Fm2013

It is something that has been happening in FM2013 all the 23 seasons I was managing various teams, in various leagues, no matter what the formation, tactics or players roles etc.

This is why I am not posting that in the Tactics forum.

It just looks like I have THE tactic that works really well for 2/3 of the season and all of a sudden, cannot even draw with the last team in the League, at home!

1. By the end of season, even by the last third, my team(s) seems to forget how to play football and perform between 5.50 to 6.00 AR, especially the defence.

2. I am developing a specific tactic till it starts working well up to the first 2/3 of the season and suddenly, it looks like my whole team is deteriorating. No matter what the weather conditions, the pitch's size, the opponent strength, the pre-match training, nothing! I am just loosing in 100% of the games, home or away!

3. I had the 5th best defence in Budesligua till about the 22th match day (out of 3 match days). Not only I constantly loose, but I suddenly concede 3-4 goals/match and none of my 12 defenders seem to remember how to play.

I find that this might be a FM2013 bug maybe?

I know that all teams have their ups and downs, but it looks like there is no "UP" for my team, after the first "DOWN".

PS: When the deterioration starts, I usually start fining players. It usually works well for me and I would actually like to have the option to fine them for more than 2 weeks.

PS: When the deterioration starts, I usually start fining players. It usually works well for me and I would actually like to have the option to fine them for more than 2 weeks.

I'm sorry, but I have to stop you there. PFA guidelines say that you cannot fine a player more than two weeks' wages. In real life, Manchester City had to halve a four-week wage fine to Carlos Tevez because of the PFA's objections.

I still play FM13 and I don't have the consistent late-season slumps you seem to be having. Often when my team hits a rough patch, I set my squad's general training focus to Team Cohesion. That helps me out a little bit, but I should stress that there is no 'one size fits all' approach that will work with every FMer who has a bad run of form.

After using the same tactic for 2/3rd's of the season, do you not think you are a one trick pony that other teams have started sussing out?

I'm sorry, but I have to stop you there. PFA guidelines say that you cannot fine a player more than two weeks' wages. In real life, Manchester City had to halve a four-week wage fine to Carlos Tevez because of the PFA's objections.

I still play FM13 and I don't have the consistent late-season slumps you seem to be having. Often when my team hits a rough patch, I set my squad's general training focus to Team Cohesion. That helps me out a little bit, but I should stress that there is no 'one size fits all' approach that will work with every FMer who has a bad run of form.

I don't disagree, but it seems that most of teams, especially the one I am playing with now (I shall try the team cohesion you said).

I am looking to change tactics too.

What I cannot work out is, how on earth, especially my FBs and my wingers started playing under 6.00 AR every game and I mean ALL of them!

I am not talking about a single player or two who might have a bad day! Each single player I have used the past few matches for FBs or wings, is horrificly under-performing.

I do have a few first team players injured or suspended as you can see, but it's happened over the past 3-4 weeks, so not an excuse.

I have studied the highlights of the matches I got battered (see pic below after Dordmund game) and it's always the centre of the pitch, where either they look like walking in my area and have 50-60% of shots in, or my FBs loose their mark (why for 20ish matches they weren't?) and I concede from headers, although all my DCs are 1.90m to 2.02m tall.

After using the same tactic for 2/3rd's of the season, do you not think you are a one trick pony that other teams have started sussing out?

Don't know!

What do you think?

Am-I supposed to change tactics every 15 matches or something?

It's difficult to pinpoint what's going wrong without seeing your tactic(s). For example, are your full-backs playing on attack duties and possibly leaving you exposed against quick wingers? What roles/duties do your centre-backs have? Of course, it helps if your CBs are tall, but Heading, Positioning, Jumping and Strength hold more importance to me, not to mention Composure and Concentration.

Also, I'd have at least two - ideally three - separate tactics available to me. Different opponents require different approaches - it's all about using your strengths and capitalising on their weaknesses. You wouldn't really use the exact same tactic at Bayern as you would when you're playing Nurnberg at home, would you?

Looking at the number of injuries your Hoffenheim squad seems to have currently, are you pushing your players too hard in training? Usually, I don't set training intensity higher than Average in weeks where I've more than one game. In weeks where I have one game, Heavy is about as far as I usually go.

