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I would like to start out by saying that I in no way what so ever take credit for these tactics, I have put these tactics together from different posts in this forum with a little personal touch and would like to credit all, as I would probably have struggled a lot more without them. If you are expecting a quick guide to success using no time and energy and have one conquering tactic then read no further because I will disapoint you. The reason I said it was for the advanced user is because you have to like to tweak and mess around in all departments of the game, and if you have been playing for a while these things shouldn't take that much time.
I like to play a 4-4-2 in different variations. My choice of players is perferably two fast Center Backs, attacking Full Backs, a Defensive Midfielder, an Attacking Midfielder, two Wings and a strong Striker/fast Forward concelation. My perferred style of play would be a fast tempo, short passing, with plenty of closing down as I am aiming to emulate world class clubs.
I have 3 attacking formations and 3 defensive formations, but they all have a similar base so it shouldn't take too much time, but I feel they are all necessary to achieve satisfactory success as one has to be prepared for what your opponents will throw at you.
ATTACKING TACTICS
#1 Offensive All-out Att.:
A flat 4-4-2 formation with Long Farrows on the wingers.
Team Instructions: Mentality(11) - Creative Freedom(17) - Passing(4) - Tempo(17) - Width(18) - Closing Down(17) - Time Wasting(4) - Deffensive Line(17) - Tackling(normal).
In this formation since I'm playing far up the pitch so I will click the Play Offside option. Otherwise mixed focus passing and zonal marking.
The players instructions:
Goalkeeper: Mentality(14) - Creative Freedom(1) - Passing(11) - Closing Down(team) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(mixed) - Run with ball(rarely) - Long shots(mixed) - Through balls(mixed) - Cross ball(mixed). I have him distributing to defenders (Defender collect).
Center Backs: Mentality(15) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(6) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(rarely) - Run with ball(rarely) - Long shots(mixed) - Through balls(mixed) - Cross ball(mixed) - Marking(zonal). Cross from and cross aim mixed.
Full Backs: Mentality(16) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(10) - Tackling (team).
Forward runs(often) - Run with ball(often) - Long shots(mixed) - Through balls(often) - Cross ball(often) - Marking(team). Cross from and cross aim also mixed.
Defensive Mid: Mentality(17) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(team) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(mixed) - Run with ball(mixed) - Long shots(often) - Through balls(often) - Cross ball(mixed) - Marking(team). Cross from and cross aim mixed. A good player to have closing down on opposition corners.
The Wingers: Mentality(18) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(team) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(often) - Run with ball(often) - Long shots(often) - Through balls(often) - Cross ball(often) - Marking(team). Since I am playing with long farrows I'll have them crossing from the Byline and cross aim mixed.
Attacking Mid: Mentality(19) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(team) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(often) - Run with ball(often) - Long shots(often) - Through balls(often) - Cross ball(mixed) - Marking(team). Cross from and cross aim mixed.
The Striker/Forward: Mentality(20) - Creative Freedom(team) - Passing(team) - Closing Down(team) - Tackling(team).
Forward runs(mixed) - Run with ball(often) - Long shots(mixed) - Through balls(often) - Cross ball(mixed) - Marking(team). Cross from and cross aim mixed. The strong striker I would have hold up on ball.
#2 Offensive Playball:
Flat 4-4-2 with short/long Farrows on the Wingers.
Team instructions: Mentality(11) - Creative Freedom(17) - Passing(4) - Tempo(17) - Width(18) - Closing Down(18) - Time Wasting(7) - Defensive line(14) - Tackling(normal).
I remove the Offside option and this is my only change. I keep this general set-up throughout the rest of these tactics so if it's ok, I'll only explain the changes I make.
Player instructions:
Goalkeeper: Mentality(11) - As above.
Center Backs: Mentality(12) - As above but give them Tight Marking(yes).
Full Backs: Mentality(13) - As above.
Defensive Mid: Mentality(14) - As above.
Wingers: Mentality(15) - As above. When playing with short Farrows then change Cross From to mixed.
Attacking Mid: Mentality(16) - As above.
Striker/Forward: Mentality(17) - As above.
#3 Offensive Normal:
Flat 4-4-2 with short Farrows on wingers.
Team instructions: As explained above but with these changes: Time Wasting(10) - Defensive Line(11).
Player intructions: Drop all players Mentalities by 3 notches, so that for example the Goalkeeper now has Mentality(8) and the Strikers(14).
Goalkeeper: Change the distrubution to mixed.
Full Backs: Add Tight Marking(yes).
DEFENSIVE TACTICS:
#4 Defensive Normal:
Flat 4-4-2 with short Farrows on wingers.
Team instructions: As before but with these changes: Time Wasting(11) - Defensive Line(10).
