[FM11] Heathxxx Lower League Management Approach

[Bruce Drundrige]

Yes, my entire front four is on "attack", both with the 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1 formations. Personal preference really. By my nature, many tactics that I like and create are very attacking orientated. Just my thought that the first line of defence, is attack.

I can see the benefits of having some of those players on "support", such as a target man in the 4-2-3-1 with the inside forwards and attacking midfielder on "attack". However I feel most comfortable when I know that I have three or four of my forward players who will score regularly enough to be threatening to opponents.

Not sure what you mean by "double pivot of playmakers". Are you referring to my use of more than one playmaker role in my tactics? If so, then it's also important to note that I never tick the primary playmaker checkbox, just like I never check the target man checkbox. I've never been a fan of focusing play or attention on one facet or player in my team in particular. My aim is always to build a strong team unit. What I look for in a strong unit might differ from what others look for and feel comfortable with, but that's part of the beauty of this and the real game, in that everyone has varied opinions on what's "good" or "bad".

For me and my use of the playmakers, like any role, it's based on my preferences as to how I want a player to play and what attributes I want them to use in those roles. I've always liked the deep-lying playmaker pairing with one on "defend" and the other on "support". Both similar when it comes to initiating forward moves and the way they initiate them, but also subtly different in mentality. The "defend" DLP, if of course he has all the right attributes, also provides very good protection in front of the defence and can recycle possession very well indeed, either to the very advanced players or even to the "support" DLP, who's always in his vicinity to provide a good passing outlet. As a pairing of roles, I find they work well together and support each other well. One DLP can be easy to close down and nullify, but two of them, even with different mentalities, can be more difficult for opponents to contain fully.

With really well suited players for both roles, I like the way they can seem to boss the midfield and appear in good control of the middle of the pitch. That's really what I like any tactic I use to do. Assert my team's control over their opponents.

Thanks for the reply. I had a decent level of success with the Striker on Target Man Support and then the 3 behind all on attack, but at the moment I'm playing the 4-2-3-1 Wide with the 3 set up as: two Inside Fwds out wide (because I have two pacey wingers who can't cross) and the other as an Att Mid who is set to Support because I felt he was too detached from my two central midfielders, and then the Striker on attack, and that seems to be working ok - although I'm still fiddling to get the right combination. The player I'm using so far in the 'hole' is frustrating so I'm trying to find the right fit for him. He may be better as one of the DLP mentioned below.

In terms of the 'double-pivot' I just used that phrase as that's how many people describe the '2' in the 4-2-3-1 - as described on Zonal Marking here: http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/12/06/villarreal-1-0-sevilla-tactics/

I'd set my midfield 2 as ball-winning mids - one def and one supp - as that seemed to match their attributes better but I didn't really like how that midfield operated so I'm trying the double DLP as you suggest, with my more experienced player set to defend and no primary playmaker ticked. He does exactly as you say above, gets lots of possession and recycles it very well (and it suits his attributes) whereas his partner is younger and slightly more 'dynamic' and plays slightly in front of him and joins in attacking moves more - in fact he got two assists in my last game, one a lovely defence splitting pass from about 35 yards out. I also prefer the level of protection they give the defence as you indicate so yeah it looks good.

I agree, I prefer my team to be in charge and this seems to be the way forward...

[RedBlueEagle]

I missed out on promotion through the playoffs with Welling from the BSS. I was so tempted to leave as I had been rumoured to wanted by League 2 teams. I decided to stay on another year and really thought I would walk the league. However, my idea that I could play Control against every team scouted as playing Counter has not worked. It seems to work away from home more successfully than at home. It really feel downfor me when we lost 1-0 to a team in a lower league but at home.

I'm wondering now if I should have stuck at Balanced or gone even more attacking.

Do you have any tips that may help me in choosing the right strategy?

[heathxxx]

Edinton - Good stuff.

It's always worth experimenting with different roles and settings that you think will better suit your overall tactical approach and the players you have available. I'm back using the 4-4-2 more with the deep-lying playmaker "defend" and advanced playmaker "support" in the two MC positions at the moment. However, because I have good strength in depth amongst the different abilities of the central midfielders in my squad, I'm able to change player roles during matches to suit circumstances and player abilities. In the 4-4-2, I've switched to two DLP's, ball winner and DLP, DLP and advanced PM, even two ball winners.

It's probably because I have a good selection of central midfielders that are able to play comfortably in many different roles, though only a couple have the creativity to play in the more advanced playmaker role. It's good to be flexible though, as it provides me with plenty of tricks up my sleeve that I can employ effectively during matches.

RedBlueEagle - It really depends upon how confident you are, in the ability of your team. If you're confident that your team is much better when it comes to their attributes, than those of your opponents, then you can probably afford to be more adventurous with strategies.

In my own save for example, I know that my team has been amongst the best, if not the best in their division, when it comes to their attributes and tactical suitability, compared to those of my opponents. I've usually started with "standard" starting strategies home and away often, then switched up to more "control" or "attacking".

If your team is pretty average though, compared to opponents, then it may be worth considering more defensive or countering strategies yourself, especially away from home. Always be mindful of exploiting space against teams who attack you though, because when they push players forward, especially their full-backs, they leave space open at the back you can exploit. Combined with a more defensive or countering strategy, the shouts "get the ball forward" (play more direct passing towards your attacking players) and "pass into space" (players look to play balls into channels and between opposing defenders for your forwards to run onto), can be quite effective.

[Snr Sarg]

If that were the case, you could set your full-backs to be on the correct side of the pitch, on a post that's nearest to their playing position. So if you're facing the goal, you would see the right-back on the left post, the left-back on the right post. When the ball is cleared and they're moving out of the box, instead of potentially crossing paths, they'll be heading towards their positions unimpeded, or without causing bunching of all your defence in the box.

Actually, the correct way is that the right-footed player covers the right post, the left-footed player the left post, that way they are using their natural foot if they need to make a goal-line clearance. Yes, that means their paths cross when returning to positions afterwards, but that's how it should be.

On another note, I actually use my wingers to mark the posts, on the basis that my full-backs are usually better at defending and heading so are somewhat wasted on the posts

[heathxxx]

Actually, the correct way is that the right-footed player covers the right post, the left-footed player the left post, that way they are using their natural foot if they need to make a goal-line clearance. Yes, that means their paths cross when returning to positions afterwards, but that's how it should be.

On another note, I actually use my wingers to mark the posts, on the basis that my full-backs are usually better at defending and heading so are somewhat wasted on the posts

Agreed, but it does pose a problem in the ME, when it comes to them getting back to their positions and their crossing of paths causing confusion.

I now use my central midfielders to mark the posts anyhow, as I prefer to keep my full-backs man-marking or closing down (similar to you), but my wingers forward to receive clearances. Having my speediest players forward for those clearances usually gives them lots of open space to run at, or with the ball.

[heathxxx]

It's been mentioned during this thread before, by phnompenhandy for one as I recall, but I thought I would give a visual example of my use of the widgets during matches.

Image is a little large, but I have reduced it a little and hopefully you can still see everything clearly.

I like to have statistics easily available to view on the fly, rather than having to pause matches to check. These are accessed by ticking the check-boxes in the drop-down menu from the "Match Day Info" tab on the top right of the screen.

I always like to have the following available:

Match Stats - So I can see all the important match statistics at a glance.

<Your Team> Team Ratings - So I can see the match rating and condition of my players at a glance.

<Your Team> Motivation - Usually minimised, but I keep checking the morale/motivation of my players. Helps me decide when giving half-time team talks.

<Opponent> Team Ratings - So I can check who's playing well or not, of my opponents. Helps me with opposition instructions.

<Opponent> Motivation - So I can check who's up for the match or who's buckling under pressure. Helps again with my opposition instructions.

<Assistant Name> Feedback - So I can keep an eye on his recommendations and suggestions, along with his feedback on how we're playing, what tactical changes or OI instructions he suggests.

To put it simply, I'm armed with a lot of information. There's other widgets you can use too, that will help you get the bigger picture of what's happening during a match, but these are the main ones I keep handy. For me, observation is important and the widgets help me decide if and when I need to make any changes. Spotting an opposing players who's match ratings are poor and "playing without confidence", for example, means I'll usually look to exploit this with OI's for more closing down, showing onto his weaker foot, perhaps harder tackling, to put him under more pressure and hopefully force him into mistakes.

