retired_lcjackson

exactly plus the better team gets "cheated" often in football. i thought croatia where better than the turks and the turks ended up winning. in fact i can think of many times watch spurs this season in which we would control the majority of the match only to draw or lose. (but that might be more down to a certain incompetent goalie)

matty49

Yes, it may happen sometimes that you can lose to a poorer club. But not in the long run. The majority explanation to this is that your tactic is wrong if this happens. But this is an too easy explanation, because when things aren't going your way, you immediately start changing tactics and formation to gain something better. I've done it alot and often of no use when the AI finally has cracked your tactic. And here comes another strange problem...if the AI has outsmarted you with it's tactic against you, regarding one computercontrolled club in a single match, it makes no sense that the next poor club can achieve the same using the same tactic. Does the AI let all the other managers talk together so they all can use the same tactics ?
If the above is real, then there's always a chance that West Ham can beat ManUtd at Old Trafford, just by continuisly changing their tactic and formation until they find the tactic that really reveals Manutd's weak points. Is it really possible to try out a huge amount of tactics in a match to find the key to success?Normally such changes limits itself to low, middle or high pressure on the field during a match or change of the formation. Then...if West Ham finds the ultimate tactic against United, what is the possibilities of that Birmingham obtain detail information of this, to their match the next week after against United, and also uses it with great success?

retired_isooze

I have posted what I am about to say elsewhere on the forum but I feel that it also addresses the issues of the OP, so I have repeated it here.

One of the things I have noticed about FM08 is that your current form has a much bigger influence upon how the opposition plays against you.

In my current game, I have been winning and winning with my current side all season. My form is so good that I have had to start playing a very attacking system away from home against sides who are supposed to finish higher than me in the table.

I think the trouble is that a lot of people have immediate success over, say, 10-15 games with a counter attacking tactic (or perhaps a balanced one). Then, suddenly the opposition starts turning up defensively (despite pre-match odds) and the goals start flowing in the wrong end.

Part of the problem is the lower tempo, possession based football that the computer plays. The reason you concede such silly goals is because the defence sit too deep and allow the opposition the chance to have possession in your half of the field, thus the computer can make clinical chances and one of them is bound to go in. At the other end of the pitch, your team aren't creating clinical chances because they aren't playing with enough width or the right attacking mentality. So, you miss chances, and this is exacerbated by the opposition scoring (which they normally do) because your player morale drops. Thus, you start getting beaten 2-0 and 3-0 each week and you can't see why.

My advice is, read the scout reports and watch how the opposition plays against you on the 2d screen. As soon as you are winning tons of games, your scout is going to report that each side is playing a defensive tactic and this is the first clue to the fact that you need to become more attacking. Playing balanced or defensive will be suicidal. You will see how the opposition has become more defensive on the 2d screen as the opposition players being more cautious with the ball, playing it more slowly, passing sideways and not committing too many players forward.

This is my experience so far - I have managed in BSS, BSP, League Two and now the Irish First division.

What does everyone else think? Does this ring true for your game?

C.

matty49

Crouchaldinho, very interesting theory. How do you keep your players in such good shape? I guess you have to do something in your training sessions ? I struggle to get all my players in 100% match fitness to the next match. I've had best success with this when I tweak the 'Strength' and 'Aerobic' sliders to a 'High' position. It's balancing on a knife's edge, because some players tends to get injuries.
Do you have a recipe for this ?

matty49

And it's most diffucult for the players that's not in the first team. Do they need to play matches in addition to the training to reach 100% match fitness.
Can players obtain better match fitness just by playing matches for the Reserves ?

deantibbetts

Yes, if I have a player injured I click "send to reserves until match fit" and he should come back 100% and in superb condition. First team squad members who don't play all the time never reach 100% for me.

dejasade

football is more than just footballing ability stats.
players are more than just stats. they are human beings. who can have off days, get unhappy with form, causing a snowball effect.

especially if they have an unknown manager who is telling htem to line up and play in strange formation/tactics.
so take a look at everything and you'll do better.

retired_chandleryan

Im in my 3rd season at Juventus and I think confidence has a lot to do with it as well. I won 11 games in a row, confidence high and me saying 'i expect a win' and eveything is fine. Then i lose at home 0-1 to Torino, my arch rivals (me 20 shots 11 on target 0 goals. them 1 shot 1 on target 1 goal) and then for the next seven games i can't but a win, confidence eroded and strikers stopping scoring, coupled with poor goalkeepeing form (ie losing 2-1 with me having 10 times as many shots as the oppo).

Cheated? No
Frustrated? Most definitley

Seems to happen every season like that, no matter what tactics you use, and I'm sure we have come up with ones that we feel are fantastic, there is some kind of reckoning. Not cheating bit annoying and part of football. Look at Villa, unbeaten in 14 last year, then no win for 10. It happens, and i'm sure that if you won every game that too would be boring!

FFlash

International competitions are different than club competitions so its irrelevant that you did well with Sampdoria your tactics just arent right for internationals

retired_isooze

I didn't mention anything to do with fitness in my post but I will answer your question anyway.

I make my own training schedules - I don't tend to have any schedules above 'medium' on the overall scale.

I don't push the strength and aerobic sliders too high unless I am specifically working on a player with poor physical stats and I think he will benefit from it. Most of the time, the strength and aerobic sliders are somewhere between medium and high for me.

I make sure the squad is match fit and give some of the squad players reserve team football to keep them match fit.

I rotate the squad a little bit at a time, especially if a player is falling below 95%.

I have a medium sized squad but I always have back-ups for attacking positions. Defensive players do not usually tire as much as attacking ones in my experience.

I also tend to design possession based tactics, often with 5 man midfields. I normally aim to dominate possession and keep the ball, regardless of my overall approach to the game. I figure the more I keep the ball, the less my side will tire from trying to win it.

In fact, my most attacking tactic is combines a 5 man midfield with a very short passing style and slow tempo. Despite the fact that I have my team pressing a great deal in this tactic, they don't tire very much. I figure this is because they have so much of the ball and don't do too much chasing. It is not uncommon for me to get to the end of the game playing this tactic and see that my side is mostly 80%.

Hope this helps.

C.