Why do I have to change my tactic all the time?

Why do I have to adapt my tactic according to my opponent all the time?

To be fair I find this unrealistic. I read in plenty of places that you should micro manage to the point of making changes to your tactic according to your opponent. But truth is, between two teams of equal strength, you rarely see this. Its not realistic to change tactic all the freaking time to adjust it to your opponent. What happens most of the time is that managers will stick to a system and keep to it all the time. They don't adjust to other teams, rather they strength their own through repetition.

Also, managers don't get into away matches expecting the home team to play faster and attacking. You never know what it will be like. You only change into slower paced football IF the other team is controlling the match, to kill their momentum. You don't automatically assume they'll be stronger because they're playing at home.

There is a flow to the game and tactics should be changed according to that flow, not so much according to your opponent. Ofcourse if you're bottom of the league in La Liga you know you don't stand a chance against Barcelona so you play defensively expecting to get a draw. And you'll do this both at home and away. What annoys me is that I can be Valencia and yet if I get into an away match at the ground of a near bottom league team, and I play like if I was playing at home, I feel like I'm at disadvantage. It's like the game wants to force me into a different game plan just because I'm playing away, never mind I'm a much better side and their support is laughable and shouldn't cause any issues to the morale of my players.

Away matches are weird. It should feel relevant between teams like Real Madrid-Barcelona, due to the quality of both, giving an edge of one over the other, but in the real world I don't think it is as important as the game seems to make it.

More important than adapting to other teams is to stick to a tactical plan through out the season. With time the players adjust to it. Unless the tactic is simply bad and won't ever work consistently.

I think its unrealistic for a team who usually plays 4-3-3 to change to a 4-4-2 against a particular team, for instance. One of the most common changes to a plan that you see many times at half-time, is the layout at the midfield. Between equally strong teams, they might push further up the terrain, with another player closer to the striker, and the defensive line goes up aswell. But even this is many times not certain. You see how often commentators criticize managers for not changing anything at half-time, that's because sticking to the basic framework worked over and over again during training is many times a better decision than changing to plan B. Truth is the tactical frameworks of a team don't change that much apart from this because players many times feel at a loss when faced with new tactical plans. So what usually changes is the strategy.

Basically I don't like how the game still treats Away matches. It's like we're into a totally different universe.

Also, how important are changes to the strategy and tactic during the course of the match? They should be seriously halved. Sometimes it feels like you and opponent managers can just change their team at any time... like a computer game. But in reality the defining moment is half-time. That's your best chance. During the game the "shouts" will have some influence, but not even as nearly as the detailed explanations that the manager can give to players at half time. They should limit the influence of ANY change during the course of the game. I'm not sure if they do at the moment, but it doesn't feel like that.

2 and 1/2 seasons in and I've never used any other tactic aside from my basic 4-4-2. I've never even adjusted the settings (tempo/mentality/etc.) during a game, either. Some games one of the teams will come out on fire (I swear they actually move faster on the highlight screen despite not changing a thing) for no discernable reason...

Away matches are weird. It should feel relevant between teams like Real Madrid-Barcelona, due to the quality of both, giving an edge of one over the other, but in the real world I don't think it is as important as the game seems to make it.

I suggest you check the home / away records in real life. Hardly any team has more away wins than away draws / losses combined. In France and the UK, no team has. In Spain, Barca, Madrid and Valencia. In Italy, Milan and Napoli. In Germany, Dortmund and Leverkusen. Getting points away from home is rightfully difficult.

In terms of the shouts, I think you need to envision them as having been worked on in training in preparation for the match. Fopr example, if you know the team you are playing against plays narrow, you'd work on defending the middle and attacking the flanks in training. In the game, you can't do this, but you can choose shouts that enable this style of play to take place in the match. Your base framework (formation, philosophy, adjustments)should remain the same, but exactly how you approach each game should relate to which shouts / strategy are most likely to get you a result.

