HanziZoloman

Man that are big results @crusadertsar love your writings, they have such a huge impact on my game some of my favs. I am deep in my 1860 save and have issues at the back despite investing the main gold into Defense. My setup is very close to yours (also 3ATB in similar roles). Try to implement more of this here. my main scorer is a SS which is very cool as I love the role but all 3 AM score plenty. My SS is just a newgen posted a pic in the „secret of goalscoring“ thread by @Cleon something like finishing 7 and OTB 11 or 10. Strikeforce: AMa SS APa But Defense has issues… I’ll report back.

That’s great I love it and will try it out! Will report on any impressions.

Did try the Defense set up, how is the conceding of goals @crusadertsar or how stable is your set up working towards the nil.

Great stuff @crusadertsar as always and the plus are the pictures from the golden age.

How did you find out?

Start answering the questions

But he could try an IFa with a SS that’s sounds good

I have short passing with pass into space and works fine I believe the problem is somewhere else. TIs make sense to me I would prefer narrow wide due to short passing and counter-press. You try to attack the box aggressively I‘d remove work ball into box. next thing, all is well but could be figured out easily. Now try to create overloads e.g. on the flanks you put many players on the flanks and pull out opponent in players there too. You can simply use the TI on both flanks. The roles in center are not my favourites because all of them roam or not especially hold their positions. You counter-press the opponents to force mistakes in passing which your central midfield should intercept. I‘d try to play the BWM in MC to add pressure but would keep the DM as DMd simple and holding. With both fullbacks as WB you could think about an IWs to interplay with the AP. Watch what’s happening on the pitch.

Try to figure out what happens before that crosses or longballs. I can imagine that the WBs are too slow covering the flanks in offense and fighting crosses in Defense, maybe they are out of position (?) you could add trap inside where you have three players and two defenders (?) Longballs are an issue when the defenders are slow or don’t mark tight enough or the opponents have much time in midfield to pick a good pass. You could add more grid in MC with switching one of the B2B into a BWM (?) you could add drop off more (?) Check if Raschl has enough work rate, in FM20 he was a little lazy. If the tactic had worked before I‘d start with trying to prevent the crosses with funnel inside, add a BWM in MC and drop off more. If Raschl is still lazy I‘d check for a harder working player in DM.

How do you concede goals usually?

I can’t see any overwhelming problems in your setup and sometimes it’s just a small tweak until it works. The crucial point for me is, how does the attack of the final third breaks down? What happens when you try to develop play from Defense to midfield into final third? You want to develop through quick short passes (?) everybody needs to stick close together but then it’s easy to break down by tight marking, what are exceptions from standard plan? tell us about what you see. I can understand your problems because I went through the same.

Thanks that makes sense. I promote the best youth prospects always at the end of season who are already 18. just this year made an exception for a 16 year old and will cancel this decision now due to training.

here is the leading goalscorer in german 2nd division after 10 matches with 10 goals. finishing 7 / otb 10 (just last week it was 9). He plays as a shadow striker and is in the right spot at the right time. everything else is teamwork.

sure @Cleon but if you play one match a week in 2nd division it's not so bad (?)

At the moment I have a professional team mentality, turns out almost everyone turns fairly professional from balance, even those who were no good mentees anymore due having played too many games. Squad personalty is a big influence together with mentoring. I promote my best youth prospects into first team like @Cloud9 said for mentoring and it works well. also you have these training reports from your assistants, there are helpful hints how the mentoring is working, check them out. Watch out for determination, work rate and teamwork within your mentors because if they are low they lead to a slight decline with your mentees. Had a 18 teamwork youth player and didn’t mentor him because no one else did have this high teamwork.

@hotredabyss I can tell the same. I am using Cleon’s Tactic with slight tweaks (SS instead of AF) and with the right players (!) SV and AP link up beautiful. The AP holds the ball looking for an opportunity and the SV passing him for a one-two or a through ball. Or the AP is being marked out of the game causing the SV playing through balls from deep into the SS. You‘ll need a dynamic player for this role with enough work rate and stamina. My SV was signed for the AP role first but didn’t flourish there and found his place in the SV after all.

What is the situation, tell us about it and about what you are trying to achieve. I play mostly Germany 3rd to 1st division and know some of your players and the league.

Great read as always! Thx @crusadertsar

Thanks for all the help you offer. Well before I switched to an ultra aggressive variant of the possession based tactic (5221) the games were just lost, my xG was low and the opponents xG was high. The goals were clear goals. Someone slicing my defence with a dribbling, long ball or cross like ham. All my adapting which worked so fine in 2nd division was futile with quality of 1st division. With that ultra aggressive variant (like much higher DL and stuff) we‘re gaining an edge. Now even our xG is sometimes higher then our opponents. The don’t slice my defence like before but score with a long shot or a header from a corner. They must work hard for every chance now. Despite that, we‘re still losing the games but now there’s a silver lining. We‘re losing closer and sometimes we‘re in front still after halftime. Your questions: When we concede I try to watch the highlight and figure out where it all went bad and try to shut it out. I believe I’m still struggling in this part not knowing exactly what to look at. I try to keep the players fresh and happy. I do a lot of talking and rotating the squad every game in positions which need a rest.

great read man and this time it's tough struggle.

I won't get the gates closed. We play good games, we lead and before half time we give the games away with stupid mistakes. It's frustrating and I am in desperate need of help, we lost 8 games straight.

SGE is not what I call an underdog.

Thanks man! I‘ll dig into it and I‘m sure it will be of help of course I’d already read it but fishing out the part for me to read is what helps the most. @Cleon Now watched some time and noticed that this kind of play you described does not happen. Usually my central defender gets the ball is being pressed like described, plays the ball to the BPD, opponents shift in pressing, he just slams the ball up front, my striker doesn’t have a chance against two or three defenders. sometimes if we manage to get past the pressing, the BPD or WCB plays the ball back inside towards the DMs who then tries to build up play with the APs which is working better and play is developing through the middle and resulting in a shot from outside the box. My WBs and WBa are usually bad rated and aren’t much more than passing outlets. It’s very difficult when opponents funnel my team outside, by then the ball is lost with my WB dribbling down the line. I noticed if we try to soak the pressure in a mid block we are getting slammed and we play better with a high press but then are usually punished by a through ball and a fast striker. Chances are rarely because we usually create chance by hoofing the ball up front or a through ball by APs towards the striker which happens around one time during match (it happens more often but usually working out one time) My nightmare are Teams like Freiburg and Köln who defend in a mid block and hit me on a counter with fast strikers. I lose like 5:1 and 6:2 against them.

But how, it’s very difficult. We lost 7 games straight and it’s very difficult, my striker up front is lost. I managed to bring possession numbers up to 50-60% but still the opponents just run at my players and catch the ball and score a goal. I need some help to stay up and develop the players I need because we don’t have the money to buy them. My team is really hard working. at the moment I switched the SVa into SVs and play a midblock witch works out but the problem is getting the ball up and on the goal.

Great read thank you. I’m in 1st division now with Munich 1860 and still with the guys from 3rd and some prospects. We will need every point for survival.