Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)

[superdave]

1 hour ago, Sussex Hammer said:

Thanks but tried all that.  It's very frustrating because dribble less they just stand there waiting to be tackled, but with dribble more they just run straight into the defenders.

What setting do you use when you watch the match?  I wonder if the issue isn't that yournforward loses the ball more than he should.  Instead, the issue might be that every time he loses he ball, it results in a highlight due to your tactic being vulnerable to counters.

i usually watch the whole match the first five minutes or so then go comprehensive.  My last two league matches were meaningless because I'm guaranteed 3rd, and I've watched extensive, and it makes a difference in understanding what is going on.

Edited January 2, 2017 by superdave

[Sussex Hammer]

43 minutes ago, oohlala111 said:

Well, I have a tactic that won me the league and EFL Cup and got me to the UCL final and FA Cup semi-finals in my first year at Spurs, as well as one that has got me 3 wins from my 4 away matches with UAE solely for away games- if you want I'll post some screenshots for them because Spurs and West Ham are quite similar and the tactic might work for you too  I have a 4-2-3-1 possession and control tactics as well but they haven't been tried and tested like the other two so just give me the signal and I'll post some screenies  

If you decide you would like a tactic but only 1, just let me know whether it's the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 you want- obviously I won't be offended if you don't want either of them, it's your decision and I fully understand if you want to make one yourself. I don't wanna sound like I'm forcing it upon you  

Not at all cheers, I quite like a 433 although I am trying to get a 4141 and a 4411 right at the mo.  Can try the 433 if that's ok?

20 minutes ago, superdave said:

What setting do you use when you watch the match?  I wonder if the issue isn't that yournforward loses the ball more than he should.  Instead, the issue might be that every time he loses he ball, it results in a highlight due to your tactic being vulnerable to counters.

i usually watch the whole match the first five minutes or so then go comprehensive.  My last two league matches were meaningless because I'm guaranteed 3rd, and I've watched extensive, and it makes a difference in understanding what is going on.

Generally Key but I have been using comprehensive recently to try and see what's going on and see this happening quite frequently.  Unfortunately I am playing FMT so the stats aren't as in depth so it's difficult to find out how often a striker loses possession as it isn't classed as a mistake.

[oohlala111]

1 hour ago, Sussex Hammer said:

Not at all cheers, I quite like a 433 although I am trying to get a 4141 and a 4411 right at the mo.  Can try the 433 if that's ok?

Sure! It's more successful away from home for me but hopefully it'll be good for you everywhere   Excuse the players being picked already, a match is coming up soon  

Formation/Player Roles | Player Instructions | Results (away matches highlighted in yellow).

UPDATE: I just beat Uzbekistan, regarded to be the 2nd strongest team in the group ahead of us (and about 30 places above in the world rankings) 4-1 at home with this 4-3-3 tactic; I also beat them away as you can see with my results- we were 2-0 down at one point but won it in the 90th min! This latest result proves that this tactic is just as efficient at home, it's just that I didn't try it before  

Edited January 2, 2017 by oohlala111

[Hootieleece]

Stupid Questions:

What is the real difference between the Central Defender Roles: Defender/Stopper/Cover?

I play with a CD-D and CD-C in my back four.

CD-D is the primary defender of opposing strikers?

CD-C does same but also tries to clean up mistakes?

CD-S tries to break up attacks BEFORE they get into 18 yard box?

That's what I understand from reading the roles.

 

[phnompenhandy]

5 hours ago, Hootieleece said:

Stupid Questions:

What is the real difference between the Central Defender Roles: Defender/Stopper/Cover?

I play with a CD-D and CD-C in my back four.

CD-D is the primary defender of opposing strikers?

CD-C does same but also tries to clean up mistakes?

CD-S tries to break up attacks BEFORE they get into 18 yard box?

That's what I understand from reading the roles.

