My take on Tactics

[meyer]

I have decided to write this for those struggling to play the game and also for myself to understand the game better. Some times it helps just to write things down.

I have played this game since CM94 and every year since but i am by no means a great as i always look on the forums for ideas and help.

This isn't about providing you with a tactic and away you go. This is just my insight into the game how i go about setting up my tactics.

Firstly i don't think the game should be played with a super tactic. If your playing this game its because of its realism. I doubt any manager tells his players, 'same as last week boys'. Each team and game is different and should be approached in such a manner. And thats where team talks, press conferences, team reports, match odds, weather, OI and touch line shouts come in.

So where to start once you loaded your game.

First things first, decide on a formation based on the players in your squad. Trying to play a formation with players not in there preferred positions will not work. If you are set on using your favorite formation then you will have to buy and sell wisely to have the squad to suit it.(unless your Man City) There are some great players to be had on loan with future fees if you dont have much to spend.(Salvio is one example)

OK, so your on the tactic screen with your selected formation.

Team Instructions need to addressed. So what philosophy will suit your team?

Each philosophy has an explanation so read it through. The last sentence of each is the most important.

Now if you Barcelona you can go with very fluid for the obvious reason that they have great players. It states " The team will be encouraged to play free flowing football with players allowed high levels of creative freedom".

Makes sense that a team like Scunthorpe will not work with this philosophy.

For me i dont change this unless my personnel changes, so when you find the philosophy that works stick with it.

TIP: Know what your team can do.

Starting Strategy will dictate your Defensive Line, Width, Tempo and Time Wasting.

As you play the game you will get more detailed info from the Backroom Staff on how to counter the opposition and you can fiddle with the Starting Strategy to suit the advice.

For example if i'm told Man Utd struggle against teams who play with a high line and normal tempo i will play a Standard philosophy. This will give me a 10 for all 4 Specific Instructions.(Usually a good place to start anyway) Close enough.

But i want a higher line. Playing Style will fine tune what i want. By changing 'Closing Down' to 'Press More' my 'Defensive Line' moves up a couple of notches.

'Passing Style' will change 'Width' and 'Tempo'. The weather will effect your Passing Style also. Wet weather needs more direct passing.

Tackling will depend on the Ref and your players aggression.

Marking i always leave default

Crossing will change your Wingers and Full Backs 'Cross Aim'. Weather conditions may effect this setting but i'm unsure. If you have a height advantage then float crosses and vice versa.

Roaming seems to only affect wingers. (Useful on a narrow and short pitch)

The scouting report will also offer you lots of info, most importantly pitch length. A short pitch will cause lots of congestion in the middle so i click more roaming and more expressive creative freedom.

Longer and Wider pitches more direct passing less roaming as there is alot of space already

Spend some time getting this right. Finding the right balance between the advice, pitch length and the weather will get you results

The Focus Passing, Counter Attack and Offside change with Match Shouts so i dont fiddle with these.

Playmaker and Target Man are obvious choices, but Target Man Supply can be tricky.

This can depend on the player and the pitch length.

Player attributes will determine your target man capabilities. Also look at his preferred moves.

A longer pitch will leave space behind so 'Run Onto Ball' can be effective for fast strikers. A shorter pitch 'To Feet' to keep possession.

Set Pieces are upto you. Personally i like corners set to Penalty Area, but Free Kicks and Throw Ins are dependent on your players strengths. Stoke will have long throws because of Delap for example.

Player Instructions have been made easy. By high-lighting the key attributes for a given 'Role' and 'Duty', the guess work is taken out.

But its not all that simple, because you cant have to ball winning midfielders or two target men etc. Your team needs to be balanced. For example the midfield will need a playmaker and a ball winner, or forwards need a poacher and a target man.

Picking the player with best attributes for each position is really important. Take some time to go through roles and duties for all your players and see what best suits them.

(Having Masherano set to 'Ball Winner' and Lucas set to 'Deep Lying Playmaker' has seen the later with: Apps-14-Gls-2-Asts-10-Av R-7.34 even though thats not his favoured Role)

Prozone has come up with a squad analysis tool that may help.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=175696

Preferred Moves need to be taken into account as you may want to manually adjust some specific instructions.

