Rule of One Tactic Sets - and how to implement them to perfection!

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by RedBlueEagle:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by simsejensen:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Individual Closing Down: In our 14-20 tactic the individual settings are as follows - FC 20, Wingers 19, MCd 18, MCa 17, FB 14, DC12, GK 4. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Okay, but what about the rest of the tactics!? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If I understoood correctly the 13-19 tactic would be - FC 19, Wingers 18, MCd 17, MCa 16, FB 14, DC 12, GK 3 and so on through the tactics but the FCs are never less than 15. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're right, except for the defenders. Full Backs always close down to 3 behind your MCatt. and Centre Backs always close down to 5 behind your the MCatt. So in the 13-19 tactic the settings would be FB 13, DC 11, GK 4. My Goalies always close down to 4 with the exception that they never close down higher than your Centre Halves. As you build your set you will eventually reach the point where your Centre Backs' closing down hits 3, so you in turn set your Goalie's at 3. Eventually it becomes 1.

I have tried to make the instructions as simple as possible. Essentially you're just dropping everyone's closing down by 1 within each tactic - with the exception of your strikers and keeper who have unique rules which reflect their positioning on the pitch. It's just basic adding and subtracting really. All these closing down settings use the MCa as their keystone. His closing down is the team's closing down setting, which is the same as the defensive line, one of the first things you set up when you build each tactic.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by swash:

Can't really add much to Googen's instructions.

Found I was doing better away than at home though.

I still think this might be down to the lack of width at home although Googen finds it works fine for him. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You could be on to something there but I'm not sure if it has to do with width. At home in the Eredivisie I typically find that I outshoot the opposition something like 14 SoT to 3, yet usually I only end up winning by 1-0 scoreline or sometimes I'm held to a very frustrating draw. Now, I'm not complaining about the three points but sometimes the scoreline doesn't reflect my team's dominance.

I'm still not convinced that it's a lack of width though. If you have wingers set to run with ball you will find that a lot of your attacks come from out wide anyway. This is despite the fact that I have passing set to 'Through the middle' on any tactics where my width reads as narrow on the Team Instructions screen.

There could be two reasons as to why you're less successful at home -

a) 4-4-2 Counter Attacking: At home starting with my base tactic (14-20 at the moment), I find that if I go a goal up the AI manager always switches to a 'counter-attacking variant', or alternatively, the 5-4-1 formation. I'm faveourite to win most games so it's almost like they are opting for damage limitation after conceding the first goal. The 4-4-2 CA isn't easy to break down and it took me a while to figure out how to counter it. I suppose this is realistic in the sense that small teams do go to places like stamford bridge and "park the bus in front of goal", (to use a mourinho-ism). The developers have obviously programmed this trait into the game.

Say for example that I go one-nil up at home - I immediately go to drop a tactic as I would normally but, keeping an eye on the formation's screen, I see that the AI has gone to 4-4-2 Counter Attacking. So, instead I drop two tactics and move from the 14-20 range to the 12-18 range. I also instruct my Centre Halves to manmark their opposing strikers. The instructions for dealing with the two 4-5-1 formations are outlined in my original post.

b) Counter-Attacking shouldn't be ticked at home: I'm beginning to question the effectiveness of having the counter-attacking instruction enabled at home, (in any of the narrower formations). While my team excell at winning the ball back and closing down well, sometimes the ensuing passes look rushed and unnecessarily hasty. This could be because of the Counter Attacking box being ticked. It makes sense that it's effective in wider formations with a deeper defensive line. I'm about to enter season 2012/13 and I will be switching counter-attacking off in my 5 'home' formations. I won't be able to comment on the results for a couple of days unfortunately. I know that I'm contradicting myself r.e. my earlier statements about CA but I'm a perfectionist so I'll keep investigating.

[kolobok]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Found I was doing better away than at home though.

I still think this might be down to the lack of width at home although Googen finds it works fine for him. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It could also be due to specific of your team. Your players may adapt to relatively more defensive - less closing down tactic better. Another thing - if AI teams stay very defensive when playing at your stadium, it's more difficult to break them down. I would try to use another tactic at home, similar to one you are using though (i.e. instead of 13-19 switch to 12-18 or 11-17). The aim is to draw AI from their half. As for width - if you play short and slow, a wide setup may cause your team to lose ball more often, though it can help to break down tough defense.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Sam Smith2:

Hi Googen ,Im going to give this a go mate.

Just one question whats FMM you mention to download to read teams reputation? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's 'Football Manager Modifier' to give it it's full title. It's a cheat tool that allows you to alter ingame statistics such as player abilities and budgets. It also allows you to see a teams reputation on any clubs info screen. This way you can keep track of changing reputations as your game progresses. Just don't use it to cheat

[Justin_Case]

Googen,

I have now put all the elements of the tactic into my game (I was only using certain aspects before) and I'm using it at non-league level with my Worksop side. Having won the ECN last season, we were towards the foot of the conference table, but we are now starting to get some positive resuts!

A couple of findings:

- At this level, I have no farrows on the FB's and make sure that htey have FWR at no more than mixed, they really don't have what it takes to be a Cafu!

- Finding that the home set for my team is much lower than some of the examples you have given. Due to my back 4 being very poor, I use the 12-6 set at home, meaning that I have a deep enough defensive line, this means that away from home, the set is 8-2, which seems to be working ok -ish!

