Tactics & Training Forum - 2014 World Cup Thread

[aderow]

If had FM14 I would've done the country of my birth Nigeria

[Uncle_Sam]

Friendlies

So I played 5 friendlies leading up to the World Cup, winning all five. The first was actually against one of my group stage opponents. I won't go into too much detail with these, just the statistics:

I have pretty much settled on my 4-4-1-1 tactic. That will be the one I live and die with. I really wanted to stay within the 30 man roster the US prelimned with in real life, but injuries have forced to me use the following:

GK: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan, Nick Rimando

D: Timmy Chandler, Geoff Cameron, Omar Gonzalez, John Brooks, Clarence Goodson, Tim Ream, Fabian Johnson, Edgar Castillo

M: Landon Donovan, Alejandro Bedoya, Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, Mikkel Diskerud, Clint Dempsey, Julian Green, Brad Davis

F: Jozy Altidore, Aron Johannsson, Terrence Boyd

[DBurns]

I'm still really keen to see someone have a pop with Brazil or Argentina.

I think this thread has been great so far. Really pleased by how people have got into the spirit of things, and the analysis has been terrific.

Fantastic idea for a thread some great analysis.

I plan on starting with Argentina tomorrow and will analyse my tactics as best I can but it won't be upto the general standards on here so far.

First course of action will be trying to put in all the attacking talent at my disposal.

[Uncle_Sam]

MATCH 1 (Colombia)

First meeting between these two since the infamous USA victory at the 1994 World Cup.

We controlled this match from start to finish, however Falcao scored for Colombia on their first two shots, and we're down 2-0. We went into attack mode and created some good chances. It wasn't until first half stoppage that we found the goal, when John Brooks put away a pinball-style melee off a corner kick and we went into the locker room down 2-1. Not long into the second half, Julian Green finished a cross from Timmy Chandler that was redirected by Jozy Altidore:

[video=youtube_share;XoJcHqP0ZxM]

We scored a third in the 60th minute on an own goal that was created by Landon Donovan. With the lead, we dropped off into a more defensive posture and continued to control the game and see out the clock for a 3-2 win that we fully deserved.

Russia defeated Croatia by the same score:

This means our next game against Russia could seal our bid for qualification.

[Uncle_Sam]

GROUP G - Match Two (Russia)

Russia came even at top with us after they defeated Croatia 3-2. I stuck with my 4-4-1-1, but space was difficult to find for both teams:

We limited them to mostly hopeful shots. They only managed to put one on target. We didn't get much more on the other end but Jozy had an opportunity he should have finished. We controlled possession but our passing percentage was down to 85%. In the end, neither team could find the net and it ended in a 0-0 draw.

Croatia beat Colombia 4-2, so us and Russia now sit in first place with 4 points, Croatia with 3. All we need is a draw against Croatia and we are through.

[Uncle_Sam]

GROUG G - MATCH 3 (Croatia)

So this one is for all of the marbles. We didn't know this at kick off, but Russia lost to Colombia 3-1. That mean that we could still be through with a loss as long as it was only by one goal. Croatia could advance with a draw as they would have better goal differential.

This was another game where we dominated but struggled to finish. In the first half we had all of the running, but it wasn't until the fiftieth minute when Jozy finished off a beautiful cross from Timmy Chandler:

[video=youtube_share;4AJEiTohUGk]

Jozy would add a second after Croatia's goalkeeper tried to clear a ball but it bounced off of Jozy's chest, 1v0 = 2-0. Croatia would score from a long shot in the 92nd to make the deficit 2-1, but they could do no more.

The win gave us the group and put us in a much easier bracket:

I'm not trying to say that Egypt, Bosnia, or Uruguay are pushovers, but those 3 obstacles are much more desirable than any other group in the tournament. Russia finished second in our group and they will play Portugal first, and if they manage to win that game they will likely be playing Italy. So this would be the best path to the semifinals that we could have hoped for, I would say.

[RTHerringbone]

Great progress Uncle_Sam.

It's a promising draw. Uruguay are tough nuts to crack, so if you make it through the Egypt game, brace yourself for a hard match.

[llama3]

Uruguay were the only team to truly outplay my Ivorian side. Glad I only faced them in a meaningless group stage game. Pray Bosnia play a blinder against them. You have a potentially really good path to the semi finals though. Your results seem good, would love you to expand more on some of your decisions and tactical strategies, they would interest me greatly.

[JD nawrat]

Uruguay were the only team to beat me in 14 games managing Scotland and one of only two teams to score two or more goals (they beat me 4-1, I beat Ghana 3-2). England beat me too obviously but it was on penalties so I count that as a draw.

[CamillePunk]

Well I don't have the patience for uploading pics or long write-ups but I took England for a spin in my first international save and won the world cup on my first go. Used a narrow 4-3-1-2 formation, high pressing and short passing. Jack Wilshere in the AMC spot was my highest rated during the campaign.

Drew Spain, Paraguay, and Costa Rica in my group. Costa Rica was put away 3-0 with ease, but Paraguay proved trickier to break down and I only won 1-0 as a result of a brilliant Steven Gerrard free kick blasted into the corner of the net.

Then had to face Brazil in the second round, which was a nail-biting affair in which they controlled much of the game and had several chances expertly handled by Hart. Ultimately I triumphed 1-0 with a late penalty in the 83rd, which Baines put away.

Up next was Cameroon whom I put away 2-0 easily enough.

Then came the most difficult match, the semi-final against France. We scored off a corner in the 8th minute and had control of the game up until the 80th minute when France got a cross into the box which they put away. This led to extra time during which the score remained 1-1. Finally a penalty shootout during which Hart and Lloris each made a save, but Hart made one more and I won the shootout 8-7 with Callum Chambers putting the winning penalty away.

