Your Tactical Approach To Lower League Management with player roles/duties

[SkillfulSpence]

Im never sure what way to go down and have somewhat varied success with differnet approaches, but i have never really felt one way is better than the other from my own experience with player roles in LLM. But i would like to hear about other peoples approach and the reasons behind this approach and if they are able to contribute success/failure to the complex or more basic roles they have given their players in LLM.

Recently, i have decided to go for the more simple roles such as limited defender, Target Man, Central Midfielder and Poacher for lower league players.

Am i right in thinking that these roles have less responsibility or 'tasks' they have to do to fulfill this role? Is there a list of these tasks in their roles anywhere?

I have also seen Tactics used in LLM where people are making use of Registas and more Ball Playing Defenders. Something ive not really had much success with myself in the lower depths.

Im playing in the Confernece North most of the time, scrapping away as a Sunday League experienced manager with no coaching badges. I seem to always finish mid table, no matter what i do, or who i am in this division!

[RTHerringbone]

I've never make any concession to the league I'm playing in when setting up Roles / Duties within a tactic, as it is all relative.

I recently played as Sun Pegasus in Hong Kong and used some of the sexier sounding Roles even though my players were awful, and did the same at Royal Wahingdoh in India where the players were equally crap. As long as the Roles you use suit the player, and the combination of Roles / Duties is coherent, you can use any Role / Duty at any level.

[Lilah]

As RTHerringbone said, I think the roles scale well relative to the league, but it is easier to get a better narrow-focus role than a more demanding one. A player who is well-rounded enough to be a Complete Forward in a lower league is usually hard to come by or just not very good. The reason the players are in the lower leagues is because they're incomplete and it's more prudent to try to make them contribute their positives to a system.

For this reason, I think the overall tactical structure is more important. I think the best tactics are ones that don't weigh any one area of the pitch so heavily upon a single player's shoulders. There has to be a lot of redundancy for mistakes and perhaps a lot of overlap or buffering so that different strata are not exhausted covering a lot of area (fitness is usually poor in lower leagues). As such, dual wide men positioned in the defensive line strata and midfield strata is preferable to having them positioned in the defensive line and advanced midfield strata. Shorter link-up, less risky ball movement, and less running. Playing deeper in general is probably better so that the opponent is running back and forth across the pitch and has to break a compact midfield and defense and your team can be more patient, play it safer, and outlast the opposition in terms of fitness. In general, I haven't had success at any level in FM playing to a target man or playing one-route, but that kind of thing can be good in lower leagues if you know how to make it work because it relies on strict roles that can be cultivated from misfits (especially the target man) who don't need really high fitness necessarily and don't require a high degree of mental fortitude.

[Elliath]

I always go with KISS principle - "Keep It Simple, Stupid". I usually start with basic defensive/counter 4-4-2 with WM/wingers and TM/Poacher combo. Nothing fancy.

[jcafcwbb]

I have struggled with this version but one thing has worked for me with my League Two save with AFC Wimbledon is to tweak the player instructions. My basic formation is FB(s), LD (d), LD (d), FB (s), W(a), CM (d), CD (d), W(a), AM (s), DLF (a).

I am playing a 4-4-1-1 and I have asked the two front guys and my two attacking wingers to Close Down More. I have also asked my FB, Wingers and CMs to try Fewer Risky Passes - I finally cottoned on to the highlights showing me my FBs hoofing it to the oppo's CBs/touchline and my winger trying a crossfield pass to my opponent's centre back was telling me to reign in their passing.

Since these changes my results have been 1-1 (A), 2-0 (H), 0-0 (A), 2-0 (A) - 2W, 2D with only one goal conceded.