Rainmaker v2 and Silk & Steel v2.......... A Combined Arms approach to FM

[widowmaker-]

This effectively S&S V2 but changing the fluidity from "balanced" to "fluid"

S&S V2 already set to "Control" & "Retain Possession"

Mind you if it works who cares!

It does say 'tweak'

[Jehiel]

So 3 seasons of using this, 3 La Liga titles.

But this 4th season may take the cake. Through 25 games ... 22 wins 3 draws. 79 for ... 12(!!!) against.

By this point I've been able to fill my Mallorca team with world class players ... but regardless this tactics has been perfect, thanks. I tried a ton of other tactics before finding this one (league results before using this, starting halfway through 2013 = 2nd in League 2, promotion - 17th - 5th - 5th - 5th - 10th)

[Jambo98]

Yup, i love that this tactic set has given me success anywhere i go.

Clearly you need to use it right - You need to get players who fit into the roles. It wont work with just any old players, but match the attributes to the roles (using the guide in one of the opening posts) and you are on your way. You need to also do the basics of management right outside the tactic - keep morale high, manage the squad, rest players at the right times etc. Also need to consider cohesion if/when you bring in a boat load of new signings.

But do all that properly, pick the right tactic for the right games, and this can be lethal.

In my main career where i have used this tactic, my trophy haul across 5 seasons:

Serie B title

Serie A title

Bundesliga title

La Liga title

Spanish Supercup

This is with Parma/Wolfsburg/Barcelona. In the only other save where i used this, i took Clyde to successive promotions from the bottom league in scotland (just put it on hold after 2 seasons to jump back to the main career).

In terms of the tweaking when you become a real top team and teams sit in, i have found that by simply changing the FB(s) to CWB(a) you can mitigate this problem. You need great fullbacks to do this, but since the problem only tends to come when your a top team you should have this. With barca, this is the only change i make against "park the bus" teams and it is deadly. Jordi Alba kills it down the left, and i now have Corchia on the right (Montoya did a great job as well). No other changes needed for me.

[MTM1977]

In the last few days i have been trying to create my own tactics and tweak these tactics.

The reason i am doing it is that i believe part of the "second season" problems is due to constantly using the same formation. Not 100% sure, but just a gut feeling + have been reading similar stuff from multiple sources.

I think i have come up with a decent tactic based on S&S v2, but using player in AMC position instead of DM.

I will give it more testing and if it indeed proves to be successful, i can post a link here too.

I will definitely give Jambo98's suggestion a try also, i actually experimented with WB's, but not CWB's.

[Mr U Rosler]

Quick update on my save.

First season in Championship consolidated nicely in 10th.

Second season we're tearing it up.

Rainmaker v2 home, Silk & Steel v2 away...no tweaks required.

Premier League here we come...... unless I **** up big time.

[Jorgen]

Is there a specific tweak that I should use, or are the ones in the opening post still regarded the best to use?

[MTM1977]

It seems my Inter squad is set in the Complete Forward area for years to come.

I now have two players for that role.

1. 26 years old striker with CA "Leading player for Serie A".

2. My new purchase, 18 years old Mexican regen striker, CA "Leading for Serie A" and PA "World Class".

That is the first time i have had player with World Class Potential.

He is still young, but already has pretty good attributes:

Now if i am lucky and he doesn't suffer any bad injuries in the next few years, he should become quite a threat on attack.

[Mr U Rosler]

Is there a specific tweak that I should use, or are the ones in the opening post still regarded the best to use?

Unless you are a very top team i.e barcelona just use tactics on the opening post.

[The_SouL]

I don't understand how this tactic get so much praise, because it is utterly s***. Never in my history of playing CM/FM have I encountered a worst performing tactic.

I've followed instructions and tweak by other members, but nothing works. I've played one & a half season in Bursaspor. First season I finished 8 and got fired.

So I gave it another chance. Taking them over again. Buying good players (Rulli, Pavelka, Endogan, Alberto, Salih Ucan and so on).

But mid season I am now in 11th place.

I'm so really tired of this game, I'm close deciding to never play FM again in my life. Just ain't worth all the hours of frustration.

[Gareth Winter]

I don't understand how this tactic get so much praise, because it is utterly s***. Never in my history of playing CM/FM have I encountered a worst performing tactic.

I've followed instructions and tweak by other members, but nothing works. I've played one & a half season in Bursaspor. First season I finished 8 and got fired.

So I gave it another chance. Taking them over again. Buying good players (Rulli, Pavelka, Endogan, Alberto, Salih Ucan and so on).

But mid season I am now in 11th place.

I'm so really tired of this game, I'm close deciding to never play FM again in my life. Just ain't worth all the hours of frustration.

Because most of us have had a lot of success with it!

[The_SouL]

Well, congratulations. Let me call the press.

[Mr U Rosler]

I don't understand how this tactic get so much praise, because it is utterly s***. Never in my history of playing CM/FM have I encountered a worst performing tactic.