As this is a defensive formation I will click the Counter Attack option.
Player instructions: As above but tone down everyones Mentality by one so that the Goalkeeper's Mentality is now (7) and the Strikers(13).
Goalkeeper: Distribution set to Quick Throw.
#5 Defensive Counter Att.:
Flat 4-4-2 with short Farrows on the wingers.
Team instructions: Mentality(11) - Creative Freedom(14) - Passing(4) - Tempo(14) - Width(14) - Time Wasting(14) - Defensive Line(7) - Tackling(normal).
I will apply the Tight Marking and (of course) the Counter Attacking options.
Player instructions:
Goalkeeper: Mentality(4) - As above but change distrubution back to mixed.
Center Backs: Mentality(5) - As above.
Full Backs: Mentality(6) - As above but make following changes: Forward runs(mixed) - Run with ball(mixed). Change Cross From to Deep.
Defensive Mid: Mentality(7) - As above.
Wingers: Mentality(8) - As above.
Attacking Mid: Mentality(9) - As above.
Striker/Forward: Mentality(10) - As above.
#6 Defensive Hold Back:
Flat 4-4-2 no Farrows.
Team Instructions: Mentality(11) - Creative Freedom(10) - Passing(10) - Tempo(10) - Width(10) - Closing Down(10) - Time Wasting(17) - Defensive Line(4) - Tackling(normal).
Still with Tight Marking(yes) and Counter Attacking options ticked.
Player instructions:
Goalkeepers: Mentality(1) - As above.
Center Backs: Mentality(2) - As above.
Full Backs: Mentality(3) - As above but change: Forward runs(rarely) - Run with ball(rarely).
Defensive Mid: Mentality(4) - As above but change: Forward runs(rarely).
Wingers: Mentality(5) - As above but change: Forward runs(mixed).
Attacking Mid: Mentality(6) - As above but change: Forward runs(mixed).
Striker/Forward: Mentaliy(7) - As above.
Free Roles: In all of these tactics (with the exception of tactic#6 Hold Back) I give free roles to my Wingers. In tactic#6 I will give the free role to my Forward whom is not holding up on the ball.
When to use the different tactics: Tactic#1 All-out:If you are a far superior team against a poor opposition on home ground. The scenario would for example be Chelsea vrs Norwich in the FA cup. Sometimes home against bottem of the league clubs when you are in the top 4 clubs in your respective country. Can always be used in the last ten minutes of a game chasing that goal, regardless if you are home or away. You must always be aware if your opponent switches to a 5-4-1 tactic (they rarely do this the first 10-15 minutes), because you have to switch to this tactic if you haven't started with it (which is usually the case).
Tactic#2 Playball: Your normal home field tactic when you are favorites/slight favorites or slight underdogs. Start with Long Farrows and wingers crossing from Byline when you know you are stronger. As a slight underdog go with the Short farrows with wingers crossing from mixed. Even though you are a world class side when you meet other world class sides I would definatly use the short Farrow version. Also used when you are very strong favorites in one of the cup finals.
Tactic#3 Offensive Normal: You are in one of the cup finals and you are the favorite. You are touted to be a bottem club and you're up against it at home against tough opposition. Friendlies with team easy tackling. Away against teams that are under your current division and can be tweaked so you have long Farrows on wingers with crossing from byline.
Tactic#4 Defensive Normal: You are in one of the cup finals and you are not the favorite. You are away to very weak opposition in your respective division.
Tactic#5 Counter Att.: Your normal away from home tactic if you are slight favorites/slight underdog or underdog. You are very strong underdogs in a cup final and you are up against world class opposition.
Tactic#6 Hold Back: Rarely used. I usually only used this tactic in the last ten minutes to kill the game. Can be used from the start if you are MK Dons up against Man U at Old Trafford.
These are general rules but you have to be able to read the game right. For exsample I have been comfortable favorites away from home yet the opposition had made some fantastic signings and were stronger than anticipated so I have had to switch from tactic#4 to tactic#5. These things do happen once in a while. An other time I recall I was Norwich playing home to QPR and I was slight favorites yet they switched to a 5-4-1 formation after half an hour forcing me to switch to tactic#1. There are also small tweaks that I make during a match, let's take that Norwich vrs QPR for instance, I went 2-0 up after ca. 65 minutes so I took away the free roles away from the wingers and gave it to the Forward that didn't have hold up on ball. I of course changed from tactic#1 to Tactic#2 with short Farrows and rode the game out eventually winning 3-0. I make the change with the free roles throughout the tactics to hold my team more in place and still have a player who roams around trying to cause havoc when I am in front.I could do this from the start of a match if I was using tactic#4 away to world class opposition. In all matches where it is raining the only tweak I make is change team Passing from (4) to (7).
