Right I'm a few games in so here are the results so far using W4ANKER's 4-1-4-1 Rock/Modern Warfare hybrid.
Here are screenshots of the squad, the fixtures and the league table so far.
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Okay, explanations.
You can largely ignore the friendly games; they were (mostly) played against tiny teams from nearby (to help strengthen cohesion/learn the tactic). The tactic wasn't fluid at any point (and still isnt; everything is full except the 'accomplished'
formation stat). I figure it's not a massive factor in results at this stage though since surely the opposition tactics are of a similar level.
Also for all of these games, I had a lot of difficulty getting my players motivated. I'm still at that early point where they don't respect me enough to care what I say and they even lose focus when my Assistant Manager delivers team talks. They mostly went in to games confused, without focus and with morales ranging from poor to superb. Maybe that'll explain results or maybe not.
The first game of note was Liverpool; we dominated them. I scored three and had two disallowed.
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Against Newcastle I think we got lucky. They had a goal disallowed very early on (before anything else happened) and outplayed us for the rest of the game (hence possession/shot stats). We won anyway though. I'm not sure if the aim of the tactic is to limit opposition chances or allow them but defend well against them but we weathered the storm anyway. Being dominated but winning anyway is going to become a pattern as you'll see.
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Losing to Tranmere was just sloppiness. We outplayed them (though they still managed to get ten shots off) but lost on penalties. I think this was a combination of them being fired up for the game (thus the many chances) and a defensive masterclass on their part. Disappointing but there's nothing the tactic can do about my strikers' inability to score from ten shots on target.
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Aston Villa was much like Liverpool: we turned up to play and they didn't.
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Against Tottenham we were powerless; we were absolutely hammered. That's not to say the tactic didn't create chances but we wasted them all. They had more chances and were absolutely clinical.
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The Southampton game was just like the Tottenham game except our finishing was better and theirs wasn't. It could very easily have gone the other way though and, until the 81st minute, it was about to.
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Same goes for the QPR game. They had way more chances than QPR deserve to away from home but we had better finishing. Saying that though it did take a goal in the 95th minute to win it for us.
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After the Reading game we'd had an average of 15 shots per game over the last three games. Getting half of these on target seems to be enough to win us the games at this point but the opposition are still having plenty of opportunities too. This was another which could have gone wrong.
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Against United we were outplayed, much like Reading were above: they had loads of shots but only managed to convert as many as we did with fewer chances.
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So I make that four games in which we were dominated, four which we dominated and one (the QPR game) which was completely even (stats wise). It is getting results but as you can see, they're not clear cut. Any of these games could have gone the other way (except maybe the Liverpool game). I assume the reason for my mixed performances comes down to a combination of not being able to motivate players (yet), having a less cohesive team (replacing two wingers, plus Michu is a new signing) and having less overall quality in vital areas (midfield and goal specifically).
I'll stick with the tactic though because it often feels like it's on the brink of being lethal (only to see us struggle to win in the following game). I may post more screenshots later if you need more data on how it performs.