After using the same tactic for 2/3rd's of the season, do you not think you are a one trick pony that other teams have started sussing out?

Don't know!

What do you think?

Am-I supposed to change tactics every 15 matches or something?

It's difficult to pinpoint what's going wrong without seeing your tactic(s). For example, are your full-backs playing on attack duties and possibly leaving you exposed against quick wingers? What roles/duties do your centre-backs have? Of course, it helps if your CBs are tall, but Heading, Positioning, Jumping and Strength hold more importance to me, not to mention Composure and Concentration.

Also, I'd have at least two - ideally three - separate tactics available to me. Different opponents require different approaches - it's all about using your strengths and capitalising on their weaknesses. You wouldn't really use the exact same tactic at Bayern as you would when you're playing Nurnberg at home, would you?

Looking at the number of injuries your Hoffenheim squad seems to have currently, are you pushing your players too hard in training? Usually, I don't set training intensity higher than Average in weeks where I've more than one game. In weeks where I have one game, Heavy is about as far as I usually go.

I stick to the same tactics, as it never worked for me to change tactics per match.

I always use different shouts though, depending of the opponent. Using same tactics got me wins against Bayern, Dormund & Shalke as well as humiliating losses.

I have never seen any AI manager changing tactics. They always play the same one, with any team they take over.

I don't think that my issue is entirely tactical, as I said, they always seem to be working quite well or nearly perfectly for most of the season and then a sudden abrupt drop!

Having the 5th best attack and defence for 2/3 of the season in Budesligua, with an average team (Hoffenheim) wasn't to bad.

Some of my center backs do have lower composure but I only use them as limited defenders, most of them have strength 15/20 or over.

Training-wise, intensity is always high in the week and very high pre-season the first 2 weeks and all my players U-20s are set on heavy individual training! No pain, no gain!!!

Actually, I think I have lost more points from Nurberg than Bayern!

I have never understood what the weekly training does anyway!

I always put it on balanced and leave it through the whole season.

What I find is that limited defenders will just try to clear the ball out of harm's way instead of being sensible and playing it short. If you generally play direct, that's not too bad. If you want to play more controlled football, that is counter-productive; you will need proper central defenders who have the composure and concentration needed to keep the ball in your possession.

Do you always have wingers on attack duties? Even when your opponents defend with a deep line or have quick full-backs? Is it any wonder, then, that they get such low ratings?

Getting away from what may be going wrong tactically, maybe you should reduce the training intensity a little bit. Unless your players have exceptional Natural Fitness and Stamina, having a high training workload week in week out will undoubtedly take its toll on them in the final third of the season.

An LD is definitely doing just the basics, but I tried the combination of 1 LD/def with a CD/def and it seems to work fine.

In some leagues, having a CD/stopper also worked well, but in more competitive leagues, found that when the Stopper decided to chase his opponent, it had dramatic consequences by leaving the LD/def on his own at the back.

I will have to get rid half of my centre backs and get new ones, if I decide to play with 2 CDs. It is something I will consider at the end of the season though.

The winger s always on support duty but attacking mentality (PI) and the 1 IF both attacking. I have never put them on defensive mentality in PI and this is something I might have to try.

Going back to tactics changes, I found that changing tactics never worked, but changing PIs and shouts during a match, can make a great difference.

For example, I had tried to start a match against Dordmund or Bayern with a 3-4-2-1 counter-attack tactic and they battered me in possession and crosses until, sometime around the 15th minute, they scored.

Going opened to wide I also paid a nasty price!

Sometmes, pushing uo, playing narrower and get ball fwd works well against strong teams who like pushing your team.

Do you find that playing anything else than attacking, you struggle to score?

Whenever I used balanced and standard way to play, I would score one goal per 2 matches or so.

Then, playing fast and attacking doesn't always end in glory but if we don't score, we will never win.

I find the opposite is true. I'm having more success with regards to scoring goals and having a solid defence on Standard than Attacking. I usually only switch to Attacking when chasing a game or when we're at home against a weaker team vulnerable to direct attacks.

Do you ever use overload?

I used against Bayern, with counter attack and I only conceded 3 goals (1-3)

Just created a new tactic now, balnced & standard and see how it goes. This bad run though cost me the Euro Cup position.

In the last 8 matches, I had W/D/L=2/0/6 and goals F/A=13/23