Frustrated beyond belief

[swede]

The home leg against Sivasspor ended up 1-0 to us. A poor result against a side of that stature. I need to be a little less conservative for sides like them. A bit more width perhaps?

[Husty]

I'm having same problems.

Started playing with Chelsea, made some transfers to make the team fit well with my tactics. So the team was ready and I was really excited, expected a Premier League title and others as well. In previous series I have almost always won titles with Chelsea and other great teams, but what now?

After 4 games it was already getting strange: 4 goals and 8 points against lower mid-table teams. After about 12 games I was on ~10th position. The tactic I used was made after reading TT&F. Worked really hard on all those player instructions, harder than ever. And the result was terrible. After that I was really getting frustrated.

Made some changes on tactics and it didn't get better at all. My players were like headless chickens on pitch. Almost always under 50% possession, about 5 shots even against crappy teams.

At February, quite expectedly, I got sacked, I was lying on 6th position, losing with ca. 25 points to leader (Arsenal).

I made a new game and started with Chelsea again. I arranged about 5 friendlies against top teams. I experimented different tactics against them. With some I did quite well. Then started with season again. And guess what, same old sh*te, couldn't score goals, couldn't create chances.

[swede]

Just played Rochdale away (friendly) and use a slightly more attacking formation than the one detailed in my previous post. Just upped mentality and CD a notch as well as team mentality. Widened the formation quite a bit and upped tempo. It didn't work very well, so I adjusted all the above sliders uppwards at half-time and we won 2-0. Possession was 50-50, but they only had 1 shot and it was outside of goal. I'm not looking forward to the PL teams now. Stoke up next for the last friendly before the season starts properly...

[Will2061]

I struggled like I've never struggled before on FM08, and I've been a regular since CM2. Took me a couple of months to build up a set of tactics for different situations and a long time soaking up the excellent advice of wwfan and the likes.

To be honest I like that I'm struggling (coincidentally also with Boro), the feeling of accomplishment when you finally begin to crack it is what makes the game so rewarding, and to a point makes you feel like a real manager making decisions that are directly impacting whats going on on the pitch.

My main issues at the minute seem to the constant warnings of big gaps between the defence and midfield (I've tried adopting setting the D-Line in line with the Mcd's mentality but without much success. This in turn is leading to a lot of long range goals being scored, which is always disheartening when you're restricting them to long rangers in the first place.

Stick it at it, keep soaking up the advice and we'll all get there eventually.

[swede]

Ok, no game against Hull since the UEFA Cup Qual's came in between. We drew Interblock away. As expected we won with a decent margin, 3-0, and kept them at bay in as much as they had 54% of the possession but no shots on or off target. We should have scored more, and I believe we will struggle against sides that can make better use of the ball. Blackburn away for the next game. Opening match of the PL season and I'm looking forward to getting hammered by a team that can actually play... any advice going into it?

[nicnik]

I think much of this is down to creative freedom. If the attacking players aren't performing, regardless how good the team is defending the team will not win. I'm starting to think unless the player in question is exceptional limit them to below 10 in creative freedom for all players. This is regardless of whether the team has gelled yet or not. Even then; great players given lots of creative freedom tend to jus run about dribble in the wrong directions and take long shots/ first time shots far too often.

[swede]

Well, my substitute Defoe saved our bacon against Blackburn. He came on for Carew that had been injured and scored the equalizer. It ended 1-1 with them having a few more shots (most from long range) and we the possession. I went for the win at the end by using the more attacking of the two attacking formations detailed above, but had to revert back to an improvised defensive tactic with two DMC's (one sitting between defence and midfield) when Blackburn went to a 4-2-4 in the dying minutes. Agbonlahor had three one-on-ones but couldn't break free of the quick Blackburn defenders, so he opted to shoot from range instead without result. Three points for us hadn't been unfair to be honest. Too bad we couldn't contain Santa Cruz who scored a header after 7 minutes.

[swede]

I think much of this is down to creative freedom. If the attacking players aren't performing, regardless how good the team is defending the team will not win. I'm starting to think unless the player in question is exceptional limit them to below 10 in creative freedom for all players. This is regardless of whether the team has gelled yet or not. Even then; great players given lots of creative freedom tend to jus run about dribble in the wrong directions and take long shots/ first time shots far too often.