I've followed instructions and tweak by other members, but nothing works. I've played one & a half season in Bursaspor. First season I finished 8 and got fired.

So I gave it another chance. Taking them over again. Buying good players (Rulli, Pavelka, Endogan, Alberto, Salih Ucan and so on).

But mid season I am now in 11th place.

I'm so really tired of this game, I'm close deciding to never play FM again in my life. Just ain't worth all the hours of frustration.

On every tactic thread there is one person who manages to find a way to not make it work.... congratulations on being that guy

[Eleanor_Rigby]

Oh noes, it's not a plug in and play tactic ... must be ****. The days of those types of tactics are gone and regardless of how great a tactic is perceived by others, most still need tweaked to the players you have at your disposal if they aren't working like they are for the majority of people using them.

People have ran into issues with these particular tactics at some point, it's just a matter of adjusting them as and when things evolve and you'll continue to reap the rewards of Mr U's hard work. Tweaks/adjustments made by others won't necessarily be what's needed for your group of players.

[MTM1977]

One thing i have noticed with FM14.

It doesn't matter what players you have or what tactics you are using if you fail in team talks and other player interactions.

Team just doesn't perform if they are not properly motivated.

[SilverSurfie]

I totally agree that it seems teamtalks and motivation play a big difference this year, I've also noticed that compared to previous versions having the captain or co-captain in starting 11 seems to play a role in performance as well. Majority of the games I've lost or drawn I've noticed my prematch teamtalk wasnt effective and as a result my squad plays poorly and/or concede early. Also I've noticed if my halftime talk didnt motivate my squad enough the likelihood of the opposition comes out and kicks my ass in the 2nd half is very likely. Also gotta play the right tactic against the opposition or else you'll get destroyed.

I'm playing as Southampton about halfway though the season. I just completed a 2 week stretch with 4 matches against 10th place Arsenal, 3rd Chelsea, 1st Man Utd, 4th Newcastle and won all 4 of them. Currently I am sitting on top of the table at 1st place so this tactic works very well. My only complaint is the necessity of carrying 2 fundamentally different strikers on the bench because of the difference requirements in the two striker roles. Its much more difficult getting developing strikers gametime since there is only one spot for you to plug them. In the past FMs I liked playing a 3 striker formation and could just plug and play any 2 strikers without restriction around my best striker and not have any dropoff in performance. How to get your developing complete forwards gametime when the tactic centers around the CF bagging majority of the goals? Seems suboptimal having your top goalscorer on the bench.

[Scotty Walds]

Got our first win in the Premier League! After losing at Norwich 0-1, at home to Reading 3-4 and at Chelsea 0-1, we beat Watford at home 4-3 - thanks to switching to rainmaker for the last 20 minutes, we turned it from 2-3 to 4-3 (winner on 93 minutes). Feel sorry for Dwight Gayle, who scored a hat-trick for Watford...

Up to 16th!

[Mr U Rosler]

Got our first win in the Premier League! After losing at Norwich 0-1, at home to Reading 3-4 and at Chelsea 0-1, we beat Watford at home 4-3 - thanks to switching to rainmaker for the last 20 minutes, we turned it from 2-3 to 4-3 (winner on 93 minutes). Feel sorry for Dwight Gayle, who scored a hat-trick for Watford...

Up to 16th!

Looks like i'll be joining you in the Prem soon. Top of the Championship with 9 games to go, 10 point gap over 3rd placed team so should be enough to see me up.

Premier League teams will soon be terrified of visiting my 7500 all seater stadium in leafy Tonbridge

[The_SouL]

Well, Firstly I would like to apologize to Mr U Rosler & Gareth Winter for my rude comments.

I was in a bad state of mind when posting last night. I normally never post much on forums & I have never ranted on the internet before. In fact I never registered on these forum until the big 09 launch problem, despite playing this game since cm 3. I'm ashamed reading what I posted. I'm truly sorry. I know you may think I'm a nutcase reading these posts, but I'm not some rambling angry guy. I guess I just lost it after losing 7 games in a row.

Mr U Rosler your tactic is not s*** like I said. It is pretty good & I had a good run with it with Leeds. I would like to thank you for the hours invested & the fact that you share it with other "managers".

I now see where the problem lays when reading other comments about motivation & player interaction. That is where I failed in Bursaspor. In team-talks I was a bit harsh sometimes & that back-lashed me several times, with players complaining about it. Also my captain is not on the regular eleven squad, but that has never been a problem (for me at least) in previous games. Same with team talks which I usually left for the ass man.

Good day to you all. Don't let FM get to you

[Gareth Winter]

Well, Firstly I would like to apologize to Mr U Rosler & Gareth Winter for my rude comments.

No worries i didn't take offence

I was going to post a couple of pics last night proving you wrong about it not working. Moved jobs to Bayern in 2028 so not the same Bayern as now.

