26th December, my team fell apart...

As the title says, on the 26th December 2013 my team just fell apart. From the game on that day onwards they went from being a vibrant, exciting team (20+ shots in most matches) to being, in all honesty, desperately poor (averaging four shots per match in the past 14 matches).

I can see it all happening from the 3D; my players seem sluggish, my man marking central defenders are leaving the opposition strikers with acres of space, my passing has gone from crisp and incisive to aimless and I don't remember seeing either of my wingers going past an opposition player on the highlights since the slump began. All of my players average ratings for the past five games are >0.2 lower than their seasonal averages.

I've always done OK in FM by persevering with all the inanely boring stuff like teamtalks and press conferences to keep my players morale high and them motivated. Nothing in this area has changed.

This isn't a moan thread, I just wondered if anyone had any advice. I've tried persevering in case my players were just in a bit of a slump collectively but it's been nearly two months and I'm just getting bored of watching awful matches.

Have you lost a decent player or two recently? From the sounds of it, you've got a vital component missing. On top of that, are you maybe short of a leader figure in the squad? I don't mean "is a leader injured?", I mean "do you have a decent captain?".

The squad is the same. My captain has high influence and determination and at 38 has massive experience.

From the 22nd December, when we won 2-0 at the third placed team and had 19 shots to their one, nothing really has changed personnel wise.

Are you losing or just not playing that well?

Played 14; won 4, drawn 3, lost 7. For 9, against 13.

It's very much mid-table form and not particularly alarming - although it has dropped me out of the automatic promotion places. It's more the frustration of trying to find why my team has unexaplainably become painfully dull.

It doesn't appear to be that the opposition are 'parking the bus' as the highlights show them defending high and pressing, which has always been the case. Previously though my creative midfielders were able to pick through-balls to my pacey forwards, whereas now the passes seem wayward and the runs are reactionary instead of the proactive runs.

What sort of reaction are you getting to team talks? If your team has been performing well, or above expectations, your team talks might be out of date and you may need to change tact in order to avoid complacency.

Are the weaker performances coming agaisnt weaker teams?

It's mid season, maybe you need to shake things up a big, ring the changes and give some a rest and others a kick up the arse.

See if any of your key players' contracts need renewing (if they have 6 months or less left), a new bumper contract for a few players might just perk the lads up with a good boost of morale (morale is infectious). Check their personal screens to see if they have any slight concerns.

In fact, I'd renew a few contracts anyway for your top players unless they've just recently signed new ones.

What sort of reaction are you getting to team talks?

"Nothing specific noted" seems to be the norm, almost regardless of what I say. I don't know if this is a bad thing or not.

Are the weaker performances coming agaisnt weaker teams?

Not particularly, the flatness is there regardless of the opposition. I won 1-0 against sides in the promotion and relegation places but equally lost 1-0 and 2-1 to a side in the playoff positions and a side just outside of the relegation places. In all honesty all four games could easily have gone either way as there was no real pattern or flow to the games.

It's mid season, maybe you need to shake things up a big, ring the changes and give some a rest and others a kick up the arse.

It's something I was thinking of doing. I'm a bit wary of smashing my team up too much as for the past four seasons they've generally been very good.

See if any of your key players' contracts need renewing (if they have 6 months or less left), a new bumper contract for a few players might just perk the lads up with a good boost of morale (morale is infectious). Check their personal screens to see if they have any slight concerns.

In fact, I'd renew a few contracts anyway for your top players unless they've just recently signed new ones.

Hmmm, you might be onto something but in reverse .

I renewed the contracts of half a dozen players who were approaching the end of their contracts (well, approaching the point at which other teams could approach them). If it is this that's nerfed my team then I'm not really sure how I can reverse it!

Can you increase their contracts yet?

Nothing specific noted can be good, can be bad. If it;s the only response you;re getting 99% of the time, from 99% of your team, then it's probably bad and I would begin to think that complacency has set in and/or your team talks aren't relevant. There's a sticky on team talks in T&T, it;s very halepful.

Also, if by 4 years you mean no real change sin 4 years, then i'd suggest that it;s very likely that complacency is creeping into your side. However, there's no need to ruin your team/mix every position up, pick one or two influential positions and change them, it'll give the regulars a kick up the backside and the player coming in will be eager to impress.

Id recommend going defenseive until starts to piick up, then you can progress to slightly more attacking every game.

