Away from hope HELP!

[drevil1969]

Ok, first and fullmost this is a thread for help. Hopefully some ideas can be gotten together and maybe it can lead to a guide from it.

Secondly, this is not a rant either.

And lastly, I am not great at this game, but I am not bad. I currently lie 7th in premier league playing as West Ham. I cant be that bad to be there with limited funds. But the problem is, away from home I am shocking. At home, Upton Park is a fortress, but as I say, away, terrible.

So, what I am asking is, how do you get good/better performances away from home? Here is my home tactic

And this is the away one which I tried to implement but without much success.

Now the shouts I used in the last game were "clear ball to flanks" Stay on feet" "pass into space" "play wider" "run at defence" and "exploit the flanks" and none of it seemed to work.

So can anyone suggest an effective tactic for away from home or what adjustments can be made? Maybe suggests some shouts

[drinkmixer84]

Your away tactic has more attacking positions than your home tactic. Also with only 2 specialized roles you should change to a balanced or fluid philosophy. I'd recommend changing your lone striker to a DLF as well. One final thing, if you have the personnel for it, use a DLP for your DM spot. I feel a good DLP can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful counter attacking tactic.

[RocheBag]

For a counter attacking tactic, I would recommend switching the strategy to Control, then ticking counter-attack manually. It sounds wrong but it gives you what you're looking for. I would then change to "Stand-off more" to counteract the strategy change. I would also change the AP because it doesn't really fit with a counter attacking game IMO. I'd change the BWM too because you want to sit back a bit more on the counter, and especially if you switch to control, the BWM will be all over the place. I'd go with two CMs, one on attack and one on support. I would change the poacher as well, not necessarily to DLF but to something, even an AF will get involved a little more.

[Thunder88]

I'm just getting used to this years game also mate but one thing that stood out for me is your tackling and pressing instructions..

Away from home surely you're gonna want to be more aggresive and in their face,unsettle them and not give them the confidence and control they will expect...

You are pressing them but tackling cautiously...this seems a little unbalanced in my opinion...if it was me i'd be much more aggresive...and also ALWAYS close down and show onto weak feet of the wide players (rb,lb,and wingers)...and also any central midfielders...

Never give them the space and respect..

I've learnt this the hard way by getting slaughtered away 5-0 to Norwich when i was Liverpool lol

[tajj 7]

You are pressing them but tackling cautiously...this seems a little unbalanced in my opinion...if it was me i'd be much more aggresive...and also ALWAYS close down and show onto weak feet of the wide players (rb,lb,and wingers)...and also any central midfielders...

What he has makes sense, or at least those two combinations are fine. It's the same as using the 'hassle opponents' and 'stay on feet' shouts together, basically means they will close down quickly but not necessarily lunge in for a tackle, either intercepting the pass or only tackling when they are very confident they will get the ball. I always think this helps keep your shape better as players won't lunge in, get sidestepped and then take themselves out of the game.

Ok, first and fullmost this is a thread for help. Hopefully some ideas can be gotten together and maybe it can lead to a guide from it.

Secondly, this is not a rant either.

And lastly, I am not great at this game, but I am not bad. I currently lie 7th in premier league playing as West Ham. I cant be that bad to be there with limited funds. But the problem is, away from home I am shocking. At home, Upton Park is a fortress, but as I say, away, terrible.

So, what I am asking is, how do you get good/better performances away from home? Here is my home tactic

And this is the away one which I tried to implement but without much success.

Now the shouts I used in the last game were "clear ball to flanks" Stay on feet" "pass into space" "play wider" "run at defence" and "exploit the flanks" and none of it seemed to work.

So can anyone suggest an effective tactic for away from home or what adjustments can be made? Maybe suggests some shouts

First off, 7th with West Ham is pretty good.

Secondly what are you actually trying to achieve in your away tactics? It is purely a sit deep and counter attack style you are looking for?

A few points to look at IMO:

1. One thing that strikes me straight away in that second formation is the Poacher. As a lone forward in an away game where your team are sitting quite deep (the counter strategy) and rigidly (so not many players will be getting forward) he's likely to get isolated.

A better option would be to have a DLF or Target Man probably on support, that looks to drop off, hold up the ball and bring your other players into the game (particularly the IF and W).

2. IIRC does 'Rigid' not overwrite the attack/support/defend duties? I've always though balanced is a better option if you are using specific player roles.

3. 'Counter' strategy and 'press more' are conflicting. With a counter your team will sit deeper on the pitch, constricting the space between the goal and your d-line and the d-line and your midfield. However you are then asking your players to press the opposition which means they have a lot further to go to press. This could lead to gaps as players leave their positions to press and you then looose your shape. If you want to press more you need to push your team higher up the pitch. If you want to sit deeper and counter attack I would leave pressing on default so it's left to the individual player roles you have.

4. The IF(A) and AP(A) might be both trying to make runs in the same space, something to have a look at, maybe changing the AP to support is an option.

5.

Now the shouts I used in the last game were "clear ball to flanks" Stay on feet" "pass into space" "play wider" "run at defence" and "exploit the flanks" and none of it seemed to work.

Against what formation where you using these against?

For example 'Play Wider' could cause trouble against teams who have lots of people in the centre (also somewhat conflicts the 'counter' strategy which is set up narrowly). 'Run at defence' really depends on players have really good dribbling, 'pass into space' makes sense for the counter attacks if you have players with lots of pace but against teams that sit a bit deeper that space might not be there. Again 'exploit the flanks' depends on the formation you play against, it works well against teams that have a narrow midfield with say only wingbacks/full backs in the wide areas, 'look for overlap' helps here as well.

6. is that a BTB CM or a BWM CM? Can't see that well on the screenshot. A BWM will charge all over the place to get the ball leaving his position again this could create gaps and harm your team's shape.

So In summary (just my opinion) I would -

- Change to 'balanced'.

- Change the SC to either a TM or DLF.

- Put the AP on Support, maybe look at the W on support as well depending how it plays.

- Change pressing to default, then if you come into an away game where your opposition are not committing that many forward you could use 'hassle opponents' together with the 'push higher up' shouts to win the ball back high.

- Change the BWM to a DLP.

[Sussex Hammer]

Not sure I'll be much help as I play a classic global 4-4-2 at home and away with West Ham but have finished 5th, 3rd, 3rd and am at present 2nd. Firstly however I find it very difficult to play just one up and also the AMR and AML slots in FM13 are very attacking and I find it's tough to get them to defend especially in an away tactic. I know some say to have them specifically man mark but I still think it's a workaround for the lack of tracking back in those positions.

Also I think a deep, defensive outlook away is a recipe for disaster. I had quite a bit of success playing a Flat 4-4-2 at home and a 4-4-2 away but just with the CM's dropping back into the DM positions. Played quite a high line with high pressing and sometimes offside on. I'm experimenting now playing without counter attack on. Even with a high line and high pressing I found this worked quite well although if you lose the ball you get countered on the counter! Now I am trying to just play patiently but it's still not far from my home tactic. My assistant still says I am getting overpowered in CM but am still unbeaten in the League.

Key is to keep it basic I think and not to have many gaps between your players hence why I play global and have pretty much everything on mixed and try not to play too deep with a counter because I think you just invite pressure. I think in FM it's difficult to do "a Chelsea", sit back, soak up pressure and win 1-0, you are better trying to win the game rather than lose it!!