In the final I faced Belgium who had managed to defeat Spain in the semi-final. Following the extra time affair with France my team was desperately struggling for fitness. Despite this we were able to control the match and create several chances but Welbeck failed to put each one of them away. Finally subbed a very fatigued Sturridge in and he immediately scored in the 68th minute. We would then hold on to win the match and the cup 1-0.

Now to rebuild the squad as near half of it is over the age of 30.

I'm tempted to give Belgium a go, they've got some great talent there.

[llama3]

A little bit more tactical input would be nice please, as that is the point of the thread - even a discussion of your tactics and instructions.

[JOSEPH!]

I'm still really keen to see someone have a pop with Brazil or Argentina.

I think this thread has been great so far. Really pleased by how people have got into the spirit of things, and the analysis has been terrific.

I'll have a pop with Brazil on Sunday and feedback to you all. 1970 is coming to 2014 baby!

In the interm, I have to go and see a man about re-declaring

[SJ234]

I am interested to have a go at this. I haven't done screenshots in years is there a quick way of doing them?

[SJ234]

Okay brilliant I am going to give Argentina a go; with one aim in mind to get the best out of Messi

[SJ234]

Who subsequently was injured for the first friendly

[SJ234]

Haha. How badly?

Only 6 weeks thankfully. Just to give a little idea of what I am doing. I am playing a narrow midfield diamond and the aim is for Messi to play in his best position which is the central attacking midfielder. With Aguero and probably Tevez in front of him.

[SJ234]

This would be progressing if screenshots were actually working instead I just seem to get a picture of whatever would be shown if I wasn't FM. weird

[Uncle_Sam]

Alright, back to the game a little bit. After looking over my squad I decided to change things up a little bit for the knockout stage. I wanted Julian Green to be able to play wide out left without having to cut inside for the fullback. He has the Moves into Channels PPM anyway, so playing narrower isn't something he really wants to do. This would also leave me a little safer in the back. On the other side I wanted Timmy Chandler to be able to charge forward without a midfielder on his side. I also knew I would need to lose the possession soccer and shorter passing instructions, because I didn't want my left mid and right back be out on island helpless. I might give up the ball more but hopefully what I got in exchange was more chances created. What I came up with was a 4-3-1-2 that functioned like this:

So this is what the lineup looked like against Egypt:

The result was outstanding. Egypt never stood a chance. The move to free up Timmy Chandler was very successful. He scored the first goal of the game on what was actually a mishandled cross, and then he later assisted on another goal with a cross. Julian Green, whose skills the tactic were also set up to exploit scored the second goal on a counter attack. Fabian Johnson was moved up to LM after we subbed Green out scored his own goal. In the end, we thumped Egypt 5-0:

I think my favorite part is that five different players scored goals, and four different players recorded assists. That would be the definition of a team effort. While I definitely have a preferred style of play, I will say that it's fun to take the personnel you have and develop a functioning tactic around them.

Here is Chandler's assist to Donovan:

[video=youtube_share;LsVWVC6KmH4]

More good news, Bosnia defeated Uruguay so they will be my opponents in the quarterfinal:

Obviously we got a better draw there, however if we can survive our semifinal opponent would be either France or England. But if you make it to the final four, the opposition is going to be stellar. The other side of the bracket is pretty stout as well, with Argentina, Spain, Italy, and Russia fighting out for the other final slot.

[SJ234]

How are you taking the screenshots? I use PrtScrn then Ctrl + V to paste into the GIMP window.

Yep like that

[allyc31]

Great thread!

[SJ234]

Full screen or windowed mode for FM? That's about all I can think of.

Full screen really weird

[Kelron]

Couple of tips for screenshots: alt+print screen grabs the currently focused window only. The snipping tool (found in accessories in Windows 7 at least) lets you drag out a box to grab a section of screen and save it or copy it somewhere quickly.

[baronia]

This is a great thread to follow - it makes me want to go and attempt a World Cup myself. I wouldn't be partaking in this thread though, as my knowledge of analysing the tactics is inferior to you guys.. Still, if I win I might share anyway

[llama3]

This is a great thread to follow - it makes me want to go and attempt a World Cup myself. I wouldn't be partaking in this thread though, as my knowledge of analysing the tactics is inferior to you guys.. Still, if I win I might share anyway

It doesn't have to be a mass detailed analysis. Just a small mention of something you did or a relationship between 2 players on the pitch and their performances is good.

[webb95]

I'm going to have pop at turning perennial underachievers Portugal into World Cup winners. Will post here when I have started it up

[webb95]

Right little bit of background info before my 1st qualifying match

The group at the start

Sitting 3 points ahead of Russia gives me that little bit of breathing space which hopefully I shouldn't need.

My fixtures

With 3 very winnable games out of the 4 left and only the tricky trip to Russia which I am not 100% certain on winning.

My tactics

I am going with my trusted 41221. There doesn't seem much quality in the striker positions but hopefully with the likes of Nani, Ronaldo, Quaresma and Danny behind it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[yaşar]

Right little bit of background info before my 1st qualifying match

The group at the start

Sitting 3 points ahead of Russia gives me that little bit of breathing space which hopefully I shouldn't need.

My fixtures

With 3 very winnable games out of the 4 left and only the tricky trip to Russia which I am not 100% certain on winning.

My tactics

I am going with my trusted 41221. There doesn't seem much quality in the striker positions but hopefully with the likes of Nani, Ronaldo, Quaresma and Danny behind it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

which strategy did you use in this tactic ? balance or fluid control or attack ?

