San Marino- Attempting the Impossible
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I'm by no means a tactical expert and there's a lot of people on these forums that are much more familiar with what works than I, but I'll do my best to give some useful tips. When I started this save I used simple tactics without much adjustment and barely touched the individual settings, instead just setting the player roles to what each player was best at (according to their information screen) within what I wanted to accomplish tactically. As far as using varied tactics, I had two different formations I used, one for away games or tougher opposition and one for home games or weaker opponents and switching between the two seemed to work well. Now I keep the same formation for almost every match but have a few different styles, and it seems to work well enough.
If you want, you can add me on Steam and I can try to answer any questions more specifically. My username is the same as here, flez85.
Haha, I have no idea, I didn't even know that was the case in fm12, I only managed a national team once and that was a brief 3 year stint with Belgium where I never ran into the problem (or maybe didn't put much thought into it). I really hope it's not 24, that will be a pain in the *** if it's the case.
2018/19 Best Eleven
View attachment 299336
This was the first year that the best eleven closely reflects what I would consider a full strength first team. Still looking for an MC to step up but I'm hopeful that Guilherme can improve enough and Sturaro can continue playing decently so that I don't have to spend too much time looking for an upgrade at the position. I'm pretty happy with the rest of the team and with a few improvements, either through the youngsters improving or through transfers, I'm hoping to start dominating domestically and possibly bring home the Champions League within the next couple of years.
Overall Best Eleven
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The formation has finally changed to what I've been using the last three years, and in doing so Livaja and Floridia are the two new names in the first team. All of the first team best eleven are still with the club, some as backups, with the exception of Panatti, who moved to Parma on a co-ownership last year and joins them permanently this year, and Coda who is now with Serie C2 side Cuneo.
Upgrades
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Only had to say pretty please on one before it was accepted. Very good news, hopefully we can continue these upgrades and have them maxed out in a few years.
View attachment 299336
This was the first year that the best eleven closely reflects what I would consider a full strength first team. Still looking for an MC to step up but I'm hopeful that Guilherme can improve enough and Sturaro can continue playing decently so that I don't have to spend too much time looking for an upgrade at the position. I'm pretty happy with the rest of the team and with a few improvements, either through the youngsters improving or through transfers, I'm hoping to start dominating domestically and possibly bring home the Champions League within the next couple of years.
Overall Best Eleven
View attachment 299344
The formation has finally changed to what I've been using the last three years, and in doing so Livaja and Floridia are the two new names in the first team. All of the first team best eleven are still with the club, some as backups, with the exception of Panatti, who moved to Parma on a co-ownership last year and joins them permanently this year, and Coda who is now with Serie C2 side Cuneo.
Upgrades
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Only had to say pretty please on one before it was accepted. Very good news, hopefully we can continue these upgrades and have them maxed out in a few years.
Summer 2019 Transfers
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Lots of players out on loan again but I anticipate that will slow down when my youth facilities are upgraded. Seems like a lot of the U20's that go out don't perform well and don't progress much either, so I'll start looking towards keeping them here. Some other players left on a free, though in retrospect I probably should have signed Brivio for another year because he was decent for cover and the only players I could find that were an upgrade at the position would have cost more than I was willing to spend.
View attachment 299377
Peruibe joins for a hefty fee from rivals Juventus. I really couldn't find a better option, I was looking for somebody who could come in as an upgrade right away but again they were too expensive. Hopefully he can develop quickly and challenge for a first team spot this season.
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He was cheap and transfer listed and plays both fullback positions that I happened to need cover for after letting Brivio go. I suppose he might be able to challenge Liviero for his spot but at 31 he's a short term option.
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The only player I managed to pick up that could be considered an immediate upgrade. I'll be looking to play him as an AML Inside Forward as well as cover for the striker position and maybe occassionally as an AMR.
Team Depth Chart
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I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to improve the fullback or central midfielder positions but everyone that I went in for ended up costing us enough for me to back down. I suppose we do have more team depth now, which is a good thing. We still have the youngest squad in Serie A as well so I'm optimistic that we'll have another good season.
