Overmars

Some options: 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. Play higher tempo. Play two strikers and focus on deliveries into the box (probably crosses). Create an asymmetry in your formation that you can exploit by overloading specific areas and unbalancing your opponents. 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. Train attacking movement, chance creation, attacking set pieces, etc. to get a slight boost pre-match. Motivate any individual players pre-match and at halftime who are showing signs of being half-asleep. Sign a master at set piece deliveries and use all of those corners and free kicks as golden opportunities to grab a goal.

Flying along in the Bundesliga, with 15 wins and 1 draw in my first 16 matches, my team dropped a tough match 0-1 at home before the Christmas break. I was content because occasionally you can't score, and you'll drop points, and that feels realistic. Actually, the game was feeling unrealistic with how much we were dominating that first half of the season, so I liked this hiccup. Well, the hiccup turned into full on disaster, as my team came back from the break scoring one goal total in our next four matches. All this time, my players were "motivated" and "fired up," but the game had decided we would hit the woodwork, miss penalties, and drift through entire halves of matches with no shots on target. Our opponents were playing keep-ball, completing a ridiculously high percentage of passes and somehow remaining composed against our relentless pressing. My suggestions for the game: Passing -- Reduce accuracy. It's too easy to complete passes, especially for poorer sides. Pressing -- Increase its effectiveness (in forcing opposition turnovers) and the amount of drain on player fitness from overusing it with lower fitness squads. Player Form -- Reduce its impact so that the "Last 5 matches" rating statistic isn't the biggest predictor of player performance. Training -- Give managers the option to schedule training sessions on a percentage of training time basis rather than by scheduling each individual session. I want to pick "Attacking corners = 5% of time", "Quickness = 7% of time", and so forth. It would free us up from having to micromanage all of the schedule changes while still giving us the chance to customize our training emphasis. Scouting -- If I don't tell my scouts exactly which players to scout then they do virtually nothing. Also, when they do actually decide to scout, scouts shouldn't be able to get great info on players who aren't actually playing matches -- and they really shouldn't have much of a clue on player potential. The assessment of player potential is way too accurate in FM. Identifying wonderkids needs to be much more of a crapshoot. Staff -- I understand having lots of coaches and scouts, but I really don't need to be hiring 5 physios, 4 recruitment analysts, a half-dozen sports scientists, etc. That seems like complication for the sake of complication rather than anything fun or impactful. A head physio and head sports scientist is enough to convey realism. AI Transfers -- More offers would be great. In my most recent season, I received two ridiculously low offers for my players and nothing else. If I'm not offering anyone out, I very rarely hear from the AI teams. AI Squad Building -- AI teams need to rotate their squads more and play some of their future stars. If I don't rescue these 20-23 year olds from their clubs, they just sit there unused and undeveloped. Press Conferences -- Never again ask me about a Director of Football approach. Goal Variety -- I'd like to see more scruffy goals and fewer world class finishes. One on Ones -- I'd like fewer of these. They look ridiculous with how few of them end up in the back of the net, so marking has to improve to prevent them before they occur.

I love a good 4-3-3, and they work great in the FM22 match engine most of the time, but you are still occasionally victim to bad stretches of form. If your one striker stops scoring for a few games then you're in a lot of trouble, and the AML/AMR pair will struggle to produce if you're getting nothing from your lone striker. I have found so much more consistency using two-striker formations. If one striker has a bad game, the other picks him up much better than the AML/AMR ever could. It's even better with a SS(a) behind the pair, storming in like an even better version of the glorious CM(a) role. I find I can rotate squads more easily with two strikers and an AMC, keeping one in-form player in the lineup at all times. In a lone striker formation, you can't afford to play an out of form player at ST. The game is more complicated than all of that, but for me, I was just fed up with the form stuff that I chose to insulate myself a bit with two-striker formations.

Formation = 4-3-3 2 inside forwards F9 CM(a) + another central midfielder role as needed DLP at the base of the triangle 2 wingbacks 2 central defenders This can also work with an attack duty striker and more supportive flank players, as there is still plenty of space for the CM(a) to rush in. The one downside I have noticed with this formation is that the pressing is often too passive. It's as if those central midfielders don't quite get there, and opponents can end up passing between their GK and defenders for half the match. A 4-1-4-1 with AML/AMR and two AMCs presses much better, but I consider it a bit of a cheat formation.