 

Your ideas are correct. Look closely at your tactics screen when you change the CD's role. Cover drops slightly deeper than Defend, and Stopper steps up.  So a stopper will move closer to the opposition attacker to tackle or block, whereas the cover will step back to sweep up if the attacker gets beyond the S or D.  I put my quickest CD on cover duty

[Hootieleece]

6 hours ago, phnompenhandy said:

Your ideas are correct. Look closely at your tactics screen when you change the CD's role. Cover drops slightly deeper than Defend, and Stopper steps up.  So a stopper will move closer to the opposition attacker to tackle or block, whereas the cover will step back to sweep up if the attacker gets beyond the S or D.  I put my quickest CD on cover duty

I noticed that also when checking the tactics screen. I usually do put a fast CD on Cover duty, but I also like high anticipation, decisions and positioning as well.

Also I can find very few players suited to the role as defined by the Tactics Screen.

[m1sza]

Hello,

I have a few questions, please help:

1. General training - I know what each type stands for but my question are:
a) How long should I stick with one type for example Attacking? (3 weeks? 3 months?...)
b) There is training overview with % for all types. Any prefered distribution? - Especially for my possesion/control tactic?
c) Your opinion on balanced training? ... Result of 24/7 balanced?

2. Preparation for match - should i get scout with tactical knowledge and scout current skills => with tactical knowledge and current skills he will suggest most suitable preparation for match?
Till the tactic knowledge is full I use tactical prep... what should I use after? The one what scout suggest me or am I supposed to do some specific prep?
 

[herne79]

1 hour ago, m1sza said:

Hello,

I have a few questions, please help:

1. General training - I know what each type stands for but my question are:
a) How long should I stick with one type for example Attacking? (3 weeks? 3 months?...)
b) There is training overview with % for all types. Any prefered distribution? - Especially for my possesion/control tactic?
c) Your opinion on balanced training? ... Result of 24/7 balanced?

2. Preparation for match - should i get scout with tactical knowledge and scout current skills => with tactical knowledge and current skills he will suggest most suitable preparation for match?
Till the tactic knowledge is full I use tactical prep... what should I use after? The one what scout suggest me or am I supposed to do some specific prep?
 

a) You'll get more benefit from sticking with one type of General Training for 3 months at a time.

b) Don't understand the question.

c) Balanced training is just fine and will give you good results.  Altering general training every 3 months or so can give slightly improved results, but requires you to micro manage it properly, especially in relation to individual training plans.  That can take a fair amount of your time and effort to do effectively, and not everyone wants to do that.

2. A scout with tactical knowledge can help, just remember that even a scout with 20 for all relevant attributes may not be 100% accurate, so don't just rely on scout reports.

Use whatever match preparation you feel is needed.  Perhaps you have been conceding too many goals from set pieces?  May be your defenders keep getting caught out of position?  Again, you can use the advice received to help you decide here, just don't rely on it all the time.

[m1sza]

7 minutes ago, herne79 said:

a) You'll get more benefit from sticking with one type of General Training for 3 months at a time.

b) Don't understand the question.

c) Balanced training is just fine and will give you good results.  Altering general training every 3 months or so can give slightly improved results, but requires you to micro manage it properly, especially in relation to individual training plans.  That can take a fair amount of your time and effort to do effectively, and not everyone wants to do that.

2. A scout with tactical knowledge can help, just remember that even a scout with 20 for all relevant attributes may not be 100% accurate, so don't just rely on scout reports.

Use whatever match preparation you feel is needed.  Perhaps you have been conceding too many goals from set pieces?  May be your defenders keep getting caught out of position?  Again, you can use the advice received to help you decide here, just don't rely on it all the time.

b) http://imgur.com/a/Ug5HX so for example it should look like 20% team cohesion (2 new players) and 80% of one general training?

c) so if i choose general training attacking and adjust winger,striker and midfielder to train finishing (or some atribute from attacking training) it will go better?

 

2. omg i was so wrong then... vs stronger teams i would set for defending, vs weaker attacking etc.

 

+ 1 additional question - I have 100% tactic knowledge, how should i set this: http://imgur.com/a/IEKrL

[Pippadoc]

Does the preferred formation of your Head of Youth Development have an effect on the positions of players in your youth intake?

Do any other factors such as your tactics affect it?

