[FM11] Heathxxx Lower League Management Approach

[Jenko_EFC]

The "Weaker Foot" option is one I've been working on since the beginning of FM10. Closing Down and showing a Defender onto his Weaker Foot has opened many chances for me if they have low Composure and Decisions. On the wings, showing a Winger down the touchline who doesn't have any Crossing ability or if my Centre-Back's are bigger, stronger and more clever than the Forwards.

I've also wound up a few Aggressive Centre Midfielder's with Hard Tackling and Tight Marking. Basically frustrating them by getting to the ball before them and making sure they have no time on the ball.

Especially in the Lower League's, Hard Tackling might not be the smartest idea but when I manage Everton, Sylvain Distin was an expert at "Hard Tackling" because of his Strength and general Defensive ability.

Striker's are tough to deal with because there is a variety of them. Closing Down the more thick ones will work because they don't have the Composure and won't make good Decisions. The 'Drogba' style Forward is easier to deal with despite his immense ability. I stick a player on him who's stronger and faster or to at least challenge him physically to "Tight Mark" him and someone to cover up.

[Gazza56]

Won League 2 with 3 games to spare, so have won back to back to back promotions so far.

Again, my transfer budget for League one is £35, they did increase my wages budget which was nice, i was able to bring in 2 or 3 Premiership players who were released (although Drogba, Lampard and Anelka turned me down.... sigh!) so will be interesting how my League 2 squad get on in the higher divison.

[Jenko_EFC]

Heath, do you remember my Fullback's 'Cross' that he scored? Losing 1-0 away to Thurrock and their goal was fortunate. My midfield is too slow and defensive and I needed mass changes to get back in the game. Only 15 minutes gone though so I decided against it and just went with "Get Ball Forward", "Pass into Space" and "Pump Ball into Box". Bacchus gets the ball down the left and swings in a cross, beats the 'keeper and goes in! The same player! The match hasn't ended so I can't post a PKM and I suspect the match isn't going to be a pretty one and my laptop I'm on is awful and doesn't run 3D so I can't post one of those YouTube things.

EDIT: He's just delivered another superb ball that the 'keeper fulmbled into my Striker who was took down and was awarded a penalty! I love this guy.

[heathxxx]

See... sometimes "route one" is the way to go in some matches at this level. Jenko

Although I like to see more passing and movement, sometimes against more stubborn teams, you need a bit more directness and cutting edge, or do some of the more ugly stuff, but effectively.

Mostly, it's a case of reading the games and keeping an eye on your assistant's feedback, when it comes to judging when and what you should change.

[Finknottle]

heathxxx. I have just had a swift 'shufty' at your rather good thread. Please allow me to comment upon your defensve corner routine. I see that you have your right full back on the far post and your left full back on the near post. If you look closely at what happens after the corner is cleared, you should see that your right back, covering the left post has to cover two thirds of the width of the pitch to retrieve his position. The same is true of your left full back. I was doing the same thing as you until I accidentlally noticed the situation. I now put my right back on the near post, his correct side of the pitch and my left full back on the far post, his correct side of the pitch. See your defensive corner positioning.

I have also noticed that the AI usually man marks when it is defending corners, at least it does in my save. What I do now is this. Full backs cover their respective posts, CD's as yours. Best striker and my fastest other attacking player stay forward. My remaining four players all man mark. By pausing the match immediately before a corner is taken you should see that all options, hopefully, are covered. I seem to concede fewer goals from corners now. I hope that I am not out of order in suggesting my thoughts. Kind regards.

[Jenko_EFC]

I have no idea because I haven't 'tested' it but when the corner is taken from the other side of the pitch, wouldn't it be the same thing and he'd have to run that length anyway? No idea if that's completely false but it's the assumption I got.

[Finknottle]

I have no idea because I haven't 'tested' it but when the corner is taken from the other side of the pitch, wouldn't it be the same thing and he'd have to run that length anyway? No idea if that's completely false but it's the assumption I got.

Jenko, I have literally only just made the alterations and I am waiting to see what happens 'on the other side' so to speak.

[Jenko_EFC]

Hopefully, it works as you said because that has been bugging me too.