My thoughts on diamond formations in FM: The wide diamond is viable in FM22. You will concede plenty of goals, but you can generate a lot of offense with four wide players, two strikers, and an AMC on the pitch. Even if you start with a narrow diamond, it's good to have positional flexibility to throw a wide diamond out there if needed. In a wide diamond, I would prefer to use conventional wingers (or maybe defensive wingers) plus two inverted wingbacks to bulk up the central midfield area. Inverted wingbacks rival CM(a) for role of the year, just with less publicity. A narrow diamond is also viable, even with the super-skinny default in FM22. I give my central midfielders "stay wider" instructions, regardless of which role I give them. In all diamonds, I find the forwards produce best when used as AF(a). Other options can work, but you have to be careful not to put all of your eggs in one striker basket. One of the major benefits of a diamond formation in FM is that you only need one of your two strikers to be on form for you to succeed. In a 4-2-3-1 or 4-5-1 formation, a struggling striker can sink you very quickly. Furthermore, using two attack roles means they'll often be in position to play each other in, and they tend to be more aggressive with their pressing. The AMC is open for debate. I don't love the AP role in this spot and prefer to move the playmaking job back to DMC or central midfield. I want my AMC to be a third goalscoring option, so he has to have decent finishing, good off the ball, and the attributes necessary to evade marking (agility, off the ball, acceleration). He should be able to convert those loose balls in the box into goals and work one-twos with the forwards. I wouldn't waste this spot on a lazy old player. The DMC is where I'll use a DLP, HB, or AM. I would prefer the supposed conservativism of the HB role, but I often see them getting too far forward in the match engine, so I just stick with a DLP and put my best playmaker back there. It's a very easy role to fill in the transfer market, and I find dozens of suitable 30+ year olds available for cheap each season. I always give my fullbacks a wingback role (inverted, complete, or conventional). FB just doesn't seem to do enough or position aggressively enough. I tinker with the role and duty based on match situation, going much more aggressive if I need a goal. I won't use a diamond unless I have four playable wingbacks on the team because I don't want to be stuck with a defensive fullback or converted CD in that spot. I much prefer the shapes of the alternative diamonds, 4-1-3-2 or 4-3-1-2, but they don't always succeed in the FM World. In FM22, I have found the 4-3-1-2 to be very leaky defensively. The 4-1-3-2 is the opposite, but it can be very tame on offense unless you get a beast to put in a CM(a) role in the middle and have excellent attacking wingbacks to feed your forwards. Don't even bother with these formations if your wingbacks are duds. Finally, I love the pressing I can get with two forwards and an AMC. Surprisingly, it seems to work much better than AML-ST-AMR does. AI teams LOVE passing in a triangle between GK and two of their defenders. They'll do this for half the match if you let them. The diamond formations disrupt this a bit, which is a lot of the reason why I prefer watching them play out in FM.

I have an important player earning 60k per week and three years left on his contract. His peers on the team are earning 70k per week, so he demanded a new contract. Fine, I want to be fair. I enter negotiations, and his agent opens with a 150k per week offer. Ugh. Players complaining about money is about as realistic as it gets, but then demands such as a 150% raise with 3 years remaining on their contract scream unrealistic.

My guess is your wide players never get much of a chance to show their stuff. I'd be strongly tempted to go with a 5-3-2 (with a DM) to play for quick counters and clog the centre of the pitch. But regardless of formation, the principles of newly promoted sides are usually: Sign free transfers. Look for loans -- especially at the close of a transfer window where loans are cheaper. Be gentle with player feedback so as not to crush morale. Look for pace and acceleration and make sure your countering players have it in abundance. Fast strikers can produce amazing results getting on the end of occasional long balls, and fast central midfielders can be dangerous arriving late in the box. If you are in terrible form, try to schedule a very easy friendly to bust out of it. Find one or two set piece takers with 15+ corners and free kicks. They are worth their weight in gold in both FM21 and FM22.

No one (other than Zealand) could possibly do all of the press conferences, could they? That seems more like punishment than fun to me. The one thing I will never offload is any sort of contract negotiations. The AI is absolutely awful at it.

I find AML and AMR underperform in a lot of tactical setups. It's hard to get them consistently scoring, especially if you give them support duties. I see a lot of popular FM streamers using two-striker narrow formations in FM22, probably for this reason. Strikers seem to have no problem playing off the shoulders of central defenders and central midfielders can attack the box from deep, but those AML/AMR guys can float through many consecutive matches without much production. I've had stretches where my inverted wingbacks score more than my inverted wingers. But there is also the element of player form, which can undermine even the best tactics. if your AML is in a bad stretch of form, it could be for reasons beyond anything to do with your tactic.

One thing to consider when trying to loan out players is that the player himself needs to want to be loaned out. Sometimes the game doesn't show you that part. The bids that the player would outright reject sometimes never get made.

