Tactical Help?

Hi i need some help with tactics, ive been good and have had success with past FM games, but Fm12 is harder than others. Im using classic tactics, but want to know what else could i do, my formation is 4-2-3-1 with man city. I lose quite a few games away from home, i want know what tactics i could use. I dont like use the new tactics system and i dont like creating set pieces, too hard for me. Plus im not even sure what im supposed to do with the match preparation feature. Hope someone can advise me. BTW i played 2 full seasons and have done good, but i want to play better with more tactics.

Tell us a bit more about your tactic, try to be specific, and then you'll get some worthwhile advice.

Why do you think you're weak away from home (apart from the losing thing)? What's different about playing away? Where is your tactic strong i.e what do you want to keep? In which situations does your tactic/squad struggle?

i play with an attacking line and push up alot, at home and even away i play with quick tempo and wide width, play with a playmaker and target man. I want to know what else can i do. Also where do i mark players as in previous games i didnt set those instructions.

So what sort of goals are teams scoring against you when you play away? Do they play over your defensive line into the space in behind?

How do you set your closing down? If it's too low you give the opponent time on the ball which is deadly if you play with a high line and leave space behind your defense.

Do your central midfielders make forward runs? How is their mentality set? Is one set more defensively than the other? How is their passing set up? Do they play through balls?

Do you have any or all of your forward players on free roaming? How is their forward runs and wide play set up? Who is your targetman and who is your playmaker? How do you have the mentalities set up of your forward players?

There is so much we don't know that we can't really give you any advice on your tactic which basically means the only thing we can do is suggest completely new tactic to you and asking for tactics is against forum rules (btw. I don't think you did anything wrong by posting, I think it's always good to ask for advice, it's just that without any info on the tactic we can't do much for you).

I can give you some tips but I usually talk about tactics in "TC lingo" and if you only use classic tactics that might not help much. Here is how I set up my favorite 4-2-3-1:

GK: normal keeper with distribution on defender collect

DC's: Ball playing defenders (more creative freedom, slightly higher passing and through balls on sometimes (standard for TC is often but I set it to sometimes manually)

FB's: Normal fullbacks on support, forward runs, run with ball, through ball and crossing all set to sometimes

MCr: Box to box midfielder with through balls set to often, he is the more technical and creative midfielder, makes forward runs (sometimes) and roams (free role) he provides a little extra penetration in attacks but also has defensive duties. (Run with ball and crossing set to sometimes)

MCl: The defensive midfielder who stays back at all times, set to Deep lying playmaker on defend duty. Doesn't do much besides defending and playing through balls (set to often) He is always deep in space and can launch attacks from the back while also being a good defender who can break up counter attacks and pick up players in front of the D-line.

AMR: The inside forward (attack), he is mainly a second striker with forward runs set to often, wide play on "cut inside", a high mentality, no roaming (free role) and run with ball set to often.

AML: The wide playmaker, he plays deeper than the second striker (lower mentality, runs from deep "sometimes" and roaming (free role) on) and looks to create chances from wide by cutting inside while also making runs into the box if the time is right. Through balls and run with ball set to often.

AMC: He plays as a playmaker/attacking midfielder hybrid. His mentality is not super high but his forward runs is set to often and his wide play is set to "move into channels" if the striker is set to "normal" and it's set to "normal" if the striker is set to "move into channels". He starts in the hole between defense and midfield but will make runs into the box past the striker if the striker is set in the deeper, almost trequartista like, role.

ST: Played as a complete forward (attack). High mentality, forward runs often, through balls often, run with ball often and crossing set to sometimes. I change his roaming and wide play depending on the game and opposition. If I want him to come deeper to draw defenders out and create space while getting in a position to create chances for others I set his wide play to normal and roaming to yes (I use this against teams who play a deep D-line). If I want him up front lurking for through balls waiting for chances I set his wide play to move into channels and his roaming off (I use this when there is enough space behind and in between the opponents defenders). When he plays more like a poacher lurking up front I play my AMC with the wide play set to normal and often reduce his forward runs to sometimes.

Passing is set to mixed for everyone (with some advanced players a little higher) creative freedom is generally quite high but more advanced players higher except for the striker when he plays more like a poacher and the inside forward who both have a little less creative freedom. Closing down is higher for more advanced players. Mentality is all quite close together but the defending MC the lowest followed by the DC's and the GK, then the FB's and the box to box MC, The AML and AMC more attacking and the Striker and AMR the most attacking. The striker will have a similar mentality to the AML and AMC when in his deeper role with the AMC set a little higher than him (I think). With bigger teams I often set the Run with ball instructions back to sometimes for every player that had it set on higher because I want to focus on a passing game with higher quality teams. I also set long shots to rarely for everyone except when I have a player who is capable.