The reason I think it won't is because if you ask a player to "Attack the far Post" he'll attack the far post regardless of what side he's on. Hopefully this isn't the same but I don't have FM open so can't check.

[Finknottle]

Jenko, I am assuming that 'near post' means near post as to the players position, that is the right back will go to his near post, on the right. Perhaps SI could redefine the 'defending corners' so that ther will be 1. defending corners on the right and 2. defending corners on the left. That way your full backs will cover their correct posts. I am about to start a new save but I shall certainly make a point of checking out the corner thingy and post back.

[heathxxx]

heathxxx. I have just had a swift 'shufty' at your rather good thread. Please allow me to comment upon your defensve corner routine. I see that you have your right full back on the far post and your left full back on the near post. If you look closely at what happens after the corner is cleared, you should see that your right back, covering the left post has to cover two thirds of the width of the pitch to retrieve his position. The same is true of your left full back. I was doing the same thing as you until I accidentlally noticed the situation. I now put my right back on the near post, his correct side of the pitch and my left full back on the far post, his correct side of the pitch. See your defensive corner positioning.

I have also noticed that the AI usually man marks when it is defending corners, at least it does in my save. What I do now is this. Full backs cover their respective posts, CD's as yours. Best striker and my fastest other attacking player stay forward. My remaining four players all man mark. By pausing the match immediately before a corner is taken you should see that all options, hopefully, are covered. I seem to concede fewer goals from corners now. I hope that I am not out of order in suggesting my thoughts. Kind regards.

Not out of order at all oescus, the aim of a thread like this is not only for me to share my own approach, but to encourage others to do so as well.

I know exactly what you're referring to regarding the positioning of the full-backs. It's also a very astute observation you make though. The problem here, is possibly the static nature of setting up positioning to defend corners and free-kicks. Indeed, what you've observed, is possibly a flaw in how you're able to position your players.

As shown in the image in post, you see my right-back on the right hand post in the position assigned to "mark far post". When a corner is taken from the left side, but assuming it's cleared, both the full-backs need to cross one another's trajectory to get back into their positions. If a corner is taken from the right however, then the right back set to "mark far post" will be on the left hand post. So assuming again the corner is cleared, he's nearer to his correct position, as is the left-back set to "mark near post" and they won't cross paths.

So, if a corner is taken from one side, it'll cause a problem for the full-backs being on opposite sides of the goal to their positions. When taken from the other side, they'll be nearer to their natural positions and shouldn't be a problem.

As I say though, this could be viewed as a flaw in how you're able to set the positioning of the players with this particular aspect of the interface. At the moment, there's no way around it, unless the instructions were changed from mark far/near, to mark left/right posts. If that were the case, you could set your full-backs to be on the correct side of the pitch, on a post that's nearest to their playing position. So if you're facing the goal, you would see the right-back on the left post, the left-back on the right post. When the ball is cleared and they're moving out of the box, instead of potentially crossing paths, they'll be heading towards their positions unimpeded, or without causing bunching of all your defence in the box.

So very good point and issue you've raised there oescus. Having thought about it a little more and having gone through it as I have above (thinking whilst I was typing), it's something that's possibly worth us raising with the developers. Incidentally, assuming the computer controlled teams are using the same settings as we are with full-backs, they will suffer the same problem potentially.

On top of that (and this is purely theoretical...), you could potentially exploit this situation offensively. Assuming that the opposing full-backs are on the "wrong" post in relation to their pitch position, were you to take a short corner, you might get a wrong footed player who's at a natural disadvantage, possibly leaving the post to close down the short corner receiver. Again, theoretical, but it's something that I might try looking into more.

[heathxxx]

Jenko, I am assuming that 'near post' means near post as to the players position, that is the right back will go to his near post, on the right. Perhaps SI could redefine the 'defending corners' so that ther will be 1. defending corners on the right and 2. defending corners on the left. That way your full backs will cover their correct posts. I am about to start a new save but I shall certainly make a point of checking out the corner thingy and post back.

Whilst I was typing, you've already headed towards the same conclusion I have.

Although I prefer the new interface for setting up set pieces, it's the first time it's been implemented and only through good observations, such as you've highlighted, can any actual/potential issues be ironed out fully in the future patches or releases.

