Once again... really badly struggling

[mudweiser]

Oh man, things are dire.

So last season I did the utterly impossible - won the Conference North Play-Offs with Stockport. Amazing. I never win the play-offs. It seems I finally, finally have a tactic that works!

This was confirmed to me when the side looked like we could flirt with another play-off spot. Come November we were 10th, two points off 5th.

Then it happened. The fall.

I'm now in April and we haven't won for 14 consecutive games. Do you know what it's like to watch FOURTEEN CONSECUTIVE GAMES like that? The only ONE credible result was a 0-0 away at top of the league Kidderminster. There have been a handful of draws and a larger handful of absolute trashings (6-1, a few 4-1s).

As I type this we're losing 0-3 at home to already relegated, bottom of the league Bristol.

HELP. WTF IS GOING ON.

This is my setup;

GK

WB/S - CD/D - CD/D - WB/S

W/A - CM/D - AP/S - W/A

TM/A - DF/D

Normally Control/Standard, but recently been on Counter and with Flexible.

TI: Direct Passing, Exploit the Flanks, Get Stuck In

Recently I've been using PIs a lot, mainly for the back four to Close Down Less because the shape just seems awful. Less Risky Passes across the back four, too, and Pass It Shorter for the two CMs. I sometimes swap the AP/S for a BBM or a CM/S depending on

I've slowed down the games to watch my tactics, and these are the goals I'm conceding;

- Spaces opening up when players close down too much, CBs for example (hence the PIs)

- Strikers reacting quicker to defenders on rebounds

- Headers from crosses (not wide crosses though, from inside the area, pull backs etc)

- Heavy touches in the middle of the park losing possession

- General space in our final third

It seems the opposition can pass it around, tear us open, and when we get it we just lump it, even when the player has acres to move into - even when they've got Fewer Risky Passes as a PI!!

This is so frustrating. I'm seeing our talented side (and we do really have some of the best players in the division) get sucked down when we shouldn't be, and we're conceding crap goals.

It's damned if you do, damned if you don't... I see us conceding crosses from inside the area so naturally think we should push up, get this kind of nonsense out of the area, so ask the team to Push Up... then there's acres of space all of a sudden and they're hitting long through balls to the feet of their players and strolling through and scoring.

I just don't know what to do. I can't buy a win.... and months ago we were looking at play-offs!!!

[mudweiser]

0-4 now to bottom of the league.

We had a corner, it gets headed out to our man, he passes it on the edge of the area, its intercepted and this guy legs in the whole length and then crosses to the back post where another guy nips in past THREE players to score.

WTF.

[RTHerringbone]

A series of potential issues, some of which seem to relate to your observations.

Spaces opening up when players close down too much, CBs for example (hence the PIs)

Get Stuck In might be a factor, as it invites players to commit to less that 50:50 tackles. More likely is the formation, which obliges the DCs to step out if the CM (D) doesn't cover the DM area well enough. Reverting to Counter would potentially stretch the DC:MC space and increase the issue.

when we get it we just lump it

Likely to be affected at least partially by the use of the Target Man Role. Lose that, and the aimless punts will reduce. Direct passing also invites the team to move the ball about with more purpose, and the level you are at means this may descend into aimless territory.

Generally, your Duty allocation on the flanks is possibly a problem too. I know you Exploit The Flanks, and that seems key to the system, but with one-dimensional Duties on the flanks where you have Support behind Attack, you lack variety and potentially create gaps on your flanks to be exploited when attacks break down.

[mudweiser]

A series of potential issues, some of which seem to relate to your observations.

Spaces opening up when players close down too much, CBs for example (hence the PIs)

Get Stuck In might be a factor, as it invites players to commit to less that 50:50 tackles. More likely is the formation, which obliges the DCs to step out if the CM (D) doesn't cover the DM area well enough. Reverting to Counter would potentially stretch the DC:MC space and increase the issue.

So what are my options? What part of the formation obliges the DCs to step out??

when we get it we just lump it

Likely to be affected at least partially by the use of the Target Man Role. Lose that, and the aimless punts will reduce. Direct passing also invites the team to move the ball about with more purpose, and the level you are at means this may descend into aimless territory.

Generally, your Duty allocation on the flanks is possibly a problem too. I know you Exploit The Flanks, and that seems key to the system, but with one-dimensional Duties on the flanks where you have Support behind Attack, you lack variety and potentially create gaps on your flanks to be exploited when attacks break down.

Again, what can I do? What do you mean by one dimensional? They're on attack because it's the crux of my penetration... how can I add variety? I'm wary that switching them to support would just leave a bigger gap between attack and midfield...

Is 442 too rigid for LLM? It seems too reliant on the wingers, even though I've got a decent AP/S in there... he just doesn't seem to get in the game as much.

[RTHerringbone]

Is 442 too rigid for LLM? It seems too reliant on the wingers, even though I've got a decent AP/S in there... he just doesn't seem to get in the game as much.

No, any formation can work at any level. I'd just recommend losing some of your TIs and the TM Role. I think you are wasting possession and it just traps you in a cycle of defending, lumping the ball and then defending again. Making those changes and having a mix of Duties on the flanks should see improvements.

[mudweiser]

When you say a mix of duties on the flanks, what exactly do you mean?

[wwfan]

Looking at your system, I'd suggest the switch to a more cautious system is one in the wrong direction. Unless you really know what you're doing, you really need more bodies in the back two strata to play effective cautious football, which you don't have. You also want to have players breaking from deep and moving past the midfield, which, again, you don't have.

You are playing a pretty bog standard, direct 4-4-2. I would do the following:

1: Get rid of Exploit Flanks. This is going to cause a big hole in the middle of the park, handicapping the AP/s's ability to dictate the game. As you are so direct with both wingers getting forward, you'll find your WBS will be shuttling up and down the pitch, not able to keep up with play in attack and then rushing back to defence as the backline gets outnumbered on the counter. This will cause the lumped passes, as players deep will have no easy out ball options.

2: Consider playing more aggressively (Control - Attacking), up the tempo and close down more. This will keep the team more compact and stop gaps appearing between the strata, which will be the root cause of your DCs getting pulled out of position.

3: If the TM is dominant in the air, then consider Floating Crosses. If your attack is quick, then try hitting them early.

[alinp]

If playing with 2 wingers, would Full Backs instead of Wing Backs not be better behind them. Surely the Wing-backs would be looking to stay wide, hence giving the CD's even more space to try and cover.

The other thing that does jump out at me is that I think you mention that you have good players for the league, so in that case, why not trey and play a bit more football and not be so one directional with your mode of attack.