & have won 90% of my home games, away from home though we are terrible, cant even get a draw, is usually either a win or loss but have only won like 3 games all season.

Do I need to change anything? team talks, tactics?

Thanks in advance! Cant do another season in BSP!!

Frankly, yes. No team will play the same home and away. Generally, you'll probably want to go more defensive - though not all out backs-to-the-wall - play for a draw, and maybe try to get a goal on the counter.

I will give it a try, just cant really work out whats changed from my first & second season, my team should easily be near the playoffs but are struggling down in 10th, might try more defensive - counter attack - direct & fairly high tempo see if that changes anything.

I will give it a try, just cant really work out whats changed from my first & second season, my team should easily be near the playoffs but are struggling down in 10th, might try more defensive - counter attack - direct & fairly high tempo see if that changes anything.

The AI becomes familiar with the tactics you use and go out to counter the tactic. You should really have a home and away tactic and even tweaking those tactics now and again for optimum performance will help.

Must be a new feature the AI learning your tactics, for years & years I just used to have the same tactic and made no difference home or away, hopefully changing somethings will change it for the better! cheers for the help!

1 tactic with every team i play with, just because I'm lazy and can't be arsed to make different tactics for different games

I always play differently away, my away form was a big help in my back-to-back promotions from Blue Square Premier to League 1. Nothing too drastic though, I keep the formation the same, but I drop the mentality down to normal and lower the tempo and the width right down, in order to frustrate the oppo in the middle of the park. In games where I am away at a particularly good team, I drop the Defensive line to invite a bit of pressure and go direct, in order to catch them on the break. Keep playing around to see what works for you.

Must be a new feature the AI learning your tactics, for years & years I just used to have the same tactic and made no difference home or away

The AI learning a users tactic is a misconception mate. Because a tactic becomes less successful doesn't mean your PC has become some super-entity. It just means that it's playing more defensively against you, and you'll need to be more creative.

There's nothing to stop you playing the same tactic in successive home and away matches, as long as the weather is similar and the opposition in the away match is quite as good as the opposition in your home game.

In a nutshell, my opinion is you need 8 tactics - and they'll see you OK through any save, over any amount of years. Defensive, normal and attacking for both wet and dry conditions, and a 'get-a-goal' and 'shut-up-shop' option for when they're needed. The only other thing you'd need to do is tweek these now and again (really just adding a free role/s to break down a stubborn team, or holding back your DR/L to counter attacking wingers), but you always have these as your base.

I think it depends on the team you are playing. For away matches I often do 'matchups' - where I deliberately pick the player's who will most take advantage of the opposition player's weakness. The midfielder is weak? I'll pick my most brutal DM. Their defender is slow? I'll pick my fastest ST. Their Striker is poor technically? I'll pick my... etc

It's a negative way of selecting your XI because you are relying on cancelling out their strengths rather than playing to your own. But it tends to work for away matches.

I have 2 tactics. My main on which I might alter the mentality, tempo and passing style slightly depending on the game situation. And an ultra-defence for the AI 424 charge.

That's it I always feel the players have to play a consistent style and positioning to get the most out if it. And try not to change your personnel around too much for each game.

I always play differently away, my away form was a big help in my back-to-back promotions from Blue Square Premier to League 1. Nothing too drastic though, I keep the formation the same, but I drop the mentality down to normal and lower the tempo and the width right down, in order to frustrate the oppo in the middle of the park. In games where I am away at a particularly good team, I drop the Defensive line to invite a bit of pressure and go direct, in order to catch them on the break. Keep playing around to see what works for you.

Never really thought about the width away from home, I have 2 wingers who get most of my assists, I usually play the ball out wide and both my centre mids have tackling 13/14 and work rate of over 15 so for BSP should work pretty well. I dont think my strikers are up to all that much though, their target rate is only like 20 something %.

Am going to create 2 tactics I think, home one and away and see if the results pick up, just looks strange in the table being 10th and won like 16 games drawn about 2 then 13-14 losses! is all down to the away form, hopefully change though!

I like to play 442 quick tempo attacking at home but 4-5-1 defensive with counter attacking away, as well as defending a bit deeper away.

Try that, hope it helps

Messi

There's nothing to stop you playing the same tactic in successive home and away matches, as long as the weather is similar and the opposition in the away match is quite as good as the opposition in your home game.

In a nutshell, my opinion is you need 8 tactics - and they'll see you OK through any save, over any amount of years. Defensive, normal and attacking for both wet and dry conditions, and a 'get-a-goal' and 'shut-up-shop' option for when they're needed. The only other thing you'd need to do is tweak these now and again (really just adding a free role/s to break down a stubborn team, or holding back your DR/L to counter attacking wingers), but you always have these as your base.

I would add that - beyond weather and strength of opponent - pitch size is a big factor. In the Mexican leagues, virtually all of the fields are identical in size, so I'll use the exact same tactic/formation when I play home or away. I'll only make some small adjustments to properly mark the opponent's Dangerman(s) and/or exploit their defensive weaknesses (slow/short/disorganized/etc). Otherwise, it's the same outline.

However, when I play away in the MLS or against any team from South America I have to reconsider my teams instructions. Some of the teams have narrow, long fields where my pacey forwards and creative AMC have a field day with Through Balls. Of course, I'll also be considering my opponents strikers & how best to set-up my defense to stop them from doing the same to me.

Some of the Away fields are very wide where I can set my highly technical wingers to rain byline crosses on the box to my Targetman's head with (usually) good effect. On the other half, I'll be aggressively closing down wingers and man-marking their strikers to prevent the same from happening to me.

The AI learning a users tactic is a misconception mate. Because a tactic becomes less successful doesn't mean your PC has become some super-entity. It just means that it's playing more defensively against you, and you'll need to be more creative.

Exactly. It's amzing how often the myth of the AI "learning your tactics" comes up. All they're doing is reacting to your success - if you're doing well, they'll play more defensively against you (and vice-versa, but it's unlikely you'll persist with a tactic if you're doing badly ).