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Tactical Systems - Stafford Rangers goes on a trip


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Hi rashidi, good to see you around.

I'm working on a system at the moment, very close to yours, and I wondered if I could bother you for some advice. I'm looking at creating 3 tactics, the first is a 451 (or 433 whichever you like). I've uploaded it to the link below if you would like to take a look.

Leeds433.tac

The goals I seem to be conceeding are from wide, when the wingers pull the ball back to MC's who have acres and acres of space, and they usually bang the ball in from 18 yards or so.

This is the only one I've worked on so far, but the next part of my system I would like to be a deep 4231.

If you could have a quick look (or would like me to post some screenshots) let me know.

Cheers

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I'd much prefer screenshots cos there may be others reading the posts who dont want to download the tactics

Sure here goes...This is my team set-up. You can see I've gone for counter (inspired by wwfan and his Barcelona thread), but I've chosen a Control, Fluid mentality system

http://gyazo.com/99e7988877038f4b789328314e0f20fa

These are my player set-ups

http://gyazo.com/b276d50a1d03ad4c1d66d2696c396f0f

http://gyazo.com/cde3cd2f9873768e60b4f7e09ac7a898

http://gyazo.com/6501df0b6d20e3cc709333638eba0f53

http://gyazo.com/64d3cfc5e6ee1adbb0588c50de652711

So, I'm looking to create 3 tactics that I can employ. I should be honest from the outset and say that I don't use shouts, I play in FMC so I'm hoping that I can achieve a 3 tactic system that negates the need for shouts, I appreciate that I will suffer in a percentage of games / scenarios from this approach, but my aim is to mitigate this risk as much as possible.

Thanks, looking forward to your thoughts.

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Thanks for the advice and excellent thread Rashidi1..

Seem to have cracked it now, changed passing to mostly direct and increased the width as wide as it will go, the wing backs just weren't being utilised as I wanted them being so narrow, much more space and lots more goals (plus the defence is still fairly sound).

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One defensive trick you want to turn to is how you use your WBs when you need to defend

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.Option A: Set WB to defensive and turn TTB on.....they should find ppl upfront for quick counters, if you want more security make sure those around them have TTB on to......The ones upfront need to have RFD to exploit this. If you find that you need to hold out...then

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Option B: Set to short passing and turn TTB offBoth of these can be managed why shouts as well, however if you have customized passing settings to direct I doubt they will have an effect...food for thought.

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@ macca I've seen your screenies, how do you want your system to play?Just looking at your mentality settings it appears you are very conservative at the back and gungho up front, it could lead to punts. Another thing your DMc is set to close down in own area, that suggests to me you plan to play deep?

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And what about one of the MCs I think it's the left one. That tactic can play two ways , possession based from the back, which could lead to cul-de-sacs up front, which will need a target man to help out.Or you could have a tactic that is heavily dependabt on direct attacks launched from the back line.

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It can be one formation that plays to two systems, but I don't know the play roles you hope to see, plus hmm I may need you to grab a screenies of how your team fares to the rest of the league. Will do that after I get back for gym

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@ macca I've seen your screenies, how do you want your system to play?Just looking at your mentality settings it appears you are very conservative at the back and gungho up front, it could lead to punts. Another thing your DMc is set to close down in own area, that suggests to me you plan to play deep?.

And what about one of the MCs I think it's the left one. That tactic can play two ways , possession based from the back, which could lead to cul-de-sacs up front, which will need a target man to help out.Or you could have a tactic that is heavily dependabt on direct attacks launched from the back line.

It can be one formation that plays to two systems, but I don't know the play roles you hope to see, plus hmm I may need you to grab a screenies of how your team fares to the rest of the league. Will do that after I get back for gym

Thanks rashidi, to expand on my "plan".

I want to create 3 tactics, which I hope as I progress through the game and build a more talented squad can be reduced down to 2.

4-5-1 / 4-3-3 Home / Favourite.

This would be my default tactic for home games or away games I am facing weaker teams. I want to achieve a possesion based game that is incisive in the final 3rd.

4-5-1 / 4-3-3 Away / Underdog.

This would be my default tactic for away games or home games where I am facing better teams. I want to achieve a posession based game that launches swift counter attacks.

4-2-3-1 Deep.

This would be where I want to dominate and would ultimately replace my 4-3-3 Home / Favourite tactic. A similar style to my 4-3-3 home, but based on squeezing space and allowing the playmakers & IF to pick passes and punish.

I'm looking for my goals to come from 3 main areas

Striker - scoring in and around the box from little through balls, crosses, cut backs.

Inside Forwards - cutting in from the wings to finish themselves, running onto through balls through the channels, feeding off layoffs from Striker.

Attack minded midfielder - finishing from the edge of the area, lay offs from Striker, cut backs from Inside Forwards.

I'm not looking for anything special from my defenders, other than they stop the other team from scoring, and position themselves correctly so they can recycle the ball through eachother and the DM(s).

I have 2 good midfield playmakers that I want to fit in (one DLP and one AP?).

I'd look to tweak my DLP to occasionally make forward runs so he can give a lateral passing option to his IF or the AP as we attack. He will play both as an MC in the 4-3-3 and a DMC in the 4-2-3-1.

So that's my broad plan, I have 3 good midfielders in the pivot and you are correct a target man would probably fit better.

What are your thoughts?

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well, thanks to this thread and some tinkering I've kept 4 clean sheets in my last 6 games and have the best defensive record in the league after 16 games (Scored 27, Conceded 9)

It's very much a countering tactic, but I'm getting a lot of joy with my wing backs both in terms of assists and goals. We're regularly conceding a lot of possession to the opposition but we have won our last two 3-0 and 3-1 so I'm not complaining too much. I would've liked to have built a more possession based tactic but who's complaining when you're getting the results?

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Thanks rashidi, to expand on my "plan".I want to create 3 tactics, which I hope as I progress through the game and build a more talented squad can be reduced down to 2.4-5-1 / 4-3-3 Home / Favourite.This would be my default tactic for home games or away games I am facing weaker teams. I want to achieve a possesion based game that is incisive in the final 3rd. 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 Away / Underdog.This would be my default tactic for away games or home games where I am facing better teams. I want to achieve a posession based game that launches swift counter attacks.4-2-3-1 Deep.This would be where I want to dominate and would ultimately replace my 4-3-3 Home / Favourite tactic. A similar style to my 4-3-3 home, but based on squeezing space and allowing the playmakers & IF to pick passes and punish.I'm looking for my goals to come from 3 main areasStriker - scoring in and around the box from little through balls, crosses, cut backs.Inside Forwards - cutting in from the wings to finish themselves, running onto through balls through the channels, feeding off layoffs from Striker.Attack minded midfielder - finishing from the edge of the area, lay offs from Striker, cut backs from Inside Forwards.I'm not looking for anything special from my defenders, other than they stop the other team from scoring, and position themselves correctly so they can recycle the ball through eachother and the DM(s).I have 2 good midfield playmakers that I want to fit in (one DLP and one AP?). I'd look to tweak my DLP to occasionally make forward runs so he can give a lateral passing option to his IF or the AP as we attack. He will play both as an MC in the 4-3-3 and a DMC in the 4-2-3-1.So that's my broad plan, I have 3 good midfielders in the pivot and you are correct a target man would probably fit better.What are your thoughts?

