Tactical problems
- Thread starter jee
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I can't believe this is that difficult. Simply, it's not possible. You don't need to be rocket scientist to play fm.
What's wrong in my tactic to conceed so many chances?
I've tried everything you said, i've explained the issues i'm supposed to see, i posted matches.. What else can i do?
I don't care about attacking. It's enough. I scored 5 goals in 3 matches. It is more than ok.
Please watch this matches and try to explain me why i'm consistently conceeding chances. Don't focus in goals conceeded.
Please avoid vague answers, if you don't know the exact, concrete issues just tell me you don't know.
It is not about one game, it's happening consistently, so avoid also explanations focused in one match. This is a general, consistent issue. Happens against all opponents. Of course the bigger the opponent the bigger the problems.
Don't tell me results are not bad. Results are awful. I don't want to conceed. I want clean sheets.
Thanks in advance.
What's wrong in my tactic to conceed so many chances?
I've tried everything you said, i've explained the issues i'm supposed to see, i posted matches.. What else can i do?
I don't care about attacking. It's enough. I scored 5 goals in 3 matches. It is more than ok.
Please watch this matches and try to explain me why i'm consistently conceeding chances. Don't focus in goals conceeded.
Please avoid vague answers, if you don't know the exact, concrete issues just tell me you don't know.
It is not about one game, it's happening consistently, so avoid also explanations focused in one match. This is a general, consistent issue. Happens against all opponents. Of course the bigger the opponent the bigger the problems.
Don't tell me results are not bad. Results are awful. I don't want to conceed. I want clean sheets.
Thanks in advance.
xArjenRobben10x
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I'm not an expert at tactics by any stretch but I've read through most of this thread and I'm wondering why you're so adamant on sticking to 442 when it's clearly not worked time after time. You know it's true what they say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. You really should just change things up and try something else but hey that's just my view on it.
You want clean sheets? Set tactic that will give you more chance to achieve this. 4-4-2 without constant changes during games will hardly give you this. There is no perfect formation that covers all gaps in defense. There is always way for opponent to score, and if you do not react when you see what is going on, opponent will create chances...
For example, I play with Leicester in PL and I am candidate for relegation. I am at half of season 4-th, and I am clear of relegation... Main reason for this is because I have solid defense, I concede little goals, but still, opponents manage to create chances against me, not too much, 1-2 CCC a game, but they do. I concede sometimes. **** happens.
If you want clean sheets, put DMC in front of defense with defensive duty. Depending on way you want to play, your formation, choose role for him. Watch games. If you see that you have problems against some type of formation and style of play, think about what could be solution. I had with counter attacking 4-4-1-1. I found solution in defensive 2-1-4-2-1 formation with high pressing. I positioned my players to be close to opponents players and to close them down even when they do not have ball, and I have three players that cover his two most advanced players. I destroy opponent with this. I had also problem with 4-2-3-1 wide formation, that played possession football and played wide. They destroyed me with diagonal balls from one side to other. I changed from my 4-1-2-3 wide to 4-5-1 to have width when defending, I put control to get them as far as possible from my box and put retain possession to get as much ball from them. And it worked.
4-4-2 has gap between defense and midfield. If you use high line to close this gap, you are vulnerable against deep crosses and passes over the top of your defense. You have two CD-de, which are instructed to keep line. So if they manage to put one player between your lines, two CD-s will move backwards as you instructed them to keep line, so they will not close down this player, so this open opportunity for opponent to play trough your defense. Basically, there is lot of ways that you can concede.
If you want to avoid conceding, put DMC in front of defense, if you have two overlapping fullbacks put him on HB, if dont, then he can be DLP-def, or DM-def... Put structured shape, in order to have strong defensive shape, this will hurt you going forward, but it will give you more stability in defense. Going forward, you can experiment what works best for you. There is no good or bad setup. There is no good or bad formation. More symmetric formation will give you even more defensive stability, but it will harder for you to create chances. Some asymmetric formation will give you more chances to score, but you will need to think how to close gaps in defense. Try to dominate possession, as this will give opponent less time on ball to create something. And as far as mentality goes, you can use any of them, and try any to see differences and to know how your formation is acting in each of them. It could be possible that your formation would be more defensively stable with control, attacking or even overload, and more vulnerable with counter and defensive mentality. And there is reason for this, if you are overloading, he has to cover your players hence he has less players which can create counter. If you are playing counter, and he is sitting deep, he will draw you out, and then use space that you left behind, as you are not aggressive enough and you dont pin his team on his half, he has quick options for pass.
And finally, read this to understand how you can organize your defense better, to understand better formation and shapes.
[url]http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/tactics/defending-styles[/URL]
For example, I play with Leicester in PL and I am candidate for relegation. I am at half of season 4-th, and I am clear of relegation... Main reason for this is because I have solid defense, I concede little goals, but still, opponents manage to create chances against me, not too much, 1-2 CCC a game, but they do. I concede sometimes. **** happens.
If you want clean sheets, put DMC in front of defense with defensive duty. Depending on way you want to play, your formation, choose role for him. Watch games. If you see that you have problems against some type of formation and style of play, think about what could be solution. I had with counter attacking 4-4-1-1. I found solution in defensive 2-1-4-2-1 formation with high pressing. I positioned my players to be close to opponents players and to close them down even when they do not have ball, and I have three players that cover his two most advanced players. I destroy opponent with this. I had also problem with 4-2-3-1 wide formation, that played possession football and played wide. They destroyed me with diagonal balls from one side to other. I changed from my 4-1-2-3 wide to 4-5-1 to have width when defending, I put control to get them as far as possible from my box and put retain possession to get as much ball from them. And it worked.
4-4-2 has gap between defense and midfield. If you use high line to close this gap, you are vulnerable against deep crosses and passes over the top of your defense. You have two CD-de, which are instructed to keep line. So if they manage to put one player between your lines, two CD-s will move backwards as you instructed them to keep line, so they will not close down this player, so this open opportunity for opponent to play trough your defense. Basically, there is lot of ways that you can concede.
