If you register for free, you will be able to post threads, vote on polls and lots more. If you have problems with the registration or logging in, please contact the administrator.
I'm on a twelve games unbeaten run, first in the Championship with Sheffield Wednesday against all odds, season is drawing to an end, just won the 3rd team in a away game, morale is great, everything is going well and sun is shining...
But then comes the game against the 20th team in the league and it's a home game! Everything goes wrong. 4th minute and it's a "nightmare start" for my team: 0 - 1. Then couple of minutes later 0 - 2. Just few minutes before the half-time my team gets a penalty kick. I think "phew, this will get my back to the game". Wrong! Penalty kick is saved. Everyone is playing 6, one 5. I ask where's the passion (it usually helps in the situations like this).
It didn't help. I lose 0 - 2, my team is full of 6's and couple of 5's. I'm not happy and I tell it to the boys. They are not happy either! Everyone's morale is poor or very poor. Few are even okay! (There was something wrong with the morale in the current version, right?)
I think this is all very familiar to you all. I just hate matches like this: all the sudden it seems you can DO NOTHING to change the course of the match. I guess It's all to team-talks and pre-match comments in situations like this. I guess I should've warn against complacency in previous match or in pre-match interview. But in my experience they always anger the players and pre-match comments seem to do more harm than good.
It would all be more accetable if my beautiful unbeaten run would end against another high-flying team in an away game, but it usually ends against crappy team and home.
I'm not saying this doesn't happen in real life or there's something wrong with the game (well the team-talks and such could be more logical or they shouldn't be so crucial). I'd just like to know what is the best way to prevent this.
When this happens, why is the WHOLE TEAM playing 6's? Always. Is it like they had some kind of secret meeting before the match and they agreed "well we are unbeatable, we don't have to do anything"? I would understand if one or two players would play on 4 or 5, because they'd think they don't have to do anything to win the matches.
Indeed. you can tell within the first few minutes wether your team will play crap or not. if you check the ratings they will be in the 5 area already and no matter what you do, tactic changes, subs, shouting at the monitor. Nothing is going to change the fact that you are going to lose.
Originally posted by miku:
I think this is all very familiar to you all. I just hate matches like this: all the sudden it seems you can DO NOTHING to change the course of the match.
This is not true. You are capable of winning any match you go into.
The reason the people who do well against bigger teams struggle against smaller teams is tactics. It makes sense that you can't just play the same way against teams better than you and teams worse than you and get the same results against both. If, as in your case, you're playing a tactic that is successful against teams better than you it's probably because it's not too attacking and perhaps looks to hit the teams on the break that attempt to play attacking against you (this is just an example).
When you come to play a lesser team they will be playing differently against you, much more defensive and looking to snatch a goal somewhere down the line. So that tactics you used against the last team is not going to work anywhere near aswell against this team.
You need to have a couple of versions of the same tactic set up so that when you need to go more attacking/defensive you can do. This goes for during a game too. If, as you say, your players were all on 6's and your team wasn't playing well then it should have been fairly obvious by half time that you needed to change something.
Its just one of those things in the beautiful game and if the shoes on the other foot ie your the smaller club beating the bigger club, The beautiful game!
Originally posted by chopper99:
<BLOCKQUOTE>Originally posted by miku:
I think this is all very familiar to you all. I just hate matches like this: all the sudden it seems you can DO NOTHING to change the course of the match.
This is not true. You are capable of winning any match you go into.
</BLOCKQUOTE>
Actually I have several times encountered the situation where whatever I do, whoever I substitute I can't change the fact that I'm going to lose the match.
If I see a 5 I know I'm doomed.
If I change out the players I feel make the basis of my team, mainly midfield, striker, and a defender.
It wont change the game at all. Neither will changing my tactics either.
I honestly feel like I have no control of what's happening on the pitch at times...
This is not true. You are capable of winning any match you go into.
I wasn't trying to say that you can't win games like these. I said it SEEMS like you can't do anything.
Quote:
The reason the people who do well against bigger teams struggle against smaller teams is tactics. It makes sense that you can't just play the same way against teams better than you and teams worse than you and get the same results against both. If, as in your case, you're playing a tactic that is successful against teams better than you it's probably because it's not too attacking and perhaps looks to hit the teams on the break that attempt to play attacking against you (this is just an example).
When you come to play a lesser team they will be playing differently against you, much more defensive and looking to snatch a goal somewhere down the line. So that tactics you used against the last team is not going to work anywhere near aswell against this team.
You need to have a couple of versions of the same tactic set up so that when you need to go more attacking/defensive you can do. This goes for during a game too. If, as you say, your players were all on 6's and your team wasn't playing well then it should have been fairly obvious by half time that you needed to change something.
You are absolutely right and I do have different versions of my tactic. And usually the results are logical to my tactics, hence the unbeaten 12 games run. I didn't had this run by just playing the same tactic and hitting continue.
But then there are matches like the one I was talking about when all the logic of the match engine and the game are thrown to a garbage bin and it feels like you are sitting in the crowd watching the awful match and not in the manager booth making things happen. I have the feeling this happened because of my initial team-talk: "you can win this game". I guess "for the fans" is the most neutral one and I should've use it.
I had the feeling that this match was going to be the unbeaten-run-breaker, so I played with my defensive tactic. They were also very defensive with 4-5-1 and no attacking runs. I have quality players that can play possession football, so I tried to control the game with low tempo. I changed to more attacking tactic after the half-time. I have the feeling (from my experience) that if I'd play with attacking tactic from the start the result would be pretty much the same, because this was one of "those days".
Why this happens so often? 
Linear Mode