I think so too. I'll be posting some screenshots of my formations and the results, and I would love some feedback from you guys. First, Fulham home for which I'll be using the attacking formation I tried at the end of the Blackburn game. I'll see how it pans out and go from there.

[jay11118]

I really struggle to find the fun part in this to be honest. I really appreciate what SI have done. They have made a remarkable game. I love the series and always have. Something is different now though. It is probably because I no longer have the patience to tinker as much as needed and really get into all the settings and what they mean. We really play dire football at the moment. Utter tripe. I really don't like to play games just to feel completely useless and unworthy of my position.

try a different game then mate

[swede]

Horrible result against Fulham home! We had 45% of the possession 8 shots on goal, 4 on target of which one was an absolute sitter. Carew missed a volley when being completely left alone a few yards from their goal Schwarzer parried with an amazing save to deny us. We did restrict their chances, but Cuellar missed an interception leaving Konchezky with the ball 30 yards knocking it just over Friedels head into the goal. That was their only shot on goal. Their defence was immense. Pantsil and Hangeland tackled our asses off as soon as we got into the penalty area. I would love to have defenders like that. Secondly, they seemed to have two or three and sometimes even four players pressing my ball carrier when we got close to their area. They played really well in defence, but I assume that was because my tactics was at fault.

[TanO]

"leaving Konchezky with the ball 30 yards knocking it just over Friedels head into the goal."

PK must have been trying to cross it

[swede]

try a different game then mate

Thank you for your input. But I'll stick with FM for a while yet.

[swede]

"leaving Konchezky with the ball 30 yards knocking it just over Friedels head into the goal."

PK must have been trying to cross it

Actually, I think he was trying to clear into touch. :o

[swede]

Tottenham away ended up a disaster. We played well using the semi-narrow tactics I outlined in my original tactics post. We give away a free kick outside the area and Bentley hammers it into the top corner. Three minutes later the ball ends up at the halfway line after a tackle by Davies. Davies stays down and looses Pavlyochenko who hammers the ball into the top corner from 30 yards out. Nice strike... We play quite well with a few "lovely moves", but Gomes denies Carew and Defoe with two amazing saves. We end up loosing after having 14 shots on goal (5 on target, 2 clear cut chances) to Spurs 12 shots (4 on target, 0 clear cut). We win the possession battle 52-48.

I can't seem to get my players to convert the chances they get. We also leak goal from long range shots which is killing us. Two straight losses will be very detrimental for morale, so I'm afraid it is all downhill from now on.

[Hammer1000]

Tottenham away ended up a disaster. We played well using the semi-narrow tactics I outlined in my original tactics post. We give away a free kick outside the area and Bentley hammers it into the top corner. Three minutes later the ball ends up at the halfway line after a tackle by Davies. Davies stays down and looses Pavlyochenko who hammers the ball into the top corner from 30 yards out. Nice strike... We play quite well with a few "lovely moves", but Gomes denies Carew and Defoe with two amazing saves. We end up loosing after having 14 shots on goal (5 on target, 2 clear cut chances) to Spurs 12 shots (4 on target, 0 clear cut). We win the possession battle 52-48.

I can't seem to get my players to convert the chances they get. We also leak goal from long range shots which is killing us. Two straight losses will be very detrimental for morale, so I'm afraid it is all downhill from now on.

swede - I've just gone an amazing 13 games unbeaten with West Ham in the demo.

I used the 3 default 4-4-2 tactics that come with the game and the only tweaks i made, were taking away long shots and going global mentality the same as the team instructions.

Off to try it with a better side, if it continues to work i'll let you know!

[swede]

swede - I've just gone an amazing 13 games unbeaten with West Ham in the demo.

I used the 3 default 4-4-2 tactics that come with the game and the only tweaks i made, were taking away long shots and going global mentality the same as the team instructions.

Off to try it with a better side, if it continues to work i'll let you know!

