AI adaptation Question

[archieboy]

Hi all,

I have used one of the most common 4231 tactics in 18.3.3 update.

The season kicked off wonderfully and the most goal i scored is through my two inside forward; they 'run onto balls' then hit a low cross to the other side then scored. my midfielder and the target man is usually distribute the balls to those two wingers.

However, after half a season passed, this tactic started not working as AI adapt to it. then the most common scene is my midfielder pass pointless passes to each other and then through the ball to the sides where my wingers are closed marked by the opponents.

My disappointment is the midfielder. no matter how i tweaked the tactic, they are still crowd in the center and pass meaningless passes to each other.

I guess this is the most common scene for most of the players here, any way to solve this issue?

 

[Bigpapa42]

The AI doesn't "adapt". The game doesn't have learning AI. What happens is that at mid-season, you side is "re-assessed". And if you are doing well, opposition AI will view you as more of a threat. The odds change. Teams that were attacking you and leaving space are now sitting back more and that space is gone.

Think of it like Leicester. Their title season, they were relegation favorites. Everyone attacked them. They defended well and had endless space to counter attack into. Some teams adapted, and some did not. In FM, more teams would adapt and start to see them as more of a threat after mid-season, meaning that this style would be a bit less successful. It wouldn't necessarily fail entirely, because defending well is still defending well.

If your mids are just passing to each other and that's it, they lack options. This could be because you have very short passing set but players aren't close enough, it could because opposition are packing the midfield with bodies and taking away passing lanes. It could be that you don't have enough attacking options. It could be that those attacking options aren't moving off the ball enough so they are getting marked too easily. Watch the matches. Stop and analyze. When those passes aren't going anywhere, why not? What legit passing options did they have? Why did the player not take the "better" option? Could be a team instruction, role, duty, or even a change of shape that's needed. A common mistake is to use a really high line and then have problems breaking down the opposition. You've compressed them into their zone, which actually makes it easier for them to prevent good shots. Sometimes pulling back can be really effective.