In the following few posts, delayed by my recent internet problems, which are thankfully now sorted, I'll update on my progress as of 1st January 2013. My current season in League Two.

[heathxxx]

Clear and flying, the team has been performing very well in the league. There's been some very close games that could have gone either way though, with some careful observation and changes required to clinch three points rather than settle for one or none.

Pretty satisfied with the ratings and performance of most of my players, but I singled out Klaus Rasmussen in particular, one of the two Danish youngsters I signed. He's beginning to get a lot of attention already and it will be interesting to see if I can keep hold of him. At the moment, I've already had to turn down a bid from Real Betis. Same with my leading scorer Cristian Tiboni. There's leading Championship clubs, a German first division side, plus several leading Italian Serie B and a couple of lower Serie A sides interested.

Goals are coming from more than just my strikers, which reflects my preference for a team game, rather than reliance upon particular areas or individuals. On the whole, I feel my squad is comfortably the best in League Two and that's been helped by some of the loan signings I've made from Aston Villa, Man Utd and Arsenal. These loans have become increasingly important. During the first two seasons, I didn't get anyone on loan. As I was struggling to get the right sort of players interested in permanent moves, the loan players have given me the quality of players where I needed them most.

[heathxxx]

Not much of a run in the League Cup. A sturdy performance from my side against Leeds United of the Championship, but we only managed to threaten their goal really, in the last ten minutes.

The Johnstone's Paint Trophy has seen some of the best performances from my side. The wins against Lincoln (L2) and MK Dons (L1) in particular. The Northern Final over two legs, sees us face Macclesfield Town, currently 18th in League Two.

Surprisingly tight affairs in the first and second rounds of the F.A. Cup. Against Stafford of the BSN, a local derby, we actually went 1-0 down. "Angry" with my team at half-time and having made a couple of changes for under-performing players, we then completely dominated the second-half and should have taken a lot more of our chances. Cheltenham are bottom of League Two, but put up a good fight against my side in a match that could have gone either way. A few more poor individual performances really didn't help things for me, but we just managed to edge the game, after I'd gone for "overload" in the last ten minutes.

I've actually played beyond the first of January and the 3rd round tie against Ipswich Town away. Definitely not one to remember, as we were hammered 5-1 and completely outclassed. A wonder goal from 35 yards out from Tiboni inside the first two minutes, was nothing more than fools gold. Ipswich began to attack purposefully and clinically and everything went downhill when they both equalised and then went 2-1 up in the space of two minutes. By the time they went 3-1 up and one of my centre-backs had been sent off for a professional foul, my team's morale was crushed and we were actually lucky to come away with a 5-1 defeat, as it could have been more.

No fourth round adventure for my Telford side this season and no Championship scalps to boast about.

[kajito99]

@heathxxx Your team are doing very nicely in Lge 2! Just had a question about how you play Rasmussen. He looks like a winger role would suit him. Is this the role you use for him? Any tweaks? Just wondering as I have a player very similar in attributes and yet he flatters to deceive. Decent mentals and personality aswell so i don't think that's the problem.

Thanks

[heathxxx]

@heathxxx Your team are doing very nicely in Lge 2! Just had a question about how you play Rasmussen. He looks like a winger role would suit him. Is this the role you use for him? Any tweaks? Just wondering as I have a player very similar in attributes and yet he flatters to deceive. Decent mentals and personality aswell so i don't think that's the problem.

Thanks

Yes, I use him as my AML in the winger "attack" role. No specific tweaks, just what's assigned by the tactics creator settings.

The interesting thing though, is that of the 13 goals he's scored this season, I would say roughly half have come from him attacking the far post in open play and getting onto crosses or second balls. These have been headed goals and although his heading attribute is only 4, he's 6'4" with a good jumping attribute of 14.

The reason this is interesting, is that it's made me ponder over something tactical. With my wingers set to "attack", they get into good positions in the box when the opposite winger is crossing. Obviously if the ball is in the air and they're small (like many wingers), they'll not have the abilities like jumping and heading to have much chance converting those types of chances. With this guy's jumping and height, although poor at heading, he does have decent anticipation for his age. Now sometimes, when I've given this youngster a rest and want to rotate my squad, I've actually played my main target man Tiboni, as my left winger. He's scored far post headers from crosses in almost every game he's played in that position. Therefore it's made me think of looking at tall wingers, with decent jumping and heading, on top of the normal attributes I would consider for their position.

Now it might seem like I'm taking advantage of something "gamey" here, or potentially exploitative, but then what I'm taking advantage of isn't dissimilar to what Man Utd used to look for with Cristiano Ronaldo. Blessed with amazing skills with the ball at his feet, many people forget that he's a tall (6'1") lad who's actually very good aerially. I recall many times whilst he was playing for United, scoring headed goals in similar situations to those I'm seeing and have described with my young and tall Danish winger.

As I often say though, observations can be very important when playing FM. They can help you to spot opportunities, which many times, can be very simple and effective things to implement.

[Mattswe86]

Just a quick reply,

I have been following this thread since the beginning, and this is just a thank you to Heath and all of you who are driving this forward! I began my game with Luton, and have so far taken them to the championship with back to back promotions since day one. I'm taking a break from that save now to start with Telford or any other team i BSS BSN, if anyone have a good tip for a solid team (like Luton, decent attendance, potential etc) let me know! I'm extremely thankful, this thread got me into FM 11, I bought the game at release but hadn't had time to play it, (the backside of being an adult and working too much haha), it seemed too hard.

So there it is, thank you, I'm very very very thankful and happy, I might, if I have time, post some of my own progress in this new save to encourage others and also kind of give something back,

To be continued, you are doing an awesome job!

Cheers,

/Matt

Sweden 110126

[Mattswe86]

Heath, I love you, just reading what you write, how you reason with tactics, it makes me want to play the game, THANK you!!!!!!

[kajito99]

Thanks for that Heathxxx. I also have a tall winger who despite poor heading is good in the air (jumping 17). He also has good anticipation but has struggled getting many goals. It may be down to me giving him mixed RFD so that he is not always looking for the ball beyond his full back. It seems to help with possession but I suppose the lack of goals is a trade off. My main issue with him however is his crossing. Despite having good crossing I found he was wasting a lot of good moves. I have since reduced this, first to mixed, and then to rarely so he only crosses when appropriate. This, combined with his poor decisions (7) may be a bad combination though so perhaps I will revert to the original role setup. Any thoughts? Have most of Rasmussen's assists been crosses?

[Mike_Cardinal]

Tall wingers is definitely not too gamey in my opinion. Mancini seems to favour a tall player on the left, though that may be so he has an out-ball up front due to Tevez's lack of height, he's still played Jo, Balotelli and arguably now Dzeko there. I seem to remember Heskey being played wide at some point in his career, as he could then find himself on one with the opposition's full back in the air as opposed to their centre back, and centre forwards in general try and pull off to the back-post if they're good in the air. Anyway, I'm just starting up my annual Woking save, and I think I'm going to at least start off by trying to get some success out of a flat 4-4-2, though with a deep lying forward who can also play at AMC, that can easily switch to a 4-4-1-1 if need be. Problem is, I have a real aversion to signing many foreign players at this level, as I just can't see it happening, so I may be a little hindered in finding players comparatively.

[heathxxx]

Just a quick reply,

I have been following this thread since the beginning, and this is just a thank you to Heath and all of you who are driving this forward! I began my game with Luton, and have so far taken them to the championship with back to back promotions since day one. I'm taking a break from that save now to start with Telford or any other team i BSS BSN, if anyone have a good tip for a solid team (like Luton, decent attendance, potential etc) let me know! I'm extremely thankful, this thread got me into FM 11, I bought the game at release but hadn't had time to play it, (the backside of being an adult and working too much haha), it seemed too hard.

So there it is, thank you, I'm very very very thankful and happy, I might, if I have time, post some of my own progress in this new save to encourage others and also kind of give something back,

To be continued, you are doing an awesome job!

Cheers,

/Matt

Sweden 110126

Happy you're enjoying the game and even with Luton Town, who one could consider a "big" club in the lower leagues perhaps, getting back to back promotions to the Championship is a great achievement.

