frustrating 0-0 draws

[mouli]

This is the third time in the last 5-6 matches where I've struggled to create chances against weaker opposition. this was the third 0-0 draw.

Tactic: 

 

Predicted to finish: 16th in championship 

current position: 6th place. (34 matches played)

 

Match: Huddersfield (me) vs Preston (opponent)

 

Poacher attempted 0 shots. Tried to overload their right side (after reading the scout report) but didn't work.

I am overachieving right now so teams have begun parking the bus against me. In this match, I did not create a single good chance. 10 of the 15 shot attempted were long shot.

 

[HUNT3R]

1 hour ago, mouli said:

I am overachieving right now so teams have begun parking the bus against me.

Good. You noticed something. That's a big step.

The match stats show us that you created poor chances in general. There were 2 okay chances at least, so you're probably not too far off with your tactic. You seem solid in defense looking at the match stats.

As you've noticed that teams sit back against you, it will pay to watch how you're attacking. I am specifically looking at you trying to counter attack. The way you set up will see you win the ball deep and then you're going to try and counter attack against a team that's parking the bus. They're possibly all waiting for you. It could be why your attacks are not good enough.

This is probably the main thing I watch for and change in matches these days - changing what I do in transition depending on who I face and what I observe.

[mouli]

1 hour ago, HUNT3R said:

Good. You noticed something. That's a big step.

The match stats show us that you created poor chances in general. There were 2 okay chances at least, so you're probably not too far off with your tactic. You seem solid in defense looking at the match stats.

As you've noticed that teams sit back against you, it will pay to watch how you're attacking. I am specifically looking at you trying to counter attack. The way you set up will see you win the ball deep and then you're going to try and counter attack against a team that's parking the bus. They're possibly all waiting for you. It could be why your attacks are not good enough.

This is probably the main thing I watch for and change in matches these days - changing what I do in transition depending on who I face and what I observe.

Spot on. Generally my defence is great, in fact, I've only conceded 4 times in the last 12 or so matches (just a humble brag since I prefer pragmatic football).

Coming back to the tactic, do you think the setup of duties is fair? 4ATT, 3SUP and 3DEF.

And what about the strategy? Does it make sense to control possesion and be patient against this 5-4-1 ultra defensive? Or is it more rewarding to be attacking gung ho gegenpress?

[HUNT3R]

2 hours ago, HUNT3R said:

There were 2 okay chances at least, so you're probably not too far off with your tactic. You seem solid in defense looking at the match stats.

Like I said, I don't think you're too far off right now. You have a defensively solid base, so you don't need huge changes.

Campbell as the Poacher? Not sure how far you're in, but Huddersfield have Koroma (I see he's a sub) and Rhodes (I don't see him) who are more lethal goal scorers than him. I'd even select Ward over him. I'm just going off of the squad in the database as the game starts.

[Freakiie]

46 minutes ago, mouli said:

Spot on. Generally my defence is great, in fact, I've only conceded 4 times in the last 12 or so matches (just a humble brag since I prefer pragmatic football).

Coming back to the tactic, do you think the setup of duties is fair? 4ATT, 3SUP and 3DEF.

And what about the strategy? Does it make sense to control possesion and be patient against this 5-4-1 ultra defensive? Or is it more rewarding to be attacking gung ho gegenpress?

I would look less at the duties and more at the actual roles. A DLF(A) is a completely different role from a Poacher, even with both having an attack duty. The Poacher is by far the most detached striker role, so if he doesn't have space he easily gets completely removed from the game as you've noticed. As it stands, your tactic seems to lack support for him in and around the box, you have a winger out wide, the AP will generally remain in the hole and the Mezz on support duty won't be that aggressive with your mentality. Not sure how your WM is set up, I know some people play them as deeper IFs with PIs, but it's not a role I have much experience with to be honest.

If your poacher is not in the game, for whatever reason, who else do you expect to get into the box and score goals for you? If you only have a single goalscorer one bad day for him could ruin your match, but it also in general makes things much more difficult if nobody else around him gets into the box to drag defenders away and create space.