Squad>Report>Comparison Can you get these screenies so I have an idea how your team ranks, defense midfield attack vs the rest of the league.

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Further up in this thread I offered someone advice on how they can have two options with one tactic, you may want to consider that for your 451 formation. Your defensive and offensive 451s will both need a defensive screen.You will be able to run mixed and overlapping shouts with both tactics as well, even if you isolate one FB as purely defensive and remove his runs. If he is a good passer he can launch counters from deep if he has the passing crossing and flair. That player will need TTB on.My concern is still the DLP if you play BWM beside him. You could drop it down to a DMC and keep the 2 MCs up

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Squad>Report>Comparison Can you get these screenies so I have an idea how your team ranks, defense midfield attack vs the rest of the league.

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Further up in this thread I offered someone advice on how they can have two options with one tactic, you may want to consider that for your 451 formation. Your defensive and offensive 451s will both need a defensive screen.You will be able to run mixed and overlapping shouts with both tactics as well, even if you isolate one FB as purely defensive and remove his runs. If he is a good passer he can launch counters from deep if he has the passing crossing and flair. That player will need TTB on.My concern is still the DLP if you play BWM beside him. You could drop it down to a DMC and keep the 2 MCs up

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Thanks, I'll get the screenies when I get home...

For the midfield, my idea was a DMC (Defensive Midfielder) a CM (Advanced Playmaker) and a CM (Deep Lying Playmaker) for my 451 / 433. Idea being that the DLP would drop back to a DMC and the AP move up to AMC in the deep 4231.

That way I will always have my defensive screen (my DM will always be a ball recycler / defensive minded player).

EDIT: Thinking more about this now, to create the dual-system, in my "home" tactic I think it would be good to encourage more attacking play / overlapping for the fullbacks, but keep them back helping to launch counters away...Interesting...

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@ Scottybee

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Typically counter attacking tactics don't normally produce a lot of possession just lightning quick attacks. Speaking of which I am building my own 41221 CA tactic too. I scored a goal,in the first 27 secs and tried holding back, conceded one more than struck back with a late winner in the 85th min epic:-).Gotta say you got me tinkering with CA tactics, plus Neil Lennon is so inspiring:-)

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RED PILL OR BLUE PILL?

I am actually quite surprised, counterattacking tactics are very powerful, if designed right they dont need to be punt and forget. Lets assume for argument's sake you are leading 2-0, there is a 100% chance the AI is gonna come gunning for you. If you stick to your attacking formation, chances are you are gonna have to do loads of things like shouts go tight, but these arent going to be enough. You will be the Kevin Keegan of Newcastle. For each goal you score the AI will get a chance to score another against you. If you opt to stay attacking and keep a high pressing game, you absolutely need to be on your game.

You need to be able to identify and adapt to these threats. And if you are watching the game on key highlights its gonna be very hard.

Highlights are there to tell a story, most people just pay attention to their goal mouth. I pay attention to defensive lines, has the AI moved up...look at their fullbacks. Are more highlights being shown of the AI attempting to score..lol that doesnt mean that you are defending well, it just means its trying and you should pay attention to how its coming at you. If you dont cut down those crosses coming from the right you will concede to them eventually. So what do you do?In my hand I have a red pill and a blue pill, but let me explain to you what each pill does so you can decide

Red Pill: you have the players and you have the skill, (imho thats super rare) then you will need to be very lucky as well. All three things are in short supply. Watching the game on key highlights when you are defending a lead is gonna = goodnight. Adapting to these changes needs to be done on more than just key highlights. If you opt to keep your strategy then you need to identify where the threat is coming from and neutralize it. If your wingers are getting skinned, then you need to find out why? Is it cos they are beaten by raw pace? Then tight mark them. Do they have more acceleration? Close them down. But honestly its not gonna be a 100% guarantee, cos they may have more flair, they'll just nutmeg you. Unless you are the demi-god of tactics, staying to an attacking shape is not for anyone but the most experienced players. Having a great team doesn't mean you are a great manager. So if you want to stick to the red pill then understand why things happen. And, that requires a great deal of analysis that cant happen on key highlights. If you dont have the patience to figure that then please find out what the Blue Pill does.

Blue Pill. Well highlights are still important to watch especially if you want to learn how your tactic is faring. However the Blue Pill is all about having a second plan. Go make a counterattacking tactic with good options for outlets. A counterattacking tactic allows your defensive line to hold its shape. So while you may have that rampaging fullback coming down your flanks, you also know you are going to have a few players standing behind the defensive line, holding their position. Better to have less closing down than more. More bodies means more blocks. Keep your formation tight and narrow. Tight meaning, tight marking. Its no good just choosing the the option counterattacking strategy from your wonderful 4231 formation. Some formations are just not built for counterattacking play cos they don have good receiving outlets. Look at your team, do you have a wealth of pace? do you have height? then you can put those pacey men out as AMs, make bloody sure they dont have RFD from deep Often, cos you run the risk of triggering offside traps. So you want it to be on normal so they run TO THE LINE. Then you also want to have good passers of the ball. Whoever says you cant have a counterattacking tactic with short passing, doesnt understand the term.....(m.e has no choice, therefore calculates the least risky pass = long ball).

Put the forward line on short passing, in fact give everyone short passing, 1 seems like a simple number. I do that with Stafford and they dont screw up. Then look around your team for players who have decent ttb and passing...flair would be good too since that almost guarantees reception of the pass. Dont go liberally applying TTB like a mosquito balm in a tropical rainforest. Be a scrooge. Give it to 2 players who can launch it. Now those balls are gonna go up way up, maybe they dont get to the player whos supposed to receive them, but then again, maybe it might. That short passing you gave the front line..its gonna make them pass the ball around short and look for openings. Its not always gonna be effective, but hell if i was protecting a 3 goal lead thats what i would do. Incidentally I have played a counterattacking game against another counterattacking side, twas fun. In the end, my short passing in front won the day by 3-0.

Ah some of you more knowledgeable people are gonna ask me now..hey what about shouts? Well if you recall, I have another thread on the forums about shouts. You dont need to use all the shouts, just the shouts you need for your tactic. So if you do customized pass routines a few shouts will become irrelevant....go read the thread for more information. Incidentally for those still wondering..that CA tactic on mine is using default width, tempo, defensive line.

Moral of the story: Make sure you take the right pill, or you'll just keep playing sick football.

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I just had a brilliant tactical battle against QPR, went 1-0 up and QPR brought the kitchen sink. Poor Martin Kelly closed down at right back by two players a time and Esteban Granero in acres of space. Pause game... QPR 2-1 up.