[Repsalty]

What can one do when your team fails to capitalize on CCCs? I'm getting more and more frustrated by the inability of my team to put away goals from CCCs, it's losing us so many points it's crazy. On top of that even when we finally score, my team starts to get very nervous and starts playing complete rubbish and sometimes even concedes right away. Just to specify, this is not a single occurrence we hardly ever finish a game where we have more goals than CCCs and since we score about half our goals without creating a CCC it's pretty ridiculous.

Edit: O and it's not 1 single person that fails, it's just all of the players.

Edited January 5, 2017 by Repsalty

[herne79]

1 hour ago, Pippadoc said:

Does the preferred formation of your Head of Youth Development have an effect on the positions of players in your youth intake?

Do any other factors such as your tactics affect it?

Yes it can do.  The HOYD personality can also affect newgen personality.  As far as I'm aware your tactics won't influence newgen positions.

28 minutes ago, Repsalty said:

What can one do when your team fails to capitalize on CCCs? I'm getting more and more frustrated by the inability of my team to put away goals from CCCs, it's losing us so many points it's crazy. On top of that even when we finally score, my team starts to get very nervous and starts playing complete rubbish and sometimes even concedes right away. Just to specify, this is not a single occurrence we hardly ever finish a game where we have more goals than CCCs and since we score about half our goals without creating a CCC it's pretty ridiculous.

Edit: O and it's not 1 single person that fails, it's just all of the players.

There could be any number of reasons why your players are failing to convert chances, but without knowing your detailed tactical set up it's impossible to be specific.

Bad composure, too much tempo, poor positioning, lack of consistency, bad decision making / finishing, quality of player, quality of opposition, unable to cope with pressure etc etc may all have an impact for example.  On top of that, if your players start looking nervous, that may indicate an inability to cope with pressure situations or even a dodgy team talk from their manager.

Perhaps also you are tinkering too much (or not enough) at crucial times.  But like I said we don't know your set up so we can't say.  Create a new thread and provide detail of exactly what your system is, examples of issues you are seeing and what you have been doing already.  Before you do that however, look at the examples I just gave above and see if any of it rings true.

[Pippadoc]

@herne79 Thanks for the quick reply!

[kiad_]

I'm having a bit of a problem with my team at the moment. I'm finding that I am bossing games in all the stats but am coming away with poor final results. A typical game will have +60% possession with maybe 15-20 shots (3-5 CCC) and another 15-20 corners (of which I have a conversion rate of about 1%). I will be outplaying the opposition and coming close to scoring, only to concede to a free kick or some other ****** goal. This causes me to play from behind a lot and it's very frustrating. Even the games I win are by narrow margins. I've tried changing formations and PIs but it seems like every game goes the same way. I'm playing as Roma so it's not like I am a mid table team, but when I'm barely hanging on 1-0 at home to Palermo I know that something is not right.

[Fosse]

26 minutes ago, kiad_ said:

I'm having a bit of a problem with my team at the moment. I'm finding that I am bossing games in all the stats but am coming away with poor final results. A typical game will have +60% possession with maybe 15-20 shots (3-5 CCC) and another 15-20 corners (of which I have a conversion rate of about 1%). I will be outplaying the opposition and coming close to scoring, only to concede to a free kick or some other ****** goal. This causes me to play from behind a lot and it's very frustrating. Even the games I win are by narrow margins. I've tried changing formations and PIs but it seems like every game goes the same way. I'm playing as Roma so it's not like I am a mid table team, but when I'm barely hanging on 1-0 at home to Palermo I know that something is not right.

Post you r full detailed tactical set up. At surface level it seems that you're perhaps too aggressive and over committing 

[kiad_]

2 hours ago, Fosse said:

Post you r full detailed tactical set up. At surface level it seems that you're perhaps too aggressive and over committing 

I switch things around a bit, but this was the last game (which was a 2-2 draw with Sampdoria). I've included a screenshot of the Genoa match to highlight a very nervy 1-0 in a game that I should have destroyed (I used the same set up for that game)

Edited January 5, 2017 by kiad_

[AFCBeer]

You've basically got no defensive cover at all. 4 attack duties down the flanks is extremely aggressive. The midfield 3 is not a particularly good shield either. The BBM and BWM will frequently be out of position meaning your DLP will just get overrun. I actually see your DLP is suspended - probably just a co-incidence but could be an indication he is picking up bookings as he has so many tackles to make.

