Caveman Tactics -Tikanaccio

[Rashidi]

Well this is what I plan, i would have loved to dedicate this thread to Sfraser, but i doubt it will even deserve that cos the amount of effort i am gonna put into it is nowhere close to my historical past.

Goal

Develop successful Tikanccio tactics. HA! I dont see that word on the forums. Basically Tikanccio refers to Spanish style "defensive" football, in fact if anyone even bothered to go through the history of all the threads here WE PREDICTED THIS KINDA FOOTBALL long before Spain made it famous. I swear VDB reads SI forums. I shall use the tactical creator and the custom editor to make the tactics and will make a false 10 tactic and one that employs the double pivot. In case i lost some of you, the false 10 is basically playing without an out and out striker and the double pivot refers to spains use of 2 defensive midfielders. Tried uploading some images but its proving to be a right royal pain in the ass since i am on my laptop, suffice it to say one of the 2 DMs will act more like a playmaker who will make some forward runs

Methodology

I plan to use the tactical creator to make a few tactics and also use the custom editor as well. I will not be using tactical presets that were common for me in the past even though my royal lazy ass says go for it. The goal is to try and use the game and its tool to achieve my goal of playing Tikanccio football.

Understanding Tikanaccio

Why Tikanaccio because of Catenaccio..Spain essentially plays a pressing DEFENSIVE game. The dominate midfield with a double pivot, not a classic double pivot by any imagination, where you would see two holding midfielders, but one which is more creative. I will endeavour to attach some pictures i have of this in action and expand on this. But for now Alonso and Busquets play by dominating midfield and forming a little triangle with their AM who should have been David Villa, but this position got filled by Cesc Fabregas because VDB wanted to form a closer linkage between him and the 2 DMs. You don usually find Alonso and Busquets playing truly alongside each other throughout the match, they do it in phases. Sometimes one plays off another if they are attacking or they drop back deeper. The tight DMs and the two excellent DCs form a foursome if needed..and sometimes one of the DMs makes limited forward runs. And when the fullbacks go rampaging you will find them holding the middle of the park. This usually results in very high Hey this formation aint new..Mourinho used it to some effect with inter, even Fergie employed a strikerless formation once when he had ronaldo, rooney and that third player i cant quite remember..i aint a Utd fan, but yeah.

The Spanish system of play appears to be boring cos they endeavour to hold onto the ball when they have possession and make it really hard for the opposing team to gain any ground. When they have the ball they dont risk giving it away and they wait patiently playing rondo football waiting for the other team to make mistakes. Against Italy who played a tactically good game, Spain dominated by playing to their strengths. Spain showed that Tikanaccio football doesnt have to be boring..yeah it is for the other team cos they cant get the ball. For me watching a team tactically carve another team open is my version of the beautiful game.

In attack Spain employ a basic trinity of players who exploit channels running in from deep. To find Cesc, Iniesta and Silva, the teams movement and off the ball running has to be excellent. And its supported by 2 fullbacks who make strong runs down the flanks..Arbeloa was less adventurous. Defensively the team prefers a high pressing game that starts from their inside forwards, and ends with their fullbacks. With the double pivot its really hard to break down the middle, any attacks down the flank can be exploited by quick brutal counterattacks. Remember what VDB did when Blanc decided to give it a go in the final minutes of the game? He brought on Torres, effectively adding pace up front and a true striker. So thats basically Tiknaccio. Yeah and its my interpretation and frankly i dont care if others disagree..we all live to agree to disagree....peacefully.c

Tikanccio in FM2012

Ok lets be honest its gonna be bloody hard, but i wouldnt have returned to this game if it was easy eh?

First premise when you are trying to make a technically difficult tactic, please use a decent to good team. So I pick Liverpool. Its better when you are trying something you arent very confident at with a team that at least has a chance of putting your tactics to the test. I could have chosen Barca but that would have been to easy...oh and I WONT BE UPLOADING TACTICS. You can burn an effigy for all i care it aint happening.

update..

I have already set up Liverpool with 2 tactics, the first was a false 9 tactic where i basically played a 460 formation, its actually a 442, instead of 2 strikers they are both AMs using the tactical creator i set it to VERY FLUID cos that would keep mentalities level. Its set up to CONTROL. A few changes i made were to passing ...the whole team is set to 1. Its also set to wide. This should force the players to move the ball a bit..it did work first 3 games into the season i have won 3 lost none conceded none. I didnt change sliders and such other than that and was employing several shouts. Pass ball into space, overlap runs, and press higher. Seemed to work fine. Gonna have a go with a 4231 Takneccio soon in our next game.

