Heartbreak - Need Some Advice.

[BeadyRoller]

So I have just finished the most unbelievably gutting season I have ever had on any FM. I am playing as Shrewsbury, my home town team. I managed to get promoted via the play offs in my 3rd season to the Championship. Missed out on the play offs by a point first season and had a disappointing mid table finish in the second season. My first season in the Championship nearly ended with a fairy tale finish but it got snatched away from me on the last day of the season with an 81st minute free kick. A draw would of been enough to clinch promotion and the title when I was predicted to be in a relegation battle.

https://imgur.com/a/Dy4dIUE

I'm absolutely devastated, I had been top of the table since September all the way through until the last day of the season when I fell at the last hurdle. 

Anyway, you're probably thinking what this has to do with tactics, well, I have a question and need some help. 

https://imgur.com/a/swblNzg

As you can see, I started the season incredibly well, I couldn't believe it. After that spell of dominance I started picking up a few losses which was to be expected, real mixed form. Then my tactic seemed to completely crumble in the last month which not only made me miss out on automatic promotion, it made me collapse in the play offs as well:

https://imgur.com/a/OU3UxpB

My question is, when should I of changed it? I obviously had the foundations of something brilliant or I wouldn't of been able to go on that big unbeaten run at the start of the season. I tweaked little things here and there but kept it very much the same for the whole season, what made it go so terribly wrong? I didn't want to completely overhaul the tactic/formation as soon as it started going wrong as I've made that mistake before and you tweak it so much it ends up being nothing like the tactic that was so good in the first place.  It really worked well so I believe I shouldn't have to create a whole new tactic soon as I pick up a couple losses.

I know some of it may of been a reputation thing, I was the underdog so teams at the start of the season were coming at me which left me with more room to exploit, as I started doing well teams readjusted how they would play against me but still, I'm lost on what I should of done and need your help so I never make this mistake again!

This was my tactic:

https://imgur.com/a/w4R7RAB

Appreciate anyone who has took the time to read, look forward to your replies. Cheers.

 

[FMunderachiever]

I think in the context of a whole season, youve still overachieved and that your players crumbled when presented with the huge unexpected moment of promotion.

Those defeats over the course of a whole season wouldnt raise eyebrows too much.

I believe handling pressure is a hidden attribute but i think it would relate to your players ability to handle big matches, as opposed to a bad tactic

[Experienced Defender]

1) Attacking mentality + higher d-line + counter-press + both fullbacks as wing-backs on attack duty (in a narrow formation at that) = great vulnerability to opposition counter-attacks, especially through the flanks

2) Attacking mentality + higher LOE + counter-press = forcing the opposition to defend deep and compressed in their half, thus reducing not only space for them to organize attacks from the back, but also for your players to exploit it when attacking (or counter-attacking)

You basically have the same / similar problem as numerous people on this forum who are playing what I call "extreme tactics" (high mentality coupled with (very) aggressive defending and in some cases even (very) aggressive attacking). So my suggestion would likewise be similar to what I (and not only I) have already advised so many times:

- drop LOE and DL a bit (for example, LOE to slightly lower and DL to standard, in order to "entice" the opposition out of their defensive "shell"), but then try to "surprise" them suddenly with more urgent pressing

- in transition, turn off counter-press but turn on the counter instead, so that once you win the ball back through the above settings, you can launch a quick counter-attack and catch them off balance

- perhaps even drop mentality from attacking to positive (still attacking in essence, but in a more "fine-tuned" manner)

And make your roles/duties more solid defensively while keeping the attacking potential high enough. For example:

Pat    PFs/d

A(P)Ms

BtBM     DLPs

HB/ACM

WBs    CD    CD     WBa

GK/SWKd

[BeadyRoller]

1 hour ago, FMunderachiever said:

I think in the context of a whole season, youve still overachieved and that your players crumbled when presented with the huge unexpected moment of promotion.

Those defeats over the course of a whole season wouldnt raise eyebrows too much.

I believe handling pressure is a hidden attribute but i think it would relate to your players ability to handle big matches, as opposed to a bad tactic

Oh definitely, I never imagined we would end up where we did, only picking up 10 losses all season is brilliant in the grand scheme of things. BUT, it's in the fashion it happened. It seemed to go from unbelievable form to very very mixed just because we lost one single game and then a complete meltdown at the end. I agree the pressure and big games could of played a part in the bad form at the end but we don't know for sure. When you hit bad form in your saves do you persevere with the tactic you originally made or completely change it up? It always confuses me on what I should do in that position.

