FM13: Tactical Observations

[@fplcentre]

This thread is for people to post any observations they have made regarding how FM13 differs in terms of tactical implementation.

This is not a place to ask for tactics or to discuss whether certain tactics work.

I believe Raikan and TheBetterHalf already have plenty of those threads in place for now. In other words, it is not meant for discussing specific tactics. It is for general observations about how the match engine differs in implementing our tactical decisions.

For example, the first major thing I've noticed about FM13 is that player roles have a much higher importance. In FM12, you could get away with both your CMs set to "Central Midfielder - Support" and just alter their player instructions so that 1 played slightly more attacking / defensive than the other. Now this does still kind of work in FM13, but it leads to a lot more short passing back and forth in midfield from my experience so far. In order to get that flow from defence to midfield then pressing on to attack, the combination of a Ball-Winning Mid (I set mine to defend) and a Deep-Lying PM (set to support) works much smoother. Now obviously, you may not be playing the same type of football as me, but my main point is the importance of player roles has been hightened when creating tactics. That's the kind of general observation we're looking for here, which can help others put together their own tactics easier.

Also, touchline shouts seem to be much more important too as AI opposition does seem to switch their play depending on the situation. If you take the lead in an away match, for example, the opposition will go noticeably more attacking and you will NEED to compensate for this. You cannot simply plug and play tactics for every match like you could on previous versions.

I know these 2 points I just made are kind of obvious, but they're just examples really... hopefully we'll get a lot more in depth observations as people get deeper into the game then we can take the points from here into the tactical discussion threads where we can design tactics keeping these things in mind.​

 

[matox13]

no tactic works if your team dont fight, no tactic fail if your team does... this years game is all reduced to that. there is something like 15% 85% morale

of course managing morale in this crappy game is as hard as ****, far from reality, as everyone who enters a pitch doesnt do it to lose

 

[Cai1234]

Never play the same tactic more than two games in a row, dont play with always closing down or high defensive line. Thats all ive learnt so far

 

[Bladesman1963]

FM13 seems a **** of lot more difficult than it's predecessors and consistency seems almost impossible to achieve, unless of course you pick the great challenge of managing Man Utd or Barcelona! Anyone can be a tactical genius with them, that's why I've never understood why people post their "wonder" tactics on here when the only teams they've tested them on are those two!
So far I've managed to get sacked 3 times and only got beyond my first season once. In contrast, with FM12 I took my League 1 side to the top 4 of The Premier League, winning both cups in consecutive years and reaching the Quarter Finals in Europe!
I am (very) gradually getting to know what works and what doesn't on FM13. So here are a few of the things I've learned so far.
1. Pack the midfield, even to the extent of playing without a striker if you have to!
2. Always set one of your DCs to cover, otherwise they just seem to stand and watch as an attacker latches onto a through ball and scores.
3. Clear your team selection immediately after a match to hinder the game in deciding who it's going to injure in training!
4. Constantly switch between your 3 prepared tactics to keep the game guessing, even though the tips tell you specifically not to do so!
5. Goalkeepers may as well not exist in this version! They make wonder saves from shots that are going miles wide and then let a hoof from the half way line bounce twice before going over their haed whilst standing in the 6 yard box!The near post thing is also well documented and needs sorting. Get your fingers out SI! So unless you've got Hart, Buffon or Casillas, forget about it!

 

[tubby]

no tactic works if your team dont fight, no tactic fail if your team does... this years game is all reduced to that. there is something like 15% 85% morale

of course managing morale in this crappy game is as hard as ****, far from reality, as everyone who enters a pitch doesnt do it to lose

I actually strongly disagree with you. My tactical side of the game really isn't the best, and in past years I've achieved glory with good transfer business for young players (read: gens, gens, gens all the time) and team talks (i.e. Benitez mixed with Wenger) but this year I simply can't. I am making basic tactical tweaks - im talking super basic, i.e. finding their weakest player and playing the strongest team I can in that area of the pitch like LB-RW etc - but I'm still lacking tactically and it's certainly costing me points.

I can read TBH or Raikan's analysis' and they make perfect sense to me but I just can't think it up on my own, it's only once someone explains it that it becomes obvious.

 

[CDXtreme]

If a team wants to score against me they just need to launch it to the far post they usually have a free man there...