The SI Sports Centre - DISCUSSION THREAD

[aderow]

It will if you don't pay close attention or know what to change. It's not a formation I'd use until you become comfortable with the ME and know how it works.

I think thats been my biggest problem. I started using these formations thinking without too much previous knowledge almost expecting to master it in a matter of days.

Now thats certainly not been the case and it has led to a lot of frustration .

Its not the first time that I've gone through this though.

I used to live and breath the 442; thats all I knew how to use. When I tried developing a 433, I fell flat on my face. It probably took me over a year to really get it too a play where I understood it fully.

[Cleon]

I think thats been my biggest problem. I started using these formations thinking without too much previous knowledge almost expecting to master it in a matter of days.

Now thats certainly not been the case and it has led to a lot of frustration .

Its not the first time that I've gone through this though.

I used to live and breath the 442; thats all I knew how to use. When I tried developing a 433, I fell flat on my face. It probably took me over a year to really get it too a play where I understood it fully.

I would advise people to stick with more conventional formations like the 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 until they become 'comfy' with how things are going. As those are the easiest 2 formations to get to work as they work well against all formations. Others such as the 4-4-2 or ones I use in this thread rely on you taking advantage of the shape the opposition is using.

[Gee_Simpson]

I would advise people to stick with more conventional formations like the 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 until they become 'comfy' with how things are going. As those are the easiest 2 formations to get to work as they work well against all formations. Others such as the 4-4-2 or ones I use in this thread rely on you taking advantage of the shape the opposition is using.

This post is very helpful, thanks Cleon

I think I'll try and create a 4-2-3-1 then after reading this as it's my favourtie modern formation anyway.

[mitjamvp]

easy = boring

anyway i have another question. Does anyone have an idea how do AI teams act while playing friendly matches? What i was thinking was do they play the same way they do in competitive matches (not really formation, but mostly tackling, closing down, are they more agressive in competitive matches)? SInce my team is quite creative and we are able to play well against teams who try to outplay us. Things get harder when teams with less technical knowledge start with numerous tackles, lots of pressing and fouls.

It was just a thought.. .. came up to my mind after beating Everton 9:1 at their Goodison Park. They didnt seem to be able to catch up with us but i am not sure if thats because we played well or is it the consequence of them playing half strength? (not the squad, but the tactic)

[aderow]

I would advise people to stick with more conventional formations like the 4-1-2-2-1 or 4-2-3-1 until they become 'comfy' with how things are going. As those are the easiest 2 formations to get to work as they work well against all formations. Others such as the 4-4-2 or ones I use in this thread rely on you taking advantage of the shape the opposition is using.

I agree completely. If you don't have the knowledge, you are likely going to fail and not know why. With that said,

easy = boring

my thoughts exactly . I know enough to know what I should try next. And if I have questions, I ask cleon

[TwinsFan86]

Had a really good season so far alternating between 3-1-2-3-1 and 3-2-2-2-1 with United. Scoring at will for the most part, but I have a brutal schedule in April/May.

4/2/14 - Chelsea (CL 1/4 Final) - H

4/5/14 - Arsenal - A

4/8/14 - Chelsea (CL 1/4 Final) - A

4/12/14 - Sunderland - H

4/19/14 - Blackburn - A

4/26/14 - Man City - H

5/3/14 - Chelsea - A

5/11/14 - Liverpool - H

5/18/14 - Aston Villa - A

Throw in 2 games against Man City or Shakhtar Donetsk (CL Semi's) and the CL Final (Barca, Lyon, Bayern, Arsenal) and you've got 9 games against top 15 teams in Europe in my next 12 games. This is gonna be loads of fun.

[Cleon]

Had a really good season so far alternating between 3-1-2-3-1 and 3-2-2-2-1 with United. Scoring at will for the most part, but I have a brutal schedule in April/May.

4/2/14 - Chelsea (CL 1/4 Final) - H

4/5/14 - Arsenal - A

4/8/14 - Chelsea (CL 1/4 Final) - A

4/12/14 - Sunderland - H

4/19/14 - Blackburn - A

4/26/14 - Man City - H

5/3/14 - Chelsea - A

5/11/14 - Liverpool - H

5/18/14 - Aston Villa - A

Throw in 2 games against Man City or Shakhtar Donetsk (CL Semi's) and the CL Final (Barca, Lyon, Bayern, Arsenal) and you've got 9 games against top 15 teams in Europe in my next 12 games. This is gonna be loads of fun.

