JordanC

A month ago I was making the same rants as everyone else on this board.
I'm getting 65% possesion, getting 30 shots on goal and still losing or eeking out draws and home wins. You beat Chelsea away 3-1 and then lose to a L1 side in the FA Cup a few days later. Blah blah blah.

Well, you know what I did? I actually did the hard work of researching everything I could possibly find on FM tactics. Articles, forums, guides, downloaded some tactics to study them, etc. I then played a single season as a top class team several times and now I am finally understanding the proper approach to playing matches over the course of a year.

First off, base your tactics on your players, don't force players who aren't suited for certain roles to do it. Sure, you can eventually buy and sell until you have to right types, but wait until next season for that! This isn't a tactic FAQ so I won't go into farrowing, barrowing, sarrowing, marrowing, cowering, CF, FWR, TTB, STD's or much like that. If you don't know exactly what happens when you set sliders here and there, go do that first!

So now you made your super duper tactic that works awesome for your players. Your Man Utd best eleven just crushed Cork City and Aachen in friendlies...on to domination, right? WRONG. You must build a bare minimum of 4 tsctical schemes. They don't have to be ground breakingly different from eachother, but they should be contrasting to highlight a different attack/defend strategy.

I typically make three "home" tactics and four "away" tactics like this:
4-4-2 HOME - narrower diamond attacking, lots of forward runs, short psssing to playmaker, angled dribbling into box.
4-4-2 HOME - wider flat attack, deeper playmaker, wingers near to line for crosses.
4-1-3-2 HOME - compact posession, deep D-line, FB forward runs, direct passing to target man
4-4-2 AWAY - (similar to 442 Home, but narrower with no FB runs)
4-1-3-2 AWAY - (similar to 4132 Home, more closing down, counter attacking, one main pacey striker with no CD for run onto ball)
4-1-4-1 AWAY - wider counter attack, only winger forward runs, direct passing run onto ball style
5-1-3-1 AWAY - three DC's, shut box out style, no attack mentality past 8. My anti 424 tactic.

Each tactic is suited to fare well against certain teams/setups. Don't just choose one out of a hat. Read the team's scouting report. If you can, have one scout with 20 tactical knowledge JUST do this as when he's travelling all over the place, he won't be able to give you much. Yeah, much of the stuff in the report is fairly vague, but you can track things. I notebook save ALL of them. Notice what formations they're using away or home. Was there a key player out a certain time that preventing them from being successful?

Next thing is to go to their squad page and look at their stats. If you play in the same division for a while, you'll remember a lot of key attributes and know how to change tactics if so-and-so is playing on the left or this guy has no bravery or this striker can't finish, etc. Don't wait until "Opposition Instructions" to do this as you've already submitted your strategy. (From what I notice about squad response & "gelling", it's not good to tweak your tactics a zillion times mid-game to move a slider up two notches this way and that way)

Now you can choose an appropriate tactical setup for yourself from what you drafted up and actually played with in friendly matches. Where do you think your best line of attack will be? If you're tall & strong and they're small & weak, lob balls up into their box. They've got good marking/tackling DMC's and DC's? Then focus down the flanks. How about their attack? Do you need to have an anchorman? Are their fullbacks pacey for overlaps? How good with headers is their targets compared to your defense? There's a plethora of questions you can ask in your head. It can take me up to TEN FULL MINUTES doing this for big match-ups.

Remember what I said before, take your currect squad and its fitness into account. DON'T PLUG AND PLAY! My playmaking AMC got a knock last game and is at 88%? Don't use the tactic that's dependent on him and throw in a less creative midfielder into his spot. Or play him, but in a less vital role in another tactic. Throughout the course of a season, you'll find you will rarely have the perfect squad for each tactic as you drew it up. Adjust sliders accordingly and not just on that player, but see how his adjustments effect the links between everyone else. Your backup DC is slow as molasses? Play a deeper D-line, but realize that creates more space in the middle, so adjust mentalities on your midfield accordingly, maybe have a faster dribbling DMC to run with ball more often to cover that area if you're looking to attack more instead of a tall tackling type for defense?

