Help in the championship

[IZAK151]

Hey, I'm in my first season in the championship after 4 promotions in 5 seasons with York City but I seem to have hit a brick wall. We started off the season really well with 4 wins out of 5 but then our form fell off.  It may just be since we have the smallest wage bill so the other teams are that much better than us is the gap between league one and the championship really that big (This is the first time I've ever done a rebuild save this big)? I'm confident the team is at least half decent since we started off so well. I've being using this 4-2-3-1 tactic since league two and it's worked well so far. If anyone could offer any help or tips that would be great, thanks

[Lam3r]

I think the championship is where it gets difficult with lower league sides on a roll, you see it in real life. Burton, Yeovil, Luton, Rotherham...all made it there in recent seasons and then find it very difficult. Its where the big clubs and decent players start. So given your wage bill and where you've come from personally I would doubt you have the players to be playing a heavy pressing game against championship opposition? A higher line of engagement with a standard line of defense is also leaving a big gap between your CM's and defense.

I'd try and formulate a tactic that's a bit safer and concentrate on staying up if I was you.

[Experienced Defender]

11 hours ago, IZAK151 said:

I can only tell you what in my personal opinion is wrong - or problematic, to say the least - in your tactic:

- poor vertical compactness (standard DL/higher LOE), compounded by the already vulnerable top-heavy formation (4231)

- overly aggressive pressing (more urgent under the positive mentality), especially for a team of insufficient quality and reputation (just promoted to a higher-level league)

- counter-press can sometimes be a double-edged sword even for stronger teams, let alone an underdog

- totally identical flanks in terms of roles and duties (meaning lack of variety in attack)

- both wide forwards (AMR&L) on attack duties, potentially leaving the flanks more exposed than your defense can handle (especially when coupled with a high-risk mentality such as the positive)

- 2 playmakers virtually next to each other (in my view that would be an overkill even if you wanted to play hardcore possession football, let alone otherwise)

Looking at your tactic, it's very hard (if not impossible) to figure out what style of play you are actually looking to implement. It is neither a possession-based nor counter-attacking nor fast attacking tactic. And it's not even a hybrid between different styles. So you first need to decide what exactly you want (taking of course the quality and reputation of your players into account).

[鹅爵爷]

Matchanalysis - negative says that you need a DM to defend long shots and penalty area.

You have 2x1-1 draws and 3x 0-1 loses. If you could defend better and turn them into 2x 1-0 and 3x 0-0, you earn additional 7 points.