2nd season blues..... not for me.

[lam]

Hi,

I wanted to create a little post just to show people what can be achieved when you work out that the AI has worked out your ranking.

I am two thirds of the way through my second season with Spurs. Last season I finished 4th, which was whilst disapointing to me (I lost my last game and dropped from 2nd to 4th) was way above expectations.

As expected, opposition views of my team changed. I started the new season with two losses in a row as I was trying to play my previous tactic. I soon got back into the swing of things and slowly crawled my way back up the table.

However, about a third of the way into the season I began to experiment by playing really attacking football (the attacking tactic from shouts) in the non important league cup and in some of my easier euro games. I was pleasantly surprised to that not only had I won the games (that bit was expected) but that I had won them in style.

Due to the above results, I slowly began to use the attacking stance a little more in my home games and then a little more in my easy away games. The results cam thick and fast! Now.... I won't get to carried away as I got stomped two games in a row, one against Bayern Munich 0-4 and one against Man City (whom I normaly do well against) 0-4. However, the overall results were impressive.

However, it was approximately 18/20 games ago that I decided to pretty much set my self up for attacking play from the off rather than using it now and again. Now, you will see from my results, its worked. There a few 'niggles' in there, for instance the Liverpool game. I left the computer without hitting pause and came back to see my team 2-3 down. I had infact scored the first two and in this case would normaly have pulled back a little or hit counter. I didnt, they attacked and scored. I won the game, but was slightly annoyed with myself.

Below are the last set of results. The result that has fallen off the page was a 4-0 win against Manchest United (it came after my two 4-0 defeats, not a bad come back eh!)

My point of this is not to impress you, but to impress upon you (gold star if you can tell me who's quote that is) that you can do well in continual seasons, if you learn how to recognise the game.

Though my last batch of results has kept me at the top, it wasnt them that got me there. I was hard tactical grafting and lots of game reading. However, now that I know I need to attack weaker teams, the game has been far more enojoyable.... no more disappointments, no more harsh media comments, no more fines for poor performances (well, not many )

If you did well last season and you are struggling in the second season, which is where most of the comments are coming from, then do not be afraid to try something a little more attacking. I find the 'attack' tactic works very well. I think this is down to the 'counter attacking' option being enabled, which is not the case on 'control'. Teams that defend or play possession football tend to push their players forward when they have good possession in your half, and thats when you can catch them on the counter.

Of course, I am not suggesting that its down solely to my attacking tactic as there have been some other minor changes. However, all the changes compliment eachother and its begining to work a treat.

This is not an educational thread, nor is it a 'win button' thread, its meant purely as a moral booster for players that struggle in their second season after exceeding expectations in their first season.

If you didnt do well in your first season....... well..... thats a whole other thread

LAM

[Tafse]

Well. I am impressed.

However, I was under the impression that the 'Attack' strategy could be a little too much when playing teams that park the bus, and that 'Control' could be a better option for those games when you can't seem to open them up. Maybe I was wrong, but going into my 2nd season now I will experiment a little more with the more aggressive option.

[Asim]

i struggled against weaker teams and did well against the top teams, i thought it was complacency via my press conferences or team talks, but i just could kill some teams off, and would drop silly points.

i would start off games using control and set more players to attack but i would concede late if i hadnt scored early enough.

so now i just start off standard, this gives my midfielders a lot more space to move around with more creative freedom instead of more attacking mentalities/strategy.

i then chance depending on how the game is going.

[TheUnderdog]

Iam, have you changed your philosophy too? I wonder if a more attacking style might suit a more fluid type of play.

I've had occasional success with switching to attacking when I'm chasing a goal but very rarely from the off. Possibly do to me never being out and out favourites for any game.

I have always erred on the side of caution.

[lam]

Hi,

No, I havent tried a different philosophy. The reason for that at the moment is althoughmy goals concede are not to bad, that are bad in relation to my position in the league and I want to try and tighten that up a little.

Though..... an attacking tactic has seen me concede less goals overall.... so there is no reason to suggest an more fluid mentality would be an issue. I may very well try this out a little later.

LAM

[SCIAG]

Probably old Shakespeare?

[lam]

Anthony Robbins.