Franky's Wing's of Fury Tactic (STEROID ABUSE VERSION) for FM16 (16.2)... plug & play!!

[akuji2012]

sorry wrong thread plz move

[gauravsinghmd]

I leaked goals, I had balenta and Gomez as cb, what would happen I would go one up and they would cross and equalize. Tried it with Blackburn in multiplayer game. going to test again will update.

Take out the W/WB/FB with OI (weaker foot + hard tackling)

[Franky.]

After incredible success in testing and with my lower league Wycombe game, I've added the following information to the original post which will enable you to get even more out of the tactic.........

PLAYER POSITIONS AND ROLES

Follow the advice below if you want this tactic to absolutely fly, especially if you are managing a lower league team.

I'm going to explain role suitability a bit here. The green circle that defines role suitability for each player has 10 segments. To be a natural for the role, a player must have all ten segments lit up, nine to be accomplished and seven or eight to be competent. Seven being competent and eight being highly competent although the game does not state 'highly competent'..... I state 'highly competent' to differentiate between seven and eight. What you need to do is ensure that there is no player who is less than 'accomplished' (i.e. 9 segments). My understanding of the game is that percentage wise, you will get 10% of the potential performance out of a player for every segment. Obviously, utilizing 100% of a player's ability is the aim for each player but that's not always going to be possible, especially in the lower leagues. For this reason, it's important to follow the advice below...........

It is imperative to ensure you don't have square pegs in round holes so you should set each player's training focus to the tactic specified role so eventually they can be used as per the tactic requirement..... unless he's really poor in that role, in which case set the training focus to a role that he's already 'accomplished' at. If you are managing lower league teams and the players just aren't good enough to fill the required roles, then for the strikers you can also use an advanced forward, deep lying forward, defensive forward or false nine. If your wing backs are not suited to the 'attack' role then put them on support duty and manually set them to 'get further forward'. If they're not suited to the wing back role then use them as full backs on support with 'get further forward' checked. If a player is only competent or highly competent (i.e. 7 or 8 segments lit up) at best and by switching his role, he becomes accomplished (i.e. 9 out of 10 segments lit up) or better, then it's important that you DO make the change. Make sure though, that the duty (i.e. attack, support, defend) does not change for any player except the striker, AMC or full backs who can be used in a support role instead of attack. For example, if the guy you have as your roaming playmaker is highly competent at that role but is an accomplished or natural advanced playmaker or box to box midfielder then change him to either of those. The central midfielder might be a better ball winning midfielder, in which case switch him to that. Yes, the dynamics of the tactic will change somewhat but overall, it should be worth it due to better player performances. Below are a three examples from my Man Utd game......

Valencia - Inside Forward support (unconvincing) to Winger support (natural).

Herrera - Enganche attack (highly competent) to Attacking Midfielder attack (accomplished).

Fellaini - Central Midfielder defend (highly competent) to Ball Winning Midfielder defend (accomplished).

By making the above mentioned changes, I get more out of the players which in real terms equates to better results. As already mentioned, the dynamics of the tactic will change a little but it will be for the better.

A few points regarding the above advised changes.....

1. Do NOT make any changes to any player who is accomplished or natural in his role/duty.

2. It's okay to have more than one playmaker but preferrably no more than two and ideally a centre mid and the attacking midfielder.

3. Only one of the attacking midfielder and striker can be changed to a support role but not both.

4. Only ever switch your wing backs to full backs on attack duty if you expect to dominate the game, otherwise your flanks will be exposed. Full backs on support duty are okay though.

5. If you switch your AMC to shadow striker then it would be beneficial to switch your striker to a support role, so long as it does not affect his role suitability. If it does then avoid using the AMC as a shadow striker.

[Franky.]

what matchprep u use?`

I play the Touch version of the game which doesn't have any of that nonsense

You have your assistant pick the OI even if you don't have a good one?

Have you tried the tactic without OI?

I think the few changes that are made by the assistant are for the better so it's best to get a decent one who has good stats in 'tactical knowledge' and 'judging player ability'. I've tested the tactic without OI, although not extensively and it doesn't appear to be any better that way.

[sparkysrovers]

Great 1st post - it certainly has peaked my interest, I must have used every tactic in this forum with only one or two providing some success with the recent being one of knaps creations, I feel I have to keep changing as the game "learns" the tactic, dont even know if thats possible!? I'm going to give it a try though

[sparkysrovers]

I play the Touch version of the game which doesn't have any of that nonsense

I think the few changes that are made by the assistant are for the better so it's best to get a decent one who has good stats in 'tactical knowledge' and 'judging player ability'. I've tested the tactic without OI, although not extensively and it doesn't appear to be any better that way.

Do you let the Assistant take the teamtalks or do you do them yourself?

[Franky.]

Do you let the Assistant take the teamtalks or do you do them yourself?

There's no team talks in the touch version so I can only imagine the ass man is doing them..... well, he best be doing them as I'm paying him top wonga Anyhow, let us know how you get on.

[sparkysrovers]

Yeah I did do them before before handing the duty off to one of the coaches. I'll leave him do them for now. I didnt realise the tactic was for the touch version.