2022 European World Cup Qualifying Draw
View attachment 299438
I don't think I could have given myself a harder group if I handpicked the teams myself with that intent. I foolishly thought that I could make a run for it this year when I started the challenge but reality has slapped me in the face. Barring a major miracle, we'll probably finish last once again.
July 2019 Friendlies
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We did surprisingly well considering the amount of rotation and the fact that some of the players were either injured, away on international duty, or haven't joined the team yet. The Bayern match should have been a loss by a bigger margin but the rest we dominated.
2019/20 Goals
After being crowned champions last season, I won't take anything less than a top 3 finish as acceptable and that's exactly what I told the board. Juventus will be the main team to beat once again, but depending on how Napoli has used their funds and reputation boost from their Euro Cup campaign they may be another team to look out for. In the Champions League I'd by satisfied with a minimum of making the knockout rounds again, but without a huge improvement to the team I can't really expect more than that before knowing who we'll face.
On the national side I'd like to see a competitive win, which would most likely come against Malta in the ECQ if at all. It's not really a goal that I can control but I'd also like to see the two promising Sammarinese youngsters, Boschetti (ST) and Ceccoli (GK) accept my call ups.
View attachment 299376
Lots of players out on loan again but I anticipate that will slow down when my youth facilities are upgraded. Seems like a lot of the U20's that go out don't perform well and don't progress much either, so I'll start looking towards keeping them here. Some other players left on a free, though in retrospect I probably should have signed Brivio for another year because he was decent for cover and the only players I could find that were an upgrade at the position would have cost more than I was willing to spend.
View attachment 299377
Peruibe joins for a hefty fee from rivals Juventus. I really couldn't find a better option, I was looking for somebody who could come in as an upgrade right away but again they were too expensive. Hopefully he can develop quickly and challenge for a first team spot this season.
View attachment 299382
He was cheap and transfer listed and plays both fullback positions that I happened to need cover for after letting Brivio go. I suppose he might be able to challenge Liviero for his spot but at 31 he's a short term option.
View attachment 299383
The only player I managed to pick up that could be considered an immediate upgrade. I'll be looking to play him as an AML Inside Forward as well as cover for the striker position and maybe occassionally as an AMR.
Team Depth Chart
View attachment 299436
I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to improve the fullback or central midfielder positions but everyone that I went in for ended up costing us enough for me to back down. I suppose we do have more team depth now, which is a good thing. We still have the youngest squad in Serie A as well so I'm optimistic that we'll have another good season.
2022 European World Cup Qualifying Draw
View attachment 299438
I don't think I could have given myself a harder group if I handpicked the teams myself with that intent. I foolishly thought that I could make a run for it this year when I started the challenge but reality has slapped me in the face. Barring a major miracle, we'll probably finish last once again.
July 2019 Friendlies
View attachment 299440
We did surprisingly well considering the amount of rotation and the fact that some of the players were either injured, away on international duty, or haven't joined the team yet. The Bayern match should have been a loss by a bigger margin but the rest we dominated.
2019/20 Goals
After being crowned champions last season, I won't take anything less than a top 3 finish as acceptable and that's exactly what I told the board. Juventus will be the main team to beat once again, but depending on how Napoli has used their funds and reputation boost from their Euro Cup campaign they may be another team to look out for. In the Champions League I'd by satisfied with a minimum of making the knockout rounds again, but without a huge improvement to the team I can't really expect more than that before knowing who we'll face.
On the national side I'd like to see a competitive win, which would most likely come against Malta in the ECQ if at all. It's not really a goal that I can control but I'd also like to see the two promising Sammarinese youngsters, Boschetti (ST) and Ceccoli (GK) accept my call ups.
Thanks bud, I'll definitely be sticking with it for as long as I play FM13 or until I complete the challenge. It's by far the most success I've had on FM to date.
August 2019
View attachment 299681
Could I have asked for a better month or beginning to the season? I think not. For the Competzione Amichevole I admittedly played a near full strength side because I was testing out some tactical changes to see how they translated to our play. Starting next year, I'm thinking I might play an all-Sammarinese team for that competition to get the youngsters some "competitive" game time. We defended our title of Super Cup champions against a good Napoli team where we dominated and they shot freely outside of the box but couldn't hit the target for the most part. We also had an excellent start to our league campaign by welcoming Ternana back to Serie A with an incredible 7-1 win at their stadium, then came home to push Cagliari around in another dominating 3-0 win. Neither are teams likely to finish towards the top but the way we handled them is encouraging.