I'd remove at least one of your flank attack duties and consider changing your outside CM's as simple Support duty CM's.

[superdave]

@kiad_ to echo what AFC Beer said, a plain old Central mid can do more for your defense than a BWM.  You might be thinking, a BWM is primarily a defensive player so he'll help me defend, but it doesn't work that way.  You need a player sitting in the middle of the park to stop counters if you play very attacking.

put it this way...IRL some defensive midfielders excel in the role because they rack up a large number of tackles.  Or fouls.  They actively break up plays.  Others are effective in the role in a way that's hard to see on TV, you need to be at the game.  Those players don't focus on stopping the man with the ball.  The focus on making sure the man with the ball can't do anything with it.  If you're very attack minded, that type of defensive minded mid is better than a BWM.  The latter is hopeless in a 2v1.  The species of dm that focuses on blocking passing lanes is better.

you replicate that with CM (d) or maybe a CM (s) with hold position.

it took me like 8 seasons of my current save game to figure this out, so it's not like I'm smart. 

In particular, BBM and BWM is a terrible combination.  There's no solidity.

[Muerte706]

Thank God i found this thread. Here is my question:

What's wrong with defenders trying to pass the ball back with the head from long balls from behind? This occured to me like 5,6 times by now. From the start of the season already twice. They pass the ball back to GK, but it's too short, the striker comes picks the lost ball and scores. I play a 4-3-2-1 with high line and pressing all over the field. 

[Dr. Hook]

28 minutes ago, Muerte706 said:

Thank God i found this thread. Here is my question:

What's wrong with defenders trying to pass the ball back with the head from long balls from behind? This occured to me like 5,6 times by now. From the start of the season already twice. They pass the ball back to GK, but it's too short, the striker comes picks the lost ball and scores. I play a 4-3-2-1 with high line and pressing all over the field. 

Without seeing anything else about your setup: if they are heading balls over the top back to the keeper then your line is probably too high- the defenders aren't back enough to get a proper touch on the ball and make a good pass. Either get faster defenders or drop your d-line slightly.

[Muerte706]

1 hour ago, Dr. Hook said:

Without seeing anything else about your setup: if they are heading balls over the top back to the keeper then your line is probably too high- the defenders aren't back enough to get a proper touch on the ball and make a good pass. Either get faster defenders or drop your d-line slightly.

Here are the screenshots. 

Even my LB did the same mistake.

Edited January 6, 2017 by Muerte706

[Dr. Hook]

@Muerte706

I would say that it almost certainly a problem of your d-line being too high. You can tell in game when the opposition launches a forward ball toward your half, if you players have to turn around and haul back to get into position, your line is higher than it should be for safety. In your case, your line is pretty high- you already play control which sets a high line, and then you are telling them to push up even more. They are at risk of getting caught out. Since your guys are getting beat over the top completely, probably all you need to do is drop your line to normal, which, with control, is still high. That *should* sort out your problem more or less. 

 

[superdave]

1 hour ago, Dr. Hook said:

@Muerte706

I would say that it almost certainly a problem of your d-line being too high. You can tell in game when the opposition launches a forward ball toward your half, if you players have to turn around and haul back to get into position, your line is higher than it should be for safety. In your case, your line is pretty high- you already play control which sets a high line, and then you are telling them to push up even more. They are at risk of getting caught out. Since your guys are getting beat over the top completely, probably all you need to do is drop your line to normal, which, with control, is still high. That *should* sort out your problem more or less. 

 

Could he also reduce this error by setting his GK to keeper-sweeper, or whatever it's called?

[Dr. Hook]

Just now, superdave said:

Could he also reduce this error by setting his GK to keeper-sweeper, or whatever it's called?