I will update more once i get consistency but for all intents and purposes its working. The one thing i am finding is that mentality still affects positioning to some extent but it plays a more encompassing role with other instructions and a players attributes BUT ITS NOT THE BE ALL for positioning If i put a player on 1 and 20 there is visually no difference, but its when they have the ball and in WHICH phase the attack is in that you see the positional change, it was something i was screaming for back in 2008 and i am ecstatic to see this happen..more to come i hope..or this thread dies cos i am having too much fun

[R0ca]

Will be keeping Tabs on this for sure

Personally I upload to imageshack they don't tend to delete the images i upload. And i can just copy the forum code which will insert the image perfectly.

[Rashidi]

This is the formation i am trying to recreate with Liverpool and this is what Spain look like when they use it

I started the season with a less ambitious attempt largely one without strikers, using just the tactical creator, and while it isnt hard it isnt exactly what i wanted it to be. In my next match I will be playing Chelsea at home we did draw our last match against Spurs away and although we dominated possession i still feel like tweaking the tactic for the chelsea game and make it a lot more different. I find that the tactical creator has some settings which employ TIGHT MARKING too liberally. I want a tactic that is fluid, yet dominant. I do expect to face myself open to quick counters down the flanks and liverpool don have a fantastic team in terms of depth. 3 matches in and i have already lost 3 first team players. I did sign a striker at the start of the season and didnt make any other roster changes. Against chelsea I plan to play in the style of Spain.

Against Chelsea my formation will be a fluid one with a control setup, and thats where it all ends. I will also adjust the passing sliders to set it to one for all the defenders and fullbacks and one of the defensive midfielders who will be set to short passing. For that position I will employ S Gerrard and keep him at the back and put Nur Sahin as the other defensive midfielder. Nur Sahin has more attacking than defensive attributes, but the DM on the left side of the pitch is meant to make some forward runs too. So the goal is to make Gerrard and Nur Sahin play off each other. In the AMC position I will set up Joe Allen. Now hes been set up as advanced playmaker, but i will remove his Roam settings and get him to stay in the pocket. The two wingfowards have been given FWR often and RWB often and are set to roam. The central striker is given FWR/RWb to sometimes. I will pop up screenshots of these settings later, atm these are thoughts in me head and i am actually lying on my couch as i type this. Knee operations do something to ur mobility after awhile

Passing instructions are gonna be 1 for the entire defensive setup. The offensive grp of players will all be set to direct passing. Direct passing imho is a far better option in attack, however ordinarily i would still use 1 for all. But I am playing CHELSEA who have a narrow midfield in my game. This should allow me to get between the midfield and fullbacks pretty fast. Whilst i want as to play tikanccio in defense against Chelsea i want the option to strike back fast. I havent made any changes to corner and throw in routines, though i do find only have 2 stay back on corners esp if you are an attacking setup to be pretty risker. I usu have 3 back.

The TC tends to set TIGHT MARKING and MAN MARKING up for me to. Its something I detest. I dont like that option. If i decide to go defensive i may opt to go back in and set it up individually. I have given the Tactical Creator a decent go but i still prefer my style of football. The tactical creator does work, i just want the games to look more personal. Furthermore after makign all these adjustments i will need to rule out some tactical shouts. And i will need to make a mental list of them and add them here when i am done.

For now this is my plan to make my team look and play the spanish image up top

[higgins]

I'm playing a similar formation with Peterborough Utd, just started my third season now, this is my basic shape:

A classic stopper/cover, two supporting full back, two holding men/interceptors in the middle of the pitch, one adv. playmaker in the hole, two attacking wide men playing asymmetrically and a sort of retreating forward upfront, all my players are on zonal marking.

I'm using it since year one with good results, developed using the TC as a starting point then tweaked many players settings, we use a short passing system with a quite high d-line, trying to control the game (as much as we can!) without being too offensive (more or less a standard mentality).

These are the stats from a recent game vs. Liverpool where we won 2-1:

...and our classic shape when we have the ball:

[Rashidi]

Ok heres the update the formation i've been using is its pretty much a deeper one than the one higgins posted..The one i've been using is more orthodox. Whether it works out in the long run will be interesting

How this lines up in game is pretty much what i had planned

Upfront for Spain the wingforwards tend to get more latitude to do the things they do, so they've been set to Roam and Cut Inside. I started with the Tactical Creator and then reconfigured some of the settings. Upfront my striker is Cavani and in this next screenshot you should see Downing cutting in and Cavani takes up his position. Exactly how i wanted it to play...

These are some of the settings i modified: ( will follow in next post, apparently the boards have a LIMIT!!!!!)

My first half stats were impressive to say the least 70% possession and 3 goals to the good, So i did WHAT NO MANAGER SHOULD DO, i let the match play itself out and went to make lunch. By the time i got back we were playing with 10 man, my striker had gotten injured in the match for god knows how long and we had finished the game 4-3. Apparently the AI did some major changes in the second half. LOL this should be good, now FM wants me to stay and watch the whole game..no more leave the manager on holiday settings.