Won my first 4 games like so:

German Cup

first round 9-0

League

Werder Bremen 1 - Bayern 6

Bayern 8 - HSV 1

Bayern 4 - ? 0

Easy

[DJ Sir Matthew]

A new update on my Boston Utd career. First season we won the Skrill North quite easily, so this season we entered Skrill Premier territory.

I added a few signings but nothing major as I felt competent our current squad should do a decent job and keeping us up.

FA Trophy was a small disaster as we were out in the 2nd round already, given though it was against Cambridge United who were in 1st position back then...

FA Cup was a huge success where we first drew League 2 Southend home and held them at 0-0 to then win 4-5 at their field

Second round we drew Northampton (League 2) away who just won 2-0 against Southend in the league, but we trumped them easily (1-3)

Third round we met with Premier League outfit Cardiff who proved to be too strong (2-1) but made for a nice financial boost.

Talking about finances, we're at 1.6M currently (also because wage budget is 8.7k but we're only spending 7.4k of it).

So to the Skrill Premier where we were amongst the play-offs position, sometimes topping the league, sometimes just below the play-offs. But we had a great final run and when the last game started, we were 1 point behind Cambridge. 30 minutes in and we were up 0-1 while they were losing 2-0 to Kidderminster so we were virtually champions. We finished the job with 1-3 but alas they scored in the 80th minute to make it 2-3 and win promotion...

When you get that close, surely something will go wrong, right? Playoff semi-final vs Luton was ok (1-2 away and 1-1 home after extra time (We were down 0-1 in regular time and I thought away goals would play, but apparently they don't)).

Play-off final was vs Forest Green, which happened to be the team that kicked us out of the FA Trophy last year, which we encountered in our very first Skrill Premier game (3-0 for them) and vs which we drew 0-0 home. So all in all, not a good team for us. And it didn't start well as after 7 min we were 1-0 down. My DL who never scored before, equalised at the half hour mark. In the second half they score 2-1 and it was only 10 minutes before the end Weir-Daley made the 2-2. So extra time again, and my players were knackered. In the 114th minute they scored and I kinda felt like giving up but switched to Rainmaker anyway. In the 120+1th minute my DR flights the ball to Weird-Daley who runs to the keeper and nets the 3-3. Exstatic and to penalties it went. And there I saw the very first disturbing ME-bug. The GK's are really really bad at penalties! We both scored 18 penalties before one of their players missed and we won promotion to League 2.

At the beginning of my career I've set 2 club change rules: I can change clubs when I'm fired (duh) or when I take a club back to their highest level ever. For The Pilgrims that was League 2 (2002-2007), so now I'm entitled to change clubs (but it can of course only be a club playing lower than their highest level ever)... Not sure I will do so though as I kinda like Boston Utd. They've grown on me

[ricardomac]

I wasn't going to, but I have to update you on my quest with these tactics. After my last post I decided to start a new save, and as I said I'm too lazy, lately, so I went with the classic version of the game, taking charge, this time around, of Varzim. Varzim are a well known team in Portugal. They have already played the top tier of our football but have been in the II Division (now known as Campeonato Nacional de Seniores) for the last couple of years. In fact, last season they achieved promotion but due to not having money and having a lot of financial problems, they refused to register for the Second League and to keep on playing in the II Division with semi-professional players. So, a good team, but not a great team.

First season was a charm. It saw us take 1st place in the 1st phase of the league.

In the second phase we got the second place, due to a few bad results here and there, and secure a promotion playoff spot.

Playoff we won comfortably.

Since in FM you can not refuse to play the professional leagues, on we went to the second league. But it wasn't easy. The new more realistic transfer market makes it a little harder for teams that get to the professional leagues for the first time. And in Portugal, the difference between a team from II Division and Second League is huge. At least is what I've felt, the times I got teams promoted.

First season in the Portuguese Second League was consolidation season and went like this:

Second season was a different story. I knew I could push for promotion and that was what I told the board. Did we get it? Yes we did. On top of the table.

A few signings here and there and we started our first season back at the top tier a little shaky. With three games to go, this is how we stand.

To top all this, I am to play the League Cup final against Sporting Lisbon. And to make it even better my complete forward has been one of the top goalscorers of the league in all seasons, being appointed top goalscorer of the portuguese cup in the first season. I ended up having to re-sign him at my second season, because I didn't notice his contract was ending and he got released. Shame on me. He is a player that had scored 17 goals, prior to signing for my team, this is 10 seasons before. In 4 years of playing for me he has 74 goals. His name is Vitor Hugo. The ones playing the portuguese league can take a look at him, he plays for Vizela at the begining of the game. He is not an awesome striker, but he came with me from the lower leagues and is still top of the goalscoring table in the Premier League.

I play like this: Silk & Still every time I'm the underdog and Rainmaker every time I'm favorite. Home or away. You don't win all the time, but you win most of the times.

And, to end, two very important victories.

Against Porto, League Coup group stage first game:

And for the league, away at Estádio de Alvalade, against Sporting Lisbon:

I'm loving your tactics. So, thanks for the good work.