[webb95]

which strategy did you use in this tactic ? balance or fluid control or attack ?

I've got it set as balanced. Knew I had missed something off that screen shot :o

[Southern Buddie]

Has this thread died a death?

[llama3]

I really hope not! We have some unfinished world cup saves from people that I would like to see finished!

[RTHerringbone]

I'm pretty sure Uncle_Sam progressed further and will update when he has time.

[lewis999]

Just come across this thread and I think as no-one has given them a go i'm going to be The Oranje.

See if I can get some Total Football going.

[Southern Buddie]

I'm pretty sure Uncle_Sam progressed further and will update when he has time.

I read that he won the World Cup with USA!!

[RTHerringbone]

Just come across this thread and I think as no-one has given them a go i'm going to be The Oranje.

See if I can get some Total Football going.

Excellent! I look forward to reading about this!

Brazil still haven't featured either, which surprises me enormously.

[Uncle_Sam]

I did finish, this is a busy week and I haven't had time to give the rest it's fair space. Hopefully by the end of the week I'll have it up.

[Jimbokav1971]

Does anyone know what date in game the English World Cup Squad is picked?

[Edit]

I have a little idea that might be a bit of a laugh, (laughing at me rather than with me I think).

[llama3]

Just come across this thread and I think as no-one has given them a go i'm going to be The Oranje.

See if I can get some Total Football going.

Excellent! Still have no Italy, Spain, Germany or France from Europe. No Argentina yet from South America.

[Deego619]

I'll go for perhaps the most unpopular of the lot, Spain.

Sure, there won't be much achievement in winning the tournament with such an embarrassment of riches, but I feel it'll be a good break from my main QPR save.

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup 2014 - England, (but not Roy's England)

Picking the team that Roy Hodgson picked is just boring. Instead I will be attempting, (not really sure how realistic this idea is at the moment), to select a squad from those players who Roy has NOT picked. You can pretend that they have gone on strike because of workers rights in Brazil, or in protest over the Qatar debacle, or even something more sinister involving air travel has happened. Yes, I know that means that i will be unable to select players such as Joe Hart, Gary Cahill, Stevie G, Fat Frank, Ross Barkley and of course Wayne Rooney. On the other hand, it means that I might possibly be able to select, JT, (has he retired from England in the game?), Ashley Cole, Tom Huddlestone, Stewart Downing, (oh come on, this is meant to be fun), and of course Jermaine Defoe, (being deadly flippin serious for a moment!), with maybe the odd curve-ball thrown in for good measure, (whoever the researcher was for Jason Puncheon please don't make me come after you!).

The really good news however is that Danny Welbeck can have a nice relaxing holiday somewhere, (special mention to his #1 fan tomtuck01), and can be joined by Jordan Henderson, (give me strength), Chris Smalling, (what a player!), James (boring) Milner, (nothing else needs to be said), and Glen Johnson, (it's a good job he isn't the only right-back in Roy's squad!) Other than selecting a team made up of English players who will not actually be at the World Cup, that's about it really.

I don't know on which date the final squad is selected, so I am actually going to try and qualify with this bunch of eegits. (It might very well be a very short save).

Profile. Nationalities.

I gave myself a previous experience of International footballer. (Partly to give myself more of a chance to keep my job long enough to get to the World Cup, and partly because it's more realistic)

Relationships.

How cool is this? I flippin hate Westley Westley and don't mind Still at all.

Top Players.

Yep. They are all gone except Ashley Cole.

Please note..... When I list players, it doesn't mean that I am seriously suggesting selecting them. It is simply that they popped into my mind and seemed worthy of a comment for whatever reason, (good or bad).

Goalkeepers.

Out. Joe Hart, Ben Foster & Fraser Forster, (why oh why couldn't Roy have picked Rob Green and John Ruddy?) ps. The researcher has been pretty tough on Fraser Forster hasn't he?

National Pool.

Paul Robinson would have definitely been in with a shout had he not retired already. I did ask him but he gave me short shrift. Would loved to have seen him back in the squad but that's a nasty looking injury he's got. (Love the ppm though).

Injury.

Interesting ppm.

Jack Butland. Not overly keen actually, but as I need 3 GK's in the squad, this could be a tough position to fill.

Alex Mccarthy. Excuse my ignorance but who?

John Ruddy. He's nailed on for the squad, (assuming he is fit).

Rob Green. If I am forced to select him then we could be in for a right giggle.

Lee Nicholls. He wasn't very good the day I saw him concede 4 goals at Barnet, but he is meant to be highly thought of and we were hot that day.

Chris Kirkland. Might be in with a chance if I fancy seeing if GK's can really get injured.

David James. Is without a club so needs to get signed on the hurry-up.

Scott Carson. Nope. No no no no no. He's not playing for my team.

Richard Wright. Has just won a Premier League medal with City, so...... No. Not a chance.

Left backs.

Out. Leighton Baines and Luke Shaw.

National Pool.

Ashley Cole. He's nailed on. How he wasn't taken to the World Cup by Roy God only knows.

Kieran Gibbs. I like that he can play anywhere up the left. With a shortage of natural left sided attackers, that could be invaluable.

Danny Rose. I like Danny, but he seems a little under-cooked to me and he loves a yellow card.

Ryan Bertrand. Looks surprisingly decent. Will be in with a shout.

Wayne Bridge. (Might be fun to get him in alongside JT).

Liam Ridgewell. Not exactly an attacking full-back, but better defensively than some of the other options. I like him.

Right backs.

