How can I upgrade this lower league tactic?

[trueblue9877]

I am not really sure what I can improve because the tactic was working fine for a few seasons but then the game just became unwinnable 

Defense gets worse despite signing better defenders and better players overall, low XG scores no matter what role changes I make, it just doesn't make any sense.

[chewbaccaloveaddiction]

You can give both CMs tackle harder instructions, or at least the BBM. This should increase attempted tackles.

High defensive line with standard, higher or even much higher LOE can also help putting pressure on your opponent to win the ball higher up the pitch, creating opportunities for counters. If you are too vulnerable to counters a half back might help.

Low crosses might increase cross completion if your CF isn't very tall. 

To make your transitions and counter attacks faster you can increase the tempo. Adding pass into space can also help a lot.

 If one of your CMs has good finishing and long shots, you could use a more attacking role (Playmakers have a shoot less often instruction) to add another goal scoring threat. You rely more on carries than passes to progress the ball and might not need  a playmaker. I would move the more attacking player to the left tough, especially if you use a Mezzala, you don't want to block the IF.

Another option could be the left flank, a WB with overlap could help you dominate that side and send way more crosses to your CF and IF.

Your goalkeeper seems to be one of your best players, if he has good distribution you could use that to launch counter attacks, so removing distribute to CB and FB might work, especially if you have taller forwards and midfielders. A sweeper keeper on support should also launch more counter attacks.

If your CF is tall and strong TF on attack might be a good role, if he has good finishing Poacher, but you can't go wrong with AF.

 

If a tactic stops working, make sure your man management is on point, like praise good training, good performances, and criticize them if needed. Sometimes this can have a bigger impact than tactical tweaks. 

Edited March 9, 2022 by chewbaccaloveaddiction

[Johnny Ace]

Your setup's not looking bad at all there @trueblue9877 

Looking at your roles and who's doing what in the team:

• Your out & out striker is your AF(A) he doesn't need the IF(A) trying to get in on his action, I'd turn the IF  into a creator as an IF(S)
• Your winger can then stretch the left flank as a W(A)
• You'll then have two players on the right side looking to make openings with risky passes but I don't think that's a bad thing
• Your back line and DM setup looks solid, I like the wide runner at RB with the wide runner on the LW
• Counter Press is ultra aggressive and unless you're a top top team, it'll probably cause more harm than good especially when you're not pressing high up the pitch 

[Halbraum]

On 09.03.2022 at 01:28, trueblue9877 said:

I am not really sure what I can improve because the tactic was working fine for a few seasons but then the game just became unwinnable

Roles and duties seem fine to me, in fact i'd not call this a lower-league tactic, this might be your problem  Gegenpress and tight marking are both mentally and physically demanding instructions, and i guess you don't use complementary instructions e.g. high-line, high mentality etc. Roles like AP and BBM demand a certain level of talent too.

Do majority of oppositions play defensive against you? Maybe your reputation is high for the league due to your success in recent seasons? If that's the case i would consider finding a creator/deep-lying type of forward in order to create space more effectively(assuming it's possible for lower-leagues). You can even consider a formation change to a top-heavy one like 4-2-3-1, 4-2-4, but this action might not turn out to be good when you get promoted.

These are classic transition-to-get-better blues. Stay patient, everything is going to be alright as you recruit better personnel

8 saat önce, Johnny Ace said:

Your winger can then stretch the left flank as a W(A)

I guess you use this guidetofm thing No offense, im just joking. Maybe my question isn't going to contribute anything to OP's problems, but do wide forwards stretch the flanks in FM though @Johnny Ace? They do when ball's at first and second thirds of the field, but i think they always come narrow in final third no matter what role or instruction you give, unlike IRL football. I hope SI adress this issue in the short-run.

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Halbraum

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, Halbraum said:

I guess you use this guidetofm thing No offense, im just joking. Maybe my question isn't going to contribute anything to OP's problems, but do wide forwards stretch the flanks in FM though @Johnny Ace? They do when ball's at first and second thirds of the field, but i think they always come narrow in final third no matter what role or instruction you give, unlike IRL football. I hope SI adress this issue in the short-run.