My brutal runs ins are always when the World Cup or Con Fed is on. I have to play the games without 35 first teamers and back up players due to international call ups

Good luck with the run in

[TwinsFan86]

My brutal runs ins are always when the World Cup or Con Fed is on. I have to play the games without 35 first teamers and back up players due to international call ups

Good luck with the run in

Well it won't be quite so bad now...I somehow managed to blow a 4-1 lead in the 2nd leg at Chelsea and lost 4-4 on away goals.

[Kingbogo]

2nd Season with Chelsea playing WM, won league and league cup again. Had high hopes for champ league until i got Man City in quarter final. scores 1-1 Terry gets sent off for a last man tackle, penalty 2-1 Man city. Just after half time Luiz gets sent off for a rash challenge.... lose game 4-1 worst defeat of season. Return leg i win 3-2 so out i go. kinda relieved semi would have been against Man U and i still struggle getting good results against them. Man U, Fulham and West Brom are the teams that seem to cause me most grief. Slowly getting rid of old players on big wages.

Still enjoying the WM, still constantly challenging, still dont fancy going back to my lower league team with it yet, Am bringing in the young Greek DC from Schalke to learn from Terry for a season, lots of potential and more pace than terry so should help at the back, also need to scout for some new full backs although Luiz and Ivanovich are adaptable enough to fill in across the back. Bringing in a few youth, and selling a few guys so will see how season progresses with younger players etc.

[Cleon]

So I've finished writing up about the first 15 minutes of a game but I feel it's a bit bland. So I'm going to re-write it all based on Swansea in the first season I think as that will be a lot more beneficial and informative than my Santos or Sheffield United save. As I'll be a very weak team compared to the rest of the EPL.

Is that okay with everyone?

I'll probably still post the other up as well but not until I add the Swansea one as you'll notice the difference in the amount of changes I have to make.

[TwinsFan86]

So I've finished writing up about the first 15 minutes of a game but I feel it's a bit bland. So I'm going to re-write it all based on Swansea in the first season I think as that will be a lot more beneficial and informative than my Santos or Sheffield United save. As I'll be a very weak team compared to the rest of the EPL.

Is that okay with everyone?

I'll probably still post the other up as well but not until I add the Swansea one as you'll notice the difference in the amount of changes I have to make.

Yeah, sounds like it would be a lot of help to most people.

[swedishchef_uk]

Sounds good Cleon.

Have you ever done a piece on a real lower league team - an Aldershot or a Barnet for example? I've enjoyed reading about Santos and Sheff Utd, but wonder what you would do differently (if anything) when building tactics/training for a team with no real transfer budget and less capable players. I imagine that most elements would carry across, but wonder what parts you would adjust.

Thanks for the thread - it's encouraged me to build my own individual training schedules for my new German lower league save.

[Cleon]

Sounds good Cleon.

Have you ever done a piece on a real lower league team - an Aldershot or a Barnet for example? I've enjoyed reading about Santos and Sheff Utd, but wonder what you would do differently (if anything) when building tactics/training for a team with no real transfer budget and less capable players. I imagine that most elements would carry across, but wonder what parts you would adjust.

Thanks for the thread - it's encouraged me to build my own individual training schedules for my new German lower league save.

Nothing would change, I play the same way and style even in the lower leagues. All that changes are the attribute numbers you look for in a player there just lower. I did do a thread once on the oldest club in the world, Sheffield FC Club. But don't think it exists anymore.

[matty1294]

Would be interested to see how you adapt with Swansea in first season. I gave it a try not long back and struggled

[Cleon]

Would be interested to see how you adapt with Swansea in first season. I gave it a try not long back and struggled

Really? Loads of people seem to be having lots of success with them. They start with a great squad and you can achieve a very good position in the table. What tactic did you try?

