Mid-season slumps

Is it just me or have any of you others experienced a mid-season slump?

I had a game in the Premiership with Villa where I was playing quick, passing football which saw me scoring 2/3 goals nearly every game but when I got to January I drew 2-2 with Wolves and that seemed to kill all confidence and I didnt win for the next 7 games ending any hopes of getting into the Champions League.

I started a new game a few weeks later with a random side and ended up with Galway United of the Irish league, we were predicted to finish 8th out of 10. With a tiny squad I signed Matt Holland to add some experience to my midfield and a striker on loan from Dundee United. We started the season really well beating both Bohemians and Cork City (who seems to win most games easily and are a bit like Celtic and Rangers in the SPL) but just before the mid-season break (for the World Cup) I lost 7-1 to UCD (10th) and 5-0 to Dundalk (8th) and again this killed my team confidence resulting me to slip into a run of 9 straight defeats after the break which saw me sacked as manager.

Is this something I am wrong?

I thought about players being tired but they are all in good condition, match fit and with good/very good morale.

This happens to my team as well, and it's a killer. The worst part is there seems to be no real reason for it. Morale is still good, results are happening, strikers are scoring like crazy and then for no reason a slump that just kills the entire season. I even had a striker who was scoring roughly 1.5 goals per game go 8 games without a goal. No reason. Just happened.

The only way I found around it was to sacrifice a couple of games and give all of my starters a game or two off. Play scrubs for two games, let your starters rest, and then get them back in.

The other issue is that teams could have "figured out your tactics" if you use the same tactics all the time. Since your team must adjust to any new tactics, utilizing different tactics every once in awhile (especially in games you are going to lose anyway), you can usually extend the life of your tactics.

I play a smiple 4-4-2 in basically every game. I rarely change tactics unless I have bags of injuries.

I laways have about 10 matches where my team are awful then we go back to our previous form, I just cant work it out.

I usually experience a beginning-of-season slump. Seems no matter how fit and used to each other as my squad is, unless I play the same lineup in 2-3 friendlies before the start of the season, they always win the Community Shield but then go on to lose, or draw, their first 2 games. Started 1-1-1 last 3 years (finishing probably 89-15-10 combined in those 3 years), last year I started 5-4-2 (ended 29-6-3), and this year I drew to Portsmouth and Sunderland (although I made a few changes in my starting 11 due to an injury and a late signing) in my first two games.

I always have the "after Christmas slump" myself, no matter the team or the league. I'm sure I had this happening since fm08 at least, can't remember further back to be honest.

What I do lately is, I give my team a "rest" from training during the festive season - not sure it helps but it makes me feel better at least

I always have a march slump

I got mine this year in October, lost pretty much every game but bounce back winning since!

I get it if I start the same XI every game, but when I rotate 20 players or so I don't usually get the slump.

Happens in real life really i mean being a Blackburn fan we didnt win in like 13 games just a blip which normaly turns around if your lucky!

There are a few things I do to avoid slumps. Usually, when the team is losing a lot, morale drops and this is hard to come out of. When every player's morale is Poor or Very Poor I find it very difficult to win a game.

What I've done in the past is find a period where I can sneak in a friendly, mid-season, against weak opposition that I can hammer. After the match, I heap praise on the players and it does have a positive effect on their morale.

It still lacks realism that all managers seem to be able to set up their side no matter how bad they (the manager) are.