Your Assistant Manager, coaches and other staff: Need I say how important it is to use a little time to get the best ones out there. Your Ass. Manager should have great Man Handling skills so he can take over all your team talks. I've always done this and have no complaints with the work they do (saves a lot of time). Making sure that the coaches train the squad with the maximum amount of stars in each catagory, it makes all the difference, and you will notice this once you clubs starts moulding, your defense gets tighter and your attackers score more.
Training: There are many posts and down loads and I'm sure there is no need for me to go deeper into this. But I do have special training for each position.
Team talks and handling the Press: Usually at home as comfortable favorites I would say "win if we play our best". Slight favorites/underdogs home or away "no comment". Strong underdogs at home "no comment". Underdog away against better opposition "Cause us problems". Also I found that if you are, for example, a team like Norwich and you are playing Wigan or Blackburn in the FA cup(in the first season), so you decide to say to the press a couple of days before the match that "you wouldn't begrudge them the win" then I find the opponent almost always puts in "lackluster" performances. Can also be used against Man U/Chelsea/Arsenal or Liverpool if your team are under that level. Another good thing to do is to fire up matches in local derbies with some good negative/mind-playing statements (but pick them wisely). Top matches are almost always worth some kind of Press-play and the matches where the AI hasn't come with a pre-match question. Once you get the hang of it you can get that last percent out of the game and it can be a deciding one. I've made some mistakes but that's when you quickly learn.
Swapping player positions: I prefer playing a DM and a AM, but it you have two MCs which are very similar then having them swapping positions adds a little spice. Same works very well with two similar strikers. Swapping wingers positions is also something I look to do when possible.
These tactics have worked above expectations and I have tried them with the following clubs: Leyton Orient, Norwich, Watford, Aston Villa, Ath.Madrid, Sampdoria, and Barca(but that was just to have a good time). Getting good players is a must and I've used a downloaded shortlist called Good Buys with a combination of my own. When you have a team in their prime spiced with a couple of wonder boys you should be doing the buisness, and the days of restarting should be dead and buried. You might not win everything but I can promise you the game will get a little more "real" for you because when you lose you will know it was because you saved too many players for the League Cup, or too many injuries in key positions, or maybe used the wrong tactic or a bogus pre-match press talk that unbalances the team. Freak games where I lose a shocker only happens very rearely for me and haven't experienced them as often as some of the other posts that I've read in the Forums have suggested. I think this has become a fantastic game and love the chalenges it brings. I feel it is a very advanced game and thats why I play with the settings that I do to put my opponents under pressure and take the game to them. You might have different filosophies but I can tell you this is what I feel happens when you play with high creativity and closing down: your opponent has a hard time getting a foot into the game especially if you have good players and will be less likely to go to more attacking formations. It's because I have a feeling that the AI can smell fear and goes for the kill if you restrict too much too early. My favorite game was the Watford game because I could see the slow progress and really had to go into details which taught me a lot about the game and what the different aspects in this game really meant. Reputation also has an effect on which tactics one uses but the bigger and better everything gets the more attacking tactics one starts to play. I always play Mixed Focus short Passing as I feel it gives most options as I can't get myself to play with a target man, or playmaker, or focus passing in any specific direction as I want my whole team to be in on the action. If I notice anything I would like to add I will update. Thanks....
07-15-2007, 06:01 PM
Implementing Tactics - for the advanced Gamer... Post #2
I won't be able to answer any questions (if anyone has any) the next week as I'm off on vacation. But if you follow the guidelines above you should be able to get the hang of it, and hopefully you'll find as much joy (good remarks from the press for your style of play) as I have. Good luck....
07-18-2007, 08:57 PM
Implementing Tactics - for the advanced Gamer... Post #7
Big daddy: thanks for your kind words and would like to know if you have tried out these tactics and how it has gone for you.
Just won 4 seasons in a row with Watford, mind you I didn´t win the league before the third season. Don´t see any sign of the AI "cheating" or "adapting" so to make these tactics useless. I do find the AI playing almost always defensivly on outfield, but then I just switch to my most attacking formation. When I score they abandon their tight defensive and play more attacking but I change back to tactic#2 with short farrows and that´s it: game over. Away from home I´m using mostly tactic#4, switching to tactic#3 with long farrows when need be (looking at the match stats gives a good idea what´s going on and, of course, the match score) and then changing to tactic#5 late in the game. But remember this is only when I´ve really put a good side together and my manager rating is worldclass.
Knglake: you asked if you could try out these tactics. I hope you could also give me some feedback because it would be nice to know if they work for other people than myself so not to lead people on with pointless posts. It would be much apreciated. Thanks...
Implementing Tactics - for the advanced Gamer... 
Linear Mode