If you wan't to recreate this tactic it's probably easiest to just use the TC as it's all done in a few clicks.

I didnt know i was breaking rules, i just wanted help. Marsupian, what you have said is too advanced, i just keep everything as simple as i can in all versions. I dont set instrucction for my players, just keep it default, i usually change team instructions thats it. Closing down is set at normal. My players do push up alot.

I dont know what to say i just went with what i thought was right tactics in previous versions and was successful but i feel like FM12 is more harder for me, and am losing more games with big teams.

I didnt know i was breaking rules, i just wanted help. Marsupian, what you have said is too advanced, i just keep everything as simple as i can in all versions. I dont set instrucction for my players, just keep it default, i usually change team instructions thats it. Closing down is set at normal. My players do push up alot.

I dont know what to say i just went with what i thought was right tactics in previous versions and was successful but i feel like FM12 is more harder for me, and am losing more games with big teams.

You weren't breaking the rules, it's just that without info the only thing we really can do is provide you with a complete tactic which is not something we generally encourage over here which is why threads asking for a complete tactic are closed. You didn't do this so you didn't break any rules it's just that we need a little more info to help you out.

The first question I have is: If you think it's too complicated why do you use classic tactics instead of using the tactic creator? With the TC you can literally make a working tactic in under 30 seconds. If you wan't to get a good approximation of the tactic I mentioned you would only have to give these roles and duties:

GK: GK (defend)

FB's: Fullback (support)

DC's: Ball playing defenders (defend)

MCr: Box to box (support)

MCl: Deep lying playmaker (defend)

AMR: Inside forward (attack)

AML: Advanced playmaker (attack)

AMC: Attacking midfielder (attack) (I change wide play to "move into channels")

ST: Complete forward (attack) (I change wide play to "normal")

Now for the team instructions I personally use these:

Strategy: Depends on the game, if I'm favorite I usually play control and if I'm not favorite I play on counter. When chasing a game I switch to attack and when barely holding on I might change to defend in the last few minutes.

Philosophy: Fluid

Creative freedom: More expressive

Closing down: Default

Tackling: Default

Marking: Zonal

Crossing: Default

Roaming: Default

*note* Playing with more creative freedom is usually reserved for sides with a high quality squad who will often face opponents that play negatively and defensive against them. As such you want to encourage risk taking and creative play. If you are a side with less quality players it's often better to play with default creative freedom settings or even limited creative freedom. I however don't care about what people say about creative freedom and give my players freedom no matter what side I am and no matter how many goals it costs me. It's just sort of my style but not necessarily something that benefits my results so to speak.

btw. I play without targetman or playmaker.

Learning the TC can be a little daunting at first, particularly if you feel confident with the classical tactics, but, as Marsupian says, it really is a quick and easy method of getting the framework for a tactic up and working. It also allows you to make tweaks to your tactic on a game-by-game (or situation-by-situation) really intuitively and easily.

I'd definitely recommend using what Marsupian has suggested. Use it for a while and then start changing things to see how a difference in player instruction (matched, of course, with the selection of the player) has a difference to performance. Then you can start to work out exactly what YOU want from your team. Don't want you striker getting involved in every aspect of play - rather than fiddle with lots of sliders just change from a Complete Forward to a Poacher. Want your AM to sit behind the striker and play through balls - select Advanced Playmaker (S) and watch him do it. If you aren't happy then change his role and duty until you are happy. If you still aren't happy then you have a good knowledge of classic tactics with which to make manual tweaks to the sliders - you can still use all (or some) of the sliders with the TC. The TC can be used exclusively or you can use it just as a starting point.

Only reason i like and am used to classic tactics is because i have had lots of success with it on other versions and some success with the current one. I just want to know what other sliders could i use on classic tactics. Also does anyone player mark or target opposition players.

Only reason i like and am used to classic tactics is because i have had lots of success with it on other versions and some success with the current one. I just want to know what other sliders could i use on classic tactics. Also does anyone player mark or target opposition players.

Have you read the TT&F (sticky at the top)? It outlines several different playstyles. I think there is an appendix or compendium that comes with that outlines the way different teams (contemporary and historical) play, from memory there are 2/3 different styles of 4231. You might get some ideas from that.

