Greetings all,
Before we get started, i now play the Classic version of the game.
I am only interested in Tactics, Scouting/Recruitment and Matches. The Full Fat version of the game is so bloated with press-conferences, media interaction and utter non-sense it has become a chore to play for me.
How does this impact testing?
Very little, in fact i believe Classic is the perfect testing ground for tactics as match days are a 'neutral' environment with less factors influencing results outside of the tactic itself.
Results by players using the tactic in the Full Fat version of the game are consistent with mine.
Ok,
Post 15.3 my Apex Predator 15.2 tactic took a bit of hit, adding retain possession recovered some of the magic but it was not as dominant as before.
I tried a few different formations but couldn't get 'that feeling' i get when i know i've nailed it. Winning and dominating at home is one thing but doing so away against the big boys would be the marker of an excellent tactic.
I didn't think there was much wrong with the attacking play of AP, the Wide Midfielders cutting inside, supported by 2 central midfielders and 2 strikers seemed to be the best attacking set up i could get this year with the seeming demise of the Inside Forward and 1 Striker Tactics.
There were a few things bugging me though and i set about changing them.
The deep striker role, I originally opted for the Complete Forward support role as I wanted the most advanced of the Support Strikers as i figured there will be a lot of players already operating behind the Advanced Forward and i didn't want my Support Striker too deep getting in the way.
The fact that Complete Forwards are hard to find (impossible in lower leagues) grated and I noticed runners from the Central Midfield strata could be quite slow to get into advanced positions so there was loads of space for a deeper Striker to flourish, so i've gone with a Deep Lying Forward. As well as assisting a lot those later runs from a bit deeper are deadly and mine have been bagging loads of goals.
The Central Midfield pair, previously we had 2 Ball Winning Midfielders one support, one defend. They worked really well under 15.2 but under 15.3 they were all over the place closing people down leaving a great big hole in front of my back 4.
Decided to re-think this, i wanted 1 deeper holding position, closing down less. His role defensively is to 'stall counter' attacks allowing our team time to get into position. He does this by obstructing opposing players causing them to pass backwards or sideways rather than rashly going for a death or glory tackle! We could utilize the Deep Lying Playmaker role with more direct passing for him to dictate play and launch some counter attacks which are now very potent.
The 2nd role was a no brainer, Box to Box midfielder hammering up and down the right channel, supporting attacks yet able to get back and put in a defensive shift. The DLP stalls 'em, the Box to Box gets into 'em with some big tackles.
Outside of the player roles, i wanted the team to keep its shape better. I dropped the team pressing ethic a little which gives me control over who presses, where and when. Some players still press hard, other retain shape and hold position.
I also changed to structured to ensure we keep our shape in more situations and are less 'gung ho'.
Another major change is upping the Tempo to HIGH, this also increases the passing range and makes us a little more direct.
The upshot of this is were are winning the ball a bit deeper, with our opponent more committed to attack and out of position.....which means........ THE COUNTER ATTACK IS FIRMLY ON!
Someone smarter than me said football matches are won and lost in the transition phase, when the ball 'turns over'. So the idea behind improving the tactic was to be in better shape to defend when we lose the ball and be set up for deadly counter attacks when we win it.
My results seem to suggest its working.
CRYSTAL PALACE - SEASON 1 - ORIGINAL SQUAD
Media prediction was last. 90 goals with that team is exceptional. Dwight Gale was leading Premier League scorer with 31 goals. +31 goal difference is significant for the weakest team in the division.
43 points at home, 23 points away. With the home bias in the match engine, happy with 23 points away with Palace.
Lost in Semi's of League Cup on Penalties to Arsenal. Lost in FINAL of FA Cup to West Brom (was shafted)
MAN CITY - SEASON 1 - ORIGINAL SQUAD
Media prediction 2nd. Walked the league by 21 points. 131 goals is nearly an average of 3.5 per game. 40 more goals than the next highest scoring team. No one can live with that. Defence was ok, i actually made a couple of tweaks before the Palace test which tightens things up. If i ran the City test again i'd expect a better defensive record.
THE SQUADS
Goals galore.
THE TACTIC
DOWNLOAD
https://www.mediafire.com/?5555t6fcueg975z
NO OI'S
TRAINING DOESN'T MATTER
PITCH SIZE DOESN'T MATTER
**** PS - CORNERS - Set your FULL BACKS to take them (Attributes don't matter for this routine
) ****
Before we get started, i now play the Classic version of the game.