If you want to avoid conceding, put DMC in front of defense, if you have two overlapping fullbacks put him on HB, if dont, then he can be DLP-def, or DM-def... Put structured shape, in order to have strong defensive shape, this will hurt you going forward, but it will give you more stability in defense. Going forward, you can experiment what works best for you. There is no good or bad setup. There is no good or bad formation. More symmetric formation will give you even more defensive stability, but it will harder for you to create chances. Some asymmetric formation will give you more chances to score, but you will need to think how to close gaps in defense. Try to dominate possession, as this will give opponent less time on ball to create something. And as far as mentality goes, you can use any of them, and try any to see differences and to know how your formation is acting in each of them. It could be possible that your formation would be more defensively stable with control, attacking or even overload, and more vulnerable with counter and defensive mentality. And there is reason for this, if you are overloading, he has to cover your players hence he has less players which can create counter. If you are playing counter, and he is sitting deep, he will draw you out, and then use space that you left behind, as you are not aggressive enough and you dont pin his team on his half, he has quick options for pass.
And finally, read this to understand how you can organize your defense better, to understand better formation and shapes.
[url]http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/tactics/defending-styles[/URL]
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WJ
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Please avoid vague answers, yet you still post random games with no info? FFS.
I notice that in the Genoa game, you went to W/S wide players on both sides. Would've been nice to know that, but hey, at least it's not me posting vaguely, just you.
I don't see what they issue with the match is? Your attack wasn't great, as I've told you before. You'll always struggle against packed defences with 2 strikers on their own against far more defenders. You had 1 CCC the entire game and 1 Half Chance only. That CCC was at a very tight angle, with a defender right in front of the ball. That immediately shows that you could have used a little more urgency in creating chances. You also attempted 42 crosses at a dismal 7% completion rate, another subject I covered by explaining the type of crosses you can think about. Your wingers hit crosses into an area where 2 strikers were up against 4 or 5 defenders all the time.
They were limited to only a single Half Chance, so your defensive issues you keep banging on about couldn't have been that bad.
They had 7 players in the D and DM stratas, but it was still fairly aggressive/attacking. Since the formation is the defensive shape, it would have made sense to get the ball forward fairly quickly. Your setup doesn't allow that and I've posted so many posts detailing the lack of forward runs, trying to pass through walls with two static midfielders etc that I refuse to post it all again.
The Sassuolo game next. Your cross completion was... 3%. THREE. You completed 1 and it was from a corner as well. Theirs? 27%. They had 10 of their 13 shots on target. You had 4 of your 16.
Your attack? **** again. You created 2 CCCs. 1 was the penalty, the other (fairly open, granted) from the edge of the box. Again your attacks are so slow that you compress play in their third meaning there's very little space. You're relying on moments of brilliance because you have the better players, to create chances.
Your D-Line seemed deep as there was a lot of play going on right in front of them. During the main chances, the players didn't seem all that keen to gets stuck in with tackles either. Antonelli the FB/S especially seemed to struggle against Berardi. That seemed like a mis-match, but I don't know their attributes.
Did you set your own corner setups? You have ONE player back! If the opposition breaks forward after a corner, it's madness.
Magnarelli was the problem here. He was allowed far too much space, considering he was an AP/A. He dribbled with the ball and was aggressively looking to play others in with through balls. You could have man-marked him. You could have simply swapped Poli and Bertolacci around so that Poli covers that side. You could have OI'd him.
Chievo. You guessed it. Your attack was ****. You scored 2 goals, yes, but 1 was a wonder strike and the other a set-piece. You score and rely a lot on set-pieces rather than open play. The goal you conceded was just a goal conceded. There didn't appear to be anything very wrong, except that your left back didn't do a great job of blocking the cross. What about getting stuck in? The opposition passes in the midfield and Poli and Bertolacci running like mad to cover at least 3 midfielders. Then boom, out wide to a player in space. So what? Conceding goals happen. The Sassuolo 2 you could have done much better from a tactical point of view, but this wasn't that bad. You will concede goals at some point.
----
I'm done now. I waste my team telling you EVERY time EXACTLY what an issue is, only for you to ignore the post or not do anything about it. I have better things to do. I'm done watching games and I'm done posting here.
You will concede shots. Every team in the world does. Every team in the world concedes goals. If that doesn't work for you, go back to FM15 where the AI was ****.
Imagine you are kidnapped and after a few days you are released in the middle of the desert. You walk and walk and finally find a man. You ask him, where am I? And he answers, you are in the middle of a desert.
That's how our conversation is.
I said 1000 times i want to improve my defence and you keep talking about forward runs.
The tactic is ok in attack. I tried with 2 other teams and results are the same: scoring and conceeding. It's not about the players, it is the tactic that is too attacking.
We are talking about this since the post 34. I asked you how to defend better. No answers. Just saying "In this match this player did that so you conceeded". That's not a solution. That's a particular issue of one match.
There is a general issue for all matches because i'm consistently conceeding, playing with any team, against any opponent, using any players.
The same as me, you just don't know what's wrong, so you focus in particular things happening in one concret match.
You accept is not posible to conceed less, so you focus in attacking.
That's the real issue. Fm doesn't allow you to be solid at back, unless you park the bus with 7 defense focused players or you control possession like bayern munich.
Completely unrealistic.
That's how our conversation is.
I said 1000 times i want to improve my defence and you keep talking about forward runs.
The tactic is ok in attack. I tried with 2 other teams and results are the same: scoring and conceeding. It's not about the players, it is the tactic that is too attacking.
We are talking about this since the post 34. I asked you how to defend better. No answers. Just saying "In this match this player did that so you conceeded". That's not a solution. That's a particular issue of one match.
There is a general issue for all matches because i'm consistently conceeding, playing with any team, against any opponent, using any players.
The same as me, you just don't know what's wrong, so you focus in particular things happening in one concret match.
You accept is not posible to conceed less, so you focus in attacking.
That's the real issue. Fm doesn't allow you to be solid at back, unless you park the bus with 7 defense focused players or you control possession like bayern munich.
Completely unrealistic.
WJ
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Imagine I take time to point out issues in your tactic, but you don't bother to read anything.
In the 1st game, they didn't really attack much and you also didn't conceded. I HAVE ALREADY TOLD YOU YOUR BASE TACTIC ISN'T BAD.
2nd game was the game you well asleep and didn't notice their playmaker getting all the space and causing you problems. That's a defensive issue, which I provided answers for. Your player selection could have been better too and your D-Line wasn't right. Again I pointed this out.
3rd game the opponent again didn't attack too much. Your only real issues were the occasional cross, which you could OI to defend better, but I also suggested that long ago.
Wake up. I already covered your defensive issues. If you did these things, the 2 Sassuolo goals wouldn't have happened. That's 2 of the 3 goals that gave you grey hairs, leaving you safe and 1 goal conceded in 3.
I kept highlighting the attack as well, because it isn't "OK". You're absolutely blind if you think that and there's no helping you if you stick your head in the sand.