Ok, now you've finally started the match. Unless you notice something horribly wrong with your setup, don't change anything for the entire first half. Constantly tweaking stuff won't get your team on the same page at all. Obviously if the game scenario changes drastically like going up or down by 2-3 goals or an injury, then it's advised to change tactic immediately. Oh yeah I forgot - WATCH THE GAME! Not key highlights, not even extended highlights, the whole damn thing. I set it to two steps belowe max speed and I'm fine. You know that 5 minute gap it skips? Maybe it's your bad passing DMC trying through balls every twenty seconds, maybe your right winger just dribbled into traffic three times in the past minute, who know? You can actually see this!

I can usually tell what adjustments I need to make by watching the game, but check out the individual player stats for both teams and decipher where most of the possession is going. Player ratings are key as well. Your shots on goal are getting saved all over the place, maybe their GK is at an 8? For some reason, your big target can't seem to win a header, he could be at a 6 while to the DC's are at a 7/8. Find out if it's your tactic that is or isn't working or if your players or your opponents are just playing poorly or well.

I won't get into any intricacies with substitutions other than the fact like before that your shouldn't plug and play. I tend to keep what I call a "half and half" bench. Half of my bench would be good for the current tactic and half would be good for another. If my narrow tactic isn't working, I have a wide player. If it is working, I have a suitable sub if he gets tired. This usually applies to wingers/DM's.

In the second half with the same fit match squad, I wouldn't seriously alter any tactic until at least the 70th minute if at all. One small yet important thing to check on your opponents is their manager's motivating attribute. If it's high, expect better plsy in the second half if you're up a goal. If it's low, you can start closing up shop a little earlier or even pour even more pressure on earlier.

Although winning is our ultimate goal, it's actually not the most important thing to me. The reason I won or lost is much more vital. Check the full time stats for both teams for anything noticeable. Where were my chances coming from, their chances? Where did the possession go? Now the biggest thing of them all - player ratings.

If I lost 2-0 at home to a relegation-level team and my players were mostly 6's while theirs were 7's, I know that it's probable that I have a player problem that game, not a tactic problem, especially if the tactic worked on other occasions with the same squad. If I won by three goals away to the best team in the world and my striker and a winger are at a 9, then it probably wasn't my tactic so much, but the players. Here's the biggest tactic test statement that I've never heard anyone make but am pretty sure is true:

YOU KNOW YOUR TACTIC IS OR IS NOT WORKING WHEN BOTH TEAMS HAVE PLAYERS RATED AS 7'S AND THE SCORELINE DOES NOT REFLECT AN EVEN PERFORMANCE.

I've fielded a team of all 6's and a 5 and won 3-1 away.
I've fielded a team of all 7's and an 8 and lost 4-1 at home.
This type of stuff happened somewhat often when I first started playing and didn't adhere much to anything I wrote above.

Now it's very rare for me to lose a match when both teams player ratings are even. Sometimes I lose because my playmaking type is the only 6 when everyone else is a 7 and I had a tactic selected that highlighted his play. Sometimes I win with a bad tactic when one of my strikers has a 9 and scores two goals while setting up another in a ten minute span. Many people here don't realize how one player can change the outcome of an entire game. They ask "how come I play the same squad against the same team and win 2-0, then lose 3-1?" Here's how it could happen:

WIN 2-0
After a scoreless first half, you go up a goal in the 62nd minute on a DFK.
Your striker is on a tear creating chances but your midfield isn't playing up to it.
The opposing team changes to a more attacking style and in the 86th minute, your striker makes a well-timed tackle, breaks away and dribbles upfield shooting past the keeper.

