Loversleaper

I would keep the midfield like you did so far. I’m hopeful the other changes should be enough to get you going initially but in the long run I think working on getting more talented back up is essential

@shaunwwfc I glanced over the Wolves squad. I think only a few changes might help. Pondence has attributes that suit more an Inverted Winger role and Trincao has attributes that are perfect for the Inside forward role. Looking at Jimenez’s attributes then my opinion is that he would probably do better as a simple Deep Lying Forward when you implement pushed up wingers and keep his best role as a Pressing Forward when you are playing the 4-1-4-1 formation. Jimenez’s best role is Pressing Forward so you might want to keep him there until you have better options which will be kind of necessary to get this team into the master-class status. Coady is also a good Ball Playing Defender so that would also help in getting the ball into more dangerous areas at times that could also help create a few goals. Moutinho maybe needs to train his weaker foot and maybe avoid using his weaker foot as a trait.

Hi Shaun These sets are ‘basic’ set ups where they usually need to be tweaked to suit your team. Striker roles are quite important along with players that are good in those roles. I’m not sure if you read the guidelines in the main thread where I give examples of Striker-partnerships or lone strikers, so if you haven’t then I personally think you should have a look. You can post your team over in that thread and maybe we can take a look and see what options you might have. Always worth a shot 👍

Going back to the Wimbledon save we can take a few examples when you can use the Defensive Strategy effectively ... in this save (you can download it in the Tactic Sharing section) I used the Defensive Strategy a total of 3 times if I remember correctly. In the game against Sunderland who were predicted 1st in the league, my Wimbledon side were predicted 17th - so, that's close to the relegation position. Sunderland also have a huge reputation and my scouts assumed they would Attack (Strategy) against me and were massive favourites to win the match. Away against Aston Villa and away to Ipswich were also basically identical match scenarios. In these three games I used the Defensive Strategy quite effectively because these three teams really went for it and I managed to keep the shorelines close. In the Sunderland match I held on til the 80th minute where I kept the score within range and then went Very Attacking (All Out Attack) and managed to grab that late goal. I tried to do the same away to Villa but even with a man down I couldn't do much and the Ipswich game I just held on with Defensive Strategy throughout the game and snatched the point. These three match scenarios are typical situations where I would suggest the Defensive Strategy as a good option if I want to try and grab a result or keep the scoreline tight so I can maybe make some change late on and try to get back in or go even more defensive to hold the result (every point counts). After this point, with my result form in mind, opponents started to play more tactical as our team proved hard to beat so naturally I could venture higher up on the Strategy Ladder away from home. Even for Relegation battlers, if your result form is good, then most likely your opponents will not try to go into total attack mode so that's where it's a good idea to try and Counter Attack them. In the Wimbledon game I used all the strategies through the season to achieve the results in the save

@loisvale Defensive strategy is basically only for those situations where you have a really poor team compared to your opponent and you are away from home. Your team is expected to be under immense pressure the whole match and your primary goal for the match is to try to stop your opponent as much as possible. If your team is good enough to actually give the opponent a good game (you have talented players) then I would use Cautious because you have more attacking options in the strategy - much more so than the Defensive Strategy. Very Defensive is only for the last ten minutes where your whole focus is to hang onto a result. If you are playing Positive Strategy away from home then and doing well then, for me, it looks like your team are in the Master-Class quality area.

Note: This thread is for downloading Save Games and Tactic/Strategy sets. An questions regarding how to use them or any tactical questions/discussions, please do so in the LL's Tactical Handbook thread in the Tactics and Training Discussion forum. Any questions regarding download and other technical stuff can be done here. Thanks

