Fresh Start

Please ignore this first post. I feel I need to start again. I'll explain in detail on what I hope to do and hopefully this forum can help me improve as I know it is me, not the game.

So here goes at take 2, I felt my earlier choice of Arsenal was actually a bad one, as I made myself expect more from what maybe my ability provides.

I'm thinking my best option instead is to look at a mid table side. Someone who hopefully shouldn't be in a relegation scrap but isn't expected to achieve too much. West Ham could be my primary option, if not I'm thinking the likes of Swansea, Southampton, Stoke, Everton or maybe even Crystal Palace.

As I said I'm not yet fully decided on this but the reasoning behind going for a table not expected to be at the top or bottom is because hopefully, I shouldn't start expecting myself to beat most teams and getting down hearted if I do not succeed. Which based on my confidence with the game at the moment is highly likely.

First of all, a low down on what I'm hoping to do once the team is picked.

Analyse my squad to choose a suitable formation firstly, then once I have the formation at a level I am happy with, I will opt for looking at the players best roles and seeing how I can piece these together into the right roles to fit them and the formation. Then for the style of play, this part I'm thinking of going for the ratings of the squad in comparison to the whole league and the players ratings to help me decide on the playing style. I'm not going to limit myself just yet to make that decision.

Once I've settled on the this side I will go to set up my set pieces. I might look to a thread I saw on here earlier of holding my shape from set plays as well. Although I may do it slightly differently as I feel if you can get your set pieces right, then you can almost guarantee yourself the odd goal.

Then the next steps will be to watch each match, in full and try to analyse these as best as I can. Starting with the friendlies, this I'm thinking of not changing anything for the whole of the friendlies, unless a sub is a player I feel has to fit the formation with a different role, if I do this then that change will happen every time.

Each update I follow from here will be with updates on each step and trying to track my progress.

Before each game I'll note what I'm looking at and how I see the players performing to each role.

Hopefully this thread can become one that is firstly useful for myself and bringing back my confidence in this game. Also it might hopefully help others by seeing what advice I am hopefully given by others and if not it should hopefully just be a good read.

If anyone could recommend the right team to opt for in this process that would be great, I think knowing both West Ham and Southampton have Europa rather than friendlies is slightly putting me off, as I'm not sure how this could effect my tactic building.

Personally would pick Everton out of that bunch. They have some great youth prospects, and great young first-teamers like Stones and Barkley. Granted they'll probably ask to leave if you don't hit the ground running, but if you end up selling the likes of Lukaku you'll make loads of money anyway, so it's win-win. That's just my two cents though, I think they have a great starting squad to work with.

Personally would pick Everton out of that bunch. They have some great youth prospects, and great young first-teamers like Stones and Barkley. Granted they'll probably ask to leave if you don't hit the ground running, but if you end up selling the likes of Lukaku you'll make loads of money anyway, so it's win-win. That's just my two cents though, I think they have a great starting squad to work with.

It's a good enough selling point for me if I'm honest! Also am I right in thinking they aren't in Europe which means a proper pre-season?

Like you said as well, a good starting squad, means, should I get things right then, I never know where I could push to. I might go with them on this alone as it's a promising place to start with.

As recommended by Orikoru, I have opted to go for Everton. I can't say I know the club well, other than really knowing some of their players.

Firstly I'm going to go straight to the squad to look at what I have at my disposal.

Firstly I have 4 CB's, however I know Galloway is fairly young so I'm not certain I would be starting him yet, while I know Jagielka and Stones are very decent while Stones could improve further and Mori I know of, but again I don't know much about them, I like to have decent back up for each position so this makes me feel I'm much more suited to have 2 Cb's rather than considering 3 as I don't have the back up required.

In the full back's I know they are all fairly comfortable already from a quick glance that they could play there or in a wing back position further ahead, but a lack of CB's means I'm much more likely to stick to the usual back four. So I have my defence idea already there.

Moving onto midfield, there's a fair few DM's who are also comfortable at CM too. Again slightly hampered by injury which leaves me with the only two fit being Barry and McCarthy, so I could opt for the one DM or potentially use them in the CM position on a defend duty. Both players look good at playing the Anchor role if in DM, while McCarthy also looks like he would make a decent DM, however Barry's acceleration could mean if I want to rotate them, Anchor could be the best role as the static nature of the role means his acceleration shouldn't matter too much. Further ahead of them I have plenty of attacking options despite the injuries although it does hurt me out wide slightly, as I only have Mirallas and Lennon the two outright wide players, although Barkley can play there and so can Kone although it isn't a preferred position for all of them and also I know my RB's and Oviedo can also play in the MR/ML positions. So again this could edge me towards a 4141 formation based on what I can see.

