retired_rowdywife

Hi again

Tactics:

Tactic: I have never downloaded and tried any ones finished tactic myself, more used some of the knowledge/ideas, after all i play this game to try my own style of play and ideas. I usually play 4-1-3-2 (MR.MC,ML) or 4-4-2 Diamond. Yes i always want a DMC otherwise I feel naked (no gap between midfield and defence). It’s just my style.

I have many times started a match for fun with Bristol R watching the game in full time and then see what each slider and individual settings really do. Not saving the game, restart and continue same match to test new ideas etc until i get a feeling for the right setting accordingly to how i want to play.

This has given me a very easy system to follow.

Mentality, Closing down and defensive line can in general be set to the same value (or within 1-2 notches from each other). Scout report gives you an idea if you are favourite or not and to what odds,,, if you don’t trust it to much then start with a normal setting for the first few minutes. Watch the possession bar at the lower end of match screen and adjust Mentality, closing down and defensive line to meet that. As soon as the opponent make a tactical change you will almost always see a difference in the possession bar, then adjust and you will see that you are ok.

Together with the above setting I use normal to narrow width (5-10) but that is due to poor position and marking through the team (Bristol rovers). With better positional and marking attributes I would be happy to play as wide as possible, to use more of the pitch at least when favourite.

I use zonal marking on all positions except for DR, DL and DMC that is on tight marking. This makes the defence very tight and one don’t have to even bother about opponents different formations, and only think of the global settings Mentality, Closing down and defensive line according to the game possession bar (not use zonal bars which can be misleading). The dreaded 4-2-4 Is a joke against this set-up , I usually score then or at least get possession on opponent half. The idea of tight marking on DMC is several, it makes it possible to have mixed forward runs on DC (good if you play counterattack) ,

I use forward arrows on ML and MR when I have mixed passing or focus on the sides. No arrows when I focus on the middle unless I dominate the match.

I use side arrows on forwards at times when opponent defence is real tight and I need get more space, often opens up for AMC.

I use mixed crossing and through balls on all positions, mostly (except for DMC and AMC often through balls). The reason is that every time I watch full game and click often on any of these attributes it seem like the players try to hard and slow down the flow and also often stresses the ball away with bad passes. They seem to make better decisions when set to mixed. Its like when they have the chance to choose as they want to themselves they also get the best game. At least with my players at Bristol Rovers .



I have tried to use playmakers and target men but find better results and game play with use of focus passing to the sides or the middle.

Forward runs is based on how much favourite iam or not , and what happends during game, by setting to rare, mixed or often this has a huge impact on game stability , more than most other attributes really. Example

DC set to Rare or Mixed.
DR, DL set to R, M or O
DMC/OMC set to R, M or O
ML MR set to M or O
Forwards set to M or O.

If I want to play counterattack I can still use all of the above thinking but also click tight marking on all players (possible except DC, DC). The reason for this is that counterattack applies the rule that the defending side plays men behind the ball and tries to intercept the ball before it gets to target player. In the old times this was used with a man marking system. I don’t like man marking system since I prefer zonal, instead I use tight marking.

Creativity is another matter: I have found that setting this to 1 makes all players to make less mistakes. So with this in mind I set GK and DC, DC to 1. DR and DL to 5. MR and ML to 5-10. DMC and OMC 10-15. attackers 1-20 , much less stupid situations from defenders and GK with this set-up.

I think I have covered most aspects now with my 4-4-2 diamond set-up. Since iam more often than not favourite I have all team sliders set to normal and adjust Mentality and pressing and defensive line to what the possession bar shows me.

Kind regards
Jonor

retired_lourdes

You mention that you adjust mentality, pressing and dl according to possesion bar.

Could you give an example..?

What if you have <50%..
what if you have advantage on opponent half..?
what if you only have advantage in you own zone..?

etc.

good post! - like your setup on creativity

retired_rowdywife

Hello Kristianhnohr,

I see your point, yes it can be a little confusing , but i made it real easy not looking at the zonal possesion at all , only the one general bar that you see all the time,

unregarding of what screen info you are looking at during a game...the possession bar is visible and indicates where the important fight is on the pitch. if the general bar is a scale from 1-100 % 1, your goal and 100% opponent goal you could also see this as a scale of 1-20 as most base the sliders on.

I have found that if iam 60 % up on the bar on opponent side then a global mentality setting of 12 will be a good setting (if 30 %, which means iam under pressure on my half, then lower mentality to 6 or 7 and also defensive line if mentality change isnt enough), with my testing it has also worked with closing down set to same and also defensive line. But its not as important to change defensive line and closing down if other settings suit your style better..

I think iam trying to tell that however you have set up your play today and usually do in regard to everything, just change the mentality to global, if you havent done so, and then adjust global mentality to what the possession bar tell during the game... usually its enough with 2-4 changes a game and you will do better than you are today, promise ...

i would be happy to hear what other peoples experience is on this easy change with the tactic they already use, do you follow how i think ?.

Kind regards,
Jonor