[Mr U Rosler]

Well, Firstly I would like to apologize to Mr U Rosler & Gareth Winter for my rude comments.

I was in a bad state of mind when posting last night. I normally never post much on forums & I have never ranted on the internet before. In fact I never registered on these forum until the big 09 launch problem, despite playing this game since cm 3. I'm ashamed reading what I posted. I'm truly sorry. I know you may think I'm a nutcase reading these posts, but I'm not some rambling angry guy. I guess I just lost it after losing 7 games in a row.

Mr U Rosler your tactic is not s*** like I said. It is pretty good & I had a good run with it with Leeds. I would like to thank you for the hours invested & the fact that you share it with other "managers".

I now see where the problem lays when reading other comments about motivation & player interaction. That is where I failed in Bursaspor. In team-talks I was a bit harsh sometimes & that back-lashed me several times, with players complaining about it. Also my captain is not on the regular eleven squad, but that has never been a problem (for me at least) in previous games. Same with team talks which I usually left for the ass man.

Good day to you all. Don't let FM get to you

Well done for having the class to apologize duly accepted.

These tactics give you the opportunity to be successful if you get the other aspects of the game correct, in themselves they do not guarantee success.

This is the way it should be.

In nearly 9 seasons at Tonbridge i've never had a player complain about a team talk so i would look at this as morale is absolutely vital.

We're all learning here and plenty of us can offer advice outside of tactics alone if required.

You just have to ask

[Mr U Rosler]

A new update on my Boston Utd career. First season we won the Skrill North quite easily, so this season we entered Skrill Premier territory.

I added a few signings but nothing major as I felt competent our current squad should do a decent job and keeping us up.

FA Trophy was a small disaster as we were out in the 2nd round already, given though it was against Cambridge United who were in 1st position back then...

FA Cup was a huge success where we first drew League 2 Southend home and held them at 0-0 to then win 4-5 at their field

Second round we drew Northampton (League 2) away who just won 2-0 against Southend in the league, but we trumped them easily (1-3)

Third round we met with Premier League outfit Cardiff who proved to be too strong (2-1) but made for a nice financial boost.

Talking about finances, we're at 1.6M currently (also because wage budget is 8.7k but we're only spending 7.4k of it).

So to the Skrill Premier where we were amongst the play-offs position, sometimes topping the league, sometimes just below the play-offs. But we had a great final run and when the last game started, we were 1 point behind Cambridge. 30 minutes in and we were up 0-1 while they were losing 2-0 to Kidderminster so we were virtually champions. We finished the job with 1-3 but alas they scored in the 80th minute to make it 2-3 and win promotion...

When you get that close, surely something will go wrong, right? Playoff semi-final vs Luton was ok (1-2 away and 1-1 home after extra time (We were down 0-1 in regular time and I thought away goals would play, but apparently they don't)).

Play-off final was vs Forest Green, which happened to be the team that kicked us out of the FA Trophy last year, which we encountered in our very first Skrill Premier game (3-0 for them) and vs which we drew 0-0 home. So all in all, not a good team for us. And it didn't start well as after 7 min we were 1-0 down. My DL who never scored before, equalised at the half hour mark. In the second half they score 2-1 and it was only 10 minutes before the end Weir-Daley made the 2-2. So extra time again, and my players were knackered. In the 114th minute they scored and I kinda felt like giving up but switched to Rainmaker anyway. In the 120+1th minute my DR flights the ball to Weird-Daley who runs to the keeper and nets the 3-3. Exstatic and to penalties it went. And there I saw the very first disturbing ME-bug. The GK's are really really bad at penalties! We both scored 18 penalties before one of their players missed and we won promotion to League 2.

At the beginning of my career I've set 2 club change rules: I can change clubs when I'm fired (duh) or when I take a club back to their highest level ever. For The Pilgrims that was League 2 (2002-2007), so now I'm entitled to change clubs (but it can of course only be a club playing lower than their highest level ever)... Not sure I will do so though as I kinda like Boston Utd. They've grown on me

Well done!

League 2 is a toughie when you're coming from non-league. It took me 4 seasons to get promoted out of it with Tonbridge and 2 of those seasons were relegation battles. You finances are much better than mine were so I would target promotion in 3 seasons, anything better than that is a real bonus. Good news is once your out of league 2 its plain sailing, i won League 1 next season, finished 10th first season in Championship and it looks like i will promoted to the Premier League as champions in season 2.

First season in League 2 I would start all games with Silk & Steel at least until you find your feet

[madhatter75]

Mr Rosler, some advice please.

I have taken my beloved Stockport to 3 promotions in 6 seasons and in each of the other 3 seasons I was a play off loser. Preparing for my first season in League 1 have a strong squad and thus far have used Silk and Steel v2 all the way. You can understand therefore, my reluctance to attempt to change my tactics! What should I do in your opinion?

Should i attempt the Rainmaker or not fix what ain't broken?

Thanks in advance!!

[Gareth Winter]

Mr Rosler, some advice please.