FOR ONCE... READ THE POST. ALL OF IT. THEN READ IT AGAIN.
OK. I read all the thread again. I made some changes.
Now i'm consistently winning (10 of last 13 matches). Even i won away against juventus.
I'm scoring a lot. But also conceeding a lot (31 f 19 ag). Crazy results like 4-4 against napoli.
This is exactly what i dont' want to happen, so let's assume that using this tactic is impossible to be solid at back. I don't find any other explanation.
Let's forget about everything and start from 0. Let's change the tactic.
First of all, do you think is posible solid defence with 4231? When i say solid defense i mean no spaces, players covering, outnumbering opponent when defending.
Forget about attacking, at this moment. Focus in defense. Do you think the following positions, roles and duties are able to provide me solid defense?
Think only about defense and this roles, duties an positions. We'll start building up step by step. Later i'll set TI, PI and OI if needed.
Only when i have a solid defence i will start to build the attacking plan.
Do you understand what i mean? Sorry if my english is not clear enough.
Steps:
0. Is 4231 able to provide solid defense?
1. focus on defense
1.1 set roles, duties and positions.
1.2 Set TI, PI OI
2. Focus on attacking
2.1 tweak/set roles, duties and positions.
2.2 tweak/set TI, PI OI
3. Focus on set pieces
Positions:
Gk
dr dcr dcl dl
dmcr dmcl
amr amc aml
stc
Roles and duties:
gk-de
fb-su cd-de cd-de fb-su
a-de dlp-su
w-su trq-at w-su
af-at
Example questions: is a-de dlp-su a good midfield defensive combination? My line of the am, are able to help enough defending?
Remember, this is a first glance. Just tell me if you any missing on this positions, roles and duties if i want to have solid defense.
Now i'm consistently winning (10 of last 13 matches). Even i won away against juventus.
I'm scoring a lot. But also conceeding a lot (31 f 19 ag). Crazy results like 4-4 against napoli.
This is exactly what i dont' want to happen, so let's assume that using this tactic is impossible to be solid at back. I don't find any other explanation.
Let's forget about everything and start from 0. Let's change the tactic.
First of all, do you think is posible solid defence with 4231? When i say solid defense i mean no spaces, players covering, outnumbering opponent when defending.
Forget about attacking, at this moment. Focus in defense. Do you think the following positions, roles and duties are able to provide me solid defense?
Think only about defense and this roles, duties an positions. We'll start building up step by step. Later i'll set TI, PI and OI if needed.
Only when i have a solid defence i will start to build the attacking plan.
Do you understand what i mean? Sorry if my english is not clear enough.
Steps:
0. Is 4231 able to provide solid defense?
1. focus on defense
1.1 set roles, duties and positions.
1.2 Set TI, PI OI
2. Focus on attacking
2.1 tweak/set roles, duties and positions.
2.2 tweak/set TI, PI OI
3. Focus on set pieces
Positions:
Gk
dr dcr dcl dl
dmcr dmcl
amr amc aml
stc
Roles and duties:
gk-de
fb-su cd-de cd-de fb-su
a-de dlp-su
w-su trq-at w-su
af-at
Example questions: is a-de dlp-su a good midfield defensive combination? My line of the am, are able to help enough defending?
Remember, this is a first glance. Just tell me if you any missing on this positions, roles and duties if i want to have solid defense.
Regarding your questions... You do not have defensively ideal formation.
For example, if you do not set up properly 4-4-2, you will have gaps between defense and midfield that opponent can exploit.
If you use 4-2-3-1 (2 cm), you will have also space between two central midfielders but you will also have extra space between your fullbacks and your wingers. Just look at basic formation. It is quite easy to see where space is. It depends on you and how you setup your team to close these gaps to be able to defend properly.
Easiest way to defend is 4-1-4-1 formation. You have back four, you have man that closing gap between defense and midfield and you have front four (midfield) as first line of defense. You do not have defensive gaps. Problem is, if you do not have plan how will you attack, you wont have too much success in attack either. So those other formations are you win some, you loose some deals.
So if you want to play 4-2-3-1, you can be defensively solid, like you can be defensively solid in all other formation, it is more question do you have adequate team to play this formation (for example, are your CD-s fast enough to track back any trough ball if you push up defense in order to narrow the gap between CD-s an MC-s or do your wingers have good enough work rate and teamwork to track back opponents fullbacks all the time), if they dont, you need to find another solution for narrowing these gaps, this can be solved aggressively, by, for example, trying to control possession, by closing down high and early, by moving your FB-s to WB-s position, in order to get them closer to opponent player so he would be more in his close down range, by giving more aggressive close down instruction to your CB-s and keeping them deeper in attacking formation, in order to always be behind ball and then attack player with the ball... But every fix has its good and bad sides. If your fullbacks decision and anticipation and positioning is bad, then this could live you wide open on side. If your CB-s are too aggressive, you could be looking into more cards then you would like to see. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it wont. Ideally, you will have two world class defenders that will not have problem to push up, or to be aggressive, You will have two wingers with high teamwork and work rate, so you wont have to break your head too much about this....
Or, you can play passive game, by keeping strong defensive shape, close down less, by keeping little bit deeper line and playing some counter attacking style of football. But this will not save you against games that you will concede 2,3 or even 4 goals... Like I said before, **** happen, sometimes you forgot to put some needed instruction, sometimes opponent is just lucky, and sometimes, someone of your players will just play terrible...
If you play 4-2-3-1 deep, then you have to look out not to leave too much space between your two DM-s and three am-s... You have to think about how will you link them up... There is also option with 4-2dm-2-1-1 which is very solid defensively, but it has similar problem, you need to link up your defensive part of team with offensive part of team, because you leave gap between your striker and AM/AM-s and your more defensive players.
So far, I found that best way to defend is to press against teams that play possession football and to keep solid defensive shape against teams that playing direct football. But if you are bullheaded enough, and if you are willing to adopt a little during game, to try something different, then one of these can be very solid in defense...
So main question for you is remaining same, as WJ asked on begging, what do you want to do exactly. You have to have some solid offensive plan in order to keep his players as much as possible in defense, so they do not overload you. You need to have some solid plan of how do you want to keep possession to rest your defense, and refresh your players, because if you dont, your players will tire more, and hence, this could lead to their mistakes and to opponents goals and chances. Like in real football, you can win one or two games with defense matters only mentality, but you can not go trough season expecting it will work it self out if you do not have any plan on how you keep the ball when needed or how to score goals when needed.