 

 Not really, I did read through it a while ago, it's interesting in parts just all a bit wooden, even though I consider myself a fairly wooden manager 

Yeah, they do come infield a fair bit late on in attacks but on the ball they drive right to the byline on attack which is useful be it a winger or or fullback 

[Halbraum]

20 dakika önce, Johnny Ace said:

Not really, I did read through it a while ago, it's interesting in parts just all a bit wooden, even though I consider myself a fairly wooden manager 

Definitely useful in some aspects though, i respect the effort the author(s) put into it  

 

24 dakika önce, Johnny Ace said:

Yeah, they do come infield a fair bit late on in attacks but on the ball they drive right to the byline on attack which is useful be it a winger or or fullback 

I find their off the ball movement is insufficient in terms of stretching the opposition defense. Annoys me that i need to use a fullback for it. It even hinders the attacking CM roles' runs.

Whatever, i don't want to hijack the thread Sorry OP!

[trueblue9877]

2 hours ago, Halbraum said:

Roles and duties seem fine to me, in fact i'd not call this a lower-league tactic, this might be your problem  Gegenpress and tight marking are both mentally and physically demanding instructions, and i guess you don't use complementary instructions e.g. high-line, high mentality etc. Roles like AP and BBM demand a certain level of talent too.

Do majority of oppositions play defensive against you? Maybe your reputation is high for the league due to your success in recent seasons? If that's the case i would consider finding a creator/deep-lying type of forward in order to create space more effectively(assuming it's possible for lower-leagues). You can even consider a formation change to a top-heavy one like 4-2-3-1, 4-2-4, but this action might not turn out to be good when you get promoted.

These are classic transition-to-get-better blues. Stay patient, everything is going to be alright as you recruit better personnel

I guess you use this guidetofm thing No offense, im just joking. Maybe my question isn't going to contribute anything to OP's problems, but do wide forwards stretch the flanks in FM though @Johnny Ace? They do when ball's at first and second thirds of the field, but i think they always come narrow in final third no matter what role or instruction you give, unlike IRL football. I hope SI adress this issue in the short-run.

 

In response, I made some changes to the tactic and wS able to improve the results  I tried using z team in Serie B which I had previously  never been able to get results with and was promoted in the first season, however the tactic collapsed as soon as I hit Serie A, my odds to win the league are 1000-1 but obviously I am not expecting anything like that yet, can  you recommend any changes that could help me get mid table of something like that ? What do hou think about this tactic? 

[StabbyMcGinge]

There is no one in the number 10 spot. I would strongly advise you to change your BBM to a CM(A) on the left side to ensure you have someone camping on the edge of the area or penetrating to grab the occasional goal or if your AP has some decent shooting/work rate/pace make him the attacking role and keep the BBM. With just 1 player in the central area in the final third makes it very easy to just mark your number 9 out of the game.

Change your mentality to attacking to increase the transition speed of your team, on balanced your team will essentially counter 2 notches slower than attacking.

If you want to counter, uncheck play out of defence. Your team will naturally slow the ball down in the first third giving your opposition time to get back into their shape.

Seems like you want to press but have tighter marking chosen - this conflicts. In a high pressing system your players need the freedom to leave their position to close down opposition players to restrict time on the ball - tight marking ensures they do not leave their man. Uncheck tight marking. It's also an incredibly risky TI that I've never seen work in nearly 10 years of playing the game.

Play narrower with shorter passing for a fluid counter system or wider and more direct if you want to play down the wings with lots of crosses. Make sure to tick "Low crosses" if you have no aerial threat up front.

In transiton tell your keeper to distribute quickly to try and catch the opposition out of position.

[Halbraum]

1 saat önce, trueblue9877 said:

In response, I made some changes to the tactic and wS able to improve the results  I tried using z team in Serie B which I had previously  never been able to get results with and was promoted in the first season, however the tactic collapsed as soon as I hit Serie A, my odds to win the league are 1000-1 but obviously I am not expecting anything like that yet, can  you recommend any changes that could help me get mid table of something like that ? What do hou think about this tactic? 