My goal was to have the player in Nur Sahin's positon be the playmaker making all the passes and essentially orchestrating as much from midfield as possible.

I will be doing more of this in the near future..i just wanted to show that if you KNOW what you want and how u want your players to play its not entirely hard

[Rashidi]

These are the settings i used and how i reconfigured some of them

[higgins]

Did you set Sahin to be your main playmaker?

[Rashidi]

Yeah he was set as a deep lying playmaker though i have modified his settings slightly, no cross ball, no long shots, run from deep often marking is zonal and tight marking is off. Yeah i do know the effect of these changes. Defensively he wont be tight so i don expect to see him stick like glue when people run through the middle. The idea is not to close down hard its too make sure the passing lines are blocked, forcing play to the outside. I have another play maker in Joe Allen whos set to advanced playmaker but the default settings arent what i like. So i will be changing these too to make sure he sticks in the hole

I kinda like what i have done..the team when in possession passes the ball patiently along the backline and then moves it up. We do get high amounts of ball possession in our defensive third and in midfield but the AI does adapt to these changes in the second half.

[Rashidi]

Alright time for some changes. The corner kick routines are annoying. I am more concerned about attacking a corner than i am of defending one. Two V One situations usually almost ALWAYS results in the opposing side getting control of the ball. So i should keep 3 back at all times and change the routine to include one to lurk outside area. That should fix things up. The changes to the two playmakers seem to be working. Joe Allen has been moved to the DMCL slot which is meant to be the deep lying playmaker and he strung 64 passes in our Europa game at home where we had 64% possession against a very defensive side in Dinamo. Small changes still need to be played. As long as i have a full fit squad we should be ok..

[ShirazS]

I'm playing a similar formation with Peterborough Utd, just started my third season now, this is my basic shape:

A classic stopper/cover, two supporting full back, two holding men/interceptors in the middle of the pitch, one adv. playmaker in the hole, two attacking wide men playing asymmetrically and a sort of retreating forward upfront, all my players are on zonal marking.

I'm using it since year one with good results, developed using the TC as a starting point then tweaked many players settings, we use a short passing system with a quite high d-line, trying to control the game (as much as we can!) without being too offensive (more or less a standard mentality).

These are the stats from a recent game vs. Liverpool where we won 2-1:

...and our classic shape when we have the ball:

Sorry to go off-topic here but could you tell me what skin that is?

[higgins]

Sorry to go off-topic here but could you tell me what skin that is?

It's called The Silence.

[axehan1]

I'm playing a similar formation with Peterborough Utd, just started my third season now, this is my basic shape:

A classic stopper/cover, two supporting full back, two holding men/interceptors in the middle of the pitch, one adv. playmaker in the hole, two attacking wide men playing asymmetrically and a sort of retreating forward upfront, all my players are on zonal marking.

I'm using it since year one with good results, developed using the TC as a starting point then tweaked many players settings, we use a short passing system with a quite high d-line, trying to control the game (as much as we can!) without being too offensive (more or less a standard mentality).

These are the stats from a recent game vs. Liverpool where we won 2-1:

...and our classic shape when we have the ball:

your aml/r play a lot close to the dlf then mine ever do.Both of mine are set to cut inside but seem to get the ball in wide areas and then try to cut in instead of already moving inside ready to receive a pass.When you have the ball is that the position your aml/r always take?if so how do you manage that?

[higgins]

your aml/r play a lot close to the dlf then mine ever do.Both of mine are set to cut inside but seem to get the ball in wide areas and then try to cut in instead of already moving inside ready to receive a pass.When you have the ball is that the position your aml/r always take?if so how do you manage that?

Are you using the same tactical shape? My amr is set to cut inside, while the left one should play closer to the left line. Have in mind that in the screenie I posted our move started from the right side of the pitch, so my left winger plays closer to my striker than usual.

Other settings like width and players ppm's could have a role as well, don't forget that "cut inside" is a "with the ball" instruction.

[Rashidi]

Woohoo I love this.As I type this we are up against Reading at Anfield and they are playin a 4-2-2-2, with an AML and AMR. The moment I saw that formation I realized my attacking fullbacks will cause ME defensive problems. Possession may also be an issue since so much of the play will go down the flanks. And since I am fairly high up yeah my two DMCs may not be as influential.So I change certain things:Set fullbacks to RFD mixed, tempo down to slow, passing of attacking group set to 1. Only my playmakers have direct passing. Maintaining our shape will be impt, the 4222 was my favorite formation against human players in FMLive and it was devastating. But once you nullify the flanks it's all about possession and the middle of the park. My greatest concern will be my high d-line. Coupled with my mentality it will be risky.It's interesting that this formation has been churned out, I have to admit I did not expect it to come so soon. I may set my fullbacks to MM if their AMs prove problematic. My squad is thin but this should be fun.The more I play the game the more I gravitate towards a mix of tactical creator and customization. I like it, but I can see how this will be an issue for newer players who want to have fantastic tactics playing colorful football. Thing is the tactical creator is a great starting point, much like how I used to upload presets for people. It's still nice to play. There are some dodgy engine stuff, near post corner routines seem to play like an exploit.