'Wide Play' is one of the Specific Instructions I adjust. I have players that like to cut inside, but i will also have my Fullback 'Hugging The Touchline' to stretch there defense.

As for Set Pieces i only adjust attacking corners. Since 10.2 its harder to score but this set up usually see's one of my players getting on the end of it. In-swinging corners seem to work best.

Fullbacks set to 'Back'

Most aggressive Centre Back to 'Keeper'

Best header Centre Back to 'Flick'

Defensive Midfielder to 'Back'

Midfielder to 'Lurk'

Best header Striker to 'Near'

Other Striker or Attacking Midfielder to 'Fwd'

Best header Winger to 'Deep'

Winger to 'Fwd'

If your chasing a game or getting loads of corners bring a player thats set to 'back' to 'At Far'

So that pretty much covers the tactics for now. But once we get to match day i like to tweak to get the best results.

Match Day

Press Conferences are pain but it can help with morale so be careful how you answer and take note of the results.

Checking the match odds will determine your team talk and take note of the weather on the match preview screen.

Pick your team and adjust your tactics based on the info from the Backroom and Team Report.

The OI are important and you should target there players. Go through each one and look for a weakness.

An example, aggressive defenders can be targeted for penalties, so set tackling to 'Easy' for these players.

Be careful when asking the assistant, he seems to set everyone to tackle 'Hard'.

There are lots of threads on this so go check them out.

Team Talks are VERY IMPORTANT. The match odds will give you the best indication on what to say.

This guide by Wolfsong is an essential read.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=5494&highlight=team+talk

From my experience saying nothing works well for Half Time and Full Time Team Talks if you win games that you expect to win comfortably. This can help with over confidence especially if you on a good run.

As for Touchline Shouts i have been using wwfan guide to great effect.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=171637&highlight=shouting+strategies

Be aware that these shouts will change your tactics so go check out the changes.

This approach to the game has seen very positive results for my LFC team. With 10.1 I won the League Cup double in my first season.

10.2 is harder and better, but i am still doing well. 11 games in with 8 wins and 3 draws, scoring 27 and conceding 6. Only Chelsea have done better.

Hope this helps

Good luck

YNWA

[meyer]

i see a few people have read this but i would welcome some feedback. if i missed anything or your own observations may improve this.

[polat_dgn]

What formation and tactics do you suggest for Valencia considering their current players? i am struggling to find a good tactics for them..

[meyer]

What formation and tactics do you suggest for Valencia considering their current players? i am struggling to find a good tactics for them..

a good way to see what formation may suit the squad is looking at the previous managers preferred formations. i'm taking a look at them now and will get back to you

[meyer]

it looks like a 4-2-3-1 would work. silva behind villa and mata on the left. looks to be an aging squad so some young blood will help. get salvio for the right wing.

[polat_dgn]

it looks like a 4-2-3-1 would work. silva behind villa and mata on the left. looks to be an aging squad so some young blood will help. get salvio for the right wing.

Why? there is already Pablo Hernandez and i can use Joaquin as back up. i also think that 4-2-3-1 is the best formation for them but the problem is i just cant find the best set up for the team like passing style, pressing style, strategy or philosophy..

[meyer]

i think most spanish sides are set up for this formation or a variation of it. as for a a philosphy start fluid, there is enough quality in the side to play this way. then the best thing to do is just start with a standard strategy. this works for me in away games. games your favourite for use control and clear foavouites use attacking.

setting the player roles is the hard part because it requires some trail and error to see what works best.

set your 2 CM to deep lying play maker and ball winner. this seems to work well.

keep your back 4 simple and play around with duties to see which attributes are highlighted

salvio is 1 of the best in the game and can be had on loan with a 3.5M buy on clause. could be a good way to free up some money by selling on a player or 2

[vril]

All you are saying is so obvious, that is not true. You can copy manual but there is no any clue how to do what I want.

[meyer]

All you are saying is so obvious, that is not true. You can copy manual but there is no any clue how to do what I want.

so what is it you want to do?

[Magaca]

This thread didn't get enough love!

Nice guide!

[meyer]

This thread didn't get enough love!

Nice guide!

thanks mate