[heathxxx]

I shall do a bit of a review of the season over the weekend, as I'm just into June and already hunting down new players for season 2. Have made some very interesting acquisitions already that are very pleasing. Just having a bit of a struggle with backroom staff at the moment though, as my best scout won't agree new terms, plus I'm struggling to get interest from any worthwhile potential replacements/improvements.

Suffice it to say we managed to win the BSN comfortably and the FA Trophy, but I'll try to look at how my tactical, media, motivational activities helped, along with the players I used.

Although I would really like to see if I can work with one of my Spanish type tactics in the BSP, having already signed three new strikers, I think I'll be staying with the 4-4-2 system for the foreseeable future

[Jenko_EFC]

Looking forward to it heath.

I think I'll do the same at the end of the season on mine too; still playing at snail's pace unfortunately. By then I'll know the players a lot more and have more experiences to share hopefully.

[heathxxx]

Well, considering it has taken me only 16 days to do one season, that's not bad going by my standards

I would have expected that dafuge has won the Champions League with a minnows team by now... surely?

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

Excellent stuff Heath, as is Phnompenhady's point about taking out the "good" DC, didnt play a match last night (feet up in front of Ice Road Truckers on TV - its been a tough week or two!), but next match FAT away BS regional (Sth?) Thurrock. Have set up my team tactics using fast SC, they are slow at the back, and have assessed their squad for OI's. I have a plan which groups the oppo players for OI's as follows:

Neutral: No OI's - where no obvious OI suits and players are just OK but no morale issues (mainly suits those not covered by the 2 groups below)

Soft Targets: Any player with obviously expolitable weaknesses (as a guide only: Low Bravery = hard tackling, Low Composure = Close Down always, Foot preference "only" = weaker foot. NB. "Low" stats = 7/20 or less for that stat at BSP level). Any player with low morale/form issues.

Hard Targets: Any player not considered "Soft" but needing looking after! (any season average rating or last 5 game rating of 7.0 + or high morale, or any other indication that they are key to their team)

Am not too concerned about tackling aggression levels, I always use the shout "stay on feet" as my team is always the "best" except in FAC ties against higher level teams (may need to review this after promotion!), and there were a few too many sending offs early season when using no shout and normal tackling throughout (maybe a bug but it makes sense for my Gallacticos (Ahem!) to hold back on the GBH !).

Its a starting point anyway!

Oh well, that was annoyingly inconclusive. Won 3-1 but their team had healthy stats throughout - with the exception of the back 4. Seems the OI's are most effective in that area, was hoping for a massacre.

[Finknottle]

Whilst I was typing, you've already headed towards the same conclusion I have.

Although I prefer the new interface for setting up set pieces, it's the first time it's been implemented and only through good observations, such as you've highlighted, can any actual/potential issues be ironed out fully in the future patches or releases.

heathxxx. Reference, defending corners. Overnight, in a blinding flash of light, this occurred to me. Have both your full backs set to man mark. Have both of your central midfielders cover the posts. I am assuming that because they are both central midfielders, they will retrieve the respective positions, on clearing the oppositions corners, without the possibility of dragging your team out of it's shape. I'm sure that I am not the first person to think of this, so I shan't claim 'squatters rights' about it. I should add that I have not tested it as I do not test as such. My testing is in playing the game. To be honest, I woudn't know where or how to begin testing. I am of the opinion that to do testing, a working knowledge of the 'innards' of the match engine is required. I don't believe that the 'ordinary Joe's', like myself have that knowledge.

[heathxxx]

Oh well, that was annoyingly inconclusive. Won 3-1 but their team had healthy stats throughout - with the exception of the back 4. Seems the OI's are most effective in that area, was hoping for a massacre.

It's something I've noticed too. That it's most often opposing defenders that you can highlight as a "weak link" in the media prior to matches. Only rarely have I been able to choose midfielders or forwards, even if they have awful attributes, poor morale or poor form, that would seem to make more obvious choices.

