From Scoring Machine to Losing Machine (Arsenal)

[Morba]

I play a 4-4-2 like the pic, and, well.. I've hammered Chelsea by 3 to 0, I've scored 2-3 goals per match and I had only taken 2 goals in 8 matches. But one day as any other my team just started to fail at everything it tried!

I've stopped scoring, I've began to take MANY goals and to lose in matches that everyone expected me to win (like versus Bolton, Wigan and so on). My defense ALWAYS get dribbled by some weak forward, and my defender always go the two to tackle only one player and then other forward comes, without any one marking him, and scores. What should I do?

And my team morale is "Very Good" or "Superb", depending on the player.

 

[Craig01]

Well Fabregas is out for you and obviously he's one of the best players in the game and as a Midfielder he's going to make a huge impact towards your team if they're now having to adapt with a new midfielder, not as good as Fabbers!

Personally I'd try and move my defense around a bit; play Alves instead of Sagna and even play Djourou instead of Gallas, yeah it may be drastic but see what difference it makes, bring Gallas on half way through the game. And not only that, your team looks quite tired, try sending a few that are constantly tired on holiday!

Hope any of that helps!

 

[Morba]

I'll try to rotate the defenders a little bit to get some new results.. And unfortunally my team started losing before Fabregas picked up his injury =/

 

[Craig01]

Ahhhhh really, what is his return date?

You must be nearing the transfer window now so have you got a remaining transfer budget? If so get some new defenders in and get rid of the ones who aren't working!

 

[JohnNg938]

Consider shoring up the defence with a DMC playing. I had the same situation (I think there is something about form - where a team just plays badly for a stretch). When it happens to me then I bolster the D to get some draws and play out of the bad situation. In some games if still 0-0 after 1 half then switch back to a more attacking formation and ****** a win. Also play counter attacking - Adebayor and Van Persie are both fast so they can score even playing alone.

 

[Morba]

I've tried already putting a DM there, with the 4-4-2 diamond something from Willson, but it didn't worked. Well, Fabregas is back and since that I won two games and I had a draw with Tottenham, in their stadium.

I have 39 millions, maybe I'll get 42 millions.. What should I look for? I really think my defenders are good.. Take a look at Demichellis, Touré and Djourou. And what should I do: put them to try some offside and push up the defensive line? Or what?

 

[Chrono]

Three seasons why you perform bad:

Your Team Talk is not appreciated
Your Training is getting boored
Your Training is too heavy

 

[adichemeng]

vedran corluka is very good,

try MAMADOU SAKHO
he is very great

 

[adichemeng]

your defender's average rating is not good,
if i were u,
i will sell them,
mamadou sakho is the answer,

you can compare with my team - spurs
now im in the early 3rd season

 

[adichemeng]

i think you should put your players in their natural position

 

[Lidfinder]

Maybe try using Pirlo a little deeper. Any holding midfielder infact, if you have cash sign someone like Veloso or check if Flamini has got itchy feet at Milan yet. It won't help that neither Pirlo or Deco (or Fabregas for that matter) are particularly fast and will take longer to get back to help out defensively. Also the lack of wingers tracking back will leave you exposed especially if someone's playing against you with five attack minded players; it'll leave you just four against 5 then you're bound to concede a few.

 

[Luis Aragones Legacy]

read somewhere that when players are tired they are more prone to concentration mistakes, and they obviously loose physical attributes and speed so check that. I didn't know there was a form gap in the game, and anyway being arsenal you can't rotate a little bit????????

 

[Morba]

But man, they're with this condition because I just had a game.. When we would play the next match, they were all with 90+ condition!

 

[Zebedee]

I think you're pressing forward too much in midfield (in fact all over - I hope that's not the condition they start the match in! If it is, then you need to really look at what training you've got them on.) and teams have 'learnt' how to cope. Hard to tell much otherwise as I've no idea what mentality settings etc you're using.

Stick to 2 in the middle, but using a mc who has dmc ability, set his mentality to the same as your defence but give him a bit more freedom than you would a straight out dmc - the argentinian you posted a pic of would seem ideal in that role as back up to Pirlo, but who knows til you try him there. Reduce the runs forward of your attacking midfielder and give him support instructions for your strikers so that he'll do a fair shift.

When I get chance I'll post some 4-4-2 formations I designed using the TTF documents as a guide which have been serving me really well in my career game. I use the Benitez 5 by 5 mentality structure which suits my style so it might not work for you. The problems with changing tactics radically is that your team may struggle with them for a few games and you'll see poorer results first - playing a new tactic in its defensive variant for a few games seems to pay huge dividends. At least that's the case in the lower divisions, I'd imagine the **** would adapt faster but still take a couple of games for something radically different.