[Franky.]

Yeah I did do them before before handing the duty off to one of the coaches. I'll leave him do them for now. I didnt realise the tactic was for the touch version.

Perhaps the Touch version for tablets and mobiles might have a different match engine but I play the PC version and the match engine is the same for FM Touch (PC) and FM full version so tactics will work the same for both. FM Touch is just a streamlined version of the full game for those who prefer to be less 'hands on' regarding recruiting staff, team talks, player interaction etc.

[Carninho]

https://flic.kr/p/FvoXXo - Final Championship table

https://flic.kr/p/FDzhSH - Squad list

https://flic.kr/p/FDzhRv - league player stats

https://flic.kr/p/FBhjoq - injury summary. easily the worst season I've had in decades of playing FM/Champ Man

overall its the first time I've finished top of the Championship in FM16, and add to that the lack of players I had available its amazing. Also important note to add is that Forest are under a transfer embargo for the entire season since the latest patch,

SO THANKS

[Kenty7]

It's a fantastic tactic, I won the Championship with 112 points as Forest, 34 wins, 10 draws and only 2 lost.

2nd season, 4th in the Prem, 20 wins, 8 draws, 10 lost so 68 points and League Cup winners.

Then won the Prem in season 3 as well as the European Cup (Exited the CL at the group stage). 27 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses. 88 points.

I love the tactic, thanks Franky.

[superharber]

It's a fantastic tactic, I won the Championship with 112 points as Forest, 34 wins, 10 draws and only 2 lost.

2nd season, 4th in the Prem, 20 wins, 8 draws, 10 lost so 68 points and League Cup winners.

Then won the Prem in season 3 as well as the European Cup (Exited the CL at the group stage). 27 wins, 7 draws and 4 losses. 88 points.

I love the tactic, thanks Franky.

Using the steroid version?

[Kenty7]

Yep, Using Steroid Abuse. Best one I've used on this years game.

[sparkysrovers]

Started off well but results havent been as good, and I have followed the advice in post 1 to the tee. The tactic isnt fluid yet and I dont do any match prep (as in having the team do attacking movement/defensive positioning). One of the coaches does team talks and one does OI's.

I've had an abundance of on pitch injuries though which might also be causing havoc. It has been relatively successful with my international team though.

[Franky.]

Started off well but results havent been as good, and I have followed the advice in post 1 to the tee. The tactic isnt fluid yet and I dont do any match prep (as in having the team do attacking movement/defensive positioning). One of the coaches does team talks and one does OI's.

I've had an abundance of on pitch injuries though which might also be causing havoc. It has been relatively successful with my international team though.

I would suggest the injuries are the reason. Also, I've been playing a bit more lately and have edited the original post with the following.......

"The tactic is largely plug and play, irrespective of home or away or how good or bad your opponent may be. There is no need to change mentalities at any point during the game except for the last 20 minutes if you are looking to protect a lead, in which case you switch to 'Contain' or if you are chasing the game and need to score, in which case you switch to 'Overload' at ANY point in the second half."

The OVERLOAD advice is very important as it's needed if your opponents park the bus or if you need to get back into the game.

Kenty and Carninho, thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. Kenty, what team are you managing?

[sparkysrovers]

Yeah I'll have to try the overload. I've tried the contain to some success.

I know it's only fair to judge the tactic once it's fluid

[MrMungo]

Firstly, thanks Franky for this tactic.

I have been using 90% of the time during this season, and has worked very well indeed.

I am Liverpool, and currently 4 points clear at the top (Arsenal) who are well clear of third place, Stoke.

My record after 18 matches is 13-4-1.

It's an interesting tactic, and has surprised me a LOT.

The defence is very solid. After 18 matches, i have conceded just 7 goals (with Mignolet!).

On the flipside, the attack isn't as lively as I would expect. Many, many, many games have been 1-0, or 2-0 wins. No 8-0 wins sadly!

The attack consists of: Sturridge, Coutinho, Firmino and Lallana who are all 9/10 on their roles, so it's bit puzzling, but a win is a win!

The league is going well, however, I struggled badly in the Champions' Cup with this tactic.

Get knocked out straight away having lost a match 4-2.

Lost the first match in UEFA Cup too, then reverted to play my overload formation and won the next 5 matches in Europe.

Is there any reason why this tactic doesn't perform in Europe or am I unlucky?

I have made one single change to the tactic; Play Wilshere as a AP-SU in midfield, and he's done alright. Not been injured all year!

That said, I do have Henderson as the CM-DE and he only has 7 pegs out of 10 (best I have!), so that may have something to do with it.

Regarding the work rate that has been mentioned in the OP. My side is 19th best in the league in term of WR, but doesn't seem to effect us.

The tactic is finally fluid, and am now looking forward to the 2nd half of the season where I can hopefully turn the 1-0 and 2-0s into 2-0 and 3-0s

Thanks again Franky.

[Franky.]

IMPORTANT NOTE: Whoever is using this tactic, please read everything below as it's the most important advice I have to offer in order to get the best possible results. Since I've been using the pre-match odds to dictate which mentality my team starts with, the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. My team is scoring more goals than before, especially away from home and against teams who are better than us...... please do read!

