How To Play FM07: Tactical Design and Management Strategy

Introduction

In writing this thread, I am first taking into account the objections people have to my mathematical and supposedly highly unrealistic theories. In doing so I am trying to avoid reference to slider numbers, minor tweaks and graded mentality systems and instead concentrating on generalized ideas about:

A: How Real Life Football compares with FM

B: How to Design Standard Tactical Systems

C: How to Manage these Systems Effectively

I have also tried to keep the thread shorter and more concise than my usual musings, so people aren’t immediately put off by its length. Unusually, for one of my theory threads, I have also attached tactics.

Hopefully, after reading this thread and putting its ideas into practice, people will start enjoying FM07 again and appreciating the game-engine for what it actually is.

Are We Sitting Comfortably

Then we’ll begin. Before reading the rest of the thread, I ask you to take into consideration my following assumptions about real world football. If these do not sit comfortably with you, there is little reason for you to continue. If they do, then read on.

Assumption One: Definition of Formation

Before I embark on any tactical explanations, I need to be explicit about the difference between formation and tactic. A formation is the basic framework deciding the position each player generally takes on the field of play. Thus, a 4-4-2 will have four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers. Likewise, the Chelsea/Bolton formation has four defenders, one defensive midfielder, two central midfielders, two wingers and one centre forward.

Assumption Two: Definition of Tactics

Tactics, and tactical instruction, operate within the basic formation framework of a side. A 4-4-2 at home will thus differ heavily from a 4-4-2 away. In the home formation, the wingers may be asked to hug the touchline, support the attackers and be given a fair degree of freedom to be creative. In the away formation, they will be asked to tuck in, support the full-backs, and be ready for quick breaks when the reward outweighs the risk.

Assumption Three: FM Tactics

When designing tactics, one slider tweak difference alters the tactical instruction but not the formation. Thus, when I talk about tactics in the rest of this post, I am talking about them in the context of one formation. Sir Alex Ferguson nearly always sends Man Utd onto the pitch in a 4-4-2 but individual and team instructions differ from match to match, situation to situation. When I talk of tactics, it refers to these kinds of instructions, not to changing the formation.

Assumption Four: Changing Tactics

No team, no matter how good or how poor, ever goes through a match without some switches in tactical strategy. The extent to which these tactical changes work defines the course of the match. They may not be recognisable to the casual viewer but they happen nonetheless.

Assumption Five: Why Teams are Successful

Teams are successful due to a combination of four things: good tactical management, good man management, good transfer policy and availability of funds. Failure in managing any of the above is likely to lead to a season of poor performances and disillusionment. Translating this to FM; it is easy to succeed at three and four, but one and two cause difficulties.

If none of the above has caused palpitations and I still have your attention, I will outline some basic tactical (not formation) strategies that should allow for some successful gaming.

Tactical Design

I will outline five tactical strategies that I believe all managers, virtual or real, should be able to put into operation at any time during a match situation. Quality sides will tend to veer towards the attacking end of the tactical spectrum; poor ones towards the defensive, but all tactics should prove useful during the course of a season.

To avoid confusion, I will not refer to tactics as home or away; rather I will refer to them in relation to how I would perceive using them in match situations. I will also refrain from using slider numbers. In basic FM terms, the tactics follow roughly the following pattern.

Standard Systems within One Formation (4-4-2)

Defend

Defensive mentality

Narrow width

Deep defensive line

Easy tackling

Rarely closing down

Tight marking

Slow tempo

Heavy Time Wasting

Minimal Forward Runs

No Free Roles

Few Through Balls

Low Creative Freedom

No Farrows on Wingers

Counter

Defensive/Normal mentality

Medium/Narrow width

Medium/Deep defensive line

Easy tackling

Rarely closing down

Tight marking

Slow tempo

Medium Time Wasting

Wide Players and Forwards Make Forward Runs

One/Two Free Roles

MCs play Through Balls

Low Creative Freedom

Short Farrows on Wingers

Possession

Normal/Attacking mentality

Medium width

Medium defensive line

Normal/Heavy tackling

Medium closing down

Loose/Tight marking

Medium tempo

Medium Time Wasting

All players except DCs and MCd make mixed/often forward runs

Two Free Roles

All players play Mixed Through Balls

Low/Normal Creative Freedom

Short Farrows on Wingers

Attack

Attacking mentality

Wide width

High defensive line

Hard tackling

Often closing down

Loose marking

High tempo

Low Time Wasting

All players except DCs/MCd make forward runs often

Three/Four Free Roles

All players play Often Through Balls

Offside Trap

Attackers/Wingers Hold Up Ball

Wingers High Creative Freedom/MCa/FCs Normal

Long Farrows on Wingers

Control

Attacking mentality

Ultra-wide width

Medium defensive line

Hard tackling

Often closing down

Loose marking

Slow tempo

Low Time Wasting

All players except DCs/MCd make forward runs often

Three/Four Free Roles

All players play Often Through Balls

Offside Trap

Attackers/Wingers Hold Up Ball

Wingers High Creative Freedom/MCa/FCs Normal

Long Farrows on Wingers

Tactical Management

Herein lies the key to succeeding at Football Manager 07. The extent to which you effectively manage your tactics decides your long-term success. Although a certain degree of personal judgement has to be used with regard to squad quality and the level of football they can play, the following hints on reading the AI , and thus picking the right tactics should be useful. I will refer to variants of the 4-4-2 system to keep things simple, but it isn’t too hard to work out other systems once you have this in mind

