Hey guys and welcome to this post on FM 2014 tactics adjusting for the opposition. Over the last couple of years SI have experienced a transition, moving away from the one tactic wonders to a more realistic and unpredictable match engine. In years gone by most gamers could find a tactic to break the match engine, a system that exploits its faults and takes advantage of its predictability.
Some players are in favour of this change, while others just can’t get to grips with it and as a result see the game as floored and bugged. I am not here to reignite that debate, but to share how you could adapt and move with FM14’s new tactics system and ever changing match engine.
Fact of the matter is there are no hard and fast answers on how to approach tactics in this years game, you just have to use common sense. In my Wigan save I started using a flat 4-5-1 which worked well, but with new patches and an ever growing reputation I had to adapt my thinking and change to the recently published dynamic 4-2-3-1.
However, even this wasn’t enough to secure glory and win trophies, I still find the need to adapt and adjust for the opposition. As mentioned I can’t tell you how to do this, there are just so many variables and possibilities we’d be here all day, but what I can do is share a detailed analysis of one very important game and how I approached it to exploit my opposition and hide my own weakness’.
To clarify, I rarely adjust my tactics but I do try and spot opportunities in the oppositions weakness’ and choose those very tough games to make tweaks and tinker with my system all of which is explained in one comprehensive example below. Its about finding balance, there’s no point in transforming your system drastically every game, you need to be selective and rely in subtle adjustments to make the difference.
This is a very long post, so please grab some refreshments and get settled.
Setting the scene
We have reached the end of the 2018/19 campaign, Wigan Athletic have already won the Carling Cup, FA Cup and Premier League title. Sounds easy, but the season hasn’t been all peaches. We still have a few bogey teams and my ‘dynamic 4-2-3-1′ has shown signs of weakness coming up against particular formations such as the 4-4-2 and 4-2-2-2 to name a few. The perfect season stands on a knifes edge as we lineup against the outstanding PSG. Our opposition have won 4 consecutive Ligue 1 titles and been crowned kings of Europe twice. This is a daunting task and we are undoubtedly the underdogs, so I have to cover every inch of their side to find weakness’ and asses where they’ll hurt us most…
Assess the opposition
My first port of call is a look back through history, just to see how we have matched up in previous encounters. This doesn’t make for easy reading as I’ve never beaten the French and European champions. In fact we have lost 3 and drawn 3 from our last 6 matches against PSG, conceding 12 goals and scoring just 6. Our opponents have bossed every season defining match to date, humiliating us in the 2016 Champions League final and brushing us aside in the quarter-finals the following year.
Its plain to see that I have to adjust and adapt for the opposition this time. When against lesser opposition you can try to overwhelm and stick to your own game plan, but up against such a tough side I have to be a bit more clever and thoughtful…the consequence of not doing so is very obvious looking through our past meetings.
I reach for my notepad and start analyzing. First up the scouts opposition report that appears in your inbox days before the big match. From this I can see PSG have won 4 from their last 5 fixtures and that they generally use a 4-4-2. While the scout suggests they are vulnerable to a 4-2-2-2 I find that too risky a formation and haven’t mastered it yet so would rather adapt my 4-2-3-1. Looking at the ‘assist location’ analysis I can establish that PSG will be most dangerous down their left flank and most vulnerable down their right flank, these are where the most assists occurred for and against.
After finding potential weakness and strength, I need to investigate them further so enter the ‘team report’ screen. Aguero has been scoring for fun as have most of the PSG frontline, its very hard to stop strikers scoring if they get opportunities, so instead we should look to plug the source, the most common assist area which is down the left flank with Lucas Moura.
Before I click continue I want to check out PSG’s potential weakness’ further. A common area to find flaws is the teams ‘worst attribute’, for instance they might be very slow, or lack work rate etc. For PSG its their average height that seems to be a weakness so I’ll store that in the memory bank.
