Morphiushell Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 HI, I am hoping I can get some help. I am Rangers and I thought that I had cracked it with my tactic. this is how I have the team set out. 4-2-4: Standard, Short passing Zonal Marking GK - whatever the default is LB - FB - Auto CB - Central Defender - Defend CB - Central Defender - Defend RB - FB - Auto RCM - Advanced Playmaker - Support LCM - Deeplying Playmaker - Support AMR - Inside Forward - Attack (currently played 11 scored 10) AML - Inside Forward - Attack RST - Deep Forward - Support (Jelavic currently played 20 scored 21) LST - Advanced Forward - Attack (Goodwillie currently played 11 scored 15) After 16 games in the season I had one 15 and drawn one. I found myself 10 points above Celtic. After roughly 16 games in the season I am in December and this is where everything begins to go down hill. The same happened to me last year and lastnight a couple games after the 16 mark my team started to struggle. Now I know this is due to the weather and probally because I play short passing. I have read that playing direct in the winter is good but my team just don't seem to play well when I change to direct. How are others coping with the winter months in this game what changes do you make? I was thinking that I should create two copes of my tactic in match prep one with short passing and one more direct what do you think? I tried something different myself lastnight through the first half of the season I had my match prep set to Team Blend most of the time and changing it to attacking movement now and again. I chose Defensive positioning last night and played more like I did the first half of the season. I am thinking now that teams are sitting back trying to frustrate me and hit me on the counter etc doing this will allow me to play the same as usual but at the same time keeping it tight in defense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myth0logy Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 Playing a more direct game out of nowhere can upset the rhythm and flow of your team which the players are not used to. If you want to play more direct at least make sure you have that tactic set up in match preparation and are more familiar with it. You don't necessarily need to change your tactic just because it's winter. If its snowing - then you may want to tinker it, but you don't necessarily need to make wholesale changes, especially as you were winning so many games before. The effect of snow is that the ball is harder to control and short passes can be less accurate. I usually play the same tactic even if the weather is bad, but I do tinker it. If players have low stamina they can often suffer and play poorly in very poor conditions so may change 1 or 2 players and you may need to sub some players earlier than you would usually. I also play short passing. In team instructions you can set passing to "More Direct" - your players will still look for short passes, but at the same time it will be more direct. You can also use touchline instructions "get the ball forward" will also make it more direct. If you use "pass to feet" it may help increase the accuracy of short passes. Look at the match analysis and match stats and try to see what changes you have noticed, where the other team is being effective - you will then have a much clearer idea of what you need to change. In snow, I generally find it harder to carve out chances. Sometimes I try and play at least 1 big man upfront so I don't just have to rely on pace (and accurate through balls) to get goals - it's another dimension. I may also set match preparation to "attacking set pieces" - again another area where I might get goals. Team Blend helps you team play as a unit, it's most effective when a lot of new players have come into the squad. In December they probably play pretty well as a unit already. Attacking movement will help you carve our more chances in open play, defensive positioning will help you concede less goals from open play. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphiushell Posted June 15, 2011 Author Share Posted June 15, 2011 Playing a more direct game out of nowhere can upset the rhythm and flow of your team which the players are not used to. If you want to play more direct at least make sure you have that tactic set up in match preparation and are more familiar with it.You don't necessarily need to change your tactic just because it's winter. If its snowing - then you may want to tinker it, but you don't necessarily need to make wholesale changes, especially as you were winning so many games before. The effect of snow is that the ball is harder to control and short passes can be less accurate. I usually play the same tactic even if the weather is bad, but I do tinker it. If players have low stamina they can often suffer and play poorly in very poor conditions so may change 1 or 2 players and you may need to sub some players earlier than you would usually. I also play short passing. In team instructions you can set passing to "More Direct" - your players will still look for short passes, but at the same time it will be more direct. You can also use touchline instructions "get the ball forward" will also make it more direct. If you use "pass to feet" it may help increase the accuracy of short passes. Look at the match analysis and match stats and try to see what changes you have noticed, where the other team is being effective - you will then have a much clearer idea of what you need to change. In snow, I generally find it harder to carve out chances. Sometimes I try and play at least 1 big man upfront so I don't just have to rely on pace (and accurate through balls) to get goals - it's another dimension. I may also set match preparation to "attacking set pieces" - again another area where I might get goals. Team Blend helps you team play as a unit, it's most effective when a lot of new players have come into the squad. In December they probably play pretty well as a unit already. Attacking movement will help you carve our more chances in open play, defensive positioning will help you concede less goals from open play. Ok I think I will try adding the same tactic to match prep with direct passing. Yea I just find it weird that my team is nearly unstoppable until the middle of the season where its a struggle for me to get anything out of games. I find that the more I change during the game the worse my team gets. I might need to monitor the stats of the opposition and see what they are doing to cope with the weather and see if I can do some of the same. