I need huge help, everything is going wrong with my tactic

[blejdek]

I'm dead. I need huge help with my tactic obviously, when I compare players I have mostly the young talents whose attributes are almost higher then the AI teams.

But somehow my team cant compete with them, even in matches where we are even they just score flukes goals all over, while my players literally do nothing and I mean it, really nothing.

I added ss of my tactics, if someone would be so good to look it over and try to help me. 

In all 10 years of fm, I have never ever been so lost than I am in this version.

Please, please, help me guys.

I dont know if its allowed, I added a link to my saved game, if someone would be so good to download it and try it out. https://easyupload.io/jvmgtw

Thanks in advance, really, thanks everyone who will try to help. I am going off now, dont have the strenght anymore. Will return in the morning and comment and reply to everyone.

[Cloud9]

I think the problem can be boiled down to:

• You've got talented wonder kids who could become good, but they're not there yet. They need time to develop, most of your players are championship level in terms of current ability. 
• Young players get tired really quick, having a wonderkid team when your trying to stay up is extra difficult, you'll need to throw cup competitions for them to get through the season.
• You're in a relegation battle with pretty poor defensive players.

Biggest thing you can fix here you can fix is the players moral.

For the tactics, your set up to play like one of the best teams in Europe, try making these changes:

• Take the Sweeper Keeper off attack
•  Midblock, with a mid defensive line
• Remove play out from the back
• Take off counterpress, you'll get exhausted and pulled out of shape 
• Keep Endrick on AF, looks like you're trying to counter attack and an AF role is perfect for pass into space 
• Fullbacks on attack instead of WB, they'll got forward on the counter and provide a strong defense 
• You're playing with 3 strikers. IF (s and a) and IW (a) provide almost 0 defensive help, tryand IW (s) on at least one side
• Try a halfback role for the DM, he'll hold position (which the bwm won't) and help you transition defence into attack.
• Benedetto looks like a weak Defensive Midfielder, I'd look to upgrade him for a hard hitting senior pro with good leadership in January. Check if Bodo/Glimt captain Patrick Berg is available in your save, he's a model citizen DM with great leadership who can bring a young squad together. If he's too pricy there should be plenty of old pro's in that model you can pick up for cheap.
• Play more direct
• CB partnership of a BBD and a CD
• Avoid BBM and RPM (player has to be super to play them). Try out roles like mezzala (s), DLP (s), Carrilero

Hope some of that's helpful, good luck staying up!

 

Edited January 19, 2023 by Cloud9
Spelling

[bababooey]

I will second everything that Cloud9 said. Your team is a collection of fantastic young players, but that doesn't automatically mean you're going to win every game.

[blejdek]

14 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

I think the problem can be boiled down to:

• You've got talented wonder kids who could become good, but they're not there yet. They need time to develop, most of your players are championship level in terms of current ability. 
• Young players get tired really quick, having a wonderkid team when your trying to stay up is extra difficult, you'll need to throw cup competitions for them to get through the season.
• You're in a relegation battle with pretty poor defensive players.

Biggest thing you can fix here you can fix is the players moral.

For the tactics, your set up to play like one of the best teams in Europe, try making these changes:

• Take the Sweeper Keeper off attack
•  Midblock, with a mid defensive line
• Remove play out from the back
• Take off counterpress, you'll get exhausted and pulled out of shape 
• Keep Endrick on AF, looks like you're trying to counter attack and an AF role is perfect for pass into space 
• Fullbacks on attack instead of WB, they'll got forward on the counter and provide a strong defense 
• You're playing with 3 strikers. IF (s and a) and IW (a) provide almost 0 defensive help, tryand IW (s) on at least one side
• Try a halfback role for the DM, he'll hold position (which the bwm won't) and help you transition defence into attack.
• Benedetto looks like a weak Defensive Midfielder, I'd look to upgrade him for a hard hitting senior pro with good leadership in January. Check if Bodo/Glimt captain Patrick Berg is available in your save, he's a model citizen DM with great leadership who can bring a young squad together. If he's too pricy there should be plenty of old pro's in that model you can pick up for cheap.
• Play more direct
• CB partnership of a BBD and a CD
• Avoid BBM and RPM (player has to be super to play them). Try out roles like mezzala (s), DLP (s), Carrilero

Hope some of that's helpful, good luck staying up!