Your squad is inferior in comparison to the league. This means most teams will play aggressively and give you a lot of space behind their defenses, you have to take advantage of this. IMO, you'd benefit from a less progressive, more direct and defensively secure approach. You can achieve this through:

• Getting rid of aggressive defensive instructions. These are counter-pressing, tight marking and high press. You better decide these settings according to your chosen mentality. Unless you want to play on higher mentalities, i don't recommend lower settings either because everything works in conjunction with mentality. 
• Your striker isn't a deep-dropping type, he can easily get isolated, you need someone supporting and occupying the area behind him. Yes, BBM might do this but i'd prefer a more aggressive role like CM(A).  But you should choose a less aggressive fullback role in that flank if you do this.
• The team needs to be vertically compact in order to protect the space effectively, so set your DL and LoE accordingly.
• You don't need to progress the ball from defense every match, i'd not use that instruction unless i feel the need to do it.
• Use a BPD if you have a suitable player. He will help to exploit the space behind opposition defense. 
• Like i said before, AP is a demanding role. Assess the player's ability to perform the role. Sometimes it's better to keep it simple.
• Although higher mentalities is better for direct football, i'd not take the risk as the worst team in the league. And you will need to alter so many things if you do that. Balanced is the best option for you if you ask me. 

I hope things get better! 

 

Edited March 16, 2022 by Halbraum

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, trueblue9877 said:

In response, I made some changes to the tactic and wS able to improve the results  I tried using z team in Serie B which I had previously  never been able to get results with and was promoted in the first season, however the tactic collapsed as soon as I hit Serie A, my odds to win the league are 1000-1 but obviously I am not expecting anything like that yet, can  you recommend any changes that could help me get mid table of something like that ? What do hou think about this tactic? 

 

Read what I said above, you're Counter Pressing with a team with 1000-1 odds to win the league 

AF(A) & IF(A) together isn't a good combo, like I already said 

I've seen you've had previous threads about the same thing before and seemed to have ignore the advice in those too  

 

[trueblue9877]

3 minutes ago, StabbyMcGinge said:

There is no one in the number 10 spot. I would strongly advise you to change your BBM to a CM(A) on the left side to ensure you have someone camping on the edge of the area or penetrating to grab the occasional goal or if your AP has some decent shooting/work rate/pace make him the attacking role and keep the BBM. With just 1 player in the central area in the final third makes it very easy to just mark your number 9 out of the game.

Change your mentality to attacking to increase the transition speed of your team, on balanced your team will essentially counter 2 notches slower than attacking.

If you want to counter, uncheck play out of defence. Your team will naturally slow the ball down in the first third giving your opposition time to get back into their shape.

Seems like you want to press but have tighter marking chosen - this conflicts. In a high pressing system your players need the freedom to leave their position to close down opposition players to restrict time on the ball - tight marking ensures they do not leave their man. Uncheck tight marking. It's also an incredibly risky TI that I've never seen work in nearly 10 years of playing the game.

Play narrower with shorter passing for a fluid counter system or wider and more direct if you want to play down the wings with lots of crosses. Make sure to tick "Low crosses" if you have no aerial threat up front.

In transiton tell your keeper to distribute quickly to try and catch the opposition out of position.

I can confirm  that  but I am going for more of a mid block tactic because I agree that I for sure want to press but I don't think I have good enough players to execute a high press right now  due to having lower quality players than the rest of the league, 

[trueblue9877]

Which attacking roles do you think would you say would you say would be more ideal ATM (A)  and IF (A) ?it's  just that AF ( A ) and IF  A/S )  has been working pretty well until this point 

[trueblue9877]

3 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Read what I said above, you're Counter Pressing with a team with 1000-1 odds to win the league 

AF(A) & IF(A) together isn't a good combo, like I already said 

I've seen you've had previous threads about the same thing before and seemed to have ignore the advice in those too  

 

It's  a middle press counter  press  tactic, I thought this would  be less high risk than a high press counter  pressing  tactic  and whenever  I tried to use Target Fiorward in the past it hasn't  worked  yet.