Firstly, thanks Franky for this tactic.

I have been using 90% of the time during this season, and has worked very well indeed.

I am Liverpool, and currently 4 points clear at the top (Arsenal) who are well clear of third place, Stoke.

My record after 18 matches is 13-4-1.

It's an interesting tactic, and has surprised me a LOT.

The defence is very solid. After 18 matches, i have conceded just 7 goals (with Mignolet!).

On the flipside, the attack isn't as lively as I would expect. Many, many, many games have been 1-0, or 2-0 wins. No 8-0 wins sadly!

The attack consists of: Sturridge, Coutinho, Firmino and Lallana who are all 9/10 on their roles, so it's bit puzzling, but a win is a win!

The league is going well, however, I struggled badly in the Champions' Cup with this tactic.

Get knocked out straight away having lost a match 4-2.

Lost the first match in UEFA Cup too, then reverted to play my overload formation and won the next 5 matches in Europe.

Is there any reason why this tactic doesn't perform in Europe or am I unlucky?

I have made one single change to the tactic; Play Wilshere as a AP-SU in midfield, and he's done alright. Not been injured all year!

That said, I do have Henderson as the CM-DE and he only has 7 pegs out of 10 (best I have!), so that may have something to do with it.

Regarding the work rate that has been mentioned in the OP. My side is 19th best in the league in term of WR, but doesn't seem to effect us.

The tactic is finally fluid, and am now looking forward to the 2nd half of the season where I can hopefully turn the 1-0 and 2-0s into 2-0 and 3-0s

Thanks again Franky.

You're welcome Okay, there's a couple of points I want to make. Firstly, you need to adapt the tactic to suit your team by changing the roles so that the green suitability circle has at least 9 segments lit up for each player. Every player must be 'accomplished' or 'natural' in order to get the best out of the tactic. I'm in my third season in the Premier League with Wycombe and I've mainly got players on free transfers so couldn't be too picky as to how suitable they were for the tactic. Due to limited funds, the strategy was to keep upgrading the players as cheaply as possible without worrying about whether they suit the tactic or not. The two screenshots below will explain what I mean............

Majority of the players I've brought in aren't quite what I need for tactic. A total of 18 segments unlit for the starting eleven.

photo uploading websites

So I've adjusted the roles of five players and now only have a total of 6 segments unlit. The right wing back remains unchanged as 2 unlit segments is the best I can get for him.

image hosting without registration

The point here is that the tactic now suits my players after the adjustments. You've got Henderson on 7 segments lit up so barely competent, which is not ideal. Even 8 should be avoided but 7 means he's not going to be effective. As already mentioned, every player should be on no less than 9.

The second point I want to make is that after playing a quarter of of my third season in the Premier League, I have to alter the advice regarding tactic usage (original post has been amended accordingly). Firstly, a little background info...... the first two seasons were mostly just one game a week and I hardly had any international players so everyone was getting plenty of rest between games, meaning my players were fresh throughout the season. Finished 13th first season, then qualified for Europa League (Euro Cup) at the end of the second season. The third season meant European fixtures so I was facing two games a week plus a few players away on international duty on top of that. The tactic is physically very demanding due to the high pressing it deploys and this just killed my players. They were knackered going into each game with around 90-95% condition as opposed to 95-100% the two seasons before. This adversely affected the results so my hand was forced to make some changes in order to better preserve condition levels. Now the lower the mentality, the less physically demanding any tactic will be so I decided to start each game with the mentality being dictated by the pre-match odds, which is how I used version 3 and version 4 of the same tactic. Results improved straight away, which made me realise the tactic is not quite as plug and play as I thought I now use the strategy below..............

Start each game with the following mentalities depending on the pre-match odds......

Odds on favourite - Control

Favourite - Control

Opponent is favourite - Standard

Opponent is odds on favourite - Counter

Do NOT make any adjustments to the mentalities until half time at the earliest, when you should use the following formula if you need to score.........

Change from Control to Overload at half time.

Standard to Overload around the 60 minute mark.

Counter to Overload around the 70 minute mark.

If you are behind by more than a single goal then always make the switch at half time...... no point waiting longer.

The reason for the different times at which to switch to overload is because when you do so, you risk getting a walloping if the opponent is much better, therefore you don't want your defence to be exposed for the full 45 minutes of the second half if the opponent is indeed better than your team. The logic here being that you give your players the early part of the second half to get back into the game and only make the switch if that doesn't happen. If you are the superior team then the switch to overload is far less risky, therefore you can make the change at half time without worrying about your opponent taking advantage...... hope that makes sense.

If you are ahead at half time whilst using control mentality but fear your opponents could get back into it, switch to 'standard' mentality at the break to consolidate your lead. Obviously, if you then concede an equaliser, you'll need to switch immediately to 'overload' but remember to only ever use 'overload' if you need to score. If you don't, then second half is always best played with standard mentality and if your lead is only one or two goals and you want to see the game out, then as already mentioned, switch to 'contain' around the 65 minute mark.

Using the above formula has a double effect. Firstly, the results will be better and secondly, your players will save a significant amount of energy, thus remaining fresher throughout the season. This in turn will improve results even more so double whammy!!!