 

Thanks man for very deep explanation of what am I doing wrong. I will try tp implement all of the changes and return here to tell you how its going. 

When I thought I cant be learned anything new, this happens, Maybe its good it did, because I also love the explanation for a change that you mentioned, really helps me understand the thinking behind it.

Thats it for now, thanks again for help and hear ya back after I get in few more matches to see how it goes.

Cheers !

[Johnny Ace]

Yeah, tactic's aside, a team needs a few experienced heads, your oldest starter is 25 so give them a few more seasons 

[blejdek]

22 hours ago, Cloud9 said:

I think the problem can be boiled down to:

• You've got talented wonder kids who could become good, but they're not there yet. They need time to develop, most of your players are championship level in terms of current ability. 
• Young players get tired really quick, having a wonderkid team when your trying to stay up is extra difficult, you'll need to throw cup competitions for them to get through the season.
• You're in a relegation battle with pretty poor defensive players.

Biggest thing you can fix here you can fix is the players moral.

For the tactics, your set up to play like one of the best teams in Europe, try making these changes:

• Take the Sweeper Keeper off attack
•  Midblock, with a mid defensive line
• Remove play out from the back
• Take off counterpress, you'll get exhausted and pulled out of shape 
• Keep Endrick on AF, looks like you're trying to counter attack and an AF role is perfect for pass into space 
• Fullbacks on attack instead of WB, they'll got forward on the counter and provide a strong defense 
• You're playing with 3 strikers. IF (s and a) and IW (a) provide almost 0 defensive help, tryand IW (s) on at least one side
• Try a halfback role for the DM, he'll hold position (which the bwm won't) and help you transition defence into attack.
• Benedetto looks like a weak Defensive Midfielder, I'd look to upgrade him for a hard hitting senior pro with good leadership in January. Check if Bodo/Glimt captain Patrick Berg is available in your save, he's a model citizen DM with great leadership who can bring a young squad together. If he's too pricy there should be plenty of old pro's in that model you can pick up for cheap.
• Play more direct
• CB partnership of a BBD and a CD
• Avoid BBM and RPM (player has to be super to play them). Try out roles like mezzala (s), DLP (s), Carrilero

Hope some of that's helpful, good luck staying up!

 

Last 3 matches where I tried to implement yours advice, I know its not a big sample but still, at least I should see some improvements or ? I watch matches on comprehensive and its like i watch kinder garten vs pros.

Have any other advice ?? Or could you maybe dl my save (i upload it on top) and try yourself how would you play with my team _o_

[Cloud9]

That set up looks like a strong starting point,

4 minutes ago, blejdek said:

Last 3 matches where I tried to implement yours advice, I know its not a big sample but still, at least I should see some improvements or ? I watch matches on comprehensive and its like i watch kinder garten vs pros.

Have any other advice ?? Or could you maybe dl my save (i upload it on top) and try yourself how would you play with my team _o_

Yea you've got to turn around a bad run of form which is tricky.

The moral of your boys is still really low, you'll need to talk to them as much as possible before each game. That's really the thing that will make or break the season and will be much more impactful than even the tactics changes. Utilize Team Meetings but mostly It'll be a huge grind of you talking to them one on one to get them to "Superb" before each game you'll be in with a chance.

Make sure you're doing training that boosts their performance in match and ups team cohesion, "Team Bonding," "Match Preview," "Match Review," "Teamwork," "Defensive Movement," "Attacking Movement," and "Defending and Attacking Corners."

Play with a medium defensive line and distribute quickly on the GK. Go into games on "cautious or balanced" mentality and make changes from there. Make sure you're watching the whole game and not just highlights. 

 

You've got to make the boys happy or none of that matters. Literally make sure they're all at "Superb" before every single match.

 

[PequenoGenio]

23 horas atrás, blejdek disse:

I'm dead. I need huge help with my tactic obviously, when I compare players I have mostly the young talents whose attributes are almost higher then the AI teams.

