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The Sheffield United Project 09 - Discussion Thread


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re:sunderland although i gave some tweaks on the 4-5-1 it did'nt give me the results i wanted, now i realise that changing tactics 25games into the season is not the thing to do. but having escaped relegation and finishing 16th a new season will give me chance to totally change my outlook.

up until now i have been starting the tough away games defensively and to be honest cleon it's never really worked. i always dread playing arsenal, but hopefully now i can go and give them a game!!

im still considering giving the 4-5-1 a go myself with the midfield i have i should surely be able to pick it up my players are whitehead,k.richardson,alessandro,skjelbred,a.reid,malbranque and defour. i think i might need to replace whitehead and im looking for a tough tackling mid to replace.

i'll give this a whirl preseason then cleon with a couple new players and get back to you later, gonna re-read the thread now to just make sure bout my tweaks!!

cheers mate

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After reading everything you have put here Cleon I decided to sit down and focus on it all again so I started a new game as Derby in the Championship and like you say read what the scout report says and what your assistant says and pre season has been fantastic as I seem to have read it right and altered as and when I think I needed to and it worked and I have been the best team however that seems to have ended with my final friendly away at Huddersfield.

The scout report read that they play a 442 and their pitch is long which will favour teams who play direct style passing. If teams push defenders forward it will leave large space behind them for quick players.

It also highlighted Andy Booth as the biggest theat due to his aerial ability and we should try to cut off supply.

So I saw this and decided as I am trying the 451 attacking to stay as attacking as I am the faviourites. I decided to try and control the game so a slow tempo but with Direct passing as the report says. I also lowered my defensive line as it says that could cause me issues as I only have one defender at the moment with serious pace. I also kept my focus passing on mixed as I have changed this in other matches based on what gets said.

I also decided to close down in the OI's their two wingers and I man marked Andy Booth with my best header and best at jumping.

Final result lost 2 - 0 and was never in the game. I changed in the second half to a faster tempo and again this failed.

I think I have a problem reading the scout reports correct so where did I go wrong in your opinion or is it just one of those matches.

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Is tackling really "vital" for a winger? I know defensive wingers are occaisionally used, but personally I'd stick it in the second catergory if there at all. I'd definately say that work rate, for example, was more important as most of the defensive work wingers do is harassing the full backs.

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Great work Cleon been getting very frustrated with the game won titles and stuff with Arsenal but gets to easy the further you get into it always start with a big club on every version of the game to try and get myself a good base for a tactic when i think i've got one sorted and winning things i'll start a new game with my beloved Coventry things haven't gone as planned this time though and just having no success with them at all. Was getting very frustrated with it and thinking about giving up and starting at a different club until i saw your thread because without actually putting tactic on there you give people great ideas on how to create there own tactics without it really being that difficult. Just finished my 1st season using your ideas not a brilliant season finished 11th but gradually as the season went on you could see it getting better my squad just wasn't strong enough to cope when losing 3 or 4 of my best players at a time. Hopefully after a good pre season and some new faces i will be able to mount a more serious challenge next season.

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Thanks Cleon. I'm playing as Palace and my first game was Wolves away, and I used the same formation and applied the same logic and tweaks as you did against Man Utd as their scout reports were very similar. We ended up winning 2-0. I eagerly await your next write up :)

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Im wondering what sort of tweaks i can apply to a Botlon side that is playing a 4-1-4-1 and has come to defend against me at home.

Should i go slower or faster tempo?

Wider or narrow?

Closing down more or less?

I really would welcome any info on the idea behind how to break down this down with my normal 442 formation

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Im wondering what sort of tweaks i can apply to a Botlon side that is playing a 4-1-4-1 and has come to defend against me at home.

Should i go slower or faster tempo?

Wider or narrow?

Closing down more or less?

I really would welcome any info on the idea behind how to break down this down with my normal 442 formation

If I have read Cleons tips correctly the only thing you might want to change is the defensive line to try and draw Bolton out.

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I went into the game as normal with my 4-4-2, as i didnt know anything to tweak

Ended in a 0-0 with me having the majority of play and chances, so exactly what i expected. Bit unfortunate not to score really, hit the post a few times.