Prior to one match towards the end of the season, I noticed one opponent had an MC with poor attributes, poor form and morale, yet only the option to highlight him as a "danger man" was available to select. Of course it's possible to select that in the hope that it applies unwanted pressure of expectation on the player concerned, but most often, it simply results in consternation from the press, unfortunately. Selecting "danger man" on a player who has good morale, is in form, but has a weak personality, low determination and composure, can sometimes work in your favour though.

Understandably this is indeed a tricky part of the game to navigate successfully sometimes, because the result of any media pressure you try to apply, might not seem to garner result you intended.

heathxxx. Reference, defending corners. Overnight, in a blinding flash of light, this occurred to me. Have both your full backs set to man mark. Have both of your central midfielders cover the posts. I am assuming that because they are both central midfielders, they will retrieve the respective positions, on clearing the oppositions corners, without the possibility of dragging your team out of it's shape. I'm sure that I am not the first person to think of this, so I shan't claim 'squatters rights' about it. I should add that I have not tested it as I do not test as such. My testing is in playing the game. To be honest, I woudn't know where or how to begin testing. I am of the opinion that to do testing, a working knowledge of the 'innards' of the match engine is required. I don't believe that the 'ordinary Joe's', like myself have that knowledge.

Good call with the idea of using central midfielders on the posts oescus. I think I'll give that approach with the midfielders a whirl, as you have raised some valid concerns regarding the full-backs being "wrong sided" when the corner is taken from one side or the other. Even though I haven't particularly seen the potential issue we discussed happen a lot, because I don't seem to concede too many corners and therefore the variety of outcomes is reduced, I do believe that prevention is better than cure.

For what it's worth though, you don't need a vast knowledge of the "innards" of the game to raise your thoughts and suggestions. Just good observation of what you see happening in front of you, which in this case, you have been.

[Finknottle]

Thanks heathxxx and all these long years I believed that I was an 'idjit'. I'm currently 'in between' saves and messing around. I am trying to get out of the habits of returning to old teams like Portsmouth, Hull Ciy. Ipswich Town etcetra. I thought that this year that Portsmouth, especially, would be quite a difficult team to manage. However, without bringing in any players on a 'free' or loan I played the in game 4-4-2 and using the 'shouts' got promoted. I thought also, similarly about Hull City but managed the same with them, although I did have to bring in a GK, Adriano Basso, on a free and a striker, Spinesi, also on a free. I am thinking that Tranmere Rovers may not be as easy, so I might restart with them. I shall certainly check out the corner 'thingy', though.

[nmwaldron]

I think I'm too tempromental for this game. After losing the last 10 games of my second season with crewe I basically fired my entire team (starting with the goalkeeper and defense cause they leaked like a sieve) and bought in a whole new one with a much more defensive back five. Yep, a flat back five. I looked for defenders that were all in double digits for the attributes neccessary for their positions and was able to get them. Ignored my scout and ass mans reports as that's what I'd been using mostly so far. Even with these players fitting their roles properly, even with the strongest side in league 1, we still suck. We still leak goals like there's no tomorrow.

There's one thing for sure, Crewe won't let me keep buying a whole new team each season...lol

[heathxxx]

Ahh... but are you now scoring more than you concede, or do things seem to have collapsed utterly around you?

If the latter, then it might be a case of "back to basics". Pause, take stock and don't do anything... erm... rash!

I would love to use some different tactics and styles of play, but the basic attacking 4-4-2 I'm using is working well and perhaps more importantly, the players work well with it. If you find a tactical outlook that's working well, the players are comfortable with it, resist the urge to change tactics, but pay more attention to motivation, exploiting the media, preparation and observation before and during games.

[heathxxx]

Just before I present an overview of this first season with AFC Telford, let me just mention one thing that I found quite interesting...

I didn't win the BSN Manager of the Year award... didn't come second... or even third, despite having won Manager of the Month six times out of a possible nine.

"Hmmm... why's that then" I pondered. Then I realised something, having remembered casting a vote for the award myself. It's voted for by the managers. Yes, all those managers you've upset during the course of the season... cursing them in the press, getting the upper hand in the mind-games, or simply dismissing their ability... they gave me the two-finger salute. They remember!