[higgins]

near post corner routines seem to play like an exploit.

An old bug that is still here, I hope they fixed it for Fm13

[Rashidi]

Yeah I avoided exploiting it cos it aint fun..the match against Reading was interesting. I kept to my basic shape and did little more than adjust tempo most of the time. We were patient in buildup and dominant in possession. Created plenty of opportunities through the middle and managed also to drop behind their fullback line.

[Rashidi]

Next match a 3-1win over Manchester City who were favorites to win. 54% possession there. In our latest game we were up against the geordies at anfield. No changes made to tactics in fact this time all i did was change subs in game. We have lost 3 players including gerrard to long term injuries forcing us to play with players out of position at times

What i liked was the sheer amount of chances created inside the box, the score should have been 12-0 but then that seems to be liverpools plight in real life as well

[jaycar]

Loving this thread Good to have you back Rashidi

[Rashidi]

Long sequence of matches, notice how they have incorporated blending into team management and how if a team uses the same formation they get better at it over time. I havent really done any tweaks in games except for subbing ppl. I havent even played aroudn with dlines as well. In our last game the movement to score the goal was fantastic and even though we only scored one goal and created countless chances, the opposing team was playing more dangerously than other teams. Ordinarily i would change things around, but kept the game going on key highlights..Liverpool has no depth. Fired most of theri scouts, staff and rehired with a goal of scouting under 21s into the side. This team definitely needs more ppl. They don even have a keeper to challenge Reina.

[Rashidi]

You gotta love it when a plan comes together ;-)

[jimbobBRFC]

You gotta love it when a plan comes together ;-)

Possesion stats are a little poor though

[Rashidi]

i'll take a score of 4-1 and 45% over 70% and a 1-0 scoreline esp when its against Utd, who couldnt hit a barn door standing 5 feet away..lol

Oh and btw ...halfway through the season, we had one defeat and that was more due to me not even being able to field a side that was match fit, half my team were at 80% condition or worse. So i had to modify the routines and take a more hands on approach to training. The club management did a reassessment of our goals and i smiled back and said i would get them the title, and got handed a 57million kitty...wow. twas that easy..I am increasingly playng more games on commentary. I don feel the need to change tactics now or make adjustments. I am now more focused on training players and planning a raid on youngsters in the Jan window. After my season is done with Liverpool I will retire or opt to move to a smaller really small small club..and return to my fav ...LLM

I find the tactical creator and the custom creator are fun to use. There is more detail, and what i do hope is that clubs have more ambition and desire. The AI has adapted to my formations by throwing up some really strange shapes, however we have hardly ever changed our style of play. The one time i did change my formation was to use a false 10 against Arsenal. We conceded off a horrendous error from Reina; whom i have lost patience with. That goal came off 2 mins and though we managed to equalise our poor match conditioning and having 3 first teamers out made a huge difference. We lost that game 2-1 but have bounced back with 9 straight wins.

[andrjam]

Great thread Rashidi1 I am playing with a near identical set up atm, one question though mate whats your opinion on distributing Creative Freedom amongst the 11 players?

[yonko]

i'll take a score of 4-1 and 45% over 70% and a 1-0 scoreline esp when its against Utd, who couldnt hit a barn door standing 5 feet away..lol

Why would you though if you are trying to replicate Spain's tactic? Their tactic is set up to happily take a 1-0 win with 70% possession......

[Rashidi]

@andrjam yeah I will stick up the creative freedom settings later when I get access. My attacking playmaker has max cf from what I remember, my forward line of 3 have around 75% and the rest are on 10. I will screenie it when I can.Team blending now definitely plays a more distinctive role in the game. In my first few games, we spent more time passing the bal. around the back, 20 games in and the possession looks much better. Key highlights often show us moving the ball around the opponents half. Only 2 games this season have ended with 50 or less % possession and in most cases this was down to either match conditioning or putting in players with lower attributes than the regulars.I am getting lazy and have stopped paying attention to detail. That one defeat to Arsenal was particularly hard to take. So we've signed 4 18 year olds and a new keeper. This shall be the spine of the reserves.

