Matts TTF 4-4-2 Set For FM2011 {Real Men Use Classic Tactics}

[mattbuck]

Oh right dude. I've loaded the attack right. Is my poacher on the right hand side and my stopper on the right as well?

Check the mentality slide on player instructions if in doubt. The right or left refers to the location of the cover central defender. The playmake plays in front of the cover always, the striker/poacher plays in front of the holding midfielder with the backward arrow.

[m4tTy~B~]

Thanks matey. You're a star.

[mattbuck]

No problem mate.

Just a heads up for others who may be using my tactic. I never ticked counter attack when using any of the normal or attack tactics. It might be worth ticking it at least when using normal.

[mattbuck]

Boo yaa. Just won promotion with Rovers to the premiership season before promotion to the championship. Small problem now though, most of my players were barely championship level, gonna have to buy a whole new squad in order to have a chance of survival lol.

[Gypsum]

Thanks for the feedback and good luck in league 1.

How are your players compared to the current league standard? Did you sign any bigger names?

Here's a screenshot of my first team squad.

As you can see there are a few decent players in there, the star signings being GK Murphy and wingers M'Poku and Morais, but a lot of the better players were in my League 2 squad like Thorwart, Traore (who has been injured most of the season, but would be first choice CB), and of course Ahmed Said who scored 37 goals last year and has 9 in 10 this season. In terms of ability I think we're quite far behind most teams, i've just made sure we've got solid players in the right positions and that seems more than enough. As you can see from Said's profile, he doesn't really look capable of scoring 46 goals in 53 games, but in this setup he does it easily. I think the key is making sure you've got the right players in the right roles, if you get that right then the players seem to punch above their weight.

Now 9 games into the League 1 season, won 8, drawn 1, scored 19, conceded 3. And that draw was away to MK Dons where we really could have won. In the League cup we beat QPR 2-1 despite fielding pretty much a reserve XI, then lost 2-0 to Newcastle at St James' park. The problem of struggling against better sides that a lot of people noted with V1 doesn't seem to be an issue in V3.

[mattbuck]

Here's a screenshot of my first team squad.

As you can see there are a few decent players in there, the star signings being GK Murphy and wingers M'Poku and Morais, but a lot of the better players were in my League 2 squad like Thorwart, Traore (who has been injured most of the season, but would be first choice CB), and of course Ahmed Said who scored 37 goals last year and has 9 in 10 this season. In terms of ability I think we're quite far behind most teams, i've just made sure we've got solid players in the right positions and that seems more than enough. As you can see from Said's profile, he doesn't really look capable of scoring 46 goals in 53 games, but in this setup he does it easily. I think the key is making sure you've got the right players in the right roles, if you get that right then the players seem to punch above their weight.

Now 9 games into the League 1 season, won 8, drawn 1, scored 19, conceded 3. And that draw was away to MK Dons where we really could have won. In the League cup we beat QPR 2-1 despite fielding pretty much a reserve XI, then lost 2-0 to Newcastle at St James' park. The problem of struggling against better sides that a lot of people noted with V1 doesn't seem to be an issue in V3.

Sounds like youre doing very well. Out of interest are you doing press conferences and team talks yourself? Because your players sound very motivated. I found i had better results when doing these myself despite my assistant having good ratings.

[Gypsum]

Sounds like youre doing very well. Out of interest are you doing press conferences and team talks yourself? Because your players sound very motivated. I found i had better results when doing these myself despite my assistant having good ratings.

I leave my assistant to do press conferences and I let him suggest team talks, but I override them when I need to. I generally follow the same formula which seems to work all the time for me, but especially so when i'm one of the lesser teams in the league.

Before the game: 'You can win this.' I sometimes change this if i'm massive favourites.

Half time:

If winning 1-0+ and playing well (Say nothing)

If winning 1-0 and not playing well (Encourage)

If drawing 0-0 or losing 1-0 (You can win this)

If losing 2-0+ then say whatever you feel works, a kick up the arse if they're bad, sympathise if they're unlucky.

Full time:

I let my ass man decide the overall team talk based on the team's performance as a whole, 'Not good enough' if they're poor, usually nothing if the result wasn't that good or well done if it was a decent performance.

Ratings below 6 (Disappointed) but not always, depends if they were particularly bad. Missing a penalty doesn't deserve criticism, not working hard enough does.

6-6.9 (None, or well done depending on the overall team talk)

7 - 7.5 (well done) Always.

7.6 + (Delighted) Always.

Away i'm a bit more generous with praise, but not by much. Also, a sub that comes on for 10 minutes and gets a decent rating like 7.2+ will get 'Delighted' for the impact he made in his short time on the pitch.

Of course, this isn't the most comprehensive team-talk strategy around these forums, but as a basic formula it works well for me.

[Brian Lannister]

Going good so far in my Middlesbrough save. Excellent work mattbuck. I have one question, what stats should I be looking for in potential MCR (def mid) transfers?

[mattbuck]

Going good so far in my Middlesbrough save. Excellent work mattbuck. I have one question, what stats should I be looking for in potential MCR (def mid) transfers?

