Help with tactics and formation

[CrispySAFC]

Seriously need some help with tactics and formation on FM14. Tried so many different variations, read the twelve-step-guide, pairs, creating a tactic etc. but it seems the more I read and implement, the more I get confused with what is actually happening in the game, hence why I haven't even reached Christmas 2013 on one single save. Compare this with last years game where I spent 10 seasons at Cheltenham Town, guiding them to 2nd place in the Premier League after back to back promotions in the first two seasons.

I'm currently playing with Sunderland in pre-season. My formation, tactics and shouts are as followed:

Khune (Goalkeeper - defensive)

Celustka (Full back - support), Vergini (Central defender - defend), Brown (Central defender - defend), Dossena (Full back - attack)

Bridcutt (Anchor man - defend)

Ki (Advanced playmaker - attack), Larsson (Central Midfielder - support)

Johnson (Inside forward - attack), Giaccherini (Inside forward - support)

Wickham (Deep lying forward - attack) or Scocco (Poacher - attack)

Standard mentality

Balanced philosophy

Shorter passing, push higher up, higher tempo, pass into space, play wider, exploit the middle (I change these and trial other ones, however it doesn't seem to affect the team an awful lot)

Goalkeeper: Distribute to defenders, pass it shorter.

Right back: Run wide with ball.

Left back: Run wide with ball, get further forward.

Defensive mid: Close down more.

Both centre-mids: Close down more, roam from position.

Right wing: Play narrower.

I'm trying to play a quick tempo, get the ball forward tactic, whilst also being in control of the ball. Too many games now in which I've had 80-85% passing accuracy. I know this will be because of the high tempo ie. more error prone, but even when I try to play slower and control the game, the players are giving the ball away far too easily.

If anyone could help me out, it would be greatly appreciated as I actually want to start enjoying this game sooner rather than later

[RTHerringbone]

Two "easy" suggestions from me:

1. A 4-1-2-2-1 works best, in my opinion, if you have a true runner from central midfield supplementing the attack. Is the AP (A) providing that? If not, consider changing the player on that side to a CM (A), and the CM (S) to an AP (S) instead.

2. I would tend not to use a Poacher up front on his own, and absolutely not in this formation where you really need your striker to help link play. Everyone has their own preference for a striker set up in a lone striker formation, and mine is a CF (S).

One question:

1. What do you think Exploit The Middle as a Team Instruction gives your team? For me, it works best against any shape without a DM, and as such should be a situational instruction, rather than a default one.

[CrispySAFC]

Thanks for replying.

I'll definitely be trying that as right now the CM (S) is slightly further forward than the AP (A). Yes okay, I'll definitely be trying Scocco as a CF. Wickham has been playing better (DLF, A) and you've explained why that's been the case!

I've been using 'exploit the middle' with the 'play wider' shout to try and make more room in the middle of the pitch for my midfield when it looks like it's a busy area.

Apart from that, are my other shouts and base formation okay? I just find it difficult in understanding what to do in certain situations. When to lower the tempo, when to drop deeper, when to play narrower etc. Would it be better to go with a more rigid style, fluid (which I have used for a lot of the matches), or just keep with balanced?

[RTHerringbone]

Apart from that, are my other shouts and base formation okay?

Everything else looks absolutely fine to me. It's well balanced.

Don't worry about changing Fluidity from match to match. Balanced is a perfect starting point as it makes various settings quite neutral.

As far as adapting to situations, the simplest place to start (in my opinion), is to use the Exploit The..... Shouts. Here's how Cleon describes them:

Exploit The Flanks – It gives the fullback/wingbacks and wingers more attacking and focuses the play down both flanks. It also tells them to run from deep and cross the ball more often. If you use central midfielders then it’ll tell them to hold up the ball. You should use this if you find the middle over crowded or if you have good wide players who can cross.

Exploit The Middle – None defensive players will have their run from deep increased too often. Tells your team to focus their passing through the middle and any defenders and defensive midfielders will have their mentality changed to a more attacking one and be told to do through balls often. If you don’t use wide players then you should use this shout. It’s also great against teams who leave big gaping holes through the centre. I find it really effective against the 4231 (the CM one and not the DM) as the gap in the middle is huge.

I'm not as good as many Tactics Mods and other players at adapting via Instructions to the needs of a game, so I often use a different shape to counter the strengths and weaknesses of an opponent.

[CrispySAFC]

Excellent, well that's a start anyway! I'll keep going with balanced and see how I get on. Would there be any other PI's I would need to add if I'm to used balanced?

Okay, exploit the flanks it is then. I'll play my final pre-season game with the adjustments and see how I get on...

[RTHerringbone]

Excellent, well that's a start anyway! I'll keep going with balanced and see how I get on. Would there be any other PI's I would need to add if I'm to used balanced?

Just see how the players move and let your eyes be your guide. I highly recommend taking the time to watch the longest form of highlights you can be arsed with whilst waiting for a tactic to bed.

As an example, I spend ages fiddling with forwards with Move Into Channels and MCs with Get Further Forwards to create vertical movement. Stuff along those lines can really help to mess up the AI shape.

[CrispySAFC]

Played 11 games of the season and I'm sitting in 16th after a string of bad results that followed a fairly decent start including 3-0 win at the Emirates, but recent 4-0 and 2-0 losses against Palace and Stoke have made that result feel very old.

Desperately need help, I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Too many teams are exploiting balls down the middle and catching my players out despite sometimes playing deeper and standing off the opponents.

I've always played FM14 on extensive highlights, so I can sort of see what's going on, and no matter what I do to try and change it, nothing is working. My team were giving the ball away cheaply, so I asked them to pass short and work ball into box, but this hasn't solved the problem. I'll try and post some screenshots to help.

[CrispySAFC]