Danarouso

Hey @Cloud9, another informative and enjoyable post! Thank you. Ah! So in-game height doesn't have any effect at all? I suppose extreme cases would surely count, I.E if you had a 5"6' striker battling a 6"6' centre-back in the air? Either way, this is a good thing to look out for. I think Leeds need an upgrade on their full-backs. In the case of Kristensen, I would be a little lenient because there's stuff I like about him. But he will not be a top level FB at the PL level. Firpo has been chastised in real life and that's no real surprise. He's not done well at all. So I would find it hard to play any full-back at the club on their own. But 5-3-2 WB did appeal and perhaps with Kristensen hitting early crosses with Bamford as the TF it could work... but again, Kristensen is on his own so the opposition would likely target him and maybe try the overlap?. Back onto your tactic... I've got you re: the Carrilero. That sounds like a useful role for both dominant and counter-attacking teams, right? You have somebody that can open space for other players and also chip in with a few goals himself. I wonder if Tyler Adams or Klich would do it for me on my save. Interestingly, Adam Forshaw popped up with a few bangers as a DLP(s). Could you give me any instances of when you flipped the formation when targeting a weak CB? That sounds really interesting and would be nice to get a further insight into how your mind ticks. Also, why do you play a DLP (d) rather than say an Anchor Man or a DM(d)? How much success would you have with this tactic when you went 1-0 down? Would you draw or lose a lot of games? Would you step up the tempo or anything like that? Did you notice that the AI had countered this tactic in any way? Or is it more fair to say that a tactic like that is difficult to counter if you were playing the top sides because their natural inclination is to take the game to you anyway? Because I doubt you played like that against the smaller sides...? I just had that feeling you would have got Wednesday promoted back-to-back! That is really impressive stuff, so well done for that. That's League 1 to Champions League in 4 years - some journey. I'd say that the £34m you got in your first season back up is a pittance as well so you did really well to survive. A lot of PL clubs spend that on just one player these days. Actually, I had a similar situation when I got Birmingham promoted in my first season on FM22. I only got circa £15m to spend as the club was loaded with debt. I mean, it was either that or remain in the EFL and have to contend with that debt. At least with the PL TV money, you could go down but clear that debt completely. How close was you from going down in that first season back up? Anyway, I digress! When you were in League One - and perhaps even in the Championship - did you still play on the counter? I imagine in League 1, Wednesday would have been heavy favourites to go up, so I can't imagine you played too much counter at that level? But I can imagine that you did play counter when you bashed the Blades. So when you were in the lower leagues with SWFC, did you scout any other places aside from Benfica and Lisbon? No painful experiences with work permits either? As for the fans and board being angry at a third-place finish/play-off promotion from League 1... how ungrateful! I remember the three years of despair down there supporting Leeds. I was just grateful to be out - no matter how they did it! I have heard negative feedback about the board/fan expectations and reactions and I've seen some weird stuff in my save as well. By the sounds of it, you won't be playing that save any more but it shall be interesting to hear what your next adventure will be! If you look at the word 'anguish' in the dictionary, the definition of that is your defeat against 10 men Liverpool in the League Cup final. It would be nice if you could avenge that and win one before you move on to your next challenge. After all, Wednesday had a pretty good record in that comp in the early '90s...

Hey @Cloud9, thanks for your latest pieces of advice! The CB bug/ME issue is annoying. So is that along the lines of 5'8" strikers beating 6 foot-plus centre-backs in the air on a consistent basis? I can't say I've noticed it too much but it probably does happen... The only problem about us playing a TF is that I don't think Leeds have somebody for it aside from maybe Bamford. It's worth keeping in mind but I feel that Kristensen will need somebody on the wing as a partner. I'm not sure he's strong enough to have a flank all to himself. I think I have seen from yourself and others that it is unwise to leave a WB/CWB on their own if they aren't a strong player in that league. Thanks for sharing your tactic. That looks very interesting and I may well try it once I get back on FM. I have some questions about your tactic... What is the thinking behind CAR(S)? How come you are playing asymmetrical? Why do you have a winger on the left, but just the WB on his own on the right? What is the thinking behind your out of possession instructions? (Trap Inside, Mid Block and Stop Crosses)? It sounds like you benefitted a lot from signing Benfica players! That's amazing. You have opened up my mind on personalities, by the way. It's entered my thinking when I've been looking at potential incomings. I assume that you managed to get Wednesday promoted to the PL and you stayed there? Did you get promoted back-to-back? I'd like to hear your journey back to the top