One of the things that made me pick AFC Telford, was that they're one of a few phoenix clubs. I can't recall the exact reasons for the demise of Telford United, the former club, but the new club was started and run by the fans. As facilities and ground go, they're not bad at all for a non-league side. What I saw was potential. That might have made the save a little easier to begin with, but then again, they're quite low reputation and noticeably as my team is climbing up the leagues, signing some of the players I would want to sign, is becoming increasingly difficult.

I would say part of the fun with any non-league side, is picking them up and seeing how far you can take them. For me, I'll do the same with AFC Telford. If I reach a point where I don't think I can take them any further, then I may well move on to another club. Just depends how things pan out with the save.

Heath, I love you, just reading what you write, how you reason with tactics, it makes me want to play the game, THANK you!!!!!!

Thank you too!

Tactics are important, but they're not everything. That's what hopefully comes across in this thread. I always try to embrace all aspects of the game and tactics are but one aspect of the bigger picture.

Thanks for that Heathxxx. I also have a tall winger who despite poor heading is good in the air (jumping 17). He also has good anticipation but has struggled getting many goals. It may be down to me giving him mixed RFD so that he is not always looking for the ball beyond his full back. It seems to help with possession but I suppose the lack of goals is a trade off. My main issue with him however is his crossing. Despite having good crossing I found he was wasting a lot of good moves. I have since reduced this, first to mixed, and then to rarely so he only crosses when appropriate. This, combined with his poor decisions (7) may be a bad combination though so perhaps I will revert to the original role setup. Any thoughts? Have most of Rasmussen's assists been crosses?

Sounds like you're using the "classic" slider settings for team and individual settings. I've simply used what comes with the tactics creator settings, most of which is dictated by my team settings. As he's considered one of my more forward players, given I use him in the AML position, by using the team setting "more roaming", he's also got that instruction in his individual settings. This will clearly help him when it comes to getting into good positions.

Of his assists, I would say that they're a mixture of crosses and what I would call slide-rule passes, where he's found space between opposing defenders, then passed through or along to one of my strikers.

Tall wingers is definitely not too gamey in my opinion. Mancini seems to favour a tall player on the left, though that may be so he has an out-ball up front due to Tevez's lack of height, he's still played Jo, Balotelli and arguably now Dzeko there. I seem to remember Heskey being played wide at some point in his career, as he could then find himself on one with the opposition's full back in the air as opposed to their centre back, and centre forwards in general try and pull off to the back-post if they're good in the air. Anyway, I'm just starting up my annual Woking save, and I think I'm going to at least start off by trying to get some success out of a flat 4-4-2, though with a deep lying forward who can also play at AMC, that can easily switch to a 4-4-1-1 if need be. Problem is, I have a real aversion to signing many foreign players at this level, as I just can't see it happening, so I may be a little hindered in finding players comparatively.

I'm considering looking at taller players on the wings more often. Based on my tactical settings, it's clearly something that can work well with the right sort of players. I have two tall strikers and this winger, but my right winger is small. I think if I were to replace him with a taller player, I would have four good players and all good aerial targets going forward. As they're all set to "attack", they all get into good positions in and around the box.

Essentially, it's about having options tactically and with the abilities of your players. I always like to explore and try different things, looking at different ways to play and different types of players I can utilise. Having the tall wingers was something I hadn't considered, although it's something I have seen in action. Discovering that it can indeed be effective, with the left winger I'm using at the moment, without having looked for it intentionally, is very pleasing and started the cogs turning in my head.

[kajito99]

Sounds like you're using the "classic" slider settings for team and individual settings. I've simply used what comes with the tactics creator settings, most of which is dictated by my team settings. As he's considered one of my more forward players, given I use him in the AML position, by using the team setting "more roaming", he's also got that instruction in his individual settings. This will clearly help him when it comes to getting into good positions.

Of his assists, I would say that they're a mixture of crosses and what I would call slide-rule passes, where he's found space between opposing defenders, then passed through or along to one of my strikers.

I'm using the TC as well. Have just tweaked a few of the individual player settings. I also have "more roaming" for more movement in the attacking 1/3. I'll go back to the default and see if that brings me any joy with that particular player. The rest of the team are doing pretty well though. Top of league 1 after about 10 games with Crewe. Don't have the best squad in the league (easily QPR after their relegation) but we're a tight knit group, up there in terms of squad quality and brimming with potential. Looking forward to what the rest of the season brings.

[Bruce Drundrige]

Sometimes it's hard to forget that the game is giving us lots of information, and the key to success can simply be noticing what it's telling you and then establishing how best to use it. Be it the fact that the ground is muddy and congested in the middle, or that the opposition centre-halfs are slow and lack bravery for example, there are tools there to exploit these.

I always find it interesting to see how others play the game as well and how they use the info, I don't really like the way the widgets can clog up the highlights screen, but do use them regularly throughout the match. I've also recently changed from 'key' highlights to 'extended' and I'm trying a more analytical approach to how my players move and play together based on what i'm seeing.

A result of this is that although I'm satisfied with my two MC's roles and performances (as written above) I noticed that my AMR and AML appeared to be isolated quite a lot, less than 5 passes each in the first halves of my last two matches. I'd been swapping between Inside Fwds and Wingers without getting consistent performances, so I changed them back to IF's on support to see if that would bring them closer to their team-mates and the play in general. I was leading 2-0 at half-time, albeit slightly fortunately, but ran out comfortable eventual 4-0 winners with my AMR in particular at the centre of some of my best attacking moves, we had a host of CCC's in the end and lots and lots of attacking highlights. As always it was extremely satisfying to see thiings click into place after making some subtle changes - and in a top of the table clash that sent me clear in 1st place.

[footie manager lover]

hi heath just a quick update

left prestatyn after getting knocked out of the champions league and declared interest in the droylsden job bsn. then the chairman sacked the manager and hired me! took them from 19th the play offs and actually secured promotion. Which im particularly pleased with as the team was 250k in debt :O

now began the new season and signed two class regens. Released from united and city; a dc who blackburn wanted (greedy so and so clearly wanted my 10k signing on fee i offered ) and a am who had premier league potential apparently ( again wanting my excessive signing on fee ). I want to share them with you to see what you think but dont know how to. Could you show me a tutorial to upload a pic without using an uploading site.

[heathxxx]

To share and post images, you need to use an image host like Photobucket, which you'll have to upload the images to. No other way to do it without using something like that.

Sounds like you're quite a few seasons into your save though

[heathxxx]

Having already clinched the League Two title with 12 games spare, I'm playing out the rest of the season.

Although I'm rotating the squad, which isn't much different from the rest of the season, I'm actually at a bit of a loss with the current form of my players. Although complacency may be the cause, there's been no visible signs. Tactically I feel as comfortable as ever, but the team are very inconsistent. Players who have performed consistently and exceptionally all season, suddenly seem like they've forgotten even the basics of football.

In the last five games, our record is WLWDL. It's not often I'm left puzzled, but I'm sat scratching my head at the moment. What concerns me most is that we have another league game, followed by the Johnstone's Paint Trophy Final, which is against runaway League One leaders Bristol City. When I consider both the wins in those last five games were convincing... a 3-0 and a 6-0 rout, the two defeats and the draw were dire performances, I'm really not sure what direction to go motivationally.

Clearly I've done exceptionally well with this side. Overachieved perhaps. I'm trying to put my finger on what the problem is with our form, but it's literally been very inconsistent since the match we clinched the League Two title. Perhaps it's simply that because the matches in the league are now pretty much meaningless, a number of players simply aren't putting in the effort.

One thing is for certain, I will need to improve my squad a lot over the summer for the League One campaign. First though, I'm hoping I can get a result in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy final, as it would be a shame to get all that way, only to fall at the last hurdle.

[footie manager lover]

Aye I'm in 2013 and surprisingly just out side of the play offs. After starting te season poorly I changed to a 4-1-4-1-2 which is working wonders! I will type the list of attributes rather than using an upload site when I'm next at the computer. But with the dire finances I could do with two cup runs. Been drawn against top of the league Macclesfield who we have drew with already but I have a feeling we will lose. And we

Certainly are desperate for the prize money!