But somehow my team cant compete with them, even in matches where we are even they just score flukes goals all over, while my players literally do nothing and I mean it, really nothing.

I added ss of my tactics, if someone would be so good to look it over and try to help me. 

In all 10 years of fm, I have never ever been so lost than I am in this version.

Please, please, help me guys.

I dont know if its allowed, I added a link to my saved game, if someone would be so good to download it and try it out. https://easyupload.io/jvmgtw

Thanks in advance, really, thanks everyone who will try to help. I am going off now, dont have the strenght anymore. Will return in the morning and comment and reply to everyone.

Sorry for the off topic but what skin is this?

[blejdek]

10 minutes ago, PequenoGenio said:

Sorry for the off topic but what skin is this?

ITs tangfu skin.

[blejdek]

22 minutes ago, Cloud9 said:

That set up looks like a strong starting point,

Yea you've got to turn around a bad run of form which is tricky.

The moral of your boys is still really low, you'll need to talk to them as much as possible before each game. That's really the thing that will make or break the season and will be much more impactful than even the tactics changes. Utilize Team Meetings but mostly It'll be a huge grind of you talking to them one on one to get them to "Superb" before each game you'll be in with a chance.

Make sure you're doing training that boosts their performance in match and ups team cohesion, "Team Bonding," "Match Preview," "Match Review," "Teamwork," "Defensive Movement," "Attacking Movement," and "Defending and Attacking Corners."

Play with a medium defensive line and distribute quickly on the GK. Go into games on "cautious or balanced" mentality and make changes from there. Make sure you're watching the whole game and not just highlights. 

 

You've got to make the boys happy or none of that matters. Literally make sure they're all at "Superb" before every single match.

 

I tried to make them morale go up but even if i talk to them they maybe get up only 1 point, cant have more team meetings because it says i had enough already xD

[Cloud9]

9 minutes ago, blejdek said:

I tried to make them morale go up but even if i talk to them they maybe get up only 1 point, cant have more team meetings because it says i had enough already xD

Shouldn't be too hard, it's effected by their hidden attributes though. 

• Praise conduct on all, criticize anyone whose got a card in their record
• Praise them if training is in Green, criticize if in red
• praise recent performances/criticize performances is a little more dependent on who the player is

Also I think changing your outlook going into matches could help. You're relegation candidates, literally you've got a bottom 3 side in the league, every match you go into you're probably projected to lose. If you don't have the moral you've got 0% chance staying up. Play one match at a time and take a break, watch the full match, try to make changes in game. At the moment you've got to stop the losing streak or you're in big trouble.

Trust the process, keep the boys happy and try to scrape some wins when you shouldn't, otherwise you might be backdown to the championship for a season. I can't emphasize enough how important the moral of the squad is to your chances of survival. 

[sonnevillejr]

41 minutes ago, blejdek said:

Last 3 matches where I tried to implement yours advice, I know its not a big sample but still, at least I should see some improvements or ? I watch matches on comprehensive and its like i watch kinder garten vs pros.

Have any other advice ?? Or could you maybe dl my save (i upload it on top) and try yourself how would you play with my team _o_

Both your CMs are defensive minded players and your advanced forward will not link up play so you need at least one CM more attack minded : for example your Carrilero could become a Mezzala on support.  
 

Also, you seem to play a direct counter attacking style, but only your striker will attack the space (your inside forward won’t necessarily have the time to be in position), so you should change your IWsu and let him be on attack duty to attack the space regularly. If you play him with a mezzala, he will have enough support but you should ask him to stay wider. 

IMO, you don’t need a half back in a direct counter attacking style since you want to exploit the space quickly, so there’s no need to ask him to drop between the CDs. (Also, a half back works better with wing-backs)

In the style of play you wish to achieve, there is also no need to rely on overlapping full back since there won’t be enough time for them to be effective. So imo you should consider wing backs/full backs (safer) on support duty or WBsu/FBsu on the left and keep your right full back as a FBat. 
 

