Poison

That is not entirely true, some teams can consistently create chances with very few possession (Ligue 1 for example comes to mind). But if you feel it's constant, maybe report it as a bug here and the SI team will check it out.

You see them shouting "go forward" or "stay back", which is the equivalent of "attacking" or "defensive - cautious" mentality I guess. Also many underdogs start with cautious and stay there even if they concede indeed. I do it too in FM if I'm heavy underdog. Oh and they berate a lot too! :P

Well promotion achievement sits at 20%, it's even lower as I've pointed in an earlier post.

@Alekos Another thing to try is to narrow the width and use much shorter passing, I see you lose possession sometimes, maybe check "run at defense" too so that the players will pass less and try to get past their opponents, you have good players for this.

"The byline" has some good guides sometimes. https://www.footballmanager.com/the-byline/

Pretty sure you can enable "hold position" for some of these roles, maybe try that.

I think it's a players issue, Palacios,Sporar, Bernard all don't have aggression (though Palacios has extreme work rate), so I guess this is it. I'd try switching to 433, bring Mancini next to Arao and Bernard left and make Arao a BWM-su, the role fits him and he will be breaking attacks higher up the pitch.

Sounds like you want "shorter passing" and "play out of defense" enabled. Edit: Just read that you do, keep those instructions in a separate slot so they'll learn and acquire cohesion.

Well I usually use a more conservative tactic, not just mentality change but a few minor things all together, same formation but different approach. I'm usually the one who has the last minute chances so far. Idk, maybe I'm lucky but I'd like to think switching to an entirely different tactic helps. Edit: Also ,the obvious one I swap tired players out.

I've noticed that too, promotion from a league sits at about 20 percent, so most people don't seem to manage all that well.

Why? Assuming same game time, won't the better level of competition be more useful surely?

Those settings have nothing to do with defense? I don't have sit narrower enabled, in fact, I use wing backs and they cover the axle a lot defensively, if anything it has to do with closing down not where you position them (which is an offensive instruction anyway).

How do I find out who's the bad influence from my players? I had a chat with the lads and they want some people removed ( which I can do right now) however I do not know who is it? Can some kind soul explain to me how to find him / them?

Umm... they are all plain to see? All three of them? I don't think they should be hidden, no.

Do you have good coaches?

I'm not sure I like the midfield setup personally, it's too attacking, I'd use more static roles like a dlp or a cm-su somewhere there, both mez and BTB tend to lose their position, if you still want this, maybe use an rpm to have a focal point in attack. Use short or even ultra short passing and use more direct to certain players. Also try more disciplined and a lower mentality, cautious or defensive. Finally I'd make the forward a pf-su to give a little bit of defensive ability up front, I don't like any attack role at a 4-3-3 to the forward, support is much better imo. From the screenshot your passing is good, however you may want to try "run at defense" if they misplace too many passes in highlights.

Well in real life they are stretching the play, he doesn't play narrow because it's hard to find space there, he starts wide and then with his pace he advances to a more dangerous situation, however only you know whether this is the issue in the game or maybe it's just his morale or something.

Maybe the width is the problem? How do you struggle exactly?

Use a second more conservative formation for when leading is my suggestion. On an unrelated note, how do you overlap with one wide player? I have always been curious about this. Like are the forwards supposed to hold up ball or what? How does it work in- game?

Wait... there are walkthroughs for FM???

Ok, I've uploaded it but cannot find the link to share? The file is called "Jose Cuervo - Legend" and the player in question is Jeroen Zoet.

@Batigoal__ You are looking for simply more direct /slightly more direct passing? They attempt them but it takes time and cohesion too, I think the limitation isn't there from what I've seen so far.

I think so, yes. There are important matches so someone might have coded a boost in rep if you fare well there. I think if you go well to a series of matches you get better opinion from the fans and the board, that much is certain. Nobody knows for sure I'd guess except the staff, so if someone want to officially give an answer to this, be my guest!

Umm.. how exactly do you want to play? Also what are the issues you are facing?

I'm using narrow width which seems to do the trick. Also you could try focus play down the middle.