Horror, Granero marked by my dmc but Granero is in MC, move Joe Allen(MC) onto Granero, tight, weaker foot. Back to game... Allen steals from granero sets Borini away and 2-2. QPR return to 'demon mode' i.e. running the show. My fullbacks hoofing it straight back to them under serious pressure and Granero is in acres again. Pause game... Hughes has switched Granero to mcl from mcr duh shoulda seen that, put QPR formation up on ME screen and note Graneros number. QPR playing 442 but i got 3 man midfield, change to set up play through middle. Fullbacks closed down alot hmmm try quick tempo so they don't dawdle on ball. One more shift, swap borini (fc) with suarez(aml).Back to game...

Kelly feeds ball into the middle gerrard(amc)(extra man in midfield ), qpr all pushed up closing high, gerrard plays swift ball to suarez, the change in position suarez and... 3-2. Eat that Hughsey!

My set up is a hybrid of what you do rashidi and an old 3 pivot midfield post I read here yesterday.

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well Rashidi, just thought I'd throw up a couple of screenie's to show how taking your advice on board has helped me build an effective 'real' tactic...

League table (at Christmas time)

prestonleague.th.png

Results (League only, cup is similar, lost 0-1 to Carlisle in the Johnstone Paint quarter final though :-()

resultsu.th.png

Best defensive record in the Football League (blummin' Coventry close behind though). Not keeping quite as many clean sheets at the moment though, not sure why so may work on defensive positioning. Goals often come from long range screamers, lucky breaks or the occasional cross. In my last game against Bournemouth they equalised with a Penalty, not often we concede 2 as you can see...we are scoring a good variety of goals spread right across the team. Signing Darius Vassell as a DLF (Att) has been invaluable, he's been fantastic since coming in as we were weak up front.

You were bang on about the DLP rather than BWM - he's finding the space and spreading the play. I have two weak players in my IF roles though, which is really where I should have great strength. Lack of options at the club and no-one decent obtainable lead to me getting a young Spaniard rated 1 1/2 stars potential from Charlton in the IFR position (but who has actually chipped in with a few goals and assists) and Bolo Zenden IFL, which isn't his natural position at all.

If I had a really strong DLP (Salif Diao has been excellent, but always injured) and Inside Forwards I think we'd be even more outstanding, I'd love to be using this tactic with a really strong squad - but maybe that's the beauty of it, and it suits a lesser team.

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@Scotty, nice well done and good luck for the rest of the season

ALL THE BASICS

1. Whats the best way to setup a system?

  • Understand you need a offensive, control and defensive setup
  • Understand where your players are vs the rest of the league (you can access this option in-game from Squad>Comparison
  • Have a clear understanding of how you want to play and what your opposition is like

2. Tis my first week as manager whats the most important thing to do?

  • Get your system up, make sure you use the tactical creator, then run a few friendlies to assess your team
  • After you have decided a system, go through your squad with a fine tooth comb be ruthless and decisive
  • Set up training for fitness 2 weeks on moderate, then teamwork for 2 weeks and 2 weeks for match cohesion. Opt for more friendlies instead of intensive training.
  • Try all systems on all players and assess each player to see how they perform. If the role requires a person with flair make sure you try a few out.
  • Identify who is in first 11 and who isnt and plan b, recruit or sign someone up to fill up empty slots
  • Make sure you can secure as many coaches as possible
  • If a player is cant play the role, but his attributes indicate he can, then change his position and play him in the new position till his training kicks in

3. What are the tactical dos and donts?

  • Do not use the custom creator if you have no idea how to spot a defensive line
  • Do not use the custom creator if you dont know how what 8 on creative freedom does vs 15
  • Do not use the custom creator if you don't want to watch the game on full highlights or comprehensive highlights
  • If you are new to the game or new to the TC, do keep it basic and use the right shouts for the right time
  • Before you make any tactic/system, understand what how you want the tactic to play out, visualize it on a piece of paper if you need to
  • Do not leave your defense without a defending screen in midfield
  • Do not play square, always make sure your system has a logical balance.
  • Do have a staggered midfield, use the roles in the TC to set it up. If you have two players there they should support one another, do not have two APM there for example cos they will get pulled apart with a simple ball and leave your defenders exposed
  • Do use the shouts during the game
  • Do understand what the shouts do and how they can wreak havoc on your tactic
  • If you dont understand the previous point look for my blogpost on shouts
  • Do remember the most important facet of your tactic is the defense, once you sort that out creating goals isnt a problem
  • Do not cry when you lose

4. How can i tell whats going wrong in the game?

  • Understand how the highlights, if it shows more of you defending you are toast. Its warning you to look for whats wrong on the pitch
  • Do not listen to your assman all the time, be selective. Sometimes he will say things that conflict.
  • When highlights are playing look for, whether your players are making space for each other.
  • If your players are always going offside - Reduce their forward runs to normal
  • If your players are not running around like headless chickens - then reduce your defensive line and your strategy
  • If your players are not making inside runs - then check to see if you are playing them on the right flank. Right foot goes to left flank and vice versa
  • If they are still being stubborn observe where they receive the ball vs the opponents defensive line. If its square then you are too far up. You can opt to be patient or drop back to make the opponent come to you, freeing up more space
  • If all my balls are aimless hoofs, then reduce ttb and passing on the players make sure if you want the player to make that glorious through ball he has passing AND flair. Not all great passers can play the great through ball
  • If your defenders are always not intercepting through balls - then look for whether your midfield is getting bypassed to early. If yes, make sure you have a staggered midfield, if it still happens, your closing down is too high, reduce strategy.
  • If your striker isnt getting in on goals because he is tightly marked, change his role to DLP let him drag the man marker out and create chances for other players.
  • If your striker isnt scoring goals, assess your system through highlights to determine quality of chances. If the chances arent good then you need to modify your system. The longer a striker goes without a goal the harder it is for him to bounce back.
  • You need to make sure that your defenders and midfielders are not having to track back too far to get a ball, if they are the opponent is trying to get behind your defensive line. Assess if your defenders are good enough, if they are talented, you can use Offside traps, if they aren't safer option is always reducing your closing down why a strategy change. Or using a shout. Use the shout first.
  • If you are being overwhelmed on the flanks, turn your defenders to support/defend and use hassle opponents or tight marking on custom. Work on reducing the threat by looking for their passing outlet, shut it out via OI or use specific man marking.
  • If you are being overwhelmed through the middle, you can opt to: lock down the midfield by going narrow setting up manmakring on their influence and going to the flanks. Or you can attack from the midfield disrupting their flow. Either way works, decide on this based on where your strengths are
  • Always be calm during half time teamtalks, identify who is underperforming : <6 is underperform; >6<7= Performing to expectations; 7>is exceeding expectations. Warn underperformers after the game, assess training as well, check their personalities to tailor the right team talk to them as well.
  • Use same yardstick during a game to assess who needs to be subbed
  • Have a sub strategy which is system driven, allowing you to change the attacking or defensive focus of the game.