In this way, you could imagine your inside forward, your DLP, and your right WB work together to unleash your left hand side with an IW who attacks the space supported by your MEZ

Regarding your TIs, you want to be solid defensively, and by asking your back line to stay lower, you might lack of support when you attack and also create more space between your players for your opponent to exploit. So my advice is to raise your DL to standard or higher 

[blejdek]

55 minutes ago, sonnevillejr said:

Both your CMs are defensive minded players and your advanced forward will not link up play so you need at least one CM more attack minded : for example your Carrilero could become a Mezzala on support.  
 

Also, you seem to play a direct counter attacking style, but only your striker will attack the space (your inside forward won’t necessarily have the time to be in position), so you should change your IWsu and let him be on attack duty to attack the space regularly. If you play him with a mezzala, he will have enough support but you should ask him to stay wider. 

IMO, you don’t need a half back in a direct counter attacking style since you want to exploit the space quickly, so there’s no need to ask him to drop between the CDs. (Also, a half back works better with wing-backs)

In the style of play you wish to achieve, there is also no need to rely on overlapping full back since there won’t be enough time for them to be effective. So imo you should consider wing backs/full backs (safer) on support duty or WBsu/FBsu on the left and keep your right full back as a FBat. 
 

In this way, you could imagine your inside forward, your DLP, and your right WB work together to unleash your left hand side with an IW who attacks the space supported by your MEZ

Regarding your TIs, you want to be solid defensively, and by asking your back line to stay lower, you might lack of support when you attack and also create more space between your players for your opponent to exploit. So my advice is to raise your DL to standard or higher 

Hmmm, a very interesting take on my tactic. Its very different from the perspective of @Cloud9. I actually wanted to make more like tiki taka play, where i would own the possesion, but I was so lost from all the losses it transfered to direct counter attack, which i actually despise in fm  

[sonnevillejr]

6 minutes ago, blejdek said:

Hmmm, a very interesting take on my tactic. Its very different from the perspective of @Cloud9. I actually wanted to make more like tiki taka play, where i would own the possesion, but I was so lost from all the losses it transfered to direct counter attack, which i actually despise in fm  

If I look at your very first tactic I can see you wanted to create a possession heavy tactic, if I were to change it, here’s what I would do :

- More balance on the left hand side so less attack duties to encourage your player to keep the ball on this side. For exemple, change your IWat into a IWsu with stay wider (and if you have the player you could consider an inverted wing back in support to take occupy the MEZ’s place

- If you want to keep a striker focused on scoring goals, consider a pressing forward on attack duty : with an AF, your players will look primarily for him and sacrifice possession. With a PFat, your player will help you get the ball back quicker and still occupy the CDs for your players to play between the lines, without the focus on him

- Move your defensive CM to the DM strata because there is no need to increase the space between the CDs and the midfield

- Remove the focus play TIs (or at least the left one, you can keep the right one since your playmaker is on that side and you have a WB and an IF on support duties who will create overloads)

- Remove pass into space because it suits teams who look to exploit space behind the DL but your aim is to keep the ball

- Perhaps remove higher tempo to help you to keep the ball and to wait for players to get into more advanced positions 

- Play with a higher DL to press slightly higher and to encourage your defenders to stay higher to put more pressure on the opponent. If you are confident regarding your team, you could also raise your line of engagement and prevent short GK distribution to let them less time with the ball and therefore improve your possession 

[HanziZoloman]

The questions are:

who should be your main goalscorer?

how will he score goals a) cross b) through ball c) long shot?

who is providing for the scorer a) by movement b) by passing/ crossing?

who will support?

who will secure the centre?

what will happen on the flanks?

If your striker is fast, maybe hit on the counter, if your striker is strong he can hold the ball or finish a cross (?)

Put your best scorer (finishing, composure, first touch, strength or pace) on attack duty. 

who is the most creative player? Put him on a attack duty as a AP/ WB/ MCa or DLFa

Take another player to contribute into attack either by scoring or assisting or both on attack duty.

place all other players around these players on support duties which help them get into dangerous positions. 
Two players should give width, two players should occupy the spaces between FB and CD (halfspace) one player should stay in the central area.

take three players on defend duty for cover. Two defenders and a central midfielder or a FBd. If you play on the counter you need fast runners and space to attack (midblock) if play possession you need short and slow passes and technical players with good anticipation, vision and composure. You can combine possession with counterpress but you needn’t.