[andrjam]

Aye I'm in 2013 and surprisingly just out side of the play offs. After starting te season poorly I changed to a 4-1-4-1-2 which is working wonders! I will type the list of attributes rather than using an upload site when I'm next at the computer. But with the dire finances I could do with two cup runs. Been drawn against top of the league Macclesfield who we have drew with already but I have a feeling we will lose. And we

Certainly are desperate for the prize money!

I bet the extra two men you field helps

[Uncle_Sam]

Heath, I honestly believe that the AI changes the way it approaches you late in the season. Maybe it's because you've clinched, or maybe it's because they are trying to improve their own league position with what little time there is left, but I have definitely noticed a difference. I've found that I often have to maybe play a little more defensively than I typically would late in the year.

But that's just my take.

[heathxxx]

Aye I'm in 2013 and surprisingly just out side of the play offs. After starting te season poorly I changed to a 4-1-4-1-2 which is working wonders! I will type the list of attributes rather than using an upload site when I'm next at the computer. But with the dire finances I could do with two cup runs. Been drawn against top of the league Macclesfield who we have drew with already but I have a feeling we will lose. And we

Certainly are desperate for the prize money!

Finances at my club aren't brilliant either at the moment. I got a little excited with the transfer budget of a million quid I was allowed at the start of the season. I didn't spend all of it, but I did spend 800k. Going out to Leeds United in the League Cup 1st round and Ipswich Town in the F.A. Cup 3rd round didn't help the finances. Neither stadium was even half-full in either of those away matches, so we didn't make much in gate receipt shares.

The run and eventual victory in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy obviously brought a little prize money in along the way, but that was negated by the 170k squad bonus payout, meaning the run and victory actually ran at a loss financially.

I've got some tough decisions ahead, as we're currently 400k in the red. That will increase once the league bonus payout is subtracted, as the prize money will doubtless be much less than the bonus payout. I did choose high bonus payouts. I always do, in the hope that it's additional motivation for the squad. I'm now in the process of selling all my reserve and youth players and trying to sell all the players I feel, won't be good enough for the League One campaign.

Up to now, I've had the advantage of the strongest squad in each division, through from the BSN, BSP and ultimately, League Two. I'll be trying to build my new squad around three or four existing players. I'll also be heavily reliant on loan players, which I've also done so this season. I have noted that the League rules state, no more than five players on loan from the same country. That means that I can loan a maximum of five players from other English clubs. This means that I will look overseas for loan options, as although there's a limit to long-term loans, all the short-term loan players, I was able to extend the loans successfully for the whole season.

Heath, I honestly believe that the AI changes the way it approaches you late in the season. Maybe it's because you've clinched, or maybe it's because they are trying to improve their own league position with what little time there is left, but I have definitely noticed a difference. I've found that I often have to maybe play a little more defensively than I typically would late in the year.

But that's just my take.

Certainly the club reputation will have increased. Indeed, I think where a lot of people begin to struggle sometimes, is around Christmas and New Year or roughly half-way into the season. I'm always ready for this period and usually do well. Given my team has always performed well leading into that period, I'm well prepared for how they'll change the way they play - more defensively and with more respect for my team. I'll also adapt tactics for the harsher weather conditions and rotate the squad more to maintain player condition, given the compact fixture schedule.

I've no doubts that the current inconsistency has much to do with complacency. My team has little to play for, whereas the opponents we've struggled against, are either pushing for promotion/play-off spots, or fighting against relegation. Simply put, they're scrapping for results, whereas my team have already done what they need to do. Obviously I'm not too worried, as indeed the matches don't mean anything and won't affect our League Two standings. It's just frustrating to watch how poorly they're playing at the moment though, having gone unbeaten in the league for 34 games, including an outstanding run of 22 consecutive victories. We actually clinched the title with a draw, which was the end of that run of consecutive wins. Since then, very inconsistent.

I know... meaningless matches and perhaps I'm expecting too much. I'm just a poor loser

Tactically, I can usually handle most things that are thrown at me. It's difficult to make a difference though, when you have more than just one or two players under-performing. Motivationally, I'm usually pretty good too, but even though they're meaningless fixtures, the lack of current form has presented me with my most challenging and difficult period of management in this save so far.

I'm fully expecting next season to be the biggest challenge so far though. Struggling financially now, I'll have to trim the squad back to the bare bones. I'll really have to pull some rabbits out of the hat with my transfer dealings. Having risen up the leagues so fast, the biggest obstacle is going to be the club reputation, which will be the lowest in League One by quite a wide margin. Second to that will be the expected financial limitations. The better players I'll want to sign, I'll probably be unable to offer the wages they're looking for.

Yes, I can already foresee that the break between seasons is going to be one of the longest I spend looking for players. My team will probably have a much more youthful look to it, as I perhaps look to consolidate and build the club status and finances more. On the other hand though, I've not ruled out moving to another club, if the right opportunity presents itself. I won't go applying for jobs though... I'd rather wait to see if clubs approach me.

[Neokutai]

Hi Heathxxx, I've been inspired by this thread, so i decided to start something similar. I choose a team from the Evo-Stick league, none other than FC United... using all the hints and tips you have given me i have gained succesive promotions and now find myself in League 2. I'm currently top after 6 games but i've found it difficult, the quality of player needed for this division is certainly higher than anything i've experienced so far, i think a slump in form may be on the horizon that would justify my tag as relegation favourites. My chairman has also dropped me in the ****, having taken out loans to the tune of £35 million to build FC United its new 18,000 capacity home. I would have rather stayed at Gigg Lane but with home games reaching sellout point (FC United have a huge following), i guess he thought it would make more sense to build a new stadium.

I'm guessing now that i will have big loan repayments to start paying off that my transfer funds are gonna go down the toilet, I've decided to send my scouts out on frantic searches for younger free/low cost talent, hopefully with a mix of success and a huge slice of luck i'll manage to stay competitive, although from my point of view i think league one is a step too far at the moment with my current squad of aging dinosaurs, the fitness side of the higher leagues is killing my team..maybe another season in League 2 wont do any harm.

There was one question i wanted to ask regarding scouting, when you send out your scout do you keep him assigned to that country permanently and then just filter his reports page to show out of contract/transfer listed players that you can snap up for next to nothing? any additional hints you can give regarding scouting and recruiting will be gratefully appreciated.

KUTGW !!

[heathxxx]

Hi Heathxxx, I've been inspired by this thread, so i decided to start something similar. I choose a team from the Evo-Stick league, none other than FC United... using all the hints and tips you have given me i have gained succesive promotions and now find myself in League 2. I'm currently top after 6 games but i've found it difficult, the quality of player needed for this division is certainly higher than anything i've experienced so far, i think a slump in form may be on the horizon that would justify my tag as relegation favourites. My chairman has also dropped me in the ****, having taken out loans to the tune of £35 million to build FC United its new 18,000 capacity home. I would have rather stayed at Gigg Lane but with home games reaching sellout point (FC United have a huge following), i guess he thought it would make more sense to build a new stadium.

I'm guessing now that i will have big loan repayments to start paying off that my transfer funds are gonna go down the toilet, I've decided to send my scouts out on frantic searches for younger free/low cost talent, hopefully with a mix of success and a huge slice of luck i'll manage to stay competitive, although from my point of view i think league one is a step too far at the moment with my current squad of aging dinosaurs, the fitness side of the higher leagues is killing my team..maybe another season in League 2 wont do any harm.

On the one hand, the debt might seem daunting, but on the other hand it's also a step in the right direction for the club. Even if they can get three-quarters of that 18,000 capacity home filled each home game, your gate revenue will more than cover the loan and actually generate extra income for the club. The capacity of Gigg Lane is just shy of 12,000 so I would be confident that if your club is near filling it to capacity, it might not be long before your near capacity crowds in an 18,000 capacity stadium too.

When it comes to balancing the books and looking for players, following your next question...

There was one question i wanted to ask regarding scouting, when you send out your scout do you keep him assigned to that country permanently and then just filter his reports page to show out of contract/transfer listed players that you can snap up for next to nothing? any additional hints you can give regarding scouting and recruiting will be gratefully appreciated.

KUTGW !!

...keep your eyes peeled for good free-transfer signings.