LOSE 3-1
Your opponent scores on a DFK in the 14th minute.
Your striker is doing well up front, but your midfield seems like it can't pass the ball up well at all.
Your opponents intercept a pass and quickly get the ball up to score on a break in the 62nd minute.
You change to a more attacking style and in the 75th minute and your striker finally manages to penetrate by himself and get on the score sheet.
Now your opponents change to a more defensive style and shut your striker and his supply down and then score on a counter in stoppage time.

You could probably give all the players the same rating for both games. But do you see how the match dynamic changes depending on who scores first and when? The first time you went into the dressing room ahead and maybe that team talk worked, then next time you were down, maybe it didn't work. Everything changes in the second game because your DMC made a bad tackle inside the box. You see how fragile this all is?

I hope I've given some insight to all the "it must be a bug if I can't win" ranters on the forum. I know I'm fairly new to the FM08 scene, but can I get some back up?

LSS

Great post! :thup:

america33428

nice that you have done your homework, as i personally cant be bothered, but fair-play to ya,
any chance of uploading these tactics for testing, would love to see the difference

rashidi1

I just played a couple of online games against some chaps..and i realised one thing, a lot of people have no clue on how to defend, or how to make a team play as a unit.

tecni

This shows where all the game have gone wrong. I like management sim games, but I'm don't intend to spend 45 min on every match doing the scouting, viewing the opponent squad and guessing how the sliders will affect what when I move them.

Bumface

JordanC - I have done all those things that you mention, including starting off in a game more balanced, so as not to let in an early goal which was a major early problem.

Then i would choose to attack based on the opposition formation, scoreline and the opposition players etc.

I have got this to work in the sense that i control my games and dominate in each and every scenario you can come up with, but it still does'nt make my World Class Striker score more sitters, or stop the opposition scoring with their only effort as opposed to my 25 shots, or ensure my 6ft 5 DC wins a high % of headers against the opposition 5ft 2 striker etc and that is simply because in its current state the game is not coded well enough for these things to have much of an overall result of a game and i can only hope that when the Official Patch arrives(take your time SI), that many of these problems have been picked up and that the game is playable once more?.

JordanC

I would have to agree that tactics play such an integral role in your team's success, maybe way too much for your average management sim player. I really don't like being bothered much either having to do so much homework to get your team to work well enough. Fortunately, I have the "Personality: Driven" attribute.

I haven't conquered all or anything. I've noticed some things are a little skewed. Only a little though because right now most stuff adds up for me. When I first started, all the things everyone's ranting about was happening to me too. After all the homework, now it's not really apparent. Some things are very small tweaks.

Scotty Mack

You don't have to do 45 mins research before each game. FM just has rewards for those that do.
Although I'd love to hear a profesional manager say what you have.
Can you imagine the McLaren post match interview:
"Yeah, well, it's a shame we lost, but to be honest, I couldn't be bothered spending 45 minutes researching their team or tactics. I barely understand my own."

Actually, is that too far fetched !

Scotty

ps. To be fair, I'm made up with the Israel result over the weekend.

Bumface

It does'nt hide this fact though mate!.

After doing some more legwork on these stats, i can tell you that despite having had a massive 23% more shots on target compared to Man Utd so far this season, i have scored 14 goals less(Man Utd being the Prem top scorers) and a whopping 34% more shots on target than Chelsea, who have 10 more goals than us and sit top of the Prem.

I got through to the beginning of February and have also worked out the following stats.

Chelsea 1 in 4 (goals/shots on target)
Man Utd 1 in 4
Middlesbro 1 in 5 (bottom of the table)
Wigan 1 in 4 (least amount of goals scored in Prem).

Arsenal 1 in 10

Even if i was averaging the same amount as Boro, i would have managed 12 more goals than Man Utd and 16 more than Chelsea.

I'm also in the middle of checking out defensive stats to!.

FrazT

Good post, Jordan- when the penny finally drops it is light a light going on. This should be sent to all the moaners in GQ.