Years of Success to struggling: Help?

[footballhead]

Okay, i'm in need of some advice. First off i know i'm in need of an overhaul of the wing backs, & left midfield. I'm trying to train up the young centre back as a long term replacement (PA of 3.5 stars). I'm doing fine in the champions league but i'm tending to struggle against weaker teams in the league. Mauled the bottom team 6-0 then can't beat Newcastle. Then move on to beat Arsenal with ease - Frustrating to say the least.

This is my current tactic set up. My star players are Krystov (CB)(Captain club & country). Kocourek (CM/DM). Kawaguchi (AMR) (Japan Captain, my vice). Johnstone: Englands Best player. Moneno: Argentina's striker/AM. You can find the full squad Here

Currently i'm struggling to get the best out of them. Johnstone is a CM by trade but injury to Wilshere means he has to fill the gap, as a playmaker he's useless because he tends to have 3-4 games of 6.1/6.8 then have 2 with 7.5 or 8.1. My second striker (Who isn't up in the album) only seems to turn up in the champions league games.

What i'm really looking for is an idea of what kind of player to buy in (it's the end of December so i've got a transfer window next time i play). Obviously my game is full of regens now and i have a rough idea of what players may be useful just want to get some sound tactical advice before i buy more wingers to then play 3 AM's

Simply put i don't think i'm scoring enough, i'm not conceding a lot but i'm finding the team is cutting the margin too fine and all too often i'll end with a 1-1 with a team i've dominated all game. Is it just a case of getting a good Left midfielder and a more prolific striker?

Johnstone & Moreno's images are over a year old ingame, stats are a little better now (as are their international goal ratios

[ZdlR]

Your players look good enough to be winning consistently - and the fact that you struggle against the lowlier teams, rather than the big boys, indicates that the problem is tactical. This is further backed up by the fact that you are Forest who start with a lower reputation than you have managed to amass. Reputation is a key factor in determining how teams play against you. Over the first few seasons in the premier league you would be unfancied in most games, meaning that the opposition open up against you. But with the right players at your disposal and an adventurous tactic, you tear teams apart. Slowly but surely, your success is recognised and your reputation increases, up until now where you are a bigger fish and the smaller teams try to defend for their lives against you. You are still not quite so big that the Arsenals of the world don't think they can beat you fairly easily.

Specifically, it appears that you're tactic is set up to be quite gung-ho, which works against peer teams who open up against you and fancy their chances of getting a result. However, teams that batten down the hatches will make you look profligate with possession (direct passing) as your team run around super fast like headless chickens (quick tempo), leaving massive gaps between players (wide width) and behind the back four (high d-line). I would imagine that you are being effectively countered by smaller teams.

The good news is that this can be remedied with some tactical changes. Teams that are defending against you need to be pried open with caution, intelligence and movement. A good start would be reigning in all of the aforementioned instructions and being far, far more patient with the ball.

(As for the 6v0 mauling of the bottom team, well, they probably tried to defend but didn't have the personnel to implement the plan effectively. Newcastle, on the hand, probably did.)

[footballhead]

Your players look good enough to be winning consistently - and the fact that you struggle against the lowlier teams, rather than the big boys, indicates that the problem is tactical. This is further backed up by the fact that you are Forest who start with a lower reputation than you have managed to amass. Reputation is a key factor in determining how teams play against you. Over the first few seasons in the premier league you would be unfancied in most games, meaning that the opposition open up against you. But with the right players at your disposal and an adventurous tactic, you tear teams apart. Slowly but surely, your success is recognised and your reputation increases, up until now where you are a bigger fish and the smaller teams try to defend for their lives against you. You are still not quite so big that the Arsenals of the world don't think they can beat you fairly easily.

Specifically, it appears that you're tactic is set up to be quite gung-ho, which works against peer teams who open up against you and fancy their chances of getting a result. However, teams that batten down the hatches will make you look profligate with possession (direct passing) as your team run around super fast like headless chickens (quick tempo), leaving massive gaps between players (wide width) and behind the back four (high d-line). I would imagine that you are being effectively countered by smaller teams.

