Need help transferring my vision of football into FM

I am a beginner here so please excuse me if this is a dumb question

but why do all all my players seem to keep getting tripped and falling down over and over again and the opposition falls down maybe once per game?

It's infuriating to see them continually being tripped, falling down on their own, stopping in the middle of a breakaway to allow the opposition to take the ball away from them.

They seem to be completely useless.

The other thing is that when I give them instructions they don't follow.

Pass short/retain possession= they launch the ball all the way across the field right into the defense. When I am setting up set pieces,

I tell the corner kick taker to kick it short and again he launches a long ball into a bunch of defenders.

are they not listening to my instructions because team shape is fluid? or because instructions say be more expressive?

I have had those settings for quite a while and they followed those same instructions until recently and then suddenly stopped following my instructions for no reason.

The strange thing is my Everton team was doing incredibly well, got to second place behind Chelsea, and is in an unexplainable slump.

even my best players are playing like crap but morale and form are fine. It's just that they suddenly are playing terribly, from averaging about 7.5 rating per game to 6.5.

can anyone shed light on what's going on?

I don't need a game to give me frustration and stress in my life, that's why I am playing the game, to escape my daily frustration and stress.

Thanks

It could simply be that the pressure of being title contenders has got to better of the players, on my save Girona were in 4th place in La Liga (predicted to go down) when the short winter break began, with 3 games left in the season they look like dropping into the bottom half of the table.

My own team had a little wobble after doing the double over Real Madrid & going 4 points clear at the top, it took careful squad selection & tactical decisions to stop that wobble becoming a full on slump.

It's probably worth heading over to the tactics forum if you're after advice, post details of your tactical setup & the guys over there can look at helping you out.

Edit: More expressive will give players a greater level of freedom to go against your tactical instructions, it's an instruction that I feel should be used sparingly as it's very difficult to get the right players for it to be a consistently effective approach.

Pass Shorter/Retain Possession isn't a magic button to guarantee 70% possession in a match. Players need to be composed, make good decisions and most importantly - they need passing options if you're going to tell them to pass to feet all the time.

I was recently caught out with my usual passing style when I came up against an opponent who were well up for the game & caused my players all manner of problems by not giving them a second on the ball, luckily we were still in the game at HT so I had a chance to go with a more percentage based direct approach in the second half & managed to salvage a win.

Sometimes pragmatism has to prevail, had I stuck to my short passing system I probably would have ended up on the wrong end of a hiding.

Pass Shorter/Retain Possession isn't a magic button to guarantee 70% possession in a match. Players need to be composed, make good decisions and most importantly - they need passing options if you're going to tell them to pass to feet all the time.

Right on--there's a reason it's almost always top teams who play this way IRL. And conversely, why teams at lower levels tend to play hoofball.

As far as the OP goes--it's not always well understood that your players on the pitch will often "disobey" your tactical instructions if there's an obvious better option at that moment. Couple that with your fluid mentality and be more expressive shout, playing against a team that presses the living daylights out of you, now your virtual players have some decisions to make. In this case it's, "Do I do what the gaffer wants me to do and try to pass short even if there's not a short pass on, or do I try something different?" Players with high mental attributes--decisions, composure, that sort of thing--will be more likely to make the correct decisions in those cases.

As far as players falling down--I wonder sometimes if that's FM's animation to represent a situation where a player without strong composure and decision-making is caught in a situation where, if he followed the team instructions, it'd be disastrous, but other options aren't on either, the player gets caught between two minds, can't make a decision, basically "freezes up"?

But the real question here is why the team suddenly went into a slump. I can tell that the game is causing this because the players were playing flawlessly before. The game adjusted to what we were doing.

For instance Jagielka, who was my best player now routinely gets 6.5, 6.6 ratings. He is very poor. Why is he in such a slump. I critisized him and he agreed that he is playing poorly and said he will try to do better. What else can I do?

GIVING THE BALL AWAY is what frustrates me. I wish there was a "turnover" stat but there are only "interceptions" which my players are leading the league at, so I know who the best defenders are but not who are the worst offenders.

How can I pick players that DONT give the ball away? Strength? Composure? I'd be willing to make changes if I know what attributes make the difference for NOT losing the ball.

Jag has 17 tackling, 14 composure, 12 aggression, 16 determination, 14 strength. What's missing?

thanks

Poor tactic is one reason. Players not being a good fit for the poor tactic is another.