I think its unrealistic for a team who usually plays 4-3-3 to change to a 4-4-2 against a particular team, for instance.

Man Utd switches between the 2 formations throughout the season. Madrid changes from 4-2-3-1 to 4-5-1 against Barca. Formation changes are common in real life.

I don't change my formations that much. I'm sure it costs me for some games. To be honest I wouldn't enjoy the game if I was constantly fiddling with tactics before each game. But others I know wouldn't play if they couldn't constantly fiddle with the tactics. So horses for courses.

As I have written in another thread I don't believe you do have to keep changing your tactics each game.

I am a firm believer that you can keep the same tactics as long as your players can play in the formation and suit the roles you have specified in the TC. They also need to have the required attributes for the division you are playing in.

I have gone on long unbeaten runs using the same formation / tactics week in, week out

As I have written in another thread I don't believe you do have to keep changing your tactics each game.

I am a firm believer that you can keep the same tactics as long as your players can play in the formation and suit the roles you have specified in the TC. They also need to have the required attributes for the division you are playing in.

I have gone on long unbeaten runs using the same formation / tactics week in, week out

Second this.

for the Opening Post - would you use the same tactic if you were playing 20th side in the league and then the week after against the top league side ? of course you wouldn't play the same tactic, there would be a slight tweak here and there. But in saying that, I have mostly used the same tactic since fm08

Every team always makes some changes depending upon who they're playing. Tottenham are far more likely to play Crouch against Stoke. To get a targetman type player to work properly you need to have the right set up. This doesn't mean leaving him with the same settings as you would say Jermain Defoe. If I know a team has slow wingers I'll be more likely to put centrebacks out at fullback and play a bit narrower to limit their chances through the middle.

If I'm playing Niko Krankjar (sp?) on the left I will play him as a wide midfielder, if its Andreas Ivanschitz or Jano I will play them as wingers. Also as for 'limiting' the effects during match besides team talks are you telling me 3 subs should have near to no impact? They can easily change games and if you change to a 4-3-3 from a 4-4-2 it should have the potential to dramatically alter the game. The truth is in reality every team adjusts slightly for the opposition. If you know your opponents have limited fullbacks and thats it you're going to try and play pacey players to get at them possibly at the expense of a technically better, but slower player.

Sometimes I get my tactics horribly wrong and may be 2-0 down inside 30 minutes, I shouldn't have to sit until half time praying nothing more goes wrong to make changes. Soon as the second goal goes in, I get some tactical changes made such as trying to play it quicker or adjusting where the defenders are depending upon what problems I can see.

It just depends on how strong your team is compared to the rest of the league.

If you got to the point where you have a considerably stronger squad than all the other teams of the league, you can just impose your strength on the pitch with high closing down and just stop the opposition from playing without needing to make any drastic changes.

Formation changes are necessary to counter specific threats or to adapt to certain situations, but in truth they're nowhere as drastic as many think they are in FM.

Actually I miss the "with/without ball" formation system we had some years ago, and to a lesser extent the "ball-related position" settings.

I'm sure there's still something similar buried deep down in the hundreds of slider positions, but the simplicity of the good old "4-3-3 while in possession, 4-5-1 while not in possession" would be much better.

In the end that's what happens in real life... managers rarely turn their tactical plan inside-out during the match or during the season... they instead tweak the same basic idea depending on the opposition, the situation and the result.

You don't HAVE to change your tactics all the time. However, it's pertinent to relate this to the top of the Premier League. Ferguson chooses his starting XI based on the opposition (up to a point); Ancelotti will alter his formation depending on his starting XI. Wenger, on the other hand, tends to be quite inflexible and will use the same formation and tactics whatever the situation. Personally, I think that's one of his weaknesses as a manager. Elsewhere, Mourinho is obsessed with altering his tactics when up against Barcelona. The point I'm making is that if you prefer to use monolithic tactics, you're in good company.

I use the same base tactic for every match... but I make changes throughout the game to counter the opposition where they are threatening to expose my team.