Leeds Utd (Need a little help)

[Hebda]

After being promoted, finishing top of the league in my first season, I have recently started my second season in the Championship with Leeds Utd.

My first season went pretty much perfect for me and I pretty much walked league one, however, by doing so could have made my team worse and more unprepared for the Championship.

I decided to stick with most of my players from my first season and the Players Leeds start with, with a few additions because we performed so well in my first season, however, we seem to make way too many mistakes and my oppostion seems to win all the 50/50 challenges, and even the players I have brought in to hold up the ball, or win the ball in the air cant seem to do so.

I felt I needed a big centre foward who could hold the ball up well and win the ball in the air most of the time, and I managed to bring in Shefki Kuqi, who seemed perfect with what seems to be the right attributes, however, even with his strength and power and airiel abilities, he seems to always be beaten by players who are far inferrior to him.

Im currently playing a typical 4-4-2 formation, giving my team more freedom to attack and such when I play at home and against teams who are not as strong as me, and I try to keep it more tight and play a little more defensive when away from home and against teams that are stronger than mine, however, likeI said before, in almost every match, my team seems to make to many mistakes and the we dont win enough of the 50/50 challenges.

My assistant manager says he is very pleased with the depth of the squad and believes we should easily acheive a mid-table finish. He believes my weakest part of the team to be upfront, which I spent alot of time looking around to fix, but I just didnt have to funds to bring in a decent striker. He also says he do posses a strong team, but im not convinced and......

... Im not 100% sure what my strongest eleven is but here is my current first team:

Players with a * next to there name are players that play in other positions and players that I sometimes might player in other positions when injuries occur etc.

GK - Mickael Fabre / Casper Ankergren

DR - Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe* / Frazer Richardson
DL - Alan Sheehan / Nuno Valente
DC - Lubomir Michalik / Paul Huntington
DC - Ibrahim Kargbo* / Simone Calori

MR - Andy Robinson* / Jonny Howson*
ML - Bradley Johnson / Robert Snodgrass*
MC - Neil Kilkenny / Fabien Delph* / David Prutton
MC(d) - Anothony Obodia

FC - Jermaine Beckford / Matty Fryatt
FC - Shefki Kuqi / Toche

I could have cashed in on Jonny Howson and Neil Kilkenny as I had offers of up to 4 million for Jonny Howson, but he is by far my strongest player and I didnt want to get rid of him.

I also found it quite difficult up more transfer funds as the players I was trying to unload did not seem to attract many clubs.

Anyway, can anybody help me with a decent set tactic I should play most of the time and how I can improve on winning 50/50 challenges and how I can make less mistakes. Also, what type of players I should be looking to bring in to make my team stronger.

Thanks for your time!

 

[neihtloaf]

i am playing with leeds united and i focused on building a strong coaching staff and backroom to keep the sides younger players being able to come into the side and give a good performance every now and then.
beckford seems to score a large number of goals in any division for my side so keep him. i found that picking up a few younger good players on free transfers the first few years was enough to get the team back to the premier league.
howson and killkenny usually supplied beckford with good quality ball using these tactics:

mentality = +2/+3 clicks above neutral
creative freedom = -3/-4 clicks below neutral (little)
passing style = +1 clicks above neutral to -1 clicks below
tempo = +1 clicks above neutral to -1 clicks below
width = narrow (3 or 4 clicks from bottom of scale)
closing down = +3/+4 clicks above neutral (whole pitch)
time wasting = 2 clicks above bottom of scale (rarely)
defensive line = -2/-3 clicks below neutral
tackling = normal

just counter attack clicked.

also having a good assistant manager who can take over agaisnt the weaker teams is good

hope it helps!

 

[Hebda]

i am playing with leeds united and i focused on building a strong coaching staff and backroom to keep the sides younger players being able to come into the side and give a good performance every now and then.
beckford seems to score a large number of goals in any division for my side so keep him. i found that picking up a few younger good players on free transfers the first few years was enough to get the team back to the premier league.
howson and killkenny usually supplied beckford with good quality ball using these tactics:

mentality = +2/+3 clicks above neutral
creative freedom = -3/-4 clicks below neutral (little)
passing style = +1 clicks above neutral to -1 clicks below
tempo = +1 clicks above neutral to -1 clicks below
width = narrow (3 or 4 clicks from bottom of scale)
closing down = +3/+4 clicks above neutral (whole pitch)
time wasting = 2 clicks above bottom of scale (rarely)
defensive line = -2/-3 clicks below neutral
tackling = normal

just counter attack clicked.

also having a good assistant manager who can take over agaisnt the weaker teams is good

hope it helps!

Thanks for the advice. I will give the tactics a go, and yeah I try to make the most of Beckfords pace and he bagged me around 28 goals in league one.

What individual tactics do you use for Howson and Kilkenny?