I think it's composure and decisions mainly that govern whether a player gives the ball away or not. Strength probably helps too so the player doesn't get muscled off the ball so easily.

You criticized Jags, he agreed he's not going that well--though 6.5, 6.6 isn't absolutely horrible either--if he continues not playing that well, then your next step might well be to drop him for a bit.

Remember that the AI has the same tools to adjust tactics as you do. Let's say you've been hammering in the goals game after game--at some point the AI is going to notice you're potting four goals per game and figure, maybe it'd be a great idea if we sat back, parked the bus, try to hit on the counter. Then you've got to find another way to open up AI defenses. Or the AI notices you're averaging 70% possession, maybe they try pressing you hard and either your tactics or your players can't cope. So of course the game is causing it, that's kind of the point of having an AI to play against.

Always worth a jaunt over to the tactics forum to see if you can get any ideas what to do. Often a simple tweak is all that's needed to get you back up and running.

Ok as the Op, I now have some more experience under my belt, but I have a question that was unanswered...

how does one set up to "hassle"? I dont see that setting.

besides that, I have a better understanding of help things work now. I am in 5th place with 56 points after 28 games and 11 points behind the leaders, Liverpool.

I definitely have the style of avoiding giveaways and trying to get as many takeaways as possible, therefore any players that are making too many mistakes are off the team regardless of who they are. I am looking for players who excel in making interceptions and keeping their mistakes to a minimum. I'm warning players after they have a bad game and if they don't shape up they will ship out.

I've been able to do reasonably well by not repeating the same pregame and half-time comments. (Namely, " I have faith in you" which I love to say, but I have to stop myself sometimes). I am trying to vary my comments more and using the CALM option of speaking. Maybe I was being too positive and they were becoming overconfident. Since they are determined bunch, my personality now is always to say we don't have a chance or we have to guard against complacency. I am almost never positive now.

Regarding tactics, I am running a 4-2-2-2 asymmetrical, 4-1-2-3 (tweaked for Sisto to remain on the wing) and 4-4-2.

The main thing I have discovered is (only for the last 3 games) I take either Gareth Barry or Michael Bradley or Ralf (my DMs) and assigned whoever is playing that position to closely marking the opponent teams striker and that has worked well. My theory is that by taking away the other team's number one weapon, I can handle the others with my deep defensive line. With this idea, I beat Hull and Crystal both 1-0 and tied tottenham 1-1.

general instructions are:

retain possession

shorter passing

pass into space

play out of defense

wipped crosses

much deeper defense

prevent short GK distribution

be more disciplined

however, with player instructions I have almost all of them set to

close down much more

Mark tighter

tackle harder

Central defenders only=close down much LESS instead of more.

sometimes I will have

less risky passes

mentality is control/structured.

The challenge more lately has been generating any offense. I seem to hold the opponents to zero or one goals per game but I struggled to score 2 goals per game, namely because the strikers are letting me down. Lukaku, Kone, Mirallas, Sisto (out of necessity due to injuries), and Islam Slimani.

beat Arsenal 2-0

Swansea 3-0

QPR 2-0

Crystal 1-0

Hull 1-0

Aston 2-0

tied Sunderland 1-1

Tottenham 1-1

Stoke 2-2

chelsea 2-2

Norwich 1-1 twice, lost in shootout when Stones missed on last try in capital one semifinal.

lost Sunderland 1-2

Newcastle 2-3

Leicester 2-3

Regarding players falling down, I think I've become numb to it at this point though I do laugh sometimes at the absurdity. Lukaku for instance seems to fall down 2 to 3 times every game. Also, I do see a lot of tripping and the refs don't seem to call it but that seems to go both ways.

One thing that still bothers me though is that my players don't listen to their instructions as much as they should. Even though I have switched to structured setting. No matter what I do, the goalkeeper keep kicking the ball long and the corner taker also does the same even though I set everything to short. Any ideas on that?

Thanks

Do you still use a Target Man? The keeper will launch it to the target man at times.

Hassle is Close Down Much More, although it makes no sense considering you have a much deeper defence.

yes, target man but what else can I call Lukaku? I tried poacher and the goalie still launched it to him...