[Johnny Ace]

4 hours ago, trueblue9877 said:

It's  a middle press counter  press  tactic, I thought this would  be less high risk than a high press counter  pressing  tactic  and whenever  I tried to use Target Fiorward in the past it hasn't  worked  yet.

Re the Counter Press

21 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Counter Press is ultra aggressive and unless you're a top top team, it'll probably cause more harm than good especially when you're not pressing high up the pitch 

I never said to use a Target Forward, I said 

 

21 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Your out & out striker is your AF(A) he doesn't need the IF(A) trying to get in on his action, I'd turn the IF  into a creator as an IF(S)

If you not wanting to use the IF on S, an IF(A) can pair up well with a DLF(S or A), CF (S or A) etc so the striker is more of creator than a goal getter. Think of it as number 9s & 10s in football, teams generally have one 9 and one 10, not two 9s  

[trueblue9877]

On 15/03/2022 at 11:55, Johnny Ace said:

Your setup's not looking bad at all there @trueblue9877 

Looking at your roles and who's doing what in the team:

• Your out & out striker is your AF(A) he doesn't need the IF(A) trying to get in on his action, I'd turn the IF  into a creator as an IF(S)
• Your winger can then stretch the left flank as a W(A)
• You'll then have two players on the right side looking to make openings with risky passes but I don't think that's a bad thing
• Your back line and DM setup looks solid, I like the wide runner at RB with the wide runner on the LW
• Counter Press is ultra aggressive and unless you're a top top team, it'll probably cause more harm than good especially when you're not pressing high up the pitch 

Are there any in possession  recommendations I usually play with a team that has 200-1 odds or so to win in a league like the one in the screenshot for more context, when I used a team that was 9-1 we were very dominant in the league but it's  just that with the lower ones it can be hard to score if you're not using "positive" mentality, I'll try the winger on attack and IF on support like you said earlier but do you think I should go with the positive mentality or stick to balanced?

[HanziZoloman]

vor 5 Stunden schrieb Johnny Ace:

Re the Counter Press

I never said to use a Target Forward, I said 

 

If you not wanting to use the IF on S, an IF(A) can pair up well with a DLF(S or A), CF (S or A) etc so the striker is more of creator than a goal getter. Think of it as number 9s & 10s in football, teams generally have one 9 and one 10, not two 9s  

What about DLFa and IFs ? 
 

I’d try out something like this up front:

IFs DLFa IFs

   CMa DLPs

        DM

WBs DCd DCd WB/FBs

     G/SKd

I‘d say that you need some tactics, Home / Away and a tight Defensive with a conservative 4141

[Johnny Ace]

26 minutes ago, trueblue9877 said:

Are there any in possession  recommendations I usually play with a team that has 200-1 odds or so to win in a league like the one in the screenshot for more context, when I used a team that was 9-1 we were very dominant in the league but it's  just that with the lower ones it can be hard to score if you're not using "positive" mentality, I'll try the winger on attack and IF on support like you said earlier but do you think I should go with the positive mentality or stick to balanced?

I think your in-possession instructions all make sense and none conflict

I'm assuming your front 3 are all physically and mentality capable (ie decent ratings in Concentration, Anticipation) of receiving high balls and your midfield has some pace to get up the pitch quickly to support them?

[Johnny Ace]

23 minutes ago, HanziZoloman said:

What about DLFa and IFs ? 
 