- When setting up the team instrustions, I have decided not to have any man marking. I tried this away twice against long farrow'd opposition and lost 5-1 and 4-0, since I have stuck with tight zonal, this have improved greatly, due to the quality of the defenders I'm using.

Will keep you posted on anything else!!

[Googen]

Interesting, well I guess that proves that reputation decides how offensive the opposition will go and what mentality you as the manager need to implement to counter this. I would love to try out this set at a lower league level but the thoughts of having to find my base tactics all over again would put me off it a little.

Against the 4-4-2 attacking (long farrows), I instruct my full backs to man-mark their opposing wingers but I set them to loose man-marking, I then instruct my centre-halves to tight man-mark the strikers, (I don't specify the names, just tick man-marking). My default settings are tight zonal marking for my back four at home, and away I include my midfield with these settings, leaving my strikers on loose man-marking.

The advantage of having the full set is that as your club's reputation increases, (hopefully you'll be able to put together a winning run), you won't have to put together new tactics, they'll already be available for selection in the drop-down menu.

[Googen]

Oh, I know I mentioned this in my original post but if you do concede a goal, (this can happen even if you have the right tactic selected for the game in hand, sometimes the opposition just gets lucky), I always go one tactic more attacking. So if your starting with the 6-12 range and you concede you pick the 7-13 range from your tactics menu. Unless the opposition has switched to a Counter-Attacking tactic after they went ahead, in which case you just stay at the tactic you are currently on.

[sven78]

First of all hats off to you Googen for having the patience to assemble 14 tactics and do the necessary trial and error until you were satisfied with them.

I have read your post with interest and took the time last night to assemble them and give them a trial to see how I got on. Very mixed start but I am putting this down to finding my 'base tactic'. I haven't trialed it extensively yet but my results were as follows:

(I am IFK Goteburg in Sweden - Year 2009)

H Orebro 1-1 (Last game of season)

H Villareal 2-0 Champs League Group

A Aab 1-3 Royal League

A Brann 2-4 Royal League

A Feyenoord 1-2 Champs League Group

Having watched all the games to this point I found myself getting an understanding of what the tactics were about and what potentially my base tactic should be even though I suffered 3 straight defeats. The next result was pretty astonishing, I needed a win to qualify out the group for the first time.......

H AC Milan 5-0 Champs League Group

I played them completely off the pitch. Closed down, out passed them, created chances and restricted them to minimal opportunities. It was actually enjoyable watching the game for once. I followed this up with the following

A AIK 3-1 Royal League

This was also a pleasing win as they have been runner up to me in the Sewdish League in the last 3 seasons and generally push me all the way. I have never beaten them on their ground before either.

Its now the winter break so I haven't had any more games but my home and away performance in the last 2 have looked really impressive.

The reason for giving your tactics a try despite 4 straight league wins with my tactic set is that I have never been satisfied with my performances. Despite tweaking mine and trialing different things with them I have never really felt at ease with them. I dominate teams in my league but without really looking like I will win games if that makes sense. All the games are tight affairs apart form the odd one where everything my strikers hit goes in...these are few and far between.

I will continue to report and offer any suggestions, if any. KUTGW

[Sam Smith2]

Hi Googen.

Im finding it same as another poster ,not bad away ,but poor at home .Dificult finding home DATUM as ive just got proted into Premier League and expected fin is 19th.Even 9-15 seems too high some times.

One thing i have noticed is how well the team plays together,and unlike every other tactic ive downloaded off here aswell as every one ive made ,with your tactics wingers actually hug the line and dribble past men and cross ,which looks so good

KUTGW....Sam

[mikegilbert9]

Googen when you set up your 13 or so tactics do you kkep passing the ame for ever one,

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by sven78:

First of all hats off to you Googen for having the patience to assemble 14 tactics and do the necessary trial and error until you were satisfied with them.

I have read your post with interest and took the time last night to assemble them and give them a trial to see how I got on. Very mixed start but I am putting this down to finding my 'base tactic'. I haven't trialed it extensively yet but my results were as follows:

(I am IFK Goteburg in Sweden - Year 2009)

H Orebro 1-1 (Last game of season)

H Villareal 2-0 Champs League Group

A Aab 1-3 Royal League

A Brann 2-4 Royal League

A Feyenoord 1-2 Champs League Group

Having watched all the games to this point I found myself getting an understanding of what the tactics were about and what potentially my base tactic should be even though I suffered 3 straight defeats. The next result was pretty astonishing, I needed a win to qualify out the group for the first time.......

H AC Milan 5-0 Champs League Group

I played them completely off the pitch. Closed down, out passed them, created chances and restricted them to minimal opportunities. It was actually enjoyable watching the game for once. I followed this up with the following

A AIK 3-1 Royal League

This was also a pleasing win as they have been runner up to me in the Sewdish League in the last 3 seasons and generally push me all the way. I have never beaten them on their ground before either.

Its now the winter break so I haven't had any more games but my home and away performance in the last 2 have looked really impressive.

The reason for giving your tactics a try despite 4 straight league wins with my tactic set is that I have never been satisfied with my performances. Despite tweaking mine and trialing different things with them I have never really felt at ease with them. I dominate teams in my league but without really looking like I will win games if that makes sense. All the games are tight affairs apart form the odd one where everything my strikers hit goes in...these are few and far between.

