Home - attacking, away - defending???

Hi guys,

Just wondering, do you use different mentality if you play at home and away? Or use the same mentality for both home and away? Or change the mentality based on the opponents you play and not where you play? Thanks.

Originally posted by dan777:

Hi guys,

Just wondering, do you use different mentality if you play at home and away? Or use the same mentality for both home and away? Or change the mentality based on the opponents you play and not where you play? Thanks.

Well, if you got really good players and their playing condition is 100% or close to 100%, just using attacking mentality for BOTH home and away matches will win you games no matter how strong the opposition is. But your players must be very, very good, for example, all of them having a Current Ability of 185 or 190 or more.

Current ability of 185 or 190 or more?? How do you check the current ability? Thanks.

I use different tactics dependant upon the strength of the opposition and how they are tactically set out rather than a home or away tactic.

If a team is set to defend with their lives then I use a high-pressing, patient build-up kind of game.

If a team is set up to attack and is obviously superior to mine, I use a quick counter-attacking style.

If a team is set up to attack and is obviously inferior to mine, I tend to attack them viciously.

Originally posted by Blanchflower1:

Well, if you got really good players and their playing condition is 100% or close to 100%, just using attacking mentality for BOTH home and away matches will win you games no matter how strong the opposition is. But your players must be very, very good, for example, all of them having a Current Ability of 185 or 190 or more.

Not technically true.

If all of those high CA/PA players have low attributes in the more important areas (i.e. determination, decision-making, positioning, composure etc), it is more than possible that they will lose.

Whilst a high CA/PA is good, it is only as good as the attributes of the players themselves.

Originally posted by dan777:

Current ability of 185 or 190 or more?? How do you check the current ability? Thanks.

There is no way of checking it inside the game. You need to use a third-party program to see them.

Have a look in the Editors Hideaway sub-forum if you are loking for such a tool.

Originally posted by DJdeMarco:

I use different tactics dependant upon the strength of the opposition and how they are tactically set out rather than a home or away tactic.

If a team is set to defend with their lives then I use a high-pressing, patient build-up kind of game.

If a team is set up to attack and is obviously superior to mine, I use a quick counter-attacking style.

If a team is set up to attack and is obviously inferior to mine, I tend to attack them viciously.

I was thinking about using the same formation each match but change the mentality based on home and away. But after reading the reply above, I might have to change more than just the mentality.

Originally posted by dan777:

I was thinking about using the same formation each match but change the mentality based on home and away. But after reading the reply above, I might have to change more than just the mentality.

I normally use the same formation (generally 442) but change the tactical settings according to the opposition. This includes setting individual player instructions rather than just the overall team tactics.

As an example, if you have a player with poor decision-making, it is best not to give that player a large amount of creative freedom as they will more likely than not keep giving the ball away by making the wrong pass which puts your team under pressure.

Used same tactic with no adjustments for many seasons with many clubs and it works very well at all levels.

If you take Oxford in BSP the CA and PA will be much lower ie CA often under 100.

You can defend by going deep and narrow or attack by push up and wide without changing mentality. The individual mentality is set by what you want the player to do in your tactic.

I never ever use individual mentality on anyone apart from strikers. Seems to work well for me.

I guess there's no certain tactics and strategies from what I've been reading. Different person has their own tactic that works well for them.

If you have a good enough set of tactics, you will never need to adjust anything. I was lucky enough to stumble onto a winning tactic about a week after I bought 07. It won me titles, and I only had to make small adjustments when I got new players (PPMs and attributes can completely change the way a team plays)

On 08 it took a little longer, but eventually I had a tactic that I deemed good enough. I've never adjusted depending on whether I'm home or away, but I know others do.