Opponents down to 10 men

[sven78]

I was just wondering if anyone had found a good way to capitalise on this.

I have had 5 games in my current season where opponent has gone down to 10 men and despite trying numerous things I completely struggle to even lay a glove on them. 

I have tried dropping off to try and invite them out, tried making the pitch as big as possible to create space (max width, low defensive line) and nothing seems to work, The games just seem to fly to a finish with no key highlights...fortunately in some I was 1-0 up and they stayed that way but 2 of them were 0-0 and literally timer just flew down with very few chances.

Am I tackling this wrongly? Any tips would be greatly appreciated

[DementedHammer]

The first thing I'd suggest is, the next time this happens, change your key highlights to extended, or even full match for a bit and see why and how the opposition is able to nullify your attacks.

On the surface, I don't do much different to what you described above. Although, I do play full matches, rather than using key highlights, and I make all sorts of micro-tweaks as a match progresses. 

If the opposition go down to 10 men, I'd typically give it a few minutes to see how the opposition has adapted to the change (again, easier to do on full matches). Depending on how the match was going up to that point, I might be happy just to grind out a dull draw against a stronger team.

If I was looking to press my advantage, the first changes I'd typically make would be to play wider, and deeper, shorten the passing a bit, and play a lower tempo, so that my team moves the ball around more and more patiently probes for spaces and overlaps. With that in mind, I'd probably look to get my fullbacks up the pitch a bit, as the most likely place to find the extra man would be out wide. However, I'm not talking crazy attacking, as by the same token, I wouldn't want them bombing up the field so much that it compresses the space and makes it easier for the 10 men to defend.

However, it does depend on the team and the situation, and how the opposition reacts. Under some circumstances, I might be inclined to take advantage of the extra man by using a more luxury player like a trequartista or a raumdeuter, or possibly changing my (usually 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1) system to something different to try and make use of the additional space.

 

[AytchMan]

All good advice from the Demented One but the best is this:

The first thing I'd suggest is, the next time this happens, change your key highlights to extended, or even full match for a bit

I never cease to be amazed by how different the match looks and feels when I drop back and watch a portion of the full game.  As a general rule, if my team is struggling through a season, I will start watching the first ten minutes or so of each match.  I invariably notice some change that needs to be made for something I wouldn't even see if I breezed through the early match at Extended or even Comprehensive level.  Very often, I'll adjust the level of my defensive line based on seeing (or not seeing) a couple of longball plays from the bad guys.

Edited April 22, 2020 by AytchMan

[LetsNotScoreGoals]

Check their tactics first of all, see where their hole is. Are they now playing strikerless? Try getting your guys really attacking and overload their defences. Are they without midfielders? Try to overlap the midfield and play out of there. Once, my opposing team ditched their right winger and only had a left one, so I told my guys to play down there.

Like the other guys said, watch the match. Look at where their hole is and invade.

[sven78]

Appreciate the replies. Sods law, hasnt happened again since I posted but will definately do the full match view