I have taken my beloved Stockport to 3 promotions in 6 seasons and in each of the other 3 seasons I was a play off loser. Preparing for my first season in League 1 have a strong squad and thus far have used Silk and Steel v2 all the way. You can understand therefore, my reluctance to attempt to change my tactics! What should I do in your opinion?

Should i attempt the Rainmaker or not fix what ain't broken?

Thanks in advance!!

You should try using Rainmaker in your home games if you are the favourite and see how you get on. If you dont like it switch back

[Mr U Rosler]

Mr Rosler, some advice please.

I have taken my beloved Stockport to 3 promotions in 6 seasons and in each of the other 3 seasons I was a play off loser. Preparing for my first season in League 1 have a strong squad and thus far have used Silk and Steel v2 all the way. You can understand therefore, my reluctance to attempt to change my tactics! What should I do in your opinion?

Should i attempt the Rainmaker or not fix what ain't broken?

Thanks in advance!!

Yeah, following the match odds is a good way to go as this seems to dictate how teams play against you.

Rainmaker when favourites. Silk & Steel when not.

You get a message in your inbox a couple of days before each game stating who is favorite.

[madhatter75]

Thanks guys I will give that a whirl this weekend

[Gareth Winter]

Patch just been released. Loads of Match engine changes:

MATCH ENGINE v1454

- Increased dribbling speed at higher end

- Improved pass and shot accuracy slightly at higher end

- Improved goalkeeper save AI

- Fixed keeper trying to pick up ball at feet but not being able to hold it

- Fixed some instances of unrealistically dreadful poor touch

- Fixed some full backs going forward too quickly off the ball

- Increased likelihood of certain attacking roles dropping deeper to look for ball

- Improved destination height of headed clearances

- Fixed up "Mark six yard area" at corners to mean zonal marking of the edge of the six yard box

- Fixed headed clearance trajectory bug

- Slight reduction in overhit passes

- Fixed potential own goal bug when player tries to stand still with ball near own goal line

- Prevented midfield players going too deep when defending own area

- Increased speed defenders will push up out of box when ball won back or cleared in deep areas

- Reduced instances of defenders turning back on ball and retreating too quickly when team is generally well positioned defensively

- Fixed error causing defenders to mark opponents and drop too deep into own area

- Tweaked pace and target point of some short passes to feet when receiving player is under pressure

- Slightly encouraged some more passes in behind opposition d-line

- Reduced some further instances of overly long first touches

- Reduced premature pot shots from distance when placed to take ball closer to opposition goal

- Encouraged taking on of opponents by players likely to run with ball more

- Some small dribbling AI tweaks

- Encouraged ball forward to target man a bit more

- Tweaked pass AI slightly

- Tweaked cross AI slightly

- Increased fouls slightly at lower levels

- Reduced mentality choice slightly for low directness AI teams

- Increased use of direct play strategy for smaller teams

- Potential fix for odd throw ins

- Fixed an issue when the subbed player doesn't drop the ball

- Tweaked pass choice AI

- Tweaked run with ball AI

- Tweaked when to cross AI

- Tweaked when to shoot long AI

- Tweaked shot choice AI for top players

- Tweaked header accuracy slightly

- Tweaked when to clear ball AI

- Fixed error causing many corners to go too close to goal line

- Tweaked off ball movement around ball player

- Fixes and tweaks to passing AI

- Fixed some issues causing poor dribbling and first touch decisions

- Some tweaks re when to shoot or not

- Increased urgency of off ball movement in some situations

- Fixed offsides being called after player has moved back onside before pass

- Fixed bug where dive by attacker could result in penalty regardless of where it occurred

- Improved keeper reactions in some situations

- Made keepers sweep up balls more aggressively when needed

- Improved keeper positioning when narrowing angle

- Fixed a pass being reported as 550 yards in distance

- Fixed unrealistic examples of keepers holding shots

- Fixed keeper making unnecessary save attempt when already letting ball run out

- Fixed keepers making buggy attempts to save ball when they have it under control already

- Improved goalkeeper distribution

- Fixed buggy offsides being given when player fouled

- Fixed some instances of players continuing with pointless attempts to intercept balls that are destined for opponent

- Made players quicker to move to slow moving ball when under pressure

- Fixed some instances of buggy poor first touches

- Less risky passes around own danger area

- Some minor general passing AI tweaks

- Tweaked long shot AI slightly

- Reduced instances of silly passes when player in goalscoring opportunity

- Made players less gung ho about drifting offside

- Fixed buggy kick offs where the 2 players get in each other’s' way

- Fixed some keeper clearances being given insufficient elevation

- Fix for some crosses not being attempted

- Reduction in dangerous and long back passes

- Reduced DFK conversion slightly

- Further fixes for keeper handling and judgement of ball issues

- Removed illogical zonal marking on free kicks around corner of penalty area

- Reduced unnaturally looped kicks from ground

- More minor tweaks to on ball decision making AI

- Fixed rare occurrence of player "teleporting" randomly on ball

- Reduced unrealistic instances of long shots

- Fixed bug causing some shot velocities to be reduced

- Fine-tuned shot and pass accuracy

- Fine-tuned player ratings

- Fixed underhit long kicks

- Fix occasional penalty awards when offence nowhere near area

- Fixed rare occurrence of match not kicking off after goal

[madhatter75]