League Table
View attachment 299694
Doesn't mean anything at this stage, but it's good to see our name where it belongs. Also good to see that last year's most potent attacking team is at it again, hopefully this time around with a better defense.
Squad
View attachment 299697
The numbers for most of the players are again inflated because of the Competzione Amichevole being counted. Sotomayor has been by far our best performer. He was injured after scoring in the Sevilla match, causing him to sit out for the next three games but then came back and scored a hattrick against Ternana and a brace in each of the next two games.
Injuries
View attachment 299698
Terrible news! I was planning on getting him some significant game time coming up but now I'll just have to hope that the injury doesn't cause his development potential to drop drastically. Sotomayor, Liviero, Royer, Murru, and Kotarksi, all of whom are starters, are/were injured for a while as well. Still, that makes our performances over the month that much more impressive.
Champions League Group Draw
View attachment 299700
How ironic that after playing them in a friendly we'll face Bayern twice this season. Sligo will obviously be the punching bag of the group this season, though I was confident of taking at least second until I looked over how Zenit performed last season. They advanced from the group stages in a group that contained Real Madrid and OM, then barely lost in the first knockout round to Barcelona. I think our performances against both Bayern and Zenit will go a long way to show whether or not we're ready to take the next step up and become one of Europe's elite.
View attachment 299681
Could I have asked for a better month or beginning to the season? I think not. For the Competzione Amichevole I admittedly played a near full strength side because I was testing out some tactical changes to see how they translated to our play. Starting next year, I'm thinking I might play an all-Sammarinese team for that competition to get the youngsters some "competitive" game time. We defended our title of Super Cup champions against a good Napoli team where we dominated and they shot freely outside of the box but couldn't hit the target for the most part. We also had an excellent start to our league campaign by welcoming Ternana back to Serie A with an incredible 7-1 win at their stadium, then came home to push Cagliari around in another dominating 3-0 win. Neither are teams likely to finish towards the top but the way we handled them is encouraging.
League Table
View attachment 299694
Doesn't mean anything at this stage, but it's good to see our name where it belongs. Also good to see that last year's most potent attacking team is at it again, hopefully this time around with a better defense.
Squad
View attachment 299697
The numbers for most of the players are again inflated because of the Competzione Amichevole being counted. Sotomayor has been by far our best performer. He was injured after scoring in the Sevilla match, causing him to sit out for the next three games but then came back and scored a hattrick against Ternana and a brace in each of the next two games.
Injuries
View attachment 299698
Terrible news! I was planning on getting him some significant game time coming up but now I'll just have to hope that the injury doesn't cause his development potential to drop drastically. Sotomayor, Liviero, Royer, Murru, and Kotarksi, all of whom are starters, are/were injured for a while as well. Still, that makes our performances over the month that much more impressive.
Champions League Group Draw
View attachment 299700
How ironic that after playing them in a friendly we'll face Bayern twice this season. Sligo will obviously be the punching bag of the group this season, though I was confident of taking at least second until I looked over how Zenit performed last season. They advanced from the group stages in a group that contained Real Madrid and OM, then barely lost in the first knockout round to Barcelona. I think our performances against both Bayern and Zenit will go a long way to show whether or not we're ready to take the next step up and become one of Europe's elite.
Transfer Deadline Day
View attachment 299708
This young American GK comes in after Kirev requested to be put on the transfer list, then went on loan to Sampdoria. He'll be mostly used as a backup to Maes but could eventually challenge for the spot if he trains hard. I also had a major scare where At. Madrid came in with a bid for de Castro just under his minimum fee release clause, which caused me to offer him a new contract with a higher fee. Just before he accepted the deal, however, At. Madrid offered again, this time meeting the clause and I threw a fit that involved a lot of cussing and spitting. Luckily, he rejected their contract offer and by then it was too late for them to come back in. Juventus also made an offer for Sotomayor but it was far below his release clause and was easily rejected.
