HELP - Abysmal Away Record

Argh. This game is frustrating me now. We sit 11th in the Championship with the 2nd best home record in the league - but the worst away record!

Game after game we're taking the lead, then the other team equalises through sloppy marking, then our heads just drop and we end up losing 2-1/3-1. This has happened Six times in a row now away from home - our last away win was against the bottom side.

At home we play good attacking football, carve out chances, are composed in front of goal. The defence win their tackles, mark well, defend well. But the minute we leave Elland Road, our strikers lose any composure, our we snatch at our chances, create much less, meanwhile our defence are incapable of marking, don't close down and seem incapable of winning a header or ball into their box.

How is there such a massive difference in performance? I know team talks play a part, but I've tried everything and nothing works. "For the fans", "Wish luck", "You can win". We play the same every time.

And our heads just seem to drop when we go behind (or lose a lead). I'm not sure how to prevent this - all of my players have average to high determination, especially for this league.

Morale is not much of an issue, it's varying between Okay to Superb at the moment (after most of them being Poor-Okay earlier in the season during a very poor spell - got out of that with private chats and eventually started winning again - at home). I'm sympathetic in defeat to try and keep up morale. And we're not on a bad run - we just can't win or perform away from home. We have no "siege mentality" when taking the lead, and we struggle to take our chances to strengthen it. The variation in performance is incredible - we beat the team sitting 5th 4-0 at ER, then went away to the team sitting 21st and lost 2-1.

Any help would be much appreciated! I'm assuming I'm looking at team talks, tweaking tactics, maybe different OI instructions? I play 4-2-3-1 Control btw.

Do you use a different strategy when playing away from home? I know conventional wisdom is to play more defensively away from home, but I find this often doesn't work and just use what works regardless of where I'm playing.

I use the same tactics home and away. Someone recommended I try going more defensive, and use contain, but it's honestly made no difference, good or bad.

I use the same tactics home and away. Someone recommended I try going more defensive, and use contain, but it's honestly made no difference, good or bad.

Thats the problem I think, I use a different tactic when I play away from home and it usually works.

The team talks are key, not "plays a role".

I have found that You Can Win This works either when you are an underdog away, or when you are huge favourites at home. There are other situations where it works as well, for instance when the team morale is generally low. It is a team talk that isn't putting a lot of pressure on the players - rather giving a morale boost.

But choosing the correct team talk is influenced by so many factors that it is almost a wild guess. For instance:

The tactic

The Determination of the players + other mental stats

Win/loss in last match

Player morale, goal drought etc

Favourite or underdog or even match away or home

Rivals or not

The tactic and quality of the opponent

... pretty much everything affects success or failure at a team talk

Of course, Leeds isn't anywhere near the best football team in Championship. This means that if your tactic is based on domination and isn't good at counterattacks, you won't always dominate away as a result of lack of player quality. They also have an acute lack of fast attackers, making counter-attacking difficult.

The team talks are key, not "plays a role".

I have found that You Can Win This works either when you are an underdog away, or when you are huge favourites at home. There are other situations where it works as well, for instance when the team morale is generally low. It is a team talk that isn't putting a lot of pressure on the players - rather giving a morale boost.

But choosing the correct team talk is influenced by so many factors that it is almost a wild guess. For instance:

The tactic

The Determination of the players + other mental stats

Win/loss in last match

Player morale, goal drought etc

Favourite or underdog or even match away or home

Rivals or not

The tactic and quality of the opponent

... pretty much everything affects success or failure at a team talk

Of course, Leeds isn't anywhere near the best football team in Championship. This means that if your tactic is based on domination and isn't good at counterattacks, you won't always dominate away as a result of lack of player quality. They also have an acute lack of fast attackers, making counter-attacking difficult.

Cheers for that. But as I said - the problem doesn't lie with the players, or the tactic (at least in the respect that it's not a "bad" tactic) given that we do fine at home. It's just performing away from home.

What would be the best team talk in away games then, depending on who is favourites? I'm normally slight favourites or slight underdogs.

Thanks.

I would normally go for "You can win" or "Good Luck"

"You can win" if your form/morale is good and you are favourite away from home.

"Good luck" if you feel form/morale isn't too good and you are the slight underdogs.

EDIT

Use the widgets during the match, are your players motivated? nervous? nothing? If they are nervous you've put too much pressure on them but if motivated you've got it about right. You also need to vary your team talks so you're not using the same one all the time.

In terms of tactics its not as simple as being good or bad. A tactic that will work against some teams won't work against others, there is no such thing as a perfect tactic (unless you are exploiting the ME). You need to identify why your tactic isn't working and improve it.

