my tactics are about as good as steve mcclarens

[pooch]

im getting pretty depressed. it seems that every other day i get excited about starting a new fm games as someone challenging (i.e. not the top four/lower leagues) and really enjoy the summer and preseason improving the squad, but then as soon as the season starts my team always plays rubbish and the same things happen again and again, like the fact that i cant see out a lead, or never make a chance when all-out attack for last 10 minutes when a goal down.

im thinking that maybe im naive tactically. i select simple but what i feel should be effective tactics for both team and individual players, and dont like straying too far from a 4-4-2 (which in reality very few english teams do) yet struggle to see out games at home and always look like im gonna get beat away regardless of who im playing.

hmmmmm.... any advice? sorry if this has bored you, ive looked at tactics forums but nothing seems to improve

[Chris Ritchie]

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=61144

That's a brilliant thread.

[Dimony]

Who are you playing as? Your tactics should be tweaked to suit your players, and your opposition.

Gone are the days when you could just make a tactic and storm the league.

[krashd]

Knowing your team inside and out is all I can suggest and then fitting your tactics around their abilities.

A good starting tactic is to trust your staff to pick your starting 11, but don't rely on the one opinion -read each player report by all 5-7 staff members you have and you should get a clear idea of who the best, 2nd best and 3rd are in each position, etc. This also gives you a good idea of how the game's mechanics work out ability. Then try to field those 11 players, even if it turns out you have 4 excellent central defenders and only 1 decent striker it's always better to field that line up and play a more forward running kinda game than to leave quality players on the bench. Ideally tho you would want to buy and sell to strengthen weaker areas, in this case your strike force.

Too many people forget to strengthen weak points in their squad in favour of chasing down that player who has just signed for their team in real life. It is possible to make a better choice in FM than in RL

Next, mould players individual attributes to their game, if someone has high tackling skill don't be afraid to set their tackling to 'hard', if they have high tackling and high aggression it may be a good idea to set tackling back to 'normal'. If a player has a decent long shot skill set them to make long attempts, if they have poor finishing set them to feed your target men. It's all in the tiny details and constant manipulation of them.

Lastly, keep an eye on what your Asst. says during the match, if player A is used to closing down more, then tell him too, if player B is giving away too many balls try and set him to just simple passing.

I've found that as infuriating as it is you get vastly more succesful the more time you spend and the more attention you pay to the individual tactics of each player, rather than just picking a first 11, choosing a formation and kicking off...

[pooch]

thanks for the advice, i usually tailor my individual tactics to the player in question and spend plenty of time doing so, but to no avail. how are you meant to approach away games, because, for instane in my spurs game, when i would play someone in the bottom 5-6 in the league i wouldnt know how to approach it as nothing seems to work - whether i start more defensively with a patient approach or try to take the game to the opposition and play more attacking football. im so vunerable in away games its embarassing!

[pooch]

oh and thanks for the link chris, im checking it out now