Patch just been released. Loads of Match engine changes:

MATCH ENGINE v1454

- Increased dribbling speed at higher end

- Improved pass and shot accuracy slightly at higher end

- Improved goalkeeper save AI

- Fixed keeper trying to pick up ball at feet but not being able to hold it

- Fixed some instances of unrealistically dreadful poor touch

- Fixed some full backs going forward too quickly off the ball

- Increased likelihood of certain attacking roles dropping deeper to look for ball

- Improved destination height of headed clearances

- Fixed up "Mark six yard area" at corners to mean zonal marking of the edge of the six yard box

- Fixed headed clearance trajectory bug

- Slight reduction in overhit passes

- Fixed potential own goal bug when player tries to stand still with ball near own goal line

- Prevented midfield players going too deep when defending own area

- Increased speed defenders will push up out of box when ball won back or cleared in deep areas

- Reduced instances of defenders turning back on ball and retreating too quickly when team is generally well positioned defensively

- Fixed error causing defenders to mark opponents and drop too deep into own area

- Tweaked pace and target point of some short passes to feet when receiving player is under pressure

- Slightly encouraged some more passes in behind opposition d-line

- Reduced some further instances of overly long first touches

- Reduced premature pot shots from distance when placed to take ball closer to opposition goal

- Encouraged taking on of opponents by players likely to run with ball more

- Some small dribbling AI tweaks

- Encouraged ball forward to target man a bit more

- Tweaked pass AI slightly

- Tweaked cross AI slightly

- Increased fouls slightly at lower levels

- Reduced mentality choice slightly for low directness AI teams

- Increased use of direct play strategy for smaller teams

- Potential fix for odd throw ins

- Fixed an issue when the subbed player doesn't drop the ball

- Tweaked pass choice AI

- Tweaked run with ball AI

- Tweaked when to cross AI

- Tweaked when to shoot long AI

- Tweaked shot choice AI for top players

- Tweaked header accuracy slightly

- Tweaked when to clear ball AI

- Fixed error causing many corners to go too close to goal line

- Tweaked off ball movement around ball player

- Fixes and tweaks to passing AI

- Fixed some issues causing poor dribbling and first touch decisions

- Some tweaks re when to shoot or not

- Increased urgency of off ball movement in some situations

- Fixed offsides being called after player has moved back onside before pass

- Fixed bug where dive by attacker could result in penalty regardless of where it occurred

- Improved keeper reactions in some situations

- Made keepers sweep up balls more aggressively when needed

- Improved keeper positioning when narrowing angle

- Fixed a pass being reported as 550 yards in distance

- Fixed unrealistic examples of keepers holding shots

- Fixed keeper making unnecessary save attempt when already letting ball run out

- Fixed keepers making buggy attempts to save ball when they have it under control already

- Improved goalkeeper distribution

- Fixed buggy offsides being given when player fouled

- Fixed some instances of players continuing with pointless attempts to intercept balls that are destined for opponent

- Made players quicker to move to slow moving ball when under pressure

- Fixed some instances of buggy poor first touches

- Less risky passes around own danger area

- Some minor general passing AI tweaks

- Tweaked long shot AI slightly

- Reduced instances of silly passes when player in goalscoring opportunity

- Made players less gung ho about drifting offside

- Fixed buggy kick offs where the 2 players get in each other’s' way

- Fixed some keeper clearances being given insufficient elevation

- Fix for some crosses not being attempted

- Reduction in dangerous and long back passes

- Reduced DFK conversion slightly

- Further fixes for keeper handling and judgement of ball issues

- Removed illogical zonal marking on free kicks around corner of penalty area

- Reduced unnaturally looped kicks from ground

- More minor tweaks to on ball decision making AI

- Fixed rare occurrence of player "teleporting" randomly on ball

- Reduced unrealistic instances of long shots

- Fixed bug causing some shot velocities to be reduced

- Fine-tuned shot and pass accuracy

- Fine-tuned player ratings

- Fixed underhit long kicks

- Fix occasional penalty awards when offence nowhere near area

- Fixed rare occurrence of match not kicking off after goal

Will this affect on-going games or only new starts? Also will this affect tactics such as S & S and Rainmaker?

[Gareth Winter]

The match engine changes will have an affect on the tactics yes. Only time will tell wether its a good one or not though.

[Mr U Rosler]

Won't be on it until 7pm.

Will re run Norwich and Chelsea tests.

Any feedback in the meantime appreciated.

[craskidm]

It actually makes me sad that just as I'm about to crack it with my Colwyn Bay team the ME updates might spoil it all even though they are needed!

