Struggling With Away Games

[LFCMatt7]

Hi I'm new, I've only really started playing the series since FM09.

I'm currently managing Bayern and won the Bundesliga in my first season, I had an impeccable home record, won 16 out of 17, drew 1 game and only conceded 3 goals whilst scoring over 40 goals in the process. I also beat the likes of Man Utd and Atletico Madrid ect at home. My away record was a totally different story. I only won 4 away, drew 8 and lost 5, conceding 17 goals and only scoring about 20 in total. Ended up going out in the last 16 of the CL to Atletico on away goals which was very disappointing.

I have another save with Fiorentina which I created a successful away tactic for, I played narrow with a slow tempo, my defenders on direct passing, midfield on mixed and attack on short for incisive passes on the break, time wasting high and had great success on the counter attack which got me 2nd place in my second season and to the Uefa Cup final which I lost 1-0 to Man City.

I normally have my fullbacks on mixed forward runs, one DM with forward runs on rarely and a support CM with forward runs on mixed. I have my wingers and strikers do most of the attacking.

This was the only successful away tactic I have created, I tried the same with Bayern and it didn't work at all. I have started many a game with Liverpool and always fail away from home in all competitions regardless of the quality of opposition. I really need some advice on creating a successful away tactic, any help would be gratefully received, thanks for your time

[niall-2009]

signing how many players with liverpool and bayern ?

[LFCMatt7]

With Bayern I signed Zapata and Inler from Udinese who both proved to be a success, with Liverpool I normally buy a right back, normally Srna, sell the dead wood and buy a back up striker and maybe replace Babel. I tend to do pretty well in the transfer market and don't normally have an issue finding good players.

[niall-2009]

just wondered because i sometimes have the same problem away from home but its genereally when ive signed alot of players suggesting it could be due to them not being settled/ gelled together. Have u tried the tactics on the forum your probably best off lookin at the ones which are most discussed ( most replies).

[LFCMatt7]

I try to build my squads slowly, I have made too many changes in the past which have caused detrimental effects. I should also add that my back 4 have man and tight marking on and the rest the team on loose and zonal marking so to create space. I also don't set individual player mentality and rely on universal team mentality.

[LFCMatt7]

Can anyone give me any advice?...

[duracell999]

hmmm....not that i'm an expert, but do you use the same tactic for away and home games? depending on the quality of the opposition you might have to adjust your strategy. with bayern you'll probably be the favourite for most games and teams will probably sit back against you. i would try to dominate possession through a short and slow passing game with some good width to create holes. towards the end you might try to up the tempo, having in theory worn down the defense. so far the theory

on another note: i've been struggeling to create a successful counter-attacking tactic. any pointers on that?

[Ronnie78]

The way I have build my away tactic is gettting my home tactic working the way I like it. I play a 4-3-3 formation.

I want the same attacking threat away from home, so I keep the basic structure of the player setup. what I have noticed is that I can't keep the

same possession, and Im under more pressure.

This leads to I build my away tactic more defensive by lowering closing down/defensive line/creative freedom. My players are now more disciplined and keeping

the formation. I want to keep possession (best way of defending), so I want my players to play safe passes, and not get caught losing the ball in

dangerous areas by lettting my players playing more direct.

So, basically I have the same formation home/away, allmost playing the same type of football, but more constrained away. This seems to work, I concede goals, but

mostly from set pieces (about 85% goals), freaky long shots or mistakes from my defenders, but rarely any easy goals.

[Adam Church]

The way I have build my away tactic is gettting my home tactic working the way I like it. I play a 4-3-3 formation.

I want the same attacking threat away from home, so I keep the basic structure of the player setup. what I have noticed is that I can't keep the

same possession, and Im under more pressure.

This leads to I build my away tactic more defensive by lowering closing down/defensive line/creative freedom. My players are now more disciplined and keeping

the formation. I want to keep possession (best way of defending), so I want my players to play safe passes, and not get caught losing the ball in

dangerous areas by lettting my players playing more direct.

So, basically I have the same formation home/away, allmost playing the same type of football, but more constrained away. This seems to work, I concede goals, but

mostly from set pieces (about 85% goals), freaky long shots or mistakes from my defenders, but rarely any easy goals.

Ronnie , how much do you lower closing down/defensive line/creative freedom by to make your away tactic more disciplined

[Ronnie78]

Ronnie , how much do you lower closing down/defensive line/creative freedom by to make your away tactic more disciplined

This depend on the formation.

In my 4-3-3 I don't rely much defensive play from my 3 attacking players, so I don't change settings for them.

The most important setting for me is the two fullbacks, DM C and the two MC's. Mentality, closing down and defensive line are linked, so it's important to find a balance.

I keep my two DC's as the backbone for my defensive play. Their mentality, closing down and creative freedom are the lowest on the team.

Mentality affects position of my players, so I use this to close down space between defensive players (so this is only 1-2 notches different from Home tactic). I keep my closing down close to the mentality setting on the players and obey this rule: closing down <= mentality.

To keep the formation, players needs to have about same mentality range if not then either you have two players who are walking the same space, or you have created too much space between them.

Opposition often attacks from the wing, so I want the MC's and fullback address these, so I want the closing down to be atleast (10), but I want the core center defense stay in center so therefore DC's and DMC has the lowest closing down. I don't want my defensive players out of position so therefore not closing down above (15). I think in general I have closing down at (8-12 -away and 10-14 home) for the defense and midfield.

I have adjusted my defensive line over several matches to find the magic number. What I want to achieve is to close the space between the defenders and midfield, but not too high so I create space behind the defense. This is about 2 notches lower than my home tactic (11 - away and 13 home).

Since Im more tight in the defense, then I got longer to the opposition goal. This has influenced the passing setting, so I have increased this by two notches (from my home tactic).

Creative freedom is a modifier of flair. As with mentality this influence the player decision when he has the ball. I have taken this 1-2 notches down for my defensive players.

I keep the width as the same home and away, and it has something to do with how I play when I got the ball. The instruction manual says this is mostly something that affect your team when you got the ball.

I want my fullbacks to be the wide threat on the wing, and the wingers to be a mixed threat (both inside and outside).

I have used my passing percentage as a guideline to setup passing/mentality/creative freedom/defensive line/tempo. When you get the ball, you want to keep it and you want to look at passing options and how the player is passing.

- if you set the passing as long ball doesn't mean the player plays long balls... he just looks for passing options in this area.

Even if I set my DC as short passing they play long balls up into nowhere land... I see this as an indicator for he can't find any players to pass.

[tak]

The best way to win away games is to play mind games with the opponents head. You can either doubt his abilities as a manager or tell him that you relish the opportunity of beating him. Another thing that I found useful is to comment on the dangerman, trying to destroy his psychology. Also, team talk: at the half time you have to encourage your team. Don't let them drop their morale. I hope I helped.