Is there any benefit to not playing attacking?

Anytime, with any team, that I don't play attacking I get destroyed. As an experiment I played the same fixture three time just to figure the difference. I am Leeds first season in the prem at Manu. Massive underdogs. First match I played the whole time on standard, final score 2-0 Manu. They dominated it should have been more. Second match Counter. 7-1 manu. You'd figure this would help but sweet hell. The could and should have scored in the teens. They got 56 shots which is the most I've ever seen and we had three shots none on target. Third go Attack, final 1-0 manu still lost but the match was very even.

Now when the hell would you ever use counter if not then? They were looking to attack, they would dominate possesion, they would push very high up. Basically the perfect recipe for a counter. Hmmm...any ideas? I know side quality has something to do with this, but the results are still puzzling.

i find counter works excellently for my style, sometimes its other small things that make a huge difference. e.g. if you are up against very quick wingers who cross to tall forwards that are good in the air, then going wider and hassling opponents means you are likely to prevent the crosses etc in the first place. Do you see what i'm getting at?

i think it depends a lot on your style of play and the players available to you. if for instance you have a lot of attackers then your best option is probably to attack and that will make you press your oppenent more and be more successful.

With Mouscron in the second division of Belgium, I played a counter style and got from 3rd from bottom(the previous manager had us there) to around 7th I believe?

If I played attacking my team wouldn't click. With counter, we played slow and patient in their half and I managed to keep a good defence and win alot of games by a goal or two.

I play as Ajax and always play attacking unless I'm away from home in a game I'm favorite to lose (mainly Champions League) then i play Counter and set Team-Talk to No pressure and almost always come away with a result.

I won La Liga with Valenca playing a counter attacking style at almost every game. It just worked, i figured i conceded a lot when i was on attack, switched to counter attacking style and i kept winning.

OP. I hear ya I too think attacking has very few draw backs in this game. Doesn't matter if I have a strong or weak club I conceed no more on attacking than I do defensive.

well i just played defensive against chelsea away and won 3-1 as Braintree..... (i am in 2016 and flying at the top of the prem mind)

Cool thanks for the posts guys. I think counter is a form for the advanced tacticans, which I am not. It seems that when crafted properly by someone with the know how it works, but otherwise/for me it plays like attack only without any hope of scoring.

Since the AI rarely makes individual player errors and there is no realistic level of player skill/performance - its all morale or media modified to hyper unreal levels - defending is frankly pointless.

The only reason not to attack is to try to score on the break, which can be done quite consistently if you have the right players.

Other than that? I'd consider putting out a defensive formation at the start of a match with no intention to exploit opposing full backs etc simply pointless in 10.2

10.3 usually fixes this - historically at least. Fingers crossed.

The only reason not to attack is to try to score on the break, which can be done quite consistently if you have the right players.

And what a textbook example we saw yesterday with Birmingham.

I agree with the OP. Going defensive just seem to make conceding a goal more likely.

The only time I have ever gone defensive was on FM09 when I devised a formation that was so effective it took over a year of playing it every time I took the lead before I eventually conceded a goal.

I always start attacking now regardless of opponents. I am being overrun may go to standard but I never play anything other than these two and I am sucessful because of it.

And what a textbook example we saw yesterday with Birmingham.

Hail fellow infractee!

We're the wrong uns we are!

:thup:

I haven't ever actually tried to build a counter attacking team. I did it once, unconsciously, with Leicester in 09 when I got a regen that had 18 pace and 17 finishing. Played a 4411 with the ST set to target man/run on to ball. Won a lot of matches! I always seem to end up building teams that counter attack by accident tbh. Usually evolves out of a desire to play possession football - which never works annoyingly.

Come to mention it, I guess a counter attacking tactic is pretty much the best one to use for lower leagues/underdog clubs eh? Anyone ever done it, deliberately, on purpose, totally FTW?

I miss the 'poacher' players of yester-year.

I wouldhave gone more defensv if I were you.

Hail fellow infractee!

We're the wrong uns we are!

:thup:

In truth, I got mine about a year go for DEFENDING SI against an abusive troll. Oh the injustice, but I wear it as a badge of pride

It depends on the rest of your tactics. IE counter, with very low tempo / shorting passing just won't work.

No, Ive never noticed a difference in the goals conceded from overload to contain but contain just stops you scoring. As with all FMs, attacking is insanely overrated and nothing like real life where teams would get destroyed on the counter.

I suppose it depends on how you play the game but I prefer to go out with a control strategy so as not to be caught out early, see how the game pans out and then go looking for a goal if I have to. I also switch strategies after I score and it seems a reasonable thing to do, say switch to attacking if I score on control in the hope of catching the opponent out and establishing a healthy lead.

I also check the motivation widgets for both teams and see how different players in different parts of the pitch are performing. You can pinch and prevent quite a few goals by paying attention to how both sides react to in-match events and adapting your tactics accordingly. Nervous Centrebacks are always a good target for "get the ball forward" and attack strategy. Getting stuck into the opposition right after half time with a more aggressive strategy is another way of establishing a good motivation advantage which in turn allows you to dominate the match, but you have to be careful that your own teamtalks are up to the task and it doesn't backfire.

You could go out on attack strategy and just leave it at that for 90 minutes but then you are not really taking advantage of all the options and opportunities available to you. Sometimes it's better in the long run to keep the ball for 30 minutes and pass it around at 3-0 up than run yourself into the ground to win 7-0.

In truth, I got mine about a year go for DEFENDING SI against an abusive troll. Oh the injustice, but I wear it as a badge of pride

Oh the injustice! I got mine for 'labelling all Scottish people with negative racial characteristics'. It was all a terrible misunderstanding. Gov. Honest.

I suppose it depends on how you play the game but I prefer to go out with a control strategy so as not to be caught out early, see how the game pans out and then go looking for a goal if I have to. I also switch strategies after I score and it seems a reasonable thing to do, say switch to attacking if I score on control in the hope of catching the opponent out and establishing a healthy lead.

I also check the motivation widgets for both teams and see how different players in different parts of the pitch are performing. You can pinch and prevent quite a few goals by paying attention to how both sides react to in-match events and adapting your tactics accordingly. Nervous Centrebacks are always a good target for "get the ball forward" and attack strategy. Getting stuck into the opposition right after half time with a more aggressive strategy is another way of establishing a good motivation advantage which in turn allows you to dominate the match, but you have to be careful that your own teamtalks are up to the task and it doesn't backfire.

You could go out on attack strategy and just leave it at that for 90 minutes but then you are not really taking advantage of all the options and opportunities available to you. Sometimes it's better in the long run to keep the ball for 30 minutes and pass it around at 3-0 up than run yourself into the ground to win 7-0.

Excellent post! All very true.