[Rashidi]

 <br><br>These are my creative freedom settings, these are much higher than what other people may usually put, but if i am to play a predominantly possession based tactic I also need to be able to score goals and that only comes with the creative use of space. I have seen backheels into space, side step passes. Switching of wing play to exploit an attacking fullback surging into space. Setting up the right sliders is important if you want to set up a really good performance. We've now gone 10 games without conceding a goal, 2/3 down the track and only 1 draw and 1 loss is our only blemish.<br><br>Whilst its almost impossible for the the DMC to slot perfectly between the 2 centrebacks to create what would effectively be a 3 man defense, I dont find it critical enough to be an issue. I can see that happening if I play a high defensive line and stretch the pitch out, but i much prefer this..its nice to watch and there is some fantastic interplay btwn the two DMCs. <br><br>Its very possible to have 2 playmakers in the same team. And there are times when my DLP comes up to join in the attack, and you can still see the APM bossing the midfield. I keep generating bossing midfield as one of the remarks after a match. I'll prob start another save under more interesting conditions later

[higgins]

I always found a bit dangerous leaving too much creative freedom to my rearguard, of course you have some good defenders with nice mental skills so it could be worthwhile.

[andrjam]

Rashidi, thanks for taking the time out to post mate, I have been using high creative freedom on my DLP (in the DM position) for the tail end of last season and through this pre season, and even though he has a mentality setting of 6 which is the last setting of defensive I think, coupled with mixed RFD its great to see him making space for himself in his own half and even popping up in attacking positions deep in the final third to receive a pass, where as before reading this thread I was of the set mind if I were to use a DLP in a DM position then he HAD to "sit deep" no matter what with restricted CF and RFD which looking back on this it totally limits his movement, Hopefully I can post up some screenshots of the two DM and AMC to illustrate this later on

[chatlach]

hi rashid1 can you share your players role for formation ?

[andrjam]

Just use fluid control philosophy and use the screen shots posted you can basically make the tactic(s) from the information provided mate

[Rashidi]

Personally I prefer higher creative freedom settings, but I reckon our success has gotten to my players heads..after going on a huge unbeaten run after losing to arsenal we started fumblng 12 wins later. Losing to newcastle in the league and then suffering the outrage of being kicked out of the FA cup by the Geordies in the very next game. A 2 nil win over Swansea did little for us as we succumbed to QPR away in the next game.

I had already stopped micromanaging my team, seeking instead to end the season as quickly as i could. I guess that was my downfall. When i started looking at FULL GAME FOOTAGE again, i realized that most of my players were playing with TOO much confidence, resulting in some rather outrageous moves including dcs attempting 2km long tru balls, when not set to them, or backheeling their way out of trouble when defending.

While I love creative freedom and think its almost necessary in any free flowing formation which requires possession to break down a team, I also feel that we should be careful on assigning it. I even had a DM who was upset cos he wasnt getting a game, i bring him on and he promptly decides to join in attacks! (someone forgot to tell him he doesnt do attacking) Now I dont mind seeing all this when we are leading 2-0, but when sides do this too often, i get concerned. So what i have started doing with 8 matches left in the season, is to reduce CF on my defensive group to 8. My attacking fullback will remain at 12, and my attackers will stick to their settings.

Oh yeah and in case people are wondering about my settings, I started the season on CONTROL and use a fluid setup, but I make a lot of minor adjustments to the setup. The tactical creator needs to be UNDERSTOOD, mindlessly copying someones settings isnt going to make ur team play wunderbar football. In fact i daresay your season could collapse. What i have stopped doing is uploading tactics, I dont know if i ever will, cos my threads hope to share with people how i manage a seasons play.

To combat my sudden apparent slump and with the Europa Semis on the horizon, I will be doing private chats with key players, furthermore i plan to do general as well as specific team talks. Team talks seem to have a big impact on games. My training regime needs a good look in as well, cos i havent done in training analyses and i really miss SFrasers inputs. So few training gurus left now.

Once Liverpool win the title i will either resign or start a new save with a spanish side that is in a low league...any recommendations?

Note to myself: START MICROMANAGING OR UTD WILL PIP US

[chatlach]

thank you rashid1 , i try your mentality and i think it works meanwhile i choose my own player roles like wingers or inside forwards..

meanwhile what do you think about closing down and roaming ? i play with more press and more roaming..

also i have some problems with ball possesion.. i can't dominate

[andrjam]

thank you rashid1 , i try your mentality and i think it works meanwhile i choose my own player roles like wingers or inside forwards..

meanwhile what do you think about closing down and roaming ? i play with more press and more roaming..

also i have some problems with ball possesion.. i can't dominate

Dont expect to dominate all the time mate depends on if your a weaker team etc many factors come into play

[Rashidi]

Agreed. People ask me about closing down a lot, apparently there is a visual bias towards closing down and you often see this when people actually watch the real game. If you see someone with the ball, there is a natural inclination to go, "close him down". It doesnt always work. A team that does a lot of pressing and closing down can also end up being outta position a lot. Personally my closing down instructions are set to how I personally prefer to play the game. They arent low but they do enough to close out lines of passes.