The good news is that this can be remedied with some tactical changes. Teams that are defending against you need to be pried open with caution, intelligence and movement. A good start would be reigning in all of the aforementioned instructions and being far, far more patient with the ball.

(As for the 6v0 mauling of the bottom team, well, they probably tried to defend but didn't have the personnel to implement the plan effectively. Newcastle, on the hand, probably did.)

Reputation is correct. 8 League wins (6 in a row), 4 champions league wins and now i'm consistantly front runner (behind Man C) for the league and Champions every year. I ran a lower tempo at the start of this season but found that i would not create nearly as much chances. I'll pull in the tactics you have suggested for my next few games and see where that leaves me. I shall post again when i hit the transfer window (2 games i think).

[footballhead]

0-1 win over Spurs (Away)

2-6 win over Man U (Away)

4-0 win over Stoke (Home, FA Cup)

Think that worked a treat ! :D

[ZdlR]

Early days yet, but that's pretty positive. I prefer tactics that are cautious, methodical but utterly lethal. With gung-ho tactics, I'm always worried that a bad result is just around the corner...

[footballhead]

Still kicking around quite well. Picked up a left winger but he's pretty useless for the price tag, going to sell him off at the end of the season for a tidy profit i think (He's a 4 star player but lacks some key attributes, took a gamble at 10.5m - should get at least 15 back).

1 Loss & 1 draw in 10. So far it's looking up. Moved to 2nd from 5th. Got a game in hand but still trailing by 8 points to Everton (who always fall away around this time of the season). Still conceding a few more goals than i would like though, might need to look at restricting the play in the DM slot.

[footballhead]

How would you play Johnstone?

I'm continually changing his role as he isn't very consistant and i'm now completely lost on how to play him in my system. The two options are the AM or CM role. His prefered moves are: Killer Balls, Comes deep, Places Shots, Stops play, Play way out of trouble & does not dive into tackles. ideas? Mabye a deep lying playmaker?

[ZdlR]

I'd have him at AMR, beating his man and playing others in, whipping crosses in or running at defences. I'd also have him close down and hard tackle the opposition DL to win back possession high up the pitch. A hardworking winger is rare, but a hardworking winger who is also skillful is like gold dust. But, if you have to play him AM or CM, this doesn't really help...

[footballhead]

I'd have him at AMR, beating his man and playing others in, whipping crosses in or running at defences. I'd also have him close down and hard tackle the opposition DL to win back possession high up the pitch. A hardworking winger is rare, but a hardworking winger who is also skillful is like gold dust. But, if you have to play him AM or CM, this doesn't really help...

He will need to be completely retrained for that position. He is originally a CM with RM acomplished. I got him to play AM up till he has become a natural. I'll train him up and try it out.

[ZdlR]

Accomplished is good enough. Obviously, natural is better, but I have Rooney playing as AMC at the moment. He's only competent there, not even accomplished, but he plays excellently regardless.

[footballhead]

I can see the appeal of his stats to a right winger but i'm still not convinced. I've also got a very good winger in my Japaneese player, though he can play CM too. Hopefully by the start of next season i'll be able to try him as a winger. Tactics overall are looking good, looks like i'll need to replace my CB this during the summer. Lets hope a regen turns up. My game has severly lacked good quality 4/5 star players.

As for the season -Well i'm nearing the end of this season now, got 4 games to hold onto a 4 point lead. Got the easier run in too. Still not satisfied with this asymmetric tactic though - still feel as if i'm giving too much away. 31 goals conceded in 34 games. Had the misfortune of meeting Real Madrid in the round of 16 for the second time in 3 years. Been put out by them twice, this time on extra time away goals rule....

[SFraser]

When you start facing packed defences every week the principles of good football still apply but the practical details of the matches change.