Pre-match analysis
Now I need more exact and detailed information, ie the predicted team selection and match day formation so I must wait for the pre-match preview. From this I find both areas I have previously picked out as danger areas and see who might fill the gap. It appears an aging Cavani and Henriquez could feature upfront while Insigne looks set for the left wing.
This doesn’t make sense when you consider the scouting report that suggested Aguero and Moura as our key dangermen. So I check the PSG squad and see both are out injured, a stroke of luck really. However, Insigne is still dangerous from the left wing as are Cavani and Henriquez upfront, so I follow my plan through despite the absentees.
Adjusting the tactic
Lets summarize the key analysis so far.
- PSG play a 4-4-2.
- Their key assist area is down the flanks.
- We’ve picked out their left flank as the main area of danger.
- PSG have very talented and clinical strikers, meaning any chances need preventing from the source.
- PSG have a very pacey squad, looking at the team this seems to come down the flanks, so we need to consider this too.
- PSG’s main weakness is in height.
- Most of their assists against come down their right flank.
Thats all the information at my disposal, how I use that and what I change will decide the outcome of the match. So I start by trying to cover for their strengths.
Our right flank (their left flank): My 4-2-3-1 usually features an inside forward with attack duty at AMR and a wing back at DR, considering the opposition this will be too dangerous to keep. I want to keep the same shape so adjust my AMR to ‘defensive winger’ with ‘defend’ duty, this will see him track Insigne down the line and offer that extra support we need to stop PSG’s most common assist area. I also decided to change the wing back to full back in an attempt to stop his marauding runs that may leave us short when PSG break.
PSG’s pace and ability to get in behind: PSG have a tendency to play at pace and we could get found out due to my formation and attacking tactic. So I decided to change the GK’s role from goalkeeper to sweeper keeper, hoping he will act as a sweeper and the last line of defence sweeping up possession before the opposition forwards can take advantage.
Now I address PSG’s weakness’ and our strengths.
PSG’s right flank (our left flank): The most common assist area against, I decided to trust this stat despite my opinion that Peruzzi is a great player. So I left the AML position as inside forward, using him to cut inside and exploit the space we’ll get due to the lack of a DMC. I do have a very, very quick AML and in my save Peruzzi is lacking in this area so it certainly makes sense to exploit that.
PSG’s height: To be explained in the team selection, I see that as the best way to exploit them in this area.
Team selection
Just as important as the tactic is picking the right players to suit the roles and the job they must do. There is no point in selecting a defensive winger if I don’t have someone that will get back and help out defensively for instance. Lets pick out the key areas. All the selections are highlighted in the image below. They are colour coded so you can see which options I had to choose between.
ST — My selection is limited due to injuries, but in any case I would have gone for Tairi, a young regen with great power and aerial presence. He can really run but I could see him making a difference in the air and causing PSG’s small side real issues.
DC (red) — I had four options to fill two positions here. I know PSG have great pace and play their strikers on the shoulder so I need fast defenders over strength and aerial ability. Balanta and Dow are my best players for this.
AMR (blue) — Gomez and Halilovic are my options, Halilovic is incredibly dangerous going forward but Gomez has great work rate and can handle himself defensively, so Rodrigo Gomez it is. Not to mention Halilovic is left footed so wouldn’t get a good cross in whereas the Argentine is an excellent crosser with his right foot and will provide an assist threat to take advantage of PSG’s height issue on the break. His acceleration and dribbling ability will mean the deep position he obtains won’t be an issue with getting down the wing and involved in attacking plays.
AML (green) — Perrot an insanely quick but inexperienced regen, or my trusty Spaniard Sarabia who is better crossing and sticking to the wing. This was a tough choice, I could have gone for exploiting PSG’s height and using Sarabia to cross the ball more often. However, PSG have conceded the most assists down this flank and Peruzzi does seem slow so I thought using Perrot to cut inside and use his lightening fast pace would suit best. With us using a crossing option from the right side I felt like we also needed a different and more direct dimension from the left so this position remained untouched from my usual tactic.