For example, if you do not set up properly 4-4-2, you will have gaps between defense and midfield that opponent can exploit.
If you use 4-2-3-1 (2 cm), you will have also space between two central midfielders but you will also have extra space between your fullbacks and your wingers. Just look at basic formation. It is quite easy to see where space is. It depends on you and how you setup your team to close these gaps to be able to defend properly.
Easiest way to defend is 4-1-4-1 formation. You have back four, you have man that closing gap between defense and midfield and you have front four (midfield) as first line of defense. You do not have defensive gaps. Problem is, if you do not have plan how will you attack, you wont have too much success in attack either. So those other formations are you win some, you loose some deals.
So if you want to play 4-2-3-1, you can be defensively solid, like you can be defensively solid in all other formation, it is more question do you have adequate team to play this formation (for example, are your CD-s fast enough to track back any trough ball if you push up defense in order to narrow the gap between CD-s an MC-s or do your wingers have good enough work rate and teamwork to track back opponents fullbacks all the time), if they dont, you need to find another solution for narrowing these gaps, this can be solved aggressively, by, for example, trying to control possession, by closing down high and early, by moving your FB-s to WB-s position, in order to get them closer to opponent player so he would be more in his close down range, by giving more aggressive close down instruction to your CB-s and keeping them deeper in attacking formation, in order to always be behind ball and then attack player with the ball... But every fix has its good and bad sides. If your fullbacks decision and anticipation and positioning is bad, then this could live you wide open on side. If your CB-s are too aggressive, you could be looking into more cards then you would like to see. Sometimes it will work, sometimes it wont. Ideally, you will have two world class defenders that will not have problem to push up, or to be aggressive, You will have two wingers with high teamwork and work rate, so you wont have to break your head too much about this....
Or, you can play passive game, by keeping strong defensive shape, close down less, by keeping little bit deeper line and playing some counter attacking style of football. But this will not save you against games that you will concede 2,3 or even 4 goals... Like I said before, **** happen, sometimes you forgot to put some needed instruction, sometimes opponent is just lucky, and sometimes, someone of your players will just play terrible...
If you play 4-2-3-1 deep, then you have to look out not to leave too much space between your two DM-s and three am-s... You have to think about how will you link them up... There is also option with 4-2dm-2-1-1 which is very solid defensively, but it has similar problem, you need to link up your defensive part of team with offensive part of team, because you leave gap between your striker and AM/AM-s and your more defensive players.
So far, I found that best way to defend is to press against teams that play possession football and to keep solid defensive shape against teams that playing direct football. But if you are bullheaded enough, and if you are willing to adopt a little during game, to try something different, then one of these can be very solid in defense...
So main question for you is remaining same, as WJ asked on begging, what do you want to do exactly. You have to have some solid offensive plan in order to keep his players as much as possible in defense, so they do not overload you. You need to have some solid plan of how do you want to keep possession to rest your defense, and refresh your players, because if you dont, your players will tire more, and hence, this could lead to their mistakes and to opponents goals and chances. Like in real football, you can win one or two games with defense matters only mentality, but you can not go trough season expecting it will work it self out if you do not have any plan on how you keep the ball when needed or how to score goals when needed.
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thank you very much for your answer.
I must asume that 4-2-3-1 is, at least, not the best tactic for my purpose.
I'll change to 4-1-4-1
What do you think about this set up?
gk-de
fb-su cd-de cd-de fb-su
a-de
w-at bbm-su ap-at w-at
tm-su
Remember: we are focusing now on the defense, so the only thing needed here is to be sure this roles are able to give me a good defense. Later we'll set TI, OI, PI. The final step will be focusing on attacking and if needed we'll change anything.
I must asume that 4-2-3-1 is, at least, not the best tactic for my purpose.
I'll change to 4-1-4-1
What do you think about this set up?
gk-de
fb-su cd-de cd-de fb-su
a-de
w-at bbm-su ap-at w-at
tm-su
Remember: we are focusing now on the defense, so the only thing needed here is to be sure this roles are able to give me a good defense. Later we'll set TI, OI, PI. The final step will be focusing on attacking and if needed we'll change anything.
I assume You will play Bacca upfront... So first thing - this is very, very bad choice of role for him. He is F9/DLF type of player, short, but good technically and fast enough. He also have very good favorite moves for these roles. If you train him to come deep to get ball, you will have much better offensive option going forward.
Second, he is short player, so I dont see point to have two wingers on sides, as they do not have anyone to cross to, and they will try as soon as they are in position to cross. Apart from this, I do not see point to push them up as soon as possible to get them to cross to no one and to give the ball away this way, which will leave you in transition very early and defensively disorganized. This will not help your defensive stability, this will not help your offensive play.
Third thing, why did you choose those roles in midfield? Are you aware what those roles do in reality? Do you want your players to dribble with ball or not, if you do, why. Who will be your main scorer? How do you plan to create chances for him? It may seem to you that all these questions are more connected to your game going forward, but they are not, as all those things affect the way you defend.
For example, your two wingers will bomb forward as soon as you are in possession, with or without the ball, your AP-att and BBM-sup will dribble trough middle, and go forward. No matter how you setup your passing instruction or mentality, due to lack of passing option, your players will bomb a lot long forwards towards your wingers and TM. And you will loose ball. And then you expect from your DM to cover all this space between your two roaming CM-s and two bombing W-s... There is no way this will happen. This is just bad thinking, or should I say no thinking on your part.
So think again, read everything WJ told you already, read what I wrote, read this article I posted you, think about it and then create game plan. Main thing is to think of how will you attack when you have the ball, without making yourself vulnerable when you lose the ball... If you want to play counter attacking football, then A-de role for DM is just fine, but not if you want some style of possession football. If you want to play counterattacking football, why in **** would you want playmaker role?
Defense is not only one part that you can setup on its own, it is just one small part of puzzle, and you have to think about solution for everything, not just one part.
So to start from scratch...
You want solid defense, and this is ok... You start by looking at your GK and CB-s. What are they good at. Is your GK fast and good coming of the line or not. Does he have good anticipation rushing out, agility and one on one, then you have options, if not, then you should avoid high defensive line, as your keeper is not very good in space, or in one on one situations. Then your CB-s... If they have high teamwork, positioning, anticipation and concentration as well as decision, then you have option to play high defensive line and offside traps, if not, then you should avoid offside traps, and if they are not fast enough, you should not play high defensive line at all. If they have good positioning determination, concentration and marking, and they are good in air, then your best bet is deeper defensive line, strong defensive shape and clogging the middle with your players, as they will likely win most of jump off situation in your box.