[matty1294]

Hmm defence was more of an issue to be honest! Tried to play similar to what they do in real life so 4-1-2-2-1 but with the short passing etc that Rodgers plays at the moment! Would be interesting to see your take on it.

[pndc]

I have a question regarding your post about breaking down the 4-2-2-2.

I got promoted from League 2 (not overly convincingly) so now I'm playing against the big shots in Brazil. My formation has changed from the 31231 to 32221 and now to a 23221 (433 with full backs pushed up to WB). My defense got much more stabile after adding a second CD. All my formations are based on heavy pressing.

My largest problem is still breaking down the 42222. I really struggle to score from anything but the odd counter and corner. Going wide and exploiting the flanks does not help much: Crosses, whether drilled or floater, simply do not connect. Overlapping works and my wingers are key, but the final pass never seems to make it through. Either the pass comes from the wing and gets headed or kicked out, or it comes from a central player and does not connect to the winger storming in, as it has to pass a narrow square of defenders. Further, when playing with AMC's they are completely marked out of the game (except in transitions) and my forward only getthe ball when joining in on the wide play. It's simply way too hard to break down the defensive box and get good chances.

So currently I'm fighting against relegation, but so far not succesfully. I've been really unlucky conceeding goals in the last minutes due to concentration failure so I get draws instead of wins. My team simply does not have the ability to handle the offensive pressure from the (much better) teams, so I have to control the game with an offensive mentality, pushing the opponent away from my half. But that just leaves me stranded in front of their goal with a tight defensive block convering their goal.

Any advice? I've tried using a 442, but that simply gives the opponent all the time in the world on the ball.. and that's obviously in front of my goal. Ouch.

[mitjamvp]

Started new season brilliant, strong in defence, brilliant upfront where my front 3 are tearing the league apart.

I also beat Duisburg 3:0, Bayern 3:0, Anderlecht 2:0 which cemented us in the knockout stages of UCL, then we managed to rescue the win against Stuttgart 3:2 and the last match i played was against HSV which we drew 2:2. (matches that were played after the SSs)

I cant say i am really happy with last 2 results as 4 conceding 4 in 2 matches is a bit too much. The goals we conceded were stupid, specially the last one since my left back stayed in opponents box despite being instructed to stay back at every attacking set-piece.

Is there a minimum number of players that has to be staying forward during set pieces set by the game?

Or was that just a stupid decision by FB Bong?

[aderow]

Yaya Sanogo is a freak. Seriously.

Good job in the Bundesliga mate

I've noticed that a lot too. I get a lot of players going forward which is dangerous because for some reason the opposition leaves 3 sometimes 4 players up whenever I am attacking.

[Cleon]

Is there a minimum number of players that has to be staying forward during set pieces set by the game?

Or was that just a stupid decision by FB Bong?

Have you set up how you defend from corners and attack them?

I'm trying my hand at making the 15 minutes thing a video and adding screenshots along with text to get the importance across. It's looking really good at the minute, the video is actually done I just need to add the relevant text and captions to explain it. Which is taking a little longer than expected

[ramie]

Have you set up how you defend from corners and attack them?

I'm trying my hand at making the 15 minutes thing a video and adding screenshots along with text to get the importance across. It's looking really good at the minute, the video is actually done I just need to add the relevant text and captions to explain it. Which is taking a little longer than expected

Sounds good! Can't wait to read/watch the update I'm sure it will be informative as normal, will the update be about Swansea or Santos?

[Cleon]

Sounds good! Can't wait to read/watch the update I'm sure it will be informative as normal, will the update be about Swansea or Santos?

It wont be Santos. It'll be about River Plate, Swansea and I might add another team into the mix as well

[mitjamvp]

Have you set up how you defend from corners and attack them?

I'm trying my hand at making the 15 minutes thing a video and adding screenshots along with text to get the importance across. It's looking really good at the minute, the video is actually done I just need to add the relevant text and captions to explain it. Which is taking a little longer than expected

it was a throw in.

yea ofcourse, i set my winger to take throw-ins, back 3 to stay back, same for DM and and maybe even ball-winning MC, striker to stay forward, other side winger , AMC and creative MC to come close for the short throw-in. Probably it was just a players mistake. I came back to draw the match though.