I should be adding on to this in the near future, for now back to my fm save with Stafford

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Stafford Update

We are almost there..with less than 15 games to go in the season, I can see players getting complacent and motivations are changing. Now they want better contracts and teams arent treating us with contempt anymore. We get prematch reports that we should beat some of the sides, but its proving really tough in some cases. So I will concentrate on keeping our form, morale isnt 100% superb across the squad either. We're now having to rotate aggressively, my tactical system has become polished now. I have an attacking 4231, a controlled 451 which can go attacking as well. And oddly decided to make a different formation all together which is a counterattacking 41221 which I am using now thats really set up to hit on the counter..if my passes get to the front runners. If the ball gets to them they usually tick tick if there is no clear cut goal chance or if there is one..they make a beeline for goal.

Im not really sure about training, I feel like i need to take a long hard look at it, but this a BSS side, I hardly expect their attributes to suddenly change. I am used to having to chop and change in season two which is why noone is signed to more than a years contract.

Our league table proudly shows us 10 pts clear, joint top for most goals scored, and with least goals conceded. I have to admit thats the MOST number of goals I have ever conceded with a BSS side EVER. Really wish there was a patch to fix the AMs up, that should fix it.

StaffordtableMarch.jpg

​ONWARD RANGERS!

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Yay, BSS Champions at last. And this has to be the worst number of goals I have ever scored. The last time I did this challenge, we banged in 100 goals, and conceded like 20. This has been so much harder..my last few games especially these were really hard. We had to grind out the last 10 results and secure the title with 2 games to go.

The stats follow

Stafftable.jpg

StafAllStat.jpg

StaffAttackStat.jpg

StafMidStat.jpg

StafDefStat.jpg

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This thread has been an inspiration. I've taken on Oxford City from BSN. Got promoted in first season but really struggled in BSP. Avoided relegation twice now but having read this I'm now mid table in third season. It's extremely hard work but very rewarding when you get it right. Thanks for the superb work, keep it up!

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Rashidi- Love the discussion and thoughts because I have been through this same challenge many times. I always enjoy starting out on the low rungs and working my way up :) Plenty of excellent insight into the game in your commentary and I will keep following along (as I start my own journey up now that I have my copy of the game).

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Thanks guys,.I find BSP so much harder than BSN, I know I will need to make a lot of hard decisions, for one attributes needed will be 10-11 to over perform. And my top scorer who banged in almost 30 goals isn't going to be in the team, I plan to cull the side again. First season in BSP I will need 5 long term loans, only 3 players from my current squad will be playing..Chances are as well the coaching team may not want to stay. I ended up playing 4231, 451, 460, and 41221. Basically the roles were the same for all formations all I did was drag those dots around. Transfer Budget will probably be 0.:-(

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I actually had a 60k transfer budget in BSP, problem was my wage bill. I had to bring that transfer budget down to 2k and I'm still over budget on wages by a little. The biggest problem I have is that the board decided to build a new stadium so now I've got a £4.3m pound loan to pay off. The board keep pumping cash in, I've about £750k in the bank, but I can get the board to improve anything like youth facilities or amount of coaches etc because they say we have no money. Well whose fault is that????

I'm coming up on Christmas in my 3rd season in BSP, I'm 14th which is the highest I've been ever. Most goals I concede are set pieces or screamers that I can do little about. I've almost completely cut off crosses converted at the back post.

I play 4-3-1-2 which sets up as

GK

FB (S)

CD (D)

CD (D)

FB (S)

MCL BWM (D)

MC AP (A)

MCR BWM (D)

AMC AP (S)

STL POACH (A)

STR DLF (S)

If I want to change things up then the FBs become WB (A) and I look for overlap and exploit the flanks. The 2 BWM are both set to man mark the wide players of the opposition, this helps by either cutting out crosses in the first place or making sure the player at the back post is marked and it allows my FB to drift back inside and clog up the middle a bit more. The AP (A), AP (S) and DLF (S) all try and flood that gap inbetween midfield and attack. Certainly works better than anything else I've tried!

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The AP (A), AP (S) and DLF (S) all try and flood that gap inbetween midfield and attack. Certainly works better than anything else I've tried!

Thats essentially the key to the game - managing the gaps. A lot of people who now struggle with FM are probably those who have zero experience with FML. I used to see odd formations with bad gaps. Any gap whether its the strata between midfield/defense or midfield/attack needs to be managed well. And I've seen quite a few tactics here on the forums that have bad gaps.

**60K...man i can't even get 1k :-(

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Well preseasons done, the basic work was done:

1. Hire new staff - most left (couldnt stand my attitude)

2. Recruited new players, our average was too low. Got 7 more players in

3. Culled anyone below 9

4. Decided to use a system where I will need to depend on containment, I cant play to my strengths, cos i don have any. We will play a 41221 and a 4312 this season. I dont think a 451 will cut it the gap between defense and midfield will let me get exploited. My weakest link is my defense, its shockingly bad.

Our preseason form was woeful, i tried out several formations to see how my players would fit, realized I have two key areas for concern:

a. I dont have cover for DMC so we need to loan someone if possible

b. My defenders arent very good, so i need to play defensive football at the start of the season and then adjust my expectations if we look comfortable, Keeping the wage bill manageable in case i get relegated. It will be the first time since 1992 that i have ever been relegated. This game isnt hard, its all logical 1+1 always equals 11

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Match One Macclesfield v Stafford

An away match to begin with, and we are overwhelming favorites to get whipped. The formation we head out with is a 4-1-2-2-1 with a DM, 2MC, AML/AMR. We take the standard strategy and I spend the first few minutes of the game on full highlights.

Its immediately clear to me that they are only attacking me on the right flank so I use OI to tightmark their winger, and I do nothing else. The first 10 minutes are nervy as we defend stoutly, and then as the match wears on we start making more and more attacks. Two clear cut chances we spurn, I am just glad we make them. By halftime we still hold the favorites away from scoring.

During the halftime team talk I realize that there is no point coming down hard, so I calmly tell them that we are underdogs no one expects us to perform miracles. The players look relaxed as they leave the dressing rooms for the second half. The match looks different now as we seem to be making more headway, we have a succession of corners. I then decide to go narrow to keep our defensive shape, this will also encourage my two AMs to cut inside, it works and we create a glorious chance to score as the keeper is off his line, but Kinsella isnt Xavi. He takes two seconds to control the ball, and by then the chance is wasted. As the game wears on we create more chances, including one thats hacked off the line and another where I am screaming at the referee to have his eyes checked as he rules our attempt offside.

The game ends with us in full control in the opponents half, the news reports indicate that the Macc staff are just glad the game is over, they wonder how they survived.

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@ Argente. Good luck :-)

The game of football has changed. And where once we'd be talking about exploding down the wings to hurl in deep crosses to a target-men, we'd now be talking about patient football and controlling possession. A cursory glance of some of the top sides in world football makes me wonder what happened to that "destroyer" in midfield. Tall and strong his physical presence breaks up play in midfield, that dogged general doesn't exist in sides like Barcelona and even Manchester United. Xavi and Iniesta are small diminutive players whose skill on the ball and determination carve out chances for their sides.

