Leoben

You would think so, but I suppose after having bought the likes of Tonali and Livramento there wouldn't be much money left. You start the game as Newcastle with as little as 5 million pounds, and that won't buy you much in the transfer market these days. I like the idea of 442 out of possession and transistioning into a 325, but it's something I may try with a different team as Newcastle have only two striker and play very similarly in Wilson and Isak. I have just pulled the two wingers back into midfield, however and changed them to defensive wingers, playing on their opposite side to their favoured foot and it works very well for pressing teams. Almiron doesn't stop pressing as his work rate is set at 20.

It is quite disheartening, though. We expect -- hope -- this years to be better than the previous years version, and then are left with the same disappointment from the past version. Yet we all buy it and persevere because its football. It would be nice if they could at least address a few problems with this years version, but I won't hold my breath. I did, for those who were inquiring of my tactics nearer the start of the post, put another together to test a few things. First I kept the same opposition as a test bed, Port Vale friendly. Second, I included "roam from position" for my advanced forward, albeit belatedly at 22.22. He did, however, score from a great cross five minutes later. It was his only goal, despite there being many instances when either winger could have simply crossed the ball to him as he was perfectly placed. I also noticed in the test game that the the 8s are more inclined to put a through ball to the wingers than they are to the 9, despite the latter being better placed. Though I did learn one thing: defensive wingers playing on the opposite foot work way better than any inverted winger/winger/inside forward out of possession. Both defensive wingers on support were when possession is lost harassing the opposition instantly along with the 8s. Pity they treat the 9 like a social leper. Note. The pass map looked a right mess, but the image after reveals more my thinking.

Anything is worth a try, but I will say, if more players than I are having similar trouble with a lone striker setup, and we each a tactically astute, there must be something wrong with the way the roles are setup in the game itself. For example, the advanced forward does not behave as said in its description, and that description hasn't changed for many iterations of FM now.

I will say that roles are not working as stated "on the tin". As we all know, the AF is supposed to pin back the oppositions defensive line, and one would think that his head or foot would be the first to touch a crossed ball, yet he is often ever so slightly deeper so the ball either gets taken by the opposition GK or the opposite winger (not inverted winger) cuts in and scores. Now a goals a goal, but I think we can all accept, we all like a goal scoring no.9. That's an idea too. The problem, however, is that I have Almiron. He's like a puppy: kick the ball forwards and he'll run after it, but he has no idea what to do with it thereafter. As such my winger have poor finishing, 11 and 13 I believe, with my no.9's having finishing of 15 and 18. I realise finishing is only a minor part of scoring goals, but I'd rather have my strikers shooting for goal than Miggy

I did think about the good old 442, but as with all FM players we like to try other the strangest formation we can think of or try to emulate RL coach styles. But I may end up giving it a try.

I have tried a CFa and he does get involved more than an AF, but still lacks end product. I find all the roles of striker I've tried have only a few shot whether on target or off. I will try your tip to have the player roam from position, as it seems like a good idea. The CF requires a beast of a player, but by only adding roam from position, he would require only certain attributes like off the ball and decisions and I cover those fine with my available strikers.

It is frustrating when the team you choose is basically engineered to play only that formation. I can't play a 4231 as I do not have a no.10 and the club starts will very little to spend. So that leaves me to play a 433, which doesn't bother me as I like the formation -- it's tactically solid and good in defence and offence, well at least it is supposed to be.

That's exactly my point. It's not so much the fact that he's not scoring -- well he's not scoring, at least far fewer than he should be -- it's the fact that there isn't the support from other players despite there being ample support. They have plenty of opportunities to pass the ball to he AF, but chose not to and waste a shot from distance. I have presently been playing around with two tactics -- one is more conservative, with the idea of creating an asymmetric 325 in possession, and the second an overly enthusiastic tactic with the idea of creating a 235 in possession in a more symmetrical fashion. I would only use the second tactic in cases where I thought I could easily win, and the first is a WiP.

Is there something wrong with lone strikers in this addition of football manager? I have tried various roles that might suit either of my two strikers, and each time they receive very little service with wingers and number 8's more inclined to shot for goal themselves, leaving my striker feeling like a social leper. In my latest game against Port Vale, my striker was gifted four penalties (five in total, with Schar scoring his) and missed the lot. At the final whistle, he had seven shots of which four were counted as these penalties. He had one shot from a corner set piece, with that leaving only two open play shots, neither of which were on target. There should be more than enough service for the no.9 as I'm using a similar system I used in FM22, FM21 and FM20, before that I used a different formation. I took some screenshots to add to the post with the final screenshot stating that he was isolated and the graph shows he was too deep even for an "advanced" forward.