Try it and let me know how you get on and that goes for everyone else who is using the tactic

[shirajzl]

Regardless of Franky said, I dare say this is the best plug and play tactic I've tried on FM 16. I've been testing it in various leagues and it easily overachieves massively without any tweaks. The reason is simple, it exploits the crossing problems of this ME perfectly.

As for squad building, even without a lot of money, the key is squad depth. You have to have 22 players capable to play right here and now. Of course, not all of them will be good, but even if they're mediocre at best, it gives you enough depth so that your players are fresh for every game. It's just a matter of proper squad rotation.

[madhatter75]

IMPORTANT NOTE: Whoever is using this tactic, please read everything below as it's the most important advice I have to offer in order to get the best possible results. Since I've been using the pre-match odds to dictate which mentality my team starts with, the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. My team is scoring more goals than before, especially away from home and against teams who are better than us...... please do read!

You're welcome Okay, there's a couple of points I want to make. Firstly, you need to adapt the tactic to suit your team by changing the roles so that the green suitability circle has at least 9 segments lit up for each player. Every player must be 'accomplished' or 'natural' in order to get the best out of the tactic. I'm in my third season in the Premier League with Wycombe and I've mainly got players on free transfers so couldn't be too picky as to how suitable they were for the tactic. Due to limited funds, the strategy was to keep upgrading the players as cheaply as possible without worrying about whether they suit the tactic or not. The two screenshots below will explain what I mean............

Majority of the players I've brought in aren't quite what I need for tactic. A total of 18 segments unlit for the starting eleven.

photo uploading websites

So I've adjusted the roles of five players and now only have a total of 6 segments unlit. The right wing back remains unchanged as 2 unlit segments is the best I can get for him.

image hosting without registration

The point here is that the tactic now suits my players after the adjustments. You've got Henderson on 7 segments lit up so barely competent, which is not ideal. Even 8 should be avoided but 7 means he's not going to be effective. As already mentioned, every player should be on no less than 9.

The second point I want to make is that after playing a quarter of of my third season in the Premier League, I have to alter the advice regarding tactic usage (original post has been amended accordingly). Firstly, a little background info...... the first two seasons were mostly just one game a week and I hardly had any international players so everyone was getting plenty of rest between games, meaning my players were fresh throughout the season. Finished 13th first season, then qualified for Europa League (Euro Cup) at the end of the second season. The third season meant European fixtures so I was facing two games a week plus a few players away on international duty on top of that. The tactic is physically very demanding due to the high pressing it deploys and this just killed my players. They were knackered going into each game with around 90-95% condition as opposed to 95-100% the two seasons before. This adversely affected the results so my hand was forced to make some changes in order to better preserve condition levels. Now the lower the mentality, the less physically demanding any tactic will be so I decided to start each game with the mentality being dictated by the pre-match odds, which is how I used version 3 and version 4 of the same tactic. Results improved straight away, which made me realise the tactic is not quite as plug and play as I thought I now use the strategy below..............

Start each game with the following mentalities depending on the pre-match odds......

Odds on favourite - Control

Favourite - Control

Opponent is favourite - Standard

Opponent is odds on favourite - Counter

Do NOT make any adjustments to the mentalities until half time at the earliest, when you should use the following formula if you need to score.........

Change from Control to Overload at half time.

Standard to Overload around the 60 minute mark.

Counter to Overload around the 70 minute mark.

The reason for the different times at which to switch to overload is because when you do so, you risk getting a walloping if the opponent is much better, therefore you don't want your defence to be exposed for the full 45 minutes of the second half if the opponent is indeed better than your team. The logic here being that you give your players the early part of the second half to get back into the game and only make the switch if that doesn't happen. If you are the superior team then the switch to overload is far less risky, therefore you can make the change at half time without worrying about your opponent taking advantage...... hope that makes sense.

Using the above formula has a double effect. Firstly, the results will be better and secondly, your players will save a significant amount of energy, thus remaining fresher throughout the season. This in turn will improve results even more so double whammy!!!

Try it and let me know how you get on and that goes for everyone else who is using the tactic

Thanks for this post Franky. I got Stockport (my real life love!) up to League 2 with 2 Promotions in my first 2 seasons using other tactics. I was coming unstuck and lost in the play offs once i had turned FT in League 2. Gone with this tactic but having some minor issues with the odd result and seeing games out. Do not get me wrong I am top of the league and looking a good bet for promotion. I think the roles need some looking at and this post has probably been what is missing as my players are obviously, not world class by any stretch!! I will give this a go and report in later (I have to take a break for an Easter trip to the in-laws!!)

[madhatter75]

Followed the tactical instructions to a tee along with the relevant PI's and got well and truly FM'd!!! It was a good performance but look at those stats!!!!!

Still progressing well though....

Hope this worked as I have never uploaded pics before and at 40 I am a bit of a technophobe!!!

[madhatter75]

Well clearly not! I have the screenshots saved to my steam account but there doesn't' seem to be a way to do this easily. Just take my word for it I got FM'd but looking handily placed for a promotion lol!!

[Franky.]