Why has nobody asked the obvious? Have your players simply had a wee bit too much fun at the Christmas party?

2month hangovers

gotta love em

It's FM's coded "slump of form" or your tactic has been cracked.

If you go into a slump like this, you need to tell some of the players they are playing below par - and drop some people into the reserves or simply only play people with verygood/superb morale with the morale indicator going up.

OP: I know what you mean, I guess all of us have experienced such slumps more or less. What I found marginally helpful (in FM10 always) is change the "team impression on the pitch" a little bit - like, if using the new Tactics Editor and playing with "Balanced" Philosophy, make it "Fluid".. or make Creative Freedom "More Expressive".. or both!

I can tell your team is seldomly the underdog so since you desire seeing more attractive football, ask the team to become a little more "unpredictable" on the pitch.

Can't say it's "tested and proved" but it helped me in the last two seasons. After about half a dozen games though I started losing badly - although I was playing well - so I went back to my original settings. One way or the other, I was over the slump anyway and I think that tuning brought me 5 or 6 points more and kept the team's morale high.

Just a suggestion

It happens irl ala Liverpool after Benitez "I'm talking about Facts" rant last year, Liverpool only won 1 of the next 7 fixtures in the league iirc

Also, my team (Villa) have a habit of this irl, disposing of 80% of teams in the first half of the season, then the winter fixture build up gets to them and they go on an poor run. 2 seasons ago they were unbeaten in 13 games to November, Lost to Liverpool then won 4 of the next 5, xmas came round and 1 win in 13 saw off any hope of mounting a CL push, despite winning 5 of the final 6 games of the season.

It's an obstacle that is sometimes inexplicable and difficult to get around, usually happens due to the squad not being big enough to handle multiple competitions during a congested fixture list. Were you having decent cup runs at the same time?

I get this with Bayern Munich, the first 17 games over the last 2 seasons ive smashed the league to pieces and then the winter break comes and after it ive had a horrible sticky patch where my 10ish point lead at the halfway stage has been the only thing to see me stay top until ive sorted the form out, unfortunatly this season i went in to the break 1 point off top

All i can really say is try to ride out the storm, from past experience a good team wont just become bad, just keep on doing what you're doing and hopefully your boys will turn it around

sometimes i consider that when my team is playing below acceptable levels is because they are getting all too comfortable. what i do in these ocasions is bring in some substitutes and bench the key players whom i find are underperforming.

so far this has shown this to work. it brings more rythm to the team and you'd be surprised at what the bench players can do (provided you've got decent ones of course). after a few matches the key players get the hint and are back on track.

additionally to this make sure your players are also not tired. even if they are at 90%+ of condition if you are currently playing too many matches a week they'll be shown as tired.

example of this is cristano ronaldo was playing excellent until a a few weeks ago then he's been subpar. i brought in granedo which is an good player (not exceptional) but has been doing an excelent job, and as such makes the rest play better -so ronaldo will wait a bit longer until he sorts out his issue.

This means your opponent in the league have found out how to counter your tactics. That is obvious. Happens in real life too

You should always have a backup tactics if the first one didn't work. At least worked for me. Good luck for the future

This means your opponent in the league have found out how to counter your tactics. That is obvious. Happens in real life too

You should always have a backup tactics if the first one didn't work. At least worked for me. Good luck for the future

This isn't true btw, i've played with the same tactic for 6 season now and only ever had one seasons worth of slump in form.

This isn't true btw, i've played with the same tactic for 6 season now and only ever had one seasons worth of slump in form.

This is the same with me. I always stick with the same starting tactics, but during games I sometimes go even more attacking if I am losing/drawing.

I nearly alway have success, and I think this is partly down to the team knowing how to play with the required instructions, etc.

Every now and again my team has a slump in form, just like real life, but eventually we get back to winning ways.

Had it at Blyth, without fail, for 4 seasons. Usually tarted on boxing day or Jan 1st, they'd obviously been on the lash. Only thing to do is percevere, tactical tweaks and happy players does the trick for me.

The weather may also play a part.

I assume you are an english team and January and February are the months in the season where the weather is at its worst. Heavy rain and water logged pitches are a factor that needs to be considered.

This can affect you badly if you are a team that likes to play a creative short, quick passing game. Perhaps try going a little more direct with the passing to keep the ball in the air a bit more and off the sodden pitch surface.