You can call Lukaku anything, but the problem is that as a Target Man, the team (including your keeper) will use him as one. If you don't want balls lumped up to him, don't use a Target Man role.

tried setting keeper to distribute short and using widemen instructions, so you get the ball out wide then getting crosses in instead of lumping it.

tried setting keeper to distribute short and using widemen instructions, so you get the ball out wide then getting crosses in instead of lumping it.

thats exactly the goalie instructions

kick short

distribute to fullbacks

slow pace down

If the opposition has the 'prevent short GK' instruction active then your keeper has little choice other than to kick it long & by using the slow down pace you're giving the opposition time to position themselves to prevent the short distribution.

tbh there's something about your setup that doesn't feel right, hard to tell what that is without a visual reference of the formation & player roles but I have a feeling that you're heading for the same frustration as before, that being early success followed by a late season slump in form that carries over to the following season.

I definitely have the style of avoiding giveaways and trying to get as many takeaways as possible,

Wild guess here but have you only recently gained an interest in football? Terms like giveaways & takeways are not generally used when talking about soccer.

If the opposition has the 'prevent short GK' instruction active then your keeper has little choice other than to kick it long & by using the slow down pace you're giving the opposition time to position themselves to prevent the short distribution.

tbh there's something about your setup that doesn't feel right, hard to tell what that is without a visual reference of the formation & player roles but I have a feeling that you're heading for the same frustration as before, that being early success followed by a late season slump in form that carries over to the following season.

Wild guess here but have you only recently gained an interest in football? Terms like giveaways & takeways are not generally used when talking about soccer.

LOL you found me out. I'm A YANK!!!! But nonetheless I am hooked. Any suggestions? BTW, I am playing offline. Also I should mention that despite the success, Jagelka is still not hitting 7.0 in rating. He has lost a bit, not only 3 stars instead of 4 stars...

GET OUT!!! This is our game, not yours.

I probably should get this out of the way as you have brought it up, the star ratings are very subjective & as they are the opinion of scouts/coaches they are prone to being wrong, in some cases by quite some margin. Personally once a player is at my club I ignore the current ability value & pay more attention to how they are performing on the pitch, the potential ability rating is one that I do keep an eye on but only to help me decide which younger players are more likely to progress.

Now let's consider your approach, the first thing to figure out is aside from reducing your own teams mistakes while capitalising on your opponents errors & the other obvious one of winning matches is there a particular style of play that you want to see from your team?

thanks, well I do particularly enjoy the long ball but I HATE HATE HATE turnovers. So I guess the long ball is out? Plus whenever I try it, I have fun but it rarely works.

What I would like to do though is build the greatest defense in history. I'm charting the best interceptors and trying to buy the best defenders and goalie and make my team impenetrable. So ideally, long ball and defense, with a minimum of turnovers and maximum of takeaways LOL.

Solid defence & playing the ball out of defence with a short passing system tend to be mutually exclusive, by the look of your instructions you also have a system that has clear defensive & attacking units with the attacking players probably offering little in the way of support at the back.

It's getting late & the pain of putting a screwdriver through my hand earlier today is starting to build up so I'll leave things for now, if you get the chance post a screenshot of your tactics screen as that will make it easier to see what your likely tactical strengths & weaknesses are.

sorry to hear about your injury, hope you feel better soon.

not sure why it's not accepting my JPEG image to upload. Its 290 kb, is that too big?

Stabbing yourself with a screwdriver is a dumbass move & shouldn't elicit sympathy, it should only be mocked due to the sheer stupidity.

As for screnneshot you need to uploaded them to an image hosting site & post the forum img link.

I am a beginner here so please excuse me if this is a dumb question

but why do all all my players seem to keep getting tripped and falling down over and over again and the opposition falls down maybe once per game?

It's infuriating to see them continually being tripped, falling down on their own, stopping in the middle of a breakaway to allow the opposition to take the ball away from them.

They seem to be completely useless.

Stopping in the middle of a breakaway could be a symptom of too many support roles, as players look for others to get into attacking positions to lay the ball off. This indicates to me that your tactic is a bit off balance.

The other thing is that when I give them instructions they don't follow.

Pass short/retain possession= they launch the ball all the way across the field right into the defense. When I am setting up set pieces,

I tell the corner kick taker to kick it short and again he launches a long ball into a bunch of defenders.