I think most people here use OI's to target the opposition players, particularly key players. Just remember that the OI's should be used in conjunction with your tactical decisions. A quick search should find you a couple of good threads on using OIs. There's no great magic to them as they are fairly straight forward but you might find some nice tricks.

You weren't breaking the rules, it's just that without info the only thing we really can do is provide you with a complete tactic which is not something we generally encourage over here which is why threads asking for a complete tactic are closed. You didn't do this so you didn't break any rules it's just that we need a little more info to help you out.

The first question I have is: If you think it's too complicated why do you use classic tactics instead of using the tactic creator? With the TC you can literally make a working tactic in under 30 seconds. If you wan't to get a good approximation of the tactic I mentioned you would only have to give these roles and duties:

GK: GK (defend)

FB's: Fullback (support)

DC's: Ball playing defenders (defend)

MCr: Box to box (support)

MCl: Deep lying playmaker (defend)

AMR: Inside forward (attack)

AML: Advanced playmaker (attack)

AMC: Attacking midfielder (attack) (I change wide play to "move into channels")

ST: Complete forward (attack) (I change wide play to "normal")

Now for the team instructions I personally use these:

Strategy: Depends on the game, if I'm favorite I usually play control and if I'm not favorite I play on counter. When chasing a game I switch to attack and when barely holding on I might change to defend in the last few minutes.

Philosophy: Fluid

Creative freedom: More expressive

Closing down: Default

Tackling: Default

Marking: Zonal

Crossing: Default

Roaming: Default

*note* Playing with more creative freedom is usually reserved for sides with a high quality squad who will often face opponents that play negatively and defensive against them. As such you want to encourage risk taking and creative play. If you are a side with less quality players it's often better to play with default creative freedom settings or even limited creative freedom. I however don't care about what people say about creative freedom and give my players freedom no matter what side I am and no matter how many goals it costs me. It's just sort of my style but not necessarily something that benefits my results so to speak.

btw. I play without targetman or playmaker.

How about passing ?

How about passing ?

Everyone set to mixed with the attacking players a little higher. I really don't wan't to encourage long balls from behind but if the opportunity is there I don't want to stop them either. If your defensive players are often wasting possession bu playing long balls (not the kind where they panic or don't have other options but the kind where they sit around for a second and then pick out the long pass) you might want to decease passing length for those players a bit.

What are OI's, also i dont want to start from scratch learning what tactics to use. I just want to know what the best tactics to use when playing away. Like i said im not a hardcore football fan.

What are OI's, also i dont want to start from scratch learning what tactics to use. I just want to know what the best tactics to use when playing away. Like i said im not a hardcore football fan.

There is no such thing as a "best" tactic. Every team and situation is different so there is no one tactic that will always be the best. That said if you create a tactic which suits your team, it's relative strength in the league and has roles and instructions that work well together and create a well balanced whole you can use that same tactic every game and do really well.

When making a tactic it's all about synergy. You want your players to work well together. A superb playmaker is of no use if you don't have someone making a run at the right time to receive his pass. Your talented and mentally strong back 4 playing a high line will get torn apart if the other 6 players on the field are not putting pressure on the opponent. It's all about having a plan and making sure every player plays to that plan.

This may sound really complicated but if you just use some logical thinking it's really not that hard and in time I'm sure you will have no problem making your own tactics.

Until then you can either download a tactic from a forum member in the "tactic sharing center" (a subforum where members can upload there tactics), you can use the tactic I mentioned above or you can use the tactic creator in the game which will guide you in making a simple working tactic. If you need any help with using the TC or have a question just ask here and we will try to help.

Have fun!

Edit: forgot your OI question . OI's are Opposition Instructions. Before the match you get a screen where you can give instructions to your team on how to approach specific opponents. This makes it easy for you to tell your team to always close down a dangerous player on their team for instance. I tend to not use them a lot if at all. They can help a lot but they can also hurt you so I recommend to use them sparingly and only if you think it's necessary and you have a clear goal when using them.

btw. For difficult away matches I generally just use the same tactic I use in my other games but change the strategy to something more defensive (which is usually counter as I play on control most of the time).

There is no such thing as a "best" tactic. Every team and situation is different so there is no one tactic that will always be the best. That said if you create a tactic which suits your team, it's relative strength in the league and has roles and instructions that work well together and create a well balanced whole you can use that same tactic every game and do really well.