Out. Glen Johnson. (What do you mean he is the only specialist right back in the squad and he can't defend for toffee?).

National Pool.

Adam Henley. No, I haven't heard of him either, but he's actually Welsh so it would be great fun to play him in qualifying just to screw them over.

John Flanagan. No. I'm not having that he's an International player. Roy might be calling him up to cover for the Ox, (how does that work by the way?), but he's not playing for me unless... well unless I'm desperate.

John Brayford. How can a beard like that not warrant inclusion?

Callum Chambers. Ooh. He's decent. The next one off the Southampton production line I wonder?

Carl Jenkinson. Very nice crossing value. Very nice indeed.

Micah Richards. I've always liked him, but he seems to have lost his way a little now. From thr looks of his profile he is less the galloping-attacking full-back and more like a sturdy defender.

Centre-Backs.

Out. Gary Cahill, Phil Jagielka, Chris Smalling & Phil Jones.

National Pool.

Michael Dawson. How he is not there ahead of Smalling is beyond belief.

Matthew Upson. No way! He's just about poor enough for him to be selected by Roy.

Ryan Shawcross. If he played for Utd he would be there. Absolutely no doubt.

Zat Knight. I do love a big man and at 6'6" with 19 jumping he's jumping out at me but no. We would have to lose another couple of squads for him to get a game.

Steven Caulker. He tried to keep Cardiff up on his own but couldn't do it.

Jonathan Woodgate. Yeah I know he's old and about as fragile as China, but he might have to just play 1 game!

Dan Burn. Oh I like him a lot!

Anthony Gardner. Bambi looks ok actually. The researcher has been kind to him. Not sure he was ever as good as his current attributes suggest, (never mind about now).

Joleon Lescott. Decent player. Needs to get away from City.

Michael Mancienne. Now there is a (rubbish), blast from the past. God he's poor. I remember when he was the next big thing. Now he's not the next anything.

I would have picked JT had he been available, (and it's ridiculous that he's not at the World Cup), but as with Paul Robinson, he's retired and he's staying retired. As I expect his physical attributes to decline significantly over the course of the season, (in game), it's probably no bad thing. It's also a shame that Rio has retired from the NT. He would have been good for at least a couple of Rio-Brazil puns.

Defensive Midfielders.

Out. Steven Gerrard.

National Pool.

Tom Huddlestone. He's going right in my team. One of the 1st names on the team-sheet.

Nicky Bailey. Shush. He's one of my favourite players and I can pick who I flippin like!

Michael Carrick. The researcher doesn't think he is a natural defensive midfielder. I'm clueless I think. Only explanation.

Josh Wright. The first time I saw him play I was sure that he would be in the England squad by now. Well I can sort that now, (even if I'm not 100% sure I want to).

Leon Britton. Always thought he was Welsh even though he speaks with a London accent. Really like him.

Centre-Midfields.

Out. Jack Wilshere, Frank Lampard, Ross Barkley & Jordan Henderson.

National Pool.

Nigel Reo-Coker. He might not have much of a chance making the squad, but he has more chance than Tom Cleverley.

Mark Noble. I've always liked him technically. Just think that he's a bit soft. His attributes don't seem to reflect that so... cool.

Jack Rodwell. Never really saw the big deal with him.

Joey Barton. Oh come on. If we are going to have a laugh at this, we might have a proper laugh. I actually think he's a bit under-cooked in lots of areas by the researcher. Both the good and the bad seem to have been softened. Shame.

Leon Osman. I'm a fan of his, but his physical attributes are starting to fail him I'm afraid.

Fabian Delph. We might need him.

Tom Carroll. I'm a BIG fan.

Steve Sidwell. That's very harsh by the researcher. He's much better than that.

Gary O'Neill. Not much on technique but a real grafter.

Craig Gardner. Well if Anthony Gardner is being considered, why not?

Attacking central-midfielders.

Out. I've already included Barkley as a MC and the others I'm including out-wide, so nobody.

National Pool.

Kevin Nolan. The others in this are seem a little light-weight.

Ravel Morrison. Not sure I get all the hype about him but we will see.

Jonjo Shelvey. I think he's brilliant. How he is only 21, (22 in real life). I will never know. Seems like he has been around for ages.

Will Hughes. I like what I have seen from him and he has a year to develop so....

I have a feeling that I have forgotten someone important here, but for the life of me I can't remember who. If I am paying attention as we progress I am sure I will find anyone that I have missed off anyway.

Joe Cole was one who I missed off I think.

Left-sided midfielders.

Out. Danny Welbeck, Adam Lallana.

National Pool.

Andros Townsend. A selection of Spurs managers just confused him this season.

Jason Puncheon. Oh you clueless eegits! What have you done to poor Punch! Reaearchers you should be ashamed of yourselves! (That's said slightly tongue in cheek so please don't take offence Mr Researcher). (You are more wrong than a wrong thing though).

Stewart Downing. I don't think he is as bad as people make out. Would happily pick him in my squad.

Adam Johnson. When he is hot he is completely unplayable, (even for lowly Sunderland).

Craig Noone. I thought he was Welsh until recently. Like him a lot. A LOT.

Matty Taylor. Considering some of the useless buffoons who have been awarded caps, I'm surprised that he never has. Really thought he was going to go onto big things when he was at Pompey.

Tom Ince. Another who is hyped.

Scott Sinclair. He seems to have lost his way a little and I personally don't like lefties playing on the right and vice versa.

Yannick Bolasie should have never have accepted the callu-up from Congo. He would have been straight in my squad.

Right-sided midfielders.

Out. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Raheem Sterling, James Milner.

National Pool.