Those TIs set passing to very short, so if your players can't find each other to pass to when its set so short, could your tactic have too many players in attack?...For example, you could have been playing a 4123 and your system is set to normal, but that tactic has at least 4 wide players, if a short pass receiver is blocked they will hoof the ball. Again this is symptomatic of a poor tactic.

are they not listening to my instructions because team shape is fluid? or because instructions say be more expressive?

Possible, since fluid gives players more creative freedom to participate in more phases of play.

I have had those settings for quite a while and they followed those same instructions until recently and then suddenly stopped following my instructions for no reason.

The strange thing is my Everton team was doing incredibly well, got to second place behind Chelsea, and is in an unexplainable slump.

even my best players are playing like crap but morale and form are fine. It's just that they suddenly are playing terribly, from averaging about 7.5 rating per game to 6.5.

can anyone shed light on what's going on?

plenty of factors can lead to a slump : morale, weather, injuries, chopping and changing tactics..Its possible to go on massive runs without losing as well, its all up to the individual on how he manages each game. Do you make minor changes in each game to adapt to the opposition? For example, without knowing your system I am guessing here...but lets assume you are playing a 4312 and you have been beating everyone, then you come up against a side thats playing a 4231 and have set up shop to attack down the flanks, assume you haven't changed your fullbacks to support, that could put a lot of pressure on your backline, leading to loss of possession and easy goal scoring chances for the opposition

Its actually pretty easy ONCE YOU HAVE a solid tactic you understand well. Almost each game I play now is on commentary, I watch the odd game on key highlights, and for each game I just make some minor tweaks depending on the kind of opposition i face. And its stress free management with my WBA side.

Advice: Start a thread on the tactics forum, post details on your tactic and what you are trying to achieve, there will always be someone who'll pop in to give you a hand.

Stabbing yourself with a screwdriver is a dumbass move & shouldn't elicit sympathy, it should only be mocked due to the sheer stupidity.

As for screnneshot you need to uploaded them to an image hosting site & post the forum img link.

That formation & role assignments looks perfect for a more direct style, I'd ditch pass shorter, retain possession & play out of defence if I was using it.

Rashid1 is correct that the best place to go is the tactics forum & I'll just move this thread over there, I've cleaned it up a little to get rid of the off-topic stuff but kept the key posts that highlight your issues & what you're trying to achieve.

Edit: Not sure why the image of your tactic has dropped off, you should be able to edit the link back in.

Post your pics in imgur.com and use the bb link, the last option offered, copy and paste it here so we can zoom in on the image of the tactic.

Lets start from the top, I downloaded the image and zoomed in...not entirely clear if I am seeing these rite:

Left flank: Vulnerable, biggest weakness.

Forward Line: Isolation caused from 3 players on attack duty. Shadow striker, Winger and TM(A) will hardly figure in ANY defense when ball is in your own half. The only way these guys will add to defending is if you are camped in opponents half. This can only happen if you are playing in attacking mentality. Control or any lower mentality will see your team try and hold on to possession and build play through the middle. If you are playing attacking mentality then you will exert a lot of pressure in opponents half if each of the players is set to close down much more(only forward line).

This system will buckle against good sides playing a 4231 4123 system. If at any time you are faced with a side thats playing with either attacking fullbacks or attacking AMs, your backline won't be able to recover in time.

Essentially: if you are playing control you will find it hard to defend in your own half, because 4 players won't be helping. If you are playing attacking mentality you could pressure other teams but your left flank leaves you vulnerable to counter attacks or direct passes to players who can hold up the ball.

Recommendations to shape:

1. Change SS to AM(S); TM(A), (DLF)(A) - This should give your system a bit more dynamism, the AM will act like a playmaker surging into the box late and the DLP will play like a target man but he will drop deep to link up play. I can;t understand why Kone is there, but it could work provided you get a lot of movement from the DLF and AM...If you can get the AM to learn the ppm (comes deep to get ball) it will be very good, otherwise you need to experiment trying to get him to drop deeper via a support role or changing his role entirely to one that allows that kind of movement.

2. Change your CWB to a FB(S) when playing against any system thats deploying AMs, FB(A) on that flank.

3. BWM(S) has a large closing down area, since the left side of your system is more vulnerable I would switch the DLP and BWM around, this should offer more protection on that side of the pitch.

Now to your TIs.

general instructions are:

retain possession

shorter passing

pass into space

play out of defense

wipped crosses

much deeper defense

prevent short GK distribution

be more disciplined

however, with player instructions I have almost all of them set to

close down much more

Mark tighter

tackle harder

Central defenders only=close down much LESS instead of more.

sometimes I will have

less risky passes

mentality is control/structured.

