Advice asked for Aston Villa tactics

[Mufasa]

Hi there,

I've been playing FM for some time now and have experienced some successes and some failures. Recently, me and two friends teamed up for a LAN game in the English Premiership.

Aston Villa was the squad I picked. A nice team with young promising and quality players.

Now, our season has ended and I placed 10th in the league. The football the squad showed was awfull and I tried to turn it around many times. I've recently read the TT&F which helped a bit. Now I'm asking you to help me to get Aston Villa running again.

I've transfered some players: L. Young, J. Carew, Z Knight, Sidwell and Davies( to Manchester City for an irresistable bid) went out.

I've bought: Vukcevic, Pogrebniak, Davide Santon, M. Sakho, Palacio, Enyeama and Grimi.

My mentality is from 11 for DC's to around 14.

I also tried to play with a FCd and an FCa, but I did not fully get understood that part from the TT&F. Can anyone explain the settings to me, and say whether Palacio or Pogrebniak should be either FCd or FCa?

The main problem seems to be the lack of goals and shots, and the ease of opponents scoring against me. Also, I can't easily win from teams inferior that my team and lost a lot of points there.

When watching in 3D, It strikes me that my players tend to kick the ball from defence to my lonely striker awaiting the ball and losing the duels. But my passing settings are short, tempo is kinda high and width is also rather high.

Can anyone help/provide me with some tips, views or advice?

( If you need more info, just ask)

[kolobok]

Just a couple ideas.

With quite high mentalities every player on the pitch is focused on goals. Your defs are trying to deliver the ball to attacking players faster. But how? 3 of your midfielders are set to make FWR often, so they rush forward, sometimes (maybe often) ahead of the ball. So the only short passing option is Reo-Coker. Given his settings (no FWR and I guess the same or close menatality as DCs, global passing short) he is not better option than just puffing the ball up. So I would really think about changing FWR system and maybe compensate it with wider mentality range (even though I am a proponent of a global mentality system), RWB and hold up the ball settings. Especially sinse you have extremely quick wingers. Let them run (with or without ball) from deep rather than go forward and then wait for ball, which nobody can deliver.

Second. With short passing system you have got to try and win the ball upfield. Higher defensive line and higher closing down should help, though it can backfire if your defs are not quick.

Third. Three of your defs and GK are newbies and I am not sure if they all speak English already (except Santon, of course). It represents a problem itself. Add here a couple ST, who don't speak English, and they all don't have any common language. I mean, since the damage (bringing too many players of different football culture) is already done, you have to deal with it. But then you have to start playing more cautious game at first to make sure that morale does not drop and your players don't feel like a bunch of idiots rather than a team.

[Mufasa]

Now, in pre-season I've played 4 games versus some really low quality teams from Armenia, Slovakia etc. So, I can't really conclude whether your advise has helped, but it does make sense, and so far, my team is playing well with lots of possesion and nice combinations. I've encountered some new problems and would appreciate your views on them:

In these 4 games, looking back at the stats, my MCd Reo-coker has passed more the my MCa G. Barry, who has better passing skills (passing ,decisions, one touch ). Is this a problem and if so, how to change this?

Another problem; My G. Agbonlahor, a very fast player with finishing skills, is playing as a right winger. He seems to be running a lot with the ball and is taking his dribbles to far, often with no results. Also he takes a lot of shots, of which few actually are on target and even less are goals. His instructions : mixed FWRs , mixed Runs with the ball, attacking mentality, high creative freedom, crossing mixed, through passing mixed ( since his crossing is not very good).

What settings are advisable? for passing and such?

After playing these easy games, Palacio, scoring 11 goals in 4 games, Vukcevic and especially Cuellar seem to have set their minds on a transfer. Palacio accepted an improved contract but Cuellar won't even consider it. I really want to keep him, is there anything I can do? I don't want him to be unhappy all season long, or will this not even affect his game?

So many questions.....

[kolobok]

In these 4 games, looking back at the stats, my MCd Reo-coker has passed more the my MCa G. Barry, who has better passing skills (passing ,decisions, one touch ). Is this a problem and if so, how to change this?

I see no problem. MCd is a link between defense and attack, so he should see ball a lot. MCa is a creator, ideally most of his passes should be assists of some sort (last pass before shot or close to it). So keep an eye whether Barry is involved or not. If not, than it might be a problem.

Another problem; My G. Agbonlahor, a very fast player with finishing skills, is playing as a right winger. He seems to be running a lot with the ball and is taking his dribbles to far, often with no results. Also he takes a lot of shots, of which few actually are on target and even less are goals. His instructions : mixed FWRs , mixed Runs with the ball, attacking mentality, high creative freedom, crossing mixed, through passing mixed ( since his crossing is not very good).

What settings are advisable? for passing and such?

I would try to slightly drop his mentality. A lot of shots usually result of a player focusing on the goal to much, hence not seeing better option (or not considering one as a better option because he thinks it's not attacking enough).

After playing these easy games, Palacio, scoring 11 goals in 4 games, Vukcevic and especially Cuellar seem to have set their minds on a transfer. Palacio accepted an improved contract but Cuellar won't even consider it. I really want to keep him, is there anything I can do? I don't want him to be unhappy all season long, or will this not even affect his game?

So many questions.....

Don't rush into contract talks with Cuellar. If you have a good season start, he will start believing in you and may sign a new contract. Even if he won't, you might be able to sell him for a good price. I so happened to play as AV in 9.0.1 patch and can tell that Cuellar is good but not indespensable. Take a look at Distin (I was offered him for 3.5 m. winter of the first season and he did great in my Everton save). There are few good DCs in a french league and you can find a decent one if you have to replace Cuellar.