Jermaine Pennant. Hasn't even got a club in the game, and although he has been away for a year in real life, is about to sign for Napoli I think.

Theo Walcott. Well he talks a better game than that useless oaf Adrian Chiles.

Aaron Lennon. Give him a non-Spanish Soldado-named striker to create for and he will create goals.

Wayne Routledge. You get what you see but isn't that all you need from your wingers?

Marc Albrighton. Was recently released in a free by Villa. Mistake?

Strikers.

Out. Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge & Rickie Lambert.

National Pool.

Jermaine Defoe. I can't understand why he is not in Brazil.

Jay Rodriguez. Would have surely gone, (instead of Welbeck but for injury).

Andy Carroll. Should just be regaining fitness come the end of the season so might be nice and fresh while everyone else is knackered.

Peter Crouch. 22 INT goals is a lot for someone who is deemed so rubbish by so many. #JustSaying

Connor Wickham. His physical attributes will take a huge jump from here to when the FM15 is released.

Charlie Austin. If you want someone to put the ball in the net and Defoe is not available, might be a decent option.

Adam le Fondre. I can't tell you how good I think this bloke is. Stick him in a dominant possession based team, (Arsenal jumps out at me), and I swear to God he would fill his flippin boots.

Expectations.

Should I be worried that this might be my shortest ever save?

Rejection.

Thanks for that lads.

[Jimbokav1971]

Oh yes. Things are going nicely. I haven't even selected a squad and already we have moved up 6 places in the rankings.

Rankings.

That moves us up to 9th.

Injuries.

I haven't even picked the 1st squad yet and they are dropping like flies.

Suggested Squad.

Lewington is in for a shock I think, (as is everyone else).

Loads of injuries.

Not ideal as I select my 1st squad.

Squad announcement.

The press only kicked up a fuss about Harper.

So this is how we are setting up against lowly Cyprus, (ranked 115th).

It might be deemed a bit negative for Cyprus at home, but let's not walk before we can run eh!

"]England v Cyprus line-ups.[/url]

Now a lot of people don't like opposition instructions but I do.

I choose to show onto specific foot, every player who is not either footed, (even the GK).

I choose to close down always, and have tight marking, on anyone who plays further forward than the MC line, and also anyone who plays wide, (other than full-backs). Because we have an extra man in the middle, (my 3 to their 2), I might also choose to close the 2 central players down too, but I'm not going to on this occasion, (because I'm nervous about getting beat by Cyprus).

I know it's a pain, but this suggests to me that I can get the player booked, (so it impacts on his subsequent performance), or better yet, sent off.

Cyprus are a strange team, (but maybe that's just in comparison to my usual game being in 2032), in that they only have 1 player with a bravery stat under 10. Quite often I can target a whole group of players with tough tackling, (my bravery must be decent in order for it to not impact negatively on my players), and it causes the opposition to become nervous and impacts their performances accordingly.

***Must go and report that bravery thing in the bugs forum.

Full-backs I will try and close down, but never set tight marking. (Wing-backs are different). If a particular full-back is causing me problems then I might review it, but never at the start.

The only player I never go in hard on is the GK, (even if he has low bravery or high aggression). I seem to give away free-kicks at set-pieces and it puts me off. I haven't looked at it in enough detail yet to see if GK's get extra protection in the game like they do in real life.

[Edit]

So I targeted 3 players and I got 1 of them sent off and 1 of them booked. I know it's just 1 game, but I will keep an eye on that as we progress.

The 1st half seemed really disjointed, but as I have been playing thee 1 save for so long, and change and develop tactics very very gradually, maybe this is partly down to a lack of understanding, but also a lack of player fitness, (it's pre-season remember).

We lost both wingers, (Noone and Walcott), to injury in the 1st half, but not before Defoe put us 1 up. We were looking pretty solid, the back 4 with Huddlestone sitting, but we weren't anywhere near as good with the ball as I expected, (comparing them to my 2032 San Marino side). It was still 1-0 at 57 mins so I decided to have a look at the more attacking tactic.

Morrison came on for Huddlestone as we tried to open them up a little more. I also took off the overlap instruction. I wanted both wide players to really go at them and waiting for the full-backs wasn't going to help that.

Defoe immediately grabs a 2nd, but it is ruled out for a big offside. He seemed to spend most of the game offside.

Noble's set-piece delivery was annoying me, (both free-kicks and corners), so I dragged him off and almost immediately we improved. Britton fizzed a low one in that they did well to clear and then Dawson thumped home Shelvey's delivery from the next foul.

One of their centre-backs was shown a straight red late on for going right through Defoe, and one of the other 2 targeted players was shown a yellow and played poorly.

Stats. Match Stats.

How their's was a chance I don't get. It was from outside the area and it was no way a chance or even a half chance.

Stats. England Stats.

It could obviously be better, (and just 1 key pass is poor), but let's not knock it. We didn't lose so that's a result. (ps. I love a clean sheet).

Analysis. Performance. Scoring Chances.

This was ok though. They were decent chances and on another day we might have taken more than two of them.

Defoe is going to have to do better than this though if we are going to make it to Brazil.

England v Cyprus. Overview.

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup 2014 - England, (but not Roy's England)

Next up we have our first competitive fixtures. Montenegro and then Moldova, (both at home).

Group 8 Table.

We are in a good position in the table and 6 more points over these 2 games should put us in a commanding position that not even I can screw up.

Injury Problems.

The injury position is getting dire though. We have lost 4 of the last squad, (on top of Roy's squad), and of course on top of those who were already injured.

Danny Rose has moved to AS Monaco FC for £7M.