In game analysis and result
You’ve seen the game plan and hopefully my logic, but how did we fair in game? Lets start by analyzing specific player performances before we see the result.
My AMR, Gomez — We changed role from inside forward/attack to defensive winger/defend, with the aim of stopping Insigne, who played in PSG’s most common assist area. Below is an image of all the tackles Gomez made and where, he made 6 in total, all of which were successful and some in very important defensive zones.
My DR, Solly — Usually deployed as a wing back I changed his role to full back to really block out any threat from Insigne, effectively doubling up on the PSG winger. This kid didn’t put a foot wrong showing that using him as more of a defensive option panned out.
PSG’s ML, Insigne — I think the screenshots above give everything away, but for clarity I’ve taken a screenshot of Insigne’s movement. The Italian made just two successful runs into a decent crossing position….when you consider Solly and Gomez made at least 9 tackles between them that were within our half and tight to the wing where Insigne would attack its very obvious how effectively they kept this threat at bay.
PSG’s DR, Peruzzi — Established as a weak link, how did we manage to exploit this position. Best way to show you that is display our AML’s movement, all his successful runs are shown below. As you can see around 6 of Perrot’s successful runs started in an area Peruzzi is responsible for, so he created havoc cutting inside, see below image.
Match stats: Before seeing the result lets see how the stats stacked up. First off, we limited PSG to 7 shots, 2 of which were on target compared to our 17 and 5 on target. PSG managed one CCC and one half chance, well down from previous matches whereas we had two CCC and three half chances. Finally the possession was fairly even but we did have the edge with 55%. We also had a far greater pass completion rate, which for me is testament to how well we blocked them out and stopped their game without destroying our own attacking game.
The result: We lost! Ha, only kidding, that would have been hilarious. We actually won 2-0. Both goals came from incisive break away’s including quick one touch passing and the goalscorer starting on the defensive shoulder before turning his man and slotting home. Gomez was a threat crossing from the right for Tairi all match, Perrot was too hot to handle cutting inside and PSG just couldn’t get the better of my defense, a) due to the extra cover from Gomez, b) because of the fast CB’s to cover and c) because my GK had been set to sweeper keeper and came out quick to clean up any through balls the DC’s did miss.
I know you can’t go away from this post and implement some set instructions, but hopefully you have gained a few ideas and at least been inspired to give the difficult match engine another try. I’ll reiterate that this is by no means a guide on how to approach your tactical adjustments, it is just a step by step example of how I approached mine in one very specific example. You really need to stop and analyze every area of your game and your opponents strengths and weakness’. Hope you enjoyed the read and as always I look forward to your comments.
rrph3rtbkr
2 марта, 2014 at 01:53
A brilliant idea and it has been implemented greatly and it shows great result .. did u put any specific opposition instruction or it has been handled by ur assistant manager
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 08:56
Thanks, I left the OI to my assistant and just made sure the opposition strikers weren’t been closed down as that would draw the CB’s out of position more than they already are.
Noal
2 марта, 2014 at 03:06
Lovely article! Very inspiring, I’m going to load up the game now.
Your 4-5-1 is pretty much my go to system if I want to keep things tight, so I hope that it is still good on the latest match patch!
I always play with big teams but I think this time I’ll pick a decent mid-table side to buy myself a bit more time to have a fiddle with the tactics.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 08:59
I’ve heard one person say it doesn’t seem to work in the new patch, that is my 4-5-1. Whether that comment was made too soon I’m not sure but the 4-5-1 was created to act against match bugs that were stopping my normal style of tactics working, so it would make sense that with the match engine addressed it may not be as effective.
Robbie
2 марта, 2014 at 06:25
Excellent post! I never used to look at where the opposition had assists against them, only where they attacked. Thank you very much for explaining this.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 09:00
No problem, there are other areas you can look at too, its just about taking your time and using every in game tool to prepare for the game.