Any typical holding player, good strength, concentration, anticipation, tackling etc.

[Curuedhel]

Hi Matt, this is working well for me so far. I have Fulham 3rd in the EPL in my first season about 3/4 of the way through the season. I've also made 4-2-4 versions of the Normal and Attacking tacs to allow just a little finer control - I find switching from the 4-4-2 normal to the 4-2-4 normal is often a better step than going straight to the 4-4-2 attacking.

Anyways, the one thing that's missing to my mind is a Control version of the tactic for use against poor teams or when I'm heavily favoured - I'm finding that the Attack tactic just gets hammered by counter-attacks and the Normal isn't quite aggressive enough. Is that something you could look at?

Cheers.

[mattbuck]

Hi Matt, this is working well for me so far. I have Fulham 3rd in the EPL in my first season about 3/4 of the way through the season. I've also made 4-2-4 versions of the Normal and Attacking tacs to allow just a little finer control - I find switching from the 4-4-2 normal to the 4-2-4 normal is often a better step than going straight to the 4-4-2 attacking.

Anyways, the one thing that's missing to my mind is a Control version of the tactic for use against poor teams or when I'm heavily favoured - I'm finding that the Attack tactic just gets hammered by counter-attacks and the Normal isn't quite aggressive enough. Is that something you could look at?

Cheers.

I'll have a look into it, thanks for the feedback.

[Gypsum]

Had a poor run of from during winter, really struggling to put two wins together. I suspect this is more due to some horrendous fixture congestion, injuries, suspensions and the sale of my best player mixing up my previously settled squad. Realistically, it just means my team is pretty much playing at the level you would expect being the newly promoted side. Fortunately it seems everyone else is struggling too, because i'm sitting 10 points clear at the top after 35 games. Hopefully now the fixtures are a bit more spread out we'll be able to regain our early season form.

[mattbuck]

Had a poor run of from during winter, really struggling to put two wins together. I suspect this is more due to some horrendous fixture congestion, injuries, suspensions and the sale of my best player mixing up my previously settled squad. Realistically, it just means my team is pretty much playing at the level you would expect being the newly promoted side. Fortunately it seems everyone else is struggling too, because i'm sitting 10 points clear at the top after 35 games. Hopefully now the fixtures are a bit more spread out we'll be able to regain our early season form.

Lol. I was expecting you to say you were in relegation or something.

[Craig_R.U.F.C]

Hi matt sorry to bother you here I am just curious to what tactic left defend and right defend mean? I know that you have explain it already but i still find it confusing. Everything else i understand fully it's just the CB problem..

I'll have a try and explain what it could mean and let me know if am right or wrong so then i know.

If i was to choose the right CB or Left CB either of those will be the cover defender on the side the tactic says? Also, on the left Attack which is the cover CB?

[Gypsum]

Here's the final league table of my second season using this set of tactics (used V3 all of this season)

For a newly promoted team it is obviously a massive achievement. The first half of the season we were amazing, virtually untouchable and built up a big lead with everyone fit and the first XI settled. But the fixture congestion and injury problems (particularly for my star striker) around winter time unsettled the team and led to some patchy form for the rest of the season, which I put down to the weakness of my squad rather than a problem with the tactics.

There was the occasional match where my side were totally overrun, and it was hard to pick the right tactic, which I suppose is an inevitable problem of having 6 setups to choose from. It would be great if there was a way to have a more universal tactical setup so you didn't need to keep switching tactics and watching out for which striker you are covering. But considering the success I have had, this is only a minor gripe.

The only change i've made is setting one of my midfielders to stay back at attacking corners and free kicks, as I was getting countered off clearences far too often.

So overall, 2 league wins in two seasons with a team which is nothing special... got to be happy with that!

[mattbuck]

Hi matt sorry to bother you here I am just curious to what tactic left defend and right defend mean? I know that you have explain it already but i still find it confusing. Everything else i understand fully it's just the CB problem..

I'll have a try and explain what it could mean and let me know if am right or wrong so then i know.

If i was to choose the right CB or Left CB either of those will be the cover defender on the side the tactic says? Also, on the left Attack which is the cover CB?

The left or right refers to the cover defender position on his side of the pitch. The cover defender is the one who sits depper and attempts to clear up any loose balls behind the defence.

[mattbuck]

Here's the final league table of my second season using this set of tactics (used V3 all of this season)

For a newly promoted team it is obviously a massive achievement. The first half of the season we were amazing, virtually untouchable and built up a big lead with everyone fit and the first XI settled. But the fixture congestion and injury problems (particularly for my star striker) around winter time unsettled the team and led to some patchy form for the rest of the season, which I put down to the weakness of my squad rather than a problem with the tactics.

There was the occasional match where my side were totally overrun, and it was hard to pick the right tactic, which I suppose is an inevitable problem of having 6 setups to choose from. It would be great if there was a way to have a more universal tactical setup so you didn't need to keep switching tactics and watching out for which striker you are covering. But considering the success I have had, this is only a minor gripe.

The only change i've made is setting one of my midfielders to stay back at attacking corners and free kicks, as I was getting countered off clearences far too often.