Possibly- the SK could rush out and pick up the ball; they don't always work as they should though, so better if he can address the core issue first

[Barnet]

Hopefully a simple question.  It seems that no matter what I try, when playing against 2 CBs, 1 centrally positioned Striker is more effective than 2 side by side of any type.  Is there anything I can do to encourage a 2 striker formation to create space as effectively?  It seems counter-intuitive that I should have more success with one striker than with two.  BTW I play almost exclusively LLM so the quality of strikers is pretty shoddy

[Dr. Hook]

5 hours ago, Barnet said:

Hopefully a simple question.  It seems that no matter what I try, when playing against 2 CBs, 1 centrally positioned Striker is more effective than 2 side by side of any type.  Is there anything I can do to encourage a 2 striker formation to create space as effectively?  It seems counter-intuitive that I should have more success with one striker than with two.  BTW I play almost exclusively LLM so the quality of strikers is pretty shoddy

You have to have them moving around- I always play very LLM and you are right about the strikers, but then the defenders are pretty shoddy too   A classic advanced/deep lying combo works well, but what is really helpful is to make sure you have a midfielder getting into the box. Essentially, you overload the two CBs when possible. You may have to play around a bit to find the best combo for your particular guys and tactical setup, but don't be afraid to try two support strikers. You want to drag the defenders around as much as you can to create space. The reason single striker formations tend to work is because there are always multiple guys getting forward and from different areas of the pitch, which can create a marking/positioning dilemma for a two man center back setup.

[Muerte706]

15 hours ago, superdave said:

Could he also reduce this error by setting his GK to keeper-sweeper, or whatever it's called?

Same mistake happened with slightly low defensive line. I will try the sweeper keeper. 

[GJS93]

maybe not the best section to put it in but here goes, has anyone had problems with the defenders positions at attacking throw ins? always set it up to have the 2 cbs and the right fb stay back if its on the left, left fb stay back if its on the right but the 2 cbs are switching to the opposite sides, i have 1 cb set as defend, the other as cover, is that maybe why they are switching?

conceded on a couple of occasions after losing the ball at a throw in and the 3 defenders trying to swap positions with each other while the opposition run through on goal, annoying!

[Areolys]

I was wondering if there's any advantage in signing a coach as a fitness coach instead of a regular coach?

[Nr. 9]

34 minutes ago, Areolys said:

I was wondering if there's any advantage in signing a coach as a fitness coach instead of a regular coach?

I believe you can use specialist coaches (fitness and goalkeeping) in your youth teams. Normal first team coaches are first team only.

Not that it is really an advantage.

[71834]

Am I right in thinking there's currently no way to make your team defend narrowly as the team width setting only affects positioning in possession?

[herne79]

20 minutes ago, 71834 said:

Am I right in thinking there's currently no way to make your team defend narrowly as the team width setting only affects positioning in possession?

There's no need to as this is done by default.  When out of possession your team transitions back into a compact defensive unit already.

[71834]

5 minutes ago, herne79 said:

There's no need to as this is done by default.  When out of possession your team transitions back into a compact defensive unit already.

There is a need if I want a more compact defensive unit than usual. Trying to play with a Simeone style of defending is impossible currently it seems

[herne79]

1 minute ago, 71834 said:

There is a need if I want a more compact defensive unit than usual. Trying to play with a Simeone style of defending is impossible currently it seems

More compactness is something different and not something mentioned in your original post .

You can't currently influence defensive compactness through tactical settings, could be interesting to be able to do so though.

Raise it in the Feature Requests forum.

[71834]

16 minutes ago, herne79 said:

More compactness is something different and not something mentioned in your original post .

You can't currently influence defensive compactness through tactical settings, could be interesting to be able to do so though.

Raise it in the Feature Requests forum.

Not really sure what you're on about to be honest. Compactness is just defined as: 'arranged within a relatively small space' i.e keeping your players close together, you seem to be implying it's something particularly special. Even spielverlagerung has its footballing definition as 'to maintain a short distance between the furthest players both horizontally and vertically' here:

http://spielverlagerung.com/2015/05/08/tactical-theory-compactness/

You can already affect vertical compactness through the team shape setting according to this post

You apparently cannot however, affect horizontal compactness which being able to decrease defensive width would obviously do.