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Sher Khan
2 марта, 2014 at 14:55
Why don’t you play with width (wider, narrower)? It seems a vital part of tactics IRL and your tactic doesn’t really address this.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 14:59
Because I don’t like to limit my players in that way. I prefer them to have the freedom to do both, I tell them to exploit the flanks, so in a way that can be seen as similar I guess. I suppose its more a question for me of why should I play narrow or wide, what would I get out of it in the systems I use, and the answer is I’d just restrict my players. I guess against particular opponents it may help, but not enough for me.
Andrew Norman
2 марта, 2014 at 15:36
Great read think there going for realism to be honest and this is a big help you have to scout the opposition sometimes I fall in to the habit of hitting the continue button to quick this has reigned me in thank you :-)
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:11
I too am guilty of getting a little spacebar happy at times and it can be costly.
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 15:50
whilst i understand the things u r saying i also cant help but think how many save/realoads occured??? do u play online? if you are really that good as u r offering advice u must b able 2 back this up?
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 16:03
me vs u post results on ere???
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:16
Like I said I don’t need to prove myself to anyone on here. I took my time to write this post to help others, most would just accept that as a good thing.
I am currently in the middle of updating hundreds of player profiles for the scouting network which is far more important than proving to a doubter that I don’t reload my saves. Besides, just ask everyone I played in the FMS tournament last year if you are really that desperate to know if I’m full of crap.
Also, me vs you in a few games would prove nothing in terms of whether this post is legit and I reload. I’d have no data to judge nor any stats to review as there would be no history of your tactics…it would just be one tactic against another, which is not what this post is about and that is what you’re questioning so I really don’t see where you are coming from.
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 16:32
do you play online? my point is if u are offerin advice u really shud be able 2 play the game. me vs u over a few games?? jeez any1 can win a few games n me vs u isnt the point alot of wot u talk is bollocks
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:40
No I don’t play online, I used to but have had no time for it this year due to the posts I write and profiles I do on the site. You are not listening to what I am saying, how the hell would two random games prove anything to you…you could be lucky and have a tactic that works very well against mine or vice versa, you are saying I’m full of crap with adjusting for the opposition, yet playing online you get no stats to go off, no history to assess nothing, so there is no way that could prove anything, other than one of us may have a better starting tactic. If you honestly think a few matches against you would prove anything, then you clearly have no idea what is been explained in this post, though its really not that hard to understand.
Why don’t you start using some facts and actually tell me why what I say in the post is bollocks. If you don’t want to do that then this exchange is over, I’m too busy to mess around with childish arguments.
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 16:52
read wot i said! u av just agreed wi wot i said a few games means nowt. any1 can do wot ur doin n relaod till it works iv sin a 10 yr old win leagues on solo. play online against other players rather than sit around tryin 2 advise other people. if u av enough time 4 writin on ere u av enough time 2 play properly
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:59
I write on here to help people, playing two games against you would not help anyone. As I said this exchange is over unless you want to actually pull out some facts other than assumptions. If you want to actually make an argument against something I am recommending the readers do, ie checking the top assists or the teams weakness’ then fine, otherwise you have your answer.
I really don’t understand why you keep persisting with this, its pointless and proves nothing. Comment about the post, or they’ll be deleted. You’ve made your point, said what you want to say so that is that.
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 17:08
why do you keep harpin on about playin 2 games against me? as i said in the 1st place then u keep repeatin 2 games is irrelivant. delete my posts as im sure u will coz u want 2 b lookin good. i can understand changin ur tactics etc wen u r a lower league club but in the example above u are a top team? u are in the european cup final? if u have a team of that calibre u will drop more points worryin n adjustin 4 the opposition if u r that good let the opposition worry bout u
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 17:39
my 6 yr old nephew went a season unbeaten wi fulham 2013-14 did the domestic treble took bout 3 weeks n a million reloads but ill post u his tactic n philosophy if u like
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 18:07
All you keep saying is about playing you online, I am just replying to your comments and what you are saying, you’re the one harping on.