I think i posted my closing down instructions up top. And my roaming is limited only to the 4 players in the team whom i have elected to create chances. This would be my strike team of AMs and ST. Tempo also plays an important part. Too high and you often see passages of play which indicate players are just swinging at chances. Too low and you give the other team too much time to get back into position to defend.

A lot of what you do depends on what you have in hand. My team was selected with determination and stamina in mind. I chose players who would play the full 90 mins even when their condition drops to 50%. Domination of passing depends on how willing you are to micro manage. This may even include you having to use opposition instructions, to specifically target one of their players to prevent them from having a big influence on a game.

When i play i have this on my screen.

Detailed Match Stats..these tell me what i need to know in terms of penetration

Formations-- If they change or plan on doing sth, it shows esp when one of their players is injured and they cant take him off

Shouts- yeah i do use shouts, but my shouts arent the ones that affect passing length and closing down, since these are set up by me

Player Ratings - home and away

Home - After 50 mins anyone who isnt 7.0 and is playing in a key role of mine is shortlisted for subs, this naturally depends on how my gameplan is going.

Away - Key passers in their team playing in a central position are targetted if needed

Pay attention to as well to stuff like comparing opposite positions For instance, my fullback is up against their winger. If my fullback has lower ratings than their winger, i start paying attention to whether hes being skinned or not. If his pace is greater than i may elect to sub him or go tight and man or push up my defensive line. I never press more. You cant really close down a player with greater pace, you can really only deny them space and time to receive the pass. By pushing up my DL i run the risk of being caught out, but i increase the possibility of interceptions. Knowing if your players can play to that role is impt. In any league all u need to do is to compare your players attributes to the opposing team and then know what the benchmark should be for the average/best in the league. This is something i always do.

What one needs to do is to understand things in parts first. When i first started playing this game all i did was focus on attacking movement. All i did was learn how to make a dot do what i wanted. It took a while, then i started focusing on defending styles. The best way to play this game is to come up with a style that is easier for yourself to understand. IMHO KISS is a great philosophy. If u keep everything simple while u are trying to master the game you will get a handle on it.

[Rashidi]

Successful season over now:

Games Lost 3, drawn 2.

League Champions, League Cup Winners, Europa Cup Winners, PFA Players Player of the Year winners, Manager of the year winners, FA Cup 6th round.

Towards the end of the season, games became harder more due to the lack of depth in the squad and my stubbornness not to adjust my training regime. With 2 weeks left i should have just stopped training or adjusted the load, with games coming thick and fast we ended up having players starting games with 78% conditioning. It wasnt ideal.

It appears to me that its not hard getting a potentially good side to become league champions, by my reckoning these teams can all be champions within the first season: Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham, Swansea and even Everton. The only reason why one would struggle to make their sides perform is a lack of micro management during games or a lack of depth in the squad.

Its important that:

a. Change your backroom staff, make sure they are all GOOD coaches, GOOD physios and GOOD scouts, by good anything below 15 in the primary attribute is unacceptable

b. Have two formations, but stick to one for the majority of the season, till your players become familiar, having the reserves use the same formation helps a lot with blending

c. Dont be afraid to micromanage, but understand why you do what. Important things to manage include:

- Tactical Shouts or sliders ..these include changing dlines and tempo. The two things I spent the most amount of time changing.

- I have even dropped by SC to join the midfielders and played with a false 10 formation, esp in matches where i wanted to wear the other team down before putting on my fast wingers

- Personal chats to players, use stuff like "who do u reckon will win the Player of the Year" to pitch your striker. My striker was banging in the goals but 2/3 way into the season he hit a slump and the whole squad had a lack of confidence. I reduced their CF and ttb and then told the press that my striker was hot fav, we came out of our 4 match slump and returned to the top of the table.

- Manage the players training ..isolate key players who need to work on aspects of their game esp if they are your KEY players for the creative end of the game

- Match preparation is important at the start of the season, but keep it balanced, once they have gotten familiar reduce the load and pay attention to training

There is more ..but these were the key areas i was focused on..now i plan to resign and head to spain

[Rashidi]

Well i've started a new save in Spain with a side called Roquetas after scouting around for a team that was bound for relegation within the lowest tier i could find without using an editor. First steps..

Basically went through the squad and culled as many as i could possibly find that did not match my expectations, determination and stamina being the top priority. With a baseline attribute of 9 anything lower would be gone..exceptions would be made for positions where a player had better attributes in other areas like decisions for example in an AMC pm role

Randomly picked like 30 players for trial, if i was a more devoted LLM player it would have been close to 50, attended the Spain Trial day and basically added 10 players to the roster. My average age when i start the season will be 19, and i shall see how that goes.