I hope not. I caved a couple of months ago and bought FM22, then proceeded to sink many hours into a Dutch/German save. While it was fun at times, in the end I just ended up frustrated by the game-ishness of it all. The way player form overly influences everything was the biggest thing that bugged me. You can have the most talented player on the team, but if he had a few bad matches in a row then he simply cannot be played. That's not how real life works. Mo Salah can go three games without scoring in real life but then still be able to score a penalty or shoot without hitting the woodwork. In this game, he becomes half the player he was until he somehow scores a wide open goal to break the drought. I had a world class left back (best talent in the world) who played the first 20 matches of a season below a 6.5 average rating. No amount of warning him or fining him for bad performances could shake him out of the rut. That's just how form in the game goes. You get strikers who will score 15 times in 8 matches, and you'll feel like a genius, but it never feels right either. I just want more game to game variance -- not snowballs of player form that build into avalanches of great or terrible performances. It would feel much more natural that way. And don't even get me started on team form and how it manifests itself with opposing goalkeeper performances and other random events that stop being random when form is involved.

This formation has been extremely defensively solid in FM22 for me -- and I even use more aggressive fullbacks than you have here. I suspect you might be falling victim to balls over the top or through balls. If that is the case, you might want to try cover duties for your central defenders (kind of a game gimmick, but seems to work) or just make sure your defenders have excellent anticipation, acceleration, and agility. As for your offense -- I'm not a big fan of using a winger with a F9. I feel like F9 just cries out for two inside forwards. Maybe a DLF(a) would mix better with your other roles, providing a little more of a target for the winger.

In my personal experiments, 3 at the back with wide midfielders is defensively much worse than 3 at the back with wingbacks. And 3 at the back with wingbacks is almost always offensively inferior to 4 at the back formations. But in FM22, you can win with any formation, provided you get the other stuff correct (team building, morale management, training, etc.). My favourite 3 at the back formation in FM22 uses 2 aggressive DMs (ex. SV + RPM) and three attacking players.

If you have a week before a big game, rest your starting team for 3 of those days, keep the other days light, and focus on match prep sessions with some set piece prep. Get rid of any "double intensity" training setting as well. Now is not the time to push players to exhaustion.

Use "Team bonding" in training schedules. Use trials to get a better look at unattached players and to lower their wage demands. Use "Positive" mentality and press more urgently with a higher line of engagement. It's commonly used for good reason. Get your fastest players into the lineup against better teams so you can have a counter threat. If you are playing with AML/AMR/LB/RB then experiment with the IWB(a) role. He will often be free in the box to wreak havoc. The CM(a) and SV(a) roles are very effective. If you want to play with inside forwards, they pair really well with a F9(s). Keep an eye on recent form and criticize players if they are in the 6.7 or below rating range. Warn anyone if they have a bad match (6.0 or worse). Pester the board for more scouts and better training facilities as frequently as possible. If work permits and squad restrictions are getting you down, try managing in Germany, the Netherlands, or Denmark.

You only have one attack duty, and it's been given to a TM -- typically a support/teamwork role. You also don't have anyone near that TM, so you funnel everything to him and then stay away from him. That doesn't seem like it would provide many link-up opportunities and probably results in very few cohesive attacks. If you want to keep using a TM role then I would consider using a CM(a) and/or an IF(a) to storm into the box after funneling to the TM. Alternatively, you could use a 4-2-3-1 or a two-striker formation that would place someone closer to your TM. But you could also just scrap the TM idea and use a more well-rounded striker role. Even still, I think you need a CM(a) or IF(a) to get a second person driving into the danger area and give some combination options to your striker.

Consider adding some asymmetry to the setup. For example, on one side you could have a W, REG, and IWB, while on the other side you could have an IF, AM, and attacking WB. If you want to make your AMC the key playmaker then you could use a SV and AM as your DMs. I definitely like using the DM strata over the CM strata for this formation -- especially in FM22, where balls over the top frequently catch out defenders and DMs help prevent them.

If there is one thing that I'd love changed for FM23 it's the unrealistically high quantity and accuracy of passes, usually between defenders, GK, and DMs. AI teams should not be able to sit back and hold the ball, especially when their opponents are trying to press them.

Player development is a little fussier now, so you need the right conditions (training facilities, coaches, reputation of club, match time) to get the most out of youth. AI teams have always struggled to manage their squads properly, but I do think they are getting better at loaning out their players. The problem I see with that right now is that those loaned players often end up at mediocre clubs who lack the facilities and coaches to develop anyone beyond very minor improvements. And there is always the awkward mix of attributes that plague many newgens (ex. a striker with abysmal off the ball, a fullback who can't cross, or a central defender who can't jump).

You are the biggest team in your league. I think you should be more ambitious with your roles, particularly at fullback. I would use one of them as an aggressively overlapping wingback (WB-s, WB-a, CWB-s, or CWB-a). This overlapping player can be switched from role to role depending on match situation (more conservative if behind, more aggressive if a goal is needed). You might even try two of those fullbacks simultaneously, which works well with a defensive duty DMC (ex. halfback).