Hello @Cloud9. Thank you for the well wishes, I hope your save is going well too. Perhaps you are getting the Owls back in the promised land? As for mine, I haven't had much time to play due to work commitments. Instead, I've been figuring out a new tactic to press ahead with after seeking the very helpful advice of the likes of yourself. I've played FM for over a decade, but I find that this is now a thinking game more than ever. And I worry that I might get left behind but if I don't adapt to it! I want to look back on this thread soon and think, 'Wow, I've come a long way since then!' (tactically). Back to my season, we sit 13th, around 12 points above 18th with ten games remaining. But we have entered a patch of worrying form, which is why I want to make some adjustments. For example, the two starting CBs - Koch and Strujik - are averaging like 6.45 and 6.56 in their past 5 games. That is without making any adjustments to the defence. It's not just them, but the likes of Bamford that have also gone bang out of form. So I want to try and come up with a new tactic to try and end the season on a high, hopefully bringing the best out of certain individuals such as the aforementioned bunch, as well as Sinisterra. We've got an FA Cup semi-final against Liverpool also. Thank you for the suggestions on Sinisterra and what may benefit him. When you mentioned not playing a wing-back behind him if he's playing as a W(a), I assume this is because of how dangerous that is. From what I've learnt, the W(a) will always be in advanced positions when we have the ball, and even out of the ball, he will be quite distanced from our midfield and our full-back/wing-back? I remember when I had a similar set up to that a few FM's ago. But even worse, I had a B2B midfielder on that side of the pitch. So that side was very vulnerable indeed given the roaming nature of the B2B midfielder. I had a few additional questions, if you have the time to answer of course. When playing a direct counter attacking tactic, how difficult is it for the wingbacks/full-backs to be utilised, especially if they have two wingers in front of them? I'm thinking that they could be bypassed. I mean, a team that wants to play the ball fast into the vacant spaces will be more inclined to play the ball to the wingers, so a wing-back/full-back wouldn't be an outlet to cross into the box. I could be wrong on this, but curious for your opinion either way. Do you think it could be worth asking Rasmus Kristensen to cross early? He is not the quickest of full-backs (I believe his pace is 14 and his acceleration is 12). This could utilise his crossing more? I guess that he wouldn't be in the best positions when crossing, though.

Thank you once again for your helpful advice, @Cloud9. On your sidenote, you mentioned that he would function quite well on the right hand side as a Winger (A) as well as telling him to shoot more often. Could you tell me your thinking behind this? I assume it was also said with my current tactic in mind. It's good to get some insight on your thinking.

Thank you for the explanation on space eaters. So when we say ‘space eater’, what exactly do we mean by this? I assume it’s the player that takes advantage of vacated space left behind by the opposition? Unfortunately, Google didn’t provide any results when I searched. I’m gonna take your advice on the Sinisterra situation. When I played as Leeds on another save, my plan was to create some overloads for him so he had those 1v1 situations you speak of. But I could never do it - I assume his opposite winger would have needed ‘switch ball to opposite flank’ trait. But since his passing was around 10/11, he couldn’t be taught. Could you tell me why Sinisterra having a ‘balanced’ personality would affect things so much? As for him being inconsistent, I don’t think he is, thankfully. Thanks for the tip on morale! It has taken a hit because Luke Ayling - a team leader - wanted to play more and I wouldn’t let him. It hurt the morale a lot more than I thought it would, which is annoying…

Thanks again for your advice, @Cloud9. So when you mentioned dropping the 10 into the holding role, I assume you meant Roca maybe playing DLP from a DM position and perhaps Adams and somebody else playing in front of him? Also I'm curious as to how I would switch one of the DLPs to the 'space eating' role? Regarding the change of formation, I thought I would try something new to try and get something at Arsenal. Of course, it failed miserably. My 'go-to' tactic, which is pictured below, has started to experience problems as well. Our second half of the season has mainly been poor, and we are now starting to lose a lot of games again. So I've started to become worried. I forgot to add, Kristensen should be on FB(A) here. Side note: He tends to get pretty tired towards the end of the game which I assume is down to him bombing up and down the pitch throughout the matches. I end up subbing him off or changing his role to FB(S) towards the end of the games. Opposition instruction wise, I usually target the opposition's best CM's by pressing them and tackling them hard. I also press the oppositions wingers and try and show them on their weaker foot. I also sometimes show the opposition full-backs onto their opposite foot (I.E show their right-back onto his left foot). One noticeable disappointment is the general performances of Luis Sinisterra. He is meant to be one of my best players, but 1 goal and 2 assists in 19 games is a poor return.