This is a mess. You are playing a system that relies on getting the ball quickly from defense to attack, you have 4 players in attack, you can't expect the backline to carry out the balls from defense to midfield, and because your midfield is so deep, and since you have NO AMs dropping deep you can't use any passing that shortens it further.

Remove Retain possesion, shorter passing

Pass into space - Requires two things to work together concurrently, players running off the ball and great passers. I wouldn't use this shout if you are misplacing passes.

Play out of defense - You can still use this shout, but understand this, the attacking strata is very far away, your defenders need good first touch, composure, and passing too. If they don't remove it and rely on your DLP. Set your fullbacks and DCs to take less risky passes.

Much deeper defense - remove it completely, 4231 the way you have set it up...needs to be played in opponents half, if you find that your players are running back too much then maybe just drop dline one notch...Personally I wouldn't even use it.

-------

Close down much more PI, DON"T do that..only apply that to the forward line. Use the close down more shout instead.

Remove Mark tighter - You could get skinned if the player has poor marking skills.

Tackle harder - will see players over commit early if they are not good at tackling, I only set hard to my forward line so they challenge, I have seen one striker get sent off, but its only happened once in 5 seasons.

Leave central defenders to default closing down.

Instead use the shout stay on feet. Defenders should already have defaulted tackling instructions, I would simply choose stay on feet, so that other teams need to go around me, and close down more if I am using an attacking mentality, if you switch to counter mentality then remove the close down more shout since you want to control space.

thanks so much for the in-depth analysis but the truth is it doesn't matter to me what the formation is, as long as I get the desired result.

With that in mind, is there a better formation to use?

I do have a 4-4-2 trained well too. Or can go with something else.

also I don't understand what DLP stands for?

and #2. Change your CWB to a FB(S) when playing against any system thats deploying AMs, FB(A) on that flank.

How can I tell how an opponent deploys positions when they are not listed in the formation? How can I tell?

thanks

If the desired result is to play a possession based game ( everton squad easily allows this) the 442 won't help you achieve that style. For possession it's best to create triangles, so having a player in the DM and/or the AM strata helps ( you can also put them in a line and achieve the triangle by assigning different roles and duties).

The 4231 is great for possession, with the central AM as a playmaker. However you need to be carefull with both CM roles, at least one of them has to stay back and defend ( Deep playmaker on defend/CM on defend).

The 4123 ( 41221) also works well for possession, however it's more defensive. Here you have the choice of having your player in the DM strata as a deep playmaker, shielded by 2 midfielders up front or simply as a defensive player ( DM on defend/anchor etc).

Plus by using a DM ( whatever his rôle and duty is) you drastically reduce long balls coming from deep as your defenders usually have a safer and closer passing option.

442 narrow diamond could also work, but I can't help you with that, I haven't been able to make one that works

I would drop most Tis if I were you, using only 2 or 3. For possession I would start the game with just play out of D and short passing. From there you can always adjust depending on how the game develops : if you need more possession you can close down more and tacle more. If you want to defend a lead you can retain possession and slow down the tempo etc.

also I don't understand what DLP stands for?

I think he meant DLF (deep lying forward on attack duty mentioned)

Pass into space - Requires two things to work together concurrently, players running off the ball and great passers. I wouldn't use this shout if you are misplacing passes.

In a general sense, how do you attain the movement off the ball? Is this where the "off the ball" and "work rate" stats come in? Or is it player roles in the vicinity of the ball carrier, or a combination?

In a general sense, how do you attain the movement off the ball? Is this where the "off the ball" and "work rate" stats come in? Or is it player roles in the vicinity of the ball carrier, or a combination?

Primarily it is about the Roles and Duties used.

Lets start from the top, I downloaded the image and zoomed in...not entirely clear if I am seeing these rite:

Left flank: Vulnerable, biggest weakness.

Forward Line: Isolation caused from 3 players on attack duty. Shadow striker, Winger and TM(A) will hardly figure in ANY defense when ball is in your own half. The only way these guys will add to defending is if you are camped in opponents half. This can only happen if you are playing in attacking mentality. Control or any lower mentality will see your team try and hold on to possession and build play through the middle. If you are playing attacking mentality then you will exert a lot of pressure in opponents half if each of the players is set to close down much more(only forward line).