I will continue to report and offer any suggestions, if any. KUTGW </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cool, sounds like you got your tactics selection spot on for the milan game. It won't always be that effective when you find the right tactic but you should still outplay them. The RoO just seems to give your team an edge over AI opponents. The difficult part of finding your base tactic is the element of trial and error you have to endure during the early part of the competitive season. You can't really test them out with friendlies because the clubs you'll face won't be representative of the club reputations you'll face in your particular league.

I'm beginning to think that part of the problem with forcing an entire set upon your team is that not only do they typically have to adapt to a new home and away tactic but 11 others aswell. I'm not sure how this affects team bonding and the development of chemistry between players but I would imagine that it would slow down the process somewhat. I've been using this RoO set for roughly 5 seasons in various forms although I only settled on the finished format posted above about three seasons ago. Still my players seem comfortable with most of the tactics now.

It sounds like you still haven't found your base tactics yet. Even if your team do lose as they adjust to the new tactics they shouldn't be losing by that much. What are your match stats like? Are you creating more shots on target. When you watch the game do your side seem to be more creative from open play? Write down or remember the tactic that worked against Milan. Milan's reputation would probably be over 9000. If you can get hold of FMM and compare this value to the reputations of clubs in your domestic league it will give you a better idea of what tactics to pick according to the situation.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mikegilbert9:

Googen when you set up your 13 or so tactics do you kkep passing the ame for ever one, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nope, most of the important details are there in the original post. Passing, tempo, width and time-wasting are all mirrored to defensive line and closing down. So in the first tactic you build, the 14-20 range, passing, tempo and width will set to 4 as our defensive line is set to 17. Count the clicks on your mouse to be precise, 1 is the lowest point on any slider, with 20 being the highest.

[mikegilbert9]

but wouldn't that confuss your players if you keep changing passing style, and also I might be wrong but are you suggesting the defensive you play the higher width should be,

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Sam Smith2:

Hi Googen.

Im finding it same as another poster ,not bad away ,but poor at home .Dificult finding home DATUM as ive just got proted into Premier League and expected fin is 19th.Even 9-15 seems too high some times.

One thing i have noticed is how well the team plays together,and unlike every other tactic ive downloaded off here aswell as every one ive made ,with your tactics wingers actually hug the line and dribble past men and cross ,which looks so good

KUTGW....Sam </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm not sure why people are having trouble with this tactic at home, especially with smaller clubs who will likely be playing a counter-attacking game anyway. Maybe I've just got a bit complacent at Feyenoord. If I had the time I'd take over another smaller club and see how difficult it was to find my base in a smaller league.

When I say that your away tactic will be four below your home I mean count down four on the drop-down menu from your base home tactic, e.g. If your home tactic is 14-20 then your away tactic should be 10-16, not 11-17. You count 14-20 as Zero, not One. Maybe this has confused some people, I don't know. What you have to appreciate is that if you get promoted you will be facing clubs with bigger reputations than in last years competition. Meaning your base tactics could be lower.

It's too complicated to devise a formula but I have come to read reputation differences as follows: Feyenoord's reputation is currently 8231. If I'm facing a club of similar reputation, say Ajax whose rep. is 7400 I go with the 13-19 range at home. If our reputation is greater than the opposition's rating by more than 1000 I choose a tactic that is one more attacking. Say I'm facing AZ alkmaar whose rep. is 7009 I choose the 14-20 range at home. If I'm playing one of the giants of Europe like Real Madrid whose rep. could be something like 9360 I choose the 12-18 range at home because their rep. is greater than ours by over 1000. I can however go no more attacking than the 14-20 range so if I'm playing some minnows in European competition and my repution outscores them by more than 3000, I still go with 14-20. This should be fine though because logically the AI can only go so defensive, just as we can only go so attacking.

Following my instructions r.e. the alternative formations the AI uses are vital though. Particularly against wing-forwards, I've found that dropping the closing down for your full-backs and having them man-mark makes a huge difference.

I've dropped 'Counter Attack' for my 5 most attacking tactics, (also my narrowest tactics) and it seems to have made a small difference at home. 4 games into the new season and 4 wins, including Ajax and PSV, (although I was a little lucky against some teams). This could just be a winning mentality my team has built up, but I can't say for sure. I'm toying with the idea of freeing up 'passing, width and tempo' from each tactic so that it's not set in stone. I would still mirror them to the defensive line in each tactic when your building your set but rather take each tactic's pw&t settings as being a starting point for tweaking. So if you're sure that you have the correct tactic selected and you find that although you're closing down well and dominating posession you're not creating good openings in the final third you could access 'quick tactics' and bump up pw&t by a notch or two. However I wouldn't ever stray too far from the default setting. Attacking teams will always look to play posession football against weaker opposition and this can only really be achieved with a short passing game. I believe this part of the game's programming. Only when you're sure that you've selected the right mentality range should you start tweaking 'pt&w' in-game. I would strongly advise against tweaking your default defensive line or closing down.

You're absolutely right about the style of football Rule of One tactics produces though. Seven seasons into the game and I'm still enjoying watching each match's highlights. It's almost better than the telly.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mikegilbert9:

but wouldn't that confuss your players if you keep changing passing style, and also I might be wrong but are you suggesting the defensive you play the higher width should be, </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Possibly, I'd have to take over a new club to guage how long it took for my new players to adjust to this tactics set. Because it's a set of 14 tactics it may explain why people are having trouble with their teams adjusting.