View attachment 299708
This young American GK comes in after Kirev requested to be put on the transfer list, then went on loan to Sampdoria. He'll be mostly used as a backup to Maes but could eventually challenge for the spot if he trains hard. I also had a major scare where At. Madrid came in with a bid for de Castro just under his minimum fee release clause, which caused me to offer him a new contract with a higher fee. Just before he accepted the deal, however, At. Madrid offered again, this time meeting the clause and I threw a fit that involved a lot of cussing and spitting. Luckily, he rejected their contract offer and by then it was too late for them to come back in. Juventus also made an offer for Sotomayor but it was far below his release clause and was easily rejected.
September 2019
View attachment 299817
We continued our great form with a good win away against Cesena 3-0, then pulled off a major result defeating Bayern at home 1-0 thanks to an injury time corner that de Castro powered into the net. All was well until an inexplicable loss at home in the league to Fiorentina 1-2. I could chalk it up to the injuries we've been plagued with but even so we should have done much better against a team with such poor recent form. We ended the month well with two wins over Catania and parma, 3-1 and 4-1 respectively.
League Table
View attachment 299818
Palermo has managed to surpass us with that loss to Fiorentina, but they haven't played any of the top teams yet so I have a feeling that's going to change. Juventus are right up there with us, though Napoli have had a disappointing start.
Squad
View attachment 299819
Injuries have been racking up lately and I get the feeling that if we manage to stay healthy we can really pull away in the league this year and maybe even make a run at the Champions Cup. Sotomayor was injured on international duty and didn't play in September, Liviero and Ogaga were both injured in the Bayern match and were forced to sit out the final three games of the month with Liviero out even longer. Silvio picked up an injury and will be out 2-3 months and Royer saw limited action in the last three games of the month after his recovery. Player of the month goes to Fabbrini, who played good all around scoring three and assisting three in the 5 games.
National Team
View attachment 299821
Excellent! Though we probably should have lost both games, I'll take it. Hopefully we can now build on this and increase our ranking so that the two players that are holding out might decide to go ahead and play for us.
View attachment 299817
We continued our great form with a good win away against Cesena 3-0, then pulled off a major result defeating Bayern at home 1-0 thanks to an injury time corner that de Castro powered into the net. All was well until an inexplicable loss at home in the league to Fiorentina 1-2. I could chalk it up to the injuries we've been plagued with but even so we should have done much better against a team with such poor recent form. We ended the month well with two wins over Catania and parma, 3-1 and 4-1 respectively.
League Table
View attachment 299818
Palermo has managed to surpass us with that loss to Fiorentina, but they haven't played any of the top teams yet so I have a feeling that's going to change. Juventus are right up there with us, though Napoli have had a disappointing start.
Squad
View attachment 299819
Injuries have been racking up lately and I get the feeling that if we manage to stay healthy we can really pull away in the league this year and maybe even make a run at the Champions Cup. Sotomayor was injured on international duty and didn't play in September, Liviero and Ogaga were both injured in the Bayern match and were forced to sit out the final three games of the month with Liviero out even longer. Silvio picked up an injury and will be out 2-3 months and Royer saw limited action in the last three games of the month after his recovery. Player of the month goes to Fabbrini, who played good all around scoring three and assisting three in the 5 games.
National Team
View attachment 299821
Excellent! Though we probably should have lost both games, I'll take it. Hopefully we can now build on this and increase our ranking so that the two players that are holding out might decide to go ahead and play for us.
, did not see that one coming for another couple of years yet.Stokiescott
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4 points out of 6 for the SMNT could this mean they are dark horses for the next tourney 
lol
lol4 points out of 6 for the SMNT could this mean they are dark horses for the next tourney
Hahahaha, let's hope for one helluva youth intake over the next couple of years! I got pretty lucky with the draw for this group, but with the difficult WCQ group coming up I'm going to take pride in that win for as long as possible, don't see another one coming any time soon, at least not competitively.
October 2019
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Another excellent run and our second perfect month of the season. We really dominated these games and continued to be lethal in front of goal and have played improved defense over last year. This is the type of results I know we can continue with a mostly healthy team.
