Help to develop my tactics / squad?

[MTM1977]

The team i am currently managing, is Asker in Norway.

My second season going on in this save. First season we won Second Division group 1 and got promoted to First Division.

So, now we are in First Division, doing ok, but i would like to do better of course.

At the moment the main problem for me is that we don't get enough goals to win the games we should be winning.

So far 14 games, 6 won, 5 drawn and 3 lost. We have scored 18 and conceded 9. So, defense is working quite nicely, but scoring is not quite good enough.

I have three different tactics.

For some reason i am not able to upload pictures here, but i hope you can open these links.

Note, i might not have the first team on all of the pictures, so don't mind that

This is my basic tactic, for games that i am not expected to win comfortably or lose heavily:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sl7uzlpdqd1lfmw/4-5-1%20control.JPG

For home games that i am comfortable favorite, i use this one:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d33586vhgyczkbb/4-4-2%20attack.JPG

And for most away games i use this one:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nl2bw4ttin2v0v9/4-5-1%20counter.JPG

I also switch tactics mid game, if the starting on is not working. Some changes to instructions during matches also.

Here is my squad:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/clvsv9p04s5m619/Squad.JPG

And here the squad depth:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/pblxlqn8742fp4i/Squad%20depth.JPG

I have also some players in reserve, but they are not any better than the ones i have in senior squad. The junior team is abysmal.

I have scheduled friendlies for every week for the reserve squad, so i can keep match fitness up to reserve players + first team players that are not playing that week.

Team training facilities are below average and currently there is no money to upgrade them.

Coaching is decent, so i have at least 3 stars for each area. 4 stars on best areas.

So, any suggestions about how to improve my tactics, so we would score more, but still keep the defense on good level as it is now?

I have not used AMC in any of my tactics, because i basically have only one good AMC, but he is also one of the best wingers.

edit:

One more comment:

The team is semi-professional, so major changes might not be a good idea. Seems to take quite a lot of time to get tactics familiar with part timers.

[MTM1977]

No comments yet, but i did small changes and it seems it might have slight positive effect.

Earlier i had both full backs on automatic. Now i have changed them so, that one is attack and one is support.

At the same time wingers have been changed so that if full back is attack, then winger is support and vice versa.

Only two games with those changes so far, but won both of them, so at least it didn't get worse.

Still about my training:

Currently all players have some individual focus or preferred move training. Individual is on heavy.

General training is one week attack, one week defense and so on. Set on average.

My best striker has been injured most of the season and now he is out for 10 months. So, had to get a replacement.

I am getting players only based by scout reports and currently board only allows scouting in Norway, so it limits options quite a lot.

The replacement has potential, but is not that good yet. Will have to see how it goes. Luckily my midfielders have been scoring most of the goals anyway.

[Cleon]

General training is one week attack, one week defense and so on. Set on average.

Why do you do this? Why not leave it on balanced? It sounds like you don't understand what general training is. It's pointless changing it weekly.

In this part I'll touch upon General and Match training because they cause a bit of confusion at times.

The General training focuses you can train are:

• Balanced
  
• Fitness
  
• Tactics
  
• Ball Control
  
• Defending
  
• Attacking
  
• Team Cohesion
  

All of the above focus on sets of attributes so lets break them down and take a look;

• Fitness : Acceleration, Agility,Balance, Jumping, Natural Fitness, Pace, Stamina, Strength, Workrate
  
• Tactics: Anticipation, Composure, Concentration, Decisions, Teamwork
  
• Ball Control: Dribbling, First Touch, Heading, Technique, Flair
  
• Defending: Marking, Tackling, Positioning
  
• Attacking: Crossing, Finishing, Long Shots, Passing, Creativity, Off the ball
  

So if you choose a focus this means the emphasis on the attributes listed above will be much greater than normal. You'll notice I left off balanced from the list, the reason for this is because it's like a default setting and make sure all attributes have the same focus on all attributes with no preference. The general training module is great if you want all players to train a specific way for something you are creating and take a more generic approach.

Scheduling

On this part of the bar you can select to allow players to have a rest before/after a game. The bar also moves and the furthest left you go the more time is spent on match training. The further right you go the less time is spent on match training. There is 5 different settings in total and each move either increases or decreses by 10%. So if you had the bar to the far left it would be 50% meaning training between General and Match is split evenly. All the way to the right would mean 100% General training with no match training.

Match training

• Tactics Only
  
• Teamwork
  
• Defensive Positioning
  
• Attacking Movement
  
• Defending Set Pieces
  
• Attacking Set Pieces
  

These give you a slight boost for the next game. So for example if you are having issues with conceding goals from set pieces then you might want to work on this for the next game if you think the opposition pose a real threat from them. Or if you wanted to work on tactic familiarity then you'd choose'tactics' as the focus.

Taken from http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/375145-The-Santos-Project-Tactical-and-Player-Development

As for the tactical issues you have you should use the analysis tab so you can pinpoint the issues you are having and see why you don't get many goals etc. You should have a read of this thread;

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/377489-Creating-A-Tactic-Design-Create-and-Maintain

[MTM1977]

Training is something i don't fully understand yet (among other things).

I have usually had the assistant to take care of training, but now i want to learn it myself.

Especially as the current assistant manager is not that great.

I will change it to balanced and let it be there for most times.

Match training has been on tactics most of the season, but lately i have been using attack set pieces also, because we were getting good amount of corners and free kicks, but wasted majority of them. In last few games we have scored from both, so it seems that it is paying off.

Is the work load ok, if general is on average and individual on heavy? On general training screen it shows the overall workload as "light".

edit:

I have read the tactics thread you linked and tried to utilize the analysing tabs.

I just don't understand enough about them yet... Maybe in time.

I have also tried to use scout reports, mainly to check where/how they usually score and where they are weakest.

So, i might concentrate for example to left flank, if their LM/LD are weak.

[MTM1977]

Keeping my eyes open in the last few matches and i think that one major problem is that we keep the ball too much.

I have over 50% of possession in just about every match, but we don't get many clear cut chances. Only 1-3 per match and even on those players mostly fail...

Last match was against a much weaker opponent, we managed to win 1-0 and only because they scored own goal.

Not sure what to change to make attacks more dangerous and to create better scoring opportunities...

[MTM1977]

I am trying to create a solid counter attack tactic to use against stronger opponents and/or away games.

This is what i have come up with so far:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/113327276@N06/11731313736/

Player instructions are:

GK = Distribute to defenders

Full Backs = Shoot less often, Dribble less, Pass It Shorter, Fewer Risky Passes, Mark Tighter

CD's = Pass it shorter

Anchor = Pass It Shorter, Mark Tighter

Regista = Shoot Less Often

CM = Shoot Less Often

IF R (A) = Roam From Position

IF L (S) = Roam From Position

F9 = Roam From Position, Shoot Less Often

Any comments about what might be bad in the tactic and how to change it?

I played one match it so far, against stronger opponent. We won 0-1 away, but at times were under too much pressure.

Familiarity is fluid in all other areas, but formation (this is a changed version of what i had as away tactic before). Formation is competent at the moment.

edit:

Could someone advice how i can post pictures directly here?

If i try to upload from PC, it shows red exclamation mark with comment "unspecified".

If i try load via link, it says invalid url.