retired_deegirl41

Ok, right now I'm getting mad about my Fiorentina side.
I have Toni upfront, Jorgensen or Santana as right off. midfielder (they're both quick and can cross very well) and Mutu as left off. midfielder with a diagonal forward arrow to the left of Toni (Mutu is not only fast, he's also good at finishing/ long shots, so I want him to try cut inside or go into the area) In RL Mutu scored the same amount of goals as Toni last season, that's what I want too. On the left full back position there's Pasqual with a farrow to the Wing Back position, who is fast and can cross excellently, so he ought to be the one who crosses from the left when Mutu cuts inside.
So all I want is a high tempo game down the wings and then cross the ball to Toni or get Mutu or Montolivo (who plays as AMC) to shoot onto the goal.
I don't want to play a real counter attack game, as Fiorentina is too much quality for this, but I want it fast and down the wings.
So I decided to give passing the first direct notch from the middle, and Tempo normal.
But my players seem to have another idea about "direct" passing. They kick HIGH balls forward down the wings (sometimes even to the opposite wing, e.g. from left to the right) instead of making Jorgensen and Mutu run onto the ball by giving a direct pass into the back of the opposition's full backs!
Unfortunately, Mutu and Jorgensen are poor headers, and even if they win the headers they end up right in the opposition's defence.
Even tried to make passing three nothes to the LEFT from the middle, but it doesn't change anything really. I'm constantly having about 65% passing succesfull rate without having that many opportunities for a goal. Most of these are rather randomly created, and really not by creating tempo on the wings.
Just lost 1-4 at home to Palermo...
So who can help me?

aby

Try this: shorten your passing down to first notch of normal or last of short and play the ball down both flanks. let all good passers (above 14 hit through balls often) from there, adjust tempo only till you get the desired speed you are looking for. you may actually find that slow tempo does just fine. You will play a little bit more of a controlled game and when you hit a pass to the wing, he will take off running and look to cross.

Wingers FWD and RWB often, obviously. And, xing at byline.

retired_deegirl41

Ok thanks, I'll try that.
What would you advise when I want to defend a lead and/or play counter-attack?
If passing stays short, then the opposition would have too much time to get back and regain shape. But with direct balls it would end up like before again...

retired_FaultyFate

Use counter-attack, which implies your players will try to organize quick attack whenever possible. With "Try Through Ball" often and "Cross Ball" mixed-to-often it should work just fine. Btw, tempo has nothing to do with how fast your players will move. Higher tempo implies that your players must make decision quick, not that they should walk instead of running. It works well when you have superb squad, otherwise they often make wrong decision or simply kick high balls, because it is the most simple and safe decision. Similarly with passing - short does not mean players will always pass to the closest player. It rather means they won't play long ball up the field unless they see an opportunity to create a chance right away.