Passing, width and tempo are linked. The game itself confirms this in the hints tabs that pop up. If your playing a slow tempo then you link that to a narrow short-passing game. It seems logical, after all I've never heard of a wide, direct short passing game. So, in the above set when you select a defensive mentality range (i.e. a low range such as 4-10, you'll be playing with a deep defensive line and counter-attacking down the wings with quick, direct passes. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm toying with the idea of freeing 'pw&t' up from the defensive line, tweaking a little in-game but still using each tactic's default setting as the starting point.

[jjnjnkj@hotmail.com]

Hi Googen,

It seems strange that people are finding Home games more difficult than Away games, usually it's the opposite.

Maybe it could be that the width you suggest is restricting attacks, as your team aren't stretching the opposition, to create opportunities to score.

It may also be that the Counter Attack you suggest to tick, should be unticked. This is because when at Home you should be the team that forces play usually and with counter attack ticked your players are waiting for an opportunity to break, while the opposition are attacking; But usually teams that are Away also play Counter Attacking Football, thus reducing your teams attacking threat.

[Googen]

Okay, I've dug out my old copy of wwfan's Tactics, Theorems & Frameworks IV, (upon which a lot of my tactics were based) and I'm a little disappointed to find that nowhere does it mention any correlation between passing, tempo & width to the mentality range. This 'rule' was obviously something that I had experimented with when I first built these tactics a year ago. I imagine it came about from me not having a clue what passing style to apply to fourteen different yet related tactics. It makes sense in a way, playing a short, posession game with the more attacking RoO ranges and a more direct game with the lower ranges.

This could explain why people have been more successful with their Away 'base tactic' than their home one. The default 'passing, width & tempo' settings for the away tactic may be far more suitable for the league they're playing in than the settings for the home tactic. Meaning that at home teams were playing too narrow with too slow a tempo. This means I'm going to have to review the process of setting up pw&t for each tactic. I'm still 100% convinced that finding the right mentality range will give you a serious edge over your opponent. Rule of One tactics just outplay AI tactics, and coupled with the correct closing down instructions you should have a clear advantage in each match. However, we still need to reassess passing.

I'm going to be experimenting with pw&t over the next week and I would like anyone who has been using these tactics to get involve aswell, posting feedback and such. I will eventually be ammeding my original tactics post to include any discoveries that are made. I haven't made up my mind as to whether or not this will be in the form of a new thread or simply tacked on here.

As far as I can see it we have two options for determining pw&t:

a)We include the default settings from my original post, where pw&t are mirrored to the defensive line. Managers then use these settings as a starting point and adjust based on their reading of the match engine. If they feel their team lacks width or needs to up the tempo a bit then they jump into quick tactics and bump up pw&t by a few notches, or vice versa. This could be effective because it maintains the assumption that a short passing game is effective in tactics with very attacking mentalities, with the opposite being the case in defensive mentality ranges. Or...

b)Each league and competition has a preferred pw&t setting, possibly dependent upon that competition's reputation value (leagues and cup competitions have rep. values just like clubs, though they don't fluctuate, e.g. the Bundesliga might be 16, while the champion's league should be 20). This would mean an extra hardhship for a manager using this set for the first time. Not only will you have to find your base tactics, but you will also have to find a pw&t setting suitable for the league you are currently playing in. It could also mean applying the one pw&t setting to your entire tactics set, adjusting when your reputation increases significantly.

I have a feeling that b) could be the better of the two options. Why? Well, I was more successful in europe than I was in holland. Even though I went unbeaten for an entire season in the Eredivisie I still only managed to finish a point ahead of Ajax, the reason being that I drew an awful lot of games that I should have won - possibly because of the passing and width inadequacies that people have pointed out in this thread. Because I was predominantly playing with a very attacking tactic I was consequently using a slow tempo, short passing game. This was more successful in Europe than it was in Holland. Common sense dictates that the Champions League has a higher in-game reputation value than the Dutch Premier Division so does this mean that a shorter passing game is more effective in Europe than it would be in certain domestic leagues? It would make sense and if it is the case then hats off to the programmers for including these frameworks in the game. How many times have we seen Premiership sides struggle with the slower passing games of continental sides in the latter stages of the Champions League?

Anyway I'm asking people to experiment with these ideas and post their feedback here. I'll be doing the same. If you find that certain pw&t settings work well in certain leagues then document them so that other managersplaying in that league will be able to apply them to their tactics. Of course the most important thing is to find your base tactics first and then you can start tweaking pw&t.

[Hammer1000]

Have'nt played the game for a while, but really wanted to have a go with this set up. Fortunately a mate of mine sent me the tactics already set up, so i loaded a save i had with West Ham mid season 3.

Won 4 games on the belt 16 base at home and 12 away, making the tactical changes as instructed.

Got to say i've seen some cracking football and some very tight defending, which has seen us win away to Leverkusen in the CL and beat Liverpool 1-0 very comfortably.

I think its a cracking set up and my hat goes off to Googen, but at the end of the day you will never see the end of the ridiculous games like the screenie shows below.

Like i've said all along, you cannot do anything about these games, this was the Carling Cup Qtr Final and basically, if the AI decides its time for you to lose, then you lose.

Two 30 yard free kicks, a devilish run from the half injured Darren Bent and a cracking throughball backpass from my midfielder straight to the opposing striker, gave Charlton a very undeserved win.

