Striker issues

[TheoWalcott89]

I'm currently halfway through my 2nd season at NEC Nijmegen and I'm having some tactical issues. I have developed an affinity to a 4-2-3-1 formation, and have used it throughout my FM career since the late 00s. This game, however, is not really playing ball and so I come to you for help.

My first season was all right. I played a counter-attacking style, as I attempted to retain possession with short passing and tight marking. At home, especially against the big sides, this worked brilliantly. Away from home, or against sides where we should've won, we never managed to control the game, or even score. My top scorer finished with around 7 goals (in all competitions). I concluded that my striker was completely useless, as there was a younger kid who, when I gave him the chance, did brilliantly. So I sold my main striker, brought in two new ones and waited for the goals to come.

This season has been worse...My two new strikers have failed to take their chance, only scoring in cup games against smaller opposition. I have changed my tactics to a more control-based system, with more direct passing and wider play, so as to accommodate my talented wingers and tall poacher, but to no avail. I just simply cannot score... And to make matters worse, my useless striker from last season is banging them in at his new club (relegation battlers).

My defense isn't overly amazing, but have been fairly solid over the past 18 months, and my midfield is based around a defensive midfielder, a runner/box-to-box player, and an advance playmaker type. My two wingers prefer to be inside forwards, but aren't overly effective like that. Finally, my striker is an advance forward. I've tried playing around with these settings but it doesn't really work.

Do you have any experience with this sort of problem? And if so, how did you turn it around?

Alternitively, do you know of a free-scoring tactic I could take a look at?

Thanks

[HUNT3R]

Your post is very vague, so it's going to be difficult for people to give you advice that'll be of any use to you.

Have a read of this: http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/327822-Asking-For-Help-PLEASE-READ-THIS

Roles, duties, PPMs, mentality, team shape, what your issues are etc are all important to include.

[TheoWalcott89]

Sorry, wasn't really thinking here are a bunch of screenshots of players and tactics

[HUNT3R]

What's the idea with this tactic? How did you want it to function? How are you building up play with the ball and who's doing it? Who creates chances and how? Who's supposed to be the scorers here? etc

At the moment there seems to be a safe tactic on paper, looking at the role/duty setup, but a million TIs that blur those lines.

[TheoWalcott89]

yeah its a bit hectic at the moment, and that is certainly part of the problem today. but like i said, this has been an issue for 18 months.

this tactic was created with the intention of, like you said, keep it tight at the back and build play mainly through the middle. our playmaker was supposed to be the main distributor of the ball, playing it to our three attackers: 1 forward and 2 wingers which should cut inside, as well as cross. this would then be complemented by a more direct approach of our box-to-box midfielder, who would take more shots from outside the area, as well as to provide the running. the full-backs are then also needed when the wingers play a more inside role, providing the more wide play for our striker to head in the goals. the passing, ideally, should be shorter as we build up, but have the option of the early cross.

in defence, i prefer us to pressure the opponents, and make the tackles we need. i don't mind getting cards if we get a clean sheet. this is also why i have the DM, so we don't stretch our defence too much when we press. this has worked fairly well so far. we don't really concede too many.

i also have the other striker, Mana, who was an experiment more than anything. he was meant to be more of a 'ball-playing' forward who would perhaps be a bit further back. the wingers just haven't been attacking enough to make that a viable option. plus, he's injured quite a lot.

but all of this has been muddled in the past months. this is mostly due to the fact that, when i take on small/middle teams, i start by shoring up the defence, and then begin expanding our attacking play. this year was supposed to be our more expansive year, as i added a more attacking philosophy to our tactics, but its just not worked at all. usually i've been able to find a striker that can, at the very least, be a poacher and get some goals, but not even this is working.

[tyro]

Putting all those instructions aside for a moment, if it was my team, I would change the striker role. The AF will be far too advanced and isolated (on paper). Probably would change to a DLFs, F9, or even DF.

I would also rethink if all those instructions make sense.

[TheoWalcott89]

just writing all that down, i realised that i was being an idiot and incredibly reactive. i've made a number of changes and the last two games have been much better. we'll see how this goes...

thanks for letting me rant

[herne79]

ok, quite a lot to get through .

