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hi, im aston villa in the 1st season, bought a few decent people in (although quite young) i thought id make my own tactic to suit my players rather than just copy someone elses! i implemented the rule of 2 into my tactic and all was going well. i dont play a counter attacking formation at home because in the games ive played so far im expected to win. i will play my counter attacking tactic tho when i face the big boys!
the main problem im having is conceding late goals these are my league games so far -
H vs fulham won 1-0
A vs wigan lost 2-1
H vs reading won 3-0
A vs west ham drew 1-1
H vs newcastle won 2-0
A vs middlesborough lost 1-0
H vs man city lost 1-0
A vs tottenham lost 1-0
as you can see my home tactic is quite good only conceded one goal in and that was a game i dominated against man city but the ball just wouldnt go in (my main stk were injured)
the games i conceded late goals in are as follows - wigan (90min) west ham (87min) and spurs (88min). this is my main problem and would really apreciate some feedback onto where im going wrong! i thought it could just be my new signings, they are- cb- A Ferdinand rb- E Ratinho
mc- K Heastad rw- C Dempsey
stk- H Rodallego
so after my brief description has any =body got any theories on to why this is happening? and just to add i didnt get totally outplayed in any of my games so far this season
Hi mate, what you need to do from about the 70th minute onwards (or after your last tactical sustitution) is to flick over to the formations page and watch what the other side are doing.
Ususally at about the 80th minute but sometimes earlier the other side change to a 4-2-4 formation which is designed to go all out and score the goal they need to win or draw.
When you see them change to the 4-2-4 you need to make an IMMEDIATE change to your own tactic.
The way to combat a 4-2-4 is to sarrow your stikers and to send the ball down the wings... Make sure everyone else is staying back and is on low closing down. Your wingers can have forward runs on often but no other midfielders or defenders.
What this does is gets your strikers out to the flanks and stretches their defence because their fullbacks will be making forward runs and quite often you will score a goal... then they will revert back to a normal formation and the game should be yours.
why didnt i just read this post 30 seconds earlier! just played everton at home and although i dominated the 1st hali couldnt grab that crucial goal (not the first time). then 2nd half comes and i go down to 10 men, i instantly change my tactics to my away formation to counter there expected onslaught, "bang" i go 1 down. i thought id stick with it and see what happened. i got 1 back almost instantly through a baros breakaway. all was on for the draw until once again i conceded that ever present late goal (85min) thats it game over. i did notice that as you just said they went to 4-2-4 and i didnt know how to counter that, and now that ive read you post i will try that and hope it works. thanks mate, i'll let you know if that works for me.
If you are happy with it then make the changes on your defensive tactic and then save the amended tactic to something like - "repelling 4-2-4" and then when you make the change in the future it is there ready to switch too without mucking about too much.
you say the way to combat 4-2-4 when im 4-4-2 is as above. but what about when im playing against the big boys away and have to play 4-5-1? how do i should i go about combating that?
seems like a good idea with the sarrows to counter 4-2-4 ...remember to distribute passing down wings when defending a lead to stop the ball being stolen in a more threatening position...pass more direct and with quicker tempo...change mentality/d/line slightly more defensive...gradually increase time waisting from about 60mins-80mins (often at 80
im currently experimenting with counter attack and feeling alot safer without it enabled...my theory is something like this...in real life the theory of counter attacking is to surrender posession to the opposition to draw them out in order to launch a ball behind the defence in hope of a forward latching onto it...this is all fine with real people as they have the free will as to make a challenge when they feel right,but this is a computer game and like any computer programme you need to give it strict orders for it to work properly as with the counter attack in fm...i felt i was giving away TOO MUCH posession then i was happy with and letting the opposition pick too many chances out...so i do this...dont tick counter attack but go slightly more defensive (very at the back cd minimal etc.) and closing down slightly less, this will hopefully result in your players dropping back (drawing the opposition out) but still pressuring them enough to give them a harder time...use a quick tempo and direct passing to get the ball upfield as quick as possible...it might be slightly less accurate with the passing, as i think counter attack aims more for an attacking player, but limit the chances considerable imo...i use 4-1-2-2-1 formation as well which makes this even more effective as it natural constrict the centre of the pitch...feel free to ask any questions...hope it works out for you
i won my first in 6 woooo! and although i was at home agaisnt bolton and scored 2 pens i still think it was deserved. 8 shots 6 on target and 79% passes completed! they had 1 shot on target all game (that was a tame long ranger). i didn use your tips as im saving the for away games and the big boys but i did tweak it a little as my fans were callimg for me to experiment a little to get a result. i tweaked my origanal 4-4-2 so it was a tad more attacking and still used the rule if 2 and it seemed to work very nice!
in your opinion do you think what you say to the team prior to a match makes much difference?
heres another one too. people say you should send your team out acording to how the other team play, IMO i think this would unsettle you team if you change you tactics for every game! i think consistancy wouldnt be there as the team wouldnt truly get used to the way you want them to play, thats just the way im seeing it and maybe totally wrong.
late late goals conceded! WHY? 
...remember to distribute passing down wings when defending a lead to stop the ball being stolen in a more threatening position...pass more direct and with quicker tempo...change mentality/d/line slightly more defensive...gradually increase time waisting from about 60mins-80mins (often at 80
woooo! and although i was at home agaisnt bolton and scored 2 pens i still think it was deserved. 8 shots 6 on target and 79% passes completed! they had 1 shot on target all game (that was a tame long ranger). i didn use your tips as im saving the for away games and the big boys but i did tweak it a little as my fans were callimg for me to experiment a little to get a result. i tweaked my origanal 4-4-2 so it was a tad more attacking and still used the rule if 2 and it seemed to work very nice! 
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