jackane24

Hi everybody I saw on twitter yesterday that Cleon said nobody does Moneyball in FM. I've not played for the past few weeks because I'm very bored with my long-term Arsenal save and Moneyball seemed like a decent and interesting challenge, so I took over Cardiff and I'll be giving Moneyball a go. I'll be doing all my posts via YouTube because posting takes too long + it's a lot more interesting watching instead of reading I think. Hope you enjoy! Let me know any feedback you have. https://youtu.be/Y0QqcoNvc4g

Ok this is Griezemann's team with his tactics?

Well both lines are kept on standard, which is what I meant by deepish.

Ok I got bored of the 4231 in its traditional format as I wanted to play a more counter attacking-esque style of play. Relies on staying deepish, keeping space between their defenders and GK, very fast flairy good passers on the wings, a very pacey striker who can also hold up the ball and a work horse beast in central midfield. The goals come from anywhere from the front 4. You'll think the left winger will score and then all of a sudden the right winger scores, or you think the striker will score but the CM-A buries it. It's just beastly beautiful fast flowing football, I love it. I have to credit Cleon and Rashidi for helping inspire how to express it in FM terms. I was thinking of posting this tactic for a while but I just switched off 'be more expressive' and it resulted in a 7-0 home win vs Man Utd, with some really gorgeous football, and a perfect representation of what I was looking to create. I don't seem to be able to upload the highlights for some reason, I'll keep trying. What I love most about the tactic is that it doesn't require large amounts of possession. Look at some of the results from below, I often have less than 45% possession but my attacks just carve them apart. I absolutely love the screenshot at the bottom, 45% possession but 39 shots with 22 on target! Lol! That was a game fielding a lot of back-up players and an earlier version of the tactic, hence high long shots. Relies mostly on pace with the 4 attacking-most players, but plenty of decisions + teamwork needed. I'd like to start experimenting with 'looks for pass rather than shot' and see if I can turn that into a positive PPM for me rather than a negative one. PPMs are vital, obviously. Rashidi suggests using wingers that have the PPM cuts inside trait and I think that will be the way I go. I often find myself wanting the IF-S's to get forward when counters start but they stay frustratingly static sometimes, maybe the W-S role will give them the extra attacking motivation. Just need to get the right players sorted out, always looking to upgrade.

Ok I've started doing this now and also with the FM 03/04 database. I used the editor to change PPMs, and Pires and Ljungberg inexplicably had extremely low concentration and/or composure stats (8 or so, really mad), so I changed them to 14, which I think is very fair for players of their calibre. Obviously I won't be signing anybody in the first season, I only intend on using these players. Not sure how long I'll play the save for. I was worried there'd be no suitable Bergkamp replacement but actually there are quite a few possibilities. This is how I'll start the season; I did originally plan on making Pires a WP-S, but I'll start with WP-A and go from there. Need to see how deep he defends. Some PIs; Bergkamp 'dribble less' Ljungberg 'dribble less', 'cuts inside' Henry 'stay wider' The key players + their PPMs;

Never in a million years was Bergkamp a False 9. DLF-S if you want to play him as a striker, not sure about his role as an AM. Ashley Cole without doubt a CWB, Ljungberg very rarely dribbled, Gilberto absolutely not a DLP, either CM-D, A-D, DM-D or DM-S, Vieira either BBM, RP, SV-S or SV-A. Kolo Toure I'd say was a BPD. Henry absolutely a CF. PPMs vital. Henry 'comes deep', 'beat offside trap', 'place shots', 'run with ball often', 'knocks ball past opponent', 'cuts inside from left wing' Bergkamp 'stops play', 'killer balls' Ljungberg 'dribbles rarely', perhaps 'beat offside trap'? Gilberto 'stays back at all times' Ashley Cole 'hugs line', 'gets forward whenever possible' Pires 'runs with ball', 'killer balls', 'cuts inside' Just some suggestions. Re. team instructions. I'd say 'positive', 'more expressive', 'more direct', 'higher tempo', 'focus play down the left' amongst others. You don't want to play too high up the field, I'd keep the defensive line as standard or perhaps lower. Absolutely NOT overlap right. Lauren stayed back. He was a destroyer, much like Gilberto. I'd also look for medium aggression from your Gilberto, 12 at most.

