retired_lachina

Hello all and thanks for looking at my thread.

I stopped playing FM for nearly 6 months due to frustration in playing FM2007. Many 1 on 1 opportunities being missed by strikers, my team shoots 20 times to score 1 goal and the opposing team shoots 1 time to score 1 goal, the confusing sliders etc. Reading the tactics bible just confused my understanding of the game as everyone had different opinions on what to do. I remembered a time when the tactics forums was filled with posts criticizing the game.

Now, I have started playing FM2008 with renewed enthusiasm. But after playing it for a few days, I'm already thinking of giving up. The same questions and problems bugged me. I hope the tactics forum brothers are better equipped to help me.

Problems
1. I still can't find a style of play to play the ball on the ground. I have short players(Earnshaw, Miller) and taking route 1 is not the answer. I want the team to pass the ball on the ground, but I keep seeing players pumping the ball to them especially the defenders and goalkeepers.

2. What does the Counter attack option do? Without it being ticked, I have witness my team scoring on the counter attack. Counter attack means soaking up the pressure and attacking on the break, so what kind of mentality/passing/width/tempo/Closing down should I employ?

3. How do I make my strikers track back more? Closing down on full doesn't help much(might be my observation though). Most of the time, The Opposing team midfield will have the ball and they will pass it back to the defenders when under pressured. My strikers just stand there.

I will close one eye and endure the AI of a defender chasing the ball and suddenly changes direction and run to the penalty box to defend, leaving the striker free and unmarked to chase the ball down. But I hope that some problems can be answered.

Thanks for the help.