Then your FB-s. Are they good staying at back, or are they much better going forward. There is no point of keeping them at back if they are useless... If they have favorite moves, think about how this will affect their instructions... For example, Abate has run forward whenever possible favorite move, so this mean there is no point of counting on him that he will stay at back most of time, so you may want to create space for him going forward with moving your MR inside more by giving him WP or WM role (with giving him cut inside instruction), and depending on your offensive plan, You may want him to be more or less attacking. Then if this player is more attacking, and your FB is bombing forward, you may want to keep your right CM in some more cover role with defensive mentality, to provide cover as well as pass back option to two of them.
Then you look at your DM-s, what options do you have, depending on how do you want to play, you can choose role for him and this right CM on defensive duty. If you want to play counter attacking, then you want to have more simple roles, as they will not slow pace down by looking for your playmaker. If you want to play possession style, then combination of siting DLP and BWM could be very good, or Regista and sitting DLP.... Then you look for solution on left side of field. Is your LB more disciplined, or is he also someone who will bomb forward. Choose roles according to his behavior, but you have to keep in mind that you have to have someone here who will support and overlap your FC. For FC i have told you which role will work best for Bacca, and this will also be best choice for one striker setup. TM-sup is just not too active and he is too much upfront and sitting in opponent defense, so he can not be utilized in right way...
If you play possesion football, then you want from your players to push forward with ball, so they will not leave your FC isolated. So you choose control or even attacking mentality (try it and decide by yourself). You want stable defense, good team shape, so you rather look for some sort of structured shape. Try it and decide which one works best for you. You want to play wide and you want to play slow game, to wait for opening and for final pass, no bombing crosses, no fast paced attacks.
If you want to play on counter, then you need counter, or defensive mentality, some fluid shape (again, try it and decide which one works best for you. You want also to play more narrow to give your players better positioning to change places and cover each other, and you want to keep deeper line to draw opponent before you hit them on the break. You also may want to slow pace down as much as possible and to play as direct as possible... With right choice of roles, this could devastate opponent...
When defending, since you clogged middle, they will try to break you from crosses. You may want to close down more his FB-s and wide midfielders /wingers, to cut down number of crosses you will be dealing with.
Look at matches and watch if you can improve and how.
Second, he is short player, so I dont see point to have two wingers on sides, as they do not have anyone to cross to, and they will try as soon as they are in position to cross. Apart from this, I do not see point to push them up as soon as possible to get them to cross to no one and to give the ball away this way, which will leave you in transition very early and defensively disorganized. This will not help your defensive stability, this will not help your offensive play.
Third thing, why did you choose those roles in midfield? Are you aware what those roles do in reality? Do you want your players to dribble with ball or not, if you do, why. Who will be your main scorer? How do you plan to create chances for him? It may seem to you that all these questions are more connected to your game going forward, but they are not, as all those things affect the way you defend.
For example, your two wingers will bomb forward as soon as you are in possession, with or without the ball, your AP-att and BBM-sup will dribble trough middle, and go forward. No matter how you setup your passing instruction or mentality, due to lack of passing option, your players will bomb a lot long forwards towards your wingers and TM. And you will loose ball. And then you expect from your DM to cover all this space between your two roaming CM-s and two bombing W-s... There is no way this will happen. This is just bad thinking, or should I say no thinking on your part.
So think again, read everything WJ told you already, read what I wrote, read this article I posted you, think about it and then create game plan. Main thing is to think of how will you attack when you have the ball, without making yourself vulnerable when you lose the ball... If you want to play counter attacking football, then A-de role for DM is just fine, but not if you want some style of possession football. If you want to play counterattacking football, why in **** would you want playmaker role?
Defense is not only one part that you can setup on its own, it is just one small part of puzzle, and you have to think about solution for everything, not just one part.
So to start from scratch...
You want solid defense, and this is ok... You start by looking at your GK and CB-s. What are they good at. Is your GK fast and good coming of the line or not. Does he have good anticipation rushing out, agility and one on one, then you have options, if not, then you should avoid high defensive line, as your keeper is not very good in space, or in one on one situations. Then your CB-s... If they have high teamwork, positioning, anticipation and concentration as well as decision, then you have option to play high defensive line and offside traps, if not, then you should avoid offside traps, and if they are not fast enough, you should not play high defensive line at all. If they have good positioning determination, concentration and marking, and they are good in air, then your best bet is deeper defensive line, strong defensive shape and clogging the middle with your players, as they will likely win most of jump off situation in your box.
Then your FB-s. Are they good staying at back, or are they much better going forward. There is no point of keeping them at back if they are useless... If they have favorite moves, think about how this will affect their instructions... For example, Abate has run forward whenever possible favorite move, so this mean there is no point of counting on him that he will stay at back most of time, so you may want to create space for him going forward with moving your MR inside more by giving him WP or WM role (with giving him cut inside instruction), and depending on your offensive plan, You may want him to be more or less attacking. Then if this player is more attacking, and your FB is bombing forward, you may want to keep your right CM in some more cover role with defensive mentality, to provide cover as well as pass back option to two of them.
Then you look at your DM-s, what options do you have, depending on how do you want to play, you can choose role for him and this right CM on defensive duty. If you want to play counter attacking, then you want to have more simple roles, as they will not slow pace down by looking for your playmaker. If you want to play possession style, then combination of siting DLP and BWM could be very good, or Regista and sitting DLP.... Then you look for solution on left side of field. Is your LB more disciplined, or is he also someone who will bomb forward. Choose roles according to his behavior, but you have to keep in mind that you have to have someone here who will support and overlap your FC. For FC i have told you which role will work best for Bacca, and this will also be best choice for one striker setup. TM-sup is just not too active and he is too much upfront and sitting in opponent defense, so he can not be utilized in right way...
If you play possesion football, then you want from your players to push forward with ball, so they will not leave your FC isolated. So you choose control or even attacking mentality (try it and decide by yourself). You want stable defense, good team shape, so you rather look for some sort of structured shape. Try it and decide which one works best for you. You want to play wide and you want to play slow game, to wait for opening and for final pass, no bombing crosses, no fast paced attacks.
If you want to play on counter, then you need counter, or defensive mentality, some fluid shape (again, try it and decide which one works best for you. You want also to play more narrow to give your players better positioning to change places and cover each other, and you want to keep deeper line to draw opponent before you hit them on the break. You also may want to slow pace down as much as possible and to play as direct as possible... With right choice of roles, this could devastate opponent...