More goals are being scored now in the premier league than at any time in its history. The Champion's League yielded 3.03 goals per game last season, over in the domestic leagues of France, England, Spain, Germany and Italy more goals are now being scored this season. The average number of goals scored per game in England has been on the rise in the last 10 years. If the current rate of goals per game stays the same we will probably see the best return since 1967-8. In large part this is due to several factors:

  • Better shot conversion rate - down to skill and tactics
  • Average passes per game is going up indicating that sides are playing more possession based football
  • Crossing numbers are down
  • Final third passes are down, indicating a more direct style in the final third
  • Defenders are passing from the back, controlled possession from the rear
  • Higher pressing in the final third
  • Offside rule has increased the playing area on the pitch
  • Tackles are down an average of 38.74%/season compared to 47.5% in 2006 in large part due to the harder rules against tackles from behind

Across Europe more teams are passing the ball and preferring to control possession. When they lose the ball they press higher up the pitch to win the ball back, but they do not commit as many fouls, preferring instead to close down channels of passing. The attitude of managers also points towards the fact that the "destroyer" isn't as important as the "playmaker". Whereas in the past diminutive players were almost extinct, now more and more teams are snapping up talented technically gifted players.

Controlled possession demands that defenders remain calm under pressure, hence Brendan Rogers insistence that Liverpool play from the back under all circumstances where possible. This means that more and more teams adopt a shorter passing style where teams of players need to be within 10 yards of each other so that a pass can be made. This would suggest that formations and systems require narrower shapes. Barcelona plays a narrow formation. When Liverpool started the season they played a more direct style of football, but their opening day match against West Brom clearly showed a side struggling to come to terms with making effective use of the ball. Defenders were too far apart; since then Liverpool have become tighter and their results too have showed some improvement.

In Football Manager, its very possible to emulate this kind of football. Stop thinking that narrow means defensive, and, the notion that short passing is only for the technically competent teams is complete nonsense. You can play a short passing game, and you can mix this up with direct passing, in the final third to get the effect of a team that builds up slow at the back and attacks with venom.

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Great thread........I have been sacked on all three save game attempts so far, so giving it another go with some help from here!

I just wanted to clarify one thing;

On the passing settings, I wasn't totally sure what you meant. For both the 4-5-1 and the 4-2-3-1 do you have the same settings? I have set the team to short passing, and then gone through and changed the notches on each player, giving my CB's 1, FB's 3, B2B 3, BWM 7, AP 1 and all three forwards 7.

It seemed in the thread you were saying that if the team are set to short, but I put a slider upto 7, and it says direct, that it means a direct form of short passing. But if it overrides the team selection, does it not just mean the player is set to direct passing. If that makes sense!

I hope I can get it right this time. Just going through pre season now and got smashed at home to Betis with the defensive tactic. I'm Leeds! It's tough this year.

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Meh. Followed up a 6 game winning streak with a 3 game losing to a variety of set pieces streak. Dropped off the pace and unlikely to make the playoffs now.

One thing I've done slightly different this season is taken as many loan players as I can but made sure they have high determination level. I've then used them to tutor my own players. Net result is a much more determined squad of my own players. Even if it's only a 3 month loan it can be beneficial.

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Meh. Followed up a 6 game winning streak with a 3 game losing to a variety of set pieces streak. Dropped off the pace and unlikely to make the playoffs now.

One thing I've done slightly different this season is taken as many loan players as I can but made sure they have high determination level. I've then used them to tutor my own players. Net result is a much more determined squad of my own players. Even if it's only a 3 month loan it can be beneficial.

Totally agree with you , I think training now has a distinct effect on how you play. I havent done much of an update on Stafford as I am making notes as we go, but lets say we have climbed from 18 to 7th, its December and we are 8 points of the league leaders ;-). I expect it to be a really hard grind, but we've had some good results, in large part probably due to the large influx of players into the side.

I have literally got 2 football teams.

@ Mousey. My system employs a few tactics based on my style of play. I prefer a quick passing game with direct passing in the final third. To get that effect I set my whole defense to 1 for passing and the first notch of direct for the attacking players. This passing does override the team settings which makes it vital people understand what effect shouts have on a game. Some shouts you cant use, like ball to flank..cos that would mean a different sort of passing. Furthermore short passing from defenders can backfire if your team doesnt have players who drop back to help, which is why I play with quite a few in support. And, you need to be paying a lot of attention to your team in preseason to see who can/cant play to this.

The only tactic that employs that is my custom 451, my 4312, 41221 formations that i am using this season use the TC and make no adjustments.

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fey1.png

This is my new formation for season 2, based on rashids informative posts and some other posts. Some of my weaknesses in season 1 was physical presence amd jumping/heading in defence, DM and up front. Players were brought in on free's, loans and some more youth from transfer list to give me that added dimension. I have pulled the more defensive of my midfield trio back in the DM position. i have made defensive wingbacks who overlap and cross and get back to help in defence. One of my wide players is now a winger. The passing style that rashid mentioned earlier I have continued because it worked well, as have the wingback through balls and wide player run from deep. I have changed striker to a CF so he leads the line and can get his head on crosses.

This is my base formation, so far all i have changed in matches is the strategy and shouts. In general if you are winning and confidence is good team talks are a whole lot easier so that has helped as well. This has worked wonders for me. In December I am top of the league, unbeaten. In Euro cup i have one game left in group and am unbeaten. My reserves finished bottom of there group last season, currently they are first. This is no super tactic, it works well for me, I still concede, I still draw. Maybe it is just the right tactic for the dutch leagues and maybe 2nd tier in europe. Will be interesting to see how it fares in a stronger league, that will be my next challenge.

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This is a massive update to season 2 It picks up from my last blog but it covers two thirds of the season and stops with 10 matches left to be played, I pick a few games apart to show what I did ingame, and for one game I list out what i did over 90 minutes

Season 2 was also going to be much harder; you're a newly promoted side in a league where everyone has a better side than you. A cursory look at all the other sides shows us having one of the worst sides in the league, and we have small diminutive players as well.

Passing Styles

I've read a lot of crap on the forum pages. The notion that LLM sides cannot play a short passing game is ridiculous. IRL have you ever been able to play direct football in school? At work we had a football team made up of some average players and we managed to get into the finals of a competition. We played a simple short passing game, because it was far more easier to play in small triangles than it was trying to find someone 30 yards away with an accurate pass. Average players don't hurl 30 yard passes accurately. The key to a short passing game is the shape of your formation when you have the ball and when you are defending. You can't play a wide formation with short passing, unless you have one or two players in midfield who can string a 30 yard pass.

So far Stafford have had to adapt against better sides, I've haven't started a single game without analysing the other sides strengths first. I need to find some area of the pitch where we can at least go toe to toe with them, and it appears to be the flanks. So one approach I took this season was to play a system where I lock down one area of the pitch and force them to play down the middle. My narrow shape and fast tempo, short passing game can at least get something out of this. The formation we've been training this season has basically been: 41221 and a 4312.

The 451 was the shape we started with, but its very defensive in orientation, we don't have much height nor a lot of pace to really make use of the deep lying forward. So I've decided to play a 41221 which locks down the flanks and goes through the middle and a 4312 which does the same and I use that a lot at home. The 451 is still there for matches where I could end up facing a strong team or a relegation battler.