Its difficult without watching the games but I suspect away from home the opposition close your players down quicker and put them under more pressure. You maybe also want to look at the pitch sizes (next opposition scouting) and how that affects your tactic.

I would normally go for "You can win" or "Good Luck"

"You can win" if your form/morale is good and you are favourite away from home.

"Good luck" if you feel form/morale isn't too good and you are the slight underdogs.

EDIT

Use the widgets during the match, are your players motivated? nervous? nothing? If they are nervous you've put too much pressure on them but if motivated you've got it about right. You also need to vary your team talks so you're not using the same one all the time.

In terms of tactics its not as simple as being good or bad. A tactic that will work against some teams won't work against others, there is no such thing as a perfect tactic (unless you are exploiting the ME). You need to identify why your tactic isn't working and improve it.

Its difficult without watching the games but I suspect away from home the opposition close your players down quicker and put them under more pressure. You maybe also want to look at the pitch sizes (next opposition scouting) and how that affects your tactic.

no... not good...

OP: I guess your tactic is 'too attacking' for away games - either that or your players aren't able to handle the pressure of away games... to be fair the RL mighty white shy.. are bum squeaking right now too...

You really need to play a bit deeper, slower and more defensively away from home (I think)

no... not good...

OP: I guess your tactic is 'too attacking' for away games - either that or your players aren't able to handle the pressure of away games... to be fair the RL mighty white shy.. are bum squeaking right now too...

You really need to play a bit deeper, slower and more defensively away from home (I think)

Not good?

Works fine for me.

Not good?

Works fine for me.

Well you must be the lucky one... confident players who are favourites that are told "you can win today" usually breeds complacency, carelessness, laziness, etc...

play counter attacking away from home

Everytime my away form goes to pot I change my team talk. 'Expect a win' works for me even against sides I should be getting beat off. Try it.

Well you must be the lucky one... confident players who are favourites that are told "you can win today" usually breeds complacency, carelessness, laziness, etc...

Well thats where you need to get to know your squad and how they'll react to different teamtalks.

Thanks for the advice guys.

I ended up going to You Can Win and I did notice an improvement in performances and, after sticking with it, results. I also found it successful at home, using a mixture of that and "I expect a win" to go on a 5 match winning run and secure a play-off spot with 2 games to spare (although we ended up 6th after losing the last two games). Also worked as we overcame N. Forest in the semis (who did the double over us this season). Unfortunately we lost the final to Doncaster of all teams (Billy Sharp single-handedly got them promoted judging by his goal tally and performance in the final!) which I actually find quite funny.

Sorry for the life-story (^_^), but ye, cheers for all the advice, have helped a lot.

Cheers for that. But as I said - the problem doesn't lie with the players, or the tactic (at least in the respect that it's not a "bad" tactic) given that we do fine at home. It's just performing away from home.

What would be the best team talk in away games then, depending on who is favourites? I'm normally slight favourites or slight underdogs.

Thanks.

Well, when I tried my tactic with Leeds, I found that they actually handle pressure pretty well. The assistant proposed For the Fans quite often and that also worked quite often.

As I said above, if the pre-match media predictions are a draw (roughly equal odds), and the pre-match expectations caused by media hype or winning streaks/losing streaks are high, You Can Win This is often causing "fired up" and "looking motivated". It is a team talk that reduces pressure if it is there, and gives a boost if it is a tough match.

If the pre-match media predictions are hugely in your favour, and the pre-match expectations are high, You Can Win This reduces pressure, but it does not remove complacency. Should be chosen if your players are not getting complacent when being favourites but rather becomes nervous from the expectations.

If the pre-match media predictions are hugely in your disfavour, and the pre-match expectations are low, You Can Win This reduces pressure, often causing "fired up" or "looking motivated" because it gives a boost since it is a tough match - it is basically a "you have nothing to lose" speech in those circumstances.

... that's only some circumstances for the You Can Win This team talk, there are plenty more, and several other team talks on top of that. It is good that the advice you got helped you, good luck!

Well thats where you need to get to know your squad and how they'll react to different teamtalks.

oh the irony...

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/263539-I-m-pretty-unhappy-with-the-way-the-ME-handles-complacency

After about 12 games you need to change it or your players start getting bored of the same teamtalk. I now go expect a win for 12 games then we can win 12 games and so on. If you want to get beat 5-0 away or whatever wish them luck. In FM world wishing someone good luck is a curse and rebounds off your players onto the opposition strikers. If you fancy the sack do that.