Edit - winter break is here, and...well this are the rest of the results. And yea - Dortmund are second in the league - ni way to finish 1st part of the season.

Players stats - front 3 are killing opponents defence, we have scored the most goals in the league (66 in 17 matches which makes the average bit less then 4 per game) most goals in the UCL group stages (22 in 6 matches - average almost 4 aswell) and on the other side we also coneded least goals in the league (11 in 17 matches).

Funny thing is that Dortmund, who is second placed, only lost 1 match in 17 matches.

We were better side in all our matches apart from the way match against City. They could easily won that match it was a game full of chances and i guess we more of them.

I am not really sure how we managed to make such a change since last season. I guess the biggest reason was the fullback swap. Chandler did join during last seasons winter break but i guess he needed couple of months to adjust to the new club and more important to the new formation. I also brought Bong on loan and he seems to make quite a difference at the back with his speed.

Everything else stayed same as last season.

The one change i made was that i never play defensive/control. I use attacking option in every match, with very high defensive line ofcourse. I also tried myself at international coaching but it doesnt really work with that same formation. So i decided not to try accept international teams offers again until later in the career.

My goal is to win all top 5 leagues in europe with this tactic, aswell as Asian/African/South-North American continental championships with it. When i finish that i would like to try myself with lower league management again, i would prefer being manager of my local team if they somehow manage to get to slovenian second division, but if that wouldnt be possible it would be nice to finish career with Osnabruck.

(too long, sorry)

[NICOC77]

It wont be Santos. It'll be about River Plate, Swansea and I might add another team into the mix as well

Not River Plate please, play with Boca Juniors a much better team! and you will have the best playmaker of all time Juan Roman Riquelme. And WHAT??? you are a girl! I could never imagine that and I follow your topics from years ago since FM 2006-07. Keep the good work and post coming. Cheers from Argentina.

[Cleon]

Not River Plate please, play with Boca Juniors a much better team! and you will have the best playmaker of all time Juan Roman Riquelme. And WHAT??? you are a girl! I could never imagine that and I follow your topics from years ago since FM 2006-07. Keep the good work and post coming. Cheers from Argentina.

Fancied playing River seeing as you can't buy anyone for like 3 years due to them been in a real finncial mess losing around £15-20 million a season and £77 million in debt . I'm only staying until I've won everything in Argentina then I'm off to Uruguay

[NICOC77]

Oh sad to read that... I'm a Boca Juniors fan, I wish you bad luck at the "superclasico" when you return to Primera División Other thing is that in the game economics turns VERY unrealistic in Argentina, in the future seasons you will see clubs buying local players for US$ 20 million or more. Now in the year 2019 I have a transfer budget of US$ 200 million!!!

Now on topic: I'm in the 9th season off my career with Boca, I won the league for 8th straight years and being undefeated for very long periods, the longest being 80+ games, all of this with my "tactics creator and shouts only" tactic (I don't touch sliders) I think that the key to success at this game is to keep the club organized and play every player in a comfortable position, I never go "tweaking-mad" with tactics, and in the long term you will start to win a lot.

After reading the entire SI Sports Centre thread I think that I could make a tactic the way you do and create the "perfect" tactic for my team, so in my 9th season after selling the half of my team I make a formation, put basic roles and duties and started to watch the games on full, I can recognize and detect things that I don't like in the way my team play. It goes really well for the first 2 matches, but in the 3rd game I play vs San Lorenzo an strong opponent in the league and my team struggle I see things that I don't like in the way of play but I can't fix them.

So my question is will you post how do you finish your tactic, because I can't totally understand how you do it, and can't get the changes you make in your successful FA Cup games. It would be very nice to see the "complete" process of how you adapt your tactic to it final shape and how you improve and maintain it.

PS: Keep the good work and sorry for my poor English.

[Cleon]

My tactic is never finished due to how I play. Even when I have the best team I can get with the best players it's never complete. All I have is a standard shape that I've created and what I use, I call this a base. This is what I've posted about in the thread, any tactic I've posted about is 'the base'. I just always start with that and the rest I change in a game during the first 15 minutes. I do this every single game

[NICOC77]

Ok I see, off course you have a much better understand of the game than mine. For how many game do you watch the matches on full? And do you let you assistant to take charge of OI and team talks?