Edited January 20, 2023 by HanziZoloman

[HUMBL3B33]

First things first.

• Stop promising stuff to your players about everything. The single biggest way to tank your club is to promise players things you cant 100% will be able to deliver.
  • This is because when you make a promise, your players expect them to fulfilled. In case you don't you'll have them lose the confidence in you.
  • Think about Chelsea under mourinho, There are multiple quotes from terry, drogba and others that said they'd happily run through the wall if mourinho asked them to do so. Same with Zlatan, said he'll die for mourinho. That's trust and your breaking it every time you fail to fulfill a promise.
  • The higher the player is in hierarchy the more impact it is going to have.
• Coming onto your standing in terms of how good your squad is compared to the league. Worst at tackling, heading and strength. Basically, render you useless to defend again nearly any attack in the league. Your only bet is to play a higher line and keep a decent amount of pressure against the opposition team. This tells us we need to play an aggressive pressing defense otherwise, people will score for fun against us in the league. 
• You midfield is basically inexistent in terms of defending and only has a good enough ability to create some chances here and there. Tells us that you cannot rely on your midfielders too much to help defend. This makes me realise that you need a lot of bodies in defense. So a bottom heavy formation is on the cards, something like 5-2-1-2, 5-2-2-1 or maybe a 433 (Triple/Double DM). You need to flood the defense enough, so you dont have leave enough space for people to attack you.
  
• Next up, your attack. Non existent, to play wingplay as you basically have 0 targets to be aiming for inside the box. Pace and acceleration means you'd have to rely on the counter to create good opportunities. Hence, gives me the green light to play a cautious mentality and attack with space for people to run into.
• The lack of mentals across your team makes me believe that the team lacks any ability to play a high possession system as they lack composure which and off the ball which are key to any possession heavy tactic. Something that makes me feel good about the squad is the fact that you have a lot of flair which means in 1 on 1 situation with the opposition players you might up ending trumps on them and might get a good chance to score. However, whether the players are good enough to score is totally uncalled for. But you should get a decent amount of chances. 

Once all this is sorted, We have narrowed it down to 2 different tactics, a 433 (Triple DM) and a 5-2-1-2 Asymmetric. Both of which are bottom heavy and would aid you in defending in case the opposition team is able to get past your initial press. It should ensure you have enough players deep in your half that you do not concede space for opposition players to create havoc in.

It should be noted that your team would need more help in defense than usual. Hence, having as many players on support or defend duty is a plus for us since we would not be looking for players to make runs in behind all the time and should be looking to either maintain the possession or run back to our half to neglect any kind of counters.

Both tactics aim to push high up and look to win the ball back asap upon loosing the ball. eliminating the time and space for the opposition to make any moves on the ball. Once the ball is won, we're looking to get up the pitch as soon as possible. This would give us a small but a high quality window to run behind the opposition when they themselves are in transition and trying to get back into their defensive shape. The key is to make sure we do not waste any time getting the ball up to our attackers because we do not have the quality to break a stubborn defense as of yet. If we fail to launch a successful counter attack, our mentality should ensure that we retain the possession of the ball looking for a chance elsewhere. Here, Although i was little confused at first, but i ended up opting for a direct ball method with an emphasis to run at defense so that we can disturb the opposition structure and try to play one clear ball of the top in the space for our attackers to run into.

I will now be running some tests to tweak the tactics according to the results and players we have and will keep you posted as i have something to tell. 

[HanziZoloman]

Now that is help! It’s Inspiring to follow your thoughts through and hope to see the results. But please post also results which are not expected or even bad because we all can learn from it and tweak further.

[blejdek]

7 hours ago, HUMBL3B33 said:

First things first.

