How much of a tactical tinkerman are you?

How much of a tactical tinkerman are you?

Are you the sort of manager who changes formation all of the time? Or do you just have a favourite system and stick to it?

Answer the poll and share your approach in here!

i have one attacking and one defending formation, i only go defencive when im playing a team i believe i can somehow park the bus against, and thats usually euro giants. other than that, i go 4-5-1 with attacking wingers and an attacking mid, the defencive formation simply puts the AMC into DMC.

2 threads already this morning crouchy, bored?

I've always been a bit of a 'tinkerman' but generally picked one formation at the start of the season and stuck with it, often changing to something different the next season.

Now, I've been thinking of maybe implementing a Man Utd/Ferguson style plan, with 4-4-2 for most games and a 4-5-1 variation for the big, tough matches. An attacking and defensive tactic, if you like. All of the AI managers have this approach in their profiles, so I figure, why not give it a go.

I'm still playing FM10, so I don't have that match preparation business to cope with either!

i have one attacking and one defending formation, i only go defencive when im playing a team i believe i can somehow park the bus against, and thats usually euro giants. other than that, i go 4-5-1 with attacking wingers and an attacking mid, the defencive formation simply puts the AMC into DMC.

Interesting approach. Is this one you've always used on older FMs, out of interest?

2 threads already this morning crouchy, bored?

Yes actually! I'm waiting on someone to arrive, so I'm killing time.

Interesting approach. Is this one you've always used on older FMs, out of interest?

Yes actually! I'm waiting on someone to arrive, so I'm killing time.

yes, its been a good tactic for the past 3-4 FM's. before that i think i used the 4-4-2 and occasionally a 4-3-3

as for killing time, i just spent 40 minutes walking to college which is closed today, good start for me!

I'm more of a classic tinkerman. 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 5-3-2 and some of its offsprings: 4-1-2-2-1, 4-3-2-1.

I've rarely been into heavy tactical tinkering, and it has worked well for me anyway.

Since the introduction of the 3D ME and of the tactical instructions/player roles/shouts I have tried to be more "creative", trying to create the best possible formation for my players according to their best position and skills.

However my enthusiasm died down as soon as I realized the ME doesn't really reproduce what I mean it to do... Basically I haven't been able to recognize during the 3D match any of my instructions and tactical ideas.

I've played a custom 4-3-3, a custom 4-2-3-1 and a standard 4-4-2 but honest to God I couldn't tell which was which during the extended highlights... The players keep doing what they want and the shape of the formation still looks random.

In the end I can't be arsed to spend time in tactical fine-tuning when it barely makes a visible difference in the game...

It's just like taking time to do an artistic paintjob on a car you're going to drive at a Destruction Derby...

I have my basic 3-3-1-3 which I play against formations with two forwards, and two variations I use depending on how the opponent is lining up. Nothing changes or gets 'tinkered' with, except for set-piece instructions when the corner/free-kick taker changes and I have to alter the instructions to suit.

I am a continual tinkerman. I always start with the classic 4-4-2. If it's not looking good in the first ten minutes I will change formation. Depending on who I am playing against I will use 4-4-2 with 2 attacking wingers, 4-1-3-2, 4-4-2-1, 4-3-1-2, 4-1-4-1 and others that spring to mind at the time. I probably change formation at least 3 times per game, sometimes more. According to my profile stats I have an 18% rating for formation consistancy.

I do enjoy after winning a game, to see the comment about being a tactical wizzard, or something like that.

I tend to use a few basic tactics (currently 4-1-2-1-2 with switches to 4-1-3-2 and 4-3-3), but tinker with those formation's settings all the time in games. In particular, I'll change the width and tempo and possibly closing down pretty early on according to the opposition. Time wasting is another favourite throughout the game. I'll often change things at half time or after a goal as well. Changing RFD and TTB on players is also something I do if things aren't working out and I need to change the team's approach.