[herne79]

16 minutes ago, 71834 said:

Not really sure what you're on about to be honest. Compactness is just defined as: 'arranged within a relatively small space' i.e keeping your players close together, you seem to be implying it's something particularly special. Even spielverlagerung has its footballing definition as 'to maintain a short distance between the furthest players both horizontally and vertically' here:

http://spielverlagerung.com/2015/05/08/tactical-theory-compactness/

You can already affect vertical compactness through the team shape setting according to this post

You apparently cannot however, affect horizontal compactness which being able to decrease defensive width would obviously do.

I'll repeat:

34 minutes ago, herne79 said:

You can't currently influence defensive compactness through tactical settings

I'm fully aware that Team Shape affects vertical compactness, but only when you are in possession of the ball I think is the part that you are missing.

Likewise, mentality does indeed affect width (horizontal compactness) - again, when you are in possession of the ball.

When you lose possession you may be able to transition slightly faster back into your compact defensive shape if you play more compactly simply because your players don't have quite so far to run, but that still doesn't affect your actual defensive shape as that can't be affected by any tactical setting.

 

[wkdsoul]

What stats effect the players speed to get full 'tactical familiarity' ? 

[71834]

1 hour ago, herne79 said:

but that still doesn't affect your actual defensive shape as that can't be affected by any tactical setting.

 

Thank you for the clarification, that's quite annoying to learn. Seems like there's quite a few oversights in the tactics part of the game from what I can tell anyway, forgive me if I've any of these wrong. Things like only very basic pressing options with no way to use pressing triggers. A basically broken target man role. Very limited customisation of roles. A team shape setting that makes very little sense and includes the unrelated settings of offensive compactness and creative freedom together. No in game clarification of how TIs, PIs and PPMs interact with each other. Stupidly wide sitting wingers when defending which you can't change. No option to allow three players to rotate positions with each other. No way to adjust how often two players switch position with each other. The number of longshots that False 9s take. No real way to allow massive amounts of positional freedom, making Cruyff-esque football impossible. The IWB role still not being brilliantly implemented, despite the newest update making some progress. Even the best AI managers failing to use the right players in the right roles most of the time.  Do you know if there's even any way to fix the half back role this year? Doesn't seem to push the CBs wide enough in my experience, haven't tried in a 3 cb formation yet though. Also can wingers be used a similar to way to how Guardiola used them at the start of the season? Basically sitting very wide and providing the team's main source of width. They seem to drift inside a little too much for me.

I'm aware this isn't the feature request forum and that games will always have issues but the lack of sophistication in tactics in fm can get pretty frustrating at times.

[fmFutbolManager]

How do you stop two-footed challenges? I'm up to my fifth red card this season because of them and I'm now in March.

[Dr. Hook]

2 hours ago, OneUnited said:

How do you stop two-footed challenges? I'm up to my fifth red card this season because of them and I'm now in March.

Find players with lower dirtiness ratings- on your coach report, you should see "has a competitive streak" note for guys that are prone to bookable offenses. Without more info, its hard to say specifically- is it the same player, players in same position, instructed to tackle harder? There are ways to mitigate it a bit, but you'd need to tell us the pattern of how this is happening.

[fmFutbolManager]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Hook said:

Find players with lower dirtiness ratings- on your coach report, you should see "has a competitive streak" note for guys that are prone to bookable offenses. Without more info, its hard to say specifically- is it the same player, players in same position, instructed to tackle harder? There are ways to mitigate it a bit, but you'd need to tell us the pattern of how this is happening.

Latest player is Oscar. Playing as a Shadow Striker. Doesn't have any traits that would necessarily make him do this. I don't use 'get stuck in' or tackle harder as I know these usually get you booked or sent off. Hard to fine out why it's happening as nothing logically suggests they should be going in with two-feet.

[Dr. Hook]

8 minutes ago, OneUnited said:

Latest player is Oscar. Playing as a Shadow Striker. Doesn't have any traits that would necessarily make him do this. I don't use 'get stuck in' or tackle harder as I know these usually get you booked or sent off. Hard to fine out why it's happening as nothing logically suggests they should be going in with two-feet.