You use a Counter mentality. This sets (by default) a deep defensive line, less closing down, fairly narrow players, low tempo, patient build up play in attack, shorter passing for attacking players and longer passing for defenders. Now, from that as your starting point, add in all of those Team Instructions and does that give you the style of play you are looking for?

Remember, TIs are relative to your starting point. So (for example) if you begin from a position of "less closing down" and add in "more closing down", you don't suddenly start to press like Dortmund. It'll just increase your closing down to a more neutral position (less + more = neutral).

Talking of TIs, "Look for Overlap" could be causing you problems. This instruction tells your AML/R players to (in essence) hold the ball up and wait for an overlapping fullback to pass to. The problem is both of your fullbacks have a support duty (Auto + Counter mentality = support duty), and your wingers are positioned high up the pitch. So telling your wingers to wait for an overlap could stifle your attacking play.

Which brings me onto your striker. An Advanced Forward in this set up could find himself very isolated. If he gets the ball early (you have More Direct Passing turned on), who is there to support him? Both wingers have a support duty and are waiting for their supporting fullbacks; your "advanced playmaker" that you mention is actually a Deep Lying Playmaker (who, as the name suggests, will be deep) and your BBM will need the pace of Usain Bolt to get anywhere near the striker before he loses the ball. There is no connection. In such a formation I'd be much happier with a support duty striker, to both score goals and provide a link to midfield.

And on the subject of wingers, you say they "should cut inside as well as cross". But take a look at the default Player Instructions for the winger/support role/duty. They are instructed to stay wide, so how do you expect them to cut inside? Do they both have PPMs?

Take a step back and have a good long think about what you are trying to achieve. If it helps, read through the Pairs and Combinations sticky at the top of this forum. I know it may seem that I have just ripped your tactic to shreds (sorry, not my intention ), but just take a little time to read through and understand the settings you have used.

[TheoWalcott89]

ok, quite a lot to get through .

You use a Counter mentality. This sets (by default) a deep defensive line, less closing down, fairly narrow players, low tempo, patient build up play in attack, shorter passing for attacking players and longer passing for defenders. Now, from that as your starting point, add in all of those Team Instructions and does that give you the style of play you are looking for?

Remember, TIs are relative to your starting point. So (for example) if you begin from a position of "less closing down" and add in "more closing down", you don't suddenly start to press like Dortmund. It'll just increase your closing down to a more neutral position (less + more = neutral).

Talking of TIs, "Look for Overlap" could be causing you problems. This instruction tells your AML/R players to (in essence) hold the ball up and wait for an overlapping fullback to pass to. The problem is both of your fullbacks have a support duty (Auto + Counter mentality = support duty), and your wingers are positioned high up the pitch. So telling your wingers to wait for an overlap could stifle your attacking play.

Which brings me onto your striker. An Advanced Forward in this set up could find himself very isolated. If he gets the ball early (you have More Direct Passing turned on), who is there to support him? Both wingers have a support duty and are waiting for their supporting fullbacks; your "advanced playmaker" that you mention is actually a Deep Lying Playmaker (who, as the name suggests, will be deep) and your BBM will need the pace of Usain Bolt to get anywhere near the striker before he loses the ball. There is no connection. In such a formation I'd be much happier with a support duty striker, to both score goals and provide a link to midfield.

And on the subject of wingers, you say they "should cut inside as well as cross". But take a look at the default Player Instructions for the winger/support role/duty. They are instructed to stay wide, so how do you expect them to cut inside? Do they both have PPMs?

Take a step back and have a good long think about what you are trying to achieve. If it helps, read through the Pairs and Combinations sticky at the top of this forum. I know it may seem that I have just ripped your tactic to shreds (sorry, not my intention ), but just take a little time to read through and understand the settings you have used.

thanks i also saw this when i started writing down my thinking process. totally at odds with what my tactics were... i adjusted and i'm already scoring and winning games again.

i do still have the same midfield formation and it does actually work like i said. the bbm is my top scorer doing exactly that.