My experience is that on this version, changing your formation to anything your players aren't comfortable with just makes them play quite badly - at least my players always have, although that might be partially down to my players being poor. However, you can change the player and team instructions while keeping the same formation, and the penalty is much less severe. According to the match preparation screen, switching players in your formation within the same lateral positions is not penalised at all. So you can apparently switch you MCR and MCL to MR and ML in a 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-1-3-2 at no penalty. I'm much more likely to make that kind of change than to a 4-5-1 that my players can't handle, for example.

There may also be a possible exploit: according to the match preparation screen, changes to the team instructions are penalised, but changes to individual instructions are not. So if you change the team from short to long passing, you seem to be penalised. Change every player's instructions manually to long passing while leaving the team instructions the same: no penalty.

At the moment i'm switching between a 4-4-2 and a 4-5-1 based on whos fit and who i'm playing. Last season I played mainly the 4-5-1 but i've picked up a couple of quality strikers this season so now i've been using the 4-4-2 most of the time.

On FM11 I've only really been using 4-4-1-1 or 4-4-2 with two inside forwards.

At the moment I only have one decent AMC, so if he's injured, tired or sad I use 4-4-2 with two strikers.

(I like to tinker with individual instructions but the CURRENT bug makes this frustrating.)

I also have two emergency tactics, super attacking 3-4-3 and super-defensive 4-5-1 but they're mostly for show.

I don't know if that makes me a tinkerman of not.

When i get the new game i do a little tryout.

Will the tactics from the previous version work? Do i have to make a new one?

And then some small tweaks, here and there.

When i'm happy with it i stick to it no matter what.

Guess i have to say that i only use one tactic, when i start my career save.

I stick to it if I'm winning :o

I usually stick to a formation which works, because half the time I make changes I end up losing.

My defensive 4-1-3-2 remains regardless of circumstance. If I'm pushing for a late winner or draw then the mentality might creep up to standard, or in a knockout match perhaps even attacking, but otherwise it stays as is.

I tend to stick to a 4-5-1 but I'm always changing team instructions and using shouts. Occasionally I will stick the second striker on but only if I feel it is necessary

My defensive 4-1-3-2 remains regardless of circumstance. If I'm pushing for a late winner or draw then the mentality might creep up to standard, or in a knockout match perhaps even attacking, but otherwise it stays as is.

So if you're playing defensive against a team you think is lower quality than you how do you play if you got a defensive set up, always confuses me

Each version of the game I normally find two formations that work well for me. Last FM saw me use diamond formation and the not too disimilar 4-3-1-2, this FM sees me playing 4-4-2 (advanced wingers) and more often 4-2-3-1 (CMs not DMs and wide advanced wingers).

yes, its been a good tactic for the past 3-4 FM's. before that i think i used the 4-4-2 and occasionally a 4-3-3

as for killing time, i just spent 40 minutes walking to college which is closed today, good start for me!

Interesting. I've often wondered if there was a 'bedding in' time for new formations in earlier FMs. Obviously, with the new match preparation, we now know that there is such a bedding in period.

Certainly, the in-game hints for FM10 seemed to indicate that there may be some kind of effect:

Constantly changing your tactic and making dramatic alterations to the style of play will not help your players settle or find their rhythm and is likely to have an adverse affect on the team's performances.

But it's typical SI vagueness really and it doesn't seem to indicate exactly how it would work. Am I to take it, for example, that changing from a 4-4-2 to a 4-4-1-1 (the simple exercise of moving an ST to the AMC position isn't a 'dramatic alteration' and is therefore not going to be a problem, while changing from a 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-1-2 formation is going to be a pretty major change and is likely to have an adverse effect? Does changing roles and duties count, or even mentality structures and closing down settings? What exactly constitutes a 'dramatic alteration'? It's a question I've always wondered about.

From reading all of these posts, I am beginning to think that I am obsessed with my tactics - lol. Probably comes from years of reading "It's your tactics'.