The less you need to spend on transfer fees, the better. Obviously this doesn't include agent fees, signing on fees and of course, player wages. Try to haggle with these as much as possible though. Frustrating as it might be sometimes, as I have found, sometimes it's better to walk away from a deal than pay over the odds.

As for scouting, the better results tend to come from scouts with better knowledge of a country. So for example, if you have a scout with full or high knowledge of France, send him to France. Also, keep asking your board to widen the scouting range of the club. By the summer between clinching promotion from the BSP, to the season in League Two kicking off, I'd managed to get my board to let me scout anywhere in the world. Now I may have been fortunate in that my board have accepted every request I've made to increase scouting range, so keep asking them and hopefully they'll accept.

Mindful of my worldwide scouting range, I now have eleven scouts. Again, I kept asking the board to increase the number of scouts allowed. I looked for scouts that obviously had the highest Judging Player Ability and Judging Player Potential available obviously, but important to me was also their knowledge of different countries. I looked to break the knowledge I was looking for into distinct regions, based on my knowledge of the better locations to look for players. So, I've got scouts that have good knowledge of UK & Ireland, Scandinavia, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southern Europe, South America, plus scouts with general knowledge of a good few African nations.

I keep my scouts with the most appropriate nation knowledge, scouting those regions and specific countries within those regions. Other than their reports, there's no substitute for manually searching clubs and countries for players, then getting scout reports.

[Falahk]

have just loaded up a save with Pro Vercelli in Italian Serie C2/A, thinking that im going to wait out the next patch before trying new games in the top leagues, my aim would be to share some of my own approach to this style of playing as i progress and move upwards

I set my manager on semi pro rep and loaded the following:

italy (all leagues)

and top leagues from the following:

england

france

germany

portugal

russia

spain

turkey

[RedBlueEagle]

Any advice on how to beat 5-3-2?

I have tried control, attacking and balanced. I have tried to play wider, exploit flanks but St. Albans seem to be my boogey team. They keep possession (so I hassle them) and play on counter but they always have more chances than us but we are stonger in all areas.

I know I should be trying to draw them out so would perhaps counter be better or should I be trying to retain possession around their box?

[heathxxx]

have just loaded up a save with Pro Vercelli in Italian Serie C2/A, thinking that im going to wait out the next patch before trying new games in the top leagues, my aim would be to share some of my own approach to this style of playing as i progress and move upwards

I set my manager on semi pro rep and loaded the following:

italy (all leagues)

and top leagues from the following:

england

france

germany

portugal

russia

spain

turkey

Good stuff

Look forward to your updates and input. Always good to see people trying lower league saves in different countries, because they can often present different challenges and experiences.

When I've played Spanish lower league saves for example, I use more adventurous "pretty" footballing instructions tactically. This is because I don't have to worry about poor weather/pitch conditions as often, playing as a club in southern Spain, as I would in the English lower leagues.

Any advice on how to beat 5-3-2?

I have tried control, attacking and balanced. I have tried to play wider, exploit flanks but St. Albans seem to be my boogey team. They keep possession (so I hassle them) and play on counter but they always have more chances than us but we are stonger in all areas.

I know I should be trying to draw them out so would perhaps counter be better or should I be trying to retain possession around their box?

I only recall playing one team in the last three seasons who started a game with a 5-3-2 formation.

From what I remember, penetrating the defence through the middle proved difficult, so I opted for counter-attacking along with "exploit the flanks", "get the ball forward" and "pass into space". The aim was to draw my opponents forward more, whilst I sat back. The width from my opponents was being provided by their full-backs getting forward. On the counter, my team were looking to catch their full-backs out of position and hitting balls into those spaces.

If you can't go through something, go around it

[RedBlueEagle]

Thanks Heath. Ironically while driving home from work that was exactly what I thought of trying. I'm trying to arrange a friendly with St Albans to try it out.

I have a couple of sides in my league that play like that and they have either grabbed a draw or a nasty 1-0 win.

The good news is that I have just gone 3 points clear at the top of BSS after 26 games. I also managed to sell a decent defender for 100,000. I wanted to move him on because his composure was only 3. He usually played really well but occasionally you'd see him really mess up.

[heathxxx]

Good fee you received for a player, with a BSS club. Although I do have "favourite" players who've played with my AFC Telford side, I try not to become too attached or reliant on anyone in particular. Everyone has a price and if another club is prepared to meet my valuation, then I'll not hesitate in letting them move on. If like you, I receive a good offer for a player, who I think I could get a better replacement for, then it's pretty much a no-brainer.

I've had clear out myself at the end of the last season. The club was over 500k in the red, so I decided to cash in on the two Danish youngsters I'd signed last season. The striker, I basically got back what I paid for him. He hadn't improved as I'd hoped. The winger, who had performed exceptionally well, but hadn't developed his attributes as well as I had hoped, I managed to sell to Real Betis for 500k - a little over double what I had paid for him last season. I've also sold or released all the fringe players, reserves and youths, who were never likely to feature.

Balancing the books will clearly be the biggest challenge for my club now. I'm not just looking to develop the team and gain promotions, but develop the club as well. Improvements to the youth facilities were cancelled because of the lack of funds. Having sold and released players, I'm now at the start of July, with just over 350k in the black. My transfer budget is zero and my wage budget is just over 24k per week, of which I'm currently spending just over 16k.

Going by last season's figures, what the club generated in gate receipts, just about covered the wage bill, excluding end of season bonus payments. I'm expecting slightly higher crowds this season, so if I can keep things lean with player wages, we should keep our heads above water. Obviously the problem now, is that I'm trying to rebuild my squad with very limited resources. I've chosen mid-table finish as my expectations this year, but if I'm lucky with signings, I may be able to push higher than that.

It's probably going to be a while before I actually start the competitive part of the season on this save at the moment. I've managed to keep a good young regen defender on loan for another season from Manchester United, who are covering his wages. I'll also be looking to get the maximum amount of loan players available, in order to have quality players, whilst also keeping costs down. I've already spent most of this evening looking for players. There's a lot of players who've been released by Premier League and Championship sides that are good quality and meet squad registration rules. Although none of the better players are interested (Matthew Upson for example...) I've offered them all trials, just on the off chance that one or two might accept. I've done that in the past and landed lucky, so although it's time consuming ploughing through lists of players, it can be worth it if you manage to land any of them.

Other than that, amongst the free agents and released players, I'm looking for players that either have some potential, or fit into my tactical preferences with suitable attributes for the positions and roles I use.

That's about it at the moment. I think this League One campaign is going to be very tough. Although I had the same feelings leading up to my League Two campaign, which we ended up winning by a country mile, there's much stronger opponents and my squad is actually a little weaker than last season at the moment. It really will depend on how I do signing players. Tactically, I believe I could still over-achieve with the limited quality and resources I currently have available, but unless I improve the squad a great deal, I'll have to be spot on with my decisions every match.

[foolier]

Just posted new topic but thought I'd post in here too.

After 7 years with Gloucester I took them to league one and then left for Charlton, also in the same league but much better players, but my 442 doesn't seem to work in this league and it didn't with Gloucester too, any advice?

I play flat back 4, FB's on automatic, CB's on defend.

Flat midfield 4, 2 wingers on support, one ball winning midfielder on defend and one advanced playmaker on support.

One striker with deep lying and support and one with poacher/advaned foward.

All instructions are set to default, except I press more and play direct.

I have found my strikers dont score in this league either whereas before they banged them in for Gloucester, and my Charlton strikers are more then good enough.

Any advice?

[foolier]

So I am thinking about trying this for the new season.

4321

Have flat back 4 as before.

An anchor man

Centre midfield with auto duty and centre midfielder with advanced playmaker (support)

Two inside forwards with attack duty

Poacher up front

I have NEVER used inside forwards so am keen to give it a try, it looks good on paper going forward but also with defensive stability too in the centre, but not sure about inside forwards on support or attack?

Think that could work?

[ashlfcowen]

I read somewhere that you were looking at talking a bit more indepth about your set pieces, maybe you mentioned creating a new thread for it, but I've looked as far as the second page and can't find anything unless I've missed it- or maybe you updated it in this thread. Have you? Or do you still plan on discussing it in detail?

Thanks.