Good to hear. We played very well for about 65 minutes leading 1-0 against Man Utd, but apparently Fergie gave them a magical half-time talk so I ended up loosing 3-1. That is the third consecutive loss in the league. Everton up next followed by Arsenal, both away. It will be interesting to see how much patience Lerner has with me. :o

[Chesty_Bond]

What about tempo? I'm trying to keep my teams shape and I'll focus on getting the lads through the gelling period by following wwfan's tips on playing a little more conservative. How does tempo fit in? I want to get away from the extremely slow and sluggish play I experienced in my previous save, but I don't want us to throw away balls in a hurry.

I am playing (with the very skillful Gunners) short passing and 1st or 2nd notch above slow (mixed) @ home and 1 notch below direct and quick with counter-attack away.

Also play different defensive lines. Higher @ home and slightly deeper away. Love watching fast counter attacks when playing away games.

[AI33]

out of interest how long do you spend developing your tactics swede? Or anyone else who is struggling tactically.

.

[swede]

out of interest how long do you spend developing your tactics swede? Or anyone else who is struggling tactically.

.

Well, the clock is ticking... I'm still working on it obviously. But I think I might have reached a point where things are starting to come together somewhat. we lost at home to Man Utd as described above, but we dominated for long spells in the first half, and looked solid both going forward and defending. They obviously had motivational issues since Fergie basically told them to get a ****ing grip at half-time, and they won 3-1. But the game wasn't beyond us which I felt was a step forward at least. Then we beat Gent quite easily in the UEFA Cup (3-1) with quite a few of the back-up players getting a run out. Then came Everton away, and we played very well for long parts of the game and came out winners 3-1. First league victory. Then we went on to beat Boro 2-1 at home, and they were lucky to not get hit even harder since we linked up well with some decent, fluid movement. Defoe is starting to shine after struggling a bit, so that helps. I guess it will all come crashing down soon, but now I feel that the team is a bit more comfortable with my tactics, and I have stuck to the tactic I detailed a few pages back. I also use a slightly wider, quicker paced attacking tactic with more closing down issued to the players. It is a bit erratic at the moment, but it is starting to solidify a bit.

I am playing (with the very skillful Gunners) short passing and 1st or 2nd notch above slow (mixed) @ home and 1 notch below direct and quick with counter-attack away.

Also play different defensive lines. Higher @ home and slightly deeper away. Love watching fast counter attacks when playing away games.

I need a good, counter-attack based defensive tactic, as Arsenal thumped us 4-0 in the league cup just before the Boro win. I sort of gave up on that one though due to my rather shitty league position and played my second string. I'm slowly getting there so all help is appreciated.

[Robsteren_DK]

Hello there

I am also having trouble with finding the right tactic.

The tactic i'm using is a version of my very succesful tactic from the 08. It's a 4-2-1-3. All my 3 strikers in the box.

I have had to change the mentality settings, but almost everything else is working fine.

I don't have to much trouble keeping the others teams away from my goal. I have solid share of possesion, often between 53 and 65% depending on who i play. I also connect on about 80% of my passes. In a bad game i will only have about 8 shots at goal. But this is where the fun ends. Because shots on target is a whole different matter. Some games i can have up to 20 shots on goal, but only 2-5 on target.

Even though i have set my midfielders to try long shots rarely, and to play trough balls often i am restricted to long shots.

Can any one offer some help??

[swede]

Hello there

I am also having trouble with finding the right tactic.

The tactic i'm using is a version of my very succesful tactic from the 08. It's a 4-2-1-3. All my 3 strikers in the box.

I have had to change the mentality settings, but almost everything else is working fine.

I don't have to much trouble keeping the others teams away from my goal. I have solid share of possesion, often between 53 and 65% depending on who i play. I also connect on about 80% of my passes. In a bad game i will only have about 8 shots at goal. But this is where the fun ends. Because shots on target is a whole different matter. Some games i can have up to 20 shots on goal, but only 2-5 on target.

Even though i have set my midfielders to try long shots rarely, and to play trough balls often i am restricted to long shots.

Can any one offer some help??

You seem to suffer from some of the syptoms I'm experiencing. My guess (and as you can tell by reading what I have written here I'm no expert what so ever) is that our players are being closed down effectively, not leaving much room to finish off the move. I really have no idea how to counter that though.

[Robsteren_DK]

You seem to suffer from some of the syptoms I'm experiencing. My guess (and as you can tell by reading what I have written here I'm no expert what so ever) is that our players are being closed down effectively, not leaving much room to finish off the move. I really have no idea how to counter that though.