We started the season deep in relegation, within 7 games we moved up to 16th, and now almost halfway through the season are 4 points off the playoff slots. If we maintain strict discipline in our play I am cautiously optimistic of making it to the playoffs.

Stafford v Chester (1-0)

Our next game is against Chester who are second on the table. In our previous encounter they used a 442 at home to defeat us 1-0. It was a poor game by us and we hardly managed any shots on goal. They have a good flank attack and a creative player in midfield. We approach the game with a simple plan, set up a formation that will shut down their 442 and their fulcrum in midfield.

We OI their fullbacks and wingers and keep our fullbacks back at all times and drive through the middle, the strategy works as we rip through them to score our first goal before the end of the first half. Throughout the match Chesters attack is rendered impotent, we create a few more good chances and manage to walk away with three points and another clean sheet. Chester only have 2 shots on our goal and neither one of them is from close range. Their midfield pass completion rate is a woeful 60%. We're 4 points behind the playoff spots, and have lost a key defender, its certainly proving to be quite a season

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Woking v Stafford (1-3)

We lost our previous game to them 2-0 at home. Woking used a 352, its a formation I have a hard time against because it overpowers me in defense. I review the footage from our defeat at home to Woking earlier in the season to look for areas I can exploit.

The 352 builds from the back, and if you can apply pressure to their backline, you can at least force them to hurry clearances, Wokings creative fulcrum comes from one of their MCs as well. So i set up the OI to shut down their keeper and the 3 DCs and I tight mark, close down, wrong foot their central man. To shut down the defenders I need to use a formation where players can actually reach them..so I switch to my 451 formation which has 2 AMs and a DLF.

Within the first few minutes we concede a stupid goal, our defender takes the ball to the corner flag and STAYs there. Ultimately he loses the ball and we concede. I am livid, but I've also noticed that they haven't really created much. I use the shout, play out of defense and run at defense and 2 minutes later we are 1-2 up, what a turnaround. The pressure on their DCs has worked, both goals coming from us closing down their DCs. We enter the halftime break with a one goal cushion, and i calmly tell my players not to let their guard down. Out of the break we almost score another goal. Our fullback gets injured and i decide to wait till the 70th minute, cos his rating is 7. The time comes and I make another change, this time i tell my players to work the ball into the box and exploit the middle. Logic is simple, work into the box buys me time, but I need to guard against the break if we lose the ball in a dangerous area, especially since we are trying to exploit the middle.

Our short passing game and high tempo create a perfect tick tock passing moment, as we score our third goal and put the match result beyond doubt. Woking have been beaten at home. We exact revenge. 2 wins on the trot, and against fellow playoff chasers. Its a good week, we're now 2 points behind the playoff spots, 11 points behind the league leaders Barnet and 28 points clear of cellar-dwellers Dartford. Its now 3 wins on the trot in the league since our away defeat to Salisbury.

I get a nice surprise when I visit the boardroom to check on my job status :- UNTOUCHABLE!

There is some aspect of the game now that I am not enjoying, my squad size is huge, I don't really feel like I've gotten into player development as much, but the reality is I doubt its going to have that much of an effect since my facilities aren't even there.

Stafford vs Macclesfield (1-0)

Our next game is against Macclesfield, a side we failed to beat on opening day. Leading up to the match a key player was unhappy with my team talks, whilst the whole squad seems to be doing well for morale, his was low. A quick private chat later and he's happy with me, lol.

Heavy Rain and a bad pitch, I had to make some minor adjustments and go back to my 451 for this fixture, we don't expect a lot of quick short passing, so I adjust my sliders so more balls can be played off the ground. I expect Maccelsfield to play a hoofy game of sorts. Playing a 451 with emphasis on locking out with their wings should focus the play in the middle of the pitch, but playing a flat midfield could get me into a world of trouble. I adjust that to make one of the MCs always stay back. (done by setting his role to defensive)

Its a bruising game, 2 players get stretchered off, we win the game as expected from a long through pass down the middle. 1-0. We are now 4 points behind second placed Chester and 8 behind league leaders Barnet. Results have gone over way and we are within touching distance. With 20 games left in the season, we now boast the best defensive record in the league, but we are 15th in goals scored, its time to shift the focus of training away from defensive positioning to attacking movement. Its been a month of defensive training, something my team sorely needed since we conceding so many goals at the start of the season

Morecambe v Stafford (1-1)

This is gonna be short cos i screwed up. We both came with a 41221 so i expected a complete grind-out. This team was fighting relegation, but when the season started they were tipped for a playoff berth. So their position has nothing to do with their form, so I expected them to come firing out of the gates.So i did what I always do. I shut down their fullbacks and wingers. We take the lead and I am get the false confidence that this should play out in my favour, I also become impatient, cocky in the confidence that we are a great team and start going to key highlights.

What i fail to notice during the course of the game is their switching of MCs in midfield, what i don't notice is their desire to win, and what costs me the game is that I fail to notice that they have adapted their game to go through the middle like me. 89th min they score their equaliser, I am fuming at myself. A chance to narrow the gap with the leaders is lost.

Always pay attention to swings in a match, It will screw you over. Next game away too…

We won the next game and moved into a playoff spot, now with some 16 matches left in the season, I need to make sure that we stay here. When you start to tinker as much as I have, sometimes you forget what system was the most effective, so I turn back to my tried and trusted 451 formation. I know I can grind results with it and the season is so far in now that using a 4231 is scary, but that formation isn't fantastic against the big sides, I need the extra security of a DMC, so I start looking at my 41221 as well.

We've been grinding out some results and I've been tinkering as well…but with less than 15 games left and a playoff berth mine to lose, I need to make sure we settle on the formation i reckon is the most solid defensively and offers me the most number of options to handle the bigger teams like Luton, whom i have not beaten yet. I'm sticking to my TC based 41221 and using the shouts as much as possible. I have made slight adjustments to passing..but nothing revolutionary, but if there is a possibility i need to grind out a match desperately I will turn them back to default.

Stafford 3 Dartford 0 (Park the Bus achieve)

Home games now are going to be a more conservative affair, no more swashbuckling attacking. Henceforth we start with a balanced setup first and see how the game pans out. We just beat cellar dwellers Dartford 3-0, but it came at a price. We lost a key player in Casper Hughes, he is one of my midfield fulcrums and a vey important source of a lot of my attacking play. Its a big loss and, his absence leaves a big gaping hole in our team. Hopefully one of the players I recruited in December can fill the slot…got the FA Trophy 4th round match against Hednesford next but thats not the biggie..3 days later we got a home game against table toppers Barnet.

We rolled over and died against Hednesford, the reserve team was a complete shambles, although it was a derby game only one player managed to stay motivated the full 90 mins, he's going straight into the first team. Time for some serious match preparation..and if you want to know exactly what I did read this fantastic thread by lam on the Training and Tactics forums at SI, its the same approach.

