retired_breed

I've found FM07 to be the toughest so far and I'm really having difficulties making my team win. My players are okay enough, but my tactics seem to be faulty. Every half a season at least I "reboot" my tactics, take on a new standard tactic to modify, but I seem to get it wrong all the time.

If you need a new tactic for your team (not a new team), where do you begin and how do you do it?
What is your emergency plan when fighting against relegation for example?

I stress that it's not a new team, because I mean a situation, where you know the strenghts of each player but have failed to use them properly.
I, for one, keep starting over and one way or another keep banging my head against the same wall. I know my team, make assumptions and they all seem to turn out to be wrong. Then I try to correct them and, surprisingly, get no results.

retired_jo322l

What team are you?

retired_breed

Leeds, pre-patch, 2nd season, EPR

retired_liliana

Patch the game!

retired_janellewood86

Yes. This solves all the problems. The game's almost impossible to lose after you patch it.

I've found you don't have to completely come up with a new tactic. That can be detrimental. Keep your formation, then have a look at the tactical bible to give you some tips. I would start by building a basic 4-4-2 for all situations then looking to make it narrower or longer passing to adapt to different things that happen in the game. Then you can also tailor it to your player strengths too.

retired_w0lfpack1

There's a couple theories about setting up a race-car - notoriously difficult to get "right" - that might apply here.

"Get the base setup first."
"Make one change at a time."
"Don't judge a setup on one lap."

Get the base setup:
Personally, I start at the back: I'll work on defense, the back four/five especially, until I get to the point that I feel happy that
a.) We aren't conceding much,
b.) They're doing what I ask them to, and
c.) Its a stroke of luck or a moment of brilliance when the opposition does score.

I should be seeing a LOT of 0-0, 1-0, 0-1, and 1-1 results at this point.

Then I'll start working on the front - the midfield and strikers.

Make one change at a time:
Corrollary: Make small changes.

If you're changing too much, you can't tell which of your changes are working, and which aren't.

If you make one large change, you can't tell if it was the right knob to change and you went too far, or if it was the wrong knob to change.

So, make one small change. If you feel like its a step in the right direction, keep it - maybe even try anoter half-twist of that same knob. If you don't like it, REVERT it.

Don't judge a setup on one lap:
Don't assume that, just because you won the first game 3-0 after making a change, that it was the right change to make.

There are so many factors in a single match - morale, home/away, opposition tactic, fatigue, referee, weather, not to mention simple luck - that a single match isn't sufficient to analyze the impact of the change.

Stick with it for a couple matches; watch Extended or Full highlights to see if your team is playing better or worse, and more importantly, playing to your vision of how they should play.

. . .

The problem this has is that it will lead you to a local maximum, not a global maximum.

If, say, you start with a base 4-4-2, and slowly evolve it into a diamond 4-4-2 with a couple forward arrows and a bunch of individual mentalities, and you've reached the limit of what that tactic can do ... but the correct tactical solution to the game is a 5-0-5 with long balls cranked to the highest ... well, you're never going to get to that 5-0-5. You will, however, have found the right 4-4-2.

retired_liliana

Yes. This solves all the problems. The game's almost impossible to lose after you patch it.

I've found you don't have to completely come up with a new tactic. That can be detrimental. Keep your formation, then have a look at the tactical bible to give you some tips. I would start by building a basic 4-4-2 for all situations then looking to make it narrower or longer passing to adapt to different things that happen in the game. Then you can also tailor it to your player strengths too. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry for the very short post, I was working and posting and thought it was good advice regardless.

retired_breed

Wonderful response, thank you.

I hesitate patching the game, because as I understand I'd have to load a new game, right?

I will do that at some point, downloaded the patch and everything already, but right now, I want stick with the season on which I've sacrificed such a lot of time.
You know, in a way I kind of enjoy the fact that I'm struggling - it makes the victories that are so few and far between taste so much better.

Anyway, I'll definately try Amaroq's way. Sounds like I' inevitably learn something with that. So thank you for that.
And, don't worry Filipe, it all counts.