cannot keep a clean sheet for dear life

Hi guys,

I like to start in the lower leagues. I have picked Chesterfield and bought in some decent signings - my squad is certainly quite strong.

Tactically however is another story - the last few years I have always gone with a simple but solid 4-5-1. But it didn't seem to be as useful as in the past so I switched to 4-4-2 as many on the forum have said its stronger than ever.

It seems no matter what I do, whether its close down, show on to weaker foot the opposition hammer in strikes for fun from anywhere. Or they cross and bang its a goal!

I wouldn't say my defenders are bad for a league 2 side at all!

Have you got any advice?

Only just started FM11 last night so I'm not that familiar with it yet but based on experience:

Close down the MCs, they often strike from the edge of the box when left open.

In terms of wingers they have been much improved this year and need to be watched. Are your DCs stronger in the air than the opposition strikers? Do you want the wingers forced wide of are they less dangerous cutting inside (consider their weaker foot etc?).

As for general play with a lower league side I would tend to play a more direct game, if the ball is in the opposition half they can't score and your defenders are less likely to make errors.

I would suggest you try playing with two defensive midfielders and a centre mid as well. 4-2-3-1. Hopefully that helps.

In FM2010 I always used my fullbacks as wingers without any problems but this year I found that left my DCs totally exposed and running around like headless chickens as the wingers closed in, so I've been forced to tweak my tactics and use my fullbacks as fullbacks.

Also, I've been using pre-match preparation on HIGH for defensive positioning which seems to have settled things down again.