Thanks for this post Franky. I got Stockport (my real life love!) up to League 2 with 2 Promotions in my first 2 seasons using other tactics. I was coming unstuck and lost in the play offs once i had turned FT in League 2. Gone with this tactic but having some minor issues with the odd result and seeing games out. Do not get me wrong I am top of the league and looking a good bet for promotion. I think the roles need some looking at and this post has probably been what is missing as my players are obviously, not world class by any stretch!! I will give this a go and report in later (I have to take a break for an Easter trip to the in-laws!!)

Yeah, the player suitability issue is very important and roles need to be changed. It applies equally to big teams as it does to lower league ones. I forgot to add the following advice regarding team mentality...........

If you are ahead at half time whilst using control mentality but fear your opponents could get back into it, switch to 'standard' mentality at the break to consolidate your lead or even just to preserve player energy levels during hectic fixture schedules. Obviously, if you then concede an equaliser, you'll need to switch immediately to 'overload' but remember to only ever use 'overload' if you need to score. If you don't, then second half is always best played with standard mentality and if your lead is only one or two goals and you want to see the game out, then as already mentioned, switch to 'contain' around the 65 minute mark.

This should further increase the win percentage Oh, and all the best with the in-laws

Regardless of Franky said, I dare say this is the best plug and play tactic I've tried on FM 16. I've been testing it in various leagues and it easily overachieves massively without any tweaks. The reason is simple, it exploits the crossing problems of this ME perfectly.

As for squad building, even without a lot of money, the key is squad depth. You have to have 22 players capable to play right here and now. Of course, not all of them will be good, but even if they're mediocre at best, it gives you enough depth so that your players are fresh for every game. It's just a matter of proper squad rotation.

I agree that squad rotation is so important and can give your team an edge over your opponents. Just need to be careful that key players don't get the hump when they miss out every other game. Anyhow, you should try the team mentality changes I've suggested as doing so has made a big difference in my Wycombe game. Standard and Counter mentalities are better than Counter at taking advantage of opponents who push forward with an attacking intent, whilst also keeping things tighter at the back....... if you do try the mentality switching formula, let us know how you get on.

[sparkysrovers]

I think i may have misunderstood your initial post. I've left the players training roles on their best position but left the tactical positions alone.

[madhatter75]

Hmm....Applying all these impressive looking roles, and the relevant mentality changes has seen me just draw 4 in a row - 3 against relegation candidates. I always go behind, come back to lead then concede late on. Tried shutting out the lead and sticking with Overload but always conceding....

[madhatter75]

Ha! Next game, dominated and went in 1 up at the break. With 15 left they had a couple of chances so I switched to contain. Immediately grabbed the second and comfortably saw out the game for the 3 points. I do love this tactic, and with only 4 defeats in 33 league games - the first under a previous tactic I may add - I am confident of seeing out the season and things improving further season on season. Also, every game since taking on board your additional advice Franky, my possession is never below mid 60's in %age terms.

That's me until tonight. Enjoy your days and thanks franky, I'll try to enjoy it

I know it's cheeky but does anyone have an idiots (I mean serious Idiot here!) guide to uploading screenshots please? If not, no worries!

[Franky.]

Hmm....Applying all these impressive looking roles, and the relevant mentality changes has seen me just draw 4 in a row - 3 against relegation candidates. I always go behind, come back to lead then concede late on. Tried shutting out the lead and sticking with Overload but always conceding....

I've found that my team scores more goals with standard and counter mentality than with control, but obviously that relies on exploiting the opposition's attacking style of play with possession based, counter attacking football. This happens because when the opposition need to get back into the game, they'll press harder and my team will counteract that by passing the ball around, dragging them out of position and exploiting the spaces. Anyway, maybe you're just having a bad run. What roles are you changing your players to by the way?.... also, I wouldn't have thought you'd need to be changing mentalities against much weaker opposition?

On a side note, I'm 44 and also a dedicated technophobe lol. However, I've just about managed to grasp how to upload pics. I save them with paint (the Windows program, not the Dulux stuff ), then upload via postimage.org. Once that's done, just copy and paste one of the 'hotlink for forum' urls..... it's quite straightforward really, even for us oldies

I think i may have misunderstood your initial post. I've left the players training roles on their best position but left the tactical positions alone.

Sorry Sparky, might be me being a bit thick but I don't understand the question.... can you clarify?

[sparkysrovers]

You said "It is imperative to ensure you don't have square pegs in round holes so you should set each player's training focus to the tactic specified role so eventually they can be used as per the tactic requirement..... unless he's really poor in that role, in which case set the training focus to a role that he's already 'accomplished' at."

So I was changing their training to IF even if they were only 7/8 and if they werent good as an IF their training focus was set to a winger if they had it accomplished (10) but I didnt change the roles in the tactic.

We're probably both confusing the whole thing now

[Franky.]

You said "It is imperative to ensure you don't have square pegs in round holes so you should set each player's training focus to the tactic specified role so eventually they can be used as per the tactic requirement..... unless he's really poor in that role, in which case set the training focus to a role that he's already 'accomplished' at."