When making a tactic it's all about synergy. You want your players to work well together. A superb playmaker is of no use if you don't have someone making a run at the right time to receive his pass. Your talented and mentally strong back 4 playing a high line will get torn apart if the other 6 players on the field are not putting pressure on the opponent. It's all about having a plan and making sure every player plays to that plan.

This may sound really complicated but if you just use some logical thinking it's really not that hard and in time I'm sure you will have no problem making your own tactics.

Until then you can either download a tactic from a forum member in the "tactic sharing center" (a subforum where members can upload there tactics), you can use the tactic I mentioned above or you can use the tactic creator in the game which will guide you in making a simple working tactic. If you need any help with using the TC or have a question just ask here and we will try to help.

Have fun!

Edit: forgot your OI question . OI's are Opposition Instructions. Before the match you get a screen where you can give instructions to your team on how to approach specific opponents. This makes it easy for you to tell your team to always close down a dangerous player on their team for instance. I tend to not use them a lot if at all. They can help a lot but they can also hurt you so I recommend to use them sparingly and only if you think it's necessary and you have a clear goal when using them.

btw. For difficult away matches I generally just use the same tactic I use in my other games but change the strategy to something more defensive (which is usually counter as I play on control most of the time).

Happy New Year Marsupian. I am playing with Arsenal and my midfield trio are Song, Arteta and Ramsey. You mentioned having a deep lying playmaker defend, box to box midfielder and attacking midfielder. Could I ask what roles would you recommend for each player. Also what do you think about playing Gervinho has an inside forward

Happy New Year Marsupian. I am playing with Arsenal and my midfield trio are Song, Arteta and Ramsey. You mentioned having a deep lying playmaker defend, box to box midfielder and attacking midfielder. Could I ask what roles would you recommend for each player. Also what do you think about playing Gervinho has an inside forward

Thanks, you too

With my Arsenal save I usually play Song and Fellaini (my way too expensive singing ) as the DLP (defend) and Arteta and Ramsey as box to box (with through balls set to often). For the attacking midfielder position I now play Eriksen (from ajax) and Wilshere but in the first season I played quite a few players here including Benyoun, Archavin, Rosicky, Eriksen and Ramsey once or twice.

For your trio I would put Song as DLP (defend) Arteta as box to box and Ramsey as attacking midfielder. Switching Arteta and Song can also work well especially in high pressure games as you put a creative player deeper and away from the pressure and a more physical player forward who can battle for the ball but generally I prefer to put the more creative and technical player forward in a more dangerous position and have the more defensive player stay deep in a good position to break up counters and recycle possession.

Hope it works .

I am using Marsupian's setup as suggested earlier in the thread and am just loving it. I play Fletcher or Carrick as the DLP - D and Anderson or Badelj as the BBM. In the AM spot, I have Giggs, Cleverley and am trying to buy Willian. I am using the Complete Forward up top with roaming off and wide play set to Move Into Channels and all my forwards do well.

Thanks Marsupian, I am loving the way my team plays

Thanks, you too

With my Arsenal save I usually play Song and Fellaini (my way too expensive singing ) as the DLP (defend) and Arteta and Ramsey as box to box (with through balls set to often). For the attacking midfielder position I now play Eriksen (from ajax) and Wilshere but in the first season I played quite a few players here including Benyoun, Archavin, Rosicky, Eriksen and Ramsey once or twice.

For your trio I would put Song as DLP (defend) Arteta as box to box and Ramsey as attacking midfielder. Switching Arteta and Song can also work well especially in high pressure games as you put a creative player deeper and away from the pressure and a more physical player forward who can battle for the ball but generally I prefer to put the more creative and technical player forward in a more dangerous position and have the more defensive player stay deep in a good position to break up counters and recycle possession.

Hope it works .

Thanks for that mate. From your post you have the advance playmaker on the left wing and inside forward on the right wing. Should I play Gervinho has inside forward on the left wing because he can cut in on his stronger right foot and score goals. The advance playmaker on the right wing. Would this cause any unbalance for the tactic. Do you make any changes to the Arsenal player roles

Thanks for that mate. From your post you have the advance playmaker on the left wing and inside forward on the right wing. Should I play Gervinho has inside forward on the left wing because he can cut in on his stronger right foot and score goals. The advance playmaker on the right wing. Would this cause any unbalance for the tactic. Do you make any changes to the Arsenal player roles

An advanced playmaker on the wing will also cut inside with the difference that he will come a little deeper than an inside forward making him more involved in play. The reason I chose to play with the advanced playmaker on the left and inside forward on the right was because I played Walcott on the right wing who is more useful making runs forward and sitting on the defensive line waiting for through balls. An inside forward (attack) on the right wing will ironically often get more chances with his right foot because he is often played in with a through ball putting him straight through on goal in which case he is facing the goal and positioned on the right side of it which makes it optimal to use his right foot. An advanced playmaker on the other hand gets played into his feet and will cut inside from there which will give him more chances with his left foot if positioned on the right (they will of course get chances with both feet no matter what but it's just something I noticed). Gervinho did well for me as advanced playmaker getting the ball played into his feet and starting dribbles from the flank resulting in a fair number of shots and through balls. He will also make runs into the box but a little later than the inside forward on the right.