[Cleon]

The assistant does team talks yeah. I don't use OI's. And I watch games until I begin to feel comfortable with the shape and settings I'm using. I talk about it in the main thread under the Next Generation bit of the thread, you can see how many games I watched until that shape started to work

[Cleon]

As the next update is my last planned update for FM12 I'm taking my time and making it the best I can so that's what the delay is. As I'll be giving birth anytime and then moving over the next few months I don't plan on updating again (but never say never) as of yet. I'll still be around to answer questions though I just wont have the time to update.

So what I'm working on atm is;

The importance of the first 15 mins

How to win the league with Swansea in season 1

I'll be combining both of those into 1 article probably.

[jimbobBRFC]

As the next update is my last planned update for FM12 I'm taking my time and making it the best I can so that's what the delay is. As I'll be giving birth anytime and then moving over the next few months I don't plan on updating again (but never say never) as of yet. I'll still be around to answer questions though I just wont have the time to update.

So what I'm working on atm is;

The importance of the first 15 mins

How to win the league with Swansea in season 1

I'll be combining both of those into 1 article probably.

Look forwaard to it as always Cleon I preusme your on course to win the league then ?

and good luck with the little one. I presume they are going to be an FM genius as well haha

[aderow]

Looking forward to it

I think I've come to the realisation that when trying to employ a tactic without an FC, the issue of too many long shots is an inevitable one as your player don't have that 'target man' ahead of them; because they have lost that passing option, players tend to shoot whenever they near the box.

[Cleon]

Look forwaard to it as always Cleon I preusme your on course to win the league then ?

and good luck with the little one. I presume they are going to be an FM genius as well haha

I'm at end of March almost and 15 points clear, so hopefully bar a total disaster the league is a given. Still in the FA Cup too. I've been playing attrictive football as well.

Looking forward to it

I think I've come to the realisation that when trying to employ a tactic without an FC, the issue of too many long shots is an inevitable one as your player don't have that 'target man' ahead of them; because they have lost that passing option, players tend to shoot whenever they near the box.

Yups its not always viable to pull the ball back for others who are also running from the same position. Having someone up front in front of a the players coming from deep not only helps with an extra option to pass to but the SC also pulls the defender with him creating space.

When you attack from deep and without a striker it's easier for the back 4 to stay in shape and not get pulled out of position or allow gaps to appear as often as when you play with a SC.

[aderow]

Would you look at that I'm learning

[Cleon]

Would you look at that I'm learning

Get you eh?!

[jimbobBRFC]

I'm at end of March almost and 15 points clear, so hopefully bar a total disaster the league is a given. Still in the FA Cup too. I've been playing attrictive football as well.

I do look forward to it then will be very interesting to see how you've set the team up etc. Also will be interesting to see if anybody else has success using the same structure or whether you just have this magical touch with FM. That or FMRTE

[Cleon]

I do look forward to it then will be very interesting to see how you've set the team up etc. Also will be interesting to see if anybody else has success using the same structure or whether you just have this magical touch with FM. That or FMRTE

Some will have simliar success but the ones who don't understand the game and don't know how to turn a bad result into a good one will still struggle. Or the people who use the TC but don't use shouts etc, they'll all still struggle as they don't understand the game.

Wondered how long it would be before cheating was mentioned . Theres a reason I'm a mod and it's not for my bedside manner

The saved game will be made available too for the people who want to take a closer look at it. But remember following my own structure might not work for you due to how I play the game. I play very hand on and pay attention to match details and react to what's going on in the game. The majority of users don't, or they don't know how to change a game.

The most of users in this thread though seem to know how to get results and know what to change so be good to see their own approaches and make them comparable that way.

[jimbobBRFC]

Some will have simliar success but the ones who don't understand the game and don't know how to turn a bad result into a good one will still struggle. Or the people who use the TC but don't use shouts etc, they'll all still struggle as they don't understand the game.