Lastly up front I know Lukaku very well, being a West Ham I see him score against us every game and I know he has a bit of everything, he is strong, quick and one heck of a finisher. Someone I really want to get firing on all cylinders.

Okay, so from my initial analysis at the start I think I had decided on more of a 4141 formation as I felt it was the best covered formation for the players I had.

Without really checking the players completely I started to build it and have so far got this far in my building of the tactic

The defence is pretty self explanatory and very much kept as simple as possible sticking to the usual CD/D in the middle, a FB/S on the right, this is due to me seeing Lennon being better suited in RM and I fully expect him to provide the width in the attacking third here, he doesn't need Coleman bursting beyond him. While on the left I've opted for FB/A, this is because on the left I'm going to have to use Mirallas in front of him which I will explain in more detail later in the post. All in all though I feel this is a pretty normal back four.

Ahead I've opted for McCarthy to start in the Anchor role. I like my DM to stay in front of the back four at all times, I know McCarthy could also play as a DM role but I feel for my base, I'd much rather a player who will stay where he is and only protect. However in games where teams are sitting back in numbers against me, I could opt for a DM role to utilise the ball a lot better if I can.

On left midfield I've got Mirallas as WM/S - I want him to be like an IF and become a goal threat so I've used this role to tweak as best as I can. This is mostly due to not having another option out here really due to injuries. So I've added the PI's Get Further Forward and Cut Inside. I am trying here to encourage him to get into the box and become a goal threat but starting from a wider position and with him on the left he should like to cut inside to his favoured right foot. I've left off other IF PI's such as dribble more and cross less often for a couple of reasons. Cross less I've left off as I know Mirallas can cross so I don't really want to try and stop him doing this if he feels it could be the right option, while dribble more is off because he has a PPM of runs with ball often, which would make him want to do this any way and I don't really want to encourage running with the ball more than I have to as I like the ball to do the work.

On the right I've slotted Lennon in, I've left him as W/S at the moment, but I may try tweaking the WM role instead as I know W role comes with dribble more, runs wide, stay wide and cross more. Most of them I'm happy with except maybe dribble more as like I said before, I like to see the ball do the work. I want him to get up the line and cross for Lukaku and hopefully Mirallas at least.

As you can see however I've left the CM positions blank and the ST position blank. This is so I can do more analysis to fully decide on what I want the plays to do.

So far without thinking about mentality, team shape and TI's. I suppose this is what I want from my players.

GK - the usual normal goalkeeper job to be the last line of defence.

LB - with the ball get forward and overlap the LM, get crosses into the box, but also defend smartly.

CB's - stay back and be a protective wall.

RB - with the ball support the RM and be an option backwards, provide crosses from deeper too.

LM - cut inside and get into the box and be a goal threat.

RM - stay out wide, cross for the players in the box.

When I think about the rest of the team I feel like it would be good to have someone dictating play in the middle, someone for the defensive players to look to push the team into attack and provide the balls to the runners like the RM/LB out wide or the LM/ST ahead. However with the players I have fit, it is making me consider my options. Barkley, Osman, Barry are free I haven't slotted into this position, while I could move Barry back and use McCarthy in the middle. This is my thoughts with them. Firstly Osman, he looks like the sort of player worth getting into the box, a CM/A or B2B are the only 2 which say they will make late runs into the box, Barkley could do the same as well but he also can play a pretty solid role as a playmaker of sorts. While Barry is much more of a CM/D DLP type player in that if he was dictating play, he would be more comfortable deeper. While McCarthy looks more of a CM/D/S or BWM type player. It is already giving me some trouble. If I have Osman/Barkley as a CM/A then maybe Barry would be a good option to sit a bit deeper to dictate the play, yet if had the choices of Barkley/Osman and McCarthy then I'd either have to change from the CM/A to get my playmaker in there but it almost feels a little negative from the middle as the would be no one getting into the box as the AP I much more expect to be sitting on the edge of the area. However if I used Osman and Barkley maybe I could use an AP and CM/A yet again this could leave the middle slightly exposed for counters and give my Anchor a bit more work.

This is all coming in before I have even thought about my ST.