53 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

1) Attacking mentality + higher d-line + counter-press + both fullbacks as wing-backs on attack duty (in a narrow formation at that) = great vulnerability to opposition counter-attacks, especially through the flanks

2) Attacking mentality + higher LOE + counter-press = forcing the opposition to defend deep and compressed in their half, thus reducing not only space for them to organize attacks from the back, but also for your players to exploit it when attacking (or counter-attacking)

You basically have the same / similar problem as numerous people on this forum who are playing what I call "extreme tactics" (high mentality coupled with (very) aggressive defending and in some cases even (very) aggressive attacking). So my suggestion would likewise be similar to what I (and not only I) have already advised so many times:

- drop LOE and DL a bit (for example, LOE to slightly lower and DL to standard, in order to "entice" the opposition out of their defensive "shell"), but then try to "surprise" them suddenly with more urgent pressing

- in transition, turn off counter-press but turn on the counter instead, so that once you win the ball back through the above settings, you can launch a quick counter-attack and catch them off balance

- perhaps even drop mentality from attacking to positive (still attacking in essence, but in a more "fine-tuned" manner)

And make your roles/duties more solid defensively while keeping the attacking potential high enough. For example:

Pat    PFs/d

A(P)Ms

BtBM     DLPs

HB/ACM

WBs    CD    CD     WBa

GK/SWKd

Thanks for the reply mate. A big mistake on my part, in the screenshot it shows me with an Attacking mentality but I played on a Balanced one for the whole season. I changed it to Attacking for the last game against Middlesbrough as we needed to overturn a two goal deficit and forgot to change it back for the screen shot.

Do all the things you mentioned still apply with a Balanced mentality? 

Also I will ask the same question to you as I did to FM Underachiever. When you hit a bad run of form, do you persevere and wait for it to pass or change your tactic up completely to try turn it round? 

 

[FMunderachiever]

6 minutes ago, BeadyRoller said:

Oh definitely, I never imagined we would end up where we did, only picking up 10 losses all season is brilliant in the grand scheme of things. BUT, it's in the fashion it happened. It seemed to go from unbelievable form to very very mixed just because we lost one single game and then a complete meltdown at the end. I agree the pressure and big games could of played a part in the bad form at the end but we don't know for sure. When you hit bad form in your saves do you persevere with the tactic you originally made or completely change it up? It always confuses me on what I should do in that position.

Thanks for the reply mate. A big mistake on my part, in the screenshot it shows me with an Attacking mentality but I played on a Balanced one for the whole season. I changed it to Attacking for the last game against Middlesbrough as we needed to overturn a two goal deficit and forgot to change it back for the screen shot.

Do all the things you mentioned still apply with a Balanced mentality? 

Also I will ask the same question to you as I did to FM Underachiever. When you hit a bad run of form, do you persevere and wait for it to pass or change your tactic up completely to try turn it round? 

 

Just for the bit on form, i think its very much team dependent and whether we are playing well but getting unlucky, or whether the tactic is less effective.

I wouldnt totally change things up as this can make things more confusing but id work on a slightly modified alternative tactic you can switch to. maybe just looking to be a little more solid and defence minded first, playing slightly more on the break for instance

I also tend to rely on certain players in tough times that i know will perform consistently and be up for the battle too, high determination players

[Experienced Defender]

2 hours ago, BeadyRoller said:

Thanks for the reply mate. A big mistake on my part, in the screenshot it shows me with an Attacking mentality but I played on a Balanced one for the whole season. I changed it to Attacking for the last game against Middlesbrough as we needed to overturn a two goal deficit and forgot to change it back for the screen shot.

Do all the things you mentioned still apply with a Balanced mentality? 

In principle yes. The mentality affects all instructions to some extent, and given that it's balanced, it will allow you to experiment with (i.e. make needed adjustments to) your tactical settings with less risk than if it was attacking or positive. So it's important to watch the matches and make slight tweaks accordingly. Because different teams will play differently against you, so you need to understand how tactics work in order to be able to react in the right way when things aren't going the way you expected.

2 hours ago, BeadyRoller said:

When you hit a bad run of form, do you persevere and wait for it to pass or change your tactic up completely to try turn it round? 

I definitely don't wait for it to pass, but I don't change the tactic completely either. My approach is to create my basic (primary) tactic based on strengths and weaknesses of my team, and then just make slight adjustments both between and during matches. I analyze each next opponent very thoroughly, but also each single match we've played. Whether I am happy or disappointed with our performance, I always analyze how we played to see what we were doing well and where we made mistakes, trying to learn as much as possible from any kind of experience, no matter good or bad. Sometimes I am not happy with the performance even if we won the game. Or vice versa, I may be pleased with how we played even if we lost. And while some people are unhappy just because they aren't overachieving (even if they aren't underachieving either), I am happy when I meet the expectations. So it's also a question of how much one is realistic in his/her approach to the game.

[kelabb]

When I'm going through a form slump, but everyone is rating ok (i.e. 6.7 +) I try to arrange a friendly with a weaker team so the guys can get their groove back. Holding a team meeting and telling the lads to keep their heads up helps too.  Another thing you can try is to start the elder statesman... most teams have one, the veteran who has slightly lower stats in fitness and technicals but has good consistency, teamwork and concentration etc.