ronaldinho

I have played for a few seasons with Forest and have been quite successful and a few with Notts County and been pretty mediocre. However, after all this time (never playing more than 2 hours daily, so there is no way I could consider myself an expert, while in the days of CM I used to play much more). I have stated somewhere else on this forum that I do consider the game less enjoyable and that I suspect that the AI has problems of conception. I may be wrong, after all it's just an opinion. I would like to know your ideas on a few things in the game. I know many of these have been already discussed, but, hey, it's never wrong to get new ideas in. So here we go:

1. Whenever I win, the game plays the last few minutes almost entirely, the other team dominates and usually scores (no matter how I set my tactics). Whenever the other team is winning and suddenly decides to defend the lead, no matter what I do, the last minutes are mostly not shown. Have you found a solution?

2. I receive a lot of goals from crossings that go behind my defence (even if I play deep and always close down the other team's fullbacks). Any ideas?

3. When the other team plays defensively, many times my strikers will miss lots of chances and the other team will somehow nick a goal out of 2 shots in the entire game. What should I do? How do you play in such instances?

4. The best I have done in the game is learn how to defend and not concede. However, most of the games are finishing 0-0, or 1-0 for one of the teams. This is part of the reasons I find the game less enjoyable. after all, in my view, football is a great sport when it is played offensively and although I admire great tacticians as Benitez I don't quite enjoy becoming one in FM. How did you go from here? I mean, continuing to defend well , but start scoring?

4. If I manage to buy a player that was doing great for another team, he always goes on a slump and never plays reasonably well for me. I find this frustrating. Does it happen to you and is there an explanation?

5. I manage Australia in one of the games and this happened to me. I won 7-0 away at Northern Mariana. However 2 weeks later, with the same teams and tactics I lost to them 2-0 at home. I truly believe that herein lies a great error in the conception of the game. If the goal of the game is to become more realistic, surely this cannot happen in real life. I know: I lost because I should have adapted to the Ai who was adapting to me. Shouldn't there be a few factors in the conception of the AI beyond tactics? Are there?

6. What is the best thing to tell your team ahead of a game that they are heavily expected to lose, that thing that might help? I have tried all of them and noticed no difference.

7. (concerning re-ranking). What is the first thing that you change?

8. My players lose possession quite often (they are not technically gifted). Does that mean that I have to play a direct game with quick tempo? I tried to play short and slow to give them a better chance. Wrong choice?

9. Which is the best way to train your young goal-keepers? I have one that is considered a wonderkid, but his reflexes rate is very low. Whatever I do, it doesn't grow. Any ideas?

10. I still have no idea when one of my strikers can be a good target man and when should I use one. I tried different formulas, different players, but noticed no difference. When do you use a target man?

Enough for the moment. Thanks for the effort of reading this. I would appreciate feedback from you.

retired_hope

Hi Horadrim,

Just like to say well done for posting this topic, it is well though out and I hope we can help.

1. I play a 442 with global mentality set in the middle, usually with one player on individual mentality.

If I go 1-0 up I click CA and increase my time wasting to normal from rarely. Usually my team is able to hit the opposition on the break as they are trying to get back into the game. Note. you need to play a pacey striker to be able to CA effectively.

If they come back I unclick CA and lower timewasting again.

With 10 minutes to go, if leading I take off my target man and replace them with a DMC, hence Im playing 4-1-4-1. I increase timewasting to max and set my d-line to deep. Hardly ever conceed goals when playing like this. Note my mentality stays the same.

Hope this helps as a starting point.

ronaldinho

many thanks, Leroy1883. Will give it a try.

retired_elpata

1) Check the concentration stat on your back 4 plus the keeper. If its low, then they tend to switch off late in games and this could be a valid explanation.

2) Try backward arrows on the fullbacks, this combats this problem. Also make sure that they are not closing down too early. Also have one of the centrebacks slightly deeper than the other.

3) You need players with the right stats to put the chances away. Work them hard in training in the areas they need.

4) If your not conceeding thats half the battle won and looks like you are solid. So now you tinker from the middle upwards until you become happy. Thats all I do, start from the back and work my way up.

5) You answered this question yourself, you expected the same result using the same squad and tactics. Football doesn't work like this. The other team probably set up different due to their 7-0 loss, so you needed to do the same.

6) I leave mine to the assistant, I think teamtalks are a waste of time myself.

7) Nothing, as I do changes game by game.

8) You could try a normal game and see how that works. If they are not technically good then its not wise to play short and slow as they will have too much possession and time on their hands.

9) Don't rush the keeper, remember he will peak a lot later than an outfield player. Buture him well and give him the odd cup game or loan him out. It all helps.

