Elie

Usual story, did well first season with a tactic I built myself tailored to my players (played '06 with other people's stuff, trying to play '07 with my own ... so rewarding, very proud). Spent the offseason looking for players to fit my system (I play in the China Super leauge, we are crap-tastic). Not suprisingly come out bright eyes and all for season two, and I start getting worked.

Fine. I try to change things up(passing from short to long, breaking out a little 433 at home, little tweaks) ... and my team goes from losing 1-0 to getting blown out 4-0. Consistently. Consistently horrible. Go back to my first season tactics, go back to losing 1-0. Which I guess is better ... but not quite what I am looking for (not going to get to run the Chinese national team with that kind of record).

So, my question. Since I went out and got a bunch of players to fit my first season system, what might be the best ways to change that system (to avoid the AI gaming me) without, you know, really changing my system (so I can keep playing to the strengths of my squad)? I guess another way of putting it is, just how different do you have to be (game to game, season to season) to keep the AI on its toes?

I guess this could be a lot of things ... I could have bad chemistry, I could have not paid enough attention to some of the less obvious ratings on my new players ... but I really feel that this is a tactical problem that requires a tactical solution. I know my squad is better this season than last, so I gotta think that I am just not tapping into their potential so far.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

The Lambs

Elie, "crap-tastic" now there is a classic word, right up there with poo poo head or crap-tacular.

We need a bit more info from you to be able to help.

It sounds like you got re-ranked and your now classified as one of the better or best teams in the league. This obviously means teams are going to play a lot more defensively against you and play a lot of counter attacking football.

Also have a look what your assistant manager says about your team in the team talk feed back. Here it will tell you if your team is working well togethor or if they are not gelling.

Then study a match, try and work out where the opposition is scoring and how they are stopping you scoring.

I suspect it is their wingers crossing in balls for their striker? If so make your full backs less offensive, increase their closing down and also move your defensive line up.

As for your lack of scoring, are you getting caught off side? Are you wingers getting marked out of the game? Or is it your midfield that is losing the ball?

All of this can be countered, but first you need to identify what is going wrong.

dickotheman

keep the same tactic just rename it, AI thinks its a different one, also at half time just change a setting or two ie, supply target man from feet to head, I do this when i lose a couple on the bounce and it works for me.

Elie

Thanks. I will do some more research along the lines you suggest. What I have noticed thus far is that defensively I am getting killed on the counter, which is particular frustrating because I brought in faster central defenders this season (the big strong headknocking types were just too expensive) specifically so they could get back on counter.

Offensively the problem that spings to mind is that my strikers and the ball are magentically repellant in the penalty area. First season I was getting sweet through balls from my attacking midfielders right up in there (and my strikes finish strong) but this year, the middle is clogged, and my strikes may as well be dwarfs for all the headers they win. 15 games in and I have a midfielder leading me in goals (while I have next to a million in salary spent on two impotent strikers). So, you know, I gotta fix that somehow.