I have tried to give one or two or all of them free roles. tried to tweak their creative freedom. But none of them appear to be able to get free from their defenders. Even against weaker teams.

[3889011]

In my opinion the SI ****ed up the really good game.

This game was all about picking up an average side and making them overachieve:

I am not doing bad managing Espanyol and currently third in mid November but it hasn't got that right feeling my team are not playing well. I HATE seeing bad attackers going through my very good DC's it doesn't feel right. FIX the Match Engine SI now.

I want to dominate some games and in 09 it is NOT possible.

[swede]

In my opinion the SI ****ed up the really good game.

This game was all about picking up an average side and making them overachieve:

I am not doing bad managing Espanyol and currently third in mid November but it hasn't got that right feeling my team are not playing well. I HATE seeing bad attackers going through my very good DC's it doesn't feel right. FIX the Match Engine SI now.

I want to dominate some games and in 09 it is NOT possible.

I just want to make clear that I don't think there is much wrong with the ME. It is the GUI that is bothering me. I still can't commnicate well enough with my players which makes me affraid of changing things around. I fear I will only mess it up more.

[Jimmyt]

So, this is the tactic I’m trying out now. I have adhered to the RoO mentality settings as seen in TT&F as a starting position:

<detailed stats on each and every player's individual instructions>

First result was rotten. 1-0 win against Port Vale(!). We had lots of shots, but 9 out of 14 were off target. 60% possession and we failed when the ball ended up in their penalty area. We’ll see how it goes against Sivasspor in the UEFA Cup.

And there is the problem in my opinion.

Too many little things you have to tinker with.

Give us the option to get the asst manager to take on the individual instructions.

Problem solved.

[AI33]

3889011 - The game has been made more realistic and is more difficult I dont think si are going to change the ME so you can dominate games more often.

swede - Glad to see its coming together, have you tried using 2d mode to analyse yourn tactics I find it more affective

[AI33]

Jimmyt - I think thats a good idea asking assistant manager to select player instructions

[treble_yell_:-)]

The tactics UI is horribly unintuitive , its gone well past the point i dont have a clue what im doing, even with wwfans guide a lot of the fun has been sucked out the game.

The ME does an amazing job of recreating a game of football, its just a shame something as simple as wanting my striker to play as a striker requires tinkering with the sliders.

I simply cant get my spurs side to play well, using one of ttf tactics 4321 i have lots of possession , loads of nice play in and around the box , but no one wants to finish, add i cant defend for toffee

[Robsteren_DK]

out of interest how long do you spend developing your tactics swede? Or anyone else who is struggling tactically.

.

I spend most part of a season. Just to see what works. But i tend to find my defensive base rather fast, so it's just the offensive part i struggle with. But normaly it takes about 4-5 months for my players to adapt to the tactic. Also depending on the level of the coach that trains tactics...

[BlackTiger]

Im inclined to agree with most of what's been posted here.

Im now firmly of the belief that the AI have special tactics instructions of "Super Closing Down" and "Perfect Tackling" in operation every game. The fact that regardless of what "numbers" i have Tackling, Mentality and Closing Down set as, my players seem to enjoy standing around reading Heat or Nuts magazine while the most rubbish players in the premiership jog around them and slide the ball into the bottom corner! Add this to the fact that as soon as my players get within spitting distance of the opposition area, the entire opposition team swarms around them like sharks after blood - im getting pretty annoyed. What magical settings do the opposition have that enables them to snuff out the slightest chance i seem to create?

Im playing as Newcastle. Now as far as i can tell, Steven Taylor, Fabriccio Collocini, Habib Baye and Jose Enrique seem at the very least moderately intelligent men. Im pretty sure i set my nationality as English when i started so i cant blame the language barrier when i tell them to close down in our half, tackle hard and dont do anything flash and yet they decide to stand around perming each others side-burns or whatever it is they're doing while my side gets ripped apart by every tom, dick or harry in the premiership!

I've tried defensive, attackling, normal, counter attacking and every other conceivable manner of tactics and im still having zero success. HELP.