When defending, since you clogged middle, they will try to break you from crosses. You may want to close down more his FB-s and wide midfielders /wingers, to cut down number of crosses you will be dealing with.
Look at matches and watch if you can improve and how.
I've read the hole thread like 100 times and i still don't know what Ti, Pi, Oi i must set. For instance, in post 72 WJ says:
They kept putting you under huge amounts of pressure because you left 2 central midfielders unmarked. Their DL kept surging forward into oceans of space and had all the time in the world to feed Morata and Mandzukic. Count your self lucky that they had sendings off, otherwise they would have run away with it.
There is no info for me in this sentence. What should i do? What Ti, Pi, Oi should i set? manmark midfielders? Sure? I had my two strikers manmaking midfielders. More? Sure? Because i tried and i lost the same match 6-1.
That was just an example. I tried everything i've been told and results are the same as before or worse.
Duca015, i really appreciate your post, but of course bacca is not my tm. I'm not that stupid i know how bacca plays and his attributes. I use him as dlf, f9 or cf.
I don't want to pay attention to my players attributes. Yes i said that and there is a reason. I want a tactic that works, more or less, with 90% of teams. That's why i want to play simple football and generic roles.
The other things you said i already know them. But this is theory and theory is not enough.
For instance: if i conceed from crosses, what i should change? OIs? What OIs? Mark tighter? Weaker foot? Should i play wider? D-line higher? Stuck in?
I played 3 seasons (the same season 3 times) with 442, 4231 and 433. Results are mainly the same: around 50 goals scored, 30 goals conceeded, around 2-4 position, around 70 points.
I start all seasons quite well. Scoring few but conceeding almost nothing. Around christmas i start conceeding 1 goal per game. Like maths. 1-1, 2-1, 0-1. Conceeding and conceeding. Without any pattern. From everywhere. Against any team.
I think nobody can help me with this because you guys see things that i don't. Maybe there is a pattern on how i conceed but i just can't see it.
Very disappointing.
They kept putting you under huge amounts of pressure because you left 2 central midfielders unmarked. Their DL kept surging forward into oceans of space and had all the time in the world to feed Morata and Mandzukic. Count your self lucky that they had sendings off, otherwise they would have run away with it.
There is no info for me in this sentence. What should i do? What Ti, Pi, Oi should i set? manmark midfielders? Sure? I had my two strikers manmaking midfielders. More? Sure? Because i tried and i lost the same match 6-1.
That was just an example. I tried everything i've been told and results are the same as before or worse.
Duca015, i really appreciate your post, but of course bacca is not my tm. I'm not that stupid i know how bacca plays and his attributes. I use him as dlf, f9 or cf.
I don't want to pay attention to my players attributes. Yes i said that and there is a reason. I want a tactic that works, more or less, with 90% of teams. That's why i want to play simple football and generic roles.
The other things you said i already know them. But this is theory and theory is not enough.
For instance: if i conceed from crosses, what i should change? OIs? What OIs? Mark tighter? Weaker foot? Should i play wider? D-line higher? Stuck in?
I played 3 seasons (the same season 3 times) with 442, 4231 and 433. Results are mainly the same: around 50 goals scored, 30 goals conceeded, around 2-4 position, around 70 points.
I start all seasons quite well. Scoring few but conceeding almost nothing. Around christmas i start conceeding 1 goal per game. Like maths. 1-1, 2-1, 0-1. Conceeding and conceeding. Without any pattern. From everywhere. Against any team.
I think nobody can help me with this because you guys see things that i don't. Maybe there is a pattern on how i conceed but i just can't see it.
Very disappointing.
WJ
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I had a far more angry post at you criticising advice, but not thinking at all or asking any questions about it.
I'll rather ask this:
1 - Based on there being 4 opposition midfielders and you having 2 AND you choosing to mark 2 midfielders with your strikers, I said (having actually gone through the pain of watching YOUR matches) that the OTHER 2 midfielders were wide open. What do you think is possible to do? What do you think is possibly possible to do, given that you've gone for the man marking route? What is your 2 midfielders doing?
2 - The DL gets space. What could you possibly do to reduce that space? Is it possible to use an OI or more than one OI on him? Is it possible to mark him?
I provided plenty of info. You chose to do nothing about it. I don't spoonfeed.
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I think you don't understand me neither.
I'm not critising your advice. I'm criticising myself because i don't get anything from what you say.
When i watch a game i don't know where to look. When i conceed a goal (or the opponent creates a chance) I stop, repeat, stop repeat and think, think, repeat, repeat, think, read your posts, think, repeat, read again.... but it don't understand what's wrong. I mean, for instance, the last goal i conceeded was a short passing combination in the middle of my defense. I had my two cm and cb against two opponent strikers. They passed the ball and suddenly my cb disappeared and one striker was alone in front of my gk.
What was wrong? No idea. Was an individual mistake? No idea. Was wrong the tactic? No idea. I don't know what happened so it's imposible to do anything about it.
I'm not asking for answers about this goal. Was just an example.
1 - Based on there being 4 opposition midfielders and you having 2 AND you choosing to mark 2 midfielders with your strikers, I said (having actually gone through the pain of watching YOUR matches) that the OTHER 2 midfielders were wide open. What do you think is possible to do? What do you think is possibly possible to do, given that you've gone for the man marking route? What is your 2 midfielders doing?
2 - The DL gets space. What could you possibly do to reduce that space? Is it possible to use an OI or more than one OI on him? Is it possible to mark him
1- I chosed manmarking because i saw my 2 strikers uninvolved in defense and i wanted them to help. I don't know what happened to my midfielders. I don't know why they were wide open. I suppose i should play narrower, but i've tried it and i still conceed a lot.
2- My rm should stop the ld. I tried manmarking but that was not a solution. What OIs are usefull to stop this? I say it because i've read a lot in other places and some people say weaker foot and tight marking. Others say weaker foot is not a good idea. Well, i tried this OIs and, when i have problems defending flanks, nothing changes even if i use this OIs.
What i've been trying to do is to build up a tactic with your help. Could you be so nice to help me following this steps (post 108)?
Steps:
0. Is 4231 able to provide solid defense?
1. focus on defense
1.1 set roles, duties and positions.
1.2 Set TI, PI OI
2. Focus on attacking
2.1 tweak/set roles, duties and positions.
2.2 tweak/set TI, PI OI
3. Focus on set pieces
First question. duca015 said it is not the ideal formation. I played a season with 4231 and i conceeded the same than using a 4123 (around 30 goals), so i still think it is posible to be solid with a 4231. What do you think?