Not too concerned, it has to be said. Indeed, I found it quite amusing to think that although I'd done exceptionally well with my team, I'd upset enough opposing managers along the way for them to snub me for an award.

[heathxxx]

Here's the overview of the first season then...

LEAGUE

[heathxxx]

CUPS

Pleasing FA Cup run, but culminating in a game where I was completely demolished by Crystal Palace away. Believe me, we were lucky to get away with 3-0 in a match that so easily could have ended in double figures!

The result against Millwall was great fun though. They were second in the Championship at the time, so we literally went to the "lion's den" and mugged them for a result!

Other than that, most pleasing was the 3-2 win over Crewe Alexandria, having been 2-0 down at half-time, I had to make some changes and really encourage the team.

[heathxxx]

Note that although there's a green circle next to the second-leg result of the semi-final against Luton, the game was actually lost 2-1. The green circle reflects the aggregate result of both legs.

If you're looking at the FA Trophy final and thinking "wow", then look a little closer at the details. We were 2-0 up, before my team appeared to forget that they're allowed to defend properly. A penalty gave us a narrow 3-2 lead at half-time though. Second-half started and Fleetwood still appeared to have the upper hand, despite what I hoped would be a rousing team-talk.

Then, they had a player sent off for a professional foul, conceding a penalty at the same time. The penalty was scored to give us a 4-2 lead. I decided to ramp up the pressure by assigning more closing down on their defenders with the OI's, but also dropped from "attacking" to "control", in order to keep possession, pass the ball around and tire them out, whilst looking to force errors. Simply put, they fell apart.

Just shows how one moment in a match can present a game changing opportunity. Sure, there's luck involved there, but what you do with that luck, is in your hands.

I would also like to take this opportunity to heartily thank the match referee... none other than Mr. Howard Webb!

[kajito99]

@ nmwaldron Did you get that regen through the original facilities that Crewe have or did you upgrade them? Just wondering whether I'll get a similar gem

[nmwaldron]

@ nmwaldron Did you get that regen through the original facilities that Crewe have or did you upgrade them? Just wondering whether I'll get a similar gem

No upgrades, came right through the regular facilities. I ended up selling him to Millwall for 3 mill in my 3rd season cause we needed the cash. He hit 35 goals for me that season though.

[Jenko_EFC]

That's very impressive heath. Not many get promoted in their first season never mind almost go unbeaten!

Hoping to follow suit but despite being unbeaten in the five games I've played so far, I can feel a loss coming and I think it will hurt us. I have a few dilemmas but because most are plain bad luck, I don't think we have luck on our side...

My best attacking fullback Ebdard is injured and just as he was coming back, faced another delay so I have to play my 'Utility Player' there. My backup Right-Winger is out for a while and my best Right-Winger is 35 and thus never in the best Condition and because my right-sided 'Utility Player' is filling in at Right-Back, I can't give him a rest. I definitely think we can turn it around though, when my Right-Back returns, we'll be in better shape because we can play a narrow, wingerless formation with him and my young leftback I mentioned overlapping.

Hopefully over Christmas I get some more free-time and get through alot more than I am now but I am determined not to rush through the save and I'm taking each game as it comes.

[heathxxx]

A large squad clearly helps matters.

I tried to have cover for each position, as well as signing players who are "natural", "accomplished" or "competent" in more than one position. For example, Eric Farro, who can play DL (natural), WBL (competent), ML (natural), AML (accomplished) and STC (competent). For me, he played most his games as my main AML, but he also provided excellent cover as a DL or STC.

With such players, you've got plenty of flexibility and cover for injuries and suspensions. Although I've not deviated from my 4-4-2 system all season since implementing it, if you have two or three formations or positional changes set up as part of your approach, then you've got players able to change role or position more easily. So for example, if you have one formation you use which is using wingers, whilst another which is winger-less, having players able to play AMC and AML, AMR or both flanks, is extremely helpful.

Mindful of the latter example in the context of my own team though, that's one reason why I didn't also use the narrow 4-2-3-1 system I like, because my wide players weren't capable of playing centrally.