Just beat Liverpool 4-1 at home. This is in my first season at hull mind you. so im ****ing delighted. Now up to 11th, thanks to cleons thread

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re:sunderland although i gave some tweaks on the 4-5-1 it did'nt give me the results i wanted, now i realise that changing tactics 25games into the season is not the thing to do. but having escaped relegation and finishing 16th a new season will give me chance to totally change my outlook.

up until now i have been starting the tough away games defensively and to be honest cleon it's never really worked. i always dread playing arsenal, but hopefully now i can go and give them a game!!

im still considering giving the 4-5-1 a go myself with the midfield i have i should surely be able to pick it up my players are whitehead,k.richardson,alessandro,skjelbred,a.reid ,malbranque and defour. i think i might need to replace whitehead and im looking for a tough tackling mid to replace.

i'll give this a whirl preseason then cleon with a couple new players and get back to you later, gonna re-read the thread now to just make sure bout my tweaks!!

cheers mate

Let me know how it goes :)

So I saw this and decided as I am trying the 451 attacking to stay as attacking as I am the faviourites. I decided to try and control the game so a slow tempo but with Direct passing as the report says. I also lowered my defensive line as it says that could cause me issues as I only have one defender at the moment with serious pace. I also kept my focus passing on mixed as I have changed this in other matches based on what gets said.

I also decided to close down in the OI's their two wingers and I man marked Andy Booth with my best header and best at jumping.

Final result lost 2 - 0 and was never in the game. I changed in the second half to a faster tempo and again this failed.

I think I have a problem reading the scout reports correct so where did I go wrong in your opinion or is it just one of those matches.

Don't worry abour pre-season results they can be very up and down even with the best tactics.

However id have not closed down their wingers often though without watching the game in more detail first to make sure your players were not out of position.

Is tackling really "vital" for a winger? I know defensive wingers are occaisionally used, but personally I'd stick it in the second catergory if there at all. I'd definately say that work rate, for example, was more important as most of the defensive work wingers do is harassing the full backs.

I like my wingers to have decent tackling, as defending starts high up the pitch for me. You create quite a few extra chances if your wingers are able to win the ball back early.

Great work Cleon been getting very frustrated with the game won titles and stuff with Arsenal but gets to easy the further you get into it always start with a big club on every version of the game to try and get myself a good base for a tactic when i think i've got one sorted and winning things i'll start a new game with my beloved Coventry things haven't gone as planned this time though and just having no success with them at all. Was getting very frustrated with it and thinking about giving up and starting at a different club until i saw your thread because without actually putting tactic on there you give people great ideas on how to create there own tactics without it really being that difficult. Just finished my 1st season using your ideas not a brilliant season finished 11th but gradually as the season went on you could see it getting better my squad just wasn't strong enough to cope when losing 3 or 4 of my best players at a time. Hopefully after a good pre season and some new faces i will be able to mount a more serious challenge next season.

Losing key players can be a pain especially when a few at once. My form dipped in the first season when this happened to me, it's horrid.

Thanks Cleon. I'm playing as Palace and my first game was Wolves away, and I used the same formation and applied the same logic and tweaks as you did against Man Utd as their scout reports were very similar. We ended up winning 2-0. I eagerly await your next write up :)

Glad it's giving you ideas for your own game :)

Im wondering what sort of tweaks i can apply to a Botlon side that is playing a 4-1-4-1 and has come to defend against me at home.

Should i go slower or faster tempo?

Wider or narrow?

Closing down more or less?

I really would welcome any info on the idea behind how to break down this down with my normal 442 formation

The d-line dropped back can encourage them to attack you more. You could go slow and be patient, but you could also go fast and hope you run them ragged. Without actually seeing how things were going in game I can't really say which way to go.

I went into the game as normal with my 4-4-2, as i didnt know anything to tweak

Ended in a 0-0 with me having the majority of play and chances, so exactly what i expected. Bit unfortunate not to score really, hit the post a few times.

