Mattv

Do you give it one game and if it doesn`t do good change it or do you give it 3 or 4 games, and do you watch the matches in full for a few games to see where the problems are because on key you don`t really see enough to know where to tweak it.

retired_Balanchinegal

Maybe watch the full 1st half to give yourself an idea, then watch the 2nd half on "extended highlights"
You should know if the tactic is working because if it is - you'll be winning.

"And next on Mastermind is Starr_Man5, specialist subject - stating the bloody obvious."

Erm, sorry.

(Can't help myself)

retired_cycleman8

10-15 games i give it normally..

unless its obviously not working

retired_elpata

I pick a formation I want then stick at it until its right. Takes 3 or 4 games for me in most cases to get it how I like, unless its some old fashioned tactic I am trying to recreate then it takea a while longer. Giving a tactic just 1 game and seeing how it goes it kinda the worse thing you can ever do. Players need time to settle into a new tactic and this can take a few games on its own.

While creating a tactic you should always watch it in full for both halves imo. The 2nd half is nearly always different so you see different flaws due to the AI often switching formation in the 2nd half.

retired_slayerbing

cheeky bugger!

Mattv

Well i`ve watched it in full for 4 games and it didn`t start off great, i was 2 down but dominated the first half 60% to 40%, i tweaked a bit in defence and up front and managed to draw 2:2, i`ve so far won the last 5 games, the formation is 5 3 2 with two wing backs which doesn`t normally work but so far it`s not bad.

retired_kellyk

It may look like a simple question. but to know whether your tactic is doing well, there are several things to consider.

Morale. This is by far the single biggest component. If your team starts a game and they have poor morale, chances are this will be reflected in the game itself. I generally test my new tactics only on teams with superb morale, that way I know morale is not affecting it negatively. In these kind of matches I generally decide during the course of a game whether a tactic is any good at all.

I'd look at possession, attacking percentages, passing percentages and shots on target to determine whether the tactic was good. Finally I'd consider whether I was facing a team I was expected to beat or not and whether it was a home game or an away game.

I like to stick to one formation as far as possible. Personally I do my tinkering in pre-season, then I go with the tactic I know is the most stable like a 442 and then when the team is doing well I tend to make variations to the tactic. finally when my team is flying I become more adventurous and start using exotic tactics like 343 or a 235 and fallback to my stable tactics if all fails.

Mattv

That`s a good point about morale, the morale at the moment is very good and my team seem to be having a lot of possession even when i lose, i look at the possession, passing and attacking percentages and they are all good, it`s just against the top teams that it doesn`t really work for some reason, i change back to my more successful one for them. The reason i changed to another formation was because i`ve been using the same one for about 5 seasons now and it`s becoming predictable. Would it be better to make a few formations and just try them all?

KeriLynn

I noticed that when I play.. lets say.. 352 or 532 then all well go... well. But then I change back to a great 442 tactic against top teams I get my *** kicked. Doesnt changing tactics too much cause terrible performances?

Mattv

Not really because there is only 2 teams in the welsh league that can really beat me and they are TNS and Llanelli, i have beat them before but sometimes they catch me on a off day, i`ve decided to stick with my winning formation until the end of the season unless i start losing a few games in a row then i might go back to the other.