Mid-Season Crisis

Why is it when i'm half way or three quarters through the season my team ALWAYS fold up and keep losing. i get to the final of the jpt and an injured player scores against me, ive lost about 5 on the spin, ive got quality strikers who are as about as good as titus bramable on an off day up front, my team jus cant win, i could be heading straight back down, and it's SOOOOOOO ANOYING, IT HAPPENS EVERY SEASON. WHY WHY WHY??????????????

it could be worse. your strikers could end up like voronin.

and towards the end of the season if you havnt changed tactics the AI has probably figured out your tactics and found a way to counter them resulting in the results you got. so you have heard it before and im going to say it now.

its your tactics

~~Stevie G~~

but i try every tactic and then they say your tinkering to much

They will say that if you change your tactic too often, you can't just change them and espect a miracolous change in how they play, it takes a little while for the players to get used to the tactic and positions, stick with one for a little while, tweaking minor things here and there, thats the best thing to do, eventually you will crack it

like FT said you cant expect to tinker a lil bit and expect instant results. the perfect tactic takes time to develop and even that isnt flawless. keep at it making minor tweaks here and there over the course of the next few games in the areas needed and eventually you will start winning again

~~Stevie G~~

Just a few thoughts from someone who used to have this same problem and solved them without bothering to change tactics:

1) Are you resting your players often enough throughout the season? They do get tired during a long season. Give them a game off now and then.

2) Are you going crazy in the January transfer window? Too many transfers during the season disrupts the team.

3) Have you looked at the players' personal pages? What are their concerns? Do what you can to address them.

4) Do you have several players whose contracts are expiring? They seem to play worse the closer they come to being out of contract.

5) Have other teams in your league just improved? It is possible, you know.

Seriously, tactics can be overrated. I started paying attention to these things and have had no problems with any AI team cracking my tactics. That's after 5 years at the same team using the same tactics, and just a fairly simple 4-4-2 diamond at that.

Lower your physical training ever so slightly towards the end of Jan. It's not the be all and end all, but it often helps for me.

Originally posted by kancit5667:

Just a few thoughts from someone who used to have this same problem and solved them without bothering to change tactics:

1) Are you resting your players often enough throughout the season? They do get tired during a long season. Give them a game off now and then.

2) Are you going crazy in the January transfer window? Too many transfers during the season disrupts the team.

3) Have you looked at the players' personal pages? What are their concerns? Do what you can to address them.

4) Do you have several players whose contracts are expiring? They seem to play worse the closer they come to being out of contract.

5) Have other teams in your league just improved? It is possible, you know.

Seriously, tactics can be overrated. I started paying attention to these things and have had no problems with any AI team cracking my tactics. That's after 5 years at the same team using the same tactics, and just a fairly simple 4-4-2 diamond at that.

Excellent tips there

Do I need to rest a player even though his condition is always near 100%? ie my goalkeeper.. he seems to be 98-100% always.

Originally posted by coldcell:

Do I need to rest a player even though his condition is always near 100%? ie my goalkeeper.. he seems to be 98-100% always.

I don't think it is necessary to rest goalkeepers!

Originally posted by coldcell:

Do I need to rest a player even though his condition is always near 100%? ie my goalkeeper.. he seems to be 98-100% always.

Well you could go on and play him, but a general rule of thumb is that once you hit a period of high match activity in the league you ram down on training and start rotating players or subbing them once you have a healthy lead. Furthermore if you are the kind of manager who plays high tempo, and high closing down then learn how to slow down the tempo of a game and hold your shape, so that you don't wear your players down.

I've hardly faced a problem which involved injury crises in Football Manager. In order for you to do the same you just need to address, training, team selection and tactics.

One other thing about rotation..

If you want to rotate, use a substitution strategy first. In other words, put the second striker on the bench, and bring him on towards the middle of the second half. Do this for a few matches, and then alternate him with the other striker to start a match in the next game you play.

If you choose to plunk 4 new players in a winning team, there is a strong possibility that you could disrupt the squad's harmony. People say you should look at morale, well I find that this strategy doesn't always work. Players who hardly play are going to have low morale, so if you want to bring on a sad git then make sure there's only one of them and that this is only done once a lead is secured.

When do you rest players - would you start a player who is on 94%

I usually rotate if my first choice players are below 96% and this usually results in 3-4 changes between games when we're playing a 2 games a week

sorry for the double post but to clarify:

by rest a player I mean put him on the bench

By rest a player I mean don't select him for a match. I think that's a better option than just putting him on the bench. I usually end up bringing my bench on in the second half. I usually don't pick anyone who's not at least 90%. I'd start someone who's on 94.

Originally posted by james_33:

When do you rest players - would you start a player who is on 94%

I usually rotate if my first choice players are below 96% and this usually results in 3-4 changes between games when we're playing a 2 games a week

I would start a player on 94, but then again if i have a good player who could equally play the role, and the first person's form isn't what i'd like it to be, I might consider giving the other player a start.