Just beat Liverpool 4-1 at home. This is in my first season at hull mind you. so im ****ing delighted. Now up to 11th, thanks to cleons thread

Glad it's working great for you. You finding the game slightly more easier now? And you don't have to work that hard for a result most of the time its just the odd change here and there.

I'll be updating the thread again later if I can do the write up's before bed. Takes a while to write though so sorry for the long delays between games. Plus it's been new years etc:thup:

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Ok, do you find the defensive MC also sits quite deep?

Yeah but thats how I w ant him to be for now, until I know my team cannot be relegated. I don't want to be over adventerous until I'm 100% sure I cannot go down.

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Thanks Cleon,

To be fair since then things have improved as the season has started.

Wolves away won 1 - 0

Stockport Home League Cup won 1 - 0

Palace at Home won 2 - 0 however this was a battle it was like a chess game with numerous changes in the match just to compete with them. Scored one against the run of play and a penalty however lets see how this continues for me.

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Thanks Cleon,

To be fair since then things have improved as the season has started.

Wolves away won 1 - 0

Stockport Home League Cup won 1 - 0

Palace at Home won 2 - 0 however this was a battle it was like a chess game with numerous changes in the match just to compete with them. Scored one against the run of play and a penalty however lets see how this continues for me.

You will get games like that, I did in the first season. I lost games I should have won, drew ones I should have won and lost and won games I should have lost.

You seem to be doing pretty well though :)

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Made me lol on your Coventry game when you said ' I didn’t really pay attention to this game as I played it yesterday and I was getting drunk at the time and chatting with friends.'

I'm pants when i'm sober and gradually get worse. Have enjoyed reading your write ups though , and some of the things you write are so logical in hinesight , but it takes someone to write it in a certain way.

Never bothered looking at my ass man feedback before tonight and little tweaks do appear to make a world of difference. And when you see something working , gives you a bit of a buzz.

KUTGW mate

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Made me lol on your Coventry game when you said ' I didn’t really pay attention to this game as I played it yesterday and I was getting drunk at the time and chatting with friends.'

I'm pants when i'm sober and gradually get worse. Have enjoyed reading your write ups though , and some of the things you write are so logical in hinesight , but it takes someone to write it in a certain way.

Never bothered looking at my ass man feedback before tonight and little tweaks do appear to make a world of difference. And when you see something working , gives you a bit of a buzz.

KUTGW mate

I'm lazy like that at times and think 'Oh I'll be okay this game' and go off and do something else. It back fires a lot too:D

As you'll see so far with the exception of the Man Utd game I've not changed much at all.

And yeah the feedback during a game can help if you are struggling :)

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I know you get loads of praise from people and rightfully so as its very rare to find people going to the lengths you have to help people but nevertheless its a great read.

To people trying to copy Cleon's style please make sure that yous have a squad capable of playing that formation, otherwise stick to your sides strengths.

Oh and Cleon what are the chances of Stickying the project so that i don't have to search for it :o

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I've stickied it now :)

While my approach is based on the current formation I am playing, I'd play pretty simliar with any formation in all honesty. Abramovic is right though stick and play to your sides strenghts and you can't go far wrong.

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I have just come across one report that I think is quite deceptive so would like peoples thoughts. This is one of the reasons I find reading games very hard.

It is Ipswich Away they play 442 with no particular passing style but it is a wide pitch and will allow wingers to play. They have slow attack and slow defence.

The bit I missed is they just beat Reading at Ipswich 3 - 1.

I would go normal mentality, closing down all over pitch, Slow tempo with mixed passing, High D-Line and focused passing down both flanks. The thing that is throwing me is the fact they slaughtered Reading.

Am I reading to much into this? Is this why I struggle?

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I have just come across one report that I think is quite deceptive so would like peoples thoughts. This is one of the reasons I find reading games very hard.

It is Ipswich Away they play 442 with no particular passing style but it is a wide pitch and will allow wingers to play. They have slow attack and slow defence.

The bit I missed is they just beat Reading at Ipswich 3 - 1.