INTRO This thread is going to show how I basically play the game. On the cover it might seem a little complicated in regards to the range of Tactics/Strategies I use, but in reality it’s actually fairly simple. I start out with a ‘base tactic’ and then tweak it, adding or removing instructions which I feel compliment the strategy’s overall mentality/gameplan. You have three main tactics that your team can primarily focus on, but other versions of your tactic/formation can easily be saved in your external tactics folder and you can always use (load) them when you see fit. Using the strategy range allows me to combat every situation that I will encounter during my career so (by using the strategy range) I tend to avoid those scenarios where my tactics could run dry. There are balances I use in terms of duties and roles that make the tactics more sound and I can easily change things around a little by using the drop down menus (loading) after I have set everything up. I find it incredibly rewarding to know when you can attack or when you should defend (or a little bit of both) and hopefully I will be able to explain this aspect during the thread. Note: There is a Download Section of this thread and it is a separate thread located in the Tactic Sharing Centre (Upload/Download) where there will be Save Games and Tactic/Strategy sets for download. THE MANAGER At the start of each save or managerial career, the first step I take is to evaluate what type of overall Manager I can be. For this part I have broken it down to 3 types of Managers : The Master-Class > I am managing a team that is expected to finish in a position at the top of the league The Relegation-Battler > I am managing a team that is expected to finish in a position at the bottom of the league The Tactician > I am managing a team that is expected to finish in a position that is between the two other scenarios above For me, these 3 different managers will eventually have a slightly different approach to the game tactically. As a Master-Class manager, I will play a little more expansive/creative in an attempt to open up stubborn opposition and as a Relegation-Battler I will naturally play more tight/disciplined in an attempt to frustrate more attacking opposition. As a Tactician I might use more of the mentality range. Playing at home or away, result form of your team or the opponent, is it a cup or a league match, squad’s general strength, media prediction and maybe even weather, can effect the way I will play a certain match. MY GENERAL STRATEGY INSIGHT In-game strategies have a basic game plan and they all have natural positions/mentalities. From there you can always tweak them, but my advice is not to over do it too much and keep things relatively simple - using the different strategies to move more attacking or defending is the key for my long term success. It’s not a case of constantly chopping and changing at all, let me stress this, but slight (strategy) changes here and there can really make a huge difference in the long run. One of the most important things, I think, to make the strategies work more effectively is to have a basic system when choosing duties = attack, support or defend. Players on Attack Duty run/pass more forward - and players on Defend Duty sit more back and are less risky in their behaviour. Players on Support Duty will do a little bit of both. More defensive strategies will have more players on defend duty which should leave less opens spaces for the opponent to exploit - and more attacking strategies have more players on attack duties that move forward to open up/overload defensive opponents. Fairly simple, but then, for me, it’s just a question of when it’s best to do what. The game gives fairly clear ideas of what I can do in terms of strategy choice for my upcoming fixture by showing the opposition’s game plan (strategy/formation/roles) and presenting general pre-game predictions. I use a combination of these two basically to determine how much I can attack or should defend. The game can throw you a few surprises from time to time in terms of match scenarios, so this might cause me to re-think my starting strategy game plan. Also during matches things can change, so I’m always prepared to quickly change strategies just in case. Another example is that, during matches, red cards or goals can alter how I play in terms of strategy use (by moving slightly up or down the strategy ladder). I break the 7 strategies down into 3 categories : Defend, Attack and the ‘middle’ strategies. Most opposition teams generally use the ‘middle category’ strategies, But still, they could use the other strategies too (from time to time) and this aspect can be effected by result form and/or how strong or weak the opponent generally are in comparison to your team. I use these aspects too, to determine which tactics/strategies are more feasible/effective for my upcoming match. It can be a case of that I am away from home and predicted to lose, so, should I be playing Defensive to try to grind out a result? Or can I play Cautious (more players on Support Duties) so I can try to bring more players and hit them with more counter attacks without leaving too much space for my opponent to punish me? Or I am at home and stronger than my opponent (and predicted to win), should I go Attack strategy to bring many players forward in an attempt to break down a compact stubborn opponent or should I play Positive (more Support Duties) so I can better cope with a more counter-attacking opponent who tries to send players forward on the break. These are examples of the kind of decisions I will make during a season and knowing how your opponent plays can (and will) help you get better than worse results in the long run - you can always mis-read an opponent/game situation, but if you take a mental picture of the situation you can always make a better/alternative decision next time around… the game is not all about one match. My overall game plan is generally to get a good result form going (naturally) in an attempt to pressure the opponent to be more cautious strategy-wise, this could enable circumstances that will possibly allow me to play a more attacking/aggressive game plan. Having your opponents more on the back-foot is a position that is (generally) a good place to be as a club/manager. Using strategies can also help me break out of poor result form as long as I have a good idea what is going on in regards to my team. Squad building, general team atmosphere/happiness, team/tactical familiarity are all aspects that can help in getting good result form - but I think this goes without saying.