I am stuck

Background information of how I am stuck:

-I am playing with Stockport County on FM08, 8.0.2. and I am in my 10th season. I have been promoted from L2 to PRM. I am playing 442 for most of the time, and I have been reading the tactics bible, spending hours and hours reading of how sliders, positions, tackling, closing down, etc etc etc is being used (so I pretty much know all the tips and sweet advices).

Every season I have been tipped pretty low in all the divisions I have played in, but have always been overachieving. So I feel I have found out how to play the game, at least I have been pretty succesfull. Edgeley Park have a capacity of 24.000 now, and the club is worth £70M.

What I am wondering about now after struggling (nothing seems to work) is:

1. Is there still after all these years still the AI-crack-of-your-team-tactic?

2. Is the one-on-one bug from 8.0.1 suddenly active again when you have played the game for sometime, like a save-game of 10 seasons?

3. How can it be that in one season my "challange-goalie"-player scores 15 goals, and in the next season(s) the player scores maybe once every 50th corner.

Not really. Opinions differ. It's certainly a murkier area than supergoalies. Generally people feel that at January the game reranks how good you are, and opposing tactics differ. So if you're expected to get whipped, teams will come after you and you can kill them on the break. By january they know you're good and so play more behind the ball and become harder to break down. However, I whip everyone all year long, so I doubt it's completely all or nothing.

Nope. One on ones just don't always work. In fact rarely. But real life is full of missed sitters too.

Same as above really. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes it goes over the bar. The annoying ones are the heading from the bottom edge (in real life right or left hand edge) straight forward, therefore missing by miles. Although I don't challenge the GK so your results may vary. Still, not every chance is a goal.

VB

I don't believe the AI cracks your tactics, I think its more likely that either the overall ability of your team has declined slightly, or the players youve recently bought in havent yet adapted/don't suit the system you're employed. If you've read everything on the forum, I'd imagine your tactic is very specific and complex, making it harder for players to fit in.

As for the one-on-one bug, I can't say I've noticed in any of my 8.0.2 games

Your challenge goalie player - have his stats for jumping/heading declined at all? Do you have a worse corner taker than before?

There is no doubt that I started winning when I changed my tactic, at the times I got into slumps (with my original tactic). I was not more or less attacking minded, I just changed the positions of players, and added some arrows, here and there (very much in contradiction to what the "most" of the advices say). This is why I am wondering of the AI-crack, as I feel I have found nice ways to win, and suddenly the nice ways, are not as nice anymore (nice ideas that are based on tactics bible-tricks).

My players are only getting better and better (CA skills increasing). And I don't really buy a lot of players, I have a lot of 22, 23-year olds, that have been at the clubs since the age of 16-17.

The skills of jumping and heading are getting better, the cornertaker is at 20 in cornertaking-skills.

I know, i hate it when the AI tries to defend against my tactics. I really hope this bug gets sorted for 09...

I know' date=' i hate it when the AI tries to defend against my tactics. I really hope this bug gets sorted for 09...[/quote']

Haha that's great.

Yeah, who'd want the AI to defend?

I'd be happy if my team started to defend against the AI.

I'd be happy if my team started to defend against the AI.

Now that is wishful thinking!

I'd be happy if my team started to defend against the AI.

Haha, that's great. I'd like it too. Am getting hoarse yellling at them to no avail...

As to the OP's questions, it sounds to me like you've been slightly re-ranked as a better team now, so the opposition is setting up against you in a slightly different way. I'm sure you know that this is the #1 reason players feel that the AI has 'cracked your tactics', but it can affect a winning tactic in numerous ways.

Perhaps the opposition is setting up to defend corners in a slightly different way. I've noticed that certain arrangements of defending corners are more 'exploitable' by the challenge GK exploit than others. Seems that when you're being man-marked they do a better job of shutting down your Jump/Head goal machine. Why would most teams start marking you differently now? Perhaps its a consequence of them employing slightly more defensive tactics overall against you: IE, when the AI chooses to employ a more defensive tactic it also has a higher likelihood of choosing one of the more conservative corner-defense setups. Blind luck maybe that it works against the corner exploit, but thats how I think it would happen.

Secondarily, being in the Prem, the goalies and defenders are likely to have stats close to your Jump/Head guy and the exploit will consequently be less effective than if it were Micah Richards in BSN. Don't know how long you've been in the Prem with it working, but it could be partly attributable to the class defenders you face in the box.

I know my players aren't that good yet, that they can beat Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal and them, but in my first season in L1 I was tipped around 22-23, same in CH. My second season (got relegated the first, so I am currently newly promoted) I am tipped as 17. This season I am actually underachieving, being down at 20th for 3-4 weeks. I could have accepted the struggle, but as I have always been tipped down there, and overachivieving, it is kinda hard when nothing I do seem to work.

EDIT;

There is no doubt it is some sort AI-crack of your winning tactics. I just tried "4321 Tactic Oxford to Prem Title in 6 Seasons"-tactic and won 4-1 (one missed pen.) against 2nd placed team.