The 4-2-4

The bane of many an FMers life, it has been argued that real life teams rarely, if ever, use such a formation against big sides. Maybe there is a case, but how many teams won’t risk a punt at a comeback when only one-nil down with 15 minutes to play?

In real life, managers have two options when deciding to limit the possibilities of a determined effort at getting back into the game. The first is to defend for their lives. This would be the preferred option if:

A: you are by far and away the worst side on paper

B: you are using the counter tactic and are seeing too many chances for your liking

C: there are only a couple of minutes left

At any of these times it is realistic and sensible to opt for the defend strategy.

However, if you are pretty sure you are the superior side (especially if you are at home) you may wish to stick with the counter strategy to try and grab a goal and kill off the game.

The 4-4-2 Long Farrow

The standard AI home strategy: translated in real world terms as a tactic used by teams playing at home and expecting to win. Bearing in mind, that unless you are very weak in divisional terms, you will rarely face this tactic at the beginning of a home game, the tactical management decision is whether to use the counterstrategy or the possession one.

Again, your own personal evaluation of your squad is the key towards making the correct decision. If you feel you are a better side, then the possession option will likely offer you more chances without giving up too much ground. If you think the other side is better, the counter tactic is more likely to bring you joy as it is harder to break down.

The 4-4-2 Short Farrow

This is the standard AI away formation unless it feels it outclasses you or is outclassed by you. It can quite easily be beaten by the attack strategy, although reverting to possession if a goal or two to the good can also bring rewards.

The Flat 4-4-2

This system, or those more defensive than it, is the reason users struggle to beat weaker AI sides at home. Using a deeper defensive line than the 4-4-2 Short Farrows, the Flat 4-4-2 also presses heavily, reducing time and space on the ball. Therefore, the attack tactic become redundant and the control should be the tactic of choice.

The Subtle Difference between an Attacking and a Control-Based Tactic

An attacking strategy invariably outwits the AI’s counter-attacking or possession tactics. It moves the ball around quickly, has everybody looking to play killer through balls and most people looking to make forward runs to get onto them. The 4-4-2 Short Farrows have medium defensive lines and normal pressing. A team playing fast, flowing football will create a lot of chances to break through the defensive line. Many of these breaks will offer good goal-scoring opportunities.

However, this type of strategy falls down heavily against more defensive tactics. These systems play a much deeper defensive line, which is protected by a flat midfield and strike force, all heavily pressing, reducing time and space. The high tempo, high d-line attacking system fails to break it down as final passes are too hurried. Invariably the team’s frustration grows and the opposition often scores on the break. I’m sure we have all had a match in which we have all the possession, multitudes of chances, yet lose one or two nil. The control-based strategy stops this from happening.

Although in many respects a control-based strategy and an attacking one offer little difference (same individual instructions throughout) the differences it does have are vital. A medium defensive line (too low and you give up too much space for the opposition forwards to exploit), a wider width and a slow tempo force the deep lying opposition players out of position. In doing so, it opens up space for the midfielders/full backs to exploit between the attack and midfield. The slow tempo assures the team keeping hold of the ball and the attacks are controlled, careful build ups rather than rapid, rapier like thrusts at the opponent.

Changing Tactics During the Match

The AI changes tactics throughout the match. Some of these changes are obvious, moving form long farrows to no farrows, a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1. Others may not actually be obvious on the formation screen (deeper d-line, faster tempo) but they happen all the same. If the change is obvious, it is easy to decide upon a decent counter-tactic, but if it isn’t then other tools need to be used.

The two best tools available for understanding the effectiveness of your tactical decision-making are the possession percentage and the passing percentage indicators. Ideally, you want to manage each match so you have a significant advantage in both areas. If you do this, you should then win. Watching these as much as possible gives you an indication the AI is doing something you are failing to deal with, despite them having made no obvious changes. Try to switch too a different system to maintain the advantage you have.

If you keep a close eye on these things, you should generally be playing a competitive tactic and be maximising your chances of getting a result. However, you may not always win, and there will be occasions when you have to decide a draw is a good result and settle for it. Changing to an attacking tactic just because you feel it unrealistic or frustrating not to win could bring you a goal, but it could equally likely cost you the match. Keep an eye on your rival’s performance in the Latest Results screen and only change if you feel you have to win.

