Wow, that sounds like a nice start! That goal is a banger. Do you know a good place to learn tactics/formations for the game? I don't want to just download and use good ones that others have made. I feel like I need to understand how to set them up in the game better in order to do better.
I generally try to put my tactics to match where my biggest strengths are. At the moment, with Darlington, I have some really fast wingers who are the best rated at my team, so I distribute to the flanks, as an example. I also had a 6ft4 target man with 15 heading, so then I changed up to float crosses. I get the ball to the flanks and the
Also worth considering the risk/reward with tactics. Generally you take more of a risk to get more goals when you:
- Play with more width
- Play more direct (although saying that, I often think playing standard passing at lower leagues is worthwhile).
- Play a higher line
- Press more
- Overall mentality (be aware, that playing attacking will set a default of going slightly more direct, so if your team is poor at playing a direct game then this won't exactly benefit you!)
There's more, but these generally make more space on the field, which stretches the play and should mean you're able to see more action. Again, it's worth taking into consideration who is in your team. I also look at the panels on the tactics screen - you'll notice that even if you play someone who is, for example, a left back, but they're only 1 star, there'll be a lot of red in the panel. That's the first port of call to balancing the team, in an attempt to minimise the red panels. This is all done by trying to put your best players into preferred roles.
On top of what Bismarck said as well, there's a lot of analysis from games such as heat maps and average player positions, which can reveal a lot. For example, I noticed that my striker was, on average, a bit isolated up top, particularly from the centre midfielders. I changed one to a mezzala (as I noticed on the tactics screen it shows that role as slightly higher), and then managed to see a bit of an improvement for space on the field being filled.
This is really helpful, thanks Clusks!
One of the things I notice is that I'll get something really good going for a run of games then all of a sudden it just stops working. I'm guessing that the AI is adjusting to my tactics?
I'm starting to feel like I should be spending a bit of time looking at the formation and tactics that the other teams are using.
I've seen this before. I played as Parma on last year's game and was dominating my first 10 or so games. Then, all of a sudden, we would have games where we'd barely register a shot on target. I think I actually won my first game 6-0, and then by the 11th we would be lucky to get a single shot on target.
I think keeping the same shape is fine, it's more you have to start playing with the instructions a bit more - the high level stuff (cautious, positive, etc) is maybe the most important one; I change mine almost every game. Although I'm guessing it'd be worthwhile having a second tactic to switch to as a plan B (providing it works).
My Blyth game went through one of those FM moments, where the AI decided to just assassinate one of my positions and combine that with an inexplicable loss of form for, well, everyone.
We had hit the top of the division, dropped off and bounced back to first and then Right Midfielder Jarrett Rivers broke his ankle.
I put pocket sized, (5'3"), Adam Wrightson out on the right and he immediately strained his Achilles.
So then I put AM/FC Jack Robson on the right, not because he could play there but because he could run with the ball and might accidentally cross it to one of our players.
Dislocated shoulder.
I was tempted to just play without a RM at that point as it was obvious the game was going to injure whoever I put there, but instead made the mistake of putting wunderkind Sean Reid on the right only to watch him badly sprain his ankle.
I ended up putting a right back at right midfield, just through desperation really. Then started offering trials to anyone with a right foot and no job and went begging to the board for the extra few Euros it would require to sign someone.
At the same time my pair of forwards - Fewster and Maguire - both fell through a black hole into an alternate universe. Each put in a run of just over a thousand minutes between goals.
I tried the old psychological gambits of warning them in one-on-one chats and then pumping them up before games, but although both responded well to "I have faith in you!" neither scored.
At the end of September I'd collected the Manager of the Month award and we'd been top by a point. Ten games later we were fourth, seven points off leaders Curzon Ashton.
Oh, and Brexit has been announced. Foreigners aren't going to be banned outright, but there are minimum wage restrictions. If you want to start a non-UK player in your first 11 he has to be on at least €8,000 a week, or €3,000 for under 23s. So we will have to be entirely home-grown under those rules.
I will never say no to more FM content to put on in the background while I play FM.
Having watched the TNS game I'd say you need to move your defensive line back using the "out of possession" screen when you're playing them specifically. Two of their goals came from simple passes over the top into space between the defence and your keeper.
You could close some of that gap by switching the keeper to the "Sweeper Keeper" role, but not everyone is suited to that.
Pulling your team back towards your own goal would also mean TNS are further up when they lose the ball, meaning there could be chances for your team on the break with the long ball over the top, which is classic play against better sides.
They're still Total Network Solutions to me.
They're still Total Network Solutions to me.
They're always in a blob, mob-handed for me.
(Sorry, gratuitous Half Man Half Biscuit reference...but "TNS in the Blob, mob-handed" really is a line in one of their songs).
He's not kidding. (About 1:15)
He also says Standard Liege while riffing on "You're So Vain".
The sheer amount of UK culture I have learned from loving football.
The non plus ultra of their football references has to be "supercallifragelisticBorussiaMoenchengladbach'.
Now back to your regular programming.
Started a new game with Rayo Vallecano and somehow have won our first two games against Valencia and Leganas by a score of 6-1. Raul de Tomas is the f**king truth (he's got 4 of our 6 goals, and should have more).
Like a cat in a motivational poster, we're hanging in there.
Our last five games of DWDLW is really indicative of how our season is going now - generally positive, but eight points from a possible fifteen isn't going to be enough to challenge upwards and will probably require us to grimly hold on to make the playoffs.
The second draw was especially frustrating. We were completely dominant at home to Chorley but went into halftime only one-nil up. I told the team to avoid complacency and then gave them the "demand more!" shout after the break, but we never found the second goal and Chorley punished us with a scrappy equaliser in the 90th minute.
The loss was against York who are above us in the table, but that was also frustrating because we were 1-0 ahead when our high-potential CM got himself sent off for a two-footed challenge. York then scored three goals in the last seven minutes to put us to the sword.
Worse; that game was on Christmas Day.
New game called Football Drama has been released on Steam. Certainly looks a pretty game, I'm tempted to give it a go. Looks like it's another management game, from what I can tell.
Looks like a mobile port though?
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