I think my tactic familiarity works in reverse!!

I have noticed in a fairly poor season that I would create a new tactic/formation and get a really good result the first time I used it but then over the next few games it seemed to get progressively worse until at one point I lost four games in a row without scoring. I then redesigned the tactic and once again I got a brilliant result and then as before the tactic seemed to get worse week by week until I was losing again.

This happened more times than I can remember. For instance I lost a couple of early season games so changed things around and went and beat Swansea 7-0 away. Got a few more wins and a couple of draws but nothing quite as special performance wise and then lost a few. So started again and straight from the off beat Liverpool away and the following week drew at Man City and in both games they only created "one" chance between them. The following week I got trounced by a relegation threatened team that created so many chances and in subsequent weeks lost more games quite badly. So changed again and again won comfortably from the off with a good performance but that form slowly dribbled away again until I lost that four on the spin without scoring a goal. Then right at the end of the season I changed tactic again and battered Arsenal at home 3-0 with probably my best performance ever. The following week I go and lose 2-1 at relegated Wigan!!

I just cannot put my finger on it. I assumed that tactics take a while to bed in and get your players used to the system but with me it seems to work entirely in reverse and it starts brilliantly and gets progressively worse. I think on only one occasion when I had changed a tactic I didn't win.

Obviously I don't "expect" to win every week but it's the consistency side I find baffling. It's obviously very frustrating because you tinker with a tactic, get a brilliant result and performance and think that finally you may have cracked it but soon enough realise it's a false dawn! It makes it really difficult to tell if you are actually doing something right because everything seems so random.

Any ideas?

Glad it's not just me, know how you feel with that result I have them all the time, and I suspect those chances you missed were your strikers hitting the goalkeepers chest each time!!. I suspect some will say it's down to team talks and overconfidence creeping in but hey let's just call it "PsychologicalManager 2012!!" As I say I have no problem in losing but to batter Arsenal off the park one week then lose to already relegated Wigan the next week is baffling. Yes people will still say "it happens IRL blah blah" but "It's a game" and surely there should be some cohesion and consistency or all it is down to is a random set of situations.

I find all the teamtalk options fairly similar. Also, why would a simple (calm tone) instruction like 'don't get complacent' anger my players and have such a bearing on the outcome of the game? I find them very vague, similar and shouldn't create the reactions they do half the time.

It could have something to do with confusing the AI's scout. Love how you name your players like robots btw Mack

I am not sure, I may be wrong.

But when you suddenly change your tactics just before a game, it undos the AIs game plan and they are unable to do anything effective although your tactics familiarity is not great.

In the following weeks the opposing scouts watch your tactics and are able to prepare their team while tactical familiarity has not progressed much.

This should explain your results. But I wonder what will happen if you keep changing your tactics???

I am not sure, I may be wrong.

But when you suddenly change your tactics just before a game, it undos the AIs game plan and they are unable to do anything effective although your tactics familiarity is not great.

In the following weeks the opposing scouts watch your tactics and are able to prepare their team while tactical familiarity has not progressed much.

This should explain your results. But I wonder what will happen if you keep changing your tactics???

You would probably get some good results but sometimes teams are just going to beat you regardless because of other factors. Some tactics just won't work and there's only so many combinations of tactics that are significantly different from each other to be familiar with.

You should adapt to your opponent. I makes sense that a tactic that works against Arsenal is not the best suited tactic for a match against Wigan. They are completely different teams in terms of quality and attributes. Secondly, if you change your tactic, the familiarity won't go back to zero. It depends on how different the new tactic is. I have 3 tactics in my match preparation, I pick one of those (make some slight adjustments) depending on my opponent and depending on playing home or away.

I have to agree here, this has happened to me countless times after running out of faith/patience with a particular tactic.

Similarly, does anyone else find that sometimes when a player is returning to fitness he plays awesome, until he becomes fully fit, then plays like crap. I found this after I often leave the first seasons friendlies to my assistant, and it can sometimes lead to me playing my first league game with players who are at 60-80% match fitness, and they always play amazingly, only to turn into crap when they reach full fitness.