10) Use a targetman if you think you need to hold the ball up top for a bit. Its good to use against teams you might struggle against.

ronaldinho

Cleon, you are indeed an expert. Thanks!
Little details may change results.

retired_Damonica

Cleon knows the game far better than i. however, here as some slightly different approaches that have worked well for me, all learned by reading these and other fora (none original, although if i've screwed up, that's the original part):

So here we go:
the game starts an all-out attack. i have a saved tactic, based on my usual formation (in my case a diamond 442) that is ultra-defensive "shut up shop".

i send my FCs to the left and right with arrows, and have my AMC on a forward arrow up the middle. sometimes i put my DMC on a backward arrow but i can't tell if this is better or worse. no one else has arrows, and the mentality is still very defensive overall.

i put both dc, already deep, on backward arrows, and set passing to longer than normal. i focus passing down the flanks.

it's a little more complicated than that (i set it up with individual settings for the players and then save it). more often than not, when the other team goes into a 424 or 235, i score on them, rather than the other way around.

maybe closing down too much is the problem, or part of it. when players close down they put pressure on their opponent but they are also more likely to be caught out of position.

i just turn closing down to mixed or rarely (normally my fullbacks close down, especially against a team that uses a lot of crosses).

i may try Cleon's solution though--the backward arrows with (probably) some closing down. maybe best of both worlds?

alternatively, if you have a fast team, i've had some luck with opposition instructions on the other team's wingers a) close down on them, b) tackle them hard, c) mark them tightly, and d) wrong-foot them if their foot matches the side they play on.

as Cleon said the players attributes are important here. one key stat is 'composure'. that tells, basically, if they'll get nervous when the big chance comes. also make sure your tempo is not too high, sometimes they're too hurried. there are other things to try but basically you're getting a lot of chances but no good ones.

also be careful of attacking too aggressively, especially in away games. Italy's national team have won a lot of trophies by nicking a goal on 1 or 2 chances against the flow of play, so this happens in real life too.

i play a very creative AMC in a diamond 442 (41212) and set him as a playmaker with lots of creative freedom in an otherwise very defensive formation. i give some creative freedom to wingers, and i have a good strong AND fast (not blazing, but 15) target man.


part of it is he needs to settle in his new team! some players are great right away but some don't find their form until the second season.

also you might have tactics that don't suit him--for example, if he's a lousy dribbler, set 'runs with ball' to rarely for him.

there are a few factors, but as in real life, if the manager makes a horrible choice tactically, he is punished brutally. you answered your own question correctly.

before an away game "wish luck." home game, "we can win this" when the press asks, i say just about every team can 'cause problems' but pay attention to how they affect squad morale. some players react differently.

halftime talks: if i'm losing and morale is good--disappointed. if a player has superb morale and a six or lower, i single him out and tell him i'm disappointed. if i''m winning, pleased.

at the end of the game if i lose i sympathise and if i win i'm pleased. if i win by 4 or if a player rates a 9 or 10 i use 'fantastic' instead of pleased.

getting them right will give you a slight advantage. getting them wrong will give the other team a slight advantage. if you leave it to your assistant then he will handle your team talks no better nor worse than your opponent (depending on how good he is) and you will need to get your advantage from tactical choices and/or the superior quality of your squad (if your squad is superior).

generally i'm rated higher, so opponents defend more. i'm a little more aggressive at home especially. i attack more against teams that think they're my equals or inferiors.

as Cleon said short and slow is good with less skilled players. direct can work also. you probably need to be narrow with short and slow, or you might have gaps in your midfield which will leave them no one to pass to (you will see this if you watch the full match, it'll be apparent).

reflexes i believe are "aerobic." so higher aerobic in his training schedule. maybe he just isnt that talented reflex wise, but this will improve it as much as possible. also with keepers unlike most people i like to train them in 'defense' so that their concentration is at least 10 (if they can 't get to 10 i sell them). i have definitely noticed keepers with poor concentration tend to concede stupid goals.

there are different kinds of target man. big strong guys who are good in the air, make good decisions and (preferably but not necessarily) are fairly creative are one good kind of target man. perhaps the most common. i find that the game favors strong strikers good in the air more than previous versions of the game.

also, if your 'other' striker is a speedy one, this can be a lethal one-two punch.

hope this helps some. i'm no expert and i'm still learning but i've been getting really good results. read the stuff in the tactical bible and there's good stuff on wwww.fm-britain.co.uk as well. try to understand why the ideas work rather than downloading tactics and expecting them to do the work and you will get the hang of it!

good luck!

retired_Damonica

one last less lengthy comment: as in real life, there are a lot of different approaches to tactics that can work. Compare Cleon's thread to wwfan's threads, or rashidi1's.

i personally use a lot of wwfan's ideas, but pick and choose from all.

ronaldinho

zeusbheld, concerning your answer to my first question, i adapted my tactics to your ideas. Surprise, surprise. In my first game being 1-0 up in the last minutes, instead of being scored against, i nicked a goal. So thanks and also for the other ideas which I am trying to make good use of.