I'm not critising your advice. I'm criticising myself because i don't get anything from what you say.
When i watch a game i don't know where to look. When i conceed a goal (or the opponent creates a chance) I stop, repeat, stop repeat and think, think, repeat, repeat, think, read your posts, think, repeat, read again.... but it don't understand what's wrong. I mean, for instance, the last goal i conceeded was a short passing combination in the middle of my defense. I had my two cm and cb against two opponent strikers. They passed the ball and suddenly my cb disappeared and one striker was alone in front of my gk.
What was wrong? No idea. Was an individual mistake? No idea. Was wrong the tactic? No idea. I don't know what happened so it's imposible to do anything about it.
I'm not asking for answers about this goal. Was just an example.
1 - Based on there being 4 opposition midfielders and you having 2 AND you choosing to mark 2 midfielders with your strikers, I said (having actually gone through the pain of watching YOUR matches) that the OTHER 2 midfielders were wide open. What do you think is possible to do? What do you think is possibly possible to do, given that you've gone for the man marking route? What is your 2 midfielders doing?
2 - The DL gets space. What could you possibly do to reduce that space? Is it possible to use an OI or more than one OI on him? Is it possible to mark him
1- I chosed manmarking because i saw my 2 strikers uninvolved in defense and i wanted them to help. I don't know what happened to my midfielders. I don't know why they were wide open. I suppose i should play narrower, but i've tried it and i still conceed a lot.
2- My rm should stop the ld. I tried manmarking but that was not a solution. What OIs are usefull to stop this? I say it because i've read a lot in other places and some people say weaker foot and tight marking. Others say weaker foot is not a good idea. Well, i tried this OIs and, when i have problems defending flanks, nothing changes even if i use this OIs.
What i've been trying to do is to build up a tactic with your help. Could you be so nice to help me following this steps (post 108)?
Steps:
0. Is 4231 able to provide solid defense?
1. focus on defense
1.1 set roles, duties and positions.
1.2 Set TI, PI OI
2. Focus on attacking
2.1 tweak/set roles, duties and positions.
2.2 tweak/set TI, PI OI
3. Focus on set pieces
First question. duca015 said it is not the ideal formation. I played a season with 4231 and i conceeded the same than using a 4123 (around 30 goals), so i still think it is posible to be solid with a 4231. What do you think?
WJ
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You don't read posts. You quoted my comment about the other 2 Juventus midfielders getting space, being completely open. Even though I highlight this to you, nothing clicks. I start throwing very obvious hints about man-marking and your own midfielders doing noting. Nothing clicks.
In fact, I earlier in the thread wrote this:
This is what I wrote. So with your 2 strikers marking 2 midfielders and the other 2 in acres of space why isn't there a little light that goes off thinking 'I need to mark the other 2'? You went with the specific man-marking option, so may as well follow through with it. I mean, at the very least, mark the more advanced central midfielder. The playmaker at the back could have been left alone maybe..
That advanced midfielder was causing all the problems (apart from the left back) so why do you not think "Why is he so open?" and "What could I do to stop him having that much space and time?"
I'm not going to get caught up in this. I've said far too much that gets ignored. Hopefully Duca can find a way to get you to understand things better.
That's enough.
Not everybody is as gifted, experiencied and intelligent as you. Of course i'm reading what you all say. I'm ignoring nothing. Tell me just one thing you've said a I didn't try to solve. Just one. There is no.
What could I do to stop him having that much space and time?
First, I can't see it on my own. Believe me, it's true.
Not everybody is as gifted, experiencied and intelligent as you. Try to understand this.
How to stop? NO IDEA. I don't know even how to start. I read your post I read guides i read everything but i still don't know what to do. How avoid space? Play narrow? Close down more? Higher d-line? I tried all that comes to my mind and results don't change.
I played the same game 10 times this afternoon and results were the same using any of your alternatives. I'm not saying your advices are not good. Actually, i don't know (because i don't have enough knowledge) if they are good or bad. I'm saying I don't know how to translate your advice into orders to my team.
That's why i am here asking for help. I'm not ignoring anything. I just don't understand what i have to do because anything i try doesn't affect what happens on the pitch.
Again: if i have problems conceeding from crosses, i would: play higher d-line, play wider, close down PI's to fullbacks, weaker foot also. I would try all of this orders, some of them, and several combinations. Well, i tried all this and i am still conceeding a lot from crosses.
Maybe what i'm doing is wrong, but i don't have a better idea. That's why i'm still here asking for help.
Maybe what i'm doing is ok, but my team is just that bad.
Maybe your advices are too complicated for me to understand at this moment. Try to figure out i bought the game on christmas and i haven't played a real save yet. Just testing.
I watched hundreds of matches, with a pen in my hand and writing notes. I'm trying whatever i read here or wherever there are people talking about fm.
It would be easier for me to start step by step, slowly, building up the tactic, solving problem by problem, with simple instructions.
Not everybody is as gifted, experiencied and intelligent as you. Of course i'm reading what you all say. I'm ignoring nothing. Tell me just one thing you've said a I didn't try to solve. Just one. There is no.
What could I do to stop him having that much space and time?
First, I can't see it on my own. Believe me, it's true.
Not everybody is as gifted, experiencied and intelligent as you. Try to understand this.
How to stop? NO IDEA. I don't know even how to start. I read your post I read guides i read everything but i still don't know what to do. How avoid space? Play narrow? Close down more? Higher d-line? I tried all that comes to my mind and results don't change.
I played the same game 10 times this afternoon and results were the same using any of your alternatives. I'm not saying your advices are not good. Actually, i don't know (because i don't have enough knowledge) if they are good or bad. I'm saying I don't know how to translate your advice into orders to my team.
That's why i am here asking for help. I'm not ignoring anything. I just don't understand what i have to do because anything i try doesn't affect what happens on the pitch.
Again: if i have problems conceeding from crosses, i would: play higher d-line, play wider, close down PI's to fullbacks, weaker foot also. I would try all of this orders, some of them, and several combinations. Well, i tried all this and i am still conceeding a lot from crosses.
Maybe what i'm doing is wrong, but i don't have a better idea. That's why i'm still here asking for help.
Maybe what i'm doing is ok, but my team is just that bad.
Maybe your advices are too complicated for me to understand at this moment. Try to figure out i bought the game on christmas and i haven't played a real save yet. Just testing.
I watched hundreds of matches, with a pen in my hand and writing notes. I'm trying whatever i read here or wherever there are people talking about fm.