Things Not To Do

If you are playing well and are pretty sure you have the right system for the situation, don’t panic into changing to a more aggressive tactic if you do go behind by an early goal. Keep on with the same system until you are a: running out of time or b: sure it isn’t working. The possession and pass percentage indicators give you the best indicator of how well you are playing, although they will still be high if you are playing an attack strategy against a defensive AI. Looking carefully at how the AI is playing (heavy pressing or not) gives you the best indicator as to when to change from attack to control.

Useful Links

Theories and Frameworks, many of which I have just broken

Insights into AI managers’ strategy

Set Pieces

Man-management theory

Reading the AI

Credits

FM-Britain’s Tactical Team (The next Diaby, Millie, Justified, garyh, GarryWHUFC, crazy gra, admin and staff)

Abramovic: his Assistant Manager AI thread revolutionized my ideas

Everyone who moaned enough about FM being too difficult (which got me off my ar$e long enough to write this) and for those who defended the game and copped the abuse

My local grocer who supplied my cheese for all the whine

Everyone who has supported and contributed to TT&F in any way

Download the Tactic Set

Link

Note: I have included a beat 10-men tactic as well. I have tested it in three matches, scoring seven and conceding none, but it may still need work.

Introduction

In writing this thread, I am first taking into account the objections people have to my mathematical and supposedly highly unrealistic theories. In doing so I am trying to avoid reference to slider numbers, minor tweaks and graded mentality systems and instead concentrating on generalized ideas about:

A: How Real Life Football compares with FM

B: How to Design Standard Tactical Systems

C: How to Manage these Systems Effectively

I have also tried to keep the thread shorter and more concise than my usual musings, so people aren’t immediately put off by its length. Unusually, for one of my theory threads, I have also attached tactics.

Hopefully, after reading this thread and putting its ideas into practice, people will start enjoying FM07 again and appreciating the game-engine for what it actually is.

Are We Sitting Comfortably

Then we’ll begin. Before reading the rest of the thread, I ask you to take into consideration my following assumptions about real world football. If these do not sit comfortably with you, there is little reason for you to continue. If they do, then read on.

Assumption One: Definition of Formation

Before I embark on any tactical explanations, I need to be explicit about the difference between formation and tactic. A formation is the basic framework deciding the position each player generally takes on the field of play. Thus, a 4-4-2 will have four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers. Likewise, the Chelsea/Bolton formation has four defenders, one defensive midfielder, two central midfielders, two wingers and one centre forward.

Assumption Two: Definition of Tactics

Tactics, and tactical instruction, operate within the basic formation framework of a side. A 4-4-2 at home will thus differ heavily from a 4-4-2 away. In the home formation, the wingers may be asked to hug the touchline, support the attackers and be given a fair degree of freedom to be creative. In the away formation, they will be asked to tuck in, support the full-backs, and be ready for quick breaks when the reward outweighs the risk.

Assumption Three: FM Tactics

When designing tactics, one slider tweak difference alters the tactical instruction but not the formation. Thus, when I talk about tactics in the rest of this post, I am talking about them in the context of one formation. Sir Alex Ferguson nearly always sends Man Utd onto the pitch in a 4-4-2 but individual and team instructions differ from match to match, situation to situation. When I talk of tactics, it refers to these kinds of instructions, not to changing the formation.

Assumption Four: Changing Tactics

No team, no matter how good or how poor, ever goes through a match without some switches in tactical strategy. The extent to which these tactical changes work defines the course of the match. They may not be recognisable to the casual viewer but they happen nonetheless.

Assumption Five: Why Teams are Successful

Teams are successful due to a combination of four things: good tactical management, good man management, good transfer policy and availability of funds. Failure in managing any of the above is likely to lead to a season of poor performances and disillusionment. Translating this to FM; it is easy to succeed at three and four, but one and two cause difficulties.

If none of the above has caused palpitations and I still have your attention, I will outline some basic tactical (not formation) strategies that should allow for some successful gaming.

Tactical Design

I will outline five tactical strategies that I believe all managers, virtual or real, should be able to put into operation at any time during a match situation. Quality sides will tend to veer towards the attacking end of the tactical spectrum; poor ones towards the defensive, but all tactics should prove useful during the course of a season.

To avoid confusion, I will not refer to tactics as home or away; rather I will refer to them in relation to how I would perceive using them in match situations. I will also refrain from using slider numbers. In basic FM terms, the tactics follow roughly the following pattern.