This system will buckle against good sides playing a 4231 4123 system. If at any time you are faced with a side thats playing with either attacking fullbacks or attacking AMs, your backline won't be able to recover in time.

Essentially: if you are playing control you will find it hard to defend in your own half, because 4 players won't be helping. If you are playing attacking mentality you could pressure other teams but your left flank leaves you vulnerable to counter attacks or direct passes to players who can hold up the ball.

Recommendations to shape:

1. Change SS to AM(S); TM(A), (DLF)(A) - This should give your system a bit more dynamism, the AM will act like a playmaker surging into the box late and the DLP will play like a target man but he will drop deep to link up play. I can;t understand why Kone is there, but it could work provided you get a lot of movement from the DLF and AM...If you can get the AM to learn the ppm (comes deep to get ball) it will be very good, otherwise you need to experiment trying to get him to drop deeper via a support role or changing his role entirely to one that allows that kind of movement.

2. Change your CWB to a FB(S) when playing against any system thats deploying AMs, FB(A) on that flank.

3. BWM(S) has a large closing down area, since the left side of your system is more vulnerable I would switch the DLP and BWM around, this should offer more protection on that side of the pitch.

Now to your TIs.

This is a mess. You are playing a system that relies on getting the ball quickly from defense to attack, you have 4 players in attack, you can't expect the backline to carry out the balls from defense to midfield, and because your midfield is so deep, and since you have NO AMs dropping deep you can't use any passing that shortens it further.

Remove Retain possesion, shorter passing

Pass into space - Requires two things to work together concurrently, players running off the ball and great passers. I wouldn't use this shout if you are misplacing passes.

Play out of defense - You can still use this shout, but understand this, the attacking strata is very far away, your defenders need good first touch, composure, and passing too. If they don't remove it and rely on your DLP. Set your fullbacks and DCs to take less risky passes.

Much deeper defense - remove it completely, 4231 the way you have set it up...needs to be played in opponents half, if you find that your players are running back too much then maybe just drop dline one notch...Personally I wouldn't even use it.

-------

Close down much more PI, DON"T do that..only apply that to the forward line. Use the close down more shout instead.

Remove Mark tighter - You could get skinned if the player has poor marking skills.

Tackle harder - will see players over commit early if they are not good at tackling, I only set hard to my forward line so they challenge, I have seen one striker get sent off, but its only happened once in 5 seasons.

Leave central defenders to default closing down.

Instead use the shout stay on feet. Defenders should already have defaulted tackling instructions, I would simply choose stay on feet, so that other teams need to go around me, and close down more if I am using an attacking mentality, if you switch to counter mentality then remove the close down more shout since you want to control space.

Thanks for helping me.

I read almost your entire blog trying to understand how to play this game but was still frustrated not understanding everything.

I tried to download scorpio but the new version does not reveal opposition formations.

BUT you are not going to believe what happened...

I played Chelsea in the EURO CUP semifinals and remembered that you wrote a post about beating them. It was halftime 0-0 and I was playing well defensively but the offense was non-existent. Then at halftime, I noticed that Chelsea changed their formation to the SAME EXACT FORMATION that you posted.

What happened next has to be seen to be believed.

Link: http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id...3a8e5e71d3f450

thanks

MJ

Thanks for the kind words, i think there are other skins that have those roles mapped out, you need to try them I can't remember what they are off hand cos I use the one from steam workshop and I reckon its the old one.

I had a look at your pkm, whilst it looked like a solid win, I would think of making a few changes, or start tracking them team to see if these changes are needed.

The TM set up seems to produce a lot of wasted passes. Too often I was seeing balls punted to your TM only to find him fail to control or fail to be in the right position. Its times like this you can try certain things:

1. If you were still playing a TM

- Consider getting the players to try work ball into box, this will most likely reduce crosses and increase balls played to his feet.