It would be easier for me to start step by step, slowly, building up the tactic, solving problem by problem, with simple instructions.
WJ
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See what I mean about not reading posts?
I have now twice posted (soon to be 3) the solution to the midfielders getting space in that Juventus match. The advanced midfielder was causing the problems. At the very least mark him with one of the 2 midfielders and you'll still have a spare midfielder as cover.
I have now twice posted (soon to be 3) the solution to the midfielders getting space in that Juventus match. The advanced midfielder was causing the problems. At the very least mark him with one of the 2 midfielders and you'll still have a spare midfielder as cover.
But he gave you info what went wrong. You left too much space in midle for 2 CM-s to organize and you left a lot of space for his left fullback to cross for two excellent target man type of players... What in world would you need more?
I mean, close down more his two CM-s and cover better his LB, put him on man marking, force him to cut inside... I did not watched the game, but this is quite useful information for you...
And here is your big problem... You can create one tactic to fit them all... You can not use 1,5 meter FC to catch crosses... You can not use low work rate team to close down more with them. You can not sit deep with two short CB-s and you can not push high up field with two slow defenders without high enough ratings for decision, anticipation, positioning and teamwork... It just wont work... It is just plain stupid.
Point is, you can not create something that disregards all important information about your players. You can not look over that Abate has run forward whenever possible and expect him to stay at back and just provide cover, because he want do this, and if you do not cover space behind him, this is huge risk for your defense.
You can create some general tactic that you can use everywhere, but you can not disregard such important information as suitability for certain player for one particular role, because it may not work as well as you would like, so there is reason why you are conceding 30 goals and scoring only 50 - you are not noticing important things and you just not take them into account.
Common dude... What would be solution for real life football team? Think about this first. Then ask question how you can achieve that. Otherwise, this is just plain stupid... There is couple of different solutions, but you still do not know how to setup basic tactic. You want results without knowing how you get them...
This is because you do not know what you want... He told you what went wrong. And you did not stopped and brainstormed how could I solve this problem... You expect from someone to solve problem for you... This just wont work ... You have to think of solution and then try to incorporate it, if it works, great, if not, you can come here and ask what would be solution. Not like this. Every game is different, and it is not possible to give you solution that will work every time.
So you start over. I gave you starting notes if you want to build your tactic from scratch with existing players. You have to take notice on your players, otherwise, their faults will cause problems in defense. If you do not plan on how will you attack, then their mistakes will leave you vulnerable to counter attacks. And add to this few goals from set pieces, that you will concede, there is your answer why you are not doing better then you are.
Ok. First, you need to explain how they are getting in positions to send crosses. Are they overlapping with their FB-s your wide players, are they having 1-1 situation with your player and beat them of dribble, or you leave so much space that they exploit on counters. Then, we might have some answers for you. This way, it is pointless.
Ok, it would be easier, this is why I wrote previous post. But you can not expect that it will work from get go... And you will always need to react according to situation on field. Sometimes, just simple change from counter to attacking mentality is more then enough. And vice versa. Sometimes you need to close down, and sometimes closing down will destroy you and leave you wide open at back. But you have to see this and to understand when the change is needed and why. And we can not help you with this, we can note and give you information like WJ did afterwords, but this is not solution.
You need to understand why something is happening, where are your week spots, what are your good sides and to cover better your weakest points and exploit as much as possible your best points. And if something is wrong, to have plan b... It is all that it is...
As far as I see, you do not know why you setup team like you do, you do not have plan on how you will attack, you do not have plan on how you will defend, you just know that you want good defense... I mean , good luck with that, but I can tell you, it wont work...
And Milan has excellent defense, and you should not concede 30 goals in season, so this is not players fault...
In this formation you choose (4-1-4-1 on previous page) I saw some problems. And you did not noticed anything regarding questions I asked you. So lets start from here. I mean, explain what was the idea here. Were you aware of possible problems that this setup will cause?
And do not change setup just because I said so, but try to think why you setup like you did and how do you thought it will work and write it down, and then I will explain what you thought wrong, and how you can achieve what you wanted. If you just setup other roles, I wont answer you, and you are on your own...
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Hi,
1.- My main problem is that i don't see any conection with real football. The way you think about fm and real football doesn't match with mine. For me football is quite simple and i absolutelly disagree with ones like guardiola and others who try to convince us that football is similar to rocket science. There are two basic situations in football: when you are supposed to win and when you are not supposed to win. In first case, you should push up higher, close down more, play short passing, open the field and wait for the chance to appear. In the second one, just sit back, play narrow, tackle harder, waste time, try to send long balls to your striker(s) and wings and let's see what happens.
2.- if a had problems in real football conceeding from crosses i would tell my fb and wing not to allow crossing, my cb to tight mark, one of my midfielders to help cb and my wings to help my fb. No idea How to tell my players in fm to do that. Better, i know how but this orders seem uneffective.
3.- Other orders are stupid. Of course you must show onto weaker foot. Everybody, anywhere, at any time. Always and each one of my players should do that. Set this in fm and laughs will come. I know because i tried! Remember i've benn playing since christmas just testing.
4.- Assuming, then, that my vision of real football has no connection with fm i'd like you to understand that when i set a tactic is not based in how i think: it is based in how fm thinks. That's why is so difficult for me to explain why i choose settings. I do it thinking on how fm thinks.
5.- Anyway, my 4141.
gk-de
fb-su. Mainly defending, but also help attacking overlapping sometimes
cd-de cd-de Defend and pass the ball to the closer player they see (maybe i should set limited cd?)
fb-su Mainly defending, but also help attacking overlapping sometimes
a-de Help cb and pass the ball to the closer player
w-at Exploit flank, dribble and cross
bbm-su Help defending and provide runs to finish and to offer passing options
ap-at Creator.
w-at Exploit flank, dribble and cross
tm-su target of long balls and main finisher of crosses.
How to create chances. I already explained it but again: The idea is, we get the ball, we pass it to the creative midfielder who sends the ball to one of the wingers. The winger runs at defence and crosses. Inside the box we'll have the tm and the bbm, at least.
This is the first attacking plan, but i want to have another. Here is where bbm my apm should be more involved. We get the ball, we pass it to creative midfielder linked with bbm. Then he can send the ball to the flanks/pass the ball to the tm or whatever.
Finally, we should have a third plan. Long balls to tm who is supposed to be able to open space. Players should use this if we the opponent is closing down.
Tell me if you need more info and i'll do my best.