I would go normal mentality, closing down all over pitch, Slow tempo with mixed passing, High D-Line and focused passing down both flanks. The thing that is throwing me is the fact they slaughtered Reading.

Am I reading to much into this? Is this why I struggle?

You could be reading too much into them and making them seem far more important than they possibly are. Why not start with your normal approach for 10 minutes and see how you are doing. Then change in game based on what you see.

You don't want a high d-line with a normal mentality really imo but thats my preference. If I set my d-line high then normally that means attacking mentality for me.

If you watch the game it'll be easy to see if Ipswich are playing wide, if they are then don't match them but rather try and play in the gaps they leave from playing wide.

Also if you've got fast attackers use them in this game, a bit like I did against Man Utd.

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I'm finding so far that I don't have to make as many changes as I was expecting. No doubt that will change at some point, but I prefer to keep the same 11 playing and with the same instructions for as long as possible for consistency.

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Latest update

Was hit with a few injuries which is a bit of a bummer ( but i take great pleasure from this, as it makes the game realistic in my eyes) after the 4-1 drubbing of liverpool at home.

I have now finished the season in 13th, which im incredibly happy with. The final game of the season being a 5-1 win away from home. Ever word that you have written has come true the more i play it. And im now getting great satisfaction out of playing the game.

My thanks again.

EDIT- Ha just reading, i have noticed Derby got promoted again and you mention they have lost all there games again. lol :p

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Latest update

Was hit with a few injuries which is a bit of a bummer ( but i take great pleasure from this, as it makes the game realistic in my eyes) after the 4-1 drubbing of liverpool at home.

I have now finished the season in 13th, which im incredibly happy with. The final game of the season being a 5-1 win away from home. Ever word that you have written has come true the more i play it. And im now getting great satisfaction out of playing the game.

My thanks again.

13th isn't too bad for first season with Hull, as they have a pretty poor squad to begin with in all fairness. Are you playing better than you normally do before you read this thread? And what have you actually started doing differently from what you previously did?

Thanks for all kind words from everyone :)

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Do you think you would have overachieved as much as you did with the default attacking tactic in your first season if you had a team that had bottom-half / relegation quality players?

Without changing anything at all? Not sure, I could have overachieved though just not sure by how much. In the Championship all teams are pretty equal in all honest and can all beat each other.

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13th isn't too bad for first season with Hull, as they have a pretty poor squad to begin with in all fairness. Are you playing better than you normally do before you read this thread? And what have you actually started doing differently from what you previously did?

Thanks for all kind words from everyone :)

Sure thing i have had a vast improvement

Whenever i have started this game before my season with hull had allways resulted in relegation. That being said, i would pour over these forums looking for a "non tweak all winning all conqeuring regardless of players or oppostion tactic" aka a diablo tactic. I obviously came accross your thread and gave it a try.

My results havent been constantly miraculous, but my constant gain in knowledge and confidence from one game to the next has been.

I am now performing in every match bar the odd one. And the change now is, i actually know what to implement and when!

Some of my results have been pheonominal, 4-1 liverpool at home, were i simply drubbed them (17 shots to 5) and my latest 5-1 against Wigan

This thread has SINGLE HANDEDLY improved my fm skills, and made me ****ing love the game all over again.

I now have a sense of achieving on my own too, as it is me that is implementing the tweaks and tactics ( or not in most cases)

Although the game is massively complex, if people have a general feel of what actually happens in real life then you can get on with it with a very simple approach. as you have outlined in your threads :)

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Sure thing i have had a vast improvement

Whenever i have started this game before my season with hull had allways resulted in relegation. That being said, i would pour over these forums looking for a "non tweak all winning all conqeuring regardless of players or oppostion tactic" aka a diablo tactic. I obviously came accross your thread and gave it a try.

My results havent been constantly miraculous, but my constant gain in knowledge and confidence from one game to the next has been.

I am now performing in every match bar the odd one. And the change now is, i actually know what to implement and when!

Some of my results have been pheonominal, 4-1 liverpool at home, were i simply drubbed them (17 shots to 5) and my latest 5-1 against Wigan

This thread has SINGLE HANDEDLY improved my fm skills, and made me ****ing love the game all over again.

