Would love some help and advice. (Relating to Nottingham Forest...)

I was looking for a decent game to play after the patch came out and I finally decided on Nottingham Forest.

With their 500k transfer budget I managed to persuade the board to part with £1 million for Jloyd Samuel, and brought in Quinton Fortune on a free transfer along with Ravel Morrison on loan. That was it. I was in the play off places for most of the season but I won all 9 of my last 9 games and finished second behind a runaway Leicester City.

When I reached the promised land I was given £18 million to spend and spend it I did. I brought in Scott Loach (quality keeper!), Solvi Ottesen (The guy is a beast at centre back!), Leon Osman, Ravel Morrison permanently, James Vaughan and Marek Jankulovski on a free.

I started well, beating Everton 2-1 and going six games unbeaten.

I'm now nearing the end of January, am 14th in the league and am facing Brighton away in an FA Cup replay and then Manchester United at home in the league.

My question is this: How do I beat the big teams??? I've played the "top 4" and my best result was a 2-1 defeat at Stamford Bridge.

My plan at the moment is to rest my key players (like Osman, Earnshaw and Gunter) against Brighton and hope for the best before bringing them back in against United.

I play a slightly modified 4-4-2 with fluid play and lots of width.

Should I switch to 4-5-1? Should I change my team settings? Please help me!

Be more defensive, that's been my experience. Especially in your first season in the big time, the title challengers are just going to scythe through your team. If you try to match them for formation, they will win out on a man-by-man basis. In my experience, you need to dominate somewhere, and I've only been brave enough to try to do so in defence or midfield.

A 5-4-1 left me too defensive minded, and we couldn't create anything on the break. 4-5-1 had moderate success. You're going to need a workhorse upfront who is high on confidence, but the main thing you want to be doing is keeping your shape on relying on counter attacks. The priority against better opposition has got to be to shut down their game, rather than trying to impress with your own football.

Cheers for the reply mate. Will try 4-5-1 with Earnshaw up front. With Ottesen and Morgan at the back I might get some success...

GP&TG has a Forest thread. At 813 posts and counting it is going to be comprehensive, if somewhat of a big read.

I suggest you check it out, and probably post team specific questions there. GD is more for general game discussions, and naming players is frowned upon in here (both officialy and by posters).