Pre match meeting advantages

[hbtfdbs]

ok recently i started a game where the pre season meeting stated that i had aggression advantage over the rest of league think it was the highest also had a technique advantage slightly and passing, the team was nimes which are predicted 15th in ligue 2 now. i decided to play high pressure aggresive type defence with shorter passing in general man marking and so on rigid philosphy, and it completely fell apart i gave a away 3 penalties a game pretty much and atleast 1 red card, i tried manually putting hard tackling on the aggresive strong players i had around the back line and dmc positions but still too many fouls and cards and penalties.

I had a look at their decisions tackling etc and on average their 11 some more. i just cant understand how to get this to work. are you supposed to only give hard tackling to forwards and wingers/less aggressive players? with the idea that if the aggression stat is high for the player he'll already tackle harder on normal setting?

[Simply... Awesome!]

I'm a firm believer that aggression is more often than not a VERY good thing. It only starts to become a negative if you have dirty players WITH poor stats and personalities.

The more aggressive your team, the more involved they are, and in turn, the more they can influence and control the game.

Take N Vidic and A Diarra who are both very dirty, but I love them. A lot! They are tireless, excellent in positioning, tackling, aggression, bravery, work-rate, determination and teamwork. By hook or crook they would always win the ball. The Key is to understand how they fit in your tactical plan and ensure they don't get carded by adjusting your tactics accordingly - say setting their tackling to easy or closing down to less for example. Because they are so good technically, mentally, and physically - combined with their dirtiness - they should shine very brightly.

Also pay attention to the personality of players (something you would notice a lot in-match if you look at the motivation widget); players with temperamental tendencies would get would up easily, loose their cool, and concede silly fouls. This can result in a large number of cards being picked up in highly aggressive games.

Your pre-season meeting is simply giving you a general indication of how your team is, how it compares. This gives you the heads up on whom you should sign or release and how you should approach your master tactical plan.

[hbtfdbs]

yea i understand it can be a useful, or it used to be on previous versions for me, the problem is i dont want them on low closing down because theyre not good enough, to anticipate, concentrate or technically, heres an overview of my centre backs and right backs, strength mainly around 15 16 pace 11-10 aggression 15-18 tackling around 10 and decisions around 11, can you see why id like them to come out and challenge forwards rather than sit back mark and use their lack of intelligence to win the ball? but hard tackling just resulted in many penalties and cards.

is their a hidden stat thats takingover here? or is it that they are already strong aggressive players and they already tackle harder than most players that they dont need the hard tackling setting?

basically i want to use this as an advantage, but its proved the opposite so far..

[pandemonium]

Well, your players are aggressive so they will be more willing to dive into tackles and concede fouls. This might be good higher up the pitch because your risk/reward ratio is higher there: you risk giving up a foul too far from your goal to be dangerous and your reward is you will actually create good breakaway chances by winning the ball in dangerous areas and catching the opposition wrong-footed. but it can easily backfire with your defence. you have aggressive players AND you have given them license to tackle hard in your own half. your reward is you get the ball back in your half, but your risk is much greater because you will foul more and give the opposition dangerous free kicks or penalties and increase chances of your players getting yellow and red cards. Unlike a Vidic or Diarrra, your players are of lower calibre and therefore more prone to making costly mistakes due to their aggression. That explains all the penalties and red cards you're receiving. In general, aggression is good for players who also have good decisions and defensive stats (marking, tackling, anticipation). But players like yours with "tackling around 10 and decisions around 11" and high aggression must be contained. I'd go the opposite way and give these players easy takling. This can still work with a high pressing game. With high pressing and easy tackling your players will still pressure the opposition and force them into mistakes, but will also be reserved in tackling to prevent them from giving away useless fouls and get less cards.

Hope this helps, good luck!