I can see why you’d suggest there’s no need to adjust your tactic for a top team in a European final, in some cases you’d be right, but as mentioned in the post I checked the past meetings and we really struggled against PSG, so something needed to change for us to turn that around. Again, I am not suggesting you should change for the opposition in every match, no where near, but you should be able to recognize when the opposition will cause you problems and address that.
And please stop with the reference to reloading, you don’t know me and you have no idea how I play the game nor any evidence to back it up. In fact, in the post itself you have more evidence to prove I don’t reload, look at the amount of times we failed against PSG, including a loss in the CL final…if I reloaded those losses and draws wouldn’t have happened.
Anyway, I really don’t see the point in continuing this, you clearly have formed a very poor opinion of me, why I don’t know but lets leave it there, I’m sure you have better things to do with your time other than repeat yourself, I certainly do.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:10
I think you are misunderstanding the point of the post, as I said I do not change my tactics constantly, only in specific games and this was one example of a game I chose in which I felt like we needed to make a change. This post isn’t about validating my gameplay or me showing off, its just explaining how I go about analyzing the opposition. I don’t reload the game, what would be the point in doing that…If you would rather question my in game ethics as opposed to just taking something from the post then why would you bother reading the post in the first place? Exactly how would you come to the conclusion someone has been reloading the game, by judging and assuming based on the amount of times they have saved a game? Judging by your comment I assume so, and I also assume you wouldn’t allow for the fact a lot of gamers save the game after every game, due to runtime errors, parsing errors and general in game glitches that lead to loss of saves. Not to mention some people save a game to two places, their hardrive and a USB stick to protect from losing a save.
To clarify, I don’t need to back anything up, you can take the advice or leave it, doesn’t make a difference to me…All I can say is I’d be one sad bastard to spend many hours researching and and writing a post of this length if it were based around lies and reloads.
jamie
2 марта, 2014 at 16:54
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz love the excuses
SamCHammer
3 марта, 2014 at 10:11
Feel compelled to stick up for Darren here. Jamie — wind your neck in. If a player constantly reloaded then all you’d see is wins and draws, otherwise what’s the point?
Do you think teams don’t bother analysing their opposition’s weaknesses? Reckon they turn up to training every day and knit scarves? Or, do you have a suspicion they watch videos of an oppo’s attacking/defensive display and work out how to beat them?
I personally want proof that you’ve never signed a player recommended on here, never used a tactic suggested by the guys. I know, ridiculous isn’t it? Can’t be done.
Top marks for spelling and punctuation, too. Which bridge do you live under?
Darren — apologies, couldn’t resist. Top advice as usual, thanks. Also a member of the Space Bar.
Darren Smith
3 марта, 2014 at 11:50
Thanks mate, this is why FMS is such a good community, we all reject the haters. Thanks guys.
Screwby
2 марта, 2014 at 16:32
Brilliant post, Darren!
I usually go about the same business when facing a tough opponent in Europe, although you now gave me a couple of more things to keep in mind.
Analysis and smaller tactical adjustments to counter specific threats, it must in many cases be more efficient than completely change your tactic.
The satisfaction of succeeding making tactical adjustment like this, it’s undescribable.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 16:47
Thanks Screwby, it really is a sense of satisfaction when such tweaks work as you imagined, on the flip side its very very annoying when they don’t and I think that is why most people don’t bother.
Gaurav Chaddah
2 марта, 2014 at 16:35
Great read Darren, this has really inspired me. It’s come at a big of a shit time for me, FM for me is currently a no go due to exams but this has got me itching to get back on the game, well anyways I can’t wait for exams to be done with so I can get back to fm and put this ‘theory’ if you like into test. Thanks for the post, really good information which I’m sure we can all take and improve as gamers. .
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 18:41
Thanks Gaurav, its just as much about knowing when to adjust as it is knowing how to adjust. I tend to do it only when I have a team or formation I know I struggle against or if common sense dictates I should.
Good luck with your exams mate.
Ryan
2 марта, 2014 at 16:38
Great read as always Darren, your tactical nous is superb! Will you be doing any tactics for lower league clubs this year and/or do you have any tweaks for the tactics created to suit the lower league?
