Hitting the Wall - a tale of two ups and a definite down?

[Dave Bland]

Hi all,

First post on here so please bear with me/take it easy/lol extra hard of the noobness of it all!

OK, so I have been playing FM since they started and consider myself a pretty experienced user, without ever putting in any really solid sessions. That's changed in the past fortnight or so though after I decided to dust off FM2011 and see what I could do with my local side, Welling United.

They start off as a pretty average BSS side. Being a bit out of touch with Welling in real life, I decide to go out and scout some youngsters to spruce up the squad. I won't bore you with the details but I get promoted as champions in the first season, racking up ~95pts by the end of the year. Good times.

So. up to the BS Premier. This, I think, has to be tougher. And it is. I struggle for the first 10-12 games before signing two Irishmen, Paudie Quinn and Terry Dixon. From there it's onwards and upwards. We scrape in to the last of the Playoff spots but I fancy I am massively overmatched and won't go up. We get past Fleetwood in the Semi 2-1 on aggregate before spanking Crawley 5-1 at Wembley. SWEEEEEET!!!! Best 90 minutes the team has ever played and we're up to League 2.

And this is where it stops. I am now up in League 2, quite possibly two seasons too soon for their own good. We're getting owned. Played 10, won 1, lost 9.

What to do? The squad is pretty big, with around 30 players who are in or around the First Team squad. They're a very young squad, but finances mean I have yet to spend a penny on players. Yup, everyone has been on a free. I think the problem is a lack of experience in the squad, but here's the question I'd like your input on:

When you've been promoted and you *know* your team is going to really struggle that next season, how do you equip your squad to scrap away and grab those valuable points?

Screenshots of key players, leagues, tactics, etc can be provided if people care I've basically always used 4-4-2 until this season. We got whooped in the first 5, I switched to 4-1-4-1 and have become more resilient but still struggle to score enough goals.

HELP!!

 

[phallus]

First of all, congrats on your promotions! It's not as easy as people will say, especially with the default teams, so making astute transfers is a must. Seems you've been doing an excellent job on that front.

Take a hard look at your squad and the competition you come up against. What are the inherent weaknesses of the squad? What strengths do you see? Let's start with the first question.

Why are you losing so much? Is it because your back four leak more goals than my beloved Arsenal? Or is it because your striking department just can't catch a break? Is your midfield being completely played off the pitch?

First thing I would do is look at the formation of my opponents and take copious notes. How does my team fare against a 4-4-2? A 4-5-1? 4-1-4-1? etc... Try to come up with a sort of average regarding weaknesses based off of each opponents shape. "I tend to lose dominance in the midfield more with a 4-5-1 than with a 4-4-2" or "my back four get raped against a 4-1-4-1." Next see about your own tactics. Are you attacking right out of the gate? Are you parking the bus? A mixture of both? Hitting them on the counter? Again, measure your tactics against each opponent's shape. Does a counter attack work better against their 4-4-2? Who are their best players? Will it help closing them down, or marking them tightly? Will you try to break their legs (I usually do )? Will playing more direct work against a certain opponent, or the Big Sam school of long balls be more effective?

Second, take note of your squad. What is their natural position affinity? Can you see if that midfielder of yours is more apt for a box-to-box or a defensive midfielder? How about that striker, is he more of a target man or a poacher? How about that back line? Perhaps they fare better as a ball playing defender, or how about a limited defender cover. Experiment with that as well using some friendlies.

Once you get a general idea of your players and shapes, it's time to come up with different variations depending on the availability of players. If all but one of your strikers is crocked, it makes little sense to go 4-4-2, eh? Sure, you can shoe-horn in an attacking midfielder, but they probably won't be having their best game in that position. Try to shape your team around the strongest available squad you have. Train them in a different variety of positions until you can get about a good 3-4 that they seem comfortable in. Then tweak those until you have a template from which you can change on the fly during a match. Also, make sure to get scouts and an *** man with high tactical ratings as they will be able to give you sage advice about the upcoming games.

Third, if your squad isn't up to par, why not take a ganders at the loan department? Many excellent loans require no money on your part, and sometimes, if you loan them for long enough, they may be available for a reduced transfer fee. Take them on trial first before you loan them because scout reports can only give so much info without an 'in the flesh' analysis. You may also want to flog off players that are just not cutting it anymore. For instance, my striker Guylain Ndumbu-whatshisname was a goal scoring beast for my Lewes team from Blue Square all the way through L2. Now in L1 he's not only 30 years old, he has had more bad games in half a season in L1 than he has had in all the seasons prior. Find people that are consistently letting you down. Try sticking them in the stiffs. If that doesn't motivate them, flog them off for some cash and get better players. Was he your best player before? Well, if he isn't working his magic, it's not much of a fruitful relationship now is it?

Fourth, get a couple of scouts to start analyzing the current league you're in: reserves, league and under-18s as well as any cup games like paint trophy, FA, etc. You'll start getting information about certain players that may come up against you, and you'll have a better idea of how to shut them up, or even poach them!

Good luck with your L2 challenge mate. Even if you get demoted, you'll have had the experience of what L1/L2 is all about and how to muster up another challenge after promotion. A word of advice: After L2, it seems to get exponentially harder for some people. L2 was relatively easy for me but right now I'm fighting against relegation in L1. I've read other posts that champ is even worse. Looks like you have some transfer homework to do!

 

[Steve*]

You gotta switch to a more defensive formation ilke defend philosophy and long passes and use conter attack whe your the underdog. It will take a few games to work but should reap the rewards

 

[Dave Bland]

Hi guys and big thanks to Phallus for the time taken to reply.

Although both responses varied heavily in length, they both proved to be right. I started taking more note of which formations my 4-4-2/4-1-4-1 systems were working better against and mixing it up a bit more. Especially away from home I tended to be more defensive with a view to grinding out for the points.

In the end it didn't quite work, missing safety by 5pts. It was a close run thing though and the second half of the season showed some signs of encouragement for a second **** at L2. All I need to do now is get back out of the BS Premier!

Thanks again all,
Dave