- Set Play less risky passes as a PI for for fullbacks

2. If you consider going with something else

You have other roles you could try, such as the DLF(S), pretty solid for tracking back and lending support or playing off the shoulder when you are playing an attacking metnality

If you can't find a skin that shows you opposite roles. Play close attention to the 2d widget for the formation. If you see the FB or attacking AMs of a 4231 or a 442 move slightly forward, its an indication they are going on a different duty. You could set upur backs to go support or change em to FB(S). Alternatively look at the 2D screen, if the backs or ams are playing further forward than they normally are then they could be changing mentalities. These are all clues you can use. Its how I used to do it in the past.

thanks, how are you able to use an old skin with the new version of the game? I thought it wouldn't work?

what was so great about that win was that at halftime it was 0-0 and I was struggling to gain any kind of offense and then I switched over to your exact specifications and destroyed the opposition in the second half. Total dominance. Against the eventual champions of the Premier league.

what I learned from this game was that the midfield is crucial in creating a bridge between defense and offense. If you can sabotage that bridge the opposition can't operate. Similarly, if you build that bridge with a solid link (DLF) you can become successful. Have I missed anything? : )

One last question for you. here is the link for the Euro cup championship, Everton versus Liverpool. again, I studied the your blog in depth, and a good thing happened. It was a classic defensive battle - the kind of game I love. I remained patient because I purposely rested my players before the game where as Liverpool had to play their starters in order to try to win the Premier league championship. That ended up being the difference in my opinion. Eventually, I was seeing that their fatigue would do them in. I went from fast tempo to highest tempo as it went on. Remaining patient was tough but from this game, I learned that patience is very important.

http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id=gd8438d16ab904c159996534845eb2aee0fcaf7b87

my question is, could I have made it easier on myself or did I do a good job with this? I started out with your tight formation, then spread the 2 wings out wide, tweaking settings as the game went on. It appears that both teams were doing counter/structured, very conservative, until the bitter end...

thanks

thanks, how are you able to use an old skin with the new version of the game? I thought it wouldn't work?

what was so great about that win was that at halftime it was 0-0 and I was struggling to gain any kind of offense and then I switched over to your exact specifications and destroyed the opposition in the second half. Total dominance. Against the eventual champions of the Premier league.

what I learned from this game was that the midfield is crucial in creating a bridge between defense and offense. If you can sabotage that bridge the opposition can't operate. Similarly, if you build that bridge with a solid link (DLF) you can become successful. Have I missed anything? : )

One last question for you. here is the link for the Euro cup championship, Everton versus Liverpool. again, I studied the your blog in depth, and a good thing happened. It was a classic defensive battle - the kind of game I love. I remained patient because I purposely rested my players before the game where as Liverpool had to play their starters in order to try to win the Premier league championship. That ended up being the difference in my opinion. Eventually, I was seeing that their fatigue would do them in. I went from fast tempo to highest tempo as it went on. Remaining patient was tough but from this game, I learned that patience is very important.

http://www.fileconvoy.com/dfl.php?id=gd8438d16ab904c159996534845eb2aee0fcaf7b87

my question is, could I have made it easier on myself or did I do a good job with this? I started out with your tight formation, then spread the 2 wings out wide, tweaking settings as the game went on. It appears that both teams were doing counter/structured, very conservative, until the bitter end...

thanks

I dunno I used the one from steam workshop it gets updated all the time and it works, alternatively you can look at my thread Bust the Net, its got a link to panels in the skins section that one can use to show the roles. I know it works with at least 3 skins. The version I have from workshop is version 1.8

And yeah you are absolutely right, if you control the midfield in most cases you will win, but you need to be able to craft out good chances for yourself. I have been a nearly man a few times with complete domination but useless finishing.

When I am up against another team thats set up with a counter attacking strategy, I study their flanks, if they have great pace I usually do a small role change on my attacking wingbacks. Against teams like this it can be a challenge to get things right, I will go in attacking, keep my system narrow so I can pass the ball around well, and since I am playing my favoured 4312 I know that my fullbacks will support when the ball is in their half. By making them fullbacks they get to have a deeper point when they track back compared to complete WBs, I have gone into matches attacking high tempo, get the goal, hop back to counter, remove close down more, observe if they attack me. If they don't do obvious role changes, I return to attacking, press more, high tempo, but always, always pay attention to my weakest point, which is my flanks.

There is nothing wrong with your approach, you decided to be patient, and ground out a result, which to be honest has a slightly better chance of doing well, it takes more guts for viewing though. You did the right thing in terms of wearing them down. Nothing wrong with the approach.

Overall though just looking at the match now, I liked how your team handled the match. On the whole you look like you have things sorted pretty well. Well done :-) You can take more chances when you get home advantage even on neutral ground, but this will be something you learn from experience. Good work

thanks man, consider this a testimonial for you. : )