[AI33]

Rob - My leeds save has been like that, I am very good defensively, now in january im starting to find some scoring form!

but top of the league so cant complain

[AI33]

Tiger - I suggest spending a good hour reading TT&F and then trying to recreate your own tactic and test it by arranging lot of extra friendlies and watch them in 2d.

[Robsteren_DK]

Rob - My leeds save has been like that, I am very good defensively, now in january im starting to find some scoring form!

but top of the league so cant complain

At the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat... Me too. Playing Arsenal, played 27 league matches with 19 wins and 8 draws. Just now playing league cup final, and still in the FA Cup and CH.L.

But i still want to do better. And i doubt that a lowleague team will get the same results without any help from their strikers...

[wwfan]

If you start at Spurs, Newcastle or, to a lesser extent, Villa you are gong to be making things difficult from the off down to the sheer number of new players brought in, meaning language issues and an ungelled squad. For the first 15 competitive games, you will need to try and grind out wins and draws. Trying to be expansive as a new manager in charge of a shaky squad will result in disaster.

It's not necessarily that you don't understand the sliders and GUI. It's that the players aren't listening to you and don't understand each other. If they are also playing in England for the first time they also need to adapt to the culture of the English game. It is going to be damn hard to manage these sides.

[AI33]

that is being good defensively lol. I have carlton cole up front and he is in amazing form, Im pretty sure i will win the league tbh.

Your still on for the quadruple lol

[Robsteren_DK]

that is being good defensively lol. I have carlton cole up front and he is in amazing form, Im pretty sure i will win the league tbh.

Your still on for the quadruple lol

Yup, keeping my fingers crossed Hoping to avoid too many inj. If so, i belive i can go all the way.

I think i suffered 11 goals so far. So can't complain about my defense. But still... It is Arsenal... I doubt i would get the same stats playing a midtable team...

[AI33]

LOL true!

The problem with my leeds team is red and yellow cards as from reading TT&F my tackling is set to 'hard' as I am an attacking team and the fouls are further up the pitch. Still i get many people sent off, WWFAN is this just something that is inevitable or am i not attacking enough to employ 'hard' tackling?

thx

[wwfan]

LOL true!

The problem with my leeds team is red and yellow cards as from reading TT&F my tackling is set to 'hard' as I am an attacking team and the fouls are further up the pitch. Still i get many people sent off, WWFAN is this just something that is inevitable or am i not attacking enough to employ 'hard' tackling?

thx

I have an enviably good disciplinary record. It might be you are using attacking settings when others would be more appropriate, thus leading to a few desperate lunges to stop counters from developing.

[swede]

Well, it is back to the loosing way again. Newcastle at home, a game that was statistically even. First goal, Laursen has only Owen to mark in the six yard box, but he looses track of him and Martins passes from the post for an easy tap-in. Second goal is a real freak goal Zoidberg or whatever the hell his name is, lobs a ball into the six yard box from the halfway line and Guzan lets it drop over his head for an unintentional goal. Annoying. My tactics really isn't working. I can see players poking the ball two meters ahead of the when under no pressure so we loose possession very cheaply. I'll try to drop the tempo and go for shorter passes and see what happens.

[AI33]

Maybe have not noticed this though, I think the 'hard' tackling is really helping my team though so im going to stick at it for now.

[treble_yell_:-)]

It's not necessarily that you don't understand the sliders and GUI. It's that the players aren't listening to you and don't understand each other. If they are also playing in England for the first time they also need to adapt to the culture of the English game. It is going to be damn hard to manage these sides.

Very true !

When my spurs side plays well its really quite spectacular football , but like you said elsewhere the are so leaky and its coming from mistakes rather than what looks like my tactics.

My last match was a 3-2 win at home to blackburn, i was 3-0 up in 20 mins, arshavin (who was playing in the secondary striker position in a standard 4-3-2-1) goes off injured, 2 mistakes big big ledley at the back and its 3-2 at half time

Ill see how it goes after the 15+ games

[AI33]

Swede - Keep it up mate, it will pay off!

[Cassian]

I play with Man Utd ... i use a wwfan based tactic (in fact tactics) ... won every friendly, won against the Super Euro Cup, won the Charity shield, won against Chelsea 2-1 (!!!!).

Then I had 2 away games in the league... Aston Villa and Blackburn.