Aaron Lennon has moved to Liverpool for £17.5M.

Harper, Puncheon & Walcott miss out through injury and are replaced by Green, Lennon and Johnson.

England Squad.

We did have 3 strikers with Defoe, Rodriguez and Walcott, (at a push), but now we are just down to 2 with Lennon replacing Walcott. That wasn't planned at all. Still, as I only plan on playing 1 at a time, it shouldn't be an issue, (touch wood).

Sturridge seeks assurances.

I don't think he is going to like what I have to say.

There is a queue building outside my office.

At least he won't be on his own.

They all seemed to take it well. The media only made an issue about the inclusion of Jack Hobbs this time.

Montenegro (43rd), are ranked much higher than Moldova (134th), so I plan on playing 2 seperate teams in these games if I can. We will go strong against Montenegro and then just give the other lads a run-out against Moldova. We will be playing the attacking AP tactic in both games, (at least to start).

I have been trying to work out why I am a central midfielder short and it seems I have only selected a squad of 22 for some reason. Not ideal to only have 5 central players when we plan on starting with 3 in each game. Mark Noble is injured. I knew, but for some reason didn't replace him. I don't like to make it easy for myself do I. [sigh]

I'm also trying to tweak things a little in terms of our delivery to Defoe. The wide roles and individual instructions will obviously be changing as a result.

There is no point firing in crosses for the little man to compete in the air against some big ugly 6 footer+.

Lennon is injured and will miss the Montenegro game.

Rodriguez too and will miss both so we will need a replacement.

Jose Baxter of Sheff Utd has started the season well in League 1, and I'm tempted to call him up, (am I meant to care that he is playing in League 1?), but I just don't like his lack of physical attributes. Charlie Austin will be called up instead.

Danny Rose is injured and will miss both games. His replacement will be Kieran Gibbs.

That's 7 players injured from the last squad.

England v Montenegro. World Cup Qualifier. (EUR) Group 8.

You will notice that the roles of the wide players have now changed to hopefully try to play to Defoe's strengths. Crossing to a beast of a AF might work with my San Marino team, but with Defoe the best option we have, we need to be a bit more cute.

Shelvey was a late swap in for Ravel as I belatedly realised that he was nowhere near fit enough to start.

So Lennon is injured and unavailable, I never called up a replacement for Noble and now Ravel is missing too.

We start MUCH brighter than against Cyprus though and the change of roles seem to be working a treat. It's very evident and has a marked impact on our overall style. Far more pleasing. Defoe puts us 1 up after 9 mins, but we have already had 3 other efforts.

This is the build up to the 2nd goal. The midfield trio of Huddlestone, Britton and Shelvey have been getting increasingly dominant as the 2nd half progressed and are working some lovely triangles.

The spare man in this picture is Cole at left back. The pass to him from Shelvey is poor though and he does well to win the 50/50 and put Noone away. How my normal tactic works is that Noone would attack the byline and the other 3 advanced players would attack the goal. I have changed things though remember, (to suit Defoe who actually has just been replaced by Austin), so Noone is now playing as a wide AP and doesn't want to cross the ball.

Instead he checks back and plays an inviting inside ball to Britton. Townsend is in acres of space and the goal is literally gaping so all it needs is a soft touch and then a simple pass from Britton to release Townsend.

With that amount of space, Townsend has the chance to set himself and unleash a thunderbolt that an injured keeper has no chance of stopping.

It was a lovely strike, but far more pleasing was the trio working well together in the middle and the nice transfer from wide left right flank without the cross that lots of people seem to say it's impossible to avoid.

[Edit]Almost forgot. This was a goal from outside the area and that's something else that people complain about. From what I have seen in my games, it's not enough to just have a player who is good at long shots. You have to actually create space for them. Yeah of course every now and again someone is going to just connect with a blooter and it's just going to fly in, but they are going to be the exceptions rather than the rule. If you want someone to score goals regularly from outside the area then you need them first to get the space and time to properly set themselves and wind one up, but you also really need to be playing a style that makes it easy for this to happen. Townsend is literally standing still and hasn't moved the whole time the ball is transferred. He is already on the edge of the box by the time that Noone checks back. He doesn't want to go into the area and get picked up so he just stays in space and waits for the ball. If he had missed the target given that amount of time I would have had the arse.

I like big strong powerful players so this is a style that I don't often have to play. I can't remember the last time I played with a little striker like Defoe and had to adapt this way. I don't think I have ever had to in FM14 actually.

Charlie Austin was denied a debut goal late on as the keeper first made a top save and then a hapless defender bundles the ball into his own net before Chaz could pounce on the rebound.

England v Montenegro. Stats. Match Stats.

Stats. England Stats.

England v Montenegro. Overview.

What jumps out at me here is the crossing from Shelvey. I'm surprised it's that high when I don't want anyone to cross, (least of all him), although there were quite a few corners. Yeah. After checking there were 18 corners so that leaves just 5 crosses. I added the "get further forward" to Shelvey in that game. I was worried at how lacklustre we looked against Cyprus, and I wanted to get more bodies forward. In the next game against Moldova I will happier for him to just sit in the hole, (assuming of course that there is space there).

Match results.

The results went as you would expect.

League Table.

So things are set up nicely for us. We have a 5 point gap to Ukraine and they have to play us, but also have to go away to Poland, and even home to Montenegro in the last game is not guaranteed.

[llama3]

Very intruiging approach there jimbokav!

[Jimbokav1971]

England v Moldova. World Cup Qualifier. (EUR) Group 8.