So I was changing their training to IF even if they were only 7/8 and if they werent good as an IF their training focus was set to a winger if they had it accomplished (10) but I didnt change the roles in the tactic.

We're probably both confusing the whole thing now

No, I get you now If a player is 7/10 as an Inside Forward then unless he's a youngster (under 22) and has plenty of potential to improve, he's never going to make a natural IF. I think even then it takes about a year to go from 7/10 to 8/10. If he's 8 or 9/10 as a winger (support) then train him as a winger. Likewise, if your playmaker is less than 8/10 as a Roaming Playmaker but 8 or 9/10 as an Advanced Playmaker (support) or even Deep Lying Playmaker (support) then train him for the role that he is currently best at. Or you could even have a DLP (defend) in the MCR position and a regular Central Midfielder (support) or Box to Box Midfielder (support) in the MCL position. Ultimately, it's about using the roles that best suit your players. Yes the tactic will play a little differently but it will be for the better.

One thing though, never have a centre back in the Stopper role as that's a disaster. Limited Defender and Ball Playing Defender are okay to use.

[madhatter75]

Franky I'm just making similar tweaks like you demonstrated in your Wycombe post pal. I think it may have just been a bad run after my 2-0 win last time out. Just about to pick up again now and try to finish the season tonight. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the tips on posting images I'll look tomorrow/Tuesday at that. Daft question but how do you upload to windows paint as when I click upload from my steam page it just says "uploaded to cloud". Really sorry about this!

[MrMungo]

You're welcome Okay, there's a couple of points I want to make. Firstly, you need to adapt the tactic to suit your team by changing the roles so that the green suitability circle has at least 9 segments lit up for each player. Every player must be 'accomplished' or 'natural' in order to get the best out of the tactic. I'm in my third season in the Premier League with Wycombe and I've mainly got players on free transfers so couldn't be too picky as to how suitable they were for the tactic. Due to limited funds, the strategy was to keep upgrading the players as cheaply as possible without worrying about whether they suit the tactic or not. The two screenshots below will explain what I mean............

Majority of the players I've brought in aren't quite what I need for tactic. A total of 18 segments unlit for the starting eleven.

The point here is that the tactic now suits my players after the adjustments. You've got Henderson on 7 segments lit up so barely competent, which is not ideal. Even 8 should be avoided but 7 means he's not going to be effective. As already mentioned, every player should be on no less than 9.

Hi Franky,

I read what you wrote with great interest in one of the opening posts, which was part of the reason why I changed Wilshere to AP (su).

However, I could do very little with the midfield position.

It is true I could push up a younger player, or purchase a crap player from TM (transfer budget of £45!), but overall, they would not be a better player than Henderson, and it would provide me with an additional issue of what to do with Henderson.

Henderson generally just needs to improve his heading, then I feel pretty confident he would slowly creep up to 8 pegs, and maybe even 9 pegs in a season or 2 if I am fortunate.

The rest of the side seems to be quite well suited to the tactic (8 pegs/segments unused) so I am hopeful the side can carry the captain until my CM newgen increases to a suitable level.

Had another 9 matches or so today. Started off with a tidy 3-1 win over Man City, which was followed by the biggest win of the season for the tactic at Carrow Road, where we defeated Norwich 6-1 - Lallana scored 4!

Another 7 matches resulted in 5 wins, and 2 draws, so things are looking good.

I have noticed as the tactic becomes more fluid, we are more threatening going forward, but also conceeding some more goals now, but still pretty solid at the back.

The only downside is that I didn't realise Coutinho had a £60m release clause...screw you, Man City!!!

[Franky.]

Hi Franky,

I read what you wrote with great interest in one of the opening posts, which was part of the reason why I changed Wilshere to AP (su).

However, I could do very little with the midfield position.

It is true I could push up a younger player, or purchase a crap player from TM (transfer budget of £45!), but overall, they would not be a better player than Henderson, and it would provide me with an additional issue of what to do with Henderson.

Henderson generally just needs to improve his heading, then I feel pretty confident he would slowly creep up to 8 pegs, and maybe even 9 pegs in a season or 2 if I am fortunate.

The rest of the side seems to be quite well suited to the tactic (8 pegs/segments unused) so I am hopeful the side can carry the captain until my CM newgen increases to a suitable level.

Had another 9 matches or so today. Started off with a tidy 3-1 win over Man City, which was followed by the biggest win of the season for the tactic at Carrow Road, where we defeated Norwich 6-1 - Lallana scored 4!

Another 7 matches resulted in 5 wins, and 2 draws, so things are looking good.

I have noticed as the tactic becomes more fluid, we are more threatening going forward, but also conceeding some more goals now, but still pretty solid at the back.

The only downside is that I didn't realise Coutinho had a £60m release clause...screw you, Man City!!!