I always save the game before a match... the reason... i will never admit a minute 0 goal from AI (and it happes way to often since... the first CM and FM ).

I played and lost and restarted again with Aston Villa for about 20 time... every time loosing with 3-4 goals. I finaly cracked and went along after a 0-3. I said... the hell with it, it;s just my second game in the league no biggie. After that:

Blackburn... saved game before... played it for 37 times (using ALL default tactic of the game, al wwfan, and other 7 or 8 tactic which i find on the forum). EVERY SINGLE TIME THE COMPLETLY CRUSH ME... not just beat me by the score.... no... they completly outplay me no matter what tactic (tweaked or not) i played, no matter what first team i had and no matter what team talk and OI.

Almost not a single tackle won, almost not a single header won, the speed of AI's pass... is staggering... in about 2 second they change the game from their 6's box to mine.

Does anyone see.. how GK's (especially AI's ones) can hit the ball way up into your GK area!??? I mean a hit of almost 100 meters... I had games when my GK and AI's GK exchanged passes one to the other... and me looking like a dumb ass at them.

It's way to frustrating.

[DGN]

Well I've given Fifa Manager 2009 a go, and although the 3D graphics and the game itself is very polished it isn't a patch (freudian slip) on the depth of the Football Manager series.

I would recommend to anyone struggling with FM09 to download TT&F 09, the download also comes with a handy excel based tool which presents player and team settings for several formations, early reading of the theorems would show key factors are player mentality set within a narrow range, and once the tactics are set managers should stick with it until the players becomes used to the style of play?

Saying that I'm only on page 17 of 50!

The TT&F are a good read, I'm not about to give up just yet especially since I've been playing since the Domark days and that guy in the sheep skin coat on the box.

[swede]

If you start at Spurs, Newcastle or, to a lesser extent, Villa you are gong to be making things difficult from the off down to the sheer number of new players brought in, meaning language issues and an ungelled squad. For the first 15 competitive games, you will need to try and grind out wins and draws. Trying to be expansive as a new manager in charge of a shaky squad will result in disaster.

It's not necessarily that you don't understand the sliders and GUI. It's that the players aren't listening to you and don't understand each other. If they are also playing in England for the first time they also need to adapt to the culture of the English game. It is going to be damn hard to manage these sides.

Indeed it is! I'm about to play my 15th competitive game now, and as you can see, we really are all over the place. It will be all about staying up from now on. Is it the tempo? For my attacking tactic I have set slightly over normal which shouldn't be too fast even if the team is still gelling. I use very sparingly, and my standard tactic is quite narrow with predominantly mixed passing. The players just seem so slow on the ball. They receive the ball and then just stand there, turning slowly in place before starting a run. I'm getting into it in terms of fun, but I certainly could enjoy myself more Might just end up out of a job soon.

[3889011]

I think there is one big issue with all FMs. It is the keeper distribution. The keeper simply cannot distribute the ball correctly.

FIX THAT SI

[swede]

I think there is one big issue with all FMs. It is the keeper distribution. The keeper simply cannot distribute the ball correctly.

FIX THAT SI

Keepers do seem to kick some spectacular through balls, unleashing pacy strikers a little too often. It happens quite a lot to me as well as the AI teams.

[wwfan]

Indeed it is! I'm about to play my 15th competitive game now, and as you can see, we really are all over the place. It will be all about staying up from now on. Is it the tempo? For my attacking tactic I have set slightly over normal which shouldn't be too fast even if the team is still gelling. I use very sparingly, and my standard tactic is quite narrow with predominantly mixed passing. The players just seem so slow on the ball. They receive the ball and then just stand there, turning slowly in place before starting a run. I'm getting into it in terms of fun, but I certainly could enjoy myself more Might just end up out of a job soon.

When we tested Spurs, staying out of the bottom four was an achievement during the first 15 games. However, Villa, with tough management and compact football (think Standard/Defensive most of the time) were above mid-table and ready to push toward European qualification. Once you hit the 15 game mark, the attacking tactics became much more effective.

[swede]

When we tested Spurs, staying out of the bottom four was an achievement during the first 15 games. However, Villa, with tough management and compact football (think Standard/Defensive most of the time) were above mid-table and ready to push toward European qualification. Once you hit the 15 game mark, the attacking tactics became much more effective.

