[FMT] Ok, another new save, please tell me if this looks alright...

[Orikoru]

...before I embark on another mission to be sacked by Christmas. 

It may seem foolhardy for someone who doesn't know how to play to pick the worst team in the league, but my plan is that their expectations being low means I should get away with not being sacked for slightly longer. 

 

Plan is nothing more than to be solid first and foremost and try and nick results I guess. I've put wide on because I thought the four midfielders might get a bit bunched otherwise. Distribute to flanks because Buendia is probably our best player so it might be a good way to get at teams on the counter. The lower LOE and Regroup are for solidity.

 

Interesting piece of trivia for you: did you know then when you start a save with Norwich, you only have three centre backs in the squad, and two of them are injured - one for 9 months. And nobody else in the squad can play centre back at all, not even slightly. Hence I've spent a decent chunk of my budget on Van der Hoorn already.

Jack Colback is arriving to play at DM as well, since Tettey is practically a pensioner.

 

I've played one friendly, we beat St Pauli 3-2 away.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Orikoru

[Experienced Defender]

17 minutes ago, Orikoru said:

Roles and duties look okay. 

Not so sure when it comes to instructions though. 

[Orikoru]

4 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

Roles and duties look okay. 

Not so sure when it comes to instructions though. 

Please.. do continue? 

[Orikoru]

Added a couple of bits. Better, worse?

Work ball into box since Pukki isn't the best in the air so probably not worth crossing it. More urgent pressing since we've got bodies there, might as well use them.

 

Edit: Took 'wide' off now and added 'short' passing.

Edited May 14, 2020 by Orikoru

[sporadicsmiles]

The distribution of roles and duties looks fine to me. You are perhaps inviting pressure a little but too much with the lower line of engagement, but you can see if you are being overwhelmed and constantly attacked. You will likely have a stubborn defence, but it will depend on how strong your players are and how well they can defend. They are going to need to be able to defend well for large periods. Expect to concede goals and lose to bigger teams. 

This leads to the next point. What is the plan to carry a goal threat with this tactic? It looks like you want to counter, but WBIB is not really consistent with this. Indeed, I would be encouraging the team to get the ball to Pukki so he can initiate counter attacks and bring players who run past him into the game. You can expect opposition to give you a lot of space, so exploit it. To that end you may find direct passing and passing into space useful (but use them when you think it will work, not always). 

Finally, you are going to concede goals as Norwich. That is just a fact of being one of the weakest teams independent of tactics. So you will need to think what your plan will be if you are being totally dominated and are a goal down. Then you need to try to get a goal, and I am not sure your current tactic is strongest for chasing a goal. You do not need to go crazy with attacking instructions, just try to think of a way you would be able to take control of a game and create more chances (probably at the expense of some defensive stability). 

And one last point. Playing as a small team you cannot be discouraged by losing games. Even a lot of games. Remember even avoiding relegation with Norwich is a really good achievement. It is really frustrating to play such a save (or can be), but the rewards are excellent. So good luck!

[Experienced Defender]

12 hours ago, Orikoru said:

Please.. do continue? 

Regroup in transition is not necessary IMHO because it's likely to make you overly passive when defending, given that you already use lower LOE and play in a bottom-heavy formation under a moderate team mentality. 

An instructions you may consider instead is "get stuck in", because you have good compactness, which means you could afford to be a bit more aggressive when trying to win the ball. 

12 hours ago, Orikoru said:

've put wide on because I thought the four midfielders might get a bit bunched otherwise

Attacking width is the type of instruction I prefer to leave on default and then may tweak it over the course of a match as I see fit (unless you want to play a specific style that requires wide width, such as wing-play or some hybrid that involves it). 

 

12 hours ago, Orikoru said:

Distribute to flanks because Buendia is probably our best player 

Well, Buendia is on the right flank, not on both flanks. If you want to channel play through him - which I don't say you should - then it would make more sense to "Focus play" (TI) down the flank where he is (the right one in your setup). 

 

12 hours ago, Orikoru said:

so it might be a good way to get at teams on the counter

I don't think this (flat 4141) formation is ideal for counter-attacking football, assuming that's the style you want to implement. Because the lone striker will rarely have sufficient support from the teammates at the beginning of attacking transitions, which means he can often end up left on his own. Of course, it does mean that there are never going to be any counter-attacks or that he occasionally may not be able to successfully chase balls played into the space behind opposition defenses and get 1v1 with the keeper, but it won't be easy for him to deal with entire defenses on his own anyway. In other words, occasional counter-attacks can happen, but not in the sense of it as the primary style of play. 

[Experienced Defender]

11 hours ago, Orikoru said:

Work ball into box since Pukki isn't the best in the air so probably not worth crossing it

First off, no instruction alone will make players do something or prevent them from doing something else. If players don't have other (better or viable) options in a given situation, they will cross despite the WBiB instruction being turned on. Therefore, tactical elements - both instructions and roles - do not work in isolation and none of them acts as a magic button you just need to press and get what you want. You have to view them all as integral parts of a logical whole (i.e. the tactic as a complex system). 

Secondly - and perhaps even more important - the WBiB instruction also requires the players to be good enough both technically and mentally in order to execute the instruction properly. If they are not able to keep the ball (possession) in smaller areas of space in the attacking third while being under pressure by the opposition defense, then WBiB can easily backfire and allow the opposition to rob you of the ball and launch a quick counter-attack while your defense is exposed thanks to the overcommitment of your players in attack. Therefore think twice before employing the WBiB instruction. 

Finally, the fact that your striker is not particularly good in the air does not necessarily mean that he can never be useful for crosses. Because not all crosses are high. There are low and whipped ones as well 

[Orikoru]

Yeeeah I guess you called it but after five games we've only scored once. Two draws and three defeats. I might have to push the wide midfielders to AML and AMR in the more winnable games.

 

Edit: That worked surprisingly well, got our first win against Palace with the two goals coming from each winger, ha.

Edited May 15, 2020 by Orikoru