• Stop promising stuff to your players about everything. The single biggest way to tank your club is to promise players things you cant 100% will be able to deliver.
  • This is because when you make a promise, your players expect them to fulfilled. In case you don't you'll have them lose the confidence in you.
  • Think about Chelsea under mourinho, There are multiple quotes from terry, drogba and others that said they'd happily run through the wall if mourinho asked them to do so. Same with Zlatan, said he'll die for mourinho. That's trust and your breaking it every time you fail to fulfill a promise.
  • The higher the player is in hierarchy the more impact it is going to have.
• Coming onto your standing in terms of how good your squad is compared to the league. Worst at tackling, heading and strength. Basically, render you useless to defend again nearly any attack in the league. Your only bet is to play a higher line and keep a decent amount of pressure against the opposition team. This tells us we need to play an aggressive pressing defense otherwise, people will score for fun against us in the league. 
• You midfield is basically inexistent in terms of defending and only has a good enough ability to create some chances here and there. Tells us that you cannot rely on your midfielders too much to help defend. This makes me realise that you need a lot of bodies in defense. So a bottom heavy formation is on the cards, something like 5-2-1-2, 5-2-2-1 or maybe a 433 (Triple/Double DM). You need to flood the defense enough, so you dont have leave enough space for people to attack you.
  
• Next up, your attack. Non existent, to play wingplay as you basically have 0 targets to be aiming for inside the box. Pace and acceleration means you'd have to rely on the counter to create good opportunities. Hence, gives me the green light to play a cautious mentality and attack with space for people to run into.
• The lack of mentals across your team makes me believe that the team lacks any ability to play a high possession system as they lack composure which and off the ball which are key to any possession heavy tactic. Something that makes me feel good about the squad is the fact that you have a lot of flair which means in 1 on 1 situation with the opposition players you might up ending trumps on them and might get a good chance to score. However, whether the players are good enough to score is totally uncalled for. But you should get a decent amount of chances. 

Once all this is sorted, We have narrowed it down to 2 different tactics, a 433 (Triple DM) and a 5-2-1-2 Asymmetric. Both of which are bottom heavy and would aid you in defending in case the opposition team is able to get past your initial press. It should ensure you have enough players deep in your half that you do not concede space for opposition players to create havoc in.

It should be noted that your team would need more help in defense than usual. Hence, having as many players on support or defend duty is a plus for us since we would not be looking for players to make runs in behind all the time and should be looking to either maintain the possession or run back to our half to neglect any kind of counters.

Both tactics aim to push high up and look to win the ball back asap upon loosing the ball. eliminating the time and space for the opposition to make any moves on the ball. Once the ball is won, we're looking to get up the pitch as soon as possible. This would give us a small but a high quality window to run behind the opposition when they themselves are in transition and trying to get back into their defensive shape. The key is to make sure we do not waste any time getting the ball up to our attackers because we do not have the quality to break a stubborn defense as of yet. If we fail to launch a successful counter attack, our mentality should ensure that we retain the possession of the ball looking for a chance elsewhere. Here, Although i was little confused at first, but i ended up opting for a direct ball method with an emphasis to run at defense so that we can disturb the opposition structure and try to play one clear ball of the top in the space for our attackers to run into.

I will now be running some tests to tweak the tactics according to the results and players we have and will keep you posted as i have something to tell. 

Wow, I think i will never be able to thank you enough for such a clear explanation of what is going on and how to try to fix it. 

I dont know how much time I have today and tommorow because i'm often away from pc on weekends, but will try to get some games in and report it back here what is going on and how the team is reacting.

But I will stay much more closer to this forum so I can respond immediatly when you or someone else writes something to be reactive.

Cheers guys, and lets hope everything goes good from now on !

[HUMBL3B33]

3 hours ago, blejdek said:

Wow, I think i will never be able to thank you enough for such a clear explanation of what is going on and how to try to fix it. 

I dont know how much time I have today and tommorow because i'm often away from pc on weekends, but will try to get some games in and report it back here what is going on and how the team is reacting.

But I will stay much more closer to this forum so I can respond immediatly when you or someone else writes something to be reactive.

Cheers guys, and lets hope everything goes good from now on !