I'll stick with and see how it turns out. Pivotal game coming up against Pompey now. I have trouble dealing with strikers that are good in the air, so this might go pear shaped fast.

[Aleena]

I dont know if this will help anyone, but ill try.

Im playing as Chelsea (so not the hardest thing to do )

Im currently 1st in the EPL, and UNBEATEN in ANY game.

Ive played 32 matches so far in the EPL, i have won 24 of them and drawn 8, 6 of the 8 draws have been 0-0 draws, mainly where there "super keeper" has saved 10 or 12 shots on target, or where they play with 10 players in there own box from the 1st minute of the game and i just cant score.

I have only been outscored in 1 game, that was 3-1 by Inter, HOWEVER, i wont the 1st match 8-1 (biggest scoreline by FAR). They had 2 player sent off and mine went crazy, so for the return feature i played alot of my inconsistent players and tried lots of new things. Its the only time i havent won a match.

Ive already won the League Cup, ive beaten Inter and Real Madrid in the champions League, and just have the 2nd leg against Real Madrid to get through then im in the final.

Beat Arsenal in the FA cup Semi Final, who are over rated and at 32 games have won 19, drawn 12 and lost 1. Adebeyor is sooo over rated.

I played FM since it came out, and started with CM 03/04.

I read the TTF guide by those great people who took the time, thanks for that . Downloaded the tactics. In setup i was also "international player" to help with the 'not enough experience"

Now my personel and tactic.

I play a 4-3-1-2 lopsided tactic.

ST - ST

AM

LM - CM - CM

DL - DC - DC -RB

ST. Drogba, Milevsky (spelling)

AM. Arshavin / JoeCole

LM. Joe Cole / Malouda

CM. Veloso / Diarra / Essien / Ballack

DL. Cole / Bridge

DC. Terry / Fazio / Alex

RB. Bosingwa

I downloaded the tactics from TTF and one thing i noticed in the demo is, you need to win the knockdowns and get some position, midfield is also easily swamped because DEFENCE is overpowered in this fm2009. So you need the extra midfield man. You also dont want to stuff around too much playing short balls (defence is powerful remember, tackling is easy). But you dont want to boot the ball for the same reason. So you want people to play as direct as possible, without booting it upfield.

Since i needed the extra midfield man, i put the Right midfielder to AMC position, to open midfield and give an option, he VERY often drops back to find a quick pass. DONT FORWARD 2 OFTEN...... None of my midfielders have forward runs often, all it does is give less passing options, which means there defending is easier and they counter u quicker.

Now in my formation, the LM isnt told to get forward alot, he is there to help widen the play, give a passing option and hopefully get a ball into the box.

The Right Back makes up for the lack of RM, Bosingwa gets forward as often as possible, and he is on 13 assists, he is mainly a right winger in attack, and my 2 Centre Midfielders with Forward Runs Mixed cover back when he charges.

I split the attackers mentality.

Everyone plays there part only, DC's defend and get rid of ball, LB is more defensive as there is a LM, he runs forward less and gives that 3 man defence to help counters. Middle CM is more defensive, and for possession sometimes has Forward runs NEVER so he is always available for pass. Right CM is abit more creative, AM runs and through balls.

Mentality is just on attacking, as is creative, defensive line is pushed up, Marking is Zonal, width is middle, time waste is 1/3 rd, passing middle, tempto just over middle.

Now dont get me wrong, sometimes its very hard on my strikers and takes something special, this doesnt look like arsenal playing, and theres a few 1-0 or 2-1's in there, but im always the dominant side. Drogba is on 31 goals in all comps, only 12 in PL. none of my others are scoring tons either, but they all chip in.

I feel if you keep your shape, get the ball wide IF possible, and pressure the opposition the game works.

The important thing is when you attack and DONT GET A GOAL, that they dont get the ball easy and counter, thats when you lose, because the AI defends 3x as better as your players. So take away ALOT of the forward runs most people are obsessed with, and make sure when the ball gets booted out that you get it and have players out and ready to receive a pass.

Control the game, stop the counter, force pressure. Dont expect sexy football and 5-0 victories with 9 players in the box.

Anyway, it works for me. Crossing my fingers for an unbeaten season.