I’d try out something like this up front:

IFs DLFa IFs

   CMa DLPs

        DM

WBs DCd DCd WB/FBs

     G/SKd

I‘d say that you need some tactics, Home / Away and a tight Defensive with a conservative 4141

Think of the Salah and Firmino partnership, Salah is more or less the number 9 coming from wide, Firmino as the number 10, starting high and dropping deep. Similar at Real with Ronaldo & Benzema, Benzema was up front but his main job was to roam around and hold off defenders to help Ronaldo, the main goal scoring threat from wide

Think of the roles in simple terms:

DLF(A) - creator, scorer

DLF(S) - creator

IF(A) - creator, scorer

IF(S) - creator

IF(A) are also more willing to get forward and take that number 9 position too than a IF(S)

So a DLF(A) & two IF(S)s might be too many creators and not enough focus on scoring goals, so it may be a little blunt in attack. It could work 100% but if it was lacking goals, that would be the first thing I'd look at 

 

[trueblue9877]

33 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

Think of the Salah and Firmino partnership, Salah is more or less the number 9 coming from wide, Firmino as the number 10, starting high and dropping deep. Similar at Real with Ronaldo & Benzema, Benzema was up front but his main job was to roam around and hold off defenders to help Ronaldo, the main goal scoring threat from wide

Think of the roles in simple terms:

DLF(A) - creator, scorer

DLF(S) - creator

IF(A) - creator, scorer

IF(S) - creator

IF(A) are also more willing to get forward and take that number 9 position too than a IF(S)

So a DLF(A) & two IF(S)s might be too many creators and not enough focus on scoring goals, so it may be a little blunt in attack. It could work 100% but if it was lacking goals, that would be the first thing I'd look at 

 

It's that I was told not to play out from the back as one of the worst teams in the league or use run at defence but in the analysis we "get frequently fouled, many dribbles" so I removed some of them. This is how it looks now.

[Johnny Ace]

3 minutes ago, trueblue9877 said:

It's that I was told not to play out from the back as one of the worst teams in the league or use run at defence but in the analysis we "get frequently fouled, many dribbles" so I removed some of them. This is how it looks now.

How's that doing for you now? Can see you're 7th so you're doing well

Don't see a problem with playing out from defense, you have a DM so shouldn't come unstuck too often

Tighter marking I'm not sure on

[HanziZoloman]

@Johnny Ace hey that’s a good point. Especially with two IFs maybe I should pair them with a PFa in the middle?

It works for me now with DLFa but we‘re not scoring many should help to switch it. 
 
thanks

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, HanziZoloman said:

@Johnny Ace hey that’s a good point. Especially with two IFs maybe I should pair them with a PFa in the middle?

It works for me now with DLFa but we‘re not scoring many should help to switch it. 
 
thanks

Yeah, for me, if I was using two IF(S)s I'd want them with an out and out striker, PF(A), P(A), AF(A) type players 

[trueblue9877]

14 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

How's that doing for you now? Can see you're 7th so you're doing well

Don't see a problem with playing out from defense, you have a DM so shouldn't come unstuck too often

Tighter marking I'm not sure on

Thanks it has been working well so far the XG totals have been really good and we are in 3rd place, somehow lost 6-1 to Portsmouth in the FA Cup though.

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, trueblue9877 said:

Thanks it has been working well so far the XG totals have been really good and we are in 3rd place, somehow lost 6-1 to Portsmouth in the FA Cup though.

Excellent!!

Happens to the best of us 

 

 

[trueblue9877]

1 minute ago, trueblue9877 said:

Thanks it has been working well so far the XG totals have been really good and we are in 3rd place, somehow lost 6-1 to Portsmouth in the FA Cup though

What changes do you think I need to make for playing against stronger teams especially if I get promoted to the NVL, thanks for all the help!

[Johnny Ace]

1 minute ago, trueblue9877 said:

What changes do you think I need to make for playing against stronger teams especially if I get promoted to the NVL, thanks for all the help!

They didn't deserve to put 6 past you, 2.41XG with 0.7 of that being a penalty

Away at Pompey isn't an easy game either

Go up with the same approach that got you there I say. It did alright for Leeds last season  

[trueblue9877]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Ace said:

They didn't deserve to put 6 past you, 2.41XG with 0.7 of that being a penalty

Away at Pompey isn't an easy game either

Go up with the same approach that got you there I say. It did alright for Leeds last season  

Back when they could defend, this season their defending was like Kamikaze defending, just running around out there.

