Whalix

Think that the two replies above sort of sum it up - adjust things to make the players value defensive actions a bit more. High wingers and wing-backs on attack are very attack-minded players so won't lend themselves to a defence-first mindset. I play with a mid-block and found that wingers in the midfield strata changed everything for me, offering a solid wall across the midfield that is very difficult to break down. Re-train your wingers to be comfortable there if you need, it doesn't take long at all. I also use full-backs on support or wing-backs on defend, and found that they play the role perfectly. They get up and down the pitch to support the play, but they pick and choose the right time to overlap or get to the by-line and prioritise being well posititioned in defence. If they're athletic enough, they'll play the role easily.

When I start an LLM save, my first move is always to go to my squad list and customize the view so that it includes the players current ability and potential ability (obviously, star ratings in FM aren't to be considered sacred, but I believe they're a good starting point). I then click on the current ability column to order the squad by star rating, and I go down the squad list one by one, taking a look at each player for a minute or two. I look for standout-attributes, as well as any favorable traits (which I believe are hugely undervalued in FM discourse). This way, you get a quick understanding of who your 4 or 5 key players are, while also gaining a broad-stroke overview of your teams strengths (as you tend to notice trends - such as a squad of athletes, or technical passers etc), and this can be the starting point for my formation. Whatever formation I choose, I give very simple and stripped back instructions which vaguely point the squad in the direction that I think will suit us. Possession based game? Then shorter passing and lower tempo might be the only instructions I choose, for example. From here then, I find it genuinely best to watch a few matches on extensive or even comprehensive highlights, and actively try to look for strengths and weaknesses of my team. Taking the example of the possession based game - do my central defenders have enough options near them to stop them hoofing it long? If I'm playing two strikers, is one of them actively coming deeper to look for short passes from midfield? What are my wide men doing when we're in possession, and are they moving into positions which lend themselves to short passing, or are they making it harder for my players to find them. For the first time in years, I'm using a flat 4-4-2 in my current save, which I would never have touched in the last few years for the reasons you mention in your most recent post on this thread, but I got there by noticing that my high wingers weren't coming deep enough to help with their defensive duties. That only came from trying to by proactive in watching my matches for a little while. Now I just play on key highlights as I know the current tactic works, and I'm flying through seasons. I'm essentially echoing everyone's points above, but keep it really simple to start, and make logical adjustments according to what you see your team doing.

Feels like a glass ceiling has potentially been broken in the last season or two? Fingers crossed anyway

Really looking forward to following your save - any idea when the lower league file drops?

How do you manage to play so fast?!

Really enjoying this thread, keep up the great work. The way you track your overall progress is really clear and concise, makes for very satisfying reading. I always manage in the League of Ireland which is a similar footballing landscape but have yet to try a youth-only challenge as I feel like I wouldn't survive the 3rd-6th season stretch, when your initial squad of senior players is depleted but your regen players haven't developed enough. Looking forward to keeping up with the rest of your updates!

Genuinely an unbelievable final, to top off an unbelievable save, to top off an unbelievable thread - I only wish I had found it sooner! Congratulations on providing some of the best entertainment I've seen online in a long time. It's been a joy kicking off my day with your latest updates each morning. There are a couple of nations you completed that I've not read through so will be catching up on those while you take your time off, but really looking forward to seeing what you manage to come up with next. Congrats again!

This is getting so interesting, really enjoying seeing the new signing method paying off given its simplicity, seems to have helped you kick on into that next strata of results. It's great seeing you begin to get results against those top teams and pulling off scalps so regularly that they maybe shouldn't be considered scalps anymore.

Do you have more info on your form-based selecting? Is it purely to do with average ratings or do you look for further statistics to back up form?

Couldn't agree more with what @FiftyBeforeThirty said on the previous page. By far my favorite thread to follow on the forums, and this Scottish version has been the most interesting edition yet as it's the closest to home for me and has many similar challenges that I face in the sort of saves I usually play. Incredibly impressive to see two of your players taking the first and second places in the top 50 wonderkids list. Do you use any particular method to help your players reach their potential as they have been? Some say game time is most important, others say good performance ratings, and others say training with good coaches is most important until 18 - so I'm just curious to see what your chosen method is given your success. Secondly, when it comes to signing players - how do you start? I assume you export a list of potential signings from looking through the tabs on your excel document, but how do you find these lists? For example, do you wait for your scouts to find a sufficient number of wing-backs for example and then export it, or do you manually search for wing-backs yourself to create a shortlist? Keep up the great and entertaining work!

Congrats on finishing Holland! Excited to see how you get on in Scotland now, and how you progress with the semi-pro constraints. Do you auto-sim matches? You seem to crush season after season

Hi all, I play with a simple attacking 4-3-3DM with a high Winger(A) on each side that utilises a a narrow offensive structure to force my attacking wingers into the spaces in and around the box when we have the ball. This means that out of possession, they drop deeper into their winger positions, giving more defensive structure and the ability to better press full backs. But when we attack, the two wingers and ST create a tight-knit front three almost like three STs. For this, I've been recruiting wingers who can also play as ST as they usually have higher finishing/technique/composure/off the ball attributes than players who can play on the wing only. Well, this is what I've been trying to do anyway. I've been digging more into individual player instructions lately and noticed that a Winger(A) has a locked stay wider player instruction which is contradictory to me wanting them to play more narrow. Is there a more suitable role for this? I don't want to use IF/IW as the cut inside player instruction seems to slow any counter attacks dramatically as they only seem to cut inside once they've reached the byline. I just want a winger who looks to start wide but come narrow when we have possession. Thanks!

I do a League of Ireland save every FM and love it (have done Cobh Ramblers, Limerick, Treaty Utd, Waterford, Bohemians, Longford, Bray and Shelbourne at this stage), so it's great seeing others do the same and how each save differs. You're smashing it considering your signings, keeping it realistic with plenty of domestic deals amongst the foreign signings too. I always found that once I reached regular European competition, loans from Premier League clubs really helped to boost my squad quality which helped in the European runs. Looking forward to seeing if you can break out of the Champions League group hoodoo and get a run in the knockouts. Managed to pull it off only once with Treaty Utd in FM21.

Thanks everyone for the feedback and suggestions, really useful. I feel better about the direction the save is going in now and will most definitely use @Speedyol's advice on getting players in - I had comepletely forgotten that that's an option!

Out of curiosity - what tactic are you playing? And do you tweak it at all?

HI all, I'm currently managing Bath City but I'm having huge problems signing players and improving the squad. Quick overview of the save so far: - First season: I won the National League South with flying colours, playing an attacking 4-4-2 with high wingers which has worked well for me in this FM. - Second season: First year in the National League, we crept into the playoffs but were comfortably beaten as a part-time team with half the budget of the professional teams. -Third season: We actually led the league for a large portion of the season but again fell away towards the end due to fitness issues (the curse of part time football). Beaten in the playoff semi final. A big issue I'm seeing is that I can't seem to significantly improve my squad at all. I have a few methods of finding players, including setting broad scouting assignments that never end, using team reports, and shortlisting released players from top u23 sides etc. However, whenever I bid for a player, they continually choose other teams even if I offer more money. They could be a free agent midway through the season with zero interest from outside, yet when I bid, multiple bids come flooding in and they choose elsewhere. Any advice on how to get players to actively improve my squad (excluding loans which cost me £1.3k a week..)?