Tips for winning against smaller teams...

[louiscfc]

I'm currently manager of Wolves who are in the Championship, I had a good start and hit some bad form and found myself in 10th place. I've now gone unbeaten for 8 games, winning 7 but drew to bottom of the table. I've got Hull next who are 21st place and lost 5 in a row. What are some tips for winning this game. Cant afford to drop any points. Need help on tactics, preparation, team talks etc.

Also on another save I played the same game 4 times against bottom of the table and I kept losing 2-0 every game, with them scoring in the first 10 minutes. I just couldnt score against them. Why is this, is the game rigged?

 

[xdannyw92]

No the game isn't rigged. Tell the players assertively you expect them to win. Make sure you're strategy is attacking. Field your strongest team with experienced players.

If you can beat the big teams its because you take them more seriously. I sometimes play younger players against the lesser teams and have paid for it some times. Just don't do that if your not confident.

 

[bullybeef73]

Hi louiscfc, I changed my tactics in FM11 to combat the shots to goals ratio issue, and it does seem counter attack is the best option, even for the AI, and I have found this more so on FM12. This is maybe why lessers teams do quite well against teams with higher reps. I'd look to approach a game like this with a mentality of at least Control, keeping possession, and high creativity.


My tactic is CA but with CA switched off so I can retain possession more often, but still look to get in behind teams when they're pushing up. Even though I have a deep system, I alter my forwards and creative midfielders to have attacking mentalities, so I can create better quality chances. Not too high so they don't '******' at their chances on goal. After I have a comfortable lead, I toggle the mentalities lower so to keep even more possession, and maybe even create another good goal scoring opportunity.


Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Mike.]

It depends how they line up, how deep they sit etc. There isn't one approach to it. You can play wider, retain possession and used a controlled passing game to split them open. Or you can press high and hit them relentlessly by getting the ball forward in to feet quickly. The key is to work out in the opening 15 minutes if either approach is working, some teams are better at resisting one approach and worse at defending another.

 

[torglenn]

What Mike said. Every team is different as opponents, and respond differently to your tactics. Adding to that, your own team may have an "off day", especially if they're not focused and concentrated (can happen when beeing big favourites).

In pre-match talk, tell them you expect a win. That way it is easier to be strict in mid-match talk and afterwards (if you first tell them "good luck" and are angry with them afterwards for not winning, they'll get confused and angry, of course)

When beeing huge favourites, I would go for a controlling/posession strategy (which of course I have trained for a long time, so that my players are comfortable in that formation/tactic). Nevertheless, I pause every game after 8-10 minutes, to see if my ***. manager has picked up on something vital. Maybe we should play shorter passes today, ease up on the tackling, etc. (your ***. manager should have pretty good tactical knowledge stats for this to work). The earlier you start fine-tuning according to game development, the better chance of a good result. (no use in analyzing after two minutes, though)

I try to stick with my strategy (with just some tweaking), unless I'm down by two goals or my ***. manager tells me everything is wrong. I find that changing tactics too much during a match makes the players confused and unhappy. If your tactics doesen't really work, but you are still keeping a clean sheet, stick with it for 45 mins. In the break you change whatever is needed, and tell them they're not performing as expected (if they are not). This usually brings out the best in them, unless morale is very low (then they need encouragement like "I have faith in you"-stuff).

Anyway, this usually works for me, hope it does for you.

 

[bullybeef73]

This is great advice!


Can I ask, I noticed after the latest hotfix that moral and team talks have become pretty vital. However, prior to a match vs a low rep team, why doesn't their low moral seem to affect how well they play? When I have experienced my team suffering with confidence, they do tend to struggle at times?

 

[Mike.]

This is great advice!


Can I ask, I noticed after the latest hotfix that moral and team talks have become pretty vital. However, prior to a match vs a low rep team, why doesn't their low moral seem to affect how well they play? When I have experienced my team suffering with confidence, they do tend to struggle at times?

Moral and, team talks in particular, are not as vital as people make out. Secondly, its easier to defend in numbers, than it is to break down that defensive barrier. The more shots you waste, the more frustrated your side can become as the attack.

The key is to work with that morale if your side has low morale. If they are low, dont play an expansive intricate game, they wont have the confidence to pull off those outrageous passes. Pick your most battling players, get tight scrappy and ugly, and almost literally fight for the win.

Most low moral teams i play against tend to be very cagey against me, taking little risks, hence can be tough, unless you find their weakness, once you get in there you can make a side crumble. So i try not to get sucked into a fight with them, rather I play around them, and tire them out by holding onto the ball.

 

[torglenn]

One addition to my last reply: Even when playing controlling/posession tactics, I always have the 'counter attack' option ticked in team instructions. At least to me, it seems like it makes the players more alert to the chance of making the direct pass-and-run when they get the option.
When banging your head against a wall of defenders for 90 mins., you might just get one or two of those chances. Better be ready for it...

 

[bullybeef73]

I do play with CA ticked now and again, and I would probably do it more often if I notice a great difference. Although sometimes, if I am winning comfortably, I may tick CA to see if I can grab some bonus goals. With my poor memory problems though, it doesn't help that I forget how often this helps, doh!


I'll certainly give it another try, particularly in a tight game. Thanks!