So the more I thought about this I decided to settle on the following for now. Although this may be something I tweak depending on players available

As you can see, my CM pairings are currently an AP/S on the left and CM/A on the right. I've opted for CM/A on the right as I don't want his late surges into the box to block the space I would hope Mirallas will also be running into. Although this does make me have a worry about Lennon's targets to cross for. However I may try to get him to target Lukaku with his crosses if possible. Meaning he has Mirallas behind and Osman in front running in.

If I am forced to play Barry then I may switch Barkley to the CM/A and use a DLP/S rather than an AP/S, I expect them to do a similar job, albeit the DLP hopefully just from a deeper position. This could also be useful when playing teams who may be pinning me back in theory as the AP I imagine is more likely to try to play most of his game in the oppositions half compared to the DLP who will start more deep and look to bring the ball forward. It could also give me the option of using a DLP/AP CM pairing if I need more composure in the middle with Barry and Barkley, not something I normally do however.

Lukaku has come in as an AF, I am slightly torn on this and I could have opted for a CF/A as well, I want Lukaku to be the main man for goals, I want him in the box and I would like him to sometimes lay the ball off to others too, but primarily I want him in the box, however if he does move into the channels. I hope Mirallas/Osman run into the space left available.

I haven't added any TI's yet, I've noticed from the team comparisons however that we are the worst team in the league for strength overall and in defence, this is a little bit of a worry I suppose. However this only encourages my thoughts of pass and move, as I imagine my players are less likely to brush opposition players off the ball. I'm not sure however this would effect how I play as a whole, also in defence we are lacking in jumping reach and heading, so ideally I don't want to encourage teams to go high. The only other thing I noticed from here as a big spot was in midfield we are the worst for stamina, which is making me think some form of pressing game could be a bad idea as I don't want the midfield running themselves into the ground before games are over as I think the midfield is the big part of this team and formation and I need them healthy.

Looking at the good, we have good pace in defence. Good tackling and technique in midfield and in attack very good long shots, however I don't like to encourage long shots too much.

I'll keep the shape as Flexible for now, although this could change to structured. I've always had the view of I want players to primarily do their job but leave some room for them to do a bit more or use their imagination to make something happen. In regards to mentality, at the moment, again I think I will leave this as Standard as I'm not sure I want to sit back and counter considering my defences poor strength, but I wouldn't want to attack too much and leave them with too much to do.

TI's I might again leave blank to partner with these thoughts above then decide on them after a few friendlies once the tactic has been seen in action to make them play a little more how I feel.

I'm going to play the next few friendlies with only making substitutions but making notes of anything I see that could be wrong and compare from game to game to see if they are apparent.

Okay, so the first game was against the U21's primarily for fitness reasons and to get an early game in to get the players at least trying the tactic. Overall the tactic opened a few questions for me. The first was the striker being isolated, it only really happened when they moved the ball forward directly from back to front quickly, but that is something a player like Lukaku can offer you an opportunity to do, but the players need to be quick to catch up to him, which didn't happen.

Now I feel part of this could be down to the role Lukaku has, an AF asks him to push at the defence, which is what I want, but as a result it leaves a big gap from midfield to striker, something I was hoping would be plugged by Mirallas having get further forward and Osman being a CM/A, however they were not there when needed too often at times, especially when Lukaku had moved into the channels, something I feel should not happen to often. I thought of a couple of things that could fix it but I'm not certain either are ideal. A change of role could be one option, to a CF/S or maybe even a DLF/S/A as I know these roles and duties should encourage some play of the player dropping deeper. However I still want him to be my main goal threat so that could rule out a DLF/S. Could anyone help with this one area? I've almost always struggled with strikers in this game!

I don't want to make any changes before playing more games if I can avoid it, however I feel this isolation is something that happened so frequently and caused long shots or Lukaku crossing before a player arrived, that it could be the one major fix.

The next issues I felt were my team, all too often turning and running at the opposition when they could have made a simple pass the way they were facing to keep the ball. Retain possession springs to mind, but again something I want to watch a little more before thinking it happened a lot, as players like Lennon on a W/S role would be more likely to run at players.

The only other thing that I found was a glaring issue potentially was missed crosses. I feel a cross aim for would probably be the best addition to this and something I could also implement instantly.

I really like the complete forward role, it's definitely worth a try when you have a player that can do it.

Complete Forward on Support still gets goals. I always start an England save to see how I do with them and Harry Kane is very productive with that role.

