Tactic needed for Cheltenham Town in League 2

[paulmotion]

Hey folks, I am currently with Cheltenham Town in league 2 and struggling to get results - I'm losing way more times than I win. I got a few decent players during the transfer window, however the standard 4-4-2 tactic just isnt working for me.

I have also tried the 4-5-1 with 2 wingers however that doesnt seem to work also. Can anyone recommend a good tactic for a lauge 2 club?

Thanks

[sjm]

How far are you into the season? I started a game with Darlington (also league 2), and couldn't win for toffee against any halfway decent team for the first 10 or so games. I had however inherited a squad that consisted of a large number of recent signings, and they took a while to get used to playing together. Plus I brought in a few other signings (on loan) to add to the problem. I suppose having a new manager didn't help either

The problem with the team not gelling for a while also happened in my second season - I got promoted in the first season, and so dumped most of my crappy league 2 players and signed something like 13 new players + loan signings. The team played awfully at the beginning of the season, but after around 10 games we started climbing the table and left the relegation zone. I've now been unbeaten in the league for 15-ish games (mostly wins) and now am 5th with about 10 games to go (although still a good 10-15 points off the automatic promotion spots). I didn't change the tactics much over the course of the season (a few tactical tweaks here and there), but there was a noticeable improvement in the players performances once they'd has a good amount of games together. So if you're only at the start of the season, you might want to see if your players don't get a bit better at playing together just by giving them a bit more time (obviously less applicable if you're talking of the Winter transfer window, not the summer one).

As for tactics, I've been playing 4-4-2 (flat midfield) in games I'm confident of being able to win, 4-1-3-2 (either with or without wingers) for added defensive strength against better teams, or when holding on to a lead, and sometimes 4-3-1-2 (with or without wingers) when looking to attack. I've set up two basic tactics - one home and one away, although I do tinker depending on who is playing. Before each match I check the opposition strikers and change my defensive line to suit (deeper if they're fast, higher if they're better in the air; there are rarely players good at both at this level). I check the opposition defenders for obvious weaknesses (e.g. slow, can't tackle, can't mark etc.) and choose my strikers accordingly. If I use the 4-4-2 (home) formation away from home, I'll play narrower and slightly deeper in most cases.

A few general hints I'd give you:

Watch the games in "full match", at least at the beginning of every game, and any time you notice that the opposition is gaining the upper hand. If you're only watching highlights (especially key), it'll be too late by the time you spot a problem. After the first 10 minutes of so you ought to have figured out roughly what the AI's gameplan is, and have taken some steps to counter it (generally: adjust closing down, adjust defensive line, adjust tempo). The same applies at the start of the second half - the AI often changes things around, so you'll want to make sure that you are able to deal with the AI's new approach. You can always switch to extended highlights (or even key if you must) once you're happy that your team is set up well.

Pay special attention to where the AI is coming at your. If it's down the flanks, you might want to go to the OI and tell your players to always close down the wingers, or tight mark them. If it's through the middle, you might need a holding midfielder or at least more defensively minded midfielders to help out at the back. If they're building up slowly from the back, you might want to put the fullbacks under pressure (especially against formations without wingers!).

Make sure you are leaving passing options open in midfield. Don't set everyone to run from deep often, or there will be no passing options in if the AI sits back and defends, as all your advanced players will be marked.

Don't underestimate the importance of confidence. Check your player's motivation in-match. Complacent or nervous players generally are a liability. If you suck at team talks etc. you might want to read a couple of the guides, as morale and confidence seem to have a disproportinately large effect on how well your team plays. Don't be afraid to make an early substitution if you need to (either for tactical reasons, or because a player is a liability).

Get in loan players (if you haven't already)! You can loan players from top teams that are much better than any of the other players in the division. This can be particularly effective if you can pick up a striker or two with some good physical stats , decent finishing and halway decent mental attributes.

Make sure you're not ignoring mental attributes - at this level, you can't have a team full of mentally strong characters, but you do want a captain with relatively well rounded mental attributes. Good attributes such as determination and decisions can make players that look so-so perform a lot better at this level than you might at first expect.

If you have two strikers, set one of them to lower mentatlity (around the middle). I haven't managed to get any of my midfielders to ever stay forward when defending - the way the match engine works, it creates massive gaps in your team when defending. If you don't get one striker to drop back, you'll never win the ball when it's cleared, and will contantly be under pressure. There may of course be a way to get midfielders to stay up when you're defending, but I have yet to manage.

Other than that, you're probably going to need to provide more information (are you conceding too many goals? if so from what sort of chances? Are you not managing to score? Are you dominating the first half, but always getting thrashed in the second?) before people can really give you any pointers.

[tigerhgrrrrrr]

Hey folks, I am currently with Cheltenham Town in league 2 and struggling to get results - I'm losing way more times than I win. I got a few decent players during the transfer window, however the standard 4-4-2 tactic just isnt working for me.

I have also tried the 4-5-1 with 2 wingers however that doesnt seem to work also. Can anyone recommend a good tactic for a lauge 2 club?

Thanks

Have you tried creating a tactic with the wizard to suit the player strengths? Im no tactical guru but it has worked for me. It you post a screen dump of your first team squad in current ability order, showing favoured position I will try to advise you.