So realistic.....that your tactics go defunct mid season

[depressedtyke]

Its all well and good this auto patching on steam to improve the game but when you are battling relegation it isnt helpful for effective tactics to become useless mid season

[Wilson123]

you just need to ride it out mate.

My 4-3-3 was flying, then stumbled big time. We had to heavy losses and games we should have sealed we didn't - however switching wingers from attack to wide midfielders who are supporting or defending, swapping a deep lying playmaker to a ball winning mid; all helped towards 'stopping the rot'.

Once I managed to stem the blow and ride out the five game winless streak, I then switched back - progressively and we have done well.

One thing you may need to be aware of is the weather conditions. I play a short slow game, but in the mid season winter weather this clearly isn't ideal.

[depressedtyke]

Its not weather I've been using this tactic for ages and now it doesnt create chances and I get charged through at will, this is from one game to the next, this has knocked my Barnsley squad back to square one mid season, that I'm afraid is not realistic

[heathxxx]

Unfortunately, this sometimes happens with a patch, when changes to the structure of the game, to the match engine, are made.

For example, narrow tactics seemed to rule all in 10.2 whilst wider formations didn't perform as well. With the patch, narrow formations are still pretty strong, but wider formations perform a lot better too now. It's often the case that some user created tactics people share here, whether they know it or not, can be exploiting weakness in the match engine. With each patch, the balance of the game is improved upon, therefore what might have seemed a great tactic before, suddenly seems less so.

My best suggestion, would be to create something that is the same formation, using the Tactics Creator.

Other than that, you could be having problems for any number of reasons, such as morale, poor choices with media and team-talks, picking players in positions they're not ideally suited to, lot's of things.

If you really want some help or advice, post up your squad, your key players and the tactic you're using. Give us more information and specific problems you're seeing and maybe other forum users can try to help you.

[xiaoicy]

actually from patch 10.2, people out there are already beginning to create 2 or more tactics to switch between them as they already found out that the AI will somehow "know" what tactic u are using and they use another tactic to counter the tactic you keep on using. so what i suggest now is that you can try to create another tactic like what heathxxx said, to use tactics creator to create another tactic - let it be abt the same as the one you are using now, or another tactic which is totally different from the one you using to "confuse" the AI. hope this help you abit.

[heathxxx]

the AI will somehow "know" what tactic u are using and they use another tactic to counter the tactic you keep on using.

People always seem to think along these lines, with every version of FM. That the AI "knows" what your tactic is and will purposely combat it, being something "built into" the game, or that the AI is even that clever, is some way wide of the mark.

What actually happens is if you're team is consistently doing well, maintaining unbeaten runs, or performing above expectations, or even playing badly, playing below expectations, AI teams will play more defensively or more offensively based on your growing or declining reputation.

Generally speaking, based on your reputation, opponents will either attack more if they're higher reputation, or defend more if they're lower reputation. Reputation is a very important factor in the game and your reputation will change continually based on results. This is what the AI is responding more to, than any innate and sudden ability to nullify your tactics.

For my own part, often managing smaller clubs, I often over-achieve against bigger clubs, because my own offensive tactical preferences take advantage of teams who attack me from the off. Although they are higher reputation, I might be using my players attributes better than the AI, therefore I can afford to attack them more. Lower reputation teams, I tend to be more conservative against and try a more controlled approach to draw their defensive approach further up the pitch, because no matter how offensive you go, if your opponent sits ten men behind the ball, it's always difficult to break them down.

[xiaoicy]

thanks for teaching me a new thing heathxxx. at least i get to know fm better abit now haha..