I now have a sense of achieving on my own too, as it is me that is implementing the tweaks and tactics ( or not in most cases)

Although the game is massively complex, if people have a general feel of what actually happens in real life then you can get on with it with a very simple approach. as you have outlined in your threads :)

I'm really glad, as that was the whole point of this thread. I created it to help people understand and get to see how you can play simple. All I'm doing is giving you a insight of how I think and play then it's all down to you to implement some of the things you see. Most of it is common knowledge and it's a lot easier when you actually see things wrote down infront of you. Most of the time it's something you already knew but probably didn't think of doing it that way :)

Your 2nd season might start off bad depending on how many new players you bring in and how quick they adapt. It normally upsets the teams balance and can take a couple of month to start settling down.

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Suprisingly enough, im pretty knowledgeable on the ins and outs of football manager, after reading at painstaking lenghth on here and other sites tips and theories on how to unlock its joys i do know a lot about the way it "can" work. Ive watched all my mates have succes on it and we have in depth disscussions about it :p

Unfortunately until reading this thread, i had neither the patience or the key piece of knowledge to go simple, and as such allways failed!!!

I would allways try and implement an insane amount of changes, and change my tactic every game. Thanks for the advice about second season, i will bare it in mind :)

ps. i had one more game to go in the season after the wigan game ( a mistake on my part) man city at home. Beat them 3-2 after being 1-0 and 2-1 down :D

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Suprisingly enough, im pretty knowledgeable on the ins and outs of football manager, after reading at painstaking lenghth on here and other sites tips and theories on how to unlock its joys i do know a lot about the way it "can" work. Ive watched all my mates have succes on it and we have in depth disscussions about it :p

Unfortunately until reading this thread, i had neither the patience or the key piece of knowledge to go simple, and as such allways failed!!!

I would allways try and implement an insane amount of changes, and change my tactic every game. Thanks for the advice about second season, i will bare it in mind :)

ps. i had one more game to go in the season after the wigan game ( a mistake on my part) man city at home. Beat them 3-2 after being 1-0 and 2-1 down :D

What changes did you do when you went behind? See how they differ to mine when Blackburn drew level (just posted in the other thread this game). Be interesting to see how others approach this.

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Amazing result against Blackburn. I never think to go defensive when chasing the game but it makes sense to try and draw them out so you can score.

Have you altered the defensive line at all, I found that with the standard it was very high and my defenders were getting caught out a lot. I bought it back 2 clicks to 1st of push up and seems a lot more solid.

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Amazing result against Blackburn. I never think to go defensive when chasing the game but it makes sense to try and draw them out so you can score.

Have you altered the defensive line at all, I found that with the standard it was very high and my defenders were getting caught out a lot. I bought it back 2 clicks to 1st of push up and seems a lot more solid.

I think it's still set on the setting from the Man Utd game for now.

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Ok well i was at home, so im guessing that puts a slightly different slant on it?

One question from me ( in relation to your comment about going defensive) do you do this at home? and do you do it at home against a team your looking to beat? surely a team that has come for a point and to defend, isnt going to be broken open using those tactics.

In relation to my man city game, the two goals came from corners. Which i attributed to my defenders simply lacking concentration (ie nothing i can do about this)

In terms of general play, i was very happy with how the game was going. As such a did NOTHING ( :D ) a fav of yours i have noticed :)

at 2-2 however they got a man sent off, so i simpl increased my tempo by 4 notches, and lowered my passing by one. ( so as to try to take advantage of having an extra man) this worked and i won the game 3-2

I have got to say, your ideas about going defensive appeal to me alot. I definately think this could have merit in it (happens in real life) and will look to try it away from home, or against the big four at home

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Ok well i was at home, so im guessing that puts a slightly different slant on it?

Could do yeah depending on the opposition.

One question from me ( in relation to your comment about going defensive) do you do this at home? and do you do it at home against a team your looking to beat? surely a team that has come for a point and to defend, isnt going to be broken open using those tactics.