So overall, 2 league wins in two seasons with a team which is nothing special... got to be happy with that!

Thanks for the feedback and well done, thats some achievement with aldershot.

[trolololol]

Would like to try this tactic out but having trouble downloading from both of the filesharing site you've provided =/

Any luck of a Mediafire mirror?

[Curuedhel]

As you can see my first season with Fulham went pretty well. There were a few howlers, like a 5-1 defeat against Wolves on the last day of the season, but things went mostly to plan other than the usual sticky patch in late November/early December.

The only real issue I had was that whoever played in the left CF position generally got poor ratings. Lukaku played there most of the season and ended up with only 9 goals, 4 assists and an average rating of 7.11

As mentioned previously, I think the one thing that's missing is a Control version of the tactic.

Pretty positive on the whole though.

[mattbuck]

Would like to try this tactic out but having trouble downloading from both of the filesharing site you've provided =/

Any luck of a Mediafire mirror?

http://www.mediafire.com/?2k2wi7s9jp9a3ci

[mattbuck]

As you can see my first season with Fulham went pretty well. There were a few howlers, like a 5-1 defeat against Wolves on the last day of the season, but things went mostly to plan other than the usual sticky patch in late November/early December.

The only real issue I had was that whoever played in the left CF position generally got poor ratings. Lukaku played there most of the season and ended up with only 9 goals, 4 assists and an average rating of 7.11

As mentioned previously, I think the one thing that's missing is a Control version of the tactic.

Pretty positive on the whole though.

Thanks for the feedback. I have created a new tactic, a 4-3-3, this seems to dominate opposition like a control formation. Try it out and see what you think.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/260039-Matts-KISS-(Keep-It-Simple-Stupid)-4-3-3

[Curuedhel]

I have 3 quality strikers now, and unfortunately none of them are AMC/ST so going to a solo striker formation would be a bit of a waste at this point. I'll definitely try it next time I start a new game though, since that's one of my favourite formations.

[tryan]

Hi Matt, will there be any updates on this tactic (i.e. a v2) or is this the final version?

[mattbuck]

Hi Matt, will there be any updates on this tactic (i.e. a v2) or is this the final version?

Probably the final version mate as ive moved onto a new tactic now my KISS 4-4-3/4-5-1.

[tryan]

A pity. This has been a great tactic for me. Solid at the back and great with goals as well. This all on 11.3. The only drawbacks I have found are that:

(a) the left striker tends to have problems scoring (the exact opposite of the right striker who is amazingly prolific, averaging 1.5 goals a game for me). This despite the fact that the left striker is the better of the two in most respect.

(b) the need to switch between 6 different tactics for maximum effectiveness. I just decided to go with the left versions of the tactics. Something more universal would be helpful.

If the above could be addressed, this would be my all time favourite tactic. Any thoughts?

[mattbuck]

A pity. This has been a great tactic for me. Solid at the back and great with goals as well. This all on 11.3. The only drawbacks I have found are that:

(a) the left striker tends to have problems scoring (the exact opposite of the right striker who is amazingly prolific, averaging 1.5 goals a game for me). This despite the fact that the left striker is the better of the two in most respect.

(b) the need to switch between 6 different tactics for maximum effectiveness. I just decided to go with the left versions of the tactics. Something more universal would be helpful.

If the above could be addressed, this would be my all time favourite tactic. Any thoughts?

Yeah the left striker was always a slight problem. You could bump his mentality up a bit, and leave run from deep on mixed. That should help his ratings.

As for the 6 formations that was to counter the CPU poacher changing sides, a tactic the cpu employs many times throughout the course of a match.

In the end i also got fed up of switching tactics, which is why i created my new one.

[tryan]

Hi Matt,

Having tried almost all the other tactics on the board (Mr. H's complete dominance being the latest one), I am still coming back to this as the most stable of the lot. Amazing defence (I had a stretch of 12 wins with zero conceded) and offense for me. There is only one main problem with the tactic as far as I can tell and that is the non-scoring left striker which leads to morale issues for him. I am currently trying various tweaks to boost the goal output of the left striker. Two versions stand out at the moment and I would appreciate your thoughts (at least on a theoretical level):

(1) Tick the Target Man box and have the left striker listed as the the Target Man;

(2) increasing the attacking mentality of the left striker and add a forward arrow to the central midfielder

Option (1) seems to work better but for whatever reason, seems to starve the right striker of goals (although still prolific by any measure).

Option (2) increases the goal output of the left striker without affecting the output of the right striker but the problem is that it results in a weakened midfield as there seems to be a "hole" between the left and right midfielder which is frequently exploited.

Any thoughts on the above?

[mattbuck]

Add him as a target man to feet would be good if he has good first touch and can create something for the players around him for sure. I wouldn't tweak the midfield tbh.

[perdn1]

I have tried this with FC Nordsjælland in Denmark and getting some mixed results. I think it is due to the quality of the players or rather the lack of quality:) I think it works well and have conseeded alot of goals but is also the most scoring team, so once i get defence stabilized it should work wonders.

Looking forward to using it more.