Our first real friendly test was against Prima Liga Almeria...at least i still think they are there...we held em 1-1. The revolution begins here. And i don plan on updating so much but will continue to apply possession based tactics with them, though some of the settings may change. Probably the only one i MAY change are the direct passing conditions. But we seemed to outperform Almeria the longer the game went on.

[Rashidi]

- No player tipping will be done *** so please dont recommend players **** thank you.

Alright so basically this is what I have done

First days on the job

- Fired Training Staff..anyone who was below 12 in a primary attribute was sacked. Since LL clubs don have a huge budget, I had to be savvy at finding the right 3 coaches.

- After my first friendly game i went off and did a major trial session...i think i ended up trialling 100 players and attended the Spanish "Open Day" of sorts my squads final look had more players in there with my primary attribute for the team Determination. I consider this the most important attribute in the game by a country mile. All other attributes are irrelevant if a player has low determination and this is even more glaring in lower league football

- Modifications to the tactic i used with Liverpool

a. Creative freedom reduced further but not by much..its more or less just one or two notches less

b. Passing instructions..everyone who is either in Support or Defend is set to 1. The rest are first notch of direct

c. Attacking instructions are still the same TTB is still the same, the logic is simple: If you are playing in a league where all other teams are relative to you. Then you can use the same slider settings for things that involve tactical instructions such as ttb and rfd. Unless you face a side that is in another division the disparity in performances wont be so evident

d.Formation changed slightly : DMs moved to orthodox MC position but with same instructions. Logic here is I find that players are not as good technically so you cant really have 2 distinct teams in one, a defending and an attacking team, plus with the 2 MCs further up the pitch my movement of the ball wont be so driven through the middle, as it is when i have 2 DMs. In the the 2 DMs formation, my DMs typically do double the passes of the rest of the team, but here i dont want the same till we start moving up divisions.

Odds on Relegation favorites

I have been told by someone in SI that i shouldnt be able to do what i used to be able to do which is successful consecutive promotions culminating in a maiden premier division title in the first season at the top. So I am relishing the challenge, but this will mean i need to pay more attention to ingame details which means there will be less frequent updates.

In order for me to maximise my chances:

- Make sure in every game i start my tactical shouts are done in the pre match team talk stage, instead of my usual adhoc basis.

- All push up shouts wont be used, i will only use physical slider changes based on my own ingame assessments

League Standing

6 Games in lying 5th in the table W3,D3,L0. All my home games have been wins, my away matches were to all the league favorites and we drew them all. So fingers crossed we keep going. We currently also have the best defensive record thus far having conceded only 3 goals.

[3zyk]

First of all, great thread. I think the balance between giving away information and encouraging reader to think for himself is spot on. If you don't mind, I've got a few rather short questions, about things that raised my concern while reading:

- Do you switch places of your DLP and Anchor depending on the opponents midfield setup?

- Do both of your wingers are instructed to play exactly the same?

- Due to the passing setting of your team, wouldn't successful marking of the DLP lead to the complete isolation of the front 4?

- Do you force opponents' wingers to cut to the inside, which is crowded thanks to two DMs or you don't find crosses threatening and don't see the necessity to do that?

[Rashidi]

First of all, great thread. I think the balance between giving away information and encouraging reader to think for himself is spot on. If you don't mind, I've got a few rather short questions, about things that raised my concern while reading:

- Do you switch places of your DLP and Anchor depending on the opponents midfield setup

No i dont, essentially because my right fullback is attacking and the other is support. I would if i wanted to swap the fullbacks around

- Do both of your wingers are instructed to play exactly the same

In mine they are, most of my goals come from interplay between the APM and the FC, I depend on the movement of my inside forwards who cut inside to create chances

- Due to the passing setting of your team, wouldn't successful marking of the DLP lead to the complete isolation of the front

Against human players i would do that, but for it to be successful you would need to use a formation where players can do that task. I usually pay attention to players motivation, formation and ratings to ensure that the players who can in opposing formations don become a threat thru tactical instructions.

- Do you force opponents' wingers to cut to the inside, which is crowded thanks to two DMs or you don't find crosses threatening and don't see the necessity to do that?

No, i usually find the first 10 games of any new formation especially tough, cos thats when you need to be especially mindful, where successful use of tactical instructions, or good slider setups are impt ( if u custom ur tactics).

Having a game plan is vital, i work hardest at the start of the season and by November i am in cruise control. And then I wait for the inevitable overconfidence slump which usually hits by Feb. One needs to react and prepare their teams. With liverpool i had to suddenly create a whole slew of individual training instructions and adjust intensity. I also spent a bit of time with player interactions.

On my Roquetas save i even demoted a player to not needed, knowing fully well i needed him. I reduced his offer price, and had started culling the team. The players attributes suggested that he would get angry and not let circumstances force him outta the club. First match of the season he was a sub. The first 6 games were going to be vital, he came on as a sub scored a goal and then in 5 games scored 6 and eventually scored a hat trick. His performances carried the team through.

