HanziZoloman

Yes and it's looking very bad I inverted the tactic. Of course I did. I promoted some wingers from the U18s they can run and cross which is not bad. Any suggestions I could try? I use the obvious TI for counter. How do you like 433 for a counter attacking shape (?) but when the difference in class is that great maybe I can’t do anything

"The sack smiles upon all of us. All a man can do is smile back." Earl of Grey The year 2052 We are close to finish this save. I do not think, that I have much left to go. Clearly the promotion came to early. They are impatient with me.

Thank you @Johnny Ace I’ll go for that setup and will report back. I just don’t have a true winger. How would you compensate for that? Report: we stopped the massive amount of goals conceded. Morale is bad but we are looking much more solid. That was good advice. We have a lot of injuries, crucial players like the quick striker. Report II: We struggle to score goals. Best players are a right sided WB(A) a fast striker and a DM(D) we don't have a second WB on the left and no Wingers but a lot of AMC or cutting in AML/R. We need some punch up front to score more goals.

Again I need some help in the YAC How would you set up a 4231 if you‘re the complete underdog? my ideas are: attacking Wingers like IW(A) and W(A) a WB and a FB a holding DM and one supporting forward like a VOL(S) or BWM(S) a Poacher and a AM(S)?

Thanks. First year went well we „skipped“ EFL2 with a nice walkthrough and are now heavily struggling in EFL1. The 6.4K seater stadium does not generate enough money and we‘re losing every month. After our first year we‘ll be big red. No shining players to sell in sight, the intakes of the last HOYD had been terrible.

Welcome back Superman

That’s the sweetness of the YAC. Nothing better

"Looks like rain." Earl of Grey *sigh*

wow really struggling in EFL1 the youth set up is eating me alive .. anybody any suggestions? My Stadium is a 6.5k seater which really is very low and always sold out

Horrible! A nightmare Even advertisement didn’t work? I have no difficulties hiring but I’m EFL now. I have difficulties finding good staff.

@libbyshuss Great striker how will you play him?

yeah and it's also much more fun. But really I've never enjoyed FM as much as with this one. btw do you have a YAC Save running?

I hope you’re doing well with the set up. I never got a cautious low block working. But I’d say if you want to counter attack but rely only on a P or AF it surly is easy to mark out. I‘d put another role on attack on the wings. If you decide to use a P (I‘d use one if my striker can’t dribble with the ball good enough) then I have a lot of success if I put enough feeding roles around the guy. I would definitely go with one IW(S/A). But the main issue I have is, you want to sit back with a top heavy formation, maybe something like a 4-1-4-1 should be more helpful? A 4231 works fine with a mid block maybe you can try and be a little more courageous? @Johnny Ace thanks for the advice, I went with an IF(S) and it worked well with the WB(A). The AP(A) worked especially well. We see positional play with the AM(S) going to the left making space for the AP and the VOL(A/S) from the back. I changed the DLP into a VOL which gave the formation more drive forward. The DM(D) went into an A(D) creating a almost a back three. We‘re choking teams and have a lot creativity in the final third for our P. It’s fun to look at.

@kndrx congratulations to your success. btw which kind of logo pack are you using?

Or both

I know exactly what you are talking about and I feel the same. You have a life long ticket for our home games It's still a lot of effort which is going into that team. We were predicted last and finished first which is something I've never ever achieved. really I am a very ordinary Football Manager. I think the turning point has been the advice and talk with guys from here like @Johnny Ace or @WhiteCat33 and all the other people from this forum and challenge. Also wathcing the videos of Rashidi and fellow youtubers gave a lot of input. This all led to the point that I took care of my finances in the game and got more picky about who to promote to first team and who not. This decision came a long some times. In VNS I had a lot of talented players but the ones who were really important were the ones who put in the effort to develop. An unambitious, low determined and low work rate player wouldn't. That was the time I didn't renew all the promising players contracts and focused on a specific kind of player with high enough work rate and determination and team work. Also I focused on those issues in training. This season I focused on playing intelligence like anticipation and concentration as is described by @Rashidi in one of his brilliant videos. All of my players made big steps in game intelligence and therefor were able to perform much better as a team. Also I decided to check more carefully who is to play which role on the pitch and when to play him, like Millie Potter (!!!) who is thriving in big matches and he secured the top spot in last year promotion with a hattrick. I believe all those points were critical and give an image of the development I took in this challenge. Thanks to you @XaW you got the stone rolling .. I think that most players who are taking this challenge are really skilled players in the game, they know what they're doing most of the times which gives them 1-3 years promotions even in the early game. I believe a new challenge won't last this epic years like this one because I am a complete different player now and I won't need that many years again which makes the Ricay save all the more special to me. edith: and of course not being able to reload and sticking to the save despite everything of me wanted to give up made a big difference maybe the biggest.