 

[neihtloaf]

i must admit i didnt set any individual tactics until years later in the game lol
still did alright!
i think my good run back to the premiership was due to a consistent side and top squad harmony

 

[Hebda]

Well, I just beat Leicester at Ellend Road, 2-0, using the team tactics you gave me. But I must admit, god knows how I won, I had like 6 shots the whole match, 2 on target, which I scored from and where my only clear cut chances.

Leicester had around 20 shots, and like 8 on target, my keeper ended up with the man of the match award, pulling off some fantastic saves. Leicester also dominated on posession too.

 

[neihtloaf]

doesnt matter how you win them lol
let me know how it goes.

 

[Hebda]

Just got beaten 1-0 at Bristol City, and the match was so frustrating.

Every long ball they sent up, Maynard and webber won in the air, winning like 80%, and there both useless in the air. Also, everytime they got it to there feet and ran at my defence, my defence were struggling to stop them and there not exacly pacy, skillful players either.

and my two forwards, beckford and Kuqi were terrible, Kuqi couldnt win anything in the air, and the bristol defence beat beckford to almost every through ball.

This is what im most concerned and need help with.

EDIT: My keeper had another great performance and if it wasnt for him it, Bristol could have banged in like 5.

 

[Angus1]

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Sorry my brother thought typing this was funny^

 

[neihtloaf]

maybe try training beckford and your other striker to moving into channels?

 

[Hebda]

I will try tomorrow. I need a rest now, my heads hurting lol.

I also need help stopping my opposition from winning so much in the air as I feel this is the main problem with my team now, my defence. It doesnt seem to matter what kind of strikers im facing, whether there ariel abilities and strength are 1 or 20, they just seem to win everything against my defence.

Last season I had no problems with this, and my defence was probably the key to my success as we only conceded around 25 goals all season in League One. Now, in the Championship, we look like conceding 5 every game, even at home against teams that are looking to fight against relegation and against teams like Leicester, who came up with me that didnt cause half as many problems last season, and there team is almost the same too.

 

[Mijaan]

buy christian benitez (spelling?) 1.5M

good striker for even premier league.

good luck with leeds. keep me posted.
i'm a fan

 

[Hebda]

buy christian benitez (spelling?) 1.5M

good striker for even premier league.

good luck with leeds. keep me posted.
i'm a fan

Thanks for the tip, I will have a look at him and try bring him in, in Janurary.

EDIT: I managed to beat Preston at Ellend Road, 1-0, Beckford.

Another problem I have noticed I am having is that I seem to dominate possesion, but create very little and I dont get no where near as many key moments as I did last season. Is this because my team lacks creativety?

 

[neihtloaf]

just remember that taking on a new level of competition takes time for your players to adjust. i managed to go from championship to premier league in one season however i had a lot of lucky wins at the start of the season and then just managed to scrape through so give it some time

 

[hayeseeboi18]

your doing well. With regards to the creativity. What do you have your team instructions for creativity set to. If i were you i would set it to much/high with short passing style.

 

[Hebda]

your doing well. With regards to the creativity. What do you have your team instructions for creativity set to. If i were you i would set it to much/high with short passing style.

Thanks, this really has seemed to help.

I never realised my team were so creative, I use to set creativity to neutral and in the latter stages of the match when trying to run the clock down I would put it down to little. I took your advice and put it up High, like really high, and set Delph as my play-maker in the AMC position and it really has brought the best out of him.

Since I took your advice and made my team go attacking, with lots of creativity, my team has started playing much better, however, I have been using a direct style instead of a short passing style. I have also gone 5 unbeaten now and 3 wins o the bounce and it has taken me right back up there into the play-off positions.

I am now playing a 4-4-2 Wide Diamond formation and it is working wonders, playing attacking football home and away, just changing my defensive line before the match and changing my tactics around mid-late game depending on the score line and being home/away.

Also, Delph was given his Eng U21 Dabut and scored a hat-trick on it, hes also my top scorer this season, Hes on fire.

So, yeah, its all looking good, although there is still a long way to go, just over half a season.

EDIT: @ neihtloaf, I also took your advice and asked Beckford to run in channels, he was delighted with my comments and said he would try and change his game right away to do this, it seems to have worked very well for his confidence as it was really low. In fact, the whole dressing room is high on confidence lately, which it has not been in ages. Im delighted!

 

[noobito]

Im now in my 4th season as leeds, Back to back title wins and 8th in my first season in the prem.For the championship i made 3 signings (a few loans but just gap fillers really).

Kilgallon from Sheffield United, A Leeds fan makes him quite easy to sign and hes hasnt hit his peak in regards to his age, Alongside Huntington you can have a solid defence, His ability to ****** a goal on corners is great 8 goals from corners/freekicks not bad for a CB.