Awful...

[Hammer1000]

Funny this, but contrary to other peoples posts, i'm actually winning comfortably at home and struggling away?.

The 16 at home works a treat and i drop to 14 when leading and the opposition go to counter and thats working too, but away using the 12 i'm struggling?.

Home Form = W 5 D 0 L 0

Away Form = W 2 D 0 L 3

Any thoughts or suggestions?.

[sven78]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Googen:

It sounds like you still haven't found your base tactics yet. Even if your team do lose as they adjust to the new tactics they shouldn't be losing by that much. What are your match stats like? Are you creating more shots on target. When you watch the game do your side seem to be more creative from open play? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In those games that I put down my passing stats were in the mid 60's and shots on target were always higher than opponents. Put the defeats down to players adjusting to new tactics. I managed a quick hour on it last night, played 4 games results as follows:

A Aab 4-0 Royal League

H Brann 5-0 Royal League

A Ajax 1-2 Champs league 2nd round

H AIK 4-1 Royal League

Think I am getting to grips with adjustments and I am pretty confident what my base tactics are. Good work. As I said in my earlier post the games are actually a pleasure to watch.

One difference from your instructiuons is that I have left my passing on mixed rather than through the middle, down wings etc and it has started well. Not sure if this will make a huge difference, I will keep testing and let you know results etc.

Note: Error in original post. Game against Aab was at home not away when I got beat 3 - 1.

[Triggerusa]

Sorry Im a little confused.....so...

as Man United - home 20 - 14 Away Four less.

So is that my range off five??

E.g. are the first two tactics attacking (20-14, 19-13)

and last two defensive, with the defensive settings??

[Hammer1000]

Still struggling away, so i did as Googen suggested and replayed a fixture to try to find my base away tactic.

All i found was that the opposition, who just happened to be Coventry and 4th from bottom in the Prem(we are 5th), scored in every single game with every shot they mustered on target.

I went through the whole range of tactics with this happening, so i thought i'd try a different tactic altogether and this was the result.

I know others have tried this experiment of replaying a certain game over and over again and it is usually dismissed out of hand, but i think its the most damning of all the evidence provided to prove this game is a complete and utter farce!.

[RedBlueEagle]

I'm about 15 seasons into a game and currently have got Brighton promoted to Div 1. We are rated as favourites to go down but using these tactics we haven't lost in 15 games now. We are drawing a lot but I don't think I have found the base tactic. My home base tactic is actually an away tactic now. I know our reputation is low because most teams come to our ground playing 4-4-2 with long arrows. Don't think you have to play a home tactic at home!

[ljd150]

Excellent post and great set, i'm managing chelsea using the most attacking as my home tactic and it works very well... however.. i can't find any mention in your post for team mentality... what so you use? i have left it on 10 for my games and it's not bad. do you have any suggestions?

[EA_mon_hello2]

Good set Googe

If anybody could create these tactics then upload them they would really help people.

[WH]

Well then, Here is your chance to really help people EA_mon_hello2.

[EA_mon_hello2]

Don't know how to upload onto FMdownloads

[EA_mon_hello2]

Anyway- Googen, these work REALLY well, even at conference north level i havent changed at all i did exactly what you said and the results are as follows:

0-2

3-0

3-1

3-3

2-0

1-0

3-1

0-0

3-0

2-0

0-0

2-1

1-1

3-2

4-1

I have also made a new unbeaten record for the club: 14 games.

Hats off to you Googen

[Triggerusa]

Well - I accept that this may be completly down to me but I just cant get this to work....

Im united - season one

Followed instructions, 4-4-2, made 13 but as united are champs I used 20 - 14 for home and four less for the away games.

I made no other changes to the 4-4-2 accept what was said. I set up Delgado as striker who drops deep along with Tevez. Rooney was injured but then he played that role.

Tactic 1 and 2 were attacking, 4 and 5 I made defensive)e.g. no forward arrows, no forward runs etc.

I lost 1-0 h Middelsbough, 1-0 away west ham,

1-0 a liverpool, beat Bolton 5-0. Beat Dyn Bucharest 2-0, lost to Ajax, Lazio, drew 2-2 with Newcastle, 1-1 Fulham, Drew a few more games

Played 10 Prem games and was 15???

Each game it said 'United should have ewon this easily'???

Can someone upload this as Ive done this wrong..

[Aquaplex]

Could someone explain these tactics a little better? I'm not sure if i have mine 14 setup correctly. Basically what i did, and correct me if i'm wrong, i setup my 20-14, 19-13, 18-12, 17-11, 10-6 as my "HOME" tactics with farrows on wingers and fbs then all the lower tactics with no arrows and they're being used as "AWAY". My home tactic is 17-11 since i'm a lower premiership side, but during the game even at home, i'll end up droping to one of the lower "away" tactics if i take the lead. Did i setup these 14 tactics correctly??

[knap]

New to tactics but I've tried to simplify Googen's tactics to get a mean defence and strikers to score.

DCs set to defence, low closing down, hard tackling, mixed passing, with deep defensive line.

Sts attack, high closing down, soft tackling, mixed passing. TM hold up, some creativity.

FBs Team defence/attack, high closing down hard tackling, tight marking.

Also with good full backs run with ball.