"We got what we came for." Earl of Grey Season X / the year 2052 Champions EFL2 "check" This was a hard year despite the wonderful finish. We had a tough start with 4 losses from 5 games and a few phases in the year where we had difficulties but when it counted most, like when we needed the points or faced the current 1st place, we were there on spot and won it. We had 3 losses in February when it counted a lot and the top of the table was close together but turned things around again against then 1st Blackpool. Oh it was a beautiful season. We didn't have that one player who stood out despite having the most goals (now 99 one match left). If there is one player to name that would be 18 yo Fabjon Mara who took his first steps in first team in the crunch time of the season and delivered. He came into first team after our Australians left. If anything it was a team success. We are sad to announce the retirement of long term servant and Ass Man of the Earl: Ryan Taylor who joined Ricay 2024 as a coach and therefor has been with us from the start. He was one of the first signings of the young Earl. Thank you Ryan for your loyal and competent work in all the years. We're happy to present the promotion in your final year. Tactically we developed our 4231 into a more possession and dominating shape: Here a lot of input came by the skillful @Rashidi tactical wise man and helpful FM maniac. The positional play came to Ricay with an AP(A) and a VOL(S/A) and it works just great.

Stuff like that could be happening with some personalities but it should not happen regularly. Or if someone is angry because of a promise not kept like playing time but it should be possible to have an influence on this relationship in further talks.

I think all the interactions need some refinement. That’s absolutely terrible, especially when the guy is loyal.

Thank you @fries finances are ok. We‘re making big losses every month but sold two of my best prospects which gave us some room financially. I accepted the U21 league invitation and that’s a huge amount of money ever month I believe. Just need a U18 it wasn’t necessary I believe.

wow just one weekend not "here" and everybody got promoted (joke). Congratulations to all those great updates, I've read just a few of them. My intakes are really not good but what matters more is, they all want full-time contracts in EFL2 anybody experiencing the same?

Thanks man! Great to see some tactical insights. Especially a 433 which is considered „technically more advanced“ I am really a newbie to tactical things and it helps so much to see how your ideas went into a sound shape.

Great 2nd season. Please share how you’re playing, if you don’t mind, I am always interested in the football part. funny the winger with TEC 1 I am almost missing the days.

I already posted this one in one of the positional play threads but as this is my home here I also post it here: i am playing in a 4231 and want to create the 5221 attacking patterns, what do you think (?): right side create/ left side score P IF(A) AM(S) WP(A) DM(S) DLP(S) WB(S) NCD CD WB(S) WB(S) give width and support build up play through midfield (Play from the back). DLP and WP attract the Defense and overload right side. AM supports and IF makes the runs. Also WP is on (A) to make runs as well from DLP through balls. P IF and WP form a trident like P SS and AP in the 5221 trident. WP AM DLP and WB Form area of close support Attacking shape is like: IF P WP WB AM WB DM DLP NCB CB If my team (League two) is not capable of doing this, I can change playmaking roles into DM(S) with switch ball ppm and IW(A). Any suggestions?

Thx for all input and further explanation. Just read your posting @04texag, you know how to set up teams. Thanks much! i am playing in a 4231 and want to create the 5221 attacking patterns, what do you think (?): right side create/ left side score P IF(A) AM(S) WP(A) DM(S) DLP(S) WB(S) NCD CD WB(S) WB(S) give width and support build up play through midfield (Play from the back). DLP and WP attract the Defense and overload right side. AM supports and IF makes the runs. Also WP is on (A) to make runs as well from DLP through balls. P IF and WP form a trident like P SS and AP in the 5221 trident. WP AM DLP and WB Form area of close support Attacking shape is like: IF P WP WB AM WB DM DLP NCB CB If my team (League two) is not capable of doing this, I can change playmaking roles into DM(S) with switch ball ppm and IW(A). Any suggestions?