michaeldawson75

@dcayton9 nice work, very interesting. Thanks!

Another great update, and I like the example tactics. As it has been discussed (by me and others), can you show us how you would set up a weaker team (one that would qualify for a Cautious mentality based on these guidelines) and talk us through your choices? A weak Premier League team, perhaps Norwich, Watford, or Burnley.

That's how SI thinks it should work though, no? If you set the Cautious mentality then it does lower your defensive lines. If you look at the preset tactics, most if not all 'defensive' presets involve both cautious mentalities and have lower defensive lines as an additional instruction.

The only one I sometimes use is 'Encourage' for the whole team if they have fallen behind and I can see morale dropping. Doesn't always have the desired effect, mind. Most of the time I feel the shouts do more harm than good (based solely on the morale colour change).

Really good read with a lot of practical tips. Not ground breaking, but I love the methodical approach. To me, this is how the game and tactical creation should work. But for me, it just doesn't. Cautious mentalities, low defensive lines, wingers in the M strata just mean turgid, lifeless football and 1-0 defeats. I almost always play with an underdog team, and a 433 with higher lines and specialised roles is always more successful. I know some people can find success playing in a cautious way, but I find that I end up fulfilling the media prediction and nothing more, when really the fun is in pushing a team further than their supposed limitations. Interested to read the next instalment, maybe I can figure out where I am going wrong.