Persistant Fouling

[jmckenzie]

Got a team that leads the Vanarama south in fouls. Been fined several times for getting too many yellow cards in a match. I've tried using the stay on feet instruction which doesn't seem to change the number of fouls we get. We are still able to win when my starting CMs aren't suspended (Next yellow for one will be a three game suspension, my other one got a four game ban for another red card), and are currently exceeding expectations by sitting in the top half of the table. Currently using a Counter 4-4-2 with a rigid structure configured with the following duties.

Defense:
Fullback - Attack
Center Back - Defend
Center Back - Defend
Fullback - Attack

Midfield:
Winger - Attack
Ball Winning Mid - Support
Ball Winning Mid - Support
Winger - Attack

Forwards:
DLF - Support
Poacher - Attack

Instructions
Higher Tempo
Occasionally waste time
Balanced width
Normal Depth
Prevent Short GK Dist.
Use Tighter Marking
Clear Ball to the Flanks
Exploit left AND Right flanks
More Direct Passing
Be More Disciplined
*Stay on Feet

*When I use stay on feet we concede far too easily, making winning impossible, also doesn't seem to stop the fouling from occurring.

 

[WJ]

You have 2 BWMs in midfield who's job it is to close down everything in sight and jump into tackles. That's the first place to look at.

Next would probably be the fact that you're unbelievably attacking, so the 2 players who do stay back will need to run around like headless chickens to cover everywhere. They would need to do a lot of work and a lot of tackling and I expect you've given away a lot of rash tackles this way.

 

[jmckenzie]

Definitely lose a lot of points from just missed tackles, penalties, and free kicks outside the area. Will setting the fullbacks to support still allow them to still trigger the counter attacks while hanging back or should they be set to a different duty?

 

[WJ]

You're not triggering any counter attacks with this setup, so you can set the fullbacks to anything.

 

[jmckenzie]

Well, regardless of what I set my CMs and FBs duties I still ended up having both CMs red carded in one game. Guess it's composure training for them. On a side note, changing the FB duties did result in losses until I switched them back.

 

[WJ]

I was just answering your counter attacking question. Right now, you'll be direct and very attacking, but you're not triggering many, if any, counter attacks.

As for the issue about cards, I'll refer you back to post #2.