Stafford v Barnet - THE BIG MATCH (90 min recap)

Huge match for us, I tell the players we are huge underdogs and then individually tell them they have it takes. Within 10 mins i can see the opposing team is getting frustrated, 5 of the players are already frustrated

This is a match we absolutely have to win..so I will watch the whole game on full so i can be as near perfect as possible. My starting shouts are planned to hold possession and create havoc. I opt to Go Narrow to keep it tight, Play out of defense so that we stay composed as far as possible and don't give up possession, Go through the middle and run thru defense..this is to irk the other team cos the referee loves to give cards. And finally, pass to feet, cos this team is way better than me, and i want to keep possession as much as possible.

The run through defense works and we get a yellow card early on the left midfield, so i focus my best runners there, and i swap my lone forward with the AML through player swapping I do this twice cos the players are running through this specific area. On the 25th minute the same midfielder who has been getting frustrated picks up his second yellow..its a red..Yeah its dirty football but i want to give winning the league the best shot possible.

I maintain my counterattacking stance, 5 mins later we rip through the midfield which only has 3 across it, a wide right and left and an mc. 32 mins and Kinsella needles a pass through to the feet of my DLP who cooly slots home from inside the penalty box. If i can isolate their MC then AMC is ineffectual, its an option i can try..I am so tempted to go to key highlights cos i want this game to end NOW, but Barnet make a change to their tactic. They are probably going to push up higher so I keep my counterattacking shape and try and spot if my defensive line has to track back for through balls, if it has to then I will go defensive.

I decide to change one of my shouts to Work ball into box, and then i notice that we waste a good breakaway by trying to build up play in their third..hmm really bad idea now I could get caught on the counter. Their left fullback and the inside left defender are motivated, but the ones on the right are anxious i may try to go down the right exclusively, so i change my roles to lock down the fullback on the right and move the BWM to the left while I launch overlapping runs from the left..down the side where their defense is shaky.

40th minute, the AI does a counter down the flank i am attacking, its a hairy escape. I will need try and hold this till half time. We get to halftime against the leaders a goal to the good, but each time they attack i worry they will score some flukey goal from the halfway line. Time to talk to the boys, Barnets 10 are better than my 11 players on the pitch.

We come out second half AI has changed its tactic..it looks like a giant I ?? 2 strikers 1AMC, 1MC, 1DMC and 4 defenders.. I swear they are trying to score a rugby scrum goal, it looks just like that..one guy barges drops to the other player all the way to the box..this is so annoying both of us are trying to go down the middle. I wait.

60th and they are still pouring everything at me..i stick to my counterattacking stance cos we need an outlet or we are toast. Our right flank shows a lot of weakness so i swap my BWM and DLP again. Its time to shut this team up. I hop onto OI and close down their fullbacks

70th min, my DLP although having scored the goal isn't doing a good job holding the ball up so i make some changes, I also sub out the right inside forward for another player who can tackle. That locks up the right and I decide to remove the instruction pass to feet, they are a man down and its now time to exploit space they have been attacking me non stop since the half began, its time to hit back!

77th min..we score our second my sub becomes the SUPER SUB, a beautiful ball is played into space behind the defenders that he runs onto and beats the keeper. This dude has one of the best goals to shots ratio in my team, but I wanted to keep him on the bench for when I had tired players to run against.

You got to love the OI their fullbacks have been neutralised, Barnet have lost their discipline and the cards are flying. Woot!

Match ends Stafford 2 Barnet 0. Its a match which is won in the middle of the park, few chances as two teams cancel each other out, we take advantage of the extra man and walk away with a well fought victory. The gap is now 4 points! The win is marred by the loss of another DLP, Boothe who did so well in that position, is now out of 5 weeks, damnit!. My fulcrums are going down one by one..thats two of my best players out for 5 weeks!

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We are now unbeaten in 12 games, and where we were once deep in relegation following 5 matches without a win, we have soared up to second spot. The league title is there..omg I need to watch each game on full to achieve that? This is a significant game, in my last few games I have strived to keep a clean sheet. My goal is not to concede, so I spend most of time shutting teams out. Since I was regarded a relegation candidate, I had to work a defensive plan into my system. Whats happened in the last few games shows that whilst we may not create much by way of chances the AI is usually in the worst possible situation, and I love it when a plan comes together.

I am especially thrilled to see another playmaker having a good game to..

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This was how we started our league matches, and that does not include the string of 4 defeats we had in preseason.

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Our next game at home we win that and Barnet lose..the gap is now 1. With eleven matches to go we can't get ahead of ourselves, there are 33 points at stake and a lot of football left to be played, but hey guess whos near the summit :-)

a1dtable.jpg?w=1024

Jose Mourinho is in da house!

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Absolutely fantastic threat. It's this attention to detail that and the possibility of applying it that takes this game to the next level. I really like the use of shouts and knowledge of your squad an the opposition. I must say, in previous versions I had used my usually three or four shouts, but you've inspired me to start becoming more creative with them and it's making it a whole new gaming experience.

Just a quick question. For opposition instructions, do you find it more effective when they're used more sparingly - to nullify a particular threat or compensate for a potential weakness, or more aggressive instructions and deal with several threats?

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Thanks guys,.This is getting really nervy, 5 of our last 10 matches are going to be tough. 3 against promotion contenders and 2 vs relegation teams. Our 5 other games are must win matches. We've just beaten Wrexham 1-0 at home. And Barnet have 4 tough matches 2 against promotion contenders and the rest v cellar dwellers...Can't my season end here and we just get an automatic spot thru sheer perserverance? All I am doing is play shut out football. It's boring but I can't afford to lose.

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Oxford City are struggling this season. Where teams have attacked me down the flanks before I was able to neutralise it by using my BWM to shut down the wide players. Now a lot of teams are overlapping the FBs on me and I can't cope with the extra players down the flanks. They are leaving gaps at the back but I'm finding it tough to even get the ball there to take any advantage. I'm about 10 matches into the season and hovering just outside the relegation zone. The kicker is the Board increased their expectation levels to a mid table finish this season. Need to come up with a Plan B!

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Oxford City are struggling this season. Where teams have attacked me down the flanks before I was able to neutralise it by using my BWM to shut down the wide players. Now a lot of teams are overlapping the FBs on me and I can't cope with the extra players down the flanks. They are leaving gaps at the back but I'm finding it tough to even get the ball there to take any advantage. I'm about 10 matches into the season and hovering just outside the relegation zone. The kicker is the Board increased their expectation levels to a mid table finish this season. Need to come up with a Plan B!

I just had a game against Luton Town, they hammered me at home 4-0 earlier in the season, and they have such a better team. Their fullbacks given time and space will put in dangerous crosses, so i went on 90 minutes for that game, and OI-ed them. We neutralized them took the lead twas 2-1 and then with 70 minutes to go they change formation to match mine, I OI again and I cant take the tension so i go to key highlights hoping to speed it up..and they score.

Sometimes its really hard watching a game on key highlights makes it hard to spot swings, but watching the game on full can give you a bleeding heartache, and when they have Emile Heskey to bring on(..you go WHAT YOU HAVE HESKEY? CANT YOU SEE I ONLY HAVE SMALL BOYS HERE??. ) it can be really tough. There are so many things to keep a track of

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I played Luton first game of the season at home. Played pretty well but lost 3-0. It's all I can do to stop the opposition playing at the moment, never mind imposing my 'style' on the game. Problem is nobody that would improve my squad wants to sign for me. I did manage to secure a 15 pace and acceleration striker to give myself an alternative way of playing up front. He can hopefully pair with my 18 jumping 6ft 4 young striker in some fashion over the next while.