I'm playing Rainmaker v2 at present so I'll let you know how I go. Played last season as S&S and finished 3rd so now I'm the favourites hence the change!

[MTM1977]

Interesting, let's see what the changes bring.

I have been trying to re-create Mr U Rosler's Rainmaker B and at the same time get full effect from the AMC position.

It was looking fairly promising, i will keep testing with the new ME changes to see which way it goes from now on.

[Gareth Winter]

Played 5 matches, didnt really notice anything bad to be honest.

[Heath Matthias]

I'm just hoping it helps my goalkeeper stop making shocking mistakes. He is a bit pants though, so it may be up to his stats

[The_SouL]

Ok, thanks for overlooking my rudeness. There are a few thing I'm not really sure about. I haven't picked up my games since I last quit. Now the team is in a really bad run and morale is pretty low. For example one of my strikers hasn't scored a single goal in 12 matches and his confidence is at the bottom. What shall I do with him? Leave him on the bench or giving him another go?

When it comes to teamtalks, the times it has backlashed me is for example at half time losing the game I've been assertive and far from happy but some players lost confidence and motivation. Then of course we lose the game. Being a home game at the end of the game I'm still assertive far from happy and the results are the same.

Players have gone to media criticizing my match talk & I have had to have conversation with them saying to them they'll see a change. Now I've followed instructions of front page for match talks. So saying that you never had any players complaining, there's must have been something I've done horribly wrong but I can't quit put my finger on it. Because when is the morale considered too low to be harsh in matchtalks?

Now when it comes to getting a player sent off during a match, whether it'll be at home or away I always seem to lose those games. Conceding some ludicrous goal at the end. What should you do in that situation?

Also press conferences? Do it on your own or leave it for the assistant?

Thanks in advance. Take care

[Mr U Rosler]

Ok, thanks for overlooking my rudeness. There are a few thing I'm not really sure about. I haven't picked up my games since I last quit. Now the team is in a really bad run and morale is pretty low. For example one of my strikers hasn't scored a single goal in 12 matches and his confidence is at the bottom. What shall I do with him? Leave him on the bench or giving him another go?

When it comes to teamtalks, the times it has backlashed me is for example at half time losing the game I've been assertive and far from happy but some players lost confidence and motivation. Then of course we lose the game. Being a home game at the end of the game I'm still assertive far from happy and the results are the same.

Players have gone to media criticizing my match talk & I have had to have conversation with them saying to them they'll see a change. Now I've followed instructions of front page for match talks. So saying that you never had any players complaining, there's must have been something I've done horribly wrong but I can't quit put my finger on it. Because when is the morale considered too low to be harsh in matchtalks?

Now when it comes to getting a player sent off during a match, whether it'll be at home or away I always seem to lose those games. Conceding some ludicrous goal at the end. What should you do in that situation?

Also press conferences? Do it on your own or leave it for the assistant?

Thanks in advance. Take care

Press conferences I leave to assistant.

Strikers in poor form I usually rest them for 2 or 3 games, put them back in the team for a couple of games then rest them again for 2 or 3 games and repeat until they score. When they eventually do score I give them a run in the team as they usually get on a hot streak.

When morale gets really bad you need to completely back off the team talks, go with 'good luck', ' no pressure' etc until it's back up.

The team talks I advised earlier were for a team in good form/morale and is designed to ward off complacency which is not the issue for you at the moment,

The ME has been updated today which may complicate things as we no longer know for sure how effective the tactic is.

Keep us posted!

[MTM1977]

If the team already has low morale, being harsh only makes things worse.

It is perfectly fine to be demanding, when team has a good streak going and they are not performing at their usual level.

However, when things start to go south, it's usually better to try a softer approach to keep the morale up and game flowing again.

If one of my strikers goes more than 3 games without scoring, i go to private chat and select the "you haven't scored many lately, but i have faith etc" option.

If he still keeps going without scoring, i later take the "i will bench you if you don't score" option.

Of course, when you do the private chat thing, you need to play him after that to see how the effect was

[The_SouL]

Thanks for the quick input.

I see how player interaction plays a big role in this fm. I just loaded up my Leeds file to try the chat interaction you suggested MTM1977, saying to my striker who hadn't scored in in 4 games that "he hadn't scored lately...". Next match he scores a hat trick. Well done.

I have one more question. If they are other players not performing to their level (for example fullback, central midfielder,etc...) should the same thing be applied to them? (player chat) What should be said then?

And also are there other interactions or advice that should be known?

Thanks

[MTM1977]

Thanks for the quick input.

I see how player interaction plays a big role in this fm. I just loaded up my Leeds file to try the chat interaction you suggested MTM1977, saying to my striker who hadn't scored in in 4 games that "he hadn't scored lately...". Next match he scores a hat trick. Well done.

I have one more question. If they are other players not performing to their level (for example fullback, central midfielder,etc...) should the same thing be applied to them? (player chat) What should be said then?

And also are there other interactions or advice that should be known?