This is very helpful. I appreciate the explanations and advice - its very much appreciated. I tried this as a counter-attacking tactic away at Arsenal and got absolutely smashed 3-0. We never looked like scoring or doing anything meaningful with the ball when we had it (67%-33% possession in favour of them). I assume it is another tactical fault, or should I simply accept that there's some games where we will lose in this manner? I think not because this didn't feel sustainable in any way. Strujik and Koch had another poor game together and now the 'don't play well together' line has finally appeared. Although that didn't help, I still don't think this tactic is sustainable due to the lack of productivity.

Hello @Cloud9. Thank you for your detailed response! So when you say the two fullbacks both being FB(S) is a recipe for trouble, I assume that is because of a lack of outlet on the flanks? So, for example on support, both of the FBs would only go up to the halfway point of the pitch as the tactic was in my initial screenshot? And with there being two IFs, I guess that they would already be too advanced and/or attack-minded to consider playing the ball back to them to use them as an outlet? Thank you for the information on the double pivots. I'm thinking that this could work better, especially for Roca as his natural inclination is to drop deep. Hopefully this will allow him to have a better view of the pitch and ping good plays. Roca was a big reason on why I had the tempo low, so he could take the time to dictate the game. Likewise, other players could get in position rather than be bypassed. In hindsight, this was probably ill-advised after the revelation on the full-backs. Against teams equal to us or lesser than us, I planned to take counter off and leave low tempo on. Perhaps Adams on anchor man and Roca on DLP(S) would work better? I think with the play out of defence, I was worried that Roca would be bypassed in favour of a hoof up the field or something like that. Maybe the 'Distribute to Playmaker' instruction would prevent that, but I wanted to make sure. As for using the sweeper keeper role, I had a concern that Meslier wouldn't be quick enough. I believe his acceleration is 9. What do you think this would be useful for as it relates to the tactic? I will admit I have never considered this role too much before. I probably should from now on. Do you have any tips for the tactical defensive switches for the away games/stronger teams? It would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Since applying the advice of @Vizzini and @Skywalk3r83, our fortunes have improved a lot. Thanks to both of you. It started badly with a home drubbing by Arsenal, but soon improved. The Liverpool result was obviously the biggest shock. We rode our luck for sure. At home, I've applied the lower tempo and took off counter. When we are the underdogs, I've played a higher tempo with counter on. It's worked so far and we are in a more comfortable league position. Rasmus Kristensen has also started to perform better since the change in roles.

Hello. Thanks for your reply and suggestions. Can I ask why you suggested switching the LB to a WB role? That is something I hadn't considered. Re: the tempo, that makes sense. I may take counter off altogether. My concern was that if we go on a higher tempo, the quality of chances might lessen and both full-backs would be bypassed. What do you think? Maybe I should alter this depending on the opposition.

Hello. Thanks for your reply and suggestions. Could you tell me why my current set-up on the right side is imbalanced and why Kristensen could be underperforming so badly? It will be useful to learn for future reference.

Hello everyone. I have started as Leeds in my first season. Although we currently sit 11th after 10 games played, which I am happy with, I still feel that my tactic could be better refined. The vision for this tactic is to build around the DLP - who is usually Marc Roca. He would have an array of options to pass to, and in general, we have attacking threats in and around the box. Another aspect is quickly winning the ball back by pressing very high and getting stuck in, so we are aggressive with our press and winning the ball back. This has worked pretty well, however I am considering lowering it to standard and just setting player instructions. This is because our players can be pulled out of position - and in the case of playing Man Utd - we were badly beaten after a conceding three late goals despite being competitive in the main. Perhaps it will work better on a player instruction basis. One of the biggest concerns has actually been scoring goals. As you can see in my results, there is a lot of draws and 1-0 victories. Although that is OK, I feel that it is only a matter of time where the tide might turn against us. By player trait, Bamford drops deep. I'm wondering if this is affecting his relationship with Aaronson? I wondered if it would be a case of having to drop Aaronson/the AMC, but surely not? I've also tried putting Rodrigo up front but he has been bang out of form, so that hasn't helped much. One final concern is the lack of productivity from Rasmus Kristensen. Even though his on-pitch relationship with Harrison shows up as good, he is averaging 6.52 after 9 games with zero goal/assist contribution. I'm curious if switching him to either FB (A) or WB (S) will help this situation, bearing in mind that he has Tyler Adams to cover him on that side. I would really appreciate the community's advice/guidance on this situation. Thank you.