Stopping the rot – turning around loss of form. Help wanted!

After relegation last season, I was able to strengthen my side considerably for the following season and was made the favourite to gain promotion.

I started the new season well, as I’d expected, and went on a 13 game unbeaten run, scoring a lot of goals and sitting comfortably at the top of the ‘opening’ stage of the league championship.

However with the championship nearing the end of its 22 rounds, a lot of my key players became injured. One would recover, whilst another would pick up another injury. In the final run-in for the ‘opening’ championship, I was without four of my best six players.

Even though the players I had coming in, should easily have been able to perform, my form had started to dip and with two games remaining in the opening championship, I am now second in the table, joint with third.

I have no idea as to what I can do to turnaround this slump in form. I have not made any significant change to my tactics and don’t want to change my formation as the players will be unfamiliar with it.

I’m unable to see, on the pitch, why we’re losing games, although we have recently started conceding some long range shots, something which we have never done before.

I’m resigned to missing out on the ‘opening’ stage title now but I’m worried about the form continuing into the ‘closing’ stage championship and preventing us from reaching our objective of gaining promotion.

I would really like some advice and help as to turn around the slump and also to identify what started it in the first place. In my last FM game, I took over a struggling lower league Portuguese club and had the same problem.

Any help much appreciated!

"pressure is off" "no pressure" or similar...

seriously, don't change what you say in press-conferences or manager interactions but change your team-talks. It's, literally, "squeaky-bum time" and your players are feeling the pressure.

good luck

I've had good results with low confidence by saying I expect us to lose at press conferences.

cheers guys thanks

i just wonder if you rotate players? if not then they become more tired throughout the season and the replacements are not match fit so form drops

First goal is often key especially when morale is low.

As has been said don't increase the pressure on your players, "We can win" if its a close match or even "Good Luck" can help morale a little while "No Pressure" where the opposition are significant favourites.

On the pitch don't change your formation if you are happy with it but change your style, slow the game down, use counter attacking, keep men behind the ball and look to nick the odd goal on the break or from a set piece then defend the lead.

If you are conceding goals regularly you probably need to take a deeper look at your formation and its weaknesses.

Yeah, good advice from the above posters. You can use press conferences and team talks to take the pressure off, which can definitely help.

My other quick piece of advice is to check the squad you have, go over it and study the sorts of personalities you have. Sometimes just finding an older head who isn't necessarily the best player but who is professional, determined, ambitious etc., can really help improve things.

I went through a similar thing once on an old FM10 Italian save, where I was struggling badly for form. Bringing in an older Italian midfielder with a fantastic determined and professional personality seemed the missing part of the jigsaw for me. I also played down my chances for the games at big odds in the press and played very defensive football. Plus I tended to reduce pressure with my team talks. I pulled off a few draws and the occasional win when I hadn't expected to get anything and, in the end, I was comfortably safe from relegation. So those are the thoughts I have on turning things around.