Thanks guys, well I might look at the CF role to see if I get a sort of mix between the AF/DLF that I want as I want them to drop to plug that isolation but I want them to lead the line as well, so maybe just maybe that is the role will we plug it as it does say they possess a bit of everything and I feel Lukaku has a very good skill set to do it, although his passing isn't brilliant, but I don't expect it too often I guess!

This is unlike me to post half way through a match but I'm in my second friendly. First of all I'd like to comment on the CF/S and fingers crossed it looks to have done the trick. He is much less isolated in that he drops deep but when he lays the ball off he will push back up into the furthest forward position which seems much more like I wanted. So this looks to be the right trick.

However at half time I've noticed 2 really bad stats. Firstly, shots off target. There is way too many.

Here is a screenshot of the missed ones at half time.

Now most of these don't look too bad areas to have a shot from, apart from maybe the one from ridiculously far out which was blocked. So this may hopefully be something that improves as the tactic is familiarised, however I might have to keep an eye on this as to why so many are missing the target.

The next stat is another that I feel is happening fairly frequently. Crosses not hitting the desired target.

Here is another screenshot for this.

Again I feel like they are getting in the right areas but just not finding their man. The majority are from Lennon on the right and Oviedo from the left. Would I be of a benefit using some instructions here? I'm just not sure what is best, I know Lukaku is big but he is good with his feet too, which makes me unsure what to do. Should I be watching Lukaku more when these crosses happen and see where he is situated and instruct Oviedo and Lennon to aim it in the space he seems to take up when either have the ball. Or should I be floating/whipping the crosses?

EDIT: Decided to add to this as I watched the rest of the game play out. I felt the CF/S almost every time was in the centre around the penalty spot 9 times out of 10 when a cross was due to be delivered, however sometimes he may not have been there, he might have been a little deeper from the edge of the area or at the far post (mostly when they came from the right), so I'm thinking, tell these players to target the centre, however to float their crosses. In my head this means it should give the CF/S a bit more time to get to the ball if he isn't quite in position and it could also mean it gives time for the ML and CM/A to get into the box also for any knock downs.

Am I thinking logically here?

I think crossing is difficult to set up but once you've got it then it's such a good weapon (especially with the likes of Lukaku). It's a tough one but watching what happens will definitely help you. Aiming at the centre is a good idea. I might be wrong here (so someone please correct me if I am) but a Complete Forward seems to act much like a Target Man. On my England save with Kane, a lot of more direct passes are played into him which makes me think this may be the case, so you could potentially aim your crosses at Target Man (but wait till what I said has been confirmed maybe). I like Whipped Crosses personally because they can still come into the strikers head but I totally get your logic. Floating them may give him the opportunity to attack it. Not entirely sure how the ME works in that situation but it would certainly make sense. The fact that Lukaku is good with his feet as well though would make me want to avoid exclusively floating crosses.

I think crossing is difficult to set up but once you've got it then it's such a good weapon (especially with the likes of Lukaku). It's a tough one but watching what happens will definitely help you. Aiming at the centre is a good idea. I might be wrong here (so someone please correct me if I am) but a Complete Forward seems to act much like a Target Man. On my England save with Kane, a lot of more direct passes are played into him which makes me think this may be the case, so you could potentially aim your crosses at Target Man (but wait till what I said has been confirmed maybe). I like Whipped Crosses personally because they can still come into the strikers head but I totally get your logic. Floating them may give him the opportunity to attack it. Not entirely sure how the ME works in that situation but it would certainly make sense. The fact that Lukaku is good with his feet as well though would make me want to avoid exclusively floating crosses.

I will wait in regards to crossing to Target Man as I thought that would need the ST to be set as TM in that way. I think the reasoning behind floating is I think it should in theory give me more people into the box when Lukaku does attack it meaning it could also be harder for them to clear. Yet at the same time like you said, Lukaku is good with his feet so I wouldn't mind as long as they reached him, so it could be more where the cross is going more than how the cross is delivered.

If I was avoiding crosses then I'd be less concerned with where they go, but I fully expect it to happen often from the LB/MR/RB players so feel I need to get it right, otherwise I could see a lot of the ball wasted.

I have thought about how to expand on my tactic, but I'm holding out considering these until I feel the base of the tactic is set correctly, which I do think it is nearly there with the crossing and shots missing the target being the only two stand out issues I can think of.