I did lose a game though! On penalties...unbeaten over 90 mins in all competitions, Jan 10th. 3 draws (opposition so lucky, penalty given by a sub for an injured player in 1 for 1-1, stupid Ederson own goal where the shot deflected off the post and off his back, and a 87th minute equaliser from a player I sold a few months earlier). Won the rest.

This is Thomas Lemar's world and we're just living in it. I mean the guy was incredible before, but this year he's just on a different level. January 10th and he's 1 goal behind his best SEASON tally already. Already 2 more POMs than his best season, just needs 8 more assists to equal his best year on that front.

Well I don't know, some minor PI or TI improvements might be possible. Attacking narrower/wider, much higher tempo?

Hi everybody Just looking for ways to improve my tactic. It's a terribly boring 4231, sorry about that, I'm getting bored of it myself but I'd like to give it one more year. Want to try and win everything in one year + go unbeaten, I've done pretty much everything else. Obviously a lot depends on PPMs + players, but let me know if you see anything you think I could improve on. PIs; AP-A Gets further forward IF-S Gets further forward, stays wider, cross aim far post BBM Shoots less often, fewer risks CM-D Fewer risks WB-S Cross from byline, cross aim centre, shoots less often FB-S Runs wide with ball

Well I managed to fix the problems. I changed the line of engagement from lower to much higher, added play more expressively and pass into space, and changed a few roles. The 7-0 was particularly impressive (Carabao 1/4 final) because I pretty much played my B team. I'm still unsure about my CMs and full-backs. Really don't know what roles to choose. How does an AP differ from an IF or AM? Smith-Rowe is brilliant for me on the left as an IF.

Just dominated 2 games in a row, both away. Barca and Wolves. Conceded 3 goals from set pieces so not bothered about those, I can fix that. I just can't get my front 4 to do anything of note. Suggestions please?

Hello guys First off, I'm enjoying this FM a lot more than any other FM for a very long time, so thank you to SI for that. I've got a couple of 4231s going on, one for home, one for away. Still in pre-season for Year 2 and I have £260m available to me and I'm wondering who to get. I really need at least one AM as I've just let Mkhitaryan and Özil go. But before I spend my money stupidly, please have a look at my tactics and suggest any changes to help me buy the right player. First off, the home tactic. It's the CAM slot that I've really struggled with, and that was a feature of all other FM games as well to be honest. I don't know if that's because of Özil's 'come deep to get ball' PPM, because honestly he was always 20 yards deeper than I wanted him to be, no matter what role I had him in. The only time I've ever had any success with him was as a treq in a 3421, and he was absolutely godly. So I'm not fixed on having a treq there and I'm really very open to all suggestions. And secondly the away. As my home tactic is a very high press, I'm ideally looking for an aggressive CAM. I've currently got a bid on Suso but I'm not completely sold on him with aggression of 12 and determination of 13. So would be very happy to listen to all kinds of suggestions you have. Many thanks Smith-Rowe, Lichtsteiner, Ospina, Vermaelen (on a bosman, what a stupid mistake that was) and Nketiah the other 5 in my squad who don't fit on the screen.

If anybody can play this game without losing their mind at the utterly pathetic match engine, you have my respect. It is dire. Total waste of my time this game is.

I'll always be confused why the CAM just gets awful ratings in a 4231. Is it just the system I play? Cannot seem to get him to do anything. Maybe it's just the nature of the position and what he's there to do, ie. spread the ball around. I mean look here, worst player on the pitch according to the ratings. Ramsey doing very nicely as you can see. League starts soon.