lots of questions

I'm somewhat new to soccer but I've always been interested in the sport but haven't gotten too much exposure because I'm an American. I've gotten about 3 days of play time on FM10 and I have a ton of questions.

I have a lot of trouble against teams I should be destroying. when odds are like 10-1 for my opponent I normally play with "attacking" and but when the other team is playing a counter or defensive style I always get drawn into a 1-1 draw or even a loss some times. I lost or tied to more longshots than I did to team rated higher than me. I play as Arsenal btw and normally play 4-3-3.

That brings up the question of what do you do when you're playing a team that is technically inferior but have a defensive/counter style. that is my biggest problem

A general soccer question I have is, what do I do to counter 4-5-1. I'm constantly told that I have trouble beating this formation but I don't really understand why. I'm missing some fundamental soccer knowledge. I've googled strengths and weaknesses of formations but I just don't know why I lose to 4-5-1.

Lastly, for now, I'm curious how I keep players out of injury. obviously you don't want to overwork them but Robin van Persie is ALWAYS injured. the first 3 games I ever played, he scored 8 goals for me. after the third game he was out with some 3 or 4 week injury. toward the end of that injury his international team played him and he got another injury of about 4 weeks on top of that injury. finally once he returned there was some cup action and I really wanted to play him because I was having so much trouble scoring but his training said severely lacking in fitness or something to that extent. I ended up playing him with 3 minutes to go in a game and he hurt himself for 2 months. he finally gets better 2 months later and I take it really slow. I didn't play him at all for about a week when his severely lacking in training was down to just lacking in training and he was obviously getting better. He played ok for about 3 days but in the final game of the season he broke the bottom portion of his leg and is out for 6 months.... he was completely match fit and everything. I had him under normal training. I have no idea why he is so injury prone....

one more thing, is there a downside to letting a bunch of scouts go if you feel you have a sturdy young squad and hiring coaches to better train your players?

oh and can you die if you play long enough lol

Van Persie gets injured a lot in real life so that's probably just something you'll have to live with. Arsenal have a very injury-prone squad. Unless you are over-working your players in training (especially on strength and aerobic training) or you have really bad physios, there is not much you can do about it.

The downside to letting scouts go is that you'll find it harder to find new players. The more scouts you have, the more countries you can scout, and consequently the more knowledge you'll have of the footballing world. Letting scouts go won't allow you to hire more coaches so you might as well just keep them.

As for you tactical questions, this is the most difficult part of the game and you'll probably get some contradictory advice. In my opinion 4-5-1 is an extremely strong and well balanced formation so there is no easy way to counter it.

In terms of 4-5-1, make sure your team isn't getting outnumbered in the midfield, and use longer through balls to your strikers to bypass the congested middle of the pitch.

For tactical advice your best bet is to go to this thread http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=159310 and d'load the guide to tactics in FM. It is fantastic and well worth taking the time to read it.

It will teach you a lot about the game in game and IRL.

As said above, keep the scouts, they could help unearth a gem. Maybe.

Van Persil is injury prone so hire the best possible fitness coaches and physios and keep his training relatively light. Personally for someone with his injury record I would have his strength and aerobic training workloads at the very low end of medium.

Good luck!

Also I've found that 10.2 has caused players to get injured ALL THE TIME. It's ridiculous.

Also I've found that 10.2 has caused players to get injured ALL THE TIME. It's ridiculous.

Its not actually, don't scare the new guy! Its just more realistic than it ever has been before. No player can go 3 games a week and maintain anywhere near 100% fitness, this is now reflected in game. I think you'll find with injuries you are seeing more of the little niggles and knocks that keep players out for a game or 2, which is now more comparable to RL. Long term injuries are about right. I'm sure I've seen a thread with someone doing some long term stats on it and it comes out pretty much spot on.

RVP is notoriously injury prone you're always going to lose him for a chunk of each season, just like RL.

what about why I draw so much to mediocre opponents? how do I play against a mediocre squads that use the counter attack at their main setup?

Its not actually, don't scare the new guy! Its just more realistic than it ever has been before. No player can go 3 games a week and maintain anywhere near 100% fitness, this is now reflected in game. I think you'll find with injuries you are seeing more of the little niggles and knocks that keep players out for a game or 2, which is now more comparable to RL. Long term injuries are about right. I'm sure I've seen a thread with someone doing some long term stats on it and it comes out pretty much spot on.

RVP is notoriously injury prone you're always going to lose him for a chunk of each season, just like RL.

Yeah it is probably more realistic, it just really pees me off

what about why I draw so much to mediocre opponents? how to I play against a mediocre squad that uses counter attack at their main setup?

Its all in that guide. Honestly well worth your time. But basically against those kind of teams you need to not be in such a hurry, slow the tempo, widen your play, use the control mentality and touchline shout 'work ball into box' maybe even 'pass to feet' and 'retain possession'. Try and use player roles that have players dropping into spaces, such as Trequartista, Advanced Playmaker, Deep lying Forward.

what about why I draw so much to mediocre opponents? how do I play against a mediocre squads that use the counter attack at their main setup?

Again, I'm no expert at FM, but I would use a DM and play possesion football like Arsenal IRL, whilst not allowing as many players forward as they do (like fullbacks).

what about why I draw so much to mediocre opponents? how do I play against a mediocre squads that use the counter attack at their main setup?

I would recommend sticking with your attacking strategy and using a fluid philosophy if you're not doing so already. Make sure you have enough creative players in midfield and that they're set as playmakers - Fabregas in particular.

Maybe you could tell us what player roles you use within your 4-3-3 so we could give more specific advice.

I would recommend sticking with your attacking strategy and using a fluid philosophy if you're not doing so already. Make sure you have enough creative players in midfield and that they're set as playmakers - Fabregas in particular.

Maybe you could tell us what player roles you use within your 4-3-3 so we could give more specific advice.

Vela: poacher Eduardo:complete forward attack Bentner: complete forward support

Ramsey: central midfielder attack Fabregas advanced playmaker support Denilson ballwinning midfield defender

Clichy: fullback Gallas: CD D Vermaelen CD D Sagna fullback

The first thing I would say is that with your three forwards all playing high up they may be getting isolated from the midfield. I would have at least one of them playing in a deeper role to link up with your midfielders.

The second thing is that Eduardo doesn't really have the physical attributes to play as a complete forward. He is probably best suited to being a poacher, but if Arshavin and Van Persie are both injured then I'd recommend using Eduardo in a deeper role.