What to do when it's going wrong

[AngryDad]

OK, you've carefully constructed your tactic, got your roles and duties sorted and you're ready to go. Let's say you have a plan that relies on your left winger getting down the line and crossing it to your tall and powerful centre forward.

20 minutes in, you're a goal down, under the cosh and all of their attacking is coming down your left. Do you:

(a) stick with it - you have faith in the tactic and the player;

(b) tinker a little - you're sure the basics are right, but you need a bit more cover, so you might put in a shout to your CM to get him to provide cover

© be decisive and radically revise, changing the left winger to a wide midfielder and look for the FB to overlap instead, even if only for twenty minutes or so

I'm getting stuck between wanting to give my tactic a fair go and being decisive enough to react before the game has gone.

[Dr. Hook]

Well, at 20 minutes, if you haven't done much going forward, I would look to change. 15-20 minutes in, if that long, and I am changing it up if it is all going pear-shaped. If your winger is getting too far forward and your left back is coming under too much pressure I would look to try option C (or a defensive winger, but I think the WM is better to get him to track back). I would also, if possible, see about getting a better defensive player into the game on that side to try and stop the leak. I wouldn't select A unless I saw glimpses of the original tactic working enough to chance it. B seems to me that it would leave you a hole in the middle if you're asking your CM to push out.

[Luckydon]

Same here.

20 minutes and missed goal will be enough for me to take some actions. My first sight will be at my defender. If he was in winger role, i'll switch him to fullback role. If there was support or attack duty, may be i'll toggle it into less attacking duty (defend or support). If he is not my strongest leftback, then I may be even change player and ask my strongest one to take place on the field.

Second option will be midfielder. Yes, I'll toggle his duty and role in order to make him help defense more often. Finally, I hope it is not my only man to create CCC, so we'll try to attack through other players.

Besides, i'll check how exactly those ccc, where i've receive goal was created. It is possible there were not my left wing players fault at all. For example - too much space for opponents midfielder allow him to make beautiful pass. In this case i'll alter tactics for this place of the pitch rather than alter wing tactics.

[Torskus77]

Being able to change the outcome of a game , mid-game is one of the biggest skills as a manager on FM in my opinion. I am no expert at it at all, but I feel it is what makes the difference between winners and losers.

I used to make big changes, change the whole set up, which did work sometimes, but now I do try and watch the game and see if there is anything obvious I can spot. It's not an easy task by any means, but very rewarding when you pull it off. 15-20 mins is easily enough to see how the game is starting to pan out, if you just sit back and watch, you may occasionally be lucky, but mainly you should look to make a few tweaks at least.

It is something that isn't written about a whole lot on here, and I am no where near good enough to offer any substantial advice. I think Cleon likes to change some of his players roles around, where as wwfan likes to use shouts to change the approach. I prefer the shouts route too, I think that is actually what they are there for.

[SilverSurfie]

I find being good at half-time teamtalks is probably far more important then any change you can make to your tactics. Specifically using cautious tone disappointed in performance if overall team rating is below 6.8, even when up 1-0 when favorite I find it most times then not motivates the entire team and they perform much better the 2nd half.

[stevemc]

I find that an agrgessive "Show me something else" at HT couple with a few HT subs, usually provokes a reaction

[AngryDad]

Thanks all, sounds like I need to be more decisive. I'm managing at L2 level (see the "how not to create..." thread for more details), so I'm trying to balance between not making tactical changes every time one of my players makes a simple error (which I guess at my level will happen reasonably often), and when it's the set up at fault. It sounds as though changing a couple of roles mid-game is a perfectly reasonable idea - I was worried it would make the players too unfamiliar and confused.

While I'm on, I've never actually used either the "cautious" or "reluctant" options for ht talks, which always seemed to me to be strange options for a manager - why would you be reluctant to talk to your players? That's your job! And cautious doesn't seem the best way to lead, but am I misinterpreting?

[Luckydon]

I play in L2 either and share the manner how you play. If it is only error - its ok for me, but if i see two or even more atacks through the same wing - i will make minor changes. Obvously something wrong there.

You could use reluctant speach if you trying to provoke your player to prove you wrong. But i'm either don't like this choice (or just cant use it right .

[AngryDad]

Thanks Lucky, so a follow up question with apologies for being slightly dense (Analog, the scenario above is just for simplicity, in actuality I have 3/4 routes by which chances are supposed to be created, although none of them seem to work very well...)

So you have decided to change your attacking left winger to a supporting left midfielder to plug the gap. But, you have a nasty feeling that this is going to take away one of your principle routes to goal. Would you make the change intending to revert back after 20 minutes, just to try and stifle the opposition momentum? I often try this with "retain possession" when we're under the cosh, just to try and weather the storm, but maybe that's just papering over the cracks, and I need to be ready to make fundamental changes mid-match.

[kingdalglish]

I sometimes watch a Half on key Highlights and sometimes there are none even though I have most possession...should I change well before this??

[JOSEPH!]

I think they key is to stop and take stock of what is happening. I know I am guilty of, when time is running out, trying to over analyse things. I look through the game on full match for a period and see where they are creating chances and ask myself: "Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?":

Why is he through on goal? Because of a through ball. Why were they able to play a through ball? The channel is too big between my CB and FB. Why is the channel too big? Their wide player is staying wide and forcing my FB to close him down. Why is their player staying wide? So their CM can run from deep into the channel to receive the through ball.

Just watch what is happening on the pitch. Patiently do your 'due diligence' as it were and ensure you're plugging gaps. Often it is a case of risk vs reward: I will let them dominate the left flank because I don't want my AML defending as him staying up front is key to my attack (Perfect example: Everton vs Liverpool - Sturridge stayed up and wide, Coleman attacked and therefore Liverpool were devastating on the counter using Sturridge as an outlet).

I'd agree though that one's ability to change mid-game and not only see what is going on but react accordingly is one of the big differences between average and good FMers.

[Dr. Hook]

I sometimes watch a Half on key Highlights and sometimes there are none even though I have most possession...should I change well before this??

I'd say so, if you are not generating and attempts at goal. You may be controlling possession, but you would need to jump in a see why you aren't getting good shots away. Unless of course, you are just playing out a lead, then I'd say no highlights on key is a good thing