DM set to defence medium closing down and tackling

AM set to attack medium closing down and tackling, some creativity

RM&LM (FAs)team attack defend, medium closing down and medium tackling.

The team instructions can be use for defence/ attack for WBs and RM&LM, width, tempo and passing style.

One tactic that can be adjusted during game.

Usually defence, narrow width and short passing helps away but usually also works at home.

Good results with Spurs season 1 Prem euro cup and FA Cup

[RTHerringbone]

This approach has completely changed my way of playing the game. Previously, I tried to create one "super tactic" which would win home and away. As far as I can tell, that tactic doesn't exist, regardless of which team you are or what squad you have. The balance of the Rule of One is phenomenal and watching the match really shows where the team is right and wrong.

[EA_mon_hello2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Well - I accept that this may be completly down to me but I just cant get this to work....

Im united - season one

Followed instructions, 4-4-2, made 13 but as united are champs I used 20 - 14 for home and four less for the away games.

I made no other changes to the 4-4-2 accept what was said. I set up Delgado as striker who drops deep along with Tevez. Rooney was injured but then he played that role.

Tactic 1 and 2 were attacking, 4 and 5 I made defensive)e.g. no forward arrows, no forward runs etc.

I lost 1-0 h Middelsbough, 1-0 away west ham,

1-0 a liverpool, beat Bolton 5-0. Beat Dyn Bucharest 2-0, lost to Ajax, Lazio, drew 2-2 with Newcastle, 1-1 Fulham, Drew a few more games

Played 10 Prem games and was 15???

Each game it said 'United should have ewon this easily'???

Can someone upload this as Ive done this wrong.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Could someone explain these tactics a little better? I'm not sure if i have mine 14 setup correctly. Basically what i did, and correct me if i'm wrong, i setup my 20-14, 19-13, 18-12, 17-11, 10-6 as my "HOME" tactics with farrows on wingers and fbs then all the lower tactics with no arrows and they're being used as "AWAY". My home tactic is 17-11 since i'm a lower premiership side, but during the game even at home, i'll end up droping to one of the lower "away" tactics if i take the lead. Did i setup these 14 tactics correctly?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you guys tell me how to upload them....

[EA_mon_hello2]

Uploaded FMDownloads

- It goes by the name of RoO tactic set.rar, uploaded by EA_mon.

Googen I have included a readme, which consists of your first post, I just fixed all the grammar & spelling mistakes.

[Sam Smith2]

Googen...

I think people on here asume that playing at home means choosing a HOME tactic range,it doesnt!.I am playing Leeds in 2011/12,first season back in to Prem League and obviously a LOW Reputation..Started playing with your tactic sets with 3rd of season to go and definately an improvement in results .Havent got FMM or the like but home to Arsenal selected 7-13 range.They played 442 with long Farrows on wingers,marked as u suggested and dominated to beat them 1-0.Next game up drew away with Chelsea 1-1 using 3-9 range and so saved me from relegation!!!!!

Last match of season was away to Man Utd(bitch of a run in I know!!),used 3-9 again,but choose to man mark FC`s and wingers as i had done in 2against Arsenal and Chelsea....BIG MISTAKE!!

Man Utd`s front 4 constantly swapped positions ,before i knew it I was 5-0 down ,eventually lost 8-0!!..but main thing was i didnt go down thanks to your tactics.

One thought ive had was combining passing with players individual mentalities.Meaning like say a FC`s ment. is 16 ,his passing is set to 4.Or a DC`s ment is 6 his passing set to 14.

This means that ALWAYS your Defenders have a higher passing range than your Midfield ,who in turn have a higher range than Fowards,which to me makes sence.Im not sure how possesion% would effect your teams performance though..... my 2 cents here ....Sam

[Rekoil]

Just a note about the sliders (because you have to use them a LOT to set these tactics up). For those of you that are counting up and down from the centre point, please note that this is 11 NOT 10. A few people have said to me in the past "It's 1 to 20 so if I count 2 up from the mid point then that will be 12 right?" No, 12 is only 1 up from the mid point, because it starts at 1 not 0. If you dont belive me start at the far right and count down from 20.... what number do you get to at the centre?? yep, 11.

Great stuff Googen. Your hard work in communicating the tactics is most appreciated.

Recoil

[Millie]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by EA_mon_hello2:

Uploaded FMDownloads

- It goes by the name of RoO tactic set.rar, uploaded by EA_mon.

Googen I have included a readme, which consists of your first post, I just fixed all the grammar & spelling mistakes. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And you asked permission for that, did you?

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Rekoil:

Just a note about the sliders (because you have to use them a LOT to set these tactics up). For those of you that are counting up and down from the centre point, please note that this is 11 NOT 10. A few people have said to me in the past "It's 1 to 20 so if I count 2 up from the mid point then that will be 12 right?" No, 12 is only 1 up from the mid point, because it starts at 1 not 0. If you dont belive me start at the far right and count down from 20.... what number do you get to at the centre?? yep, 11.

Great stuff Googen. Your hard work in communicating the tactics is most appreciated.

Recoil </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nice one Rekoil, I have tried my best to alert people to the dangers of misreading the sliders but it's inevitable that people make mistakes. I did the same myself when starting out making tactics.

Like rekoil said the lowest point on any slider is 1 and the highest point is 20. So be careful, some of you may need to re-check your tactics. If in doubt, count the mouse clicks. That's my motto.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by EA_mon_hello2:

Uploaded FMDownloads

- It goes by the name of RoO tactic set.rar, uploaded by EA_mon.

