[Quiet leaky, aggressive wasteful. Fine tuning a 4411.]

Impressive 

[Quiet leaky, aggressive wasteful. Fine tuning a 4411.]

A few thoughts... ;-)

Defense - I noticed you have a split in your central defensive duties. "Defend" and "Cover" combo that might be a problem. The central defender on defend might hold his position more and the cover,,,covers but I think a stopper / cover combo would work better. One to specifically come out and stop attacks a bit earlier and the other to compensate by covering. Or...you could play a dual Central defensive combo with both on defend duties which would work better with an offside trap and a higher line of defense. I see a BPD is a consideration for you as well. If the stats are there...all good but if not he will give the ball away more than desired.

Of course looking at the attributes of your players will help narrow the choices down.

With limited resources there is only so much you can do...if you were expected to get a mid table place and ended up 5th that is not a bad season at all. Also beware of over achieving. It's great when it happens but your reputation will likely change as will the expectation of the board, your players and opposition tactics (to a degree)  So plan also to manage all that as well. Players morale can change based on where they are expected to finish so if season one is fantastic prepare some fancy tactics to sustain it next season  ;-)

 As for the board insisting on a certain type of play...you could risk playing differently but would likely have to meet their expectations elsewhere to avoid the sack and / or unsettle your team if things go south. Or be a bit more focused on a counter style which is in line with a defensive focus and can work well.

Personally I would try something like this...

 

          SK D

WS CBD CBD WA

          DM(D)

    CMA      CMS

IWS                   IFS

            AF

 

Counter Press

Counter

Higher defensive line

Be more disciplined

For simplification if your players are ageing and budget is tight set width, tempo and passing distance to match overall mentality. You definitely want your players to be free of anything that would stretch the abilities of an ageing team unnecessarily. 

 

AF, IWS AND IF

That is just a starting suggestion as there is a lot of variety that can be applied here. But an AF can really stretch defenses. Again, attribute permitting but a pacey AF can work very well. I suggested the IWS and the IFS so that they are drawn toward the AF not wide left or right of him as he might get isolated. They also make space for the WB. If you are ahead in a game there is nothing stopping you dropping the AF to an F9 to keep your opponent guessing and pull a defender or two out of position to make space for the iF or IW and runs from the CMA

 

MIDS

I would try direct balls from the DM and both CM's if they have the stats for it as that can split defenses in an instant. The CMA can be a real problem for the opposition with runs from deep. you could also try an RPM instead of a CMA but he would create more than surge and run to support. Then you could put the IWS on attack or put a Winger there on attack,

 

The Defenders (was pretty good on Netflix IMO) 

Again there are a lot of ways to play this but the CD's are in tighter sync with the same duty and will work well with an offside trap. Or...try a stopper / cover combo if you have to split the duties. 

 

Keeper

SK is best but you decide how much risk you want with support or even attack duties. I would suggest going higher on risk based on how high your defensive line is to avoid there being too much space between your goal keeper and defenders.

As with any tactic there is a surprising number of Role / Duty combinations that work well because of the attributes of the players. So look very carefully at that before any sweeping changes as your hands are tied with the budget which brings me to...

 

Money

1. Have a good hard look at loans. you might find a comparable or better player in 2 - 3 positions for a relatively small outlay. Young or older for a season.

2. Not sure what your scouting network is like but get them on a search for replacements as early as you spot the need as they can come up with very cheap players or out of contract even that are of comparable or better quality to your squad at a budget that you might be able to afford and are willing to transfer.

3. Get as many scouts as you can from as many nations as possible (not easy) but it really can pay off even with 3 - 5 scouts with around 16 for Potential and Ability ratings. Again the key is scouts from different nations if you can find them to really widen your network of visible players over time. They can be so helpful with a tight budget.

4.. You will have to take time to go through scout suggestions. it might take a while but your need is quite high.

5.. Do your own player searches but try with very basic stats. remove any age limits and go for basics that are ok for your league level or team. A search for Defenders might be tackling, Jumping and pace as the absolute basics. See what comes up. Or it might be another set of 3 attributes that matter to you and your style of play. 

6. Get staff to suggest signings. if you are seriously hand tied it can help. You can change that in your staff responsibilities and still retain control of finalizing the signing if it is not what you want. DoF and other staff can help.

7.. Check your wages for certain players. Or filter your squad view  by wages. You might find a player (in your club) who can be replaced by someone else on far less wages with very little difference in performance. Consider selling to free up funds and adjust your budget amount. 

It is the combination of these suggestions  (there are surely much more) that have helped me in a sticky situation to get through a season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Does the technical director every actually sign staff?]

Perhaps a more active TD would help. I agree, For example...my TD has decent ratings but could be better at signing better quality staff. 

[Does the technical director every actually sign staff?]

Just a quick follow on...my Technical director appears to read the forum and recently signed a new staff member....

[Does the technical director every actually sign staff?]

Just trying to remember in my save. But I think I was wondering the same after a while.

I think after some time he does sign staff. I get him to renew staff contracts for me as well and he definitely does that. He has not signed any medical staff for the U18's yet but I have found that signing good staff for U23 and U18 can be harder to do (at West Ham anyway) also his stats for what I need him to do are pretty decent so he may want to get the right person first then sign...however long that takes. Which I prefer.

If you check your screen....as routron asked...check the delegation is there and for what you want. It should look like this if he is correctly delegated...

Go to Staff (seventh down on the left below Team Report) > Responsibilities > then scroll down and click on "Staff" it should look like this...