avoiding complacency

im playing as spurs in 4th season, and every season i play well and beat most of the top 4 teams but struggle to beat the lesser teams away and sometimes scrape home wins.

my backroom advice always says we struggle with complacency against smaller teams but how can i get my players to perform.

im aware that these teams will sit back more therefore making it harder to break down, and attacking more can leave counter attacks open for them.

im thinking its more a mental thing with the press conferences, i never choose the most confident options as i dont want the players to think its going to be an easy game, and i never choose negative answers but for some reason i cant get the right performance.

for example just now:

beat b.munich away 4-0

beat man utd away 4-1

beat chelsea away 3-2

drew to fulham away 2-2

stupid fixture lit is giving me a lot of away fixtures in a row which isnt helping.

earlier on in the season i drew 1-1 at home to pompey and 2-2 away at hull.

as far as tactics, i start of standard away, and then adjust accordingly. if the other team is winning il attack and come back into it, but if im winning and looking comfortable they will snatch a goal out of no where.

as you can see scoring goals isnt a problem, but my strikers seem to take it easy against lower opposition.

can someone help me out here. as its costing me vital points!

It probably means you're having trouble breaking down an organised and defensive opponent. It's not necessarily complacency, it's just that you're tactics might be more suited exploiting space left by more attacking opponents. Breaking down an opponent can be extremely difficult. If they're playing very defensively, you can overload your attack, play very direct and just bombard them with crosses into the box. Chances are you'll pick up most of the cleared balls and quickly attack again. That's one way to pin down your enemy. There's always a risk of deadly counter though. If you manage to score it might be worth it to play more balanced and controlling possession, or standing off you opponents and using counter. I've noticed the latter is often very effective. You just let them play, stand off and most of the time they're too clueless to keep possession and you can hit them on the break.

thanks Ainu, il try that out, usually i score early so i try and press to get at least 1 goal, but the longer the match goes on without me scoring i have to push up more, but i will try the counter tactics.

can someone suggest a team talk about a lower team, as no pressure works wonders against top 4 teams and win everytime haha

Try the individual team talk "expect a performance" from your key players (preferably with high determination) in the pre match team talk (i.e strikers and attacking midfielders).

You can also try cricticising (or saying that their recent form is only "acceptable") key players via player interaction 2/3 days before the match. this may, depending on their personality, fire them up for the weak teams.

If you are heavy favourites the (team) team talk "I expect a win" adds expectation (but also pressure) to the team. And in the match before you play a weak team, if you have won, you can choose "warn against complacency in the next match".

All of the above can, with the right player personalities, prevent complacency.

im playing fulham, said expect a win and went down 2-0 within 12mins :@ yet i beat man u 5-1 witht he exact same players, so confusing

thanks for the info

im playing fulham, said expect a win and went down 2-0 within 12mins :@ yet i beat man u 5-1 witht he exact same players, so confusing

thanks for the info

who were you playing as and what were the pre-match odds?

-rotate your players

-check their personality before signing them

-master team-talks

-have a good tactic

-don't change it often

Expect a win is a guaranteed loss 90% of the time, like it was when you praised any players at HT in previous versions. Theyd end up messing about in the 2nd half and youd lose.

Never use expect a win unless youre playing NL opposition at home and never praise players at HT unless you have angry, disappointed, pleased and thrilled as the options.

I'm spurs, 5-4 to win against fulham

13-8 to win against man u

so what should i use against weaker opposition philly? good luck, you can win or for the fans?

just went down 2-0 within 10mins using for the fans :@

I'm spurs, 5-4 to win against fulham

13-8 to win against man u

Yes those odds are too close for i expect a win.

In FM09 (i expect its the same for 10) if you go to either home stats or away stats during the match(depending if ur home or away) there is a drop down menu and u can see motivation. If you see any of your players "looking complacent" before half time in this widget- give them a good boot up the ar*e at HT- either disappointed or angry (depending on their personality)- or sub them off for someone else.

Ive got exactly the same probem managing Spurs.

i can beat Man City or Man Utd 4-0 but when it comes to Hull,Wolves and other lesser teams my assistant always says we struggle against lesser teams.

Against lower teams who will put men behind the ball and defend, compress the play with a high defensive line, play wide to help get crosses in and play a slow posession game but attacking. Use your superior flair/creativity to creat the chances by keeping the ball in their third of the pitch. Arsenal IRL are a good example of this.