FM 19 Promoted with Birmingham in 1st Season....

[Majos Trajos]

Hi guys,

I played with Lyon before my Birmingham save. I won the league two times from coming behind ( with 20+ games unbeaten runs in each season). In my third season PSG sign pogba for 173 M !!! and they are again 1st in the league with a 7 points advantage (like the previous seasons).So it became so stressful to try win each and every game and wait for a PSG loss. Even I played a UCL final with Liverpool (lose 1-0 unfortunately) I decided to start a new advanture and trying to implement a different tactic.

I had always an allergy to the wingers. I never used wingers in Lyon (I used 1 DM 2 MC 2 AMC system), In FM 2018 when I won 2 in row league titles with ManU I used classic 4-4-2 and 4-3-3. 

So using wingers will be a different experience for me. So I choose to manage Birmingham for no pressure , little money to spend so little transfer activity etc. I started to watch some tactical profile videos from youtube especially for wingers. So lets start.

I got promoted to the EPL by finishing 2nd with Birmingham in my first season. Key things to say are :

• We scored 102 goals ( If you want i can share screenshots of my tactic / evidences or anything you want)
• We conceded 75 goals (second worst in the league) . I think my CB's are capable for the championship. (Roberts-Dean)
• A great run in Carabao Cup (Knocked out by PNE in Quater Final 5-1 trashing but wins agains wolves and bournemouth)
• We had some very different scorelines eg 6-6 draws two 6-4 wins a lot 4-1 5-1 wins and 1 6-2 win.

I watched games in comprehensive mode , so I watched most of the games technically, the weird thing is if we are 2-0 down, we will respond it well to make it 2-2 and all of a sudden we can be 4-2 up and the opposition scores 2 goals and make it 4-4. Or 3-0 up in HT then 3-3 in FT. Loads of unlucky moments. 15+ shots on goal every game but the opposition came and score 4 goals from 6-8 shots etc.

I actually dont know how we concede 75 goals , but how can i analyze our defensive performance to improve it? 

With a transfer budget of 37 M euros and a wage budget of 30 M , any summer transfer suggestions?

Everything you will say will be welcomed. If you are interested in my case you can reply to this post so I can upload screenshots so we can start analyzing the team. (you will see the quality of the squad is nearly **** for EPL). You can also make comments about player roles, actually everything you will say matters.

 

[Experienced Defender]

Can you post a screenshot of your tactic, to begin with? Because without that, we can only speculate and any potential advice will be flawed. 

[Majos Trajos]

 

Ok , here you go :

David Davis injured for 7-8 months , I generally used Gary Gardner in CAR role. (loaned from Aston Villa) He was also injured (7-8 months) so villa recalled him. At the january transfer window we signed Vrhovec ,Nalini  and Srbeny combined 3M , before that Lewis Wing was my Mezzalla.

I like to use RMD - T combination , actually they made things harder for opposition defenders , Especially for Jota , marking him is very hard for the defenders.Also Paganini is lurking into pockets of spaces,dribbles trough middle and even they are double up sometimes with Jota.

I also like to play with regista,because of the playmaker side of it. A regista is key when you build up play from the back. Also in transition press he act like a BWM which is a cool thing. But as we are in EPL Im open to talk about role changes tactic changes etc.

Sidney Sam from Bochum signed and he will be added to my squad in June. We have some players loaned out , there you go :

 

[jac4121993]

Don't know about anyone else, but that tactic looks like it is just asking to be hit on the counter attack. Positive mentality + aggressive roles in attack and for the fullbacks + no one holding in midfield + aggressive pressing + lower defensive line. I suspect that you are leaving a lot of space in which for the opposition to counter attack into.

[Experienced Defender]

10 hours ago, Majos Trajos said:

This is exactly what I feared while reading your opening post - a very unbalanced tactic in terms of roles and duties + too many totally needless instructions (plenty of overkill, so to speak).

But then again, you finished the season in the 2nd place: 

10 hours ago, Majos Trajos said:

Which is an amazing achievement given how unsound the tactic is 

[Majos Trajos]

7 hours ago, jac4121993 said:

Don't know about anyone else, but that tactic looks like it is just asking to be hit on the counter attack. Positive mentality + aggressive roles in attack and for the fullbacks + no one holding in midfield + aggressive pressing + lower defensive line. I suspect that you are leaving a lot of space in which for the opposition to counter attack into.

Well what Im going to do is changing CAR to DLP (S) and Regista to Anchor Man in order to hold the midfield area, its going to be my main tactic, the second one is the tactic you saw in my first post. Im open to discuss about role changes in tactics.

59 minutes ago, Experienced Defender said:

This is exactly what I feared while reading your opening post - a very unbalanced tactic in terms of roles and duties + too many totally needless instructions (plenty of overkill, so to speak).

But then again, you finished the season in the 2nd place: 

Which is an amazing achievement given how unsound the tactic is 

Yes it is and thank you!  What makes this tactic successful is long shooting ability of the midfielders. We scored 20+ goals with CM's (Gary Gardner not included in squad as Villa recalled him), Off the ball movements of the wingers and crossing ability of FB's.

I also observed that our shots on goal are coming inside of the 6 yard box, places directly see the oppositon goal. Our xG will be very high I guess.

Btw  with the limited budget I will be on the cheap. What Im looking in the transfer market is :

1 or 2 Strikers

2 CB's

1 or 2 wingers

1 DM and 2 MC's

2 FB's right and left 

Edited November 24, 2019 by Majos Trajos