You can switch them around if you want, there is no real balance idea behind it, it was only based on the players I had and the fact it's difficult to find left footed players for the left advanced playmaker role (although Wilshere would probably be fantastic but I put him in the AMC spot). You might want to also switch the DLP and BtB midfielder around so the BtB midfielder has a little bit more room to go forward as the inside forward will generally be more advanced than the advanced playmaker.

You could probably also play both as inside forward on attack but that will probably work better if you play the AMC as advanced playmaker or trequartista and maybe the striker as complete forward (maybe wide play on move into channels to create space in the center).

btw. You can also play the inside forward as Winger (attack) or the advanced playmaker as Winger (support) if you play your wingers on the side of their preferred foot. For the inside forward there is not much difference but the Winger (support) is often less effective than playing an advanced playmaker.

An advanced playmaker on the wing will also cut inside with the difference that he will come a little deeper than an inside forward making him more involved in play. The reason I chose to play with the advanced playmaker on the left and inside forward on the right was because I played Walcott on the right wing who is more useful making runs forward and sitting on the defensive line waiting for through balls. An inside forward (attack) on the right wing will ironically often get more chances with his right foot because he is often played in with a through ball putting him straight through on goal in which case he is facing the goal and positioned on the right side of it which makes it optimal to use his right foot. An advanced playmaker on the other hand gets played into his feet and will cut inside from there which will give him more chances with his left foot if positioned on the right (they will of course get chances with both feet no matter what but it's just something I noticed). Gervinho did well for me as advanced playmaker getting the ball played into his feet and starting dribbles from the flank resulting in a fair number of shots and through balls. He will also make runs into the box but a little later than the inside forward on the right.

You can switch them around if you want, there is no real balance idea behind it, it was only based on the players I had and the fact it's difficult to find left footed players for the left advanced playmaker role (although Wilshere would probably be fantastic but I put him in the AMC spot). You might want to also switch the DLP and BtB midfielder around so the BtB midfielder has a little bit more room to go forward as the inside forward will generally be more advanced than the advanced playmaker.

You could probably also play both as inside forward on attack but that will probably work better if you play the AMC as advanced playmaker or trequartista and maybe the striker as complete forward (maybe wide play on move into channels to create space in the center).

btw. You can also play the inside forward as Winger (attack) or the advanced playmaker as Winger (support) if you play your wingers on the side of their preferred foot. For the inside forward there is not much difference but the Winger (support) is often less effective than playing an advanced playmaker.

Can I ask if you leave all the mentalities has default on the tactic creator or do you change them for each player. Also do you change the creative freedom or is that left to default on the tactic creator.

Hi there, im new to this forum so please bare with me, hope im in the right place. I have been an avid FM fan for years and purchased the FM12 when it came out. I have just started a link up game with a mate in the Championship. He is Burnley - i wanted a challenge and went for Hull City. One thing i didnt prepare myself for was the lack of money and the injuries you start with. Despite this i won my first three matches but since losing to Chesterfield in the first round of the Carling Cup, my form has gone horribly wrong. I have won just once in 10 league games and lost 7 of them. I simply cant score and i am conceding goals for fun - this in turn has affected morale and i feel im losing the plot!! obviously my board are losing patience and my job is 'very insecure' at present. My mate is 6th in the league but has signed some real quality. I am a big fan of loans but my board would only give me a weekly wage limit of £775 a week, you cannot sign any quality for that!! I was unable to sell anybody at the beginning of the season as i had so many injuries my squad was thread bare and i needed every player. I have tried a range of formations, but my favourite tends to be 4-2-3-1 but i just keep losing. Hull have some quality young players but they just arent performing!! please help!! i would really appreciate it. I desperately need to save my job and the embarassment from my mate!! thanks.