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stemlfc65 Posted June 15, 2011 Share Posted June 15, 2011 It's a common topic on these forums. The best way to avoid mid season slumps is to tweak your tactics now and again. Teams become used to playing against you and find ways of preventing your superstar AMC from pulling the strings or your ST bagging a brace. I beat AC Milan 2 - 0 at home with my Inter side, but drew with lowly Cagliari the next game. Just because you can beat the best doesn't mean you're a good manager. I find tweaking now and again, maybe keeping the ball a bit more, or changing types of crosses, giving your full backs license to get forward more and keep them back in position, swapping positions with players, such as strikers makes them harder to man mark. As for weather conditions, if the pitch is horrendous and water logged, a big man up there will help. I normally have Dzeko but seeing as City bought him I won't be getting him any time soon. As for snow, I haven't had all that much trouble with it. I find I don't have to change much but like the posters before me said, attacking set pieces can really help. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super Bladesman Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Personally, I've always struggled when it comes to December as the games start coming thick and fast - especially over Christmas. I was relying on 'condition', and thinking that it was OK to try to get by on players who were on 90 - 92%, if I tried to sub them later in the game. However, when I added in the column 'Fitness', I noticed that many of these players were actually listed as 'tired' or 'very tired'. I now rest them, and bring my best youth players in to help out. Also, in bad or wet conditions I usually use the shout 'Get Ball Forward' (and occasionally 'Shoot on Sight') to try and adapt. I've definitely seen a big improvement following these simple changes. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
st3mellor Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Can you watch the match in full, or at least in extended highlights and see what is happening. At a guess, the teams around you were playing more open at the beginning of the season, you then hammered them all, so they begin to tighten up around the midfield (probably playing counter or defensive strategies). A suggestion could be that your formation is too attacking for this. Your wingers look too far forward and are constantly being closed down. Being more defensive could be an option, so you could try bringing your wingers back and playing them on a wide midfield/Support setting. This would reduce forward runs and mean that they can get on the ball and then look to hurt the opposition with their dribbling/passing skills. Are you having regular team meetings with your staff? When I have problems, quite often suggestions are made for new PPMs. My staff suggested my wingers learn "Comes deep to collect the ball." I started training and moved them further back and now they are the focal points of all my attacks. Also, if I suspect that the AI is using a defensive strategy I normally use a Control strategy. I don't use attacking as I find the team becomes too direct and is broken easily. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphiushell Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Ok looking at things last night I am not sure if the weather is causing me the problems. The opposition is getting a lot of interceptions that could be due to the weather but I think its more down to them parking the bus and hitting on the counter. I thought about going out the way I normally do but apply the shouts Play Wider, Pass to feet and possibly push up. do you think this will help against teams parking the bus. My thoughts are playing wider will help pull more of there players out from the middle of the pitch giving me more room to play, pass to feet to help with the accuracy of my passes and cut out interceptions and push up to squeez them as they are sitting deep. What do you think? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphiushell Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 first half of the season my AML & AMR were set to Inside Forwards and now I am thinking if they are parking the bus tightening the centre of the pitch I might find more joy changing the AML & AMR to wingers in an attempt to stretch their defense. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
warm Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Ok looking at things last night I am not sure if the weather is causing me the problems. The opposition is getting a lot of interceptions that could be due to the weather but I think its more down to them parking the bus and hitting on the counter.I thought about going out the way I normally do but apply the shouts Play Wider, Pass to feet and possibly push up. do you think this will help against teams parking the bus. My thoughts are playing wider will help pull more of there players out from the middle of the pitch giving me more room to play, pass to feet to help with the accuracy of my passes and cut out interceptions and push up to squeez them as they are sitting deep. What do you think? I had the same problem, but then I changed the mentality of the team from control to standard or even counter at home and then used contain when I was away. It seemed to buck the trend. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morphiushell Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 well I have been playing on Standard so possibly changing to control,counter or even defensive might help me against the teams in the middle of the season Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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