All good. It seems like most of the issues is with your man management, which can be fixed.
I was able to get rid of a couple of players which allowed me to get the morale back up to a good enough level, and the team is now performing at the level you expect them to. The keeper is making critical saves, defenders arent just allowing the opposition to walk past them, midfielders are chipping in as well. 

I think it would be better if you start concentrating on what kind of system would you like to play in?
You're suffering majorly because of the fact that you have an imbalance in your squad. The defense was neglected majorly. Although it would have been fine in the previous versions, FM 23 has made it difficult to win anything without a sound defensive setup. So you need to be clear with what you want to play with. You'll still suffer and ship loads of goals because you dont have a good enough defensive setup. But, I think you should concentrate on out scoring the opposition in most cases. Try and learn about how to utilize space in football in general. 

Here is the most important things to master in football. "The more time and space you give your players on the ball, the better they'll perform." This as per @Rashidiis the final frontier and I highly resonate with it. Learn how you can get your players into free space or a 1 on 1 and let them shine.

Also, I key issue I noticed through the squad was most of them did not have the general footballing intelligence required at this level. Try and recruit players that are intelligent first, and then athletics enough to reach where they need to and at the last look for technique. This is at best a EFL side and might just survive in some cases and every player i see lack intelligence but are either good athlete or good technically. Additionally, because the imbalance b/w your attack and defense, where you have overspent on attack but underspent in defense will definitely make it much harder for you. I have played almost half of a season in the save but could not retain a lead and ended up getting outscored because of a loose defense. I made tons of tweaks to the tactics but could not make it work with a back 4 since both of the defenders have mistakes in them. A back 5 however makes it much better and solid. I believe a better morale can however change things and maybe a 433 can work as well.

I think you should also learn how to set up your scouts to get good players. I'd recommend BTN, Zealand and FMScout's Video to understand things better. Especially @Rashidiat BTN. He's clearly one of the best educational content creators in FM community.

I'll try to finish up a season or two before i post the results.

[blejdek]

32 minutes ago, HUMBL3B33 said:

All good. It seems like most of the issues is with your man management, which can be fixed.
I was able to get rid of a couple of players which allowed me to get the morale back up to a good enough level, and the team is now performing at the level you expect them to. The keeper is making critical saves, defenders arent just allowing the opposition to walk past them, midfielders are chipping in as well. 

I think it would be better if you start concentrating on what kind of system would you like to play in?
You're suffering majorly because of the fact that you have an imbalance in your squad. The defense was neglected majorly. Although it would have been fine in the previous versions, FM 23 has made it difficult to win anything without a sound defensive setup. So you need to be clear with what you want to play with. You'll still suffer and ship loads of goals because you dont have a good enough defensive setup. But, I think you should concentrate on out scoring the opposition in most cases. Try and learn about how to utilize space in football in general. 

Here is the most important things to master in football. "The more time and space you give your players on the ball, the better they'll perform." This as per @Rashidiis the final frontier and I highly resonate with it. Learn how you can get your players into free space or a 1 on 1 and let them shine.

Also, I key issue I noticed through the squad was most of them did not have the general footballing intelligence required at this level. Try and recruit players that are intelligent first, and then athletics enough to reach where they need to and at the last look for technique. This is at best a EFL side and might just survive in some cases and every player i see lack intelligence but are either good athlete or good technically. Additionally, because the imbalance b/w your attack and defense, where you have overspent on attack but underspent in defense will definitely make it much harder for you. I have played almost half of a season in the save but could not retain a lead and ended up getting outscored because of a loose defense. I made tons of tweaks to the tactics but could not make it work with a back 4 since both of the defenders have mistakes in them. A back 5 however makes it much better and solid. I believe a better morale can however change things and maybe a 433 can work as well.

I think you should also learn how to set up your scouts to get good players. I'd recommend BTN, Zealand and FMScout's Video to understand things better. Especially @Rashidiat BTN. He's clearly one of the best educational content creators in FM community.

I'll try to finish up a season or two before i post the results.

I understand what you are saying yes.

I didnt play any match today while i wasnt at home and tommorow my grandma has birthday, so I again wont be playing fm. I also want to wait out, what will results be from you, playing my team. 