I tend to do it for 95% of the time if I'm chasing. I tend to chase games more while I'm still considered a lesser side which makes sense really. When I'm considered a top 4 club its very rare I go behind and chase games especially towards end of the game. Sometimes I just ride it out, it depends how bad I'm been beaten interms or possession, shots and how much time is left. If there is less than 60 minutes played I'll tend to see what happens rather than panic and change something that still as time to work unless I'm being hammered all over the pitch.

In relation to my man city game, the two goals came from corners. Which i attributed to my defenders simply lacking concentration (ie nothing i can do about this)

Not much you can do about good set pieces, even if you set up the best you can chances are over the season you still conceed a fair few :(

In terms of general play, i was very happy with how the game was going. As such a did NOTHING a fav of yours i have noticed

at 2-2 however they got a man sent off, so i simpl increased my tempo by 4 notches, and lowered my passing by one. ( so as to try to take advantage of having an extra man) this worked and i won the game 3-2

Nice thinking about retaining possession and making them work more :)

I have got to say, your ideas about going defensive appeal to me alot. I definately think this could have merit in it (happens in real life) and will look to try it away from home, or against the big four at home

Yups. I've not seen anyone else try it though, most think I'm barking mad:D

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I am currently managing Sporting Lisbon, I had to play Man Utd away to start, decided to follow your logic and use a standard 4-3-3 formation with small tweaks to the team instructions. I lost 2-1. The scoreline didn't reflect the dominance with my team controlling possession and having the better chances. Just a lucky break in the 80th minute sealed it for them.

Second game against them I was at home, decided to continue playing the same formation but this time click counter attack on, due to them having a lot of fast attacks and committing everyone forward and move the two outside strikers to the top left and right positions. FWL & FWR with cutting in. Also had a high defensive line, really works well as it catches them offside a lot. Now the game started out brilliant, went 1-0 on the counter, then they started pilling on the pressure until the half. So second half I decided to play more attacking, due to home field advantage and boom, Milan Baros got his second of the game and the final goal of the game. Ended up 2-0.

I've always tried to create tactics based on a quick, short, creative and attacking tempo but could never convert chances, always going for flashy looking formations also. Glad I found this thread and ended up learning that keeping it basic with minor tweaks will give you results.

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Cleon I think your knowledge of the match engine isn't good, it's outstanding, you also know what kind of player to look for to fit your tactis as well.

I don't know if the way you play can be teached to the average FM gamer, cause lots of people never watched a match in full mode, without doing that, and without having the skill to read the game well it's very difficult to do the tweaks you do during your matches.

Despite you are very clear in your reports, but I think you understand my point.

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Cleon I think your knowledge of the match engine isn't good, it's outstanding, you also know what kind of player to look for to fit your tactis as well.

I don't know if the way you play can be teached to the average FM gamer, cause lots of people never watched a match in full mode, without doing that, and without having the skill to read the game well it's very difficult to do the tweaks you do during your matches.

Despite you are very clear in your reports, but I think you understand my point.

Yes I understand :)

It's only a couple of games I watch in full after I'm satisfied with how I am playing. I know it can be hard for people to read the game but hopefully this thread gives a few people the confidence to be a little bit more visual and maybe give them some new ideas they might try when losing or face a certain type of opposition.

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Cleon - have you made any changes to the default corner / FK / throw routines (apart from the DR/DL onto the posts that you mentioned)? If so - please share! My attacking corner routine is ok in terms of the players who are trying to actually get on the end of the corners, but I'm still playing around with where to put everyone else in order to try and pick up the cleared headers, to stop counter attacks, and generally keeping my small players out of the way of the DC's and big FC!

As for defending corners - I've no clue how to set it up properly!

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I've not changed them as I did very well with the defaults in the first season so stuck with that til end of this season then go from there. However I forgot to say I've asked my fullbacks and the defensive midfielder to always stay back for attacking routines, but thats it.

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Very nice work there mate. Must have taken a long time to prepare.

Any chance you'll be doing something like this with another non-english team? :)

Cheers mate.

I might do yes after the 2nd season, depends on how I do come end of season. What sort of team and league you have in mind?

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