FM21: From top of the league to 9 match winless streak. Please help

[joey.thailand]

I'm new to FM, having just moved over from FIFA. My first save was with Man United, as I wanted an easy save with all facilities in place. Won the league after 3 seasons so I decided to try a RTG save, managing FC United of Manchester.

First season was great, got automatically promoted from the Regional division to Vanarama North. 2nd season we finished 5th despite board expectation to avoid relegation. 

My third season started amazing. 9 wins and 1 draw from our first 10 games and we were top of the league. I was mainly using 4-4-2 wingplay. Then we lost to bottom of the league Spennymoor and it's been downhill since. I'm now on a 9 match winless streak (6 draws, 3 losses). We're now in 6th place. Board expectation is top half but still very frustrating since we went from winning with 3-4 goal margins to seemingly forgetting how to score. 

I've been trying out both counter-attacking 4-5-1/5-4-1 as well as my previous 4-4-2 wing play but just can't seem to get out of this rut. The last few matches I've just been trying to avoid defeat and going for counter-attacking but still no luck. Goals conceded tend to start with opposition in the center of the pitch (I've since changed instructions to force opposition outside), then them getting a lofted through to or cross into the penalty box. 

In home games we tend to dominate possession but barely have more shots than opposition. Away games would see less possession and opposition having way more chances. 

We've also been terribly unlucky during our streak- 2 missed penalties that would have turned draws to wins and at least 4 disallowed goals from my Poacher (who I've since moved to Advanced Forward since he keeps being offside).

Is there anything I can do to stop this poor run of form? Or is something wrong with my tactic? I'm lost and just want to give up the game at this point. 

 

 

Usual 4-4-2 wingplay

 

4-5-1 counter attack that I have been using since the losing streak

[Freakiie]

Way too many TIs. Just because there's an option doesn't mean you have to select it, I mean why even bother randomly wasting time for example? Not to mention some absolute overkill with possession for the sake of possession TIs, much shorter passing, work ball into box, play out of defense all together? Especially considering you say you want to counter attack?

That aside, there's a good chance that this kind of crash isn't necessarily tactic based. You're apparently overperforming quite a bit, which could mean that nearing the end of the season your team buckles under pressure, due to fighting for a promotion nobody was expecting or failing to manage complacency after a very good streak.

It could also be that the AI sees you as a bigger threat than before which alters the way they approach matches against you. Often tactics that heavily rely on the AI leaving you tons of space fall apart when the AI starts playing less aggressive against you.

[Zemahh]

3 hours ago, joey.thailand said:

Is there anything I can do to stop this poor run of form? Or is something wrong with my tactic? I'm lost and just want to give up the game at this point.

Since you posted three different tactics, I'll comment just on your main 4-4-2.

Potential issues:

• Poor defensive solidity in central midfield; both BBM (Roam From Position) and MEZ (Roam From Position + Get Further Forward) could be caught high up the pitch regularly, leaving your CBs left to their own devices. I suggest pairing your BBM with a holding role (e.g. DLP/CMde + BBM). MEZ tends to be overly adventurous for two-CM pairings.
• Overly conservative defence; with as many as four Defend Duties across the backline, your midfield could struggle for support. In addition to that, three of your defenders like hoofing the ball long (NCBs, NFB), meaning it could get to your strikers before midfield provides them with sufficient support. I suggest replacing at least one NCB with a CD/BPD and your right NFB with a FBsu.
• Lack of width on left side; with IW cutting inside and FBde staying back, there's no one attacking wide areas. I suggest changing your FBde to WBsu/FBat. FBsu might not provide width aggressively enough.
• Instructions creating all sorts of tactical overkills; Lower Defensive Line combined with Much Lower Line Of Engagement results in an extremely low block that could put you under extended periods of pressure, plus a plethora of other Instructions that make it hard to identify what kind of style are you actually going for (e.g. tactic looks like a counter-attacking one, but then you're also instructing your team to Work Ball Into Box and Waste Time). I suggest cutting your Instructions down to bare minimum and only picking a few that define your desired style. You can always add more as you go, but if you start with too many, identifying where things are going wrong could become difficult.

I'd make the following changes:

DLFat AFat

IWsu DLPde BBMsu Wsu

FBat CDde BPDde FBsu

GKde

Hope that gives you some ideas!

[Experienced Defender]

When it comes to roles and duties, only your third setup (4411) makes sense.

However, when it comes to instructions, they look like a complete mess in all the 3 tactics. There is absolutely no need for using so many instructions, especially if you are new to the game and with little or no experience. 

6 hours ago, joey.thailand said:

I'm new to FM, having just moved over from FIFA

FM and FIFA are totally different games. FM is far more serious and realistic than FIFA and therefore requires a considerably higher level of tactical knowledge and understanding. 

[joey.thailand]

Thanks guys! I've gone back to the drawing board and stripped down my TIs to the necessary ones and finally ended my winless streak after 11 matches (scruffy 1-0 win with my team being down to 10 men for the last 30 mins and the other team having a goal disallowed). Hopefully this will build up confidence with the team.