Gary Speed again from Sheffield United, I grew up watching him play for the mighty whites so i had to sign him up.Bargain buy and you will struggle to find a better DM/CM for the championship without blowing your entire bank balance.He shines in away games as a DM and for home games he makes the ideal playmaker with forward runs set to rarely due to his age and lack of pace.He can pick out the throughball and killer ball often and also his defencive skills make sure he can cut them out when the other team try them too.38 years old and still a solid player.Hes now 40 and just signed a new 2 year contract for me, I use him as backup now im in the prem ofcourse but he has never let me down.Also he can bang a goal in from distance when needed or a freekick.Even with him not making forward runs and playing every away game as DM he picked up 9 goals and 15 assist in his championship season.

Ebanks-Blake from Wolves, Simpley put if you find him often enough he will score.34 goals in total and 9 assists.His pace makes him a ideal partner for Beckford and the direct style of play i used.He shined in away games when i had Speed as the playmaker.Counter attacking at its best i even managed to steal a 0-2 win over Arsenal in the FA cup both goals on the counter and only 4 shots all game.MoM was Gary Speed with 2 assists and to make it even sweeter he injured Vela which made me smile.

I spent 1.8 million + Rui Marques on Ebanks-Blake 400k or so for Speed and im not sure what Kilgallon set me back but it wont have been that much.Ebanks-Blake had 1 season with me in the prem and was hit with injury after injury but still bagged 12 goals in 26 games and 4 assists.Sold him at the start of my 4th season to Fulham for 12 million.

Ebanks-Blake would be the one signing i would recommend if you have the money but Speed would be ideal for your style of play he has the creativity to control the game from midfield but doesnt need to get forward to do it giving Delph the freedom to get forward.

I played direct to suit my strikeforce but Speed has the creativity and passing to suit your style maybe better than it did mine.I just had him in more for away games and his defencive skills which for you could come in very handy if your giving Delph a AMC role he will fill that hole between midfield and defence perfect.

 

[Guymeister]

Lovin the Leeds!

Morning all,

Cheers for the tips guys, I will make a few notes for when I get home!
In my first season at mo on FM 09. Decided on Leeds as I wanted to try and suss the game out in a lower league. Well, at the moment I have:

P 25 W 14 D 11 L 0

25 games unbeaten an believe you me I am desperate not to get beaten!

Next game is the JPT Final, which I fancy winning!

I seem to have a problem killing teams off, have numerous shots on target but execution seems to be poor sometimes. As you can see, I am drawing far too many.

I am sitting 2nd behind Millwall, 1 point behind them. Played them at home, won 5-1!

Heres my team:

Ankergren
Hines (loan from boro)
Rindaroy (class signing)
Marques
Michalik
Howson
Smertin (Capt)
Gerard
Viler (Quality)
Beckford
Sears

My assistant finds me some class young slovenian players, however i need to trim squad.

Fabian Delph got cruciate damage in first 3 games.

Its January and I need to get 1 or 2 in to help me gain promotion.

Any tips?? Also the board said I must win league 1. If I come second, will they sack me?

 

[Morley]

Hey mate, im on my first season with leeds, bought vuckic, only 15 but already good enuff to play first team (league 1) havent bin promoted yet. Apperently ive bin told he turns into a wonderkid, its already startin to show for me, got him for 50k but they get 45% of next sale which is abit of an ****...dont no if this helps anyone but thought i wud throw it out there as i no finding good players on the petit amount of money leeds give u is fustrating.

Even if he doesnt make first team, will probably be a good investment for future of profit.

 

[Guymeister]

Leeds

Hey mate. Yeah I saw him listed as a wonderkid, but left it too late, Newcastle had already snapped him up. Managed to get Craig Beattie on loan from West Brom, but need an attacking midfielder I think. That Becchio is s*it. Havent started him at all really. Few players I got cheap.

Viler - Slovenian. Cheap but quality.
Knut Olav Rindaroy- Norweigan Left Back
Canales- Labelled the next Guti. Bit worrying, never rated Guti anyway!

Got Hartlepool in JPT Final when I get home.

 

[insenlysen]

I am in my third season as Leeds manager. Got promoted from League 1 in the first season and then managed a 14th position in the second season in the championship.

My team in the championship was made up of these players:

GK- Ankergreen/Lucas
DR-Richardson/Hughes
DC-Michalik, Huntington, Marques
Dl-Sheehan/Aidan White
MR-Chechu(got him very cheap, board seems happy about him)/Howson/Robinson
MC-Kilkenny/Delph/Howson/Douglas/Smertin/Jose Semedo(Free)
ML-Bradley Johnson/Snodgrass/Robinson
ST-Beckford/Andy Carrol(On Loan from Newcastle)/Fryatt(got him very cheap..something like 150k or something)/Snodgrass

I realize that too push on in the championship I need some DCs, a good goalie, a good ML and a ST who can hold up the ball and head it too

Suggestions would be appreciated. I mostly played an attacking 4-4-2 or a diamond. Should I change the tactics?