Dayle Wood

Hi guys - I am in between my first and second season and currently tearing my tactics apart and starting from scratch (in part because of unsatisfactory finishes).

I am thinking of having a 4-4-2 diamond as my home tactic with an emphasis on attack. My away tactic is going to be something like a 4-2-3-1 once I figure it out.

My question is based on the premise that your team should chop and change formations. Does anyone else have two different tactics like I am about to do and if so does it work well? Or am I headed into choppy waters?

Dayle Wood

Sorry I meant to say that you shouldn't chop and change...

Cleon

Id advise against it, teams can struggle if they need to learn 2 tactics rather than 1. They never get settled into a system and the gelling of the team seems to take a lot longer.

Kozma is god

Hi,

I'm currently playing a 4-4-2 at home, pretty attacking and have been using a modified more defensive version away from home which is just starting to pay off for me, before patching I used a similar away tactic to yours and it worked really well but after I installed the 1st patch it didn't seem to work and like a lot of people on here I struggled away from home (not a gripe as it's more challenging now).

Suppose it's up to you, if you find a decent foolproof away formation though let me know!!

Silks1972

Your better off keeping the same formation and slightly tinkering your tactics depending on the game and whether your at home or away.

Dayle Wood

I understand and agree with you... it's just my tactic I've been using is great at home but I struggle away with it... So I am banging my head against the computer trying to resolve it.

Cleon

I understand and agree with you... it's just my tactic I've been using is great at home but I struggle away with it... So I am banging my head against the computer trying to resolve it. </BLOCKQUOTE>

What sort of problems away do you have? Do you get ripped apart by width, or are you simply too attacking for away games?

Dayle Wood

Well I was playing a 4-4-2 at home with farrows for the wingers and one mid. Short passing, slow build up, wide formation yada yada yada!

Away it was the same formation but faster tempo, direct passing, more narrow formation, DL pulled back some to try and make the counter effective.

However I find I struggle to get any possession because it is more defensive and is basically relying on hitting the other side on the break. I kind of remedied this by getting the FB's to hold the ball up. That gave me more possession but I think it counteracts the fast breaks.

I think it may be necessary to give more mixed options to certain players rather than saying often or rarely... give them more range of options.

My biggest concern I guess is I am struggling as a strong team to dominate away, sometimes playing the home tactic works (against weaker sides) but against equals or better this is suicide and my away tactic seems to be like a sponge - soaking up pressure till I get lucky and score or they wear me down.

I'm not accustomed to asking for help - I more often give people help - but I am big enough to admit that I am beginning to have doubts about how to play consistantly well away.

Cleon

When your away, do you always make them changed regardless of what the scout reports say?

I assume you play counter attacking away from home then? If so remember it wont work if the other side is playing a defensive formation itself as they wont commit men forward for a counter attacking game to work.

Ahh so you are one of the better sides in your league? Then im guessing majority of teams do play defensive against you, even away. This is probably the reason your away tactic isn;t quite working as its not getting at them to break em down enough.

Against equal or better I always play normal passing, normal tempo and normal mentality. Then after the first 10 minutes of a game I know if these settings are wokring and 90% of time they do. If not, ill maybe just increase the tempo slightly and drop the d-line to about 6 if I play against a Henry etc with pace.

I never go narrow either, stay normal as good sides rip you apart down the wings anyways. Basically I play more aless the same home and away formation, its just im normal away instead of the first notch of attacking. Works wonders for me, only lost 3 games in 3 seasons

Dayle Wood

Well I try to understand the scouts information. But it's usually very similar for every team so I judge each side on how good I think they are.

But thanks for the advice - I'll take it on board and see how we go.

Last thing - do you make much use of opposition instructions? I don't use them enough and think they have the potential to be a real game breaker if used well.