League Table
View attachment 300293
The best offense by far and the best defense by a slim margin has us looking good in our title defense. Other than our one blip last month against Fiorentina we have been perfect and I'm very optimistic about the rest of the season.
Squad
View attachment 300294
Fabbrini gets player of the month, playing in four games and scoring 3 goals along with making two assists. With most of the squad healthy we've really put on some performances and with the squad as young as they are we still have room for a lot of improvement.
Champions League Groups A-C
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Biggest surprise here is Austria Wien going undefeated through the first half of group stages. Other than that seems pretty typical.
Champions League Groups D-F
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The only two Italian teams left in the Champions League are top of their group, and as far as we go we could potentially lock down a place in the knockout round with a win in our next match at home against a weak Sligo team.
Champions League Groups G & H
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No real surprises here either as the teams you would expect to be top are top.
National Team Results
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Our final two matches in the ECQ revert back to the performances you'd expect out of San Marino. Here's how the final group standings look:
View attachment 300313
Getting 6 points and for once not finishing in dead last is a huge improvement over the past.
View attachment 300290
Another excellent run and our second perfect month of the season. We really dominated these games and continued to be lethal in front of goal and have played improved defense over last year. This is the type of results I know we can continue with a mostly healthy team.
League Table
View attachment 300293
The best offense by far and the best defense by a slim margin has us looking good in our title defense. Other than our one blip last month against Fiorentina we have been perfect and I'm very optimistic about the rest of the season.
Squad
View attachment 300294
Fabbrini gets player of the month, playing in four games and scoring 3 goals along with making two assists. With most of the squad healthy we've really put on some performances and with the squad as young as they are we still have room for a lot of improvement.
Champions League Groups A-C
View attachment 300300
Biggest surprise here is Austria Wien going undefeated through the first half of group stages. Other than that seems pretty typical.
Champions League Groups D-F
View attachment 300304
The only two Italian teams left in the Champions League are top of their group, and as far as we go we could potentially lock down a place in the knockout round with a win in our next match at home against a weak Sligo team.
Champions League Groups G & H
View attachment 300309
No real surprises here either as the teams you would expect to be top are top.
National Team Results
View attachment 300312
Our final two matches in the ECQ revert back to the performances you'd expect out of San Marino. Here's how the final group standings look:
View attachment 300313
Getting 6 points and for once not finishing in dead last is a huge improvement over the past.
I'm wondering if anyone that's been following this story might be interested in helping me test the tactics I've been using this season given the success I've had. I mainly want to see how they will do with teams that the tactics haven't been tailored to after years of building the squad to suit my playing style.
I've had a bit of a chance to test them out in a couple of saves I'm playing with my 4 year old son, but haven't played far enough into a season to get a good feel for the success. FMC is perfect for us because it goes rather quickly and it keeps his attention since I'm not constantly scouting around and doing that other "boring" stuff. I'll let him press the space bar and click to skip the replay when the other team scores (we don't want to see THAT again!).
If you're interested, let me know and I'll post the set up here (three tactics total) and explain a little about how I think they're used most efficiently.
I've had a bit of a chance to test them out in a couple of saves I'm playing with my 4 year old son, but haven't played far enough into a season to get a good feel for the success. FMC is perfect for us because it goes rather quickly and it keeps his attention since I'm not constantly scouting around and doing that other "boring" stuff. I'll let him press the space bar and click to skip the replay when the other team scores (we don't want to see THAT again!).
If you're interested, let me know and I'll post the set up here (three tactics total) and explain a little about how I think they're used most efficiently.
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Yes I'm interested in trying your tactics out, and i can imagine trying to play the full version of the game with a 4 year old's attention span lol. If there is any specific team you would like me to try them on just let me know.
NathanCarr
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I would be happy to test them, I'll use west brom or Southampton, if thats okay?
Brooky: Haha, it can be frustrating for him at times even on FMC but he has an unusually long attention span for a kid his age, especially playing FIFA 13- I have to tell him he's spent enough time playing after a couple of hours.
