Is the ME trolling? Challenge accepted!

[apalaxe]

After 18 matches with only 18 points with my first save in FM13 i was starting to think that the ME was trolling me really bad; somehow i decided to try to figure out if i could exploit the AI to at least outscore the opponent.

As i started to watch full games keeping an hawk eye on the players behaviour i wondered if i could tweak the player instructions to my advantage. Here's what happened:

I started to check the FB player instructions and i changed the defending to Zonal, Tight marking=No, after i did that the result was dramatic, the FB no longer rushed to the IF/Winger leaving an open door inside or space for the opponent FB to run and cross.

I changed the FB player instructions further to move up more often, cross more, pass more trough balls, again with dramatic results: the FB is now an extra unmarked attacker on the wing and completely changed the flow of the game, it looks like i am watching football now

Next i will be be starting to tweak the CD in my pursuit to park the bus like a boss

I am not sure if SI did this on purpose or by accident, because i rarely touched player instructions in FM12 (i have limited tactical knowledge and i think of player instructions as advanced settings) but i suspect this may be one reason why people are disappointed with the ME/player behaviour.

 

[epic terrorist]

I'll give it a go, I've just started a new game so once i get a job i'll let you know how it goes

 

[epic terrorist]

just got vulla job so will let you know how it turns out my friend going to do it with a 451 what formation do you use?

 

[apalaxe]

just got vulla job so will let you know how it turns out my friend going to do it with a 451 what formation do you use?

I usually use 2 wingers and 1 AF depending on the players i have i use 433 or 451, on the midfield anything from 2 DM to 1 AM but in the back i stick with 2 FB (Support) and 2 CM (Limited)

 

[thomas_e]

Interesting points, apalaxe. Even though the game is in a need of a patch to correct some of the defensive/GK behaviour, I truly hope that the difficulty of the game is on purpose! So many people on this forum complain about not winning games that they dominate in possession and chances, and not winning the titles that they expext, even when the team they are playing with are doing worse in real life!


What team are you playing with, mate? Would also be interesting to know about your tactic.


Im halfway in my 3rd season with QPR and I've basically played with a different tactic every season. The first season i played a rather defensive flat 4-4-2, with Ji-Sung Park as a defensive winger. This was very effective in preventing crosses from the right side, but leaving my left wing playing Karim Ait Fana very exposed. Luckily I had Fabio as a left back, doing a good job 1 vs 1. I finished 4th in the league, which I was really happy with. I scored quite a few goals, with Cisse winning the golden boot, but my attacking build-up play was at times horrible. Park doesnt hit good enough crosses to play in a defensive wing role and the midfield did not contribute enough with goals.

The second season, I had to change tactics, when it was obvious that the opponent was playing very reactive, shaping their tactics to beat me. I changed to a 4-3-3 playing with an anchorman, two central midfielders, wingers playing high up the pitch and a lone striker. I finished 3rd in the Premier League, and got knocked out by Barca in CL after the group stage. I won 3-1 at home, but away it was obvious that my tactics left my full backs way to exposed against superior opposition! Barca basically scored all their 3 goals (3-0 victory) from crosses, playing all their attacks through Messi on the right wing (my left back, Taye Taiwo ended with a 4.9 rating I think). Finishing 3rd in the league was great, but both my full backs ended up with a season rating of around 6.6.

In the third season I tried playing a 4-2-3-1 with two deep midfielders, somehow I thought that would solve anything. It made it worse! With an anchorman and a deep playmaker my defensive line dropped deeper, leading to more room between my wingers and full backs. So even when I was winning, my full backs got a terrible match rating at times. I've now changed back to the formation i played in the second season, 4-1-2-2-1, but i've put my full backs on "defense" instead of "supporting". This has led to two victories and no chances from crosses in the box. It's interesting apalaxe, that you have succeded with playing your wingers more offensive! I play with zonal marking, but I havent made any changes to the tight marking instructions. It's still a problem that its such a big gap between my full backs and wingers though, and Tom Huddlestone as an anchorman doesnt make it better with his 8 in acceleration and pace, not being able to put any decent pressure on the oppositions wingers.

Hoping that playing my full backs with a defensive setting wont leave to much room in behind them, and that preventing crosses is the biggest challenge we face on FM13!

I apologise for typo's, english isnt my first language.

 

[apalaxe]

Interesting points, apalaxe. Even though the game is in a need of a patch to correct some of the defensive/GK behaviour, I truly hope that the difficulty of the game is on purpose! So many people on this forum complain about not winning games that they dominate in possession and chances, and not winning the titles that they expext, even when the team they are playing with are doing worse in real life!


What team are you playing with, mate? Would also be interesting to know about your tactic.

Hi Thomas_e, thanks for asking, i started unemployed and i am playing in the Portuguese second league with Santa Clara.

I never change tactics dramatically, even tough i train a 4 3 3, 4 5 1 and 4 2 3 1 from start i usually chose the tactic that suits best my players as long as i keep a basic back 4 (2 FB and 2 CD Limited) and 2 Wingers AM with 1 AF. For the midfield i change according to my available players or the opposition, sometimes 2 DM + 1 CM or 2 CM + 1 AM... I rarely play any other tactic as i like wing play.

In the previous versions i never felt the need to go into "advanced settings" or player individual instructions but it seems i do not have a choice now.

What i noticed with the FB is that they close down the IF or Winger as soon as they come closer leaving space in the edge of the box for the opponent to run in or shoot from, or the opponent FB to run by the line and cross unmarked.