Thanks

If player is on poor form, on private chat /peformance / criticise recent form, there is a "safe option" which i usually use on the first time.

I can't remember the exact words now, but it is the one containing "you have made some mistakes lately, the team needs you to get back in form" or something like that.

The worst that can happen is no reaction and in best cases the player gets positive PR + starts to play better.

Again, if that doesn't help, then next time (after about 5 matches or so) use something more demanding from the same topic.

[druefar60]

On my third season with Stockport now in League 2 after back to back promotions. First half of the season gone by very well, went on a 10 game winning streak but now starting to see some bad form especially at home. I've seen the same pattern every season, and now i'm convinced a main contributing factor is my pitch condition which has gone from perfect in pre-season to poor in december. Any of you experienced the same, and if so how did you compensate? I've toyed around with removing the shorter passing instruction and personal instructions but not seen any conclusive results - and i'm afraid doing so would be countering the strenghts of the tactic.

[Dcarey2014]

In regards to the new update. I have been testing with my Arsenal squad, I'm in 2021 and have been using SAS and Rainmaker since the start, so my squad is based around the tactic. I have to say, I believe from early testing, the match engine may have improved the Tactic somewhat, getting some really good results, HOWEVER, I am conceding a lot from set pieces, I have been training set pieces as usual for the past few months of my season and I think it maybe slight concern in regards to the tactic, But I'd like to know if anyone else is having this issue?

[Mr U Rosler]

On my third season with Stockport now in League 2 after back to back promotions. First half of the season gone by very well, went on a 10 game winning streak but now starting to see some bad form especially at home. I've seen the same pattern every season, and now i'm convinced a main contributing factor is my pitch condition which has gone from perfect in pre-season to poor in december. Any of you experienced the same, and if so how did you compensate? I've toyed around with removing the shorter passing instruction and personal instructions but not seen any conclusive results - and i'm afraid doing so would be countering the strenghts of the tactic.

You have to be realistic following back to back promotions. I did the same thing with Stockport and it took me 3 seasons to get out of league 2. with Tonbridge it took 4 seasons.

Its sounds like your going well enough, trust the tactics that got you those promotions and accept your squad is likely not as strong as many in League 2 at the moment and you dont have the divine right to dominate the division with any tactic at this point.

[druefar60]

Divine right or not - i'm still convinced the pitch condition is (at least partly) to blame

[Mr U Rosler]

Ok, interesting timing for the new patch to hit.

Just been promoted to the Prem, thats 5 promotions in 9 seasons, 4 as Champions.

I dont want to break away from my Tonbridge save as i'm enjoying it immensely. Think i'll see how things go with them in the Prem under the new patch. media prediction is 17th. If I can make top 10 i'll be very happy and the tactics will have stood up well to the update. A few things that need tweaking might pop up and i'm sure you guys will keep me posted on how its going in your games.

Consensus at the moment seems to be not much is impacting the tactic, playing out slightly differently but results similar to before, it is early days though

[Mr U Rosler]

Divine right or not - i'm still convinced the pitch condition is (at least partly) to blame

Just ask to board to relay it, you've probably done this already, but they will only do it at the end of the season so your stuck with it for now.

[MTM1977]

cleaning up

[Mr U Rosler]

I have mentioned a few times already that i am trying to re-create Rainmaker B which Mr U Rosler made for the earlier versions.

Reasons for doing this:

1. I firmly believe that using the same formation for several seasons is one of the reasons that you might struggle with results at some point.

2. I like to have a few different formations to choose from.

For those who don't know what "Rainmaker B" is, it is pretty similar formation to what Rainmaker is, but it uses AM instead of DM.

Earlier the main problem was that AM didn't really perform that well. With my most recent Rainmaker B, he is performing very well.

I have tweaked and tried this for about 4 days already and now that the new patch came in, i decided to make a few drastic changes and so far it is looking great.

These are my results so far (all played today, with the latest patch):

All matches are played from start to beginning with Rainmaker B. I have also watched couple of them on full match to see how the play looks like and i am very happy with it.

Many of the ideas have come from my own thread where i have been struggling to get my own formations to work. Advice taken from there, some of my own ideas and Mr U Rosler's solid foundation on Rainmaker seems to make a good mix.

I will keep testing it and if it keeps working as well as it has so far, i will post the tactic and more details here, if Mr U Rosler gives a green light to do it

One thing to note is that i made small tweak to corner defending and so far have conceded 0 goals from corners.

Looking good

[MTM1977]

Yes, but still too early to make any conclusions.

The Bayern match was the first one in which we were the underdogs. Normally i would have gone with S&S, but i wanted to see what happens if i use Rainmaker B. Went well

Wasn't even a "fluke win", we had 51% possession and both teams had same amount of shots on goal. Ours just were slightly better chances

[Scotty Walds]

Just got a point at Old Trafford... went 2-0 down early on, but switched to Rainmaker v2 at half time, pulled one back straight away and then Ravel Morrison popped up to equalise on 77 minutes at his old club