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Away at Mansfield, tough relegation battle. Start with my usual 4312 and doing ok 15 mins in. Notice their DL is looking nervous so I take my AM and move him to The wing then focus passing down that side. Rip them open to lead 1-0. They score from a corner almost straight away. Fire the team up at half time telling them it's not good enough. Almost instantly miss a glorious chance to go 2-1 up. Oppo creating nothing and finally we make the break through and take a 2-1 lead with 15 mins to go. Straight away I drop my winger into DM and sub an enforcer in there. They switch to 424. I soak up what they throw at me and hit them twice on the break. 4-1 away win and I feel responsible for it. Is there a sweeter feeling?

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Forgot to mention that pre game I'd had a look at their team. Knew their goals came through the middle so OI on the playmaker and captain shut him down. Their ML was neither brave or aggressive so I man marked him with a tank and kicked lumps out of him, he did nothing. Their ML looked very handy but had poor morale so I labelled him as dangerman in press and his morale went to abysmal, he contributed nothing too. Man management!

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@rashidi1

Impressive thread if I may say, and welcome back to FM after a long hiatus

Greetings aside, I set up my Newcastle side with the same formation (coincidence) as yours which is 4-3MRCL-2AMRL-1. As I am old school, I set up mine in classic mode (sliders and all that good stuff)

The back four is currently set up with the old 'Nike tick' mentality (DR 11, DCR 9, DCL 7, DL 9, defensive minded MC 8) which I assume +/- 2 clicks will keep the shape tight and players form a decent backline. Most of the time they are fine but the goals I concede mainly comes from opposition wingers outpacing my fullbacks to cross into an open man inside the box. Granted that my AMRL are two inverted forwards with high creative freedom and attacking flair (closing down of 14), how can I minimize the occurrence of such a scenario? Closing down of DRL is set to 14, DCR 12 dan DCL 10 and tight marking is off for all players since I'd like to adopt a zonal marking system.

On the whole, my team is playing a high possession, nice tiki-taka style passing game with plenty of short passes going all around. Possession is about high 50s and mid 60s unless we are up against the Citys, Uniteds and Arsenals of the game, yet it gets frustrating to concede on such a counter.

Sorry for the wordy description as I have yet to learn how to capture screenshot in Stream (help, anyone?) and ALT PRTSC doesn't work anymore.

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Stafford in nPower2

Our first season prep work is done, with a budget of 0, I need to get a side thats up to the challenge. In the closing months of the last season I had to revert to a formation which would give me defensive stability as well as some attacking edge. I was basically using a formation that I loosely termed 41221 in my threads, I thought I'd better just post it up.

Staff433.jpg

Its a fairly simple layout, done off the TC with minimal adjustments, apart from some passing options which i had to make. I have been fairly conservative with my roles at the back choosing to asking 5 players to defend and if you look at the trio in midfield, you will probably see a few more. The lone forward upfront has been set up as a deep lying forward and I have two reasonably pacey wingforwards.

The cut and thrust of my system must come from my pivots in the middle as well as the deeplying forward. I tend to favour this formation over most others for defensive stability simply because of the OI options that I have at my disposal. Any 442 is nullified via OIing the FBs and the Wingers; locking down my fullbacks gives me time to assess opposing formations and if i choose to unlock a stubborn side I can always set them to support and get the team to work balls into box.

The Tactical Creator settings have been used, except for passing, since my fbs dont go forward on overlapping runs. On good pitches we do really well, but on bad pitches we do struggle so my passing options at least give me the outlet of varying my attacks.

Its been a fairly solid system which doesn't require much in manpower since i really only need to worry about the DM and the DLF. We have got off to a good start in the league with a home win over Bury. More to come after my short holiday

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I haven't adjusted the sliders for width and tempo, I normally use the shouts to reduce width. For passing the defaults work fine but I have 1 for my dcs and mixed for my fullbacks. Upfront they are all set to direct. There are a fair bit of hopeful punts in keeping with my status as an underdog

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Season thus far

Npower2 is tough, we start the season and I need to worry about players now. We dont have enough and with a really limiting wage budget, I dont really have much depth. Our side hasnt been strengthened a lot so I can only hope that my continual moaning to the board may see some benefit later. Once again we lost almost every single preseason match and then went on to win our first league game, but now with 9 matches gone we have only managed to win 3 times. We aren't too far off the pack but I do want to begin a surge soon, and to do that I need to find some way to get my wage budget up. We do need better players in two key positions within my midfield pivot.

I have also been adjusting the role of my APM and FB® in matches to make sure that we get some cut and thrust going. When we started the season, I was very conservative but I need to unleash one fullback to increase the quality of chances being created. As Egil Olsen once said, the more times I get the ball in the box the greater my chances should be to score.

SF4.jpg

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We've had a distinctly ordinary start to the season, but thank goodness we arent the only ones, with 19 matches played, the gap between 1st and 7th is 4 points, we're now fifth in the league and using only TC created tactics. The 41221 I am using is probably a lot more devastating than any other formation I have used this season. My APM and my FB are the ones I unleash when I want to get more aggressive.

In the default I have shown, they are set to defend which would be how I'd set up when I am counterattacking, but when I want to go look for goals I turn on control and switch those two to attack and support respectively, for added juice and if I am allowed to the fullback goes full attack. my passing heat signatures are excellent showing us playing the ball around the park but as I prefer to go through the middle and occassionally over the top, I find exploit through middle with my shortish side more beneficial. I will stick up some heat signatures where I use them to analyse player performances.

In as far as shouts are concerned, my go to shouts when a match starts are pretty standard now. I begin games if defensive with narrow, exploit through middle and pass through defense. When I want to go attacking I really turn on the juice and go control pushed up, narrow exploit through middle. Its only something i have recently started to do since my patch start and has already seen me string 3 wins in a row.

Using the TC is fairly simple, the only adjustment I made was to passing, because I need to operate with a more controlled passing strategy where I try and move the ball on the ground as much as I can while the pitches hold. Up front there is a lot of direct passing. It seems to work fine for what we are doing, we lose games but narrowly, so I can really complain. And hopefully I dont need to watch too many full matches

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Hey Rashidi1, I love your blog! Gives a lot of insights and ideas. I've tried to pretty much copy your 4-2-3-1 system you used your first

season, but with QPR. Results in interesting football, though I'm not sure if it is how I want to play.

I do have one major problem, most teams seem to just bypass my central defensive line and creating one on ones with the keeper again

and again. Did you get the same result? How did you deal with it? Shut off passing supply, lower defensive line?

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Well after a disasterous last season where I just avoided relegation (again), this season I'm 4th with 8 games to go and 7 points from the top. Highlights being a 7-3 away win at York and a 2-2 thrashing of Bournmouth in the FA Cup. Two divisions above me and I had 12 shots on goal with 6 CCC to their 3 shots from distance.

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