Standard Systems within One Formation (4-4-2)

Defend

Defensive mentality

Narrow width

Deep defensive line

Easy tackling

Rarely closing down

Tight marking

Slow tempo

Heavy Time Wasting

Minimal Forward Runs

No Free Roles

Few Through Balls

Low Creative Freedom

No Farrows on Wingers

Counter

Defensive/Normal mentality

Medium/Narrow width

Medium/Deep defensive line

Easy tackling

Rarely closing down

Tight marking

Slow tempo

Medium Time Wasting

Wide Players and Forwards Make Forward Runs

One/Two Free Roles

MCs play Through Balls

Low Creative Freedom

Short Farrows on Wingers

Possession

Normal/Attacking mentality

Medium width

Medium defensive line

Normal/Heavy tackling

Medium closing down

Loose/Tight marking

Medium tempo

Medium Time Wasting

All players except DCs and MCd make mixed/often forward runs

Two Free Roles

All players play Mixed Through Balls

Low/Normal Creative Freedom

Short Farrows on Wingers

Attack

Attacking mentality

Wide width

High defensive line

Hard tackling

Often closing down

Loose marking

High tempo

Low Time Wasting

All players except DCs/MCd make forward runs often

Three/Four Free Roles

All players play Often Through Balls

Offside Trap

Attackers/Wingers Hold Up Ball

Wingers High Creative Freedom/MCa/FCs Normal

Long Farrows on Wingers

Control

Attacking mentality

Ultra-wide width

Medium defensive line

Hard tackling

Often closing down

Loose marking

Slow tempo

Low Time Wasting

All players except DCs/MCd make forward runs often

Three/Four Free Roles

All players play Often Through Balls

Offside Trap

Attackers/Wingers Hold Up Ball

Wingers High Creative Freedom/MCa/FCs Normal

Long Farrows on Wingers

Tactical Management

Herein lies the key to succeeding at Football Manager 07. The extent to which you effectively manage your tactics decides your long-term success. Although a certain degree of personal judgement has to be used with regard to squad quality and the level of football they can play, the following hints on reading the AI , and thus picking the right tactics should be useful. I will refer to variants of the 4-4-2 system to keep things simple, but it isn’t too hard to work out other systems once you have this in mind

The 4-2-4

The bane of many an FMers life, it has been argued that real life teams rarely, if ever, use such a formation against big sides. Maybe there is a case, but how many teams won’t risk a punt at a comeback when only one-nil down with 15 minutes to play?

In real life, managers have two options when deciding to limit the possibilities of a determined effort at getting back into the game. The first is to defend for their lives. This would be the preferred option if:

A: you are by far and away the worst side on paper

B: you are using the counter tactic and are seeing too many chances for your liking

C: there are only a couple of minutes left

At any of these times it is realistic and sensible to opt for the defend strategy.

However, if you are pretty sure you are the superior side (especially if you are at home) you may wish to stick with the counter strategy to try and grab a goal and kill off the game.

The 4-4-2 Long Farrow

The standard AI home strategy: translated in real world terms as a tactic used by teams playing at home and expecting to win. Bearing in mind, that unless you are very weak in divisional terms, you will rarely face this tactic at the beginning of a home game, the tactical management decision is whether to use the counterstrategy or the possession one.

Again, your own personal evaluation of your squad is the key towards making the correct decision. If you feel you are a better side, then the possession option will likely offer you more chances without giving up too much ground. If you think the other side is better, the counter tactic is more likely to bring you joy as it is harder to break down.

The 4-4-2 Short Farrow

This is the standard AI away formation unless it feels it outclasses you or is outclassed by you. It can quite easily be beaten by the attack strategy, although reverting to possession if a goal or two to the good can also bring rewards.

The Flat 4-4-2

This system, or those more defensive than it, is the reason users struggle to beat weaker AI sides at home. Using a deeper defensive line than the 4-4-2 Short Farrows, the Flat 4-4-2 also presses heavily, reducing time and space on the ball. Therefore, the attack tactic become redundant and the control should be the tactic of choice.

The Subtle Difference between an Attacking and a Control-Based Tactic

An attacking strategy invariably outwits the AI’s counter-attacking or possession tactics. It moves the ball around quickly, has everybody looking to play killer through balls and most people looking to make forward runs to get onto them. The 4-4-2 Short Farrows have medium defensive lines and normal pressing. A team playing fast, flowing football will create a lot of chances to break through the defensive line. Many of these breaks will offer good goal-scoring opportunities.

However, this type of strategy falls down heavily against more defensive tactics. These systems play a much deeper defensive line, which is protected by a flat midfield and strike force, all heavily pressing, reducing time and space. The high tempo, high d-line attacking system fails to break it down as final passes are too hurried. Invariably the team’s frustration grows and the opposition often scores on the break. I’m sure we have all had a match in which we have all the possession, multitudes of chances, yet lose one or two nil. The control-based strategy stops this from happening.

Although in many respects a control-based strategy and an attacking one offer little difference (same individual instructions throughout) the differences it does have are vital. A medium defensive line (too low and you give up too much space for the opposition forwards to exploit), a wider width and a slow tempo force the deep lying opposition players out of position. In doing so, it opens up space for the midfielders/full backs to exploit between the attack and midfield. The slow tempo assures the team keeping hold of the ball and the attacks are controlled, careful build ups rather than rapid, rapier like thrusts at the opponent.

Changing Tactics During the Match

The AI changes tactics throughout the match. Some of these changes are obvious, moving form long farrows to no farrows, a 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1. Others may not actually be obvious on the formation screen (deeper d-line, faster tempo) but they happen all the same. If the change is obvious, it is easy to decide upon a decent counter-tactic, but if it isn’t then other tools need to be used.