Other than that, clearly the quality of the players I was able to find and sign, was another contributing factor. As I've said before though, do haggle during negotiations. At the start of the season I cleared my entire squad. I had several crap players there on around 400 quid a week. When I've been able to sign players easily twice as good, for half that in wages, then that's a big difference financially too. Sadly, it's why I always seem to end up with multiple nationalities in my squads, as invariably it seems far easier to negotiate lower wages with foreign players than "home" nation players.

The additional bonus, is that although he prefers a 4-3-3 formation, all his other preferences pretty much tie in with my own tactical philosophies.

Essentially, I've done nothing exceptional tactically, other than be quite observant before matches with the media, scout reports, plus during matches with assistant feedback and shouts. It's the whole package of things that leads to the sort of success I've shown.

I'm ploughing through summer at the moment. I'm already making a lot of squad changes. Fringe players are being sold or release (if there's no interest in them). Veteran players like Viola (41), Laslandes (39), Tessem (39) have all been offered new player/coach contracts. Although their coaching attributes aren't fantastic, they're good enough for this level, with three stars in the aspects of coaching I've assigned them. Tessem I had actually signed as a player/coach at the start of the first season and pleasingly, his coaching attributes actually seem to be improving.

I've made just over 150k from selling six of the fringe players, which all goes back into the kitty. It's also freeing up wage budget. I still haggle when looking to sign players and have made six new signings so far, all of whom are better quality players than I already had. The youngest of those players however, is Francis Jeffers at 30, though as I've also signed two other strikers, he'll probably play from the bench, as it's been suggested already by scouts/coaches and the media that he's quite injury prone.

Not having much joy with approaches I've made for younger players sadly, but I am persistent with my approaches for any that are both interested to negotiate and of the quality I'm looking for.

One mistake I did make before the end of the season, was to prematurely sack my assistant manager, thinking that I had managed to source another who was better. The "other" was always happy when concluding negotiations, but ultimately, always decided to reject my offers after a couple of days thinking about them. Subsequently I was really struggling to find anyone interested who was even on a par with the guy I'd sacked.

There has been light at the end of the tunnel though fortunately. I had managed to sign a Danish scout last season, who I had actually offered the assistant manager job to when I first approached him. He wasn't interested then, but did join as a scout. His contract was up for renewal, but after making repeated offers, he would reject them after consideration. So, I decided to try offering him the assistant's job that I'd first tried to sign him for and this time, he accepted. So not only have I now got the better assistant manager I wanted, I've managed to promote from within and retain the wealth of scouting knowledge he has, which contributes greatly to the overall scouting knowledge of my club.

[heathxxx]

Somehow and inadvertently managed to close my own thread!

Normal service has now resumed...

[dburns647]

Started a Lower League game for the first time on FM11, however I can't seem to be able to buy anyone from any Reunion club. When I click on a player, this is the screen I get:

[heathxxx]

dburns647 - Looks like you didn't follow the steps I highlighted in post #2 of the thread, particularly those in the third image.

You need to load players from Réunion via the "custom" option when you're setting up the game, how many active leagues you want and what database size/options you want to use.

What you're seeing there is a "grey". A generated player for non-playable clubs, who you can't sign.

[Jenko_EFC]

Somehow and inadvertently managed to close my own thread!

Normal service has now resumed...

Almost PM'ed you asking what you were doing, thought there might have been a mighty post coming up.

[heathxxx]

Nope... just busy ploughing through lists of potential signings before season two starts.

There's a hell of a lot of players I've approached, who in all likelihood I've about as much chance of signing, as I have of plaiting my own poop... but the thing is...

You never know unless you try!

[nmwaldron]

Can anyone give specific examples on how they;ve used their pre match opposition scout report to setup their match preperation? I'm having a hard time differentiating what to prepare for based on the info I get eg. "Like's to play the ball to feet" etc.

If this is indeed how people are using match preperation. The way I have been using it is to simply look at the game odds and if I'm favorite, use attacking prep and if I'm not, use defending prep. I just don't feel I'm getting the most out of it though.

