Lower League Management Questions!

Basically, having struggled in LLM in FM11 I was wondering generally what sort of tactics people employ? Mines just a fairly basic attacking 442. I seem to get a lot of they should 'shoot rather than pass it into the back of the net' comments from other managers? I play it in-between long and short so I dont play a particularly passing focused game?

Also, do the stats on your manager profile affect your chances of getting a job? As I seem to get laughed off from a lot of jobs for which they then go on to hire far worse managers than myself.

My financial control is at 1% due to me managing mainly league 1 clubs that have fallen on bad times or recently relegated teams who have far too high wage bills and therefore constantly loss making!! Is this affecting my chances??

I play a rigid, balanced, direct passing 442 with high wingers. Low creative freedom. It worked well for me, its only taken me 5 seasons to get to the Championship with Dover from the Blue Square south.

Read this

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/241531-FM11-Heathxxx-Lower-League-Management-Approach

and generally keep an eye in the Tactics forum.

have to play rigid, the players are not good enough to play anything else. you need short passing, very low role freedom and play it down the middle, i find this is the best, it has so far got me from BSN to League One

have to play rigid, the players are not good enough to play anything else. you need short passing, very low role freedom and play it down the middle, i find this is the best, it has so far got me from BSN to League One

It's one way, not the only way. I do similar - balanced/rigid, no creative freedom or roaming, narrow, through the middle but with direct passing. However my link to the poster who's getting great success argues that if your team is strong relative to the opponents in your league, fluid, creative freedom etc works very well.

In my view any formation and tactic that suits your players can work well. generally that means K.I.S.S. However, I have found and argued for one key management tool for lower leagues that most FMers overlook. The players generally have very weak mental attributes at this level and a ruthless manager can really exploit this. I keep the oppo motivation widget open in matches and target players who get red lines such as 'nervous'. I destroy oppo dangermen in pre-match press conferences or just a word to the media. I pile pressure on a player with low bravery or morale. It really pays off.

There's many ways you can approach things tactically in the lower leagues. All depend on the overall quality of player attributes you have to work with. I always think that if you can get a team to do the most basic tasks well, you stand in good stead. From there, you can look at taking things further.

I employ a little more creative freedom and roaming, but only because I've brought in players able to play in such a way effectively, with some of their key positional/role attributes being much stronger than those of opposing players. Otherwise, I would use a more rigid/balanced overall strategy.

As phnompenhandy quite rightly says though, you can also take advantage of weak areas of your opponents. Generally, many players at lower levels have poor composure, bravery and determination. Having a quick look through your opponents team prior to a match, you can spot such weakness'. You can utilise the media a couple of days prior to a match, to suggest such a player might be a "weak link" in the opposing team. This can lead to their player being nervous or doubt their ability. Then you can utilise opposition instructions during the match and try to apply pressure to those players.

For example, any defender I see with low composure, bravery and determination, is an ideal target. I'll state so in the media, then with opposition instructions, I'll instruct closing down "often", tackling "hard" and sometimes, tight marking, so that I have a forward on his shoulder all game, keeping the pressure on.

Tactically (if the weak links are central defenders for example), I would look to channel play through the middle towards them as often as possible. Using shouts such as "Exploit Middle", "Pump Ball Into Box" and "Get The Ball Forward". This will lead to a more direct passing approach, into and around the area of those central defenders. Additionally, if they have poor anticipation and positioning compared to my forwards, I might also consider "Pass Into Space", because I'll be more confident my forwards will read a pass into space, better than the opponent.

There's also lots of other things you can take into account, which are basic common sense, such as playing a fast winger against a slow full-back. Even though there's not many wingers blessed with great technical or mental skills at that level, you can still pick up ones who are lightning fast. If possible, try getting them to learn the "Knock Ball Past Opponent" PPM (Player Preferred Move) as quickly as you can.

Have a look through my thread that phnompenhandy posted a link to. None of my own tactical preferences are gospel, but merely give examples of what I'm using and why. But I have tried to provide information about how certain tactical and media elements work, plus there's been some great examples and points raised by others who've taken the time to contribute to the thread.

It's only "my" thread insofar as I started it. I'm happy to encourage others to contribute their own experiences and preferences, tips and guides within, to give readers as broad a scope of things they can try, as possible.

I always try creating these tactics and have read heaths guide

Can someone advise me in the lower league is my problem being too fiddly with me tactics rather than being straight forward.

An edit to that:- Can anyone advise what is the best pairing to play upfront or most effective ie a target man and a poacher, just trying to gage everyones preferences.

Well, I started my current save with a simple 4-4-2 system, because I didn't feel the more adventurous 4-5-1 or 4-3-2-1 systems I had in mind would be as effective. Not so much the formations, but the roles I wanted to use within.

As for those roles, it can depend entirely on the suitability of the players you have available, or are able to sign. That can be said at any level though.

As for being "fiddly", there's nothing wrong with tinkering, if what you do suits your team's style of play, or exposes weakness in opponents, without drastically effecting your own system too much.

My thoughts would be to try a simple system that you like, then build on it.

An edit to that:- Can anyone advise what is the best pairing to play upfront or most effective ie a target man and a poacher, just trying to gage everyones preferences.

In the lower leagues I have always found that a target man (support) / poacher combination works best. The reason for this is that physical attributes count much more towards each role than mental or technical and - at least in my experience - it's always been much easier to get players with good physical attributes at that level than mental or technical. I think the same holds true for limited central defenders and defensive midfielders.

used to play LLM way ..

1- Scouts for 'next opposition' could help you to pick the right tactic for each game, it's really depends on pitch width & Long.

2- settled 'Match Preparation' tactics, with being used in games give you extra chance to win games.

3- players, backup players help you a lot to win games even if you made some risks in tactics.

If you are in the lower leagues my advise would be,

1 - Sign Chris Templeman from Forfar (if budget allows) in the last 3 fm versions I have signed him when starting in the lower leagues and he averages 25 league goals.

2 - Ensure players have a good workrate (I never sign anyone below as 12)

3 - Keep your tactics basic (Balanced Philosophy etc)

4 - I play a 4-1-2-1-2

i brought two pacy strikers, decent midfield and defence, decided to put as many men behind the ball (4-1-3-2) drop deep, play narrow and shout direct passing to pacy strikers who so many times found opposition defence out of position i ve climbed two leagues in two years and i am thinking of it as a cheat tactict.

This is a good point. i find that at lower league level, nearly all DCs are slow and limbering. Get a fast striker or two - even with rubbish finishing, they'll get so many chances they score one or two. Conversely, make sure you have one reasonably quick DC in the cover role. Most of my goals come in the last 15 minutes as those slow lumbering DCs also lose concentration, and from my substitute strikers with their fresh legs and minds; patience is a virtue!