I've swapped both full-backs for the Moldova game. Cole had a negative body-language all through the last match, (despite playing ok), and I've got too much going on to be worrying about him. (To be honest i haven't a scooby about team-talks). Huddlestone has come in for Parker mainly because Parker was booked in the 1st half against Montenegro, but it wasn't lost on me that we seemed to pass the ball much better in the 2nd half with Huddlestone there. Johnson has come in for the really impressive Noone on the left. Ravel swaps with Shelvey in the AM role and Defoe and Townsend retain their places. I'm sure I will use Charlie Austin at some point again, but Lennon is lacking just a bit of conditioning and probably won't feature. Ruddy has kept his place and is unlikely to lose it unless we start shipping goals. (i don't like mucking about with the keeper). I've also taken off the "get further forward instruction for the AM role.

When I am going though the OI's again I notice that there are no aggressive players, (so don't expect any Moldovans to be sent off, but carried off is a different matter. Dan Ojog is a young centre-half who is in Villarreal U19's. I can't see what he's like, but I can see all I need to see. He's going to get clattered!

How he lasted till the 76th minute I have no idea, but last he did. He wasn't in the best of shape when he left the pitch though.

It was a bit of a strange old game. Adam Johnson and Kieran Gibbs absolutely tore Moldova apart down the left, but we struggled to link in the same way that we had against Montenegro. It took me until just before half-time to realise it, but the difference was Ravel for Shelvey. Ravel might have got the MOM award, but it was all flash and no substance. he actually seemed to struggle when he was in the hole with his back to goal and had to receive the ball and pop it off to someone else. In the 2nd half, I swapped him from AM to AP and that allowed him to play more facing the Moldovan goal rather than with his back to goal. As a result our passing was more fluid and we played some nice stuff.

England v Moldova. Stats. Match Stats.

We scored 5 goals but should have scored about 10. Adam Johnson missed the target with all 6 of his efforts and we were very wasteful in general in the early periods of the game. We hit the woodwork on 4 occasions, we hit the GK on numerous occasions. Johnson even almost hit the corner flag with one particularly wayward effort.

Charlie Austin at least got of the mark for his Country, and both him and Lennon played very well in the 2nd half after coming off the bench.

England v Moldova. Stats. England Stats.

You can see though that a big part of the problem was that while we were completely dominant down the left in the first half, far too often the end product was a cross from our left back Gibbs. This wasn't his fault of course. It was MY TACTICS. I had stopped the wingers crossing and I had even stopped the attacking right back crossing, but I didn't really think to change the instructions for the supporting left back, because quite frankly I never expected him to get forward and cross in those sort of numbers. The reason that I didn't notice earlier and swap things around was that I wasn't really paying much attention.

England v Moldova. Overview.

Match results.

Again the results elsewhere went as you would expect. (It seems really strange to be managing someone in a group with San Marino, but it not being them).

League Table.

We still have a 5 point gap over Ukraine with 2 games to play. A draw either away to Ukraine or at home to Poland will be enough to guarantee our passage to Brazil.

[NakS]

I am not done guys, I just have so much work at the moment that I can't fire up the game to progress and update tactically!

[Jimbokav1971]

The squad for the games away to Ukraine and home to Poland has been announced.

England Squad announced.

Aaron Cresswell of Ipswich gets the nod over Kieran Gibbs and Ryan Bertrand. With Ashley Cole on a yellow card and facing the possibility of missing the Poland game if he is booked against Ukraine, it was thought that a more defensive minded left back was needed.

Aaron Cresswell Profile.

Joleon Lescott and Micah Richards are selected ahead of Jack Hobbs & Nathaniel Clyne as we again look to offer more solidity to the defense.

Mark Noble returns after injury and JWP is promoted from the U19's squad in place of Ravel.

JWP Profile.

Ukraine v England. World Cup Qualifier. (EUR) Group 8.

We go with what I think is our strongest defensive line-up. The back 4 and GK pick themselves, but some impressive displays have seen Leon Britton oust Huddlestone as the man in possession of the Regista role. Parker offers more mobility than Huddlestone in the middle and Noble just offers that little more quality with the ball that will hopefully allow us to translate defense into attack on the counter.

England v Ukraine. Formations.

Konoplyanka is injured, (result), but Ukraine still have a wealth of attacking options. I will be happy with 0-0 imn this game, (hopefully securing qualification with a game to spare), but if we can score first then I think we will be hard to beat.

It's quite a cagey affair early on with defenses certainly on top, but then Defoe does what he does best and scores from close range with an instinctive first-time finish. This has changed the game and now Ukraine have to push forward more. Suddenly the game is much more stretched although defenses are still coming out on top. The game is settled with 15 minutes reamaining as Defoe intercepts a poor back-pass and calmly slots home for his 2nd of the game and his 5th goal in 4 matches. It only remains to be seen if we can keep a 10th consecutive clean-sheet and thanks largely to Dawson and Noble who are outstanding, (not to forget to mention John Ruddy), we hold out quite comfortably in the end and if anyone was going to score another it was going to be a 3rd for us. It was very different to the other games in the group and real end-to-end nail-biting stuff. If I am honest I think that it was a case of the team who scored first would win, and thankfully for us Defoe was on form and he stuck away the vital first. After that they were chasing the game and it was always going to favour us.

Ukraine v England. Match Stats.

Ukraine v England. England Stats.

Ukraine v England. Overview.

Group 8 Results.

It's probably a bit of a surprise that Montenegro didn't manage to see off Moldova, and it's certainly a surprise that San Marino were able hold Poland to 0-2.

Group 8 Table.