FM isnt all about getting the right tactic setup..once you get a tactic rite and understand the nuances of the engine the game becomes intensely enjoyable. To get the tactical side down pat, i suggest people stick to one formation, use players that fit or understand their limitations and make adjustments accordingly, but never overadjust the tactical way you play..for example. If you decide to reduce ttb across the board, or reduce it for a key position then you run the risk of reducing chances to score.

[Rashidi]

Nothing much has changed in terms of my tactic we had a cup game against Salamanca which we were odds on fav to lose, so i modified my formation or at least the shape for an away game, turned it into a false 10

The result was a shocking 3-0 away from home by the unheralded Rockets. Since i was going to play such a shape i kept my dline pushed up and continued with my overlapping runs. Within the first 10 mins we should have been 3 goals up, we hit the upright and the amc missed a sitter. We were never bothered in 90mins

Our league form has been good, tipped for relegation we continue to keep the flag flying, our last game could have turned into our first defeat, we had to come back twice to force a draw against a team we should have beaten, but i reckon this usually happens and you cant win all the time. What I did in our next game against Salamanca was to take out the players who under performed..so i guess all things are looking good thus far

[Rashidi]

With 12 games to go, we were only lying in 2nd spot 6 points behind the leaders and almost 10 points away from those chasing us..so i decided to do a holiday run. I had gotten bored and just wanted us to get promoted.

So i instructed my manager to use the same tactic and go out without me while i went off to get packed for a personal business trip. I was expecting to at least be caught up fighting a playoff berth..but lo and behold we won the league..lol this is too easy

As long as ur tactic is solid and you have the right players in your team filled with oodles of determination your team will always have a strong shot at overachieving

[Rashidi]

First season in the Adelente...which is i reckon their Championship. This is what I normally do and I didnt do it for this save, which is gonna make things really hard. I normally go through my squad with a fine tooth comb. For the lower league level i was in i typically set 12 as the standard for attributes as i move up a league i usually add +2 to attributes i deem critical. I was so keen on getting started that i ignored it. I wanted to see how the majority of my players are gonna do. I did sign to replace the players who left while my ass man was in charge as i made dinner. I managed to pick up an advanced playmaker, a striker but i couldnt find anyone who had +14 in attributes...cos we are too poor to pay them.

We only won 1 friendly out of the four before the season kicked off...not a good sign, and i started messing about with my tactic..at the start opting to push my DMs up to the MC slot, despite my better judgement. I doubted it would be good simply because having 2 DMs in front of the back four make it really hard to break us down when we are defending. And i find this particular formation devastating in counterattack. That is one thing i havent chosen in terms of team instructions. And while i wait for FM13 to knock on the door i will continue to enjoy this save.

During the first 3 games of the season i opted to use the DMs in the MC slot and we erm...failed to win any match. 2 draws and 1 loss. In one of the draws i did drop back into my false 9 formation cos i was up against a hot favourite. I decided to change my formation in the copa del rey match when i was drawn to Xerez, a match every1 thought we would lose. As things turned out we hammered them 5-0, and then went on to beat Huesca and Granada. We overachieved in all three games. Its been a joy to behold, and i've uploaded the Roquetas and Granada match to show how we move the ball around.

This is a formation i hardly changed from the one liverpool used. I made some small changes to creative freedom, but they are still set at around 8-10 for the backline.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i763wp2fxo7mmms/Roquetas%20v%20Granada.pkm

[peleJunior]

I've made my own little version of this Rashidi1, but I am having big problems with fitness in the games, especially with the attacking fullback and the DLP. Any tips on training schedules to help these guys out maybe? I can understand why the DLP is having problems with his Run from deep set to often but not sure why with the fullback.

Other than all of that the tactic is brilliant. Tight defence and a goal getting machine. I don't know if you do this but I set passing to shorter in the team instructions. If I don't do this the results start to suffer (I'm guessing this sets the tempo to my particular teams sweet spot because passing length/style is overriden). The great thing about this tactic is I can play kids in the 1st team like Brendan Rodgers and still pull off brilliant results.

[Rashidi]

Yeah there is a fair bit of running in the tactics..I have my own custom training schedules..I generally have a preseason fitness routine; with a game to go before the league starts, I usually put them on either role based training, or in some cases player specific training schedules. The other team is i bring down match prep once they've mastered the formations.

Fitness generally drops for players who arent naturally fit..so there is nothing u can do except manage their individual intensity. Another thing i do is once i am 2/3 into the season I usually drop the intensity of all training to first notch of medium. I am driven more by results than attribute development, so I rotate where I can. With a team like Liverpool there should be no issue, even with my Roquetas save surviving Liga Adelente in our first season there shldnt be that big of an issue. I doubt i will Scramjet my way through each season.