As I mentioned earlier, in my manager profile, my tactical consistancy is rated as only 18%, what are yours? I would imagine that this would give you some clue as to how much the game thinks you are a tinkerer or not?

How much of a tactical tinkerman are you?

Are you the sort of manager who changes formation all of the time? Or do you just have a favourite system and stick to it?

Answer the poll and share your approach in here!

Hi Crouchaldinho!

I tend to use Loversleaper's approach, namely his 442 tactics, playing as Liverpool where I would always (oops cant anymore) pair Torres and Dzeko together in my attack.

I would set 3 tactics up in the tactical preparation area of FM11 (with the setting of team blend ticked to start with).

The 3 tactics would be 442 global mentality of 16 (Milan tactic) which would be my Home tactic played in all weathers, 442 global mentality 11 (Athletico tactic) played in wetter weather away from home and 442 global mentality 10 (Italy tactic) played in dry weather away from home.

Generally i make a couple of tactics, an attacking and defensive one but this year i have had a bit more trouble creating another tactic so am currently just sticking with 1 though i will try and develop another this pre-season! I make them on the tactics creator but they never turn out well so i just edit almost all the sliders anyway

From reading all of these posts, I am beginning to think that I am obsessed with my tactics - lol. Probably comes from years of reading "It's your tactics'.

As I mentioned earlier, in my manager profile, my tactical consistancy is rated as only 18%, what are yours? I would imagine that this would give you some clue as to how much the game thinks you are a tinkerer or not?

Aha! Never thought of that! Mine is 60% currently.

So if you're playing defensive against a team you think is lower quality than you how do you play if you got a defensive set up, always confuses me

To address this in two separate points.

Firstly, its rare that I encounter a team of dramatically lower quality within the same league. In a cup it can happen, but then I'm wary of giving the opposition a chance to establish a lead they can cling to.

Secondly, defensive does not mean my team is unwilling to go forward. I have counter-attack enabled, so when we win the ball, a number of players are willing to commit themselves forward, certainly enough to nick a goal. I play with a fluid formation, so my back players are willing to go forward, just as my attacking players are willing to help out with defence.

Sure, when we're on a bad run of form we struggle for goals, but we're hard to beat and we can snatch a win against anyone. It's a different form of football to the total football most people aspire to, but grinding out the wins can be effective in getting a limited team into a safe position.

I tend to use a few basic tactics (currently 4-1-2-1-2 with switches to 4-1-3-2 and 4-3-3), but tinker with those formation's settings all the time in games. In particular, I'll change the width and tempo and possibly closing down pretty early on according to the opposition. Time wasting is another favourite throughout the game. I'll often change things at half time or after a goal as well. Changing RFD and TTB on players is also something I do if things aren't working out and I need to change the team's approach.

My experience is that on this version, changing your formation to anything your players aren't comfortable with just makes them play quite badly - at least my players always have, although that might be partially down to my players being poor. However, you can change the player and team instructions while keeping the same formation, and the penalty is much less severe. According to the match preparation screen, switching players in your formation within the same lateral positions is not penalised at all. So you can apparently switch you MCR and MCL to MR and ML in a 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-1-3-2 at no penalty. I'm much more likely to make that kind of change than to a 4-5-1 that my players can't handle, for example.

There may also be a possible exploit: according to the match preparation screen, changes to the team instructions are penalised, but changes to individual instructions are not. So if you change the team from short to long passing, you seem to be penalised. Change every player's instructions manually to long passing while leaving the team instructions the same: no penalty.

Sounds a bit poorly implemented to me.

One of the reasons that I am still on FM10 actually.

You don't get 'penalised' for changing on earlier versions, do you?

I am a continual tinkerman. I always start with the classic 4-4-2. If it's not looking good in the first ten minutes I will change formation. Depending on who I am playing against I will use 4-4-2 with 2 attacking wingers, 4-1-3-2, 4-4-2-1, 4-3-1-2, 4-1-4-1 and others that spring to mind at the time. I probably change formation at least 3 times per game, sometimes more. According to my profile stats I have an 18% rating for formation consistancy.

