Advice appreciated!

[foamy248]

I recently decided to have a crack at managing Gillingham in England's League One (in fm16). I've had pretty mixed success, and have struggled tactics-wise and have been getting pretty frustrated. I figured that I may as well see what other people think about the tactic I'm using (and how I could improve it), so I signed up here after a long time lurking. Here's what I'm currently using: 

It's supposed to be pretty balanced, with the F9 pulling back and hopefully dragging defenders out of position, while theoretically the IF's cut inside into the vacated area, and the wing backs providing some width (also, I'm not sure if it's acceptable to post fm16 stuff here anymore, so sorry if it isn't). 

I'd really appreciate any advice! 

[Armistice]

I would say the tactic looks alright for instance, you could switch a few duties here and there to provide a different threat on the flanks, you could additionally set up PIs Pass Shorter to players you want to pass it shorter (or to all) so you won't affect width and tempo once you've selected the Pass Shorter TI (if you want to play slower, then it's okay). Do you also have the players good enough to play this sort of system? And also, you could describe more what you see in your matches, how they play out etc.

[Scrench]

Seems like a well-balanced system at first glance. The question is if you have the player quality to play this way, explosive IFs, composed, technically adept midfielders, physically gifted wing backs etc.

On a tactical level maybe giving more creative freedom to one of your CMs could help to find those killer balls by giving your more technically gifted CM more risky passes, or simply changing the role to a playmaker one.

[herne79]

Welcome to the forum .

When you say you are having "mixed success", what does this mean?  How are you performing in comparison to your Board's end of season expectations?  Gillingham (my local team funnily enough) are not blessed with the best players in the world, and from memory the Board has quite low expectations, so how are you doing?

The reason I ask is that if you are at least meeting, if not exceeding, expectations then you may not have much of a tactical problem and it could be more to do with long term squad development.

[summatsupeer]

How are you struggling?  Are you conceding too much?  Are you failing to create chances or failing to convert them?

It looks like your IF's are getting some goals and i'm guessing your CB's are from corners which is helpful.

If its defensively on the counter i'd probably look at making the left back a FB-S so he still provides width but won't get caught out as often making runs.

[foamy248]

Thanks guys! 

Armistice and summatsupeer - I could change roles a bit, by setting the left IF to a winger and the left Wb to a FB(S). If I did have a winger on the left, who would his crosses go to though? Usually the F9 isn't in a good crossing position for crosses, so should I change him to another role?

summatsupeer - I'm struggling to convert chances, as we often get more clear-cut chances than opponents even when we lose. I suppose this is more to do with player quality and team-building? 

herne79 - we're coming ninth and expected to come sixteenth, so I guess it may be more about the actual squad. My real problem is inconsistency - for example, we dominated Aston Villa 4-1 in the Capital One Cup, and yet lost 2-0 against Port Vale pretty badly. 

Scrench - yeah, I could change the midfield three to:

BBM(Su) - AP(Su)

          DM(De)

and play my player with the best mental in the AP role (he's not in the screenshot).

EDIT: I've played a few more, games and we've drawn every single one of our last eight games (most being 1-1 draws). I've even played two games entirely in attack/overload, and we've still struggled to score. Any suggestions?

[summatsupeer]

1 hour ago, foamy248 said:

we're coming ninth and expected to come sixteenth

Your doing well then, be pleased and think how you can improve the players you have available.  Do you need a different type of player or just a better version of a player?

I wouldn't change anything major this season as its clearly doing you good, minor tweaks at most.

Quote

My real problem is inconsistency

I'm guessing you expected to beat Port Vale and they're a more defensive side?

Currently you have 4 wide players set to Make Runs Often, with no one else in your team makes runs often.  That's a very wing heavy setup even if 2/4 are inside forwards.  Then consider all 2 of your attack duties are high and wide, against a deep defence will they find space in behind?  But against "bigger" sides who will come out and take the game to you, those IF's will have space to run into, natural space that you don't have to work super hard to create, hence inconsistency.  This is all an assumption based off your tactic and those 2 results.

I think you are focusing too much on width from both flanks resulting in a very wing heavy setup.  Don't overlook depth to draw defenders/midfielders out vertically and not just wide, you can't always run in behind, plus it gives more cover to intercept clearances or stop counter attacks.

If this assumption sounds pretty accurate i'd suggest that next time your up against a "Port Vale", try a FB-A + IF-S on one flank and FB-S + IF-A on the other and watch how they move differently.  Both will have width at different times and offer different patterns of play.

[Gorstak]

That formation is one of the most balanced formations ingame. It virtually needs NO changes whatsoever. Simply pick it from the drop down menu and play.