[heathxxx]

Just posted new topic but thought I'd post in here too.

After 7 years with Gloucester I took them to league one and then left for Charlton, also in the same league but much better players, but my 442 doesn't seem to work in this league and it didn't with Gloucester too, any advice?

I play flat back 4, FB's on automatic, CB's on defend.

Flat midfield 4, 2 wingers on support, one ball winning midfielder on defend and one advanced playmaker on support.

One striker with deep lying and support and one with poacher/advaned foward.

All instructions are set to default, except I press more and play direct.

I have found my strikers dont score in this league either whereas before they banged them in for Gloucester, and my Charlton strikers are more then good enough.

Any advice?

So I am thinking about trying this for the new season.

4321

Have flat back 4 as before.

An anchor man

Centre midfield with auto duty and centre midfielder with advanced playmaker (support)

Two inside forwards with attack duty

Poacher up front

I have NEVER used inside forwards so am keen to give it a try, it looks good on paper going forward but also with defensive stability too in the centre, but not sure about inside forwards on support or attack?

Think that could work?

Defensively, I prefer my central defenders with stopper and cover roles. The bigger, stronger defender as the stopper, the faster defender with better anticipation as cover. The stopper will step up to make challenges, whilst the cover is the last line of defence centrally.

When setting things up defensively, try looking the difference defender types and their suitability with the players you have available. Ball Playing Defender requires a more complete player, with very strong overall technical, mental and physical attributes, so is not a role you're going to be using in the lower leagues very often. Usually, this is best suited to some of the best defenders in the game, with sides who play the most intricate football. Such teams and players won't always want a defender to hoof the ball upfield when they gain possession, but to play the ball to more advanced players. Central Defender requires less technical key attributes, but still needs players with strong mental and physical attributes. This is the in-between setting and defenders will both try to play clear, or hoof it, depending on circumstances. This perhaps more so, is why very good mental and decision making attributes are important. Limited Defender requires the fewest key attributes and is pretty much a no-nonsense approach. Win the ball and get it clear.

Deciding which roles and instructions suit your defenders best, is entirely down to the suitability of their attributes. Personally, I've always preferred the stopper/cover combination, rather than two central defenders using the same settings, as I feel they can often be caught flat. Although I've used the Central Defender "in-between" (stopper/cover) with the tactics I've used in this thread, I've specifically brought in defenders with better mental attributes always. If your defenders don't have strong overall mental attributes, then I would definitely recommend using Limited Defender, especially if you're playing more direct passing anyway. Simply put, if you ask more of your central defenders, giving them instructions and responsibilities they're not mentally capable of, you'll see moments of indecision and poor play that will cost you goals. This can come from attackers intercepting their passes, delaying releasing the ball, poor positioning... all from being indecisive, lacking composure, anticipation or concentration.

In midfield, I like to have the combination of creativity and good hard graft. The "grafter" as I call him, can be an anchor man, defensive midfielder, ball winning midfielder, or even a deep-lying playmaker with "defend" duty, although a less technically demanding role would simply be central midfield "defend". More than anything, their role is to win the ball in midfield and help protect the defence. They'll usually play simple passes and do all the basic things well, without being too extravagant. The more creative player can be central midfield, or advanced playmaker, on "support" duty. It goes without saying that they need decent creativity, good technical and mental attributes to really be effective. I also sometimes use a deep-lying playmaker "support" role and duty, which can provide good positioning deeper as a passing outlet for defenders and the defensive minded midfielder(s). A deep-lying playmaker "support" won't just sit deep and look to spray passes though, they'll bring the ball forward and also get into good positions outside the box, supporting the more advanced players well.

Essentially, as with the stopper/cover combination in defence, the defend/support duties are complimentary in midfield and don't leave things looking too flat, as might be the case with two or more central midfielders with similar mentalities or roles.

My own preference with wide players, be they wingers or inside forwards, is setting them to "attack". Throughout my current save, not only have my wingers got forward aggressively to create goals, but they're regularly scoring goals too. In tandem with attackers on "attack" duty, the attacking wingers (or inside forwards) are helping to overload opposition defences. I find this approach helps both create chances and provide potent attacking, from all angles going forward. It's not without its risks if opponents manage to win the ball and counter effectively though, so I may sometimes change my full-backs from being "automatic" to "defend", as one of the hardest things to recover from, is a wide counter attack, if your full-backs are upfield supporting the wingers.

In attack, so far with two strikers, my preference has been for a target man "attack", alongside either a poacher or advanced forward. The poacher or advanced forward is likely your more skilled, pacy forward. Setting up the target man, depends on what you expect from his role, be it as more of a provider or more of a powerhouse leading the line. My preference has been for the latter so far and I've had strikers ideally suited to the role, for the levels I've been playing. At the highest levels with some of the best players, I would consider the complete forward role. This is one of the more demanding attacking roles and the player must be strong across the board when it comes to attributes.

With the 4-3-2-1 you mentioned, a lot will depend on the width you're using. If you're using AMC positionally placed inside forwards, then you'll be looking for your full-backs to provide most of the width for crosses. The inside forwards will look to exploit any spaces between the opposing full-backs and central defenders, or as it's commonly known, hitting the channels. If you have the inside forwards playing centrally, then it's worth considering the swap position instruction. This is found in the "advanced" tactical settings and you can instruct the two players to swap positions with each other during the course of matches automatically. This can provide an added dimension offensively and be difficult for opponents to mark effectively. If one is more right footed and the other more left footed, it also adds more angles and avenues of attack, as they'll look to approach from different angles to create or shoot.

The wider AML/AMR or STL/STR inside forwards are usually better placed on the wing which is the opposite of their strongest foot. So for example, a right footed player on the left and vice-versa. They should always be looking to cut inside to shoot at goal or lay off the ball to forwards, rather than go outside and hit the byline for a cross, like a winger would do. The down side with the wide inside forward, is if they're well covered by good opposing full backs, who force them out wide and onto their weaker foot. When that happens, they're then either having to try a cross with their weaker foot, or play a central pass. How well the central pass works will depend on how well positioned the forwards or midfielders are to receive, but can also be cut out by opposing defenders and midfielders.

With a single striker formation, regardless of what's around them to support or attack, my preference has always been for a powerful type of player, with good overall technical, mental and physical attributes. That would again lead me to using either a target man "attack" or complete forward "attack". Again, this is personal preference. My reasoning is that if I've got two trickier, skilled wingers or inside forwards, who are usually less physical, more technical and mentally able, then I want a powerful forward between them to provide a contrasting option. If you don't have suitable players for these roles though, then the poacher, defensive forward or advanced forward might be the better option.

I feel like I've written an essay now, but hopefully you'll have a better idea of my way of thinking. Vital whatever you do, is the suitability of the player attributes, for any role you use. Asking a player to do something they're not ideally suited to doing, will invariably lead to disappointment. Use the highlighted attributes for each position and role in the tactics creator as a guide, but be mindful of other attributes that you would also prefer them to have based on your overall tactics and style of football.

Finally, if your tactic worked with one team and set of players, it's still a good tactic. It might not be suited to the players at your current club, or they to it. It's either the case that you'll need to adapt things tactically to suit those players you have, or to rebuild the squad, bringing in players who do suit your preferred tactics. My preference is mostly to build squads around my own tactical preferences, as I usually find it easier to do, than continually needing to evolve or change roles and settings to suit different player types. Although I have indeed changed roles and some tactical settings from my originally posted tactical instructions, they're not major changes and are more what I had in mind with the 4-4-2 attacking tactic I wanted to implement from the start. What I started with, was more simplified roles, which I've changed to suit the better players I've been able to bring in, more suited to the technical, mental and physical demands of the roles I wanted to use.

I read somewhere that you were looking at talking a bit more indepth about your set pieces, maybe you mentioned creating a new thread for it, but I've looked as far as the second page and can't find anything unless I've missed it- or maybe you updated it in this thread. Have you? Or do you still plan on discussing it in detail?

Thanks.

On pages three and four, there's some discussion from myself and others about corners. I also posted the setup I've been using for defensive corners. Attacking corners, I still change quite a bit depending on the players I have at my disposal, along with what positions they should assume (theoretically), based upon their attributes. So for those, I've nothing definitive. Aside from changing positional settings, I usually have things set at "mixed".