I do enjoy after winning a game, to see the comment about being a tactical wizzard, or something like that.

Is there a method behind the madness!

Sounds a bit poorly implemented to me.

One of the reasons that I am still on FM10 actually.

You don't get 'penalised' for changing on earlier versions, do you?

I think you do, albeit not as much, at least there was much talk of team gelling and its effects over the years. The last version I played was 2006, and drastic changes sometimes resulted in players looking uncomfortable , but not to the extent I see it happening on 2011 (i.e. they weren't completely useless). I felt much more confident changing my formation on 2006 to counter my opponent than I do now.

At any rate the MP doesn't make much sense at the moment.

I play a 4-1-4-1, and will usually take the DM off for a striker if I need a goal, that's as much tinkering as I do though.

As a bit of a newcomer to the game I set out a 4-2-3-1 formation and thought sticking to this to allow the players to really settle in to it would be to an advantage, but after a while i actually read through my assistants pre-match meeting advice, tried out using what he recommended, and results started picking up a bit! Now I have a bit more game time under my belt though i tend to listen to his advice but only sometimes use it. I have found though that the 4-5-1 formation is recommended so often though that i have my playing staff ready to use 4-5-1 when need be. So now I have these 2 as my faves and stick to them!

Does anyone else tinker there tactics based on assistant advice at all? Or is just as I'm a bit of a newbie to all this

I tend to stick to a tactic for a season, only making slight alterations. I'll decide at the end of a season whether to change it, so I've got time to re-fit the squad around the formation.

Is there a method behind the madness!

Method, probably not, madness a plenty.

Being honest, with the style of play I have set up, I can often see quite quickly that my team is being over-run in certain areas. Rather than cross my fingers or tweak a couple of players I find it easier and quicker to just change my formation.

Other times I might find my team dominating games, but never looking like scoring. Again I make changes to the formation to hopefully make that breakthrough. My final change of the game is usually to bring the players back to shut up shop.

Don't get me wrong, making so many changes can spectacually backfire, but it works for me more than not.

Usually just have one main tactic and will change it occasionally if I have too many injuries or I am playing against a team far superior. I like to give youth a chance though so if I only have like one player out I will play a youth player instead of changing it all for one player.

I am an "other." It said please state, so I state: I have formation, then use mentalities, touchline shouts, and the sliders for the odd bits the TC doesn't do for me. Shift gears up and down during matches.

I don't really know where I would sit on this poll (voted 'other'). I very rarely change my actual formation, at least not in the middle of the season, it's almost always some kind of 4-2-3-1 variant. However, before every single match tinker massively with my instructions - width, tempo, roles, marking etc. - in order to combat the opposition, without actually changing my shape as IMO the 4-2-3-1 is rounded enough to deal with anything within its structure.

To take a notable example, in one of my Liverpool saves I had a game with Wigan in the Premier League immediately followed by a Champions League match with Real Madrid. Against Wigan, I expected them to sit back within their own half and try to frustrate me, so I set pretty much all of my players to attacking roles to try and overload them. I even edited my DCL (Agger) to go forward regularly as Wigan only had one forward. I tried to encourage a pass & move style game by playing very quick, wide, short and lots of roaming.

In my game against Real Madrid I got a bit scared and played in almost the opposite fashion. Pretty much my entire team was man marking - my back four on their back four, my CMs on their CMs and my wingers pinning back their full backs. Only after being satisfied that their centre backs weren't great on the ball did I let my AMC and striker avoid marking duties! I played a slow, patient game - passes played to feet and cautious progression up the field. (I should mention, despite all my negativity, I still thrashed Real 4-0!) The way my team played in both games was completely different, however the shape was pretty much exactly the same.

I stick to my 4-1-2-3 religiously, but adjust various sliders and settings depending on the situation.

