I have seen the light...

For years IRL (as a high school coach) and on FM, I have been a strict counter-attacker, playing long balls to the striker who snuck behind the opposing defense. I have recently switched to a possession, short-passing game and I am seeing GREAT results, especially in games I shouldn't even be in. On FM, this means I have switched to a control tactic to start the game (unless I am playing a far superior opponent, where I will start with a defensive approach) and I only switch to the counter-attack when up by 2 or more goals. I realize many of you will have a DUH! moment as you probably do this anyway. I am stubborn so it took me longer to see the light...

Happy you found it now

KUTGW

I kinda went through the same thing in my current Legia game. Finished 5th in my first season after chopping-and-changing tactics like an idiot trying my best to find one that works for the players I had. I started with 4-4-2, didn't seem to work. Went to 4-1-2-1-2, didn't work. Imagine about half-a-dozen more concoctions that had little or no improvement on results. Managed to get my job status down to 37% and expecting the chop any minute.

Fast forward 1 season, i'm sitting at the top of the league with 0 defeats in 10. My new "Chelsea-style" tactic is winning me games everywhere.

Thus far, it has me into the quarter-finals of the 2012 Euro Championship with Israel. I lost a 0 - 2 game to Italy, but have played well with the control tactic against Ukraine, Slovakia and Denmark. I realize this is not a conclusive sample, but the results are promising.