Have you tried using Henderson in the MCL position as a box to box midfielder? He's a natural in that role and you could rotate him with Wilshere. What about Lucas as the holding midfielder in the MCR position? As far as conceding goals is concerned, my Wycombe team has a media prediction of 12th and I have only two players with a CA rating of 150+ (152 and 153) but half way through the EPL season, we're lying in 2nd place and have scored the most goals. It's going well beyond my expectations as there is also the Europa League to contend with, not to mention the fact I had a clearout of players pre season with many more coming in as well. Just been on a run of 8 clean sheets from 9 games so defensively it's been very good as well and when I've conceded several goals in a game, it's usually been against top opposition and only because I've taken big risks by going overload in order to chase the game. Just beaten Man City 1-0 away, which has to be my best result so far

Franky I'm just making similar tweaks like you demonstrated in your Wycombe post pal. I think it may have just been a bad run after my 2-0 win last time out. Just about to pick up again now and try to finish the season tonight. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for the tips on posting images I'll look tomorrow/Tuesday at that. Daft question but how do you upload to windows paint as when I click upload from my steam page it just says "uploaded to cloud". Really sorry about this!

You need to take a screenshot by pressing the 'print screen' button on your keyboard, then open up the paint program, then edit----paste----save. Once the screenshot is saved, go to postimage.org and upload it, then copy and paste one of the 'hotlink for forum' urls onto this forum....... See, simples

[sparkysrovers]

This season is bloodu awful - I've no striker, no AMR, have one DR, one DL - I'm using several players out of position!

So many injuries during the matches

[MrMungo]

Have you tried using Henderson in the MCL position as a box to box midfielder? He's a natural in that role and you could rotate him with Wilshere. What about Lucas as the holding midfielder in the MCR position? As far as conceding goals is concerned, my Wycombe team has a media prediction of 12th and I have only two players with a CA rating of 150+ (152 and 153) but half way through the EPL season, we're lying in 2nd place and have scored the most goals. It's going well beyond my expectations as there is also the Europa League to contend with, not to mention the fact I had a clearout of players pre season with many more coming in as well. Just been on a run of 8 clean sheets from 9 games so defensively it's been very good as well and when I've conceded several goals in a game, it's usually been against top opposition and only because I've taken big risks by going overload in order to chase the game. Just beaten Man City 1-0 away, which has to be my best result so far

Lucas Leiva went ages ago. Emre Can went last season although from memory he was not amazing in the CM-DE role. I'm currently in the third season.

I really don't have anyone who can take over that role as a natural, or close to it.

I was going to play around with a few things at the end of the season when I hopefully have the league wrapped up. Hopefully I will have 3 or 4 matches to give it a fair runout.

I was going to use Henderson (Milner as cover) as BBM (su) & Tielemans (Wilshere (when fit!) as cover) as DLP (de) to give us a few extra 'pegs' and see how that went.

I feel the tactic is working well at the moment, so don't want to risk anything whilst there's still all to play for.

A fair amount of the goals I have conceeded have been consolation goals to be fair. Usually about halfway through the 2nd half, sometimes a bit later.

[madhatter75]

Thanks for your help Franky but I suspect there must be an issue with my laptop. When I take the screenshot and try and paste it in to paint it just pastes a copy of my desktop. I can upload screenshots to my steam account but it doesn't give me any options to change where they go besides "uploading to cloud" and I can't access or retrieve them once that's done. Stuff the whole uploading thing I've 5 games to go this season and I'll let you know how it ends up later.

[madhatter75]

http://images.akamai.steamusercontent.com/ugc/285224001568170978/6AEA9C5AD6FB7E3ABF71F2C7D3980FED8B202790/

I guess that is about the best I can do lol!!

[madhatter75]

Promotion clinched with 2 games to spare. Now for the title.

[madhatter75]

Won title on last day of season so very happy. I started using the tactic after 3 games of the season so full pre season this time around.

[Justified]

For those that are complaining about cards and foul count in this tactic I would recommend the following. Set up Hard Tackling OI's on WB's, Wide Midfielders, Wide Attacking midfielders and Strikers and then remove "Get Stuck In". I saw that Franky plays with both OI's and Get Stuck In which might mean foul counts will be high but really you only need to stop crosses coming into the box and the OI's I posted will hinder that but also get your card count and fouls down.

Hope that helps

[shirajzl]

This is officially the best tactic I've used on FM 16.

I've just won La Liga with Getafe in 3rd season, with the smallest budget and stadium in the league.

[madhatter75]

I am hoping this may now work?!....

[madhatter75]

Ok lol!!! So an earlier one but at least it's an upload!!!!

[mantorras77]

I swear i'm done with this **** ass game! I'm 7 seasons in and every season its the same ****in story! Win the first leg of Champions League at home by a comfortable margin and get blown out on the return game!

I was odds-on favorite in the away game as well, started with Standard strategy and still got destroyed!

doesn't matter what tactic I use, what changes I make/don't make every single season in the Champions League the story line has been the same...cruise through the group stage then the game ****S me over either in the first knock-out round or Quarters with the same bull **** year after year!

here's another one:

[Kenty7]

I would suggest the injuries are the reason. Also, I've been playing a bit more lately and have edited the original post with the following.......

"The tactic is largely plug and play, irrespective of home or away or how good or bad your opponent may be. There is no need to change mentalities at any point during the game except for the last 20 minutes if you are looking to protect a lead, in which case you switch to 'Contain' or if you are chasing the game and need to score, in which case you switch to 'Overload' at ANY point in the second half."

