Where I go from here?

[alanfishead]

Every year my long term save is always with my home team Newcastle United. Over the last 2 iterations of FM this save has amounted to nothing and I struggled to make any sort of challenge for silverware. FM21 though, has been a revelation. The new match engine seems a lot easier for me to get my head around, or so I thought. Following a first season of a small amount of overachieving and finishing 8th, I get taken over and got some money to spend. My second season in charge saw us qualify for the champions league which was definitely unexpected. 

Then we come to my thirst season where the despondency kicks in. After having a great first half of the campaign which left me top of the league (5 points clear of second) and awaiting a Champions League tie against Dortmund in the knockout stages, I was on a high. Then the losses came. Despite managing to beat Dortmund both home and away (4-0 aggregate win), I started giving away so many points in the league. Losing out to Reading, Leeds, Villa, Cardiff and West Ham I eventually had to settle for 5th place. Still an over achievement. Which why my question is "Where do I go from here?".

I made some big signings thanks to some even bigger sales (Allan Saint-Maximan went to Man City for £80million) but a lot of players were left unhappy with lack of playing time and ultimately left. My bank balance and transfer budget has been bolstered but I was left with a fairly thin squad.

 

I mainly used the below tactic throughout the season.

 

I went fairly aggressive and used a split block with the front three and the two wide CMs pressing more urgently and also used the Overlap Right to get my RB forward quicker as the APs would find him a lot (WB dribbles too much). Against defensive teams, I lowered tempo slightly and played wider if they packed the middle and sat back. I only use counter press occasionally and not for a full game. Similarly, counter I only really use when there is space to actually do so. I originally started with a DLPd in the DM strata but found that pushing him up between the two CMs helped cover the wide areas without using a CARs and they naturally start a bit wider in the defensive phase. 

So back to my question, where do I go from here? I want to play an aggressive style of football. I'm not too bothered about possession as good quality chances are far more important to me. I just feel that I have a team good enough squad to consistently challenge the top teams. Below are screenshots of my best players. If anyone willing to help, wants to ask anything let me know!

 

 

 

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by alanfishead

[DarJ]

Personally looking at this there are a few things I would change but first I want to ask you if the problem is that you're not creating enough chances or that you're conceding a lot.

If the problem is you conceding, how does that happen? 

[alanfishead]

16 minutes ago, DarJ said:

Personally looking at this there are a few things I would change but first I want to ask you if the problem is that you're not creating enough chances or that you're conceding a lot.

If the problem is you conceding, how does that happen? 

I don't concede too many, as I've got one of best defensive records in the league (32 conceded), as well as one of the best attacking records (73 scored). It sounds stupid that I'm even asking for advice I know but I just want to get rid of the frustrating losses. Toward the end of the season I would have a lot of shots but very few on target.

I'll generally concede via a deep cross from a full back or from a through ball. I don't really concede from balls over the top.

[Experienced Defender]

It's a bit of an ungrateful task to criticize a tactic that has brought you so much success and overachievement. But anyway, here are my observations.

I would definitely not:

- play a mezzala and attacking fullback on the same side (much less with the overlap TI turned on), obviously for defensive reasons

- play a mezzala and wide forward next to him on the same duty (except perhaps for the winger role), although I am not going to claim that such a combo can never work (just judging from my personal experience)

- play a (relatively) conservative fullback role behind an inside-oriented wide forward or wide midfield role (referring to the combo of FBsu and IW on your left flank), because the fullback may fail to provide proper attacking support during certain phases of attack

But that's just me and my approach to tactics. So if you don't like the above suggestions, just ignore them and play however you like 

[alanfishead]

1 hour ago, Experienced Defender said:

It's a bit of an ungrateful task to criticize a tactic that has brought you so much success and overachievement. But anyway, here are my observations.

I would definitely not:

- play a mezzala and attacking fullback on the same side (much less with the overlap TI turned on), obviously for defensive reasons

- play a mezzala and wide forward next to him on the same duty (except perhaps for the winger role), although I am not going to claim that such a combo can never work (just judging from my personal experience)

- play a (relatively) conservative fullback role behind an inside-oriented wide forward or wide midfield role (referring to the combo of FBsu and IW on your left flank), because the fullback may fail to provide proper attacking support during certain phases of attack

But that's just me and my approach to tactics. So if you don't like the above suggestions, just ignore them and play however you like 

This really interesting and thanks for taking the time to respond.

To respond to the above...

The FBa and the Mez on the same side helped create an overload on that side and allowed me to control possession there. 

The FBs on the left had the "get forward whenever possible" ppm so he offered some support.

I'm interested to know what you would do with the above players/tactics. Would you be able to offer any insight? 

[BadAss88]

I don't really think it's a problem with your tactics, I think it's more a problem on morale and how your team's handling with the pressure late in the season..

How do you react on press conferences? (If you do so..)

[DarJ]

12 hours ago, Experienced Defender said:

It's a bit of an ungrateful task to criticize a tactic that has brought you so much success and overachievement

@alanfishead I agree with that and the other things he said

[Experienced Defender]

11 hours ago, alanfishead said:

I'm interested to know what you would do with the above players/tactics. Would you be able to offer any insight?

I know what I would do based on my personal tactical approach (which is basically pretty simple). But as long as you are overachieving, I would strongly advise against making changes (even if that overachievement may not currently be as big as you hoped for). 

[Fotb89]

Looking at your screenshots alot of your players have important roles in the squad ie alot of key players and important players. These lads are going to want alot of game time otherwise they are going to start complaining. Your at a stage now where you need to keep Newcastle where they are as champions league club then push for a title