Santa Cruz Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Ok I'm pretty new to forums so don't yet know how to post screenshots to back anything up so bear with me. I'm managing my local club- Blackburn Rovers with a very standard 4-4-2 with little creative freedom, little roaming and default passing. My assistant advice is followed to the letter every game by means of touch line shouts. To my mind this mix of solid tactic with adapting to situations in game should bring at least acceptable results (I'm not expecting Europe!), but I don't even put up decent performances against bottom clubs. I've tried changing my tactics in every conceivable way (longer passing, shorter passing, more roaming, less roaming) the works, everything seems to make things worse if anything. I've eventually reached the question, are average teams unmanageable by players of my level, as even I find it too easy to just manage a top team to success from the start. Surlely I should'nt have to take my coaching badges just to be able to effectively manage my beloved Blackburn? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldpost22 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Have a look around and download a tactic or two - this should disprove your theory of teams of any level being unmanagable! I'm not saying stick with the dowlaoded tactics just have a gander at what other people do and then try putting your own sauce on to your own tactic. All will come good in the end I assure you! FMScout or FMBase are usually good places to start looking for tactics. Again I strongly recommend you devise your own tactic as there is no greater feeling of accomplishment than winning something off your own back! Hope this helps Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanSilver Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I feel your pain...I am trying to Manage my team Watford. I am not expecting promotion or even the play off's. but I seem to be struggling big time to win. tried loads of different tactics which I feel compliment my team. Still no joy mainly becuase some unknown full back will hit a 30 yrd wonder strike in the last 10mins. lost track of the number times I have actually scored to see the oppo score within 2mins. Another favourite is just after half time. still the game is addictive and I am determined to work out a successful tactic. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepydude Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Not at all, in one save I took Barnet to the premier league and eventually managed to win it. Are your players good enough? The good players & team guide forum is a good place to look for quality players. Also, give your team some time to get used to eachother (very important) and adapt to your tactics. A common mistake is to overtweak everything, keep it simple and stick with it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Cruz Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 Thanks for the quick resposes. the only problem with buying players to compliment my tactic is my transfer budget in the first season is zero, which hinders my plans to buy Kaka and Messi to bring some creativity to my midfield, therefore I have to rely on good tatics. You would think that trying every variation of the tactic wizard would stumble on something that at least half works for my team especialy when you can get away with poor tactics when playing as top teams. Using other websites to download tactics is a good idea though as I've only looked on this forum so far. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammer1000 Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I have much the same problem as the OP. I can literally take ANY top 6 side and wallop the league with ease using just the 1 tactic, but evrytime i have tried a mid table team all i can do is just about avoid relegation and thats using a tactic set or applying tweaks when necessary. I dont expect to be winning leagues or even qualifying for Europe, i'd just be happy to finish around where i'm expected, strengthen the team and try to improve if possible year after year. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerpool Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Hi Mate. My tactics are below. I think they might work, in particular the away tactic, as it should get the best out of David Dunn. Home ------0------ 0-----0-----0 ----0-------- --------0---- 0---0---0---0 DC - Both set to defend FB - Both set to automatic DMC - Anchor man MC - Deep lying playmaker - Support AMR - Winger - Attack AML - Winger - Attack AMC - Attacking Mid - Attack ST - Complete Forward - Support Team - Attacking (Change to suit - Control) - Fluid - More Direct Away ------0------ ------0------ 0---0-------0 --------0---- 0---0---0---0 DC - Both set to defend FB - Both set to automatic DMC - Anchor man MC - Central Mid - Defend MR - Wide mid - support ML - Wide mid - support AMC - Attacking Mid - Support ST - Complete Forward - Attack Team - Standard (Change to suit - Counter or Defend) - Fluid - More Direct I will sometimes use my Away at Home if i am feeling cautious or need a result and sometimes switch to my Home at Away (mid game) if i am chasing a result. Sorry i cant put screenshots up as am at work, but its working really well me. Hope this helps, Cheers Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Cruz Posted November 27, 2009 Author Share Posted November 27, 2009 Cheers Hammerpool will try these. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerpool Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 Cheers Hammerpool will try these. Nice one !! Good luck ! Let me know how you get on. Some one else on the forums is trying them out with their Notts Forest side, they have just been promoted, and they are quite pleased. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sleepydude Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I use this tactic: 4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond narrow) Fluid - Standard (change to control if favorite) Creative freedom - More expressive (depends on player quality) Marking - zonal .. the rest on default. When playing in bad weather I set passing to more direct. GK - defend FB - wing back (automatic) I change these to Full back (defend) when facing tough opposition or teams with dangerous AML/AMR players. CB - stopper (defend) CB - cover (defend) FB - wing back (automatic) DM - deep lying playmaker (support) or defensive midfielder (support) depending on player quality CM - ball winning midfielder (defend) CM - advanced playmaker (attack) AMc- trequartista (attack) ST - complete forward (support) or deep lying forward (support), depends on player type ST - poacher (attack) or advanced forward (attack), depends on player type You might want to reduce long shots on several players if they're not good at shooting from distance, or use the work ball into box shout. This tactic is great for average teams too. I set my pitch size to default. When playing on a long pitch or when I'm ahead I use the pass into space shout, I have scored many goals from counter attacks. If desperate to hang on to a lead you can sub one of your forwards or your AM for an extra DM to use as an anchorman. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUnderdog Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I ahd the same problem when playing with Leicester. Managed to win the league with Liverpool and get Notts County promoted but whenever I played with Leicester I was extremely lucky to avoid relegation. After talking to a few on here, I realise that I was complicating things too much and tried to go back to basics. I set up a few tactics as recommended to me by my assistant and set them completely default, no other changes to them whatsoever. The same went for the player instructions. The reason for this is that touchline shouts won't really make any difference if you've 'tweaked' with the advanced sliders for that person. I played a few games to settle in and started watching the whole match rather than highlights, I also attend every press conference myself and do the the team talks. The only thing that i've changed to the setting of these tactics is changing to crossing to mixed rather than byline as my wide midfielders weren't really wingers and also changed the role of one of the midfielders to advanced playmaker. I take a lot of notice of the scouting information given to me by both the scout and ass manager and respond appropriately although this will only be with touchline shouts rather than any adjustments to the default settings. One thing I also change is the strategy depending upon the opposition. I'm nowhere near a super manager but after the first season I finished 9th which considering I was predicted 16th and taking in to consideration my previous failures with this team, I was delighted. You also have the good fortune of at least having a transfer budget so you can bring in one or two players. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dking Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I made a post similar to this a while back and got no response. I said how average players were made to be useless, and the gulf in class between very good players and average players was huge. Way to big. There is deffinately a problem here. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
J. Walker Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 With mid-table or lower-end sides, I actually find that using a rigid or very rigid philosophy helps. Also make sure to press more and tackle as hard as possible. As long as you have personnel suited to it you can stifle even very good teams. You may not win every game but you're not going to get blown out, and you can steal games from top teams from time to time. For strategy...on the road against top teams go defensive, against other teams go counter/standard. If you're really the favorite, you can use control. I'd rarely use attacking on the road. At home, attacking against low mid-table or below, control or counter against anyone better, with one exception: for the first 6 months or so of the game, you can run attacking against top teams and surprise them sometimes. It's not guaranteed to work but I've managed to pull off some really unexpected wins first season by doing that. For shouts: most of the time, pass to feet + retain possession is good in most situations, especially once you have the lead - using those with work ball into box is good too. If you need to put on the pressure, especially if your long passes have been hitting, use get ball forward, pass into space, and push up. If you're leading in the last 10 minutes or so, contain, drop deeper, clear to flanks in addition to pass to feet + retain possession. I haven't tested this with anything but a flat 442...I have the players to run a 451 or either of the 442 diamond variants, I just haven't yet. But it's a good guideline, and it keeps working once you establish yourself at the top, too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleon Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 I feel your pain...I am trying to Manage my team Watford. I am not expecting promotion or even the play off's. but I seem to be struggling big time to win. tried loads of different tactics which I feel compliment my team. Still no joy mainly becuase some unknown full back will hit a 30 yrd wonder strike in the last 10mins. lost track of the number times I have actually scored to see the oppo score within 2mins. Another favourite is just after half time. still the game is addictive and I am determined to work out a successful tactic. The bit in bold seems like realism to me considering the team you are. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
barry from eastenders Posted November 27, 2009 Share Posted November 27, 2009 442 vs 451, any tips to try and win the midfield battle? tried playing narrower but doesnt seem to help Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Cruz Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 Ok,I've tried the tactics that Hammerpool suggested as well as some others downloaded from FM Base. Used all for an extended period with very mixed results. The downloaded tactics were the "Clough Tactics" which were the highest rated tactics on the site and especially recomended for mid-table teams, they were a complete disaster with heavy defeats and appaling performances. So I tried Hammerpool's tactics and these are the key results (A)vLiverpool 0-4 (H)vStoke 3-0 (H)vChelsea 0-1 (H)vBolton 3-0 (A)vVilla 0-4 I'm hovering about 15th in the league and the performances are lurching from excellent to,no shots on goal, 30% posession, no ccc compared to about 5 or 6. The inconcistancey is ridiculous and is something I've seen many times before when using my own tactics. So if like my origional question asks,"are average teams unmanageable," is'nt true then how the hell are people doing it when after the sheer amount of different tactics I've tried including ones of my own I have'nt managed to stumble on one that is able to produce even consistent performances? As I said before I'm not looking to play like a top four side, that would be unrealistic, just to play like a half decent team. IT SHOULD'NT BE THIS DIFFICULT! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