The OVERLOAD advice is very important as it's needed if your opponents park the bus or if you need to get back into the game.

Kenty and Carninho, thanks for the feedback, it's appreciated. Kenty, what team are you managing?

Nottingham Forest, Just finished season 4 over the Bank Holiday weekend, won the Prem again, FA Cup and League Cup, CL Quarter final went out disappointingly but lots of injuries. Also took over as England and using this tactic won the International League, comfortably. Still rock solid for me, only difficulty is I'm playing that well all the big clubs are trying to poach my young talent! Last year my striker (Regen) scored 54 goals in 52 starts and 1 appearance from the bench.

[shirajzl]

This is officially the best tactic I've used on FM 16.

I've just won La Liga with Getafe in 3rd season, with the smallest budget and stadium in the league.

I forgot to mention that I haven't switched mentality not once in three seasons. Neither have I tweaked the roles to suit my players.

Also, my most expensive signing cost me only 1.8m pounds. Most of players I signed were from free transfer.

Exceptional tactic. Deserves much more credit than it has.

Some other "famous" tactic creators haven't even appeared on the forums since FM 16 is a lot more difficult to exploit. Others, like Mr Rosler, had a fair few tries, but his tactics never really reached the levels of this one.

[sparkysrovers]

I swear i'm done with this **** ass game! I'm 7 seasons in and every season its the same ****in story! Win the first leg of Champions League at home by a comfortable margin and get blown out on the return game!

http://i.imgur.com/hlhjm5N.png

I was odds-on favorite in the away game as well, started with Standard strategy and still got destroyed!

http://i.imgur.com/0V4TKld.png

doesn't matter what tactic I use, what changes I make/don't make every single season in the Champions League the story line has been the same...cruise through the group stage then the game ****S me over either in the first knock-out round or Quarters with the same bull **** year after year!

here's another one:

http://i.imgur.com/UbZsd8p.png

http://i.imgur.com/U7VDm4q.png

Same has happened me countless times. I actually have no idea how some people are doing so well and I'm struggling.

[Franky.]

I swear i'm done with this **** ass game! I'm 7 seasons in and every season its the same ****in story! Win the first leg of Champions League at home by a comfortable margin and get blown out on the return game!

I was odds-on favorite in the away game as well, started with Standard strategy and still got destroyed!

doesn't matter what tactic I use, what changes I make/don't make every single season in the Champions League the story line has been the same...cruise through the group stage then the game ****S me over either in the first knock-out round or Quarters with the same bull **** year after year!

I feel your pain In my third season in the EPL with Wycombe and with 5 games to go, morale dropped and went from 2nd to 5th, winning just one game and losing out on a CL place on goal difference

Nottingham Forest, Just finished season 4 over the Bank Holiday weekend, won the Prem again, FA Cup and League Cup, CL Quarter final went out disappointingly but lots of injuries. Also took over as England and using this tactic won the International League, comfortably. Still rock solid for me, only difficulty is I'm playing that well all the big clubs are trying to poach my young talent! Last year my striker (Regen) scored 54 goals in 52 starts and 1 appearance from the bench.

What usage formula are you using? I switch mentalities depending upon pre match odds, then match situation. I'd love to know how you are doing things as your achievement is quite remarkable!!

I forgot to mention that I haven't switched mentality not once in three seasons. Neither have I tweaked the roles to suit my players.

Also, my most expensive signing cost me only 1.8m pounds. Most of players I signed were from free transfer.

Exceptional tactic. Deserves much more credit than it has.

Some other "famous" tactic creators haven't even appeared on the forums since FM 16 is a lot more difficult to exploit. Others, like Mr Rosler, had a fair few tries, but his tactics never really reached the levels of this one.

That's some going but don't you switch mentalities at all???

[shirajzl]

That's some going but don't you switch mentalities at all???

Not once in 3 seasons.

Finished 11th, 2nd and 1st.

[Franky.]

Not once in 3 seasons.

Finished 11th, 2nd and 1st.

Not even 'contain' to close out a game? What about 'overload' if you're desperate to score?....... I'd like to know exactly what you are doing so I can try the same and see what happens because your achievement is quite incredible.

Also, can you post a screenshot of your players in formation. I'd like to see how many unlit segments you have in the green circle for all 11 players in total..... thanks.

[shirajzl]

Not even 'contain' to close out a game? What about 'overload' if you're desperate to score?....... I'd like to know exactly what you are doing so I can try the same and see what happens because your achievement is quite incredible.

Also, can you post a screenshot of your players in formation. I'd like to see how many unlit segments you have in the green circle for all 11 players in total..... thanks.

Nothing, not a single tweak.

The key is to bring in the right personnel. Since you don't have any money, they can't be world beaters or wonderkids, but if you focus on certain key attributes, you can assemble a capable team.

I always base my squad building around determination, anticipation, decisions, pace and acceleration. That's literally it, those 5 attributes are all I'm looking for in players. Only after I get some money do I widen that search a bit with other attributes, but the focus remains on mentals and physicals.

Other than that, you need to pay attention to their footedness (IFs with inverted foot) and PPMs (for example, CMd is a holder, he can't have PPM "gets forward whenever possible").