The two best tools available for understanding the effectiveness of your tactical decision-making are the possession percentage and the passing percentage indicators. Ideally, you want to manage each match so you have a significant advantage in both areas. If you do this, you should then win. Watching these as much as possible gives you an indication the AI is doing something you are failing to deal with, despite them having made no obvious changes. Try to switch too a different system to maintain the advantage you have.

If you keep a close eye on these things, you should generally be playing a competitive tactic and be maximising your chances of getting a result. However, you may not always win, and there will be occasions when you have to decide a draw is a good result and settle for it. Changing to an attacking tactic just because you feel it unrealistic or frustrating not to win could bring you a goal, but it could equally likely cost you the match. Keep an eye on your rival’s performance in the Latest Results screen and only change if you feel you have to win.

Things Not To Do

If you are playing well and are pretty sure you have the right system for the situation, don’t panic into changing to a more aggressive tactic if you do go behind by an early goal. Keep on with the same system until you are a: running out of time or b: sure it isn’t working. The possession and pass percentage indicators give you the best indicator of how well you are playing, although they will still be high if you are playing an attack strategy against a defensive AI. Looking carefully at how the AI is playing (heavy pressing or not) gives you the best indicator as to when to change from attack to control.

Useful Links

Theories and Frameworks, many of which I have just broken

Insights into AI managers’ strategy

Set Pieces

Man-management theory

Reading the AI

Credits

FM-Britain’s Tactical Team (The next Diaby, Millie, Justified, garyh, GarryWHUFC, crazy gra, admin and staff)

Abramovic: his Assistant Manager AI thread revolutionized my ideas

Everyone who moaned enough about FM being too difficult (which got me off my ar$e long enough to write this) and for those who defended the game and copped the abuse

My local grocer who supplied my cheese for all the whine

Everyone who has supported and contributed to TT&F in any way

Download the Tactic Set

Link

Note: I have included a beat 10-men tactic as well. I have tested it in three matches, scoring seven and conceding none, but it may still need work.

awesome post mate! am tempted to start a new game with some small club after reading your post! KUTGW!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by wwfan:

Things Not To Do

If you are playing well and are pretty sure you have the right system for the situation, don’t panic into changing to a more aggressive tactic if you do go behind by an early goal. Keep on with the same system until you are a: running out of time or b: sure it isn’t working. The possession and pass percentage indicators give you the best indicator of how well you are playing, although they will still be high if you are playing an attack strategy against a defensive AI. Looking carefully at how the AI is playing (heavy pressing or not) gives you the best indicator as to when to change from attack to control. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Fantastic thread, I'm loving the simplicity of it, very easy to understand and as usual - totally packed with useful information!

I didn't realise how important the quote I have included in this post actually was until I played through a few saves with my Mathematical Sliders approach, where I literally don't change anything in my formation or tactics ever during a match - no matter what's happening. I must try out some of your downloadable tactics when I start playing things other than test saves again

Are you planning anything similar for training methods - or can you direct me to your thread if you already have done one and I haven't found it? I am frequently finding myself wondering if my 34 year old centre backs are benefiting what so ever from having any level of aerobic training - points that I could put elsewhere to improve areas where they still have ability to improve on their current standards

Once again, many thanks on the brilliant post!

I disagree with that you need "up" the Def Line when you attack, and lower it when you defend.

I look at my defending players speed, I then compare it to the oppositions attackers. By this, I decide what DL to go for.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chriseldiablo:

I disagree with that you need "up" the Def Line when you attack, and lower it when you defend.

I look at my defending players speed, I then compare it to the oppositions attackers. By this, I decide what DL to go for. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I used to do that, but found the above more effective. I do have fast defenders so I place the d-line at the higher limit for each of my own sets. However, I would not recommend a d-line of 2 with a team mentality of 18 just because you have slow defenders. The correlation between mentality and d-line is more important than defensive speed.

Allright, I will give it a try. I always try to improve my game

But I am still unsure how D line works. Does it kick in when we loose possession, or is it "active" all the time?

Thank You for your insight wwfan. As always your knowledge of the game of football is much appreciated to rookies such as myself.

Nice one wwfan, nice to see someone coming up with new fresh theorem.

just a shame that rashidi, etc are so quiet these days

wwfan you say nothing about passing style, but some general guidelines to the sets would be nice, I would opt for direct on the defend and counter, mixed on possession, and going short on control. Correct me if I'm wrong

Great thread, gave me an aha!

I am using many of your ideas, together with Paulsgruffs mathematical approach. It has been a revelation for me.

Now I really enjoy the game, and feel I can win every match. I am understanding more what I have done wrong and what I am doing right.

Thanks for all your efforts, wwfan.