njengamn Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Ok,I've tried the tactics that Hammerpool suggested as well as some others downloaded from FM Base. Used all for an extended period with very mixed results. The downloaded tactics were the "Clough Tactics" which were the highest rated tactics on the site and especially recomended for mid-table teams, they were a complete disaster with heavy defeats and appaling performances. So I tried Hammerpool's tactics and these are the key results(A)vLiverpool 0-4 (H)vStoke 3-0 (H)vChelsea 0-1 (H)vBolton 3-0 (A)vVilla 0-4 I'm hovering about 15th in the league and the performances are lurching from excellent to,no shots on goal, 30% posession, no ccc compared to about 5 or 6. The inconcistancey is ridiculous and is something I've seen many times before when using my own tactics. So if like my origional question asks,"are average teams unmanageable," is'nt true then how the hell are people doing it when after the sheer amount of different tactics I've tried including ones of my own I have'nt managed to stumble on one that is able to produce even consistent performances? As I said before I'm not looking to play like a top four side, that would be unrealistic, just to play like a half decent team. IT SHOULD'NT BE THIS DIFFICULT! his tactics are usually the best but i find they take a while..you really need to give it half a season atleast. But trust me its worth it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Cruz Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 his tactics are usually the best but i find they take a while..you really need to give it half a season atleast. But trust me its worth it Don't get me wrong im very grateful for any help offered, but I'd love to be able to make my team, not play like world beaters, just play. The tactics, I'm afraid to say, have got beyond me now which is spoiling my enjoyment. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratmsm1 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 i feel your pain i've been playing fm games since they first came out, and champ before that, i loved 09 that felt right. the new one though seems too difficult to develope a team, the new tactic set up is spoiling the fun for me also. so many options it feels a bit arcadey to me. maybe just need to persever with it a bit longer Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCIAG Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 I find pace to be absolutely killer in this version. Now, my knowledge of the PL isn't what it used to be, but iirc Blackburn's defence in particular is very slow. This will put you at a disadvantage against pretty much every side. Most of the assistant and backroom feedback you receive is counter-productive. In my mind's eye, I'd set up a team like Blackburn in a way similar to this: Rigid or balanced, counter. GK DR- this is Emerton, no? Slightly lacking defensively. Wing back, automatic. DC- best defender stopper, fastest defender cover. If these are the same player, then have your second best defender play as stopper. The pacy cover defender could save you five, six, seven goals a season compared to a flat back two who are both slow. DL- automatic DM- anchor man. Enough said. Maybe increase tackling. MCs- one CM(support), one ball winner (defend or support, depending on the player). Should be hard working. Wingers- one defensive winger (support), one inside forward (support or attack) or winger (attack). This player will create most of your chances Striker- doesn't really matter, not a trequarista or deep lying striker. They may be brilliant, but they won't suit this set up. Preferably quick. To further counter the threat caused by pacey attackers, play a deeper defensive line and use the "drop deeper" shout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Cruz Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 I find pace to be absolutely killer in this version. Now, my knowledge of the PL isn't what it used to be, but iirc Blackburn's defence in particular is very slow. This will put you at a disadvantage against pretty much every side.Most of the assistant and backroom feedback you receive is counter-productive. In my mind's eye, I'd set up a team like Blackburn in a way similar to this: Rigid or balanced, counter. GK DR- this is Emerton, no? Slightly lacking defensively. Wing back, automatic. DC- best defender stopper, fastest defender cover. If these are the same player, then have your second best defender play as stopper. The pacy cover defender could save you five, six, seven goals a season compared to a flat back two who are both slow. DL- automatic DM- anchor man. Enough said. Maybe increase tackling. MCs- one CM(support), one ball winner (defend or support, depending on the player). Should be hard working. Wingers- one defensive winger (support), one inside forward (support or attack) or winger (attack). This player will create most of your chances Striker- doesn't really matter, not a trequarista or deep lying striker. They may be brilliant, but they won't suit this set up. Preferably quick. To further counter the threat caused by pacey attackers, play a deeper defensive line and use the "drop deeper" shout. Way infront of you mate, tried playing with that split DC system and I really don't think they are up to it judging by results/performances. Also if I need more defencive FB's I use Chimbonda and Givet instead of Emerton and Olsson, to no avail. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sando123 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 do what i do download a tatic and use it as a template and make it your own what i did on 09 very well took a good tatic from here and changed it here n there well changed parts of it alot but it worked a treat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerpool Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Don't get me wrong im very grateful for any help offered, but I'd love to be able to make my team, not play like world beaters, just play. The tactics, I'm afraid to say, have got beyond me now which is spoiling my enjoyment. Stick with mine mate !! I have had great feed back from people managing Notts Forest (in the Prem), Portsmouth and Falkirk. Hope your luck improves mate ! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antmanbrooks Posted December 1, 2009 Share Posted December 1, 2009 15th in the league with Blackburn isn't too bad. They are 13th in the League now IRL! I would say anything around 10th-12th would be a great season for Blackburn. Avoiding relegation is an acheivment for them. I would base a tactic on Blackburn's strength and height advantage and make sure they play a rigid, no nonsense, hard tackling dirty football. Think "dogs of war" like Everton where a few seasons back. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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