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FM08 will be the death of me, Ive now just started my THIRD game with Liverpool and Im getting progressively worse, my last game I set everything out I wanted- slow patient build up,narrow diamond, Riquelme as playmaker, Torres and Mutu up front, I thought Id finally got my closing down and defensive line right, scoring for fun preseason then...
P11 W3 D4 L4 - 11th place!!! awful, players keep getting injured and sent off, Huntelaar is awful, creating less and less chances as each game progresses, beat 4-0 by Olymiakos, resignation was the only option
My question is what am I doing wrong? Is my individual player tweaking all wrong or is it just poor tactics for the English League? The talent cant be faulted, Im oozing class on the team sheet at least, and was initailly creating loads of chances but finishing few - So back to the drawing board I went
I have stared again, bringing in the best coaching staff I could and trying to sell off the players I don't want Kuyt, Crouch, Sisokko, Rise, Voronin so Ill have a transfer kitty of about £60-£70m. Riquelme I may bring in again so I have £50 odd mill for 2 strikers and possibly a winger (not quaresma)
Tactically I love a team that plays a patient build up but am havin alot more trouble in fm08 getting it working than previous games, teams just seem wise to it, I hate playing direct as its against my footballing philosophy (er, its just a game mate) so any advice would be well appreciated
I think that when you get this game you should start lower down. I always start as Forest, but not just because I support them. You become more reliant on training and careful tweaking of tactics when your squad isn't up to much. This in turn gets you familiar with the new game. Going in as a team with megabucks focusses you on talent. I think it is amazing how negligent people can get with their tactics when they've got great players. Try leaving Liverpool alone for a few games and get used to a team lower down.
i would never forget about tactics, i try and bring in players to suit my tactics not vice versa, it seems thattactics i used effectivly in the last few games aint holding up, which is crazy cause the liverpool default team is the best its ever been in the fm series, i may try some global tactics, and cut out the player meddling
Obviously player attributes are very important but tactics is by far the most important area in my opinion and using your teams collective strengths.
So far my observations are that 442 diamond and 433 seem to be the most reliable formations. I used to be a big fan of full backs bombing down the wings but i've had much more success when they are set quite defensively - they seem to get forward anyway so low mentality has helped a lot. The diamond works well as defences are having trouble dealing with a talented AMC who in amongst my front pair, same for the 433. Incidentally, if you do play a 433 the most important positions are the central midfielder as he pulls all the string for me and the two wide strikers (players that are FC/Wingers with good finishing thrive here - obvious i know). I've also found that heavy closing down just doesn't work for me.
Pay a lot of attention to opposition's weaknesses - i always direct play to there worst players and i always use 'play on weaker foot' for all of the opposition midfield and strikers.
Ok, first off all, stop selling all your players. So many outs so quick upsets the balance of the team. Sissoko, Riise (very useful on the wings) and Crouch atleast are worth keeping. Sell Voronin and Kuyt if you want to. If nothing else, Crouch can be a great backup (as he seems to be irl under the fool Liverpool call a manager sadly). Get in one good striker. Owen, Pandev, Palacio, Gyan, Aguero (Expensive!) are all great. Choose one of them. Get a better CB. Barzagli is available very cheap at the start. Offer him a Key Role and a little more money than he asks for. He should be available for 12M or so (absolute bargain). Carragher, Barzagli, Agger and Hyppia (as a backup) should be enough. Insua, Arbeloa, Finnan are good enough FB's. Another one wont hurt though. See if you can pick up Zaccardo (brilliant). Better than him, get Behrami who shouldnt cost a lot. And the great advantage of his is that he's a very good RB and an even better AMR. So you get a winger as well in him. You dont need anyone of the left. Kewell and Babel are good. Get rid of Pennant if you get a decent price. He's not good enough for a top club.
So Barzagli, Behrami/Zaccardo and a ST - the total shouldnt be more than 40M tops. I dont know how much transfer budget Liverpool have. If you still have money left over, get Matias Fernandez. Forget Riquelme or VDV. You are just going on reputation there. Fernandez is much better than the pair of them (in the game anyway). People on here havent been raving about him for nothing. And he too should cost you around 10M. I suppose you should be able to afford all of these guys if you adjust your budget and sell a few unwanted players. I cant see you go wrong with this side mate.
Also, make sure you take your time to get good staff in. And also set up training schedules for the players (if not individual ones, atleast different ones for different positions!). And give them some time as well. Like I said, a lot of players going out at once will upset the balance of the team. And the new ones will need time to adjust. Also, take charge of ALL preseason games (make sure you play atleast 7-8 of them) and use those to get the players used to your tactics. It helps a lot. :thup:
Personally it sounds like you're changing too much too soon.. start with a simple formation and play around with defensive line/attacking mentality/width/tempo/passing for the whole team during a game and see how it effects your players.
Do you know any teams in the English premiership in real life that play slow patient football? That's much more of a Serie A style of play, which is why you're doing so badly trying that in the EPL.
And don't just sign players for the hell of it, look at the squad you start with. Pick a formation, see where you're weakest and then buy in to strengthen the team.
I generally play short passing with a higher tempo when I'm down a goal with 20 odd minutes to go. It generally does the trick for me. But for it to work you need a) players who are good passers of the ball b) players who have a good first touch and c) strikers who have good off the ball. The problem with it is that you tend to lose the ball more often with a high tempo. Which is why you need the good passers and first touch players. But the advantage is that you're likely to create atleast one or two excellent chances for your strikers to get a goal for you with a great killer pass. Which is why you need their off the ball movement to be good. Its pretty much the way Arsenal play.
Originally posted by burjennio:
can short passing with a higher tempo work, i really not alump it kind of manager
It sounds boring, but you're a really good team. A standard 4-4-2 with high attacking mentality (because most of the EPL will sat back against you) will work with the kind of quality you have in your squad.
I won the league with Arsenal with a formation which had tempo set to highest and passing to shortest. It decimated most teams home and away and whenever I lost their goalkeeper played a 10.
I tried the same tactic in Serie A and I lost almost all my away games. That's when I learnt you need the right formation for the right league and the right players.
..."Then he turned the gun on himself" 
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