Googen I have included a readme, which consists of your first post, I just fixed all the grammar & spelling mistakes. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And you asked permission for that, did you? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's okay, I'm not actually that interested in uploading tactics. I thinks it's much easier to help people gain a clear understanding of a tactical approach with a thread like this. The main advantage being that if people don't want to play a 4-4-2 formation they can take this framework and build something else. I won't be uploading anything for some time, especially since I'm still experimenting with passing, width and tempo.

Just a quick question EA, did you correct my mistake regarding setting up p,w&t in the first tactic example? I stated that the setting was 3, mirrored to the defensive line when it actually should have been 4. Some people seem confused by the relatively complex process of setting up these tactics so I wouldn't want to add to that.

[Googen]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Aquaplex:

Could someone explain these tactics a little better? I'm not sure if i have mine 14 setup correctly. Basically what i did, and correct me if i'm wrong, i setup my 20-14, 19-13, 18-12, 17-11, 10-6 as my "HOME" tactics with farrows on wingers and fbs then all the lower tactics with no arrows and they're being used as "AWAY". My home tactic is 17-11 since i'm a lower premiership side, but during the game even at home, i'll end up droping to one of the lower "away" tactics if i take the lead. Did i setup these 14 tactics correctly?? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, if you only anticipate leading by two or three goals at home then set up the tactics close to your base home tacic as being home tactics. If your team is playing extremely well and you go up by five or more goals you will find yourself using an away tactic, (with the obvious adjustments to fwd runs, marking etc.). Don't worry, it's inevitable, there's no harm in telling your fullbacks to go forward less if you're leading by four goals. Sit back and counter-attack. I'm sure real life managers do it a bit. Since you claim that your base home tactic is 17-11, then you might want to set up the three tactics below that as being home tactics, before arriving at 13-7 which would be your base away tactic. You can simply set up everything from that point on as being an away tactic. You never know, you might end up thrashing some minnows 8-0 in the FA cup, and having the full set seems to help in racking up big scores.

[Googen]

There seems to have been some confusion with regard to setting up home and away tactics. The reason that I have tactics 20-14 to 17-11 set up as 'home' tactics is that I know my base tactic is 20-14 at home. I'm managing a club with a high reputation. If you are managing a lower rep. club and your base home tactic is, say, 12-6, then you would set up tactics 12-6 to 9-3 as being 'home' tactics, with the requisite instructions for fwd runs, cross ball, marking etc. From 8-2 onwards would be set up as 'away' tactics. For the sake of simplicity everything above 12-6 could be set up as being a 'home' tactic. Some managers have pointed out though that in lower leagues having f-arrowed full backs with fwd runs set to often at home just doesn't work, give the lower skill levels of your players. You'll just have to experiment a little.

Sam Smith, that's a very interesting theory but I've been happily using team passing for the last seven or so seasons and I can't see myself going back to individual passing settings until I've gained a much better understanding of p,w&t. The only problem I could see with mirroring passing to individual mentality is that you will find these instructions pushed to extremities on the sliders. As an example, take the 20-14 range. As your strikers mentality is 20, their passing will set to 1, likewise your attacking midfielder will have his passing set to 2. I'm not saying that this wouldn't work but but I'd be a little skeptical. If you do try it out let me know how it goes though.

I've had some decent results freeing up p,w&t from the tactic set but I still don't think I'm any the wiser as to what works and why. In the Eredivisie I've been successful using a p,w&t of 6 at home and 7 away against the normal 4-4-2. I maintained this setting even as I dropped tactics going ahead.

I tried the same approach in Europe and had even better results. We beat Rangers 4-1 at Ibrox using a p,w&t of 9 and had a good 3-0 victory over Bordeaux at home using a p,w&t of 8. Again this was against teams using a normal 4-4-2. My run came unstuck against Sporting Lisbon however, where just like the home game against Bordeaux I used a p,w&t of 8. Despite being 3-0 up in the second half, Sporting mounted an incredible come back to beat us 3-4. Sporting were using a narrow 4-4-2 diamond and while I know how to easily counter this formation I have to admit that my passing never looked good. The only reason we found ourselves 3-0 up was probably due to an in-form Zigic coming back from injury.

What I did find interesting was the apparrent pattern uncovered r.e. p,w&t at home and away. 6 at home and 7 away worked well in the Eredivisie, while 8 at home and 9 away worked better in Europe. I would have imagined that a shorter passing style would have suited Europe but I don't know enough yet to jump to too many conclusions. I am beginning to think however that certain pw&t settings work better against certain formations. I struggled against the 5-4-1 wingbacks at home until I bumped pw&t up to 10 from 6. My attacks immediately looked much more dangerous. Going into the sporting game I was confident that my team could play with a pw&t of 8, this being a European home game. However we never looked good and our passing always looked unbalanced. This was against a narrow diamond midfield so I'm beginning to think that a different pw&t might work better against 'narrow' formations than it would against your standard 4-4-2, based on my success against the 5-4-1 formation. Unfortunately a lot of experimenting still lies ahead. The positive aspect of changing pw&t is that my team has conceded far fewer goals than in previous seasons. I can't say if this will continue but despite always having had a good defensive record it's always nice to lead the table with fewest goals conceded. We stil don't seem to have the cutting edge to destroy weak teams and guarantee those three points however.

ljd150 - I've probably posted this before but I don't touch team mentality, I'm convinced that individual over-rides team anyway. You shouldn't need to adjust the team slider as moving up and down your tactic set according to the situation simulates moving a team mentality slider anyway, only that it's more effective.