Wondered how long it would be before cheating was mentioned . Theres a reason I'm a mod and it's not for my bedside manner

The saved game will be made available too for the people who want to take a closer look at it. But remember following my own structure might not work for you due to how I play the game. I play very hand on and pay attention to match details and react to what's going on in the game. The majority of users don't, or they don't know how to change a game.

The most of users in this thread though seem to know how to get results and know what to change so be good to see their own approaches and make them comparable that way.

You have to start asking the questions when your 14 points clear with Swansea

Yeah I'd like to look at the save game. I am pretty hands on and I do respond to things I see in the ME, i.e strikers getting in behind a lot drop the defensive line a bit. Its when I go down I usually struggle to respond and thats where my problems lie usually. The one part of my management Im really not happy with is responding to going a goal down or being dominated in a match I should really be winning. I would like to think I understand the game to an extent, nowhere near to the amount of understanding you and others have though. So I do look forward to reading this thread whenever you do find time to get it going

[Cleon]

To be brutally honest it's the 'cheating' posts that stopped me posting before and what stopped all the good contributors posting. It's what ruined the forum. People show how the game works and achieves something that someone else can't and they must be cheating. When the facts are the person who can't achieve it should look at his own approach rather than accuse people.

[jimbobBRFC]

To be brutally honest it's the 'cheating' posts that stopped me posting before and what stopped all the good contributors posting. It's what ruined the forum. People show how the game works and achieves something that someone else can't and they must be cheating. When the facts are the person who can't achieve it should look at his own approach rather than accuse people.

Im just kidding though, its obvious you actually play the game because if you cheated you wouldnt be able to give the analysis you do

[Karnage94]

I'm looking forward to seeing how you manage such success with Swansea Cleon. I'm not quite at the position where I could do that sort of thing but I'm getting there. I've got my Tenerife side 3rd after 9 with Barcelona and Real Madrid ahead so progress is being made, thanks primarily to the content on the main thread and on here. It's given me that little edge where I can get the most out of my players. I've reverted back to using a Poacher up top as the players I have are better suited to playing through balls and crosses rather than scoring themselves. And the strikers I have are better at scoring and going alone than being creative so a more one dimensional approach seems to be working better, which I find a little odd but if it's getting me good results then I can't complain.

[Cleon]

I'm looking forward to seeing how you manage such success with Swansea Cleon. I'm not quite at the position where I could do that sort of thing but I'm getting there. I've got my Tenerife side 3rd after 9 with Barcelona and Real Madrid ahead so progress is being made, thanks primarily to the content on the main thread and on here. It's given me that little edge where I can get the most out of my players. I've reverted back to using a Poacher up top as the players I have are better suited to playing through balls and crosses rather than scoring themselves. And the strikers I have are better at scoring and going alone than being creative so a more one dimensional approach seems to be working better, which I find a little odd but if it's getting me good results then I can't complain.

You've honestly come on leaps and bounds since you first started posting in this thread, I've been reading the comments back throughout the entire thread and all of you who are regular posters in here seem to have put their own spin on what I've written and found your own style. It really is great to read

I'm guessing you have quite a few players now who are creative and capable of getting goals and assists?? If so then you probably didn't need the striker to be creative aswell, instead he's now the one executing the moves the rest of the players create. When you had weaker players he was probabl yhe most influential from a creative point and would be the start of the moves

[Cleon]

So the way I'm approaching the next bit of content is to start discussing Swansea and write up the tactic I use, then talk about how I play with Swansea and change things during the first 15 minutes and be as detailed as possible. As this is going o get posted over the weekend, is there anything else people would like to see included in it? If so write in here what it is and I'll see what I can do

[Karnage94]

You've honestly come on leaps and bounds since you first started posting in this thread, I've been reading the comments back throughout the entire thread and all of you who are regular posters in here seem to have put their own spin on what I've written and found your own style. It really is great to read

I'm guessing you have quite a few players now who are creative and capable of getting goals and assists?? If so then you probably didn't need the striker to be creative aswell, instead he's now the one executing the moves the rest of the players create. When you had weaker players he was probabl yhe most influential from a creative point and would be the start of the moves

I think it would surprise you if I said that my only improvements to the squad was in defensive midfield and an extra poacher, but since I feel I have a more solid base defensively, I can now try and make my attack a bit sharper. Since I wasn't sure how my squad would fare in the top flight I tried a more defensive and passive approach in the first season. I would have been happy with escaping relegation by a point to be honest but a good season meant I felt I could be more expansive. I've only dropped points against Barca, Real Madrid and a sloppy home draw vs Celta Vigo this season with a lot of tough fixtures out of the way, so maybe I can stretch this good form on further.