I solved this by changing the FB to Zonal marking + tight Marking=No, now they sit there patiently and if the opponent tries to run the line to cross then they close in, also when they run to close in the CD comes after to close the space left open. There are still further tweaks needed for the CD and FB but basically the point i am trying to make is that it seems to me that the defenders are set by default to Man Marking.

 

[thomas_e]

Very interesting points. It seems that we both play with the same basic philosophy, I cant play without wingers since FM10

I've always enjoyed adjusting the "advances settings", but I do feel that one should never adjust these settings before its obvious during a game that some changes needs to be made. I often change the space that my wingers should run into depending on their style of play, but before I've spotted the need for change in a game, I dont touch it. Keeping it simple is often the way to go! But you play with Limited CD's? Might be better to stop crosses!

I'll definitely try playing "tight marking=no", but you say that you have your FB's moving up more often? But they still manage to sit back when your opposition goes on the counter? Do you play them with "attack"? I dont have english as my default language in FM, hopefully the expressions are understandable =)

 

[apalaxe]

Very interesting points. It seems that we both play with the same basic philosophy, I cant play without wingers since FM10

I've always enjoyed adjusting the "advances settings", but I do feel that one should never adjust these settings before its obvious during a game that some changes needs to be made. I often change the space that my wingers should run into depending on their style of play, but before I've spotted the need for change in a game, I dont touch it. Keeping it simple is often the way to go! But you play with Limited CD's? Might be better to stop crosses!

I'll definitely try playing "tight marking=no", but you say that you have your FB's moving up more often? But they still manage to sit back when your opposition goes on the counter? Do you play them with "attack"? I dont have english as my default language in FM, hopefully the expressions are understandable =)

I play my FB support, i have adjusted the player instructions for them to cross more and play more trough balls, also to close upper in the field. They sometimes end up overlapping the wingers and crossing from the all up the field, also they are allways unmarked what creates a lot of chances in attack

They hold their position in the corner of the 18 yard box when defending, if the opponent is passing around the ball in midfield, that is what i meant. Before the tweaks they would rush to close the player with ball near to them leaving a lot of space open behind them.

I like Limited CDs because i don't want them to try do more that they are able to and ending up losing the ball That may not when you have a decent team but playing in lower leagues i like to keep things simple, defenders=defend, Midfielders=pass and wingers cross and often score, only very rarely i get to have a dangerous AF that actually scores often

Also playing with weak teams that don't score much is very important to have a strong defence, i usually look to get the best back 4 my club's money can afford to avoid being outscored.

 

[thomas_e]

Hmm, good stuff! Yeah, I'll definitely try going for tight marking = no. But is this something you do for your whole team of just your FB's?

Even more important to have a solid defense when playing with a weaker team! Although I feel much like a non-league side when playing Juventus and Barca in my CL group =)

 

[dregana]

I've tried this also, not sure with the zonal + tight marking = no bit, but making my full back on support, with shooting rarely and crossing often and cross aim set for far post - it is very effective. Only trouble is sometimes the striker fouls the GK when scoring. But when he doesn't - it often leads to a goal. Make sure your full back has good crossing for this to work (also your ST good in the air).

 

[apalaxe]

Hmm, good stuff! Yeah, I'll definitely try going for tight marking = no. But is this something you do for your whole team of just your FB's?

I have only started yesterday evening with the tweaking of the player instructions so i have to experiment further. Also i am not sure about the influence of the "opposition instructions", if they override the player instructions.

One thing i noticed is that having both CD's marking zone leaves to much room for the opponents strikers, i have been thinking about setting 1 stopper to man mark and 1 cover to zone to see if it works better. Or maybe the other way around? I have limited knowledge of tactics so it's try and error

 

[thomas_e]

Yeah, it might be an idea, but it might create some problems if your opponent is playing with two strikers. If one of your defenders is man marking the poacher/AF and your second defender is covering his zone, it can give the second striker a lot of room to work with, especially if they swap positions. But if there are to much room for them to play in, why not use one defender in the cover-role and the other one with a bit more closing down, trying to break up the attacks early!

 

[apalaxe]

I've tried this also, not sure with the zonal + tight marking = no bit, but making my full back on support, with shooting rarely and crossing often and cross aim set for far post - it is very effective. Only trouble is sometimes the striker fouls the GK when scoring. But when he doesn't - it often leads to a goal. Make sure your full back has good crossing for this to work (also your ST good in the air).

I will definitely try that, the FB crossing to far post. I think i have scored before by chance exactly that way

 

[thomas_e]

I've tried this also, not sure with the zonal + tight marking = no bit, but making my full back on support, with shooting rarely and crossing often and cross aim set for far post - it is very effective. Only trouble is sometimes the striker fouls the GK when scoring. But when he doesn't - it often leads to a goal. Make sure your full back has good crossing for this to work (also your ST good in the air).

Where does your FB'***** crosses from? From deep I guess?

 

[apalaxe]

Yeah, it might be an idea, but it might create some problems if your opponent is playing with two strikers. If one of your defenders is man marking the poacher/AF and your second defender is covering his zone, it can give the second striker a lot of room to work with, especially if they swap positions. But if there are to much room for them to play in, why not use one defender in the cover-role and the other one with a bit more closing down, trying to break up the attacks early!

I see your point, i already have the CD's set up as Stopper/Cover duo but it happened that a cross went over their heads in the small box and both didn't react ending up in opposition player easy goal in their backs near the far post (both were zonal at that time). That was what made me think that some further tweaking was in order.

My reasoning is that a Stopper is already supposed to close in asap to stop possible threat so making it man marking only reinforces the duty; cover on the other hand is there as backup (sweeper) and should keep an eye around.