[mouli]

32 minutes ago, Freakiie said:

I would look less at the duties and more at the actual roles. A DLF(A) is a completely different role from a Poacher, even with both having an attack duty. The Poacher is by far the most detached striker role, so if he doesn't have space he easily gets completely removed from the game as you've noticed. As it stands, your tactic seems to lack support for him in and around the box, you have a winger out wide, the AP will generally remain in the hole and the Mezz on support duty won't be that aggressive with your mentality. Not sure how your WM is set up, I know some people play them as deeper IFs with PIs, but it's not a role I have much experience with to be honest.

If your poacher is not in the game, for whatever reason, who else do you expect to get into the box and score goals for you? If you only have a single goalscorer one bad day for him could ruin your match, but it also in general makes things much more difficult if nobody else around him gets into the box to drag defenders away and create space.

I noticed before this game that a lot of shots attempted by me were blocked, and most of them were low cross from wide area, this is why I don't have many "in the box" type roles, to prevent from overcrowding the opp box and blocked first time shots. Clearly my current approach is not working either. 

 

[Freakiie]

1 hour ago, mouli said:

I noticed before this game that a lot of shots attempted by me were blocked, and most of them were low cross from wide area, this is why I don't have many "in the box" type roles, to prevent from overcrowding the opp box and blocked first time shots. Clearly my current approach is not working either. 

 

I understand the reasoning, but with only 1 guy in the box against 3 CDs, he's obviously gonna have a bad day. On the other hand, if you have 3 guys in the box, while there might be less space the chances of 1 of those 3 finding himself in a bit of space are going to be much better, as suddenly 3 CDs have to pay attention to 3 guys and only one needs to make a mistake to give you a chance. You also don't need to have roles that occupy the box at all times, but you'd at least want some roles that make runs into the box at some point.

[Overmars]

Some options:

1. Push more players forward in your base formation. Having just one striker and one AMC means you won't be in great position to pressure your opponents all over the pitch. Pushing at least a couple of players up a strata would help press better and create more urgency. It might also entice your opponents to take some chances themselves rather than sit back all match and take a draw.
2. Play higher tempo.
3. Play two strikers and focus on deliveries into the box (probably crosses).
4. Create an asymmetry in your formation that you can exploit by overloading specific areas and unbalancing your opponents.
5. Try an attack duty on one of your fullbacks (IWB-a works great in this FM) or on one of your central midfielders (very aggressive but useful when you can't create any offense). This will add more motion to your formation and help challenge your opponents.
6. Train attacking movement, chance creation, attacking set pieces, etc. to get a slight boost pre-match.
7. Motivate any individual players pre-match and at halftime who are showing signs of being half-asleep.
8. Sign a master at set piece deliveries and use all of those corners and free kicks as golden opportunities to grab a goal.

[glengarry224]

On 07/07/2022 at 08:14, mouli said:

Spot on. Generally my defence is great, in fact, I've only conceded 4 times in the last 12 or so matches (just a humble brag since I prefer pragmatic football).

Coming back to the tactic, do you think the setup of duties is fair? 4ATT, 3SUP and 3DEF.

And what about the strategy? Does it make sense to control possesion and be patient against this 5-4-1 ultra defensive? Or is it more rewarding to be attacking gung ho gegenpress?

Yeah, if they are sitting back, it could be a problem that both wingers and both forwards are on 'attack' duty.  Being on attack duty is not necessary to press more.  A few things you could try (not necessarily all at once):

• untick 'regroup' unless your opponent has quicker players and you are afraid of counter-attacks, and against much weaker teams, 'counter-press';
• move both your LOE and DL one tick higher to try to win the ball back further up the pitch;
• change your BWM to 'support';
• invert one of your wingers and overlap the fullback on that side;
• depending upon your opponent's defensive formation, play wider and cross more;

Edited July 8, 2022 by glengarry224

[Jack722]

Your doing very well except for the odd games against weaker teams that achieve a 0-0 against you. To me the answer seems very very simple. You're on balanced, you don't have to stay on that all season, just move it up to positive or attacking (as well as put one fullback on attack) when you suspect a team is playing defensively against you. Also try press higher to force turnovers more quickly and get more opportunities to attack.