Advice for Cup matches vs larger teams

In my Paris FC game, I've drawn Marseille in the 9th round. I'm assuming there is no way I'm going to compete, so should I play my backups to avoid my starters dropping in morale when they get battered? Can getting destroyed by Marseille ruin my form and mess me up for the League, or should I field my best team? What do you guys think.

If i was you i would look at any previous games Marseille have played in the cup this year. If it is anything like the English top teams they will play almost a whole squad of youngsters or reserves. Have a check of who they played and how that line-up compares to the league games before and after. Im a believer in playing my better players in these types of games in the hope that coming up against better players will somehow improve their own performances. That is purely based on opinions not any actual fact that it does. If you are getting thrashed at half-time replace a couple of your bigger names for a bit of a rest.

Good luck.

Whatever you decide, use the pre-match team talk of 'relax, you're underdogs, enjoy it'. Works a treat in FM12 in these circumstances.

As a lower league enthusiast, I personally always put my best side out when playing a bigger team in a cup competition. Sometimes you can cop a beating, and the players morale will drop. However I find if morale is good beforehand, one thrashing from a bigger team won't affect things too badly. Also, if you play your backup team, you could get a really bad beating by a large margin, and then not only will the whole squad take a morale drop, but also the fans may hold that bad result against you for a while to come (no matter how unreasonable it might seem). Then there's also the matter of the bigger team perhaps playing a weakened side, whereby your strongest team may even have a chance of winning. Even if the opponents back-up/youth players are far better than your team on ability, the lack of experience and cohesion among their side should give you a good edge, so if you get your tactics right, don't rule out earning a valuable replay, or even on occasion pulling off a famous upset.

Thanks guys, out goes my full squad then! Maybe I can get a replay and get two sets of TV money

Go out and attack! You have nothing to lose in this situation, play your strongest team and have a go at them, chances are they are going to play quite open against you because of your rep, you never know your keeper could play a blinder or their strikers could have an off day and you sneak a 1-0.

So for a game like this, should I stick with my attacking 4-3-3 which has been doing well in National, or do I go ultra defensive?

Personally i say go for it, like i say chances are with your rep they will play relatively open against you as the AI expects an easy game, it may or may not work, but thats my way of thinking, others will say shut up shop and hope for a breakaway goal, but thats not my style in these situations.

Well I set up for my game only to find that my start striker (who has 12 goals in his last 5 games) was banned for the match, along with my best defender. Marseille fielded about half of their first team. We shared possession 50/50 and had the exact same amount of shots. Marseille scored two from outside 25 yards and took the game 4-2. Can't be too disappointed about that.

Good effort. Looks like it worked well for you in the end. Couple of goal, best couple of players rested and im sure your confidence improved also. Was the attendence good? Enjoy the rest of the season!!

It was my first sellout of the season, more Marseille fans than Paris, but they all had to pay! Thanks!

I won the FA Cup with a League Two team yesterday, so it's do-able. There are many factors to take into account though:

- What cup bonus did you set?

- What three formations do you have? - I have three attack minded ones, so for the cup games I just stuck with my first choice one, then changed it to an unfamiliar defensive one late in the game if I was scraping out a win.

- Touchline instrutions - THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL! - Touchline instructions I'm sure won me most games:

- Always put out your first choice X1, or nearest to. Study their stamina/natural fitness and most importantly, your fixture list to ensure they are healthy for these games.

-Press conferences/team talks

I'm not sure how much money the French Cup is worth, but I'd say it's always worth taking seriously for the small teams. Would even prioritise it over other competitions in certain instances.

Going going though, 4-2 is hardly an embarrassment.