Impossible to win.

[Nobodylikesme]

As a team that is expected to finish in the lower half of the table, how can I change this tactic to become more competitive, the game has made it literally impossible to win, regularly unbelievably giving this tactic consistent sub 1 XG games it just makes no sense.

[marko82]

Hello, i think you could solve two problems with this tactic,
1.The left hand side puts too much defensive pressure on FBsup (two attacking roles in front of him), and probably causing disconnected passing on that side.
I would i try putting IF-sup or even better IW on support because he is very good with runners such as CM-at.
If you don't have the player for the role, try W-sup.

2. Advanced forward as lonely striker could work sometimes, but he needs good support, so try to change the first thing i've written, and if it still doesn't work, my second step would be change to a support role striker, or DLF att if you insist on having attacking role. You need a striker who will participate more in buildup and secondly make space for wingers and CM-at
I hope this helps

[herne79]

It’s one thing asking your players to do something via instructions.  It’s something else entirely if your players are capable of carrying out those instructions to any degree of competence.

For example, you are predicted to finish bottom half so your players are not that good in relation to most of your opponents.  So do they have the necessary skills to be able to mark their opponents well as you are asking them to do?  Are your attacker’s dribbling skills good enough to be able to run at the opposition defence frequently?  Do they have sufficient physical skills to maintain and effective press for 90 mins week in week out?

There’s nothing much wrong with your roles and duties (perhaps give your striker a different role to help encourage him to participate more in build up play as well as being a goal threat), nor is there anything too outrageous with your instructions, just have a think about how good your players are vs what they are being asked to do.  I’d start with tight marking first and see how things go.

[Draakon]

1. Switch attacking roles (left to support and right wing to attack). 

2. If you're underdog I'd never ask them to dribble more, especially against teams with better defender. Their success rate is too low and it leads to lost possession.

[Tsuru]

As you are predicted to finish bottom half, you will have probably 3 kinds of matches during the season:

• Matches when you are the favourite team and you are expected to win, probably at home and against teams which are expected to finish lower than you on the table;
• Balanced matches, against teams which are expected to finish near you on the table (just below or a little bit above);
• Difficult matches, the ones against teams which are expected to finish at the top of the table, or the ones on the national cups against teams from the Premier League.

I really believe that you need a different game strategy for each kind of match I described above - let´s say, play aggressively against underdogs, play on the counter on balanced matches, try to avoid suffering goals/take a smash and grab victory on difficult matches. Why? Because no team plays the same, all matches are different and you will probably may need options and alternatives for different situations (like playing more defensive after scoring 1 or 2 times against an underdog). The 4-3-3 DM is a good formation and you can develop different approaches for each strategy with little tweaks on roles, duties and instructions, without changing the formation.

Why I am telling you this? Because for almost a year I got really frustrated with my tactics on FM until I realized that I needed a more strategic approach and I am really satisfied with it, so I always recommend.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Tsuru

[Nobodylikesme]

On 08/06/2022 at 14:00, Tsuru said:

As you are predicted to finish bottom half, you will have probably 3 kinds of matches during the season:

• Matches when you are the favourite team and you are expected to win, probably at home and against teams which are expected to finish lower than you on the table;
• Balanced matches, against teams which are expected to finish near you on the table (just below or a little bit above);
• Difficult matches, the ones against teams which are expected to finish at the top of the table, or the ones on the national cups against teams from the Premier League.

I really believe that you need a different game strategy for each kind of match I described above - let´s say, play aggressively against underdogs, play on the counter on balanced matches, try to avoid suffering goals/take a smash and grab victory on difficult matches. Why? Because no team plays the same, all matches are different and you will probably may need options and alternatives for different situations (like playing more defensive after scoring 1 or 2 times against an underdog). The 4-3-3 DM is a good formation and you can develop different approaches for each strategy with little tweaks on roles, duties and instructions, without changing the formation.

Why I am telling you this? Because for almost a year I got really frustrated with my tactics on FM until I realized that I needed a more strategic approach and I am really satisfied with it, so I always recommend.

Ok but I did that I tried using a lower defensive line and playing on the counter attack and the same thing happened, same opposition scoring 4 or five goals on 1.4-6 XG consistently....