Changes for away games

[alanfishead]

I'm hoping for some advice on how to improve my tactic for tough away games. Below is my base tactic which I make minor tweaks to during games based on whats happening. I'm unbeaten at home (only drawing one all season) and I'm very happy with how it plays. My record away from home is far from terrible having lost 5 times in 16 in the league but turning some of those losses into draws would close the gap to the top, a lot.

When playing much bigger sides away, I seem to get demolished every time. I'm predicted to finish 4th so shouldn't be miles of the pace and would expect to at least put up a fight in these games.

Changes I make currently for these games are dropping to mid block & standard defensive line, moving to slightly higher tempo and dropping mentality to Balanced or Cautious. Only role changes I make are Mez(a) to Mez(s), DLP(d) to Anchorman and occasionally BBM to BWM(s).

In terms of player profiles, I have a very good technical squad and a lot of pace in the front three.

Any help welcome!

 

[Cloud9]

18 hours ago, alanfishead said:

I'm hoping for some advice on how to improve my tactic for tough away games. Below is my base tactic which I make minor tweaks to during games based on whats happening. I'm unbeaten at home (only drawing one all season) and I'm very happy with how it plays. My record away from home is far from terrible having lost 5 times in 16 in the league but turning some of those losses into draws would close the gap to the top, a lot.

When playing much bigger sides away, I seem to get demolished every time. I'm predicted to finish 4th so shouldn't be miles of the pace and would expect to at least put up a fight in these games.

Changes I make currently for these games are dropping to mid block & standard defensive line, moving to slightly higher tempo and dropping mentality to Balanced or Cautious. Only role changes I make are Mez(a) to Mez(s), DLP(d) to Anchorman and occasionally BBM to BWM(s).

In terms of player profiles, I have a very good technical squad and a lot of pace in the front three.

Any help welcome!

 

Could be many factor from squad morale, tiredness. etc. so I will ballpark some general ideas that could be helpful.

• Most tactics require players who will provide width, I don't see anyone who does that in the starting 11 at the moment. (w/IF I'd recommend at least one wingback).
• If you're getting beaten in tougher games (which away games are) I'd suggest having an away tactic that has less artists and more soldiers in the starting 11, that the players are trained in.
• Your front three are all looking to score for themselves and offering very little creative/defensive impact for the squad. You could try switching one of them to a facilitating role in tougher matches. I would personally make this switch for home/away games.
• 2 BPD is greedy (which isn't a bad thing), but away from home could be a real problem. Try out a CD/BPD partnership.
• You're asking your players to do a lot in the instructions. Try simplifying the general tactics to your core principles and give individualized instructions in the PIs. "Be more expressive" is a PI I'd almost always leave off.

Hope some of that helps  

Edited February 20, 2023 by Cloud9

[alanfishead]

On 20/02/2023 at 08:18, Cloud9 said:

Could be many factor from squad morale, tiredness. etc. so I will ballpark some general ideas that could be helpful.

• Most tactics require players who will provide width, I don't see anyone who does that in the starting 11 at the moment. (w/IF I'd recommend at least one wingback).
• If you're getting beaten in tougher games (which away games are) I'd suggest having an away tactic that has less artists and more soldiers in the starting 11, that the players are trained in.
• Your front three are all looking to score for themselves and offering very little creative/defensive impact for the squad. You could try switching one of them to a facilitating role in tougher matches. I would personally make this switch for home/away games.
• 2 BPD is greedy (which isn't a bad thing), but away from home could be a real problem. Try out a CD/BPD partnership.
• You're asking your players to do a lot in the instructions. Try simplifying the general tactics to your core principles and give individualized instructions in the PIs. "Be more expressive" is a PI I'd almost always leave off.

Hope some of that helps  

Thanks for the reply. I’ll give these a try and see what impact it has on tough away games.

Regarding your first point about width. The FBa is instructed to stay wider along with the IFs. If I’m playing a team that is tough to break down I’ll play wider and switch the RB &LB to wingbacks instructed to stay wider. I use WB(au) as they’re more customisable. For example, the left wing back will be told to hold position (something you can’t do with WBs)

[coach vahid]

Maybe i will untick Prevent short GK distribution to be more compact , Work ball into box to be more dangerous, Be more expressive to be a little more disciplined.

Change the tempo to normal to be a little more direct, the higher press to a mid-block for again, be more compact.

And maybe a little idea for the roles, the Fb-su into IBW su to close the gap leave by the MEZ-at.

Of course, it's just theory.

[CARRERA]

On 19/02/2023 at 11:49, alanfishead said:

Changes I make currently for these games are

What was your initial intention to make changes at away games? And did you ever try to simply use your home tactic?

Im asking because it’s not per se nessecary to make changes for away games and if you do so, you really need to specify what actually causes you problems away from home.

Making changes to your standard tactic usually comes with a lower familiarity for your team as a trade off, so it’s really important to make up for that.

It’s also important to actually think about what you are trying to achieve in those matches. Do you want to win, or do you just not want to loose? 

What you could look for during the match: 

If the opposition is applying a lot of pressure in a high block, it will usually hard for any team to play out from the back unless you really outclass the opposition. So better try to exploit the space in advanced areas of the pitch.

Look at your defensive transitions, do you actually have enough players behind the ball to provide sufficient cover against the attackers? Depending on your conclusion, you can add another defend duty to stabilize your defense. 

If you are outclassed by the opposition and your margins of winning are quite small, maybe re-arrange your defensive settings with a mid or low block and rather conservative pressing settings for transitions and the defensive phase. Use pressing traps inside and play through the middle combined with counter to hit them on the break.