I think half the reason that my midfielders get a few goals is because I let them shoot from range, just on the off chance that one of the efforts do go in. I'm creating enough chances for my striker so the occasional pop at goal isn't going to hurt too much. My full back has scored twice from range in consecutive games and all 3 of my AM's goals have come from outside the box, so if my striker doesn't hit the target I am still getting goals from other areas. I have changed very little tactically from my first season, I've just given my attacking players more creative freedom and it's working well so far

[Cleon]

I think it would surprise you if I said that my only improvements to the squad was in defensive midfield and an extra poacher, but since I feel I have a more solid base defensively, I can now try and make my attack a bit sharper. Since I wasn't sure how my squad would fare in the top flight I tried a more defensive and passive approach in the first season. I would have been happy with escaping relegation by a point to be honest but a good season meant I felt I could be more expansive. I've only dropped points against Barca, Real Madrid and a sloppy home draw vs Celta Vigo this season with a lot of tough fixtures out of the way, so maybe I can stretch this good form on further.

I think half the reason that my midfielders get a few goals is because I let them shoot from range, just on the off chance that one of the efforts do go in. I'm creating enough chances for my striker so the occasional pop at goal isn't going to hurt too much. My full back has scored twice from range in consecutive games and all 3 of my AM's goals have come from outside the box, so if my striker doesn't hit the target I am still getting goals from other areas. I have changed very little tactically from my first season, I've just given my attacking players more creative freedom and it's working well so far

As daft as it sounds sometimes you only need that 1 player to make the difference. Especially if its someone who adds stability to the defence whether it be an actual defender or a DMC. The defence is very important and you can only improve how you go forward once that is solid and sorted. If not you just attack, attack and attack but get caught out quite often on breaks. Once you can keep a clean sheet results improve loads.

I love playing with a team who have no expectations as you can achieve so much as teams disregard you and play their own style against you. Which means more space and gaps for you to work with, rather than you having to break down a team who have everyone behind the ball.

[Karnage94]

As daft as it sounds sometimes you only need that 1 player to make the difference. Especially if its someone who adds stability to the defence whether it be an actual defender or a DMC. The defence is very important and you can only improve how you go forward once that is solid and sorted. If not you just attack, attack and attack but get caught out quite often on breaks. Once you can keep a clean sheet results improve loads.

I love playing with a team who have no expectations as you can achieve so much as teams disregard you and play their own style against you. Which means more space and gaps for you to work with, rather than you having to break down a team who have everyone behind the ball.

The players I have brought in haven't exactly set the world alight but they are a more solid choice than what I had, so I can't complain. If you don't concede you don't lose, so now that my defence is a bit tighter, I can let my attackers off the lead a bit. My tactic also is good at luring out teams and exploiting the space that leaves because the back six outfield players tend to keep hold of the ball and knock it around and then when it gets to the front 4 its almost all out attack. It's a lot of fun even with a below average squad so if I can get any meaningful funds I can't wait to see how my team would play with some quality all over the park. I take ages getting through seasons though, so it may be close to FM13 by the time I get things how I want

[Cleon]

While I'm writing about the game for those of you who are impatient here is the download link to my Swansea save at the end of the first season http://tinyurl.com/7h6jpt3

[Karnage94]

I'll take a wee look and see what's all happening on your save. Might give me an extra idea to think about

[Cleon]

I'll take a wee look and see what's all happening on your save. Might give me an extra idea to think about

Cool

[aderow]

What this thread has helped with those most has been my defense. After messing around with the 3 back defensive systems, it has definitely help me improve how I set up a defense now.

In my main save with my main tactic, the changes I've made have had an amazing impact. Teams rarely get more than 50% of their shots on target and a majority of their shots are from distance.