When I get around to it, I'll probably post what I use for defending free-kicks, but attacking free-kicks I'm probably the best source of knowledge... my side haven't scored a direct free kick in three seasons (even with very well suited takers), but we have scored a few indirect free kicks occasionally. More so now, I set up the positions and just have the instruction set to "mixed" for direct free-kicks.

[foolier]

You quoted but didn't reply?

[Falahk]

Good stuff

Look forward to your updates and input. Always good to see people trying lower league saves in different countries, because they can often present different challenges and experiences.

When I've played Spanish lower league saves for example, I use more adventurous "pretty" footballing instructions tactically. This is because I don't have to worry about poor ¨ as often, playing as a club in southern Spain, as I would in the English lower leagues.

I always lean towards fluid and fancy formations no mather where im playing, considering to loan in a few players and use my barca tactic (4-5-1/4-3-3/4-6-0 depending on how one would discribe it), but maybe its to defensive if i cant get players that put me on a higher level compared to the teams im playing against

I never adapted much after weather/pitch conditions when i played in the swedish lower divisions on fm10 so i should prolly get on just fine with some half decent transfer work and a good tactic, since Pro Vercelli start as professional, and the general lack of loan restrictions I predict it to be easy

speaking about loans; I dare say its a fundamental part of lower league management for two reasons

-you can get players for very low or no wage costs

-you can get players that will rip your division to shreads

so when im playing like this I would never really buy players as such for the first few years (unless i find a deal i cant back down from) and simply build my team around loans and use my starting squad/youth intake as fillers

[heathxxx]

speaking about loans; I dare say its a fundamental part of lower league management for two reasons

-you can get players for very low or no wage costs

-you can get players that will rip your division to shreads

so when im playing like this I would never really buy players as such for the first few years (unless i find a deal i cant back down from) and simply build my team around loans and use my starting squad/youth intake as fillers

Most certainly beneficial looking at talented loan players.

The difficulty I had with AFC Telford starting in the BSN though, was I couldn't get anyone better on loan, than the players I was able to sign on free transfers permanently. So, it can depend on the level you're starting out at, the club and league reputation, or even the country reputation. Certainly things are much more realistic when it comes to loaning players now with FM. I recall playing FM08 and loaning an entire squad of Man Utd reserve/youth players whilst managing Hyde United, having got them as my parent club. Needless to say, my team demolished every opponent as we climbed through the lower leagues, as we were able to sign players who would realistically have no desire to play at such a low level. From memory, I think I only made ten permanent signings between playing in the BSN and reaching the Premier League in consecutive seasons. Frazier Campbell scored over 100 goals whilst playing in the BSN... it was ridiculously easy.

The earliest I was able to sign good players from the reserve teams of Premier League clubs with AFC Telford, was last season in League Two. When I've looked at available loan players at clubs beneath the Premier League, although it might be just my own standards, there's rarely been anyone I would consider good enough or worthwhile loaning.

I'll probably be more reliant on the loan players I can sign this season in League One though, because I'm really struggling to improve my squad at the moment. Previously, I've been able to make some good investment signings, who've provided quality in my squad, but that I've also been able to sell at a healthy profit to help keep my club afloat financially.

I do tend to approach players often that don't seem to be initially interested, usually getting lucky a few times with some really good players. So far in pre-season this year though, I've approached over fifty players and not one is interested. I've also made quite a lot of loan approaches. The only ones interested are a couple from Man Utd who I had last season, so I've got them for another season loan. The other three I had, have all been transfer listed by their clubs and either aren't interested in returning, their clubs won't loan them again, or when I've tried a sneaky no-fee but 50% sell on clause bid, they've either been refused, or accepted, but the player wants treble what my wage cap can offer.

The lack of loan restrictions is a big plus for you in Italy though and something that will certainly be worthwhile exploiting. You'll be able to get good players at little to no cost and the funds you will undoubtedly save, can go towards developing the club more, with better facilities and staff.

[foolier]

Thanks for the reply Heath, much appreciated.

''Defensively, I prefer my central defenders with stopper and cover roles. The bigger, stronger defender as the stopper, the faster defender with better anticipation as cover. The stopper will step up to make challenges, whilst the cover is the last line of defence centrally.''

Do I assume you use zonal marking then? I also have one of the CB's on long passing to hoof it clear, not sure if thats good or not.

''so I may sometimes change my full-backs from being "automatic" to "defend", as one of the hardest things to recover from, is a wide counter attack, if your full-backs are upfield supporting the wingers.''

Yeah, I was thinking for home games I would use automatic to get the overlaps and away from home use defend unles the opposition are set up very negative and I am very confident of a win, then will just use auto.

''With a single striker formation, regardless of what's around them to support or attack, my preference has always been for a powerful type of player, with good overall technical, mental and physical attributes. That would again lead me to using either a target man "attack" or complete forward "attack". Again, this is personal preference.''

Thought about that, my poacher with Gloucester was the one that scored the most so thought I would try that,but as you say with a single guy in attack would probably need someone to hold it up a bit, maybe deep lying with attack as in league one not sure I could find a complete forward, but defo could find target man but never had success with that, but worth trying.

And I have still got the 442 I did well with and might go back to it if the new formation doesn't work, but I do like one up front before I started this save but tried 442 as thought it would be best for lower leagues.

After 7 very good years playing 442 with Gloucester, as soon as I stepped upto league one I found it didn't do anywhere near as well, might of been my fault by doing things wrong, but thats only reason am thinking of changing to 41221 sorta formation, with the anchor man and two centre mids the centre of the park should be fine, but bit worried by inside forwards and getting caught, never played with them before so bit of trial and error I think.

Thanks again, will let you know how I get on.

[heathxxx]

foolier - Yes, I use zonal marking, but I'll also use opposition instructions to instruct tight marking on opposing players who I consider to be a risk, or who the assistant manager suggests.

[saab693]

Heath, great thread.

I am quite happy with the tactical approach, the issue for me is finding the right players. Do you just put in the key attributes and search? Say for example there was noone with 10 for everything, would you reduce all stats to 9 or just search for say 8/10 of the attributes? Do you search for players regardless of what the scouts say or do you look for a particular scout rating?

[heathxxx]

saab693 - When I use the filter search options, I do search with the key attributes. I will also use all the key attributes, but reduce the filters if I'm struggling to find players. I won't usually drop below the desired number for an attribute, but I may remove what I consider to be the least important attributes.

As far as scout reports go, I do take note of how they rate a player, but I place more importance on the suitability of the player attributes. I also look at other important information in the reports, such as when scouts provide an idea of player consistency, injury proneness, personality and character traits.

As an idea of the contrast between the star rating coaches and scouts might give a player, compared with position/role suitability, I had a player during my League Two campaign, who rated as one of the lowest quality players in my team at two starts, actually ended up being amongst those with the highest average match ratings. Basically what this means, is that it's entirely possible to take a pretty average player (according to reports), but used in a suited role and kept motivated, he can still perform well as part of the team.

[heathxxx]

Whilst struggling through large lists of players, hoping that some of those I approach will actually be interested enough to join my AFC Telford side in League One...

...I've been offered the Central Coast Mariners job, in the Australian Hyundai A-League!

A quick check of their league positions over the last three years, shows they have finished 4th, 7th and 4th again last season. Their previous manager for the last three seasons and former Australian national team assistant manager, Graham Arnold, left to take the Australian national team manager job.

On the one hand, I'm sorely tempted to accept this new and interesting challenge, in a country that I wouldn't generally consider starting a save in. The reason I have the league playable, along with many others you'll see listed in the opening posts of this thread, is that I simply like to see how things progress around the world. Having playable leagues available in each continent, also allows me to view match reports and stats from the different continental championships.

On the other hand, although it's clearly going to be a struggle, I wanted to see if I can take AFC Telford all the way to the Premier League. I'm confident that I can, even if not via consecutive promotions, but clearly things are getting tougher. Not least financially.

As I'm completely undecided as to what direction I should head, I've made a separate save, whilst I mull things over. At the very least I'll be able to continue as either AFC Telford or Central Coast Mariners.