I would have been delighted with a 0-0 so to get a win is a right result. (Now all we have to do us make sure we don't concede against Poland to keep the clean-sheet record going).​

[RTHerringbone]

Seems like Townsend needs to be asked to stop shooting!

[Jimbokav1971]

World Cup 2014 - England, (but not Roy's England)

England v Poland. World Cup Qualifier. (EUR) Group 8.

Note to self. SLOW down and READ messages. They just might be important. [headbang]

Regista Britton injured.

For some reason I skimmed over the message and didn't call-up any replacements.

Ok. So that's our Regista gone. Huddlestone has performed well as the CM(d) in the AM tactic so the absence of the brilliant Britton has forced our hand and we will be going on the attack against Poland. If this costs us our clean-sheet record I amd going to be peeved in the extreme!

There is no rotation. There is no resting players. (I think we are resting quite enough as it is thanks). There is no taking it easy in any games, (friendly or otherwise).

Ashley Cole is on a yellow card, but as this is the last qualifying game, even if he gets another booking, the subsequent ban won't happen until the next World Cup qualifying campaign, (not my problem), so he plays.

The right-back instructions are more attacking and as a result it has taken more out of him and he is tired now. Micah Richards will come in to replace him. This isn't rotation. This is me selecting Richards over a tired Walker.

I'm sticking with Dawson and Shawcross even though they are tired. They have been so good that it's impossible to drop them.

Ideally I would like to play Mark Noble with either of Scott Parker or Tom Huddlestone, but his exertions against Ukraine have taken their toll and he is only fot enough for a place on the bench I'm afraid. Huddlestone will continue in the more defensive role and Parker will be asked to get forward a little more.

I like the look of JWP and he is in the squad on merit, by I prefer Jonjo Shelvey and he will start at AM.

With Lennon gone we are down to 3 wide players. Johnson will start on the left and hopefully continue where he left off against Moldova. Noone will start on the right, (wrong side), and will be replaced by Townsend, (at least that's the plan).

Defoe is on such a good run that he will again start. Charlie Austin scored against Moldova, so I feel under less pressure to play him.

There are a number of players who are prime for being noised up with a view to collecting yellow cards. My money is on someone not finishing with a full compliment today.

Poland start off with a formation that I particularly dislike, (a flat back 4 with 2 DM's sitting in front of them), and the first chance they get they counter us and Pawlowski gives them an early lead. Our clean-sheet run is over. ****!

Shelvey and Defoe pressing the centre-backs is fine and the wingers pressing the full-backs is fine too. I can even, (at a push), understand why Parker might be the wrong-side of his man. With Huddlestone, (highlighted with blue circle), on a (d) duty though, there is no way he should be on the opposite side of 3 central midfielders, (2 of whom are DM's).

One simple pass and we are deep in the poo. The centre-backs are probably comfortable with the central attacker, but both full-backs are going to struggle against the pacey wide-men who have space to run into and absolutely no pressure on the ball-carrier.

Dawson is forced to pressure the ball and the Polish winger explots the space he has left and gets in behind a floundering Cole. Parker is working back, (as is Richards on the opposite flank), but Huddlestone has still got a cigar on and is making little if any effort to get back.

Cole, (yellow circle), misses his tackle and loses ground on the attacker, (who takes a good shot accross the GK into the corner). Both Shelvey and Parker have made good ground in an attempt to get back, but look at Huddlestone. The lazy fat ****** is barely back in his own half when the shot is taken. If he was playing for my club side he would never play for me again. To say I am unhappy..... well it would be flippin true. (I love clean sheets and I HATE conceding goals). This might have been a good finish but it was just basic rank bad definding in the middle of the pitch.

We level things up before half an hour, (Johnson), but there is some very strange stuff going on. Huddlestone keeps finding himself in advanced positions and it is often baldy Shelvey who is the deepest of the 3 central midfielders. I have checked to make sure that we are playing the correct tactic and that I haven't selected Shelvey as a Regista or something but no. All is as it should be but Huddlestone keeps going AWOL and Shelvey is running his nads off trying to cover. This is the build-up to our equaliser as Shelvey has comes back to win possession and we start to counter.

Needless to say, Mr Huddlestone did not feature after the break.

With 13 minutes to go with give away a soft penalty, (Noble), after an aimless hoof into our box. It's obviously converted and we have 12 minutes to remain unbeaten. :-(

We have a shot cleared off the line in injury tome but it's an awful performance, an awful performance and an awful way to end our qualifying campaign. The only consolation is that thankfully we had already secured qualification.

England v Poland. Match Stats.

England v Poland. England Stats.

England v Poland. Overview.

England v Poland. Formations.

I said that we were likely to see a red card today. We actually saw 11 yellows, but no reds. So although I was wrong, I was on the right course I think. On another day with another ref they could have finished with 9 men. They had 5 players on the pitch who were booked at the end and the tackles were still flying in and the ref was still warning players.

Group 8 Results.

Group 8 Table.

I should be quite happy with that qualifying campaign and that group of players, but that defeat and that performance has left a really bad taste in the mouth. Not Happy.

[Jimbokav1971]

Note to self. SLOW down and READ messages. They just might be important. [headbang]

Ok. So that's our Regista gone. Huddlestone has performed well as the CM(d) in the Am tactic so the absence of the brilliant Britton has forced our hand and we will be going on the attack against Poland. If this costs us our clean-sheet record I am going to be peeved in the extreme?

How annoyed?

[Jimbokav1971]

Seems like Townsend needs to be asked to stop shooting!

I thought that too, but when I checked....

[jens_dewit]

You're really setting an example here for us newcomers

Definitely the attempt I like best (apart from RTH's; that was magical stuff)

Keep up the good work