You are really doing a great job.

fantastic thread!!! you have answered many of my questions and given new and fresh ideas for my tactics!! will start to put into practice when i get home tonight!!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by timpino:

wwfan you say nothing about passing style, but some general guidelines to the sets would be nice, I would opt for direct on the defend and counter, mixed on possession, and going short on control. Correct me if I'm wrong

Great thread, gave me an aha! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ah, I downloaded your tactics and you go with individual passing, so my post is useless and can be disregarded

Im a bit confused as to what tactic to use. The same experienced users seem to have different tactics to download in different threads, with different theories and pages and pages of chat.

Can someone save me some time and just tell me what is the best attacking formation that won't let in too many goals.

Has anyone just developed a good tactic that works or do we have to keep changing things every game.

I play as chelsea and want to just play the same way every game as they do, perhaps just marking star players once in a while. I dont want to spend all night preparing a tactic for a single game, that wouldnt be enjoyable.

Ill download this tactic in the meantime though

Ahh, an event-based tactic system. I've been considering this for a while, but never got around to it.

Lots of good reasoning used here, so I'll definately give it a try.

Great contribution , i will use this tactics and tweak them to fit my Lille team.

Wonderful thread wwfan

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MrMagic:

Im a bit confused as to what tactic to use. The same experienced users seem to have different tactics to download in different threads, with different theories and pages and pages of chat.

Can someone save me some time and just tell me what is the best attacking formation that won't let in too many goals.

Has anyone just developed a good tactic that works or do we have to keep changing things every game.

I play as chelsea and want to just play the same way every game as they do, perhaps just marking star players once in a while. I dont want to spend all night preparing a tactic for a single game, that wouldnt be enjoyable.

Ill download this tactic in the meantime though </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

A flat 442 is great both for attacking and defense. Use short forward arrows on your Wingers. Thats a "decent" formation.

Very nice thread wwfan! Thanks.

Just want to clarify one point and see if you are agree.

I think if you play against stronger team, especially away, it is generally difficult to keep posession. Counter attack or defense seems reasonable option in this case, and I would not concentrate on posession, but rather on passes completed to make sure I don't give ball away easily. I also watch for opposition chanses (shots on target, crosses completed), my defensive performance (tackles attempted/won, interceptions, headers attempted/won), and (under counter attack option) chances created.

Perfect examples irl are 1994 CL final Milan-Barcelona 4-0 and 1997-1998 CL group stage Barcelona - Dynamo Kiev 0-4 (sorry, Barca fans). In both cases Barcelona kept ball around 60% of the time, but was not able to create real chances despite being wounderful team.

I agree with everything here minus the defensive line theory. Having watched around 34 full matches in my last season, and many more before, it is clear to me now that the defensive line slider is useless—at least on the 2d match screen. Who knows if it has any bearing on the final result? I am sure in some way it does, but it certainly is not evident when you watch a game. Your little blobs still allow fast strikers to run clear, and they still defend too high up the pitch. The only way that I have found I can get my blobs to retreat when we lose the ball is to put barrows on my defenders. Anyone beg to differ, please let me know.

Hi arteta is god,

I usually put defensive line slider on 6-7 notch and use man marking instruction for my defenders (actually my instructions are very close to wwfan's Counter tactic). I believe I have seen opposition strickers run clear only a couple times for three seasons in Italian Serie A (there are quite a few fast strickers there and I am Sampdoria, not the best squad in the league). I cannot say 100% if it is due to mentalities, man marking, or def. line settings, but I think it proves that there is an alternative to your method.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by MrMagic:

Im a bit confused as to what tactic to use. The same experienced users seem to have different tactics to download in different threads, with different theories and pages and pages of chat.

Can someone save me some time and just tell me what is the best attacking formation that won't let in too many goals.

Has anyone just developed a good tactic that works or do we have to keep changing things every game.

I play as chelsea and want to just play the same way every game as they do, perhaps just marking star players once in a while. I dont want to spend all night preparing a tactic for a single game, that wouldnt be enjoyable.

Ill download this tactic in the meantime though </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll try and be diplomatic here.

Please, MrMajic, re-read the thread. It outlines an approach which does not require hours and hours of setting up different tactics for every different team. It outlines how to create a "system" of tactics which allow you to attack when neccessary, defend when neccessary and allow the user to swtich as the game dictates.

If you find one tactic which works, then great - but the point of this thread and this approach is that you adapt. It doesn't take forever and will give you far more stability in the long run.

So, I can save you a hell of a lot of time - download wwfan's sets and pay attention to the game and switch tactics when neccessary. It's an approach which will cause you far less stress than constantly tweaking and will probably stop all those "late comebacks", "superkeepers", and the dreaded "4-2-4".

arteta is god: it can look like the def. line does nothing, but personally I've found it very useful. A high def. line puts pressure on the opposition by "squeezing" the play, and a low one keeps the strikers from coming over the top.

Of course, it only comes into play when you lose the ball, so if you've got your entire team bombing forward and the opposition lauch a quick counter, there are bound to be holes. Personally, I keep my back four on "1" mentality and this seems to hold them back, though as you say barrows are very useful.