[trueblue9877]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

They didn't deserve to put 6 past you, 2.41XG with 0.7 of that being a penalty

Away at Pompey isn't an easy game either

Go up with the same approach that got you there I say. It did alright for Leeds last season  

We ended the season with a May / April collapse so we missed the playoffs, however it was still a good season.

Do you think using a BBM instead of CM ( A) would make us more solid or should I keep doing what I am doing because we should have finished 4th and got a lot of goals from that CM, he got 16 goals.

[trueblue9877]

We were expected to finish 19th.

[HanziZoloman]

vor 1 Stunde schrieb Johnny Ace:

Yeah, for me, if I was using two IF(S)s I'd want them with an out and out striker, PF(A), P(A), AF(A) type players 

Did work fine, I believed an out and out striker would not work in a solo role up front. 
but 

IFa PFa IFs 

 MCs MCa 

    DLPd 

was superb

[Johnny Ace]

3 hours ago, trueblue9877 said:

We were expected to finish 19th.

You did fantastic then!! Recruit well in the summer and push on. End of season collapse can happen, I think the amount of games catches up on the players 

I'd keep the CM(A) is he's returning well for you, you're giving him the space to get forward with your winger on the left 

[trueblue9877]

2 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

You did fantastic then!! Recruit well in the summer and push on. End of season collapse can happen, I think the amount of games catches up on the players 

I'd keep the CM(A) is he's returning well for you, you're giving him the space to get forward with your winger on the 

Not to bombard you  with too many questions  but do you think the tactic with the "positive" mentality is viable for a team with odds like I had in Serie A if I changed the roles like you suggested and with counter press removed?

Because it was a pretty consistent tactic even when I had odds of 350-1 I could still get a solid mid table finish consistently, even after a promotion season to VNL as Slough Town but I think when my odds got much worse (1000-1)  as Pordenone that was a bridge too far for it without  the tweaks as like you said and I have seen AF(A) and IF (A) aren't  the best pairing or the effective CM on attack and a FB (S) on that side.

The CM (A) is amazing because I had never been able to get that to work before, probably because I was pairing that side with a WB (S) or using it on a side with an IF but do you think using a CM (A) On positive as a team with odds as low as 1000-1 would be pushing it too far?

Edited March 16, 2022 by trueblue9877
Wanted to add more text.

[Johnny Ace]

15 minutes ago, trueblue9877 said:

Not to bombard you 

It's alright 

16 minutes ago, trueblue9877 said:

do you think the tactic with the "positive" mentality is viable for a team with odds like I had in Serie A if I changed the roles like you suggested and with counter press removed?

Which tactic is that? You've posted a few up now, in either case, I'd only recommend using Counter Press if you're a top top team or playing against a team a league or two below you ie you're a heavy favourite 

17 minutes ago, trueblue9877 said:

The CM (A) is amazing because I had never been able to get that to work before, probably because I was pairing that side with a WB (S) or using it on a side with an IF but do you think using a CM (A) On positive as a team with odds as low as 1000-1 would be pushing it too far?

Not at al, he'll spring a few surprises on teams  It's a fantastic role and you've hit the nail on the head, having an in cutting wide player of his side of the pitch can hinder him getting into the box, the way you have it will give him the best opportunity to score goals  

[trueblue9877]

This one. 

2 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

It's alright 

Which tactic is that? You've posted a few up now, in either case, I'd only recommend using Counter Press if you're a top top team or playing against a team a league or two below you ie you're a heavy favourite 

Not at al, he'll spring a few surprises on teams  It's a fantastic role and you've hit the nail on the head, having an in cutting wide player of his side of the pitch can hinder him getting into the box, the way you have it will give him the best opportunity to score goals  

This tactic.

[Johnny Ace]

7 hours ago, trueblue9877 said:

This tactic.

