Home games too easy and Away games too hard

Thats what was wrong with FM09 for me.

In most teams/leagues its always the same, most times home games are really easy and you know youre going to win. Away for me in most times was ridicuously hard, even using big teams as Inter, I knew the most probable thing to happen when facing the likes of Palermo or Cagliari was a draw, and against big teams (bar a Milan derby) I always lost.

Now the weird thing,started a game with the Weegie Update as Club Brugge and things are better, I am now able to beat most league teams away, and home things are not as unbalanced. Thats how things should work.

Yet, I using decent teams in poor leagues (Rangers/Celtic) can manage to beat all the others (bar each other) away, thats how I won the SPL. But with Brugge Im supposed to finish 3rd and yet Im sitting top of the table in October

FAQ:

In real life some teams have really poor away records.

I played in several leagues and away games have always been a pain and home matches have always been easy, bar my new Brugge game.

Your tactics and instructions are screwed up.

No tactic/instructions in the world would work miracles at home (beating Schalke 6-1, beating Milan 1-0 with Rangers) and be awful away.

You only use that exception because you're first.

No. I was first as Rangers and I still complain about it, how I would lose/draw with St. Mirren and the likes of Motherwell. Also, its pretty plausible if I lose 2-0 against Standard or Anderlecht away, but not losing against Zulte Waregem or GBA or even Charleroi.

Am I right in assuming that you are using the same tactical approach at home and away? That could be your problem. With a big club in a small league it wouldn't be so evident, but surely you'd be better overall if you approach home and away matches differently?

If your problem is weak teams away then your problem is probably motivation. For whatever reason (team talks? Press conferences? lack of praise for good play? etc...) your players dont try when they play weak teams away.

IIRC, there is a (confirmed) slight imbalance in the home/away win ratios in the latest version of 09. Something like 6% in the favour of the home team.

i think your problem is team talks. use them right the problem should if not go away become less

thanks for the help.

Ill give you an example, when I was Marítimo, Boavista [newly-promoted at the time] beat me 5-1 in their field, but when they played away against me, they would lose 2-0,2-1,3-0.

Same with Inter, lets say, I can beat Napoli 3-0 home but then lose 2-0 away.

Most evidently when I was Inter, I beat Barça 4-1 home but lost 3-2 away.

Thats whats boring in 2009, the unbalancing thats immense for me.

Too easy at home, too hard away from home, needs fixing imo.

So, what team-talks shall I use away from home to avoid complacency and defeat or draw?

thanks for the help.

Ill give you an example, when I was Marítimo, Boavista [newly-promoted at the time] beat me 5-1 in their field, but when they played away against me, they would lose 2-0,2-1,3-0.

Same with Inter, lets say, I can beat Napoli 3-0 home but then lose 2-0 away.

Most evidently when I was Inter, I beat Barça 4-1 home but lost 3-2 away.

Thats whats boring in 2009, the unbalancing thats immense for me.

Too easy at home, too hard away from home, needs fixing imo.

So, what team-talks shall I use away from home to avoid complacency and defeat or draw?

Im Southampton in the Premier League, ive yo-yoed for a couple of seasons now but have found that at home saying " for the fans " did well for me 1st half, on the odd occasion I was losing or drawing at half time, a " disappointing " style talk helped in the second half. Like yourself I was struggling away from home using roughly similiar team talks, I started using " you can win this " type talks pre match on winnable games and " no pressure " against the big boys and " encourage " at half time if doing well or " want more from you " if struggling. Quite basic I know but seems to have kept my home record good and improved my away record. My squad mentality is very determined so a bit of a nudge at half time tended to work if behind. Hope this helps.

"Most evidently when I was Inter, I beat Barça 4-1 home but lost 3-2 away."

This is not 'most evident' at all - this happens in real life all the time. 1 team is clearly better - Inter, but not good enough to win away in the CL. I wouldn't expect 1 team to win both legs - check the CL IRL, not often will a team win both legs

True.

Thanks for the feedback

"Most evidently when I was Inter, I beat Barça 4-1 home but lost 3-2 away."

This is not 'most evident' at all - this happens in real life all the time. 1 team is clearly better - Inter, but not good enough to win away in the CL. I wouldn't expect 1 team to win both legs - check the CL IRL, not often will a team win both legs

Celtic being a prime example over the past few years.

In real life some teams have really poor away records.

I played in several leagues and away games have always been a pain and home matches have always been easy, bar my new Brugge game.

Your tactic is more suited to a home game in which the opposition would be playign a more defensive strategy.

Your tactics and instructions are screwed up.

No tactic/instructions in the world would work miracles at home (beating Schalke 6-1, beating Milan 1-0 with Rangers) and be awful away.

Again, all that tells me is that your tactic suits home games, but is too attacking when away against teams who will play more attacking football.

You only use that exception because you're first.

No. I was first as Rangers and I still complain about it, how I would lose/draw with St. Mirren and the likes of Motherwell. Also, its pretty plausible if I lose 2-0 against Standard or Anderlecht away, but not losing against Zulte Waregem or GBA or even Charleroi.

Various examples doesn't prove anything, other than the fact that it's a tactical issue tbh.

Team talks, press conferences, tactics, could all be having a negative effect when away from home. Simples.

i have noticed this on several occasions too.

even with 'big' clubs you struggle away to inferior teams.

sometimes i just want to give up and call it a day, if it wasnt for other peoples tactics that i use, i would of given up years ago tbh

^A bit like this.

I got sick of my Inter 2025 [where I started as AZ and went through a number of clubs until I reached Continental rep] because of that. I knew when I was going to win/draw/lose, I could almost bet on it.

Thats why I made a new game...

This has been acknowledged before by SI I think that the home/away advantage bias is a little too generous to the home side. I can't find the thread atm where it was acknowledged away games were tweaked to be too hard, but my understanding is this is something that will be remedied in FM10.

I had incredible problems for a couple of seasons with away games but developed a tactic that would suit better. As people have pointed out, playing attacking at home against a defensive away side may work, but away from home when the home side plays more attacking it makes for a more open, high-scoring, and probably losing game. I'll try and find the thread, but in the mean time, have some free tactical advice I received having had the same problem, which has really helped.