I agree, though, the defensive line should at least partially affect how the defence plays when they have the ball, though not as much as it did in '06.

wwfan, i thought i would start my comment off with a catchy opening sentence that, unfortunately, has a swear word in it, here goes:

This Is The ****!

I have played 2 games:

Arsenal (friendly at home) 1-0

QPR (friendly, away, ass man played it) 5-0

Kayserispor (Euro Vase, away) 1-0

Now this doesn't seem much but i haven't really used the right tactics (I used counter for all three) and by the way i tweaked all the tactics i feel you commit too many players forward for FK's and corners, so i put a few back and a few other things but all is good

Nice thread. Keep up with the good work.

nice

wwfan, you are a legend.

Just have to say this is great stuff and it should help strugglers ALOT! I just implemented your counter tactics into my own diamond formation for the last match of the season were I needed a win, and if it weren't for my strikers who have been catastrophic lately I would have won the league.

WWfan,

One question i have is that how do you adapt your 442 formations into other formations such as 4-1-3-2, 4-1-2-2-1 (4-5-1), 4-3-1-2 and the 4-2-3-1 formations?

What positions would you recommend moving from x to x so that editing the 442 to suit?

Actually that was two questions but hey. Id just like to let you kow that i do enjoy your threads and that i am currently testing your new theorys/plays at this moment in time. Im having a bit of success and am getting used to applying when and where, im tending to use the counter for sides better than me which is not many and the control at home and when im against a weaker side.

wwfan:

In your list of why teams are successful, you missed out one MAJOR element. The players! Good tactical management means nothing without good players. If my nan managed Chelsea, they would still beat Alex Ferguson's Sunday league team. I am not sure how all of this then is relevant since you do not mention player ability. Are you stating that one size fits all?...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by arteta is god:

wwfan:

In your list of why teams are successful, you missed out one MAJOR element. The players! Good tactical management means nothing without good players. If my nan managed Chelsea, they would still beat Alex Ferguson's Sunday league team. I am not sure how all of this then is relevant since you do not mention player ability. Are you stating that one size fits all?... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I would assume that "good transfer policy" kind of implies that players are needed for success. As this is a tactical guide, not a good player guide, the emphasis is bound to be on tactics.

Of course you won't win the league with terrible players. Surely a little common sense would prevail here, eh?

I had a bit of a shaky start to my West Ham game so I started using this set of tactics about half way through the season and I've been in free fall ever since. I've won 3 out of 10 losing the other 7.

What's really annoying me is I'm picking the correct tactic and making the right changes during the game (I think) but still losing.

I've had a better possession and pass completion in all 10 games but just leak soft goals all the time. The three games I've won were in the Uefa cup so my league form has been dreadful. In this run I've scored 10 goals (5 in last 8 games) and conceded 14 (7 in 2 games).

I do like these tactics despite the poor run and I will be sticking with them to the end of the season and into next season when I can hopefully get some decent players although Tevez, Ashton, Leon, Guardado, De Jong, Vanden Borre and Ferdinand should really be coping better than they are.

Ok thats me done. Rant over. I apologize if it sounds as if I'm having a go, I'm not it's just frustrating the hell out of me at the moment.

I was wondering one thing though wwfan. Do you use oppo instructions. I used them before and tried it against spurs to sort out Keane and Defoe. The result - they got 2 goals each.

what would you guys do if you where Man utd away to lyon losing 1-0 58th min. these r the stats:

------------------lyon - man uts

shots--------------8-----------5

on target----------4-----------2

possession---------47----------53

pass completion----61----------75

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Burst:

what would you guys do if you where Man utd away to lyon losing 1-0 58th min. these r the stats:

------------------lyon - man uts

shots--------------8-----------5

on target----------4-----------2

possession---------47----------53

pass completion----61----------75 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

i lost the lyon game 1-0 shot ratio 2:10

can anyone make any sense out these pics to what my forward problem could be?

Match stats

Player stats

Thanks for any help

@ arteta is god: I think it goes without saying, the better the player the better the team. However, and here is where my tactics differ from most, if you do have poor players, you can use the defend and counter tactics to grab some decent results even when outclassed.

@ old gregg: An old friend is also struggling with West Ham. It seems they are a difficult squad to judge. I think the probable cause could well be that FM rates them as poor due to the terrible start they had (and poorer if you have no managerial reputation) so they actually need to use the more defensive systems, even though player for player they can easily be judged as superior.

I don't use opposition instructions. Just out of interest, which FC position do you use Tevez (FCL or FCR)?

@ Burst: Control

Burst, it's a friendly, means nothing. Wait until competitive fixtures before worrying about the hows and whys of losing. I drew 1-1 with an Italian Seria B side (a feeder) pre-season, but my league record is 8-0-0 and my cup (inc CL) 5-2-0.

What do use to start of with against good teams if your also a good team?

.eg.

Man Utd vs Chelsea

i was thinking control both home and away and changing to counter if needed or would you start with counter or something completely different?