I always approach every match using the same tactic as I have a favourite formation and like the way my team plays. I'll make adjustments during matches but only when I have injuries/sending offs or I am chasing/protecting a lead.

im a tinkerman, ive had the message come up on fm saying that im one. But i've been put off tinkering somewhat by the match preperation bit because of before you just relied on your team gelling as a team and not to the tactic and in general they would adept rather quickly to whatever tactic you setout for them but it seams that if you change the tactic and it hasnt been on the match preperation it looks as if your team will be comepletely dumfounded to this new tactic as if its a new invention, it may not work like that but thats my sort of theory on it

I stick with the same tactic for all games and normally only change personnel or positions to chase/hold a result, eg move a midfielder back deeper or put another striker on or change my fullbacks to defend etc. I get plenty of success this way and it keeps a continuity about the team and often subtle changes are enough for me to gain the desired result.

I just create one formation and stick to it- maybe I'll change formations between seasons to fit the players that I've got, but I generally keep one formation. During games, I rely on touchline shouts depending on the situation/how my team is playing, and I make direct positional substitutions.

I always approach every match using the same tactic as I have a favourite formation and like the way my team plays. I'll make adjustments during matches but only when I have injuries/sending offs or I am chasing/protecting a lead.

How many consecutive seasons of 4-4-2 diamond do you think you have clocked up on FM Dafuge!

You are always the first example I think of when someone suggests that you can't use the same formation or tactic for many seasons on FM.

How many consecutive seasons of 4-4-2 diamond do you think you have clocked up on FM Dafuge!

You are always the first example I think of when someone suggests that you can't use the same formation or tactic for many seasons on FM.

I think it must be over 100, possibly 200 but I think I played around with a few new formations on FM09.

I just stick with 4-4-2 diamond regardless of which team I'm managing. It's the tactic that works best for me. It's a shame though because I always seem to end up with lots of DMC and AMC players, but my own created tactic with 2 DMC + 2 AMC sucks hardcore.

Imo some tactics are clearly better than others in the game regardless of what kind of players you have. And that's because the game isn't a perfect reflection of real life yet.

Iam starting to become more of a tinkerman.

I have a standart 433 formation with inside forwards and slow tempo, a ultra offensive 4222 formation also slow, and a exotic 3313 chile based to counter 352

I have a favorite formation and tactical approach and like to stick with it, depending on the team I'm managing obviously. Usually in this edition of FM I have used a 4-2-3-1 with inside forwards, a playmaker and a trequartista. It has worked pretty well with most of the teams I have managed.

Sometimes I only change the strategy and some other player instructions during matches, mainly tweaking the mentality and/or the creative freedom. But never changed the team's formation, once I get it to work near perfection.

4-4-2 at home

4-5-1 away

For 40 seasons in a row

I played with the same formation for 4 seasons and winning the title back to back

I've never really settled on any one specific strategy with formations. Sometimes I stick with 4-4-2 or something and never change it, other times I change formation all the time...

If I had to stick to one system for the rest of my life, though, this is probably my preferred method: I switch frequently between 4-4-2 and 4-5-1, and have a defensive formation like 4-1-4-1 or 5-3-2 for tougher games where I'd be happy to eke out a draw or fluke a win from a set piece goal.

I can change formation due to a habit of building very versatile squads, where I rarely have a player if they can only play one position (excluding GK, DC's and some ST's that refuse to play wing or AM).

but My tactic can change depending on the situation. if I have struggled in the champions league in previous years, I may use a strong attacking tactic to build confidence in the group stage, and then pushing for a goal early in the knockout games away from home, before shutting up shop. at home I use a very confident defense and play a more standard philosophy and adapt if I need too.

but I do adapt all sorts of things such as Def. Line, Tempo etc. most time it is not because I know when to change it all the time, but I do get an urge if I see that a unit of my team aint clicking or is being stopped too easily.

So looks like the result of this poll is that the majority just pick their favourite and stick to it.

I thought that there would be more tinkermen among us!