I've created my tactic! Now, what do I look for?

[michaeldawson75]

I've been playing FM for a number of years, and I love designing new tactics, usually for my favourite team and perennial underachievers, Sheffield Wednesday.

I've had some comparative success (getting the Owls out of the Championship and into the top half of the Premier League, sometimes into Europe, though the biggest prizes elude me).

I feel like I understand how to put together a tactic with balance, that suits the players that I have, that has a logical consistency in terms of playing style.

However, I struggle to see what is going wrong with my tactics during a match. I usually watch comprehensive highlights with the 2D camera, and while I can tell from the stats that things are not going well (or that they are going well), I can't pinpoint why exactly.

So... do you FM players have any tips for what you look out for in particular? What sends a warning signal to you? Which players do you keep an eye on? Where is your focus during a match?

Cheers all.

[Zemahh]

8 hours ago, michaeldawson75 said:

However, I struggle to see what is going wrong with my tactics during a match.

If you're interested, I wrote about this recently.

Quick snippet:

On 21/11/2020 at 18:21, Zemahh said:

Here's some example questions we should be asking ourselves:

• Is the highlight showing my team attacking or defending?
• If attacking, did the transition go as planned or did it break down prematurely?
• If the transition broke down prematurely, why? Player dribbled himself into trouble? Made a bad pass? Was it the pass that was bad, or was the support not close enough? Did he shoot aimlessly from distance? Could it be that his risk-taking is too high? Did he have any other options?
• If defending, does our defence look stable? Do Highlights end with us winning the ball back successfully or is opposition creating scoring chances? Are their dangerous passes coming from flanks or middle areas? Are Roles and Duties in those areas too aggressive or do players simply not have the defensive attributes to cope? Are we getting caught out by balls over the top? Perhaps because our Defensive Line is too high? Are we committing fouls in quick succession? Is it our instructions that are too aggressive, or are we constantly on the back foot because we're losing possession too easily?

You can find more here: FM21 for Dummies: Watching Highlights

Hope that helps!