As far as which teams you use, I don't really mind. West Brom or Southampton would be fine though you probably wouldn't use the most attacking version very often. I'm really clueless as to whether or not these will work for other teams, tried an FMC save with Chelsea with mixed results sitting 3rd in the table after 24 games but that's with just loading and hitting go. I'll post an update for this story then try and figure out how to get these to you guys (not sure if a PM will let me attach them) and give some details on what I think makes them successful.
November 2019
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Another perfect month in the league including a vital 3-1 win over Juventus. We're really flying now and probably should have fielded a full strength team against Bayern but couldn't resist getting a couple of the younger players in (the win over Sligo qualified us for the knockout stage). Even so we had a goal disallowed that was cleary onside so we should have walked away with at least a draw.
League Table
View attachment 300958
After winning the last 7 league games we're starting to take control of the table. Palermo has fallen off slightly and I still don't think they'll be able to stay that high up. Our win against Juventus was huge because it puts 7 points between us as well as giving us the tiebreaker for now.
Squad
View attachment 300962
Ogaga earns player of the month, the towering center back has been progressing very well and made great use of his aerial dominance in the three games he played during the month. Overall the squad is almost completely healthy again and that bodes well for us heading into December. Royer did excellently on his return from injury, scoring 4 goals in the 2 games he played in during the month but he's decided that he's not fitting in well so I gave him some time to go home to hopefully return refreshed and ready to continue his performances.
Serie A Young Player Contenders
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Four players in contention for the prize and what do they all have in common? They're mine!
Champions League Group Standings
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Surprisingly enough it's us and Zenit that will be heading out of our group. I thought that we'd be battling Zenit for 2nd but Bayern just hasn't turned out as formidable as I thought. Current holders Barcelona have been disappointing in Group H but seeing as how they will face AIK in the final game I can't see them not qualifying. Real Madrid and Manchester United seem to be the teams to beat this year, they've both dominated their groups and especially in Man U's case it shouldn't have been that easy with the teams they faced.
View attachment 300955
Another perfect month in the league including a vital 3-1 win over Juventus. We're really flying now and probably should have fielded a full strength team against Bayern but couldn't resist getting a couple of the younger players in (the win over Sligo qualified us for the knockout stage). Even so we had a goal disallowed that was cleary onside so we should have walked away with at least a draw.
League Table
View attachment 300958
After winning the last 7 league games we're starting to take control of the table. Palermo has fallen off slightly and I still don't think they'll be able to stay that high up. Our win against Juventus was huge because it puts 7 points between us as well as giving us the tiebreaker for now.
Squad
View attachment 300962
Ogaga earns player of the month, the towering center back has been progressing very well and made great use of his aerial dominance in the three games he played during the month. Overall the squad is almost completely healthy again and that bodes well for us heading into December. Royer did excellently on his return from injury, scoring 4 goals in the 2 games he played in during the month but he's decided that he's not fitting in well so I gave him some time to go home to hopefully return refreshed and ready to continue his performances.
Serie A Young Player Contenders
View attachment 300963
Four players in contention for the prize and what do they all have in common? They're mine!
Champions League Group Standings
View attachment 300964View attachment 300965View attachment 300966
Surprisingly enough it's us and Zenit that will be heading out of our group. I thought that we'd be battling Zenit for 2nd but Bayern just hasn't turned out as formidable as I thought. Current holders Barcelona have been disappointing in Group H but seeing as how they will face AIK in the final game I can't see them not qualifying. Real Madrid and Manchester United seem to be the teams to beat this year, they've both dominated their groups and especially in Man U's case it shouldn't have been that easy with the teams they faced.
This post is for those interested in trying out my tactics I've been using this season (2019/20). I don't want to detract from the story so if you're not interested, go ahead and skip this post.
I couldn't attach the files in a PM so I'll attach them to this post. First off, I want to thank you for helping me out with this! I'll try to keep this brief and will probably do a full fledged thread in the tactics section that's much more detailed in some time. Please PM me how you're getting on with them so we don't clutter up this thread with it.
There are 3 different versions I'm using, distinguished by the prefix used. FA stands for Fluid Attacking, BC for Balanced Control, and RC for Rigid Counter. They all use the same 424 formation.