I don't think I've ever managed in Australia before playing FM, so I am quite tempted. Not least by the 1 million pounds transfer budget and decent wage budget they're offering. Their squad isn't great, but isn't too bad. The league rules for squad registration allow a maximum of five foreign players. They're also allowed two marquee players, one of whom must be Australian. These must obviously be players that are excluded from the squad salary cap of 21k. If I do go though, I'll want to take most of my coaching staff and scouts with me.

[Quinby]

As an aussie myself i can tell ya the rules in FM isnt exactly how they are in real life. i havnt played in the a-league this yr yet but may do later. I noticed with lots of the a-league clubs in FM they wont allow a lot of staff. Like possibly 3 or 4 coaches and a couple scouts.

I found that a lot of teams bought a lot of south americans who they couldnt use because of squad registration issues.

I suggest making another save file with the telford job. accept the mariners job if u really want and save that under another save file. just in case it aint what u thought.

[Vinsanity666]

Great thread! Easy to read and fun at the same time.

I myself started an unemployed save and am now at Goytre in the Welsh Premier after a stint with 2 other clubs. Finding it really hard to keep poor performances out of the game. With the players available to me the quality is too low... A lot of missed errors and poor defending cost me dear. And IF the team plays well then i have the bad luck of conceding 3 goals in the last 5 minutes :-) But i've picked up a lot on the tactical side from you!

KUTGW!

[foolier]

Hey Heath,

Played few friendlies with the new inside forwards formation, and have found I have a very low crosses completed because obviously they come inside all the time.

As said it would be upto the full backs to provide the width but don't want them too far forward for risk of being exposed, should I just leave them on auto duty or put them on attack duty do you think? Or maybe sqitch them from full backs to wing backs hence they will get foward even on auto duty a lot, but again don't wanna be left exposed.

[heathxxx]

As an aussie myself i can tell ya the rules in FM isnt exactly how they are in real life. i havnt played in the a-league this yr yet but may do later. I noticed with lots of the a-league clubs in FM they wont allow a lot of staff. Like possibly 3 or 4 coaches and a couple scouts.

I found that a lot of teams bought a lot of south americans who they couldnt use because of squad registration issues.

I suggest making another save file with the telford job. accept the mariners job if u really want and save that under another save file. just in case it aint what u thought.

The five foreign player limit will be a challenge, given my track record of turning Telford into something of a United Nations gathering...

That said though, the squad isn't great but there's enough talent I can work with. The youth team has a couple of decent looking regens that I've promoted straight to the first team and that I can look to develop. Perhaps the timing is fortunate, but there's several good (albeit ageing) Australian players who've either been released, or transfer listed by their European clubs. Amongst these are Brett Emerton and Vincenzo Grella from Blackburn Rovers. As the side is lacking in attack, I'm already looking into raiding Telford for strikers Peter Styvar and Cristian Tiboni, plus I've also made an offer for Danny Allsopp, who will be a decent enough backup striker.

Elsewhere when it comes to foreign players, I'm thinking I'll look towards promising young players. It doesn't look like there'll be a problem with work permits, as there is trying to sign non-EU players in England. This means there's already a number of young African regens that I've already scouted whilst with Telford, that I can now approach more successfully. Some will count towards my foreign player limit, whilst others I can have in the youth team or loan out to other clubs. The better youngsters as they develop, will either form part of the future of my side, or sold on for a healthy profit. With the salary cap, managing the finances should certainly be much easier.

The marquee players thing is interesting though, with the allowance for one of the foreign players and one Australian to be considered outside the salary cap, as is similarly the case with MLS teams in the United States. The two existing marquee players were both crap. So much so, that I've simply released them both, rather than wait to sell them, so I can free up those marquee slots.

It certainly will be an interesting challenge managing in Australia, with my obvious goals being to win the Hyundai A-League, qualifying for the AFC Champions League and winning that, then on to the Club World Cup.

Tactically, if I have the right players available to me, I can possibly go with the sort of tactical options I would use in Spanish football, given the better weather conditions I'm assuming I'll experience in Australia given the dates between the start and finish of the season. Good weather and pitch conditions, which I usually experience when playing a save in southern Spain, will allow me to play more attractive football.

Providing I can over time attract some of the best Australian talent to the club, there's no reason why I can't achieve my goals. After that, who knows where I'll end up. Rest assured though, I have made a backup save at AFC Telford, before I accepted the Central Coast Mariners job.

Great thread! Easy to read and fun at the same time.

I myself started an unemployed save and am now at Goytre in the Welsh Premier after a stint with 2 other clubs. Finding it really hard to keep poor performances out of the game. With the players available to me the quality is too low... A lot of missed errors and poor defending cost me dear. And IF the team plays well then i have the bad luck of conceding 3 goals in the last 5 minutes :-) But i've picked up a lot on the tactical side from you!

KUTGW!

So long as you're becoming more adept and comfortable tactically, plus can identify the weaker players in your side that you'll want to improve on, then you should do fine. Building and shaping your team to suit your tactical preferences will be the most important thing. You should do fine.

Hey Heath,

Played few friendlies with the new inside forwards formation, and have found I have a very low crosses completed because obviously they come inside all the time.

As said it would be upto the full backs to provide the width but don't want them too far forward for risk of being exposed, should I just leave them on auto duty or put them on attack duty do you think? Or maybe sqitch them from full backs to wing backs hence they will get foward even on auto duty a lot, but again don't wanna be left exposed.

Yes, as I mentioned earlier, you will be more reliant on the full-backs crossing from deeper positions.

Like anything with tactical choices you make, it's about assessing the risks and rewards of what you choose to do. Weigh up the pro's and con's of the system you're using. It seems that you are doing that already, so that will help shape what you do and the sort of players you'll try to use in the different positions.

Personally, I wouldn't go for wing-backs, as I feel they would be too advanced positionally, even with "automatic" or "defend" duty. I would keep with full-backs positionally, but look for player attributes that would suit them when they're assigned to "attack" duty. To see those key attributed highlights, simply set the full backs to "attack" duty and make a note of those key attributes. Many of those attributes will be the same as you would look for in a winger, such as the ability to dribble and cross. Within the tactic itself though, "automatic" probably covers all bases when it comes to supporting your inside forwards and getting the full-backs forward enough to provide crossing opportunities, without neglecting defensive duties. If under a lot of pressure during matches, with teams exploiting what will always potentially be the "Achilles Heel" area of space the full-backs might leave empty, then you can always change them to "defend", in order to reduce the risk. As I said though, it's about risk versus reward in anything you do. I don't mind taking more risks if I feel confident I have the players capable of providing me with the rewards I can visualise tactically, with the sort of system and roles we're talking about.

[foolier]

After 10 games I am 17th, am struggling with this formation, most my shots are long shots even though majority of players are set to rarely, drawing a lot of games, might try changing from inside forwards to wingers.

Can't get decent ratings for any of my players, striker is scoring as advanced forward but again mostly from long shots, rare to have one on ones.

Have a DMC or anchor man, then central midfielder on automatic and advanced playmaker on support.

Might change it to wingers on support, playmaker on attack and central midfielder on attack and get some bodies on end of crosses.

[Quinby]

Heath i actually thought with the salary cap its harder with finances coz of the low restrictions.

With the Marquees does the game just pick automatically the highest earner and exclude him from the cap? Or can u assign a player who u dont want to be included in the cap? the first way i said was the way in previous FMs. The Mariners in real life are know for their good youth recreuitment and are currently building are new top class training facility. (not sure if it could be implemented in the game or not).

With the weather...yes in aus we play during the spring, summer and autumn so pitch conditions should be awesome. But watch out for high temperatures where players could fatigue faster.

Also in real life the mariners are know to be one of the only few clubs to record a profit each financial yr- the other being the Victory (My team)

[GylfiAsCharged]

Fantastic thread Heath, I managed to take Tonbridge Angels from the Ryman League to the Champions League in CM2010, but I wasn't sure about how to do it on FM. This has been really helpful, thanks again.

My only issue is strikers. Although I've scored 17 goals and conceded none in my 3 pre-season games, my strikers are finishing atrociously. I have Benjamin Martha who is yet to score, and Alassane Mendy who has scored 6 in 3 but missed about a million sitters, neither Viola nor Laslandes were interested in joining. Does anyone have any suggestions?