I am only interested in Tactics, Scouting/Recruitment and Matches. The Full Fat version of the game is so bloated with press-conferences, media interaction and utter non-sense it has become a chore to play for me.
How does this impact testing?
Very little, in fact i believe Classic is the perfect testing ground for tactics as match days are a 'neutral' environment with less factors influencing results outside of the tactic itself.
Results by players using the tactic in the Full Fat version of the game are consistent with mine.
Ok,
Post 15.3 my Apex Predator 15.2 tactic took a bit of hit, adding retain possession recovered some of the magic but it was not as dominant as before.
I tried a few different formations but couldn't get 'that feeling' i get when i know i've nailed it. Winning and dominating at home is one thing but doing so away against the big boys would be the marker of an excellent tactic.
I didn't think there was much wrong with the attacking play of AP, the Wide Midfielders cutting inside, supported by 2 central midfielders and 2 strikers seemed to be the best attacking set up i could get this year with the seeming demise of the Inside Forward and 1 Striker Tactics.
There were a few things bugging me though and i set about changing them.
The deep striker role, I originally opted for the Complete Forward support role as I wanted the most advanced of the Support Strikers as i figured there will be a lot of players already operating behind the Advanced Forward and i didn't want my Support Striker too deep getting in the way.
The fact that Complete Forwards are hard to find (impossible in lower leagues) grated and I noticed runners from the Central Midfield strata could be quite slow to get into advanced positions so there was loads of space for a deeper Striker to flourish, so i've gone with a Deep Lying Forward. As well as assisting a lot those later runs from a bit deeper are deadly and mine have been bagging loads of goals.
The Central Midfield pair, previously we had 2 Ball Winning Midfielders one support, one defend. They worked really well under 15.2 but under 15.3 they were all over the place closing people down leaving a great big hole in front of my back 4.
Decided to re-think this, i wanted 1 deeper holding position, closing down less. His role defensively is to 'stall counter' attacks allowing our team time to get into position. He does this by obstructing opposing players causing them to pass backwards or sideways rather than rashly going for a death or glory tackle! We could utilize the Deep Lying Playmaker role with more direct passing for him to dictate play and launch some counter attacks which are now very potent.
The 2nd role was a no brainer, Box to Box midfielder hammering up and down the right channel, supporting attacks yet able to get back and put in a defensive shift. The DLP stalls 'em, the Box to Box gets into 'em with some big tackles.
Outside of the player roles, i wanted the team to keep its shape better. I dropped the team pressing ethic a little which gives me control over who presses, where and when. Some players still press hard, other retain shape and hold position.
I also changed to structured to ensure we keep our shape in more situations and are less 'gung ho'.
Another major change is upping the Tempo to HIGH, this also increases the passing range and makes us a little more direct.
The upshot of this is were are winning the ball a bit deeper, with our opponent more committed to attack and out of position.....which means........ THE COUNTER ATTACK IS FIRMLY ON!
Someone smarter than me said football matches are won and lost in the transition phase, when the ball 'turns over'. So the idea behind improving the tactic was to be in better shape to defend when we lose the ball and be set up for deadly counter attacks when we win it.
My results seem to suggest its working.
CRYSTAL PALACE - SEASON 1 - ORIGINAL SQUAD
Media prediction was last. 90 goals with that team is exceptional. Dwight Gale was leading Premier League scorer with 31 goals. +31 goal difference is significant for the weakest team in the division.
43 points at home, 23 points away. With the home bias in the match engine, happy with 23 points away with Palace.
Lost in Semi's of League Cup on Penalties to Arsenal. Lost in FINAL of FA Cup to West Brom (was shafted)
MAN CITY - SEASON 1 - ORIGINAL SQUAD
Media prediction 2nd. Walked the league by 21 points. 131 goals is nearly an average of 3.5 per game. 40 more goals than the next highest scoring team. No one can live with that. Defence was ok, i actually made a couple of tweaks before the Palace test which tightens things up. If i ran the City test again i'd expect a better defensive record.
THE SQUADS
Goals galore.
THE TACTIC
DOWNLOAD
https://www.mediafire.com/?5555t6fcueg975z
NO OI'S
TRAINING DOESN'T MATTER
PITCH SIZE DOESN'T MATTER
**** PS - CORNERS - Set your FULL BACKS to take them (Attributes don't matter for this routine
) ****