Triggerusa - I amn't managing a club with a reputation as high as Utd.s but I would imagine that 20-14 should be your base home tactic, with 16-10 being your base 'away' tactic. This means setting up tactics 20-14 to 17-11 as being home tactics, with tactics 16-10 onward being 'away' tactics. Your Away base tactic should be four below your home tactic, not the fourth tactic in your set. Remember that you will have to adjust when the big clubs come calling, i.e Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in the prem league. They will have similar reps to your own so you will have to choose a tactic slightly more defensive. The 19-13 tactic should work for you at home. I always use it against Ajax at De Kuip. Also remember that the default closing down settings are for playing against 4-4-2 formations, you will have to tweak according to my original instructions when you are facing different formations. Are you sure you read the sliders correctly, as has already been pointed out, 1 is the lowest point, 20 is the highest. They don't start at zero.

[alsocan1980]

great tacticall approach to the game..

this RoO approach.....

using Villa in season 3 and sitting pretty on the top of the table undefeated in 9 games...

even beat Chelsea 3-1 away, Man u 3-1 at home & Arsneal 4-1 at home...

i've been using Big John Carew as a traditional targetman.. and he has been amazing..

however, i would like to ask about playing with 2 short fast stikers... and how to set up..

been experimenting.. and not having much success...

any1 can advise?

[alsocan1980]

i currently have luke moore and jeffeson farfan as my two rotating strikers... i bought Sergio Aguero this season.. but he has been injured for awhile...

based on the recommended RoO tactic, wingers are set to cross often... not getting much supply to the short forwards, the average only about 2-3 shorts per game...

very different results with Carew in...

the MCa gets involved because of the F-arrow

and the other striker receives beautiful flick-ons.. as well as both wingers when the fwd run into the box...

[alsocan1980]

oh yeah.. another interesting observation... mid table clubs eg. Reading.. whom i beat away 5-1(last LC game)... actually changed to 4-2-4 rite after i scored my 1st goal in the early part of the 1st half.. they stayed that way until i was 3-0 up and then changed to a strange 3-2-2-1-2 formation...

3 DCs, 2 wingbacks with long F arrows

2 MCs, 1 AMC and 2 SC...

encountered this formation against Roma in Champions league, Valencia as well....

they used it when i was overwhelming them...

i used the defensive adjustments for the 5-4-1 formation by Googen.. and it worked...

any1 else encountered this weird wingback formation?

[JamesCena]

Hi, Googen, glad to use your close-down system and It works perfectly well, especially at away. For example, i play Man.U away at

Chelsea with the 9-15. My lads did brilliantly in defending and stole the game by 2:0,with two effective counter attackings. What inspires me is that though the Blues shot 15+ while i had no more than 5 shots, i got two! We got the 3 points!

However,there r seems to be some problems in attacking, especially when away at the low-level team. As you'd mention, the away tactic bases on counter-attack. When i change to a more adventious tactic, i'm afraid they will c-attack me back. So what's your advice on this situation?

[keef]

Googen

During a match, i'm now constantly getting two messages of commentary.

"Great flowing move by Atletico" and

"The fans sound their appreciation"

Huge improvement, in every way, every game. Thanks muchly!

KUTGW!!!

[EA_mon_hello2]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Googen:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millie:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by EA_mon_hello2:

Uploaded FMDownloads

- It goes by the name of RoO tactic set.rar, uploaded by EA_mon.

Googen I have included a readme, which consists of your first post, I just fixed all the grammar & spelling mistakes. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

And you asked permission for that, did you? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's okay, I'm not actually that interested in uploading tactics. I thinks it's much easier to help people gain a clear understanding of a tactical approach with a thread like this. The main advantage being that if people don't want to play a 4-4-2 formation they can take this framework and build something else. I won't be uploading anything for some time, especially since I'm still experimenting with passing, width and tempo.

Just a quick question EA, did you correct my mistake regarding setting up p,w&t in the first tactic example? I stated that the setting was 3, mirrored to the defensive line when it actually should have been 4. Some people seem confused by the relatively complex process of setting up these tactics so I wouldn't want to add to that. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I didn't ask you because you have already stated that you are not interested in uploading tactics, people would appreciate it if somebody did it although im not that confident I did it properly. Sorry the reason i didnt correct that is because when you said 3 i thought you meant 3 clicks from the bottom so i actually got it right

[I-Mac]

Orite, you've changed my mind, normally i dnt go with the Rule of 1 or whatever coz im lazy and have had problems with them before mainly down to not finding the right base tactic, but this sounds really interesting!

Great Post, cant wait to try it out!!

[Aquaplex]

I followed this mentality for around 10 games. Started a new game with Pompey and played 10 straight games. I had good strikers upfront but biggest problem i had was scoring goals. I would always draw 1-1 or 2-2. I played 10 games, going 2-6-2 (2 wins , 6 draws, 2 losses)

Upfront i had Eddie Johnson and Benjani and neither could score much.

[EA_mon_hello2]

Googen- Your approach has been working for my potentially-league-winning team. We are top, yes, but there are some teams that just DEMOLISH me.