I hope and believe we can stay in premier league, so I can keep the hold of good players and they wont be going away cauze we drop a division down ;/

Cheers for now !

Btw: which attributes are for general footballing intelligence ? As english isnt my primary language I am not sure which one should I look at. 

Edited January 21, 2023 by blejdek
BTW

[HanziZoloman]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb blejdek:

Btw: which attributes are for general footballing intelligence ? As english isnt my primary language I am not sure which one should I look at. 

Those are mainly anticipation / decision / off the ball / positioning 

but composure is very important too

I did and still do those mistakes too, also in scouting and suffer when my teams reach 1st division. 

Edited January 21, 2023 by HanziZoloman

[HUMBL3B33]

7 hours ago, HanziZoloman said:

Those are mainly anticipation / decision / off the ball / positioning 

but composure is very important too

I did and still do those mistakes too, also in scouting and suffer when my teams reach 1st division. 

Somewhat on point. But i think OP can understand it by understanding the core philosophy of how FM is supposed to work. 

Consider it like this:

You're a player who's trying to get good at football from a mental perspective. What do you need?

Ability to read the game? That's Anticipation for you. 

Ability to stay focused on the game for 90 minutes? That's concentration for you. 

Ability to be aware of your surroundings and hence be composed on the ball. That's composure for you.

Ability to make good choices on and off the ball? That's decisions for you.

Ability to be available for your teammates to pass (for attacking only)? That's Off the ball.

Ability to pick up free spaces so that you can break any kind of counters or intercept a line breaking pass (for defending only)? That's positioning. 

You have other mentals as well but these are something that's known as a bare minimum so that you don't keep making obvious mistake.

How much of them do you need?

Look at the comparison screen pick up the best that you have there and strive to get someone closer to that. 

However you need to understand one key thing. These are just averages of the squad for that particular attribute. As a result you'll have outliers that has like a god level attribute stack and they may win a match for your opposition sine handedly. However, that's not very common as long as you have a player who themselves are good enough and able to mark that player out of the game. 

 

Football is complex. Stick to the game learn what each attribute means from multiple sources. Match them with your ingame understanding and you'll be good to go. 

 

Refer this SI manual for more info:

 

[blejdek]

First match with tactics @HUMBL3B33 posted top, win against the best team in the league Liverpool !!!!!!

They are first at almost everything but still my team managed to get a win out of it, the goal we scored came from left side, Cirkin throw ball on Endrick at the side, Endrick headed it to Bennedeto and ran forward, Bennedeto passed him in the middle of Liverpool WB and CD, Endrick stayed strong, pushed WB away and scored an absolute sitter in the top right corner of the goal.

Edit: Salah played the whole match, his match rating was 6.0 !!

Edited January 22, 2023 by blejdek
Salah

[blejdek]

An update on how the save is going. The results are much better, I managed somehow to get morale up, so players also played a lot better together.

I also tweaked a litlle my tactics, because it somehow works. United is just too strong for now and against Norwich I had no defenders (too tired), its the Christmas-New Year where the matches follows unreal. So happy for now, we are also 8 points safe from relegation. I update after some more matches again.

[Tyburn]

This thread is great! Keep updating.

[blejdek]

Here I am again. I mostly use 1. tactic for away matches and against top 6, while I use 3. tactic when I feel I have upper edge over opponents. Standing isnt as good as I hoped and neither is it as bad at first look. 4 rounds still remaining, I am hopefull I will get it over the line and stay in PL. NExt match is against City and it may be the breaking point if I get the win (i have 0,01 percent) hope of that  Other 3 matches are all against teams in top 10, so its gonna be a ruthless battle. But I am happy I somehow got the good handle of the first eleven. The biggest shift for the better was when i brought in Ilaix  Moriba, the guy is nuts, I play him as roamin playmaker and he immediately geled with the team I feel like. Will be back with more info how the team is doing, fingers crossed for staying in PL !!

[blejdek]

We played good and even had some chances to win, but nontheless super happy for draw. As mentioned before, this could be the crucial match. 4 points clear of Bournemouth on 17. place and 5 points clear from Leicester on 18. place.