Tips for a team that has to avoid relegation?

Hello,i somehow managed to get promotion to Serie A in my first season with Bari(my players decided to win the last 9 matches in the last season)and now i'm struggling to understand the tactical/mental mechanics for a team that has to avoid relegation.

In Serie B i played with an attacking 4-3-3 with the "control" mentality always on(not sure of the english word,but it's the one just above standard),which i switched to "counterattack" whenever i was winning and in the last 15-20 minutes.

Anyway this season in Serie A things have obviously changed a lot for me and i have trouble to find a way to play consistently well.My idea was to stay with control mentality for home games with bad teams,standard for away games,and counterattack when i face the top 5-6 teams,but something isn't working.

I can play well vs top teams(drew 3-3 home with juve,was winning 3-1 till the last 15mins,won 1-0 away with AcMilan)by going all negative and no pressure on both the press conference and team talks,but i struggle a lot vs every other team.For example,i just ended my 4 games unbeaten streak by losing home against last of the table Cagliari(which had 1 win,2draws,15losses before our game),but thats just one example,i screwed up in other matches too.

I managed to make things better by using "standard" mentality even vs weak teams,but it still isn't enough.

Can anyone with good experience give me some tips on what to say in the press conference and/or team talk before facing these kind of teams?my ass manager suggests me to tell my players to do it for the fans,but i'm rarely getting a reaction from them.

1 last thing,obviously i know that my team is kind of weak too,all i want is to get a bit more consistent,i go from beating Lazio away the week before to playing absolutely crap(like 2 or 3 shots on goal total)home against Novara....losing all these vital points it's frustrating

p.s. playing a game right now,Bari-Parma 0-1 after 20seconds,help please lol

I probably go for the counter strategy in most matches as you will usually be the underdog. Play down your teams chances of winning matches and take the pressure off with team talks. I'm afraid if your team i weak then consistancy will be an issue regardless. As strange as it sounds I would personally go with attack mentality against the top four or five sides as this seems to get good results against big favorites who take the result for granted. Plus you have nothing to lose and if you get a beating it is not the end of the world.

Don't expect to be winning every game, it sounds as if you're doing reasonably well atm.

Thanks for the support guys,yeah i can't say i'm doing bad,i'm 8 points ahead of the 18th team so it's ok...i am just disappointed that whenever i have the chance to fly to a good mid table position i screw up.Had 2 consecutive home games vs Cagliari and Parma and only got 1point out of them. :/

I'll definitely use counterattack mentality more now,although i have a dignity and i still won't use it when playing home.

Edit: wait i think i found where the main problem is.I just checked the table and i'm 17th in home games and 5th in away games.The problem definitely are home games.

Play with a counter strategy or an attacking strategy at home. Teams will be favourites and you can surprise them if you have a big lad and a quick lad and play directly.

I wouldn't think of counter strategy as a negative tactic as you can play some good stuff with counter.

try bring players in who know what is needed. people with exp. Also your first season in the top flight naything above relagation is a bonus. U look like u r doing well. As for the result against cagliari, seems your players have no problem in the big games but seem to be complacent in the smaller games. try playing attacking for the first 15 mins. show them u demand a win. Worked for me in my hull game where after promotion i got 7th in my 1st season. before consistantly building.

Just remember, the 1st season is always a "dont get relagated" season

I wouldn't think of counter strategy as a negative tactic as you can play some good stuff with counter.

i agree, it imo can actually be more offensive minded than standard or controll tactics. Obviously a lot depends on personality, but in general i think that counter attacking can work very well. You can either do it park-the-bus style and operate with long heaves up fron but you can also play a pressuring game and and then have quick hitting attacks (think Borussia Dortmund if you´ve ever seen them play).

Agree completely. My team plays attacking football, but at the same time, our greatest strength is our pace, so why use it once there are already 10 men behind the ball, camping in the box? It's very ineffective. But if you suck them into a false sense of security and let them venture forward with the ball then one turnover can mean conceding a goal.

When adding personnel to your team make sure the personalities of the players coming in are top-notched, determined lads. The only negative tactics IMO are time-wasting, and if you are cynical, hard tackling everyone. I admit if I see an opposition player with condition below 90% I will make sure to put some (normal) tackles in on him!

Just remember that as your team progresses that teams will try to continue to adapt to your style. I am some 20 seasons in, and many opposition have decided that 4-4-2 diamond is the way to beat me! Luckily I caught on pretty quickly, so in games where the opposition has a quality AM I will either play 3 CM (to cut off the passing lane from DM to AM) or I will swap out my RM for a DM. Against 4-4-2 I play a modified 4-4-2 (with advanced LW, instead of LM).

Good luck!

I wouldn't think of counter strategy as a negative tactic as you can play some good stuff with counter.

Try and keep the morale in the squad as high as possible (team meetings, praise your players when they play well, etc.) and have a lot of experience in your side aswell - influential and determined players are always good to have in a squad.

In Serie B i played with an attacking 4-3-3 with the "control" mentality always on(not sure of the english word,but it's the one just above standard),which i switched to "counterattack" whenever i was winning and in the last 15-20 minutes.

For Italy this is certainly an unrealistic approach. YOu have to start with counter attack and then immediately switch to contain, whenever you take a lead at whichever time

On a more serious note, I'm just in the same situation. Took over a club in German Div2 which was just promoted there after two successive promotions from div4.

I found a team which with immense potential (great youth setup), but no ability for this level.

Obviously, the first step should be to make the team better via transfers. (This is easier a few years into the game as I feel that there are more players available on free transfers, but anyway.)

Obviously, one should have a look at cheap or free players and try to offload players who are on a high salary but not regular starters. When winning promotion I also always try to pay any transfer fees in 48 months instalments. It's not a good idea to do that in every year, but certainly the loss in revenues for being relegated is always much bigger than the next year's instalments for good players. That is assuming that you have at least some transfer budget. In this special situation I believe it's a good idea to quadruple it via instalments. You should via that be able to improve your team significantly.

In terms of team building I try to have a balance between getting youngsters who with potential which will improve the team via natural progression and older players with good mental attributes. A good mentality can make up for a lot of missing quality.

Also in terms of team building I try to make sure that I can 'steal easy goals'. That means having a good corner taker and a great header on your team. They'll create you a number of goals over the season which may be worth a few points extra. The same is true for making sure to have at least one very pacy striker who'll regularly catch a defense on the wrong foot and have clear runs at goal.

In terms of tactics I have always been surprised to see that going to a more defensive tactic after winning promotions was in my games regularly less successful than sticking to the tactic I played with success (promotion) before. There I tend to stick to my previously succesful more attacking tactic in most home matches and in away matches against bottom teams and switch to a more defensive one only against the top teams or the other away matches. Then I usually figure what's more successful (assuming I got both tactics more or less right).

hth