Sometimes they are just random events that happen in a game too- and it can happen to anyone. I've had players that never had a booking get sent off for a two-footer. It is pretty rare though. That many would suggest either really bad luck or some sort of low sportsmanship/high dirtiness combo in players that are not enough to trigger a coach report but enough to make them susceptible to bad challenges.

[Rummy]

Are there any ways to increase scouting range other than signing staff with regional knowledge? 

[herne79]

3 minutes ago, Rummy said:

Are there any ways to increase scouting range other than signing staff with regional knowledge? 

If you mean actually allowing scouts to be able to visit certain regions, you'll need to request that from your Board as and when you become more successful.  I think sometimes the Board will do this automatically following a promotion.

If on the other hand you mean just gaining the regional knowledge, send any scout to the region for a while.

[beardymouse]

Stupid question time. Last season I had great success with a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond. My full backs were attacking wing backs and they tore defences apart.

This season I'm getting exploited on the break more often. The FBs have pushed up and the opposition attacks as they struggle to get back. I can resolve this by adding wingers to add cover, but I lose my potency in attack.

would a higher defensive line (therefore having more bodies forward to quickly stymie any counter attack) help? 

Edited January 8, 2017 by beardymouse

[Dr. Hook]

5 hours ago, beardymouse said:

Stupid question time. Last season I had great success with a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond. My full backs were attacking wing backs and they tore defences apart.

This season I'm getting exploited on the break more ofteny. The FBs have pushed up and the opposition attacks as they struggle to get back. I can resolve this by adding wingers to add cover, but I lose my potency in attack.

would a higher defensive line (therefore having more bodies forward to quickly stymie any counter attack) help? 

The high line can help, sure, but does open a new set of things to watch for like balls over the top or through the line. Another way to deal with this (and what I prefer) is to make sure I have central midfielders that will cover the space when the fullbacks are way out. I have a diamond that I use regularly- one of two things I have done: two BWM supports to cover the space on the flanks, or CM(S) with players that have good workrate, teamwork, and aggression who will move out to cover. Currently, I have 2 wingback in my diamond, and on one side a BWM, the other a CM(S), and they do a fine job of moving out wide to cover.

[beardymouse]

4 hours ago, Dr. Hook said:

The high line can help, sure, but does open a new set of things to watch for like balls over the top or through the line. Another way to deal with this (and what I prefer) is to make sure I have central midfielders that will cover the space when the fullbacks are way out. I have a diamond that I use regularly- one of two things I have done: two BWM supports to cover the space on the flanks, or CM(S) with players that have good workrate, teamwork, and aggression who will move out to cover. Currently, I have 2 wingback in my diamond, and on one side a BWM, the other a CM(S), and they do a fine job of moving out wide to cover.

Great, thank you. I was trying to work out how to get my two midfield players to do this, so will give that a go first. Thanks!

[JWVG]

Stupid training question, would like to hear some opinions:

I like to teach very one-footed GKs and defenders to avoid their weak foot, and MCs and strikers to develop theirs.

Do you think this is beneficial or am I just wasting training time and stuff?

[herne79]

1 minute ago, JWVG said:

Stupid training question, would like to hear some opinions:

I like to teach very one-footed GKs and defenders to avoid their weak foot, and MCs and strikers to develop theirs.

Do you think this is beneficial or am I just wasting training time and stuff?

You're never wasting time if it's what you like to do.

If on the other hand you're asking whether it's necessary to help your players play better, that's probably debatable.  Personally I don't think it is and have never bothered developing the weaker foot (or avoiding it).  I'll even quite happily play a left footed inside forward on the left wing for example.  That doesn't make me right and you wrong of course, that's just anecdotal and simply personal preference - there is no right or wrong.

[Dr. Hook]

4 hours ago, beardymouse said:

Great, thank you. I was trying to work out how to get my two midfield players to do this, so will give that a go first. Thanks!

Welcome- the BWM will be the role that does this for you, but the CM(S) offers a bit more reliability but requires the right player to cover well. Let me know how it works for you