P.s, started a new save as Eastwood Town (am originally from Heanor) as I got drummed out of Crewe after failing to get them to the championship after 3 seasons

[gardengnome23]

I've been readin this thread for a while now and I thought it's time to post. I'm loving my current save where I am managing FC United. I used uncle rons level 7 and 8 database and started with them at level 7. Two consecutive promotions later and were in the blue square bet premier. First season we finished mid table. Second season there we finished 3rd way behind the leaders but lost in the playoff semis. 3rd season in conference prem we finished 9th. Not good! but since reading this thread I worked out where I was going wrong and I was over complicating big time. So now just like Heath I've gone back to a simple 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 and it's made all the difference. I realise how important it is to keep things simple in the lower leaues and I spend a lot more time looking at the opposition before a game and its working really well. I'll post an update at the end of this season. But thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread so far, reading it has made a big difference to how I play the game and maybe I'll be able to come up with a few ideas or tips after this season.

[phnompenhandy]

Can anyone give specific examples on how they;ve used their pre match opposition scout report to setup their match preperation? I'm having a hard time differentiating what to prepare for based on the info I get eg. "Like's to play the ball to feet" etc.

If this is indeed how people are using match preperation. The way I have been using it is to simply look at the game odds and if I'm favorite, use attacking prep and if I'm not, use defending prep. I just don't feel I'm getting the most out of it though.

P.s, started a new save as Eastwood Town (am originally from Heanor) as I got drummed out of Crewe after failing to get them to the championship after 3 seasons

If the scout identifies the opposition forwards as not up to much in the air, I can select defenders with low jumping. If he is an aerial target man I need tall DCs and I need to tight mark or take out the wingers who supply the crosses. If he 'likes ball to feet' tight mark him (and hard tackle if he's cowardly). If the defence is slow I will select 2 nippy forwards, whereas if the defence is okay, one of my strikers will be my strong tall target man. The pitch dimensions affect how wide or narrow I play, and if I select mixed/play through the middle or use the flanks. If the scout identifies a dangerman, I'll either wither him or big him up in the press; the pressure often results in destroying his morale.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

This post is titled "Eastbourne Boro taught me a tactical lesson last night" !

Very annoying, a good run of wins ended by a 2-1 drubbing at Eastbourne (it felt more like 4-0). So what went wrong ? (excuse the analysis but a few pennies dropped afterwards thinking about this one!).

The Eastbourne advanced SC (in a 442) constantly took a position between my DC's, frequently getting good supply that enabled him with the space to turn my last line of Defence (Central Defender Cover) and create chance after chance. All their players had awesome moral all match, despite a lot having low bravery or composure and being targetted with OI's for hard tackling & Closing Down respectively.

Pre match I had decided that only the back 4 seem to be flappable by targetted OI's and had planned to leave all Midfield/Forwards alone in that respect - but I had a change of heart just before KO. I am now convinced even after only a handful of experimetal OI games that this is the way forward. I can now also clearly see that as the SC (Taylor ?) was seemingly invincible, the trick was to cut off supply (more pressing should have helped there). I have to admit I hadnt checked that I had the right DC's at my two roles of CD Cover & CD Stopper. Suspect the slow man was inadvertantly playing the rearward role.

[Finknottle]

heathxxx. Sorry for not posting earlier. Been under the weather, don't you know? All well, now! I've looked repeatedly at putting the two central midfielders on the posts, both for defensive corners and defensive free kicks. What I see is that as the corner/free kick is cleared, both central midfielders run in more or less straight line towards the centre circle. The two full backs return to their respective positions, also. This set up also appears to congest the midfield in your half as your team clears it's lines. I am hoping that this situation inadvertently may well stop the opposition from getting in a long shot as your defence moves up. I hope this appears as logical to you and everyone else as it does to me. I shall now watch to see how many shots the 'AI' gets in as my players push out.

[nmwaldron]

If the scout identifies the opposition forwards as not up to much in the air, I can select defenders with low jumping. If he is an aerial target man I need tall DCs and I need to tight mark or take out the wingers who supply the crosses. If he 'likes ball to feet' tight mark him (and hard tackle if he's cowardly). If the defence is slow I will select 2 nippy forwards, whereas if the defence is okay, one of my strikers will be my strong tall target man. The pitch dimensions affect how wide or narrow I play, and if I select mixed/play through the middle or use the flanks. If the scout identifies a dangerman, I'll either wither him or big him up in the press; the pressure often results in destroying his morale.