Marsupian, like i said im not new to FM, i have been playing since 07. Since then i have had major success with big teams. I think i am gd at the game not great though. But FM12 with big teams i am struggling im losing more than usual. Marsupian, i will try to create a tactics bit i have ALWAYS used classic tactics for my success. Not only that but mate your tactics seems to advance, i just want to apply tactics which i know, i dont want to make it more complicated if you know what i mean, plus im no football expert lol. Hope you can give me some different advice. As playing 2 seasons of FM12 i havent played the game for nearly a month.

Hi there, im new to this forum so please bare with me, hope im in the right place. I have been an avid FM fan for years and purchased the FM12 when it came out. I have just started a link up game with a mate in the Championship. He is Burnley - i wanted a challenge and went for Hull City. One thing i didnt prepare myself for was the lack of money and the injuries you start with. Despite this i won my first three matches but since losing to Chesterfield in the first round of the Carling Cup, my form has gone horribly wrong. I have won just once in 10 league games and lost 7 of them. I simply cant score and i am conceding goals for fun - this in turn has affected morale and i feel im losing the plot!! obviously my board are losing patience and my job is 'very insecure' at present. My mate is 6th in the league but has signed some real quality. I am a big fan of loans but my board would only give me a weekly wage limit of £775 a week, you cannot sign any quality for that!! I was unable to sell anybody at the beginning of the season as i had so many injuries my squad was thread bare and i needed every player. I have tried a range of formations, but my favourite tends to be 4-2-3-1 but i just keep losing. Hull have some quality young players but they just arent performing!! please help!! i would really appreciate it. I desperately need to save my job and the embarassment from my mate!! thanks.

I would start a new thread if I was you - Thanks

Marsupian, like i said im not new to FM, i have been playing since 07. Since then i have had major success with big teams. I think i am gd at the game not great though. But FM12 with big teams i am struggling im losing more than usual. Marsupian, i will try to create a tactics bit i have ALWAYS used classic tactics for my success. Not only that but mate your tactics seems to advance, i just want to apply tactics which i know, i dont want to make it more complicated if you know what i mean, plus im no football expert lol. Hope you can give me some different advice. As playing 2 seasons of FM12 i havent played the game for nearly a month.

I personally don't feel like it's an advanced tactic. You can set it up in a few seconds with the tactic creator, you just choose the formation, team instructions (which are all default except for more creative freedom and zonal marking), and the player roles and duties. You don't have to change any sliders or individual instructions and to adapt to your opponent you can use the team strategy and shouts if you want to. Both of these options are available during the game without having to pause it and are pretty intuitive to use (and not necessary if you don't want to).

I'd say choosing player roles and duties is a lot less complicated than changing sliders in the classic tactic creator. You just pick the roles and the TC will set all the individual instructions for you, two clicks and the player is set up how you want him to be. The same goes for team instructions, for the tactic I mentioned you only change creative freedom, marking, philosophy and set the strategy to how you want it to be. That is four clicks and your team is set up how you want it.

The beautiful thing about the tactic creator is that it's very hard to set up a tactic that doesn't work as the TC only lets you choose instructions that make sense. The only thing you can do is try to choose different elements for your tactic that don't go well together or make a really unbalanced tactic. If you for instance play with supporting wingers but no striker that tries to get at the end of crosses and no midfielders getting forward to offer extra options in the box than that doesn't really go well together. Also having too many defensive players, too many offensive players, too many creators and no finishers or too many finishers and no creators can all lead to a less effective tactic. It's really hard to set up a "dysfunctional" player using just the TC, the only thing you have to think about is putting the right roles and duties together that complement each other and with a bit of logical thinking and experience it's a piece of cake.

In short I really think you should try the tactic creator as it's really not complicated or difficult at all. You can start by making the tactic I posted above, I just checked and it took me 25 clicks which were all choices (usually 3 or 4 options) and no sliders touched whatsoever. Furthermore every option was worded in football terms which allowed me to predict the effect of the option with logical thinking.

Hey Marsupian,

I have been using your 4-2-3-1 setup mentioned above and it is very good but I do tend to concede more goals that I would like, is there a way to make it a little more defensive?

Also, do you have a 4-5-1 tactic and how is it setup?

Regards

Shiraz

Of course there's a way to make it more defensive, go down from Control to Standard or whatever. Failing that, knock some player roles down a bit, either some Attacks to Support or some Supports to Defend.

The real questions you should be asking yourself are: what sort of goals are you conceding? which areas of the pitch are you losing the ball in? why aren't you winning it back? who wasn't in position? who could do with some help in their area of the pitch? etc. etc.