Player Attributes: Basically look for players that fit the roles they're set to in the tactics. When I get done with the more detailed post I'll give the specifics but probably the most important in my opinion is to make sure your wingers have high dribbling and flair. I also prefer all of my players to have high stats in determination, work rate, team work, and passing. It's also important that your strikers can play both as an advanced forward and deep lying forward as I have them set to switch positions.
Opposition Instructions and team talks I let my assistant handle. The field size I use is standard, but I haven't tried using anything different so can't really say if that's optimal.
In the beginning, I put all three tactics in and set match prep to Tactics Only and slide the bar down to More Match Training and uncheck the boxes for rest before and after match. When competitive games start, I check the box to allow rest after match, then finally when the bars for familiarity are almost completely full I change the match prep to attacking movement and slide the bar one notch up from the middle so it looks like this:
View attachment 300969
Depending on who I'm playing I'll also occassionally change the focus to defensive positioning for away games.
The Tactics:
FA prefix- Use this only at home when you're confident of a win.
BC prefix- This is the one I use most often, at home against teams where we are slight favorites or underdogs and away against teams that we're favored against and sometimes even if we're not favorites but I feel we should win anyway.
RC prefix- Away games against tougher opposition.
Notes: If you don't have players that make good AMR/AMLs then you can drop them back to MR/ML for a straight up 4-4-2. On the other hand if you have a right footed AML/left footed AMR that has high finishing I would suggest changing their role to inside forward without any adjustment.
I've adjusted the player settings so all of their long shots are set to rarely, however in my San Marino save I have the highest average rating for long shots in Serie A so have the strikers and inside forward (when I use one) set to sometimes.
Thanks again for testing these, it's much appreciated. Honest feedback is appreciated, if they just don't work for you then that's fine, I won't be upset. If they do work and I can contribute to the FM-Base community then that's geat. If you have any questions or suggestions please PM me.
I couldn't attach the files in a PM so I'll attach them to this post. First off, I want to thank you for helping me out with this! I'll try to keep this brief and will probably do a full fledged thread in the tactics section that's much more detailed in some time. Please PM me how you're getting on with them so we don't clutter up this thread with it.
There are 3 different versions I'm using, distinguished by the prefix used. FA stands for Fluid Attacking, BC for Balanced Control, and RC for Rigid Counter. They all use the same 424 formation.
Player Attributes: Basically look for players that fit the roles they're set to in the tactics. When I get done with the more detailed post I'll give the specifics but probably the most important in my opinion is to make sure your wingers have high dribbling and flair. I also prefer all of my players to have high stats in determination, work rate, team work, and passing. It's also important that your strikers can play both as an advanced forward and deep lying forward as I have them set to switch positions.
Opposition Instructions and team talks I let my assistant handle. The field size I use is standard, but I haven't tried using anything different so can't really say if that's optimal.
In the beginning, I put all three tactics in and set match prep to Tactics Only and slide the bar down to More Match Training and uncheck the boxes for rest before and after match. When competitive games start, I check the box to allow rest after match, then finally when the bars for familiarity are almost completely full I change the match prep to attacking movement and slide the bar one notch up from the middle so it looks like this:
View attachment 300969
Depending on who I'm playing I'll also occassionally change the focus to defensive positioning for away games.
The Tactics:
FA prefix- Use this only at home when you're confident of a win.
BC prefix- This is the one I use most often, at home against teams where we are slight favorites or underdogs and away against teams that we're favored against and sometimes even if we're not favorites but I feel we should win anyway.
RC prefix- Away games against tougher opposition.
Notes: If you don't have players that make good AMR/AMLs then you can drop them back to MR/ML for a straight up 4-4-2. On the other hand if you have a right footed AML/left footed AMR that has high finishing I would suggest changing their role to inside forward without any adjustment.
I've adjusted the player settings so all of their long shots are set to rarely, however in my San Marino save I have the highest average rating for long shots in Serie A so have the strikers and inside forward (when I use one) set to sometimes.
Thanks again for testing these, it's much appreciated. Honest feedback is appreciated, if they just don't work for you then that's fine, I won't be upset. If they do work and I can contribute to the FM-Base community then that's geat. If you have any questions or suggestions please PM me.
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