Thanks for the info, how about if it tells you to stop their strikers getting the ball to feet because they're not an arial threat, what OIs or shouts can you use for that?

[linger32]

Hi Gents

I'm a newbie to this forum been playing cm/fm since 93 so not new to the game itself. i'm not a big poster so you wont see much of me but i had to comment on this thread it has been a massive help in my quest to find a save i can really get into as was getting really bored of the normal premier league saves i normally play. i have often tried to manage in the lower leagues but fail almost everytime. I now belive after reading this thread its mainly due to me over complicating things. I have started a save with my local team BSS team Eastleigh (near Southampton if anyone cares) predicted to finish 11th. I have implemented almost all your suggestions from this thread and to my delight its mid november and i'm 5 points clear at the top with a game in hand.

Keep up the good work people:thup:

[phnompenhandy]

Thanks for the info, how about if it tells you to stop their strikers getting the ball to feet because they're not an arial threat, what OIs or shouts can you use for that?

That's tight-marking the forward, with the possibility of roughing him up with hard tackling if he's a bit fairy.

[phnompenhandy]

Hey, we've got Eastbourne, Eastwood, Eastleigh in the last few posts - is it coming up to East er?

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

This post is titled "Eastbourne Boro taught me a tactical lesson last night" !

Very annoying, a good run of wins ended by a 2-1 drubbing at Eastbourne (it felt more like 4-0). So what went wrong ? (excuse the analysis but a few pennies dropped afterwards thinking about this one!).

The Eastbourne advanced SC (in a 442) constantly took a position between my DC's, frequently getting good supply that enabled him with the space to turn my last line of Defence (Central Defender Cover) and create chance after chance. All their players had awesome moral all match, despite a lot having low bravery or composure and being targetted with OI's for hard tackling & Closing Down respectively.

Pre match I had decided that only the back 4 seem to be flappable by targetted OI's and had planned to leave all Midfield/Forwards alone in that respect - but I had a change of heart just before KO. I am now convinced even after only a handful of experimetal OI games that this is the way forward. I can now also clearly see that as the SC (Taylor ?) was seemingly invincible, the trick was to cut off supply (more pressing should have helped there). I have to admit I hadnt checked that I had the right DC's at my two roles of CD Cover & CD Stopper. Suspect the slow man was inadvertantly playing the rearward role.

Just tried the simplified back four only OI idea, won 3-0 and after it my fans spokesman said they were "very pleased" - they were rarely that when I was winning every game on a long winning run. It did feel like total domination though.

[Gazza56]

1st season in League one with my Woking save, really frustrating, would get a good run of results against the top teams and then lose to teams below me in the league!!........was tipped to go straight back down at the start of the season and finished 14th and retained the JPT so all in all a very good season.

Have decided to start striping my squad and bringing in new players, think ive reached the limit for some of the guys in the squad, so all the hard work i put in at the beginning of the save starts again!!

[MichaelBrown]

I'm suprised you didn't go for Ismael Fofana Heath, he did a job for me in league one. I wanted to sign him but it was a case between Liam O'Brien or Fofana.

[nmwaldron]

Having a good run with eastwood...I didn't see Fofana, I do have O Brien though in my mid and he's doing a good job.

[nmwaldron]

Any update on where you're at with your save Heath? How did the 2nd season in the BSP go? Any good players you picked up?

[glynnbob]

Any update on where you're at with your save Heath? How did the 2nd season in the BSP go? Any good players you picked up?

how you getting on with your eastwood save mate im from hucknall and am waiting for santa to bring me fm11 and a new laptop!!

[nmwaldron]

I'm not doing too bad. Got them promoted to the BSP the first season, got into the playoffs in the 2nd season but lost Won the FA Vase though. Struggling to find better players in my third season though. Really wanna make that push out of non league. The way Derby are going in my save I'll probably be meeting them in league 2

Good luck with the laptop, hope you've been good

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

Heath, please excuse this slightly spammy post but can you give your thoughts please....

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/245451-Scouts-how-do-they-really-work?p=6277327#post6277327