1. You can no longer rely upon "easy space" being given to you, particularly in the best positions for you to attack.

2. You can no longer rely upon physical and technical ability to do most of the attacking work for you. Beating one or two players is no longer a sure route to a good goalscoring position and your players are less likely to attempt those moves as they are put off by the likely success rate (i.e. it is a bad decision to try).

3. The sheer quantity of opponents and their positioning will prevent you from being able to easilly construct play in advanced positions. You will need to play good football just to get into good positions for a final ball.

What you need to start building your team around is the following:

1. Intelligent players. Not contextually intelligent as in good Creativity and Passing solely for a playmaker, but intelligence in most or all areas of the game. Almost every player in your team will need to be able to pass quickly and well to good options in order not only to construct attacks and keep the opponent under pressure, but to keep the ball and not lose it when pressurised themselves deep in the opponents half. The better your players can pass the ball, spot opportunities, move off the ball, react to events, play for the team and make good decisions when under pressure, the more likelyhood you have of eventually constructing a good goalscoring chance.

2. Strong, numerous, well balanced attacking formation. Specifically your Fullbacks, Centrebacks and DM's have to play important attacking roles, whether that is winning the ball early and giving a good forward pass as a Centreback, being able to constantly whip the ball around the pitch and probe for gaps or pick out runners as a DM, or whether it is the ability to run with the ball, cross and link-up well with wingers and CM's/AM's/FC's as your Fullbacks. These players now become the most important supporting elements in your team.

3. Attacking in numbers where the opponent is weakest. This almost always means the flanks and the fullback positions if the opponent is defending deep with numbers. If you try to attack through the middle you will end up facing huge numbers of opponents in a very dense and compact formation that will automatically force you wide where you have not designed your attacks, or you will lose the ball, or you will have 75% possession and only 3 longshots all match. Designing your team to play good attacking football down the flanks automatically by-passes hoardes of CM's and DM's and renders atleast half if not more of the opponents team defensively obsolete for that specific moves you are constructing. If facing a 4-2-3-1 you are likely to only face three defending players while using 3 or 4 or more attackers of your own in that area. You can achieve local superiority in numbers and with your superior Passing and Intelligence players you should swiftly be able to construct genuinely threatening attacking play.

Your players all seem to be physically premised with certain key contextual abilities. This is ideal for a defensive counter-attacking formation but is the opposite of what is required for sustained attacking pressure and multiple angles and opportunities of attack. You need players that can all interact intelligently with each other, that can pass and move in numbers around the key weak areas you have targetted. Too many specialist players will reduce your ability to pass and move and pull defenders out of position, not to mention reduce your ability to fill gaps and run into space and score goals from multiple different areas of the pitch.

The current German national side in the World Cup is a good example to follow. A few key specialists in Klose and the Centrebacks, otherwise plenty of generally sound players attacking the flanks in numbers. All of the rest of the fullbacks, midfield and attack can pass and move and cross well and can be creator or goalscorer when needed. The numbers Germany play down the flanks provide local superiority of numbers on each flank which improves their abilities to pass and move and cross, and they generally tend to overload and outnumber everyone inside the box by exploiting the numerical weakness of the flanks.

Spain by contrast are an example of the problems when facing packed defences through the middle, even with vastly superior players. You automatically attack the most numerous and dense area of the opponents defence, you need quality movement and numbers infront of the defence just to keep possession and continue playing, and you tend to have very little opportunity to outnumber defenders in key areas. This often results in hopeful, holywood style passes into lone strikers that are forced into hopeful, holywood style lone runs and shots at goal. It is a pretty philosophy to watch, but there are significant questions about its practical, tactical effectiveness.

The Semi Final on Wednesday will be an excellent match to watch to compare the practicality and tactical efficiency of the Germans versus the philosophy and ideological football of the Spanish. As we have seen in European Cup Football in recent years, practicality and tactical efficiency tends to have the upper hand. And as the Germany v Argentina match showed, if your philosophy is naive all across the pitch then you can easilly be destroyed.