If you play tight marking across the field and you have closing down often would that pull the players away from there mark to chase the ball, so there for making tight marking pointless in conjuction with closing down often?

or have i missed the boat and been left behind standing at the dock all alone

Man Utd v Chelsea: I would start with attack in assumption Chelsea will be playing a counter-attacking tactic. However, if they are more defensive than anticipated, I'd use control. It would depend if they lined up 4-1-2-2-1 (attack) or 4-1-3-2 (control).

I don't tight mark and close down often. Tight marking = low CD, loose marking = high CD. I thought that was pretty explicit in the opening post. However, my wingers do tend to CD often no matter the marking settings in recognition of the manual's advice.

im finding myself having a lot problems with my defensive using these ideas. It that the other team have lots of shots they just score every shot or there abouts they have take this game:

im playing control be my scout was saying there defensive is going to be hard to breakdown is that right or should i be playing something else?

.PS. there seems to be lots of corners playing this way also or is that just me?

thanks for any help

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Burst:

im finding myself having a lot problems with my defensive using these ideas. Its not that the other team have lots of shots they just score every shot or there abouts they have take this game:

thanks for any help </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

How did Portsmouth line up, and what tactic did you use?

im play 4-4-2 diamond LFarrows (control) and they keep switching from flat 4-4-2 / 4-2-1-2-1

wwfan

- Thanks for that. Very interesting. The three games I've won have actually been while playing counter attacking so I'll keep that in mind.

I have been using Tevez on the right side with Ashton on the left but they've both been struggling so Ive decided to move Tevez to the left and drop Ashton. I need to buy someone with blistering pace in the summer to play with him.

WWFan....

As usuall a thread full of advice for all us novice managers,thanks .

I have 2 questions though,on the tactics that you use free roles on,which positions are chosen as free roles, and on the counter tactic is the counter attack ticked in the team instructions?

I shall use these guidelines in my own hybrid Socks/Crash the net/defence tactic playing Lincoln City.

Once again thanks for the thought and advice.

I have a question regarding the counter tactic you say play wide (to the extreme) with slow temp, but doesn't playing slow imply playing short?

isn't short / wide against what you said in TT&F?

im sorry if this is wrong. I've only had time to read the first two pages of your TT&F thread so im not sure if you changed your approach.

Thanks for any help on the matter

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Burst:

I have a question regarding the counter tactic you say play wide (to the extreme) with slow temp, but doesn't playing slow imply playing short?

isn't short / wide against what you said in TT&F?

im sorry if this is wrong. I've only had time to read the first two pages of your TT&F thread so im not sure if you changed your approach.

Thanks for any help on the matter </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

sorry, control not counter

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Burst:

I have a question regarding the counter tactic you say play wide (to the extreme) with slow temp, but doesn't playing slow imply playing short?

isn't short / wide against what you said in TT&F?

im sorry if this is wrong. I've only had time to read the first two pages of your TT&F thread so im not sure if you changed your approach.

Thanks for any help on the matter </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Same again, but this time with the closing down settings. You said often on the wingers in the TT&F thread, but when you say rarely here are you talking about all the midfield and forwards or just the (in my case DMC-AMC-FCs)?

sorry for all the posts

Burst, wwfan has written that this new set of tactics are NOT based on Ro0, so try to put that out of your mind.

He has attempted to put together a tactic set that everyone can understand and try to get some enjoyment from.

If you are changing positions and making your own tactics from the guidelines in the set, wwfan can harly answer your questions on what to do with your own devised set can he?.

My suggestions for using an untweaked version of the set, would be to use "Control" against any defensive strategies(no arrows) and "Counter" against attacking strategies(arrows).

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by old gregg:

wwfan

- Thanks for that. Very interesting. The three games I've won have actually been while playing counter attacking so I'll keep that in mind.

I have been using Tevez on the right side with Ashton on the left but they've both been struggling so Ive decided to move Tevez to the left and drop Ashton. I need to buy someone with blistering pace in the summer to play with him. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

My West Ham fan friend has just posted a screenshot for me. He is 7-2 at home against Chelsea, who are 4-6 to win, which sort of suggests I'm right with the overall ranking.

He has now finally got it together though and gone a pretty good unbeaten streak, including a 13-0 win in the FA Cup!!

@ Burst: You have to semi-forget TT&F. Things move on. I have broken a fair few TT&F rules in this set. TT&F provides theoretical back up all the tactics except control, which needs a change. I had to do the same thing in 06; break the rules to get a dominant tactic against defensive teams. Against P'mouth, you should have used control against the flat 4-4-2, attack against the 4-1-2-2-1. I suggest you try to modify the sets I uploaded in trying to make your own, and regard DMC and AMC roughly the same way I do MCs.

@ Sam Smith: Tennis fan? Anyway, I choose the FCs for counter, the wingers for possession (I think) and the wingers and one or two FCs for control and attack. Depends a little on personnel.

When tightmarking is it worth telling the same players to man mark?

To me it seems like a good idea or would it cause defensive problems?