Yeah, looks fine, remove the CP and I'd check the frontline,  think of switching the wide players' duties ie. W(A) & IF(S)

[HanziZoloman]

@Johnny Ace and @trueblue9877 thanks for this topic and help. I put my IFs on stay wider which gave my MCa enough room for three goals

[trueblue9877]

5 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

@Johnny Ace and @trueblue9877 thanks for this topic and help. I put my IFs on stay wider which gave my MCa enough room for three goals

It's good that this thread was able to help someone else too! I always wanted to help others.

[trueblue9877]

On 17/03/2022 at 09:01, Johnny Ace said:

Yeah, looks fine, remove the CP and I'd check the frontline,  think of switching the wide players' duties ie. W(A) & IF(S)

Hi again, thanks for all the help but I have noticed that my team is always getting screwed out of games in XG?

 

Is there anything I can do about this? 

[Johnny Ace]

How's your tactic looking now @trueblue9877?

[trueblue9877]

2 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

How's your tactic looking now @trueblue9877?

We're not doing so good anymore, there are plenty of missed opportunities, the XG table says I should be in the top half of the table but just many dropped games where we won on XG sometimes significantly, but still overperforming expectations of the board so can't complain I guess, the tactic looks like this.

I'll try and get better players and let you know how the second season goes. 

[Johnny Ace]

2 hours ago, trueblue9877 said:

I'll try and get better players and let you know how the second season goes. 

It could just be that, I can see your fullbacks are both one and two star rated, one IF is two star, so take the league position and strengthen as much as you can each window  

[trueblue9877]

1 hour ago, Johnny Ace said:

It could just be that, I can see your fullbacks are both one and two star rated, one IF is two star, so take the league position and strengthen as much as you can each window  

Ok we recovered and are in 4th place in February, it must have been the problem with the FBs.

[trueblue9877]

On 19/03/2022 at 17:56, Johnny Ace said:

It could just be that, I can see your fullbacks are both one and two star rated, one IF is two star, so take the league position and strengthen as much as you can each window  

Hi, I ended up being promoted but upon reaching the VNL I just couldn't compete anymore, any suggestions? 

[Mr_Demus]

On 19/03/2022 at 15:56, trueblue9877 said:

We're not doing so good anymore, there are plenty of missed opportunities, the XG table says I should be in the top half of the table but just many dropped games where we won on XG sometimes significantly, but still overperforming expectations of the board so can't complain I guess, the tactic looks like this.

I'll try and get better players and let you know how the second season goes. 

I would guess that your right side is a bit exposed. Try changing the DR to a FB S. And perhaps, sometimes, change the AP S to A CM S to create cohesion between the attack and defense.

[Johnny Ace]

Like @Mr_Demussays, you could ditch the AP(S) just for a simple CM(S), if he's getting a lot of the ball, he might not good enough to make things happen.

Like you say, you got promoted when you shouldn't have, just stay up and build 

[trueblue9877]

3 hours ago, Johnny Ace said:

Like @Mr_Demussays, you could ditch the AP(S) just for a simple CM(S), if he's getting a lot of the ball, he might not good enough to make things happen.

Like you say, you got promoted when you shouldn't have, just stay up and build 

It was impossible  to stay up, everything stopped  working. 

[trueblue9877]

This is what it looks like now.

[trueblue9877]

We are expected to finish 11th but could get promoted again.

[Johnny Ace]

1 hour ago, trueblue9877 said:

This is what it looks like now.

That looks fine, nothing terribly wrong with, just be aware you could be vulnerable down the left, but every set up will have it's weaknesses. I'm still not sold on the tight marking but you seem to like it, I just see it as something that would go hand in hand with defensive tactic. You could even afford to have your right FB on Attack to add another dimension do your attack

[Zemahh]

Personally, I'm not really a fan of FBs in a 4-1-2-3. I think you could end up lacking width quite often, as IF cuts inside and Winger on Attack attacks the box himself as well.

I'd try something like this:

AFat

Wat                      IFsu

BBMsu CMsu

DMde

WBsu CDde CDde WBat

I also noticed that a number of your players are unhappy, so maybe try managing morale a bit better. Praising good training performances/conduct can help bump it up a little bit, until you can replace those whose concerns you can't resolve.