Ryan
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 18:42
Thanks Ryan, I don’t know if I’ll be doing any tactics for lower leagues yet. Life is very busy between work and updating the scouting network for the games update and I am on holiday next week, but after that I should have more time on my hands so will see then maybe.
Ryan
2 марта, 2014 at 19:23
No probs Darren, I’ll have a tinker around with some tactics and see what happens.
Keep up the good work and take no notice of haters, the real fans of this site appreciate the work you put in!
Ryan
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 19:26
Thanks Ryan, if anything it just bothers me that we need to reply to unreasonable comments but I guess we’d only be stooping to their level if we ignored or deleted them.
Matsby
2 марта, 2014 at 18:10
Hi Darren
A thoroughly enjoyable read mate. I have often wondered how the opposition scouting info can be best used and this way of analyzing gives me some great ideas to employ against the bigger sides (especially away from home) other than switching to defensive and hoping!
On a related topic, the latest patch does appear to have fixed up most of the annoying bugs. My team plays with much smoother passing and movement and whilst they still make the odd mistake, I’m not seeing these happen in an unrealistically repetitive way.
By the way, I know this isn’t usually the place to mention it, but do you think there will be another tactical analysis post at any point this year? I only ask because I’m testing up a new tactic and getting a bit of joy out of it, and when its ready i’d like to share it with the FMS community.
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 18:23
Thanks Matsby, glad it helped.
I agree about the match engine, it does seem better and when I find time I might attempt looking at new tactics again.
Chris/Morozov95
2 марта, 2014 at 20:58
Solid read Darren. I notice in this particular case, you chose to keep your formation the same as the 4-2-3-1 is generally good against a 4-4-2, and adjusted the players and roles instead.
If for example, the opposition had most of tier assists coming from the middle, would you consider changing formation allow for an extra DM/CM or simply change the roles/players?
Again, great read Darren. In the words of Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together!
Darren Smith
2 марта, 2014 at 21:17
Thanks Chris, as mentioned it is very hard to know when and how to adjust the tactic, I have probably got it wrong just as many times as I got it right. But on this particular occasion it all came together and helped us win when shouldn’t have.
Going back to your question, it would depend on the overall conditions, how I’d done against the particular team, formation and also how in form my players were. But I would have probably kept the same formation and put the game in full match mode so I could see any potential issues before they lead to a goal.
Mohammad Pishdar
2 марта, 2014 at 23:22
Very detailed and interesting tactical analysis…thanks for sharing us your views… I can now better understand the importance of match analysis in the game
Wint
3 марта, 2014 at 09:13
Very interesting Darren. Just to clarify a point in the comments above. You set your team to exploit both flanks, rather than to exploit the left flank due to the perceived weakness?
Darren Smith
3 марта, 2014 at 11:49
That is correct, my first thought would usually be to target one flank, but I have done that in the past and it hasn’t worked so I avoid asking the team to play the ball in one particular area now.
Wint
3 марта, 2014 at 15:59
I suppose it does avoid the all eggs in one basket scenario. I’ve had real trouble creating tactics with solid defence this year but I think I may have finally made some progress in cracking it, but that’s for another conversation.
Noal
3 марта, 2014 at 09:25
Darren,
I’m sure that guy Jamie’s 6 year old nephew writes better English than he does to be honest.
Keep up the good work.
Martin
3 марта, 2014 at 11:35
Well said!
Darren Smith
3 марта, 2014 at 11:49
I must admit the thought did cross my mind.
TheLimey
3 марта, 2014 at 14:39
Hi Darren
Great post. I am of the school of choosing a tactic to suit the team initially and then developing that tactic and buying the players to suit the roles. This has worked well in previous years but not so well in 2014, i have learnt by tinkering with tatics slightly against better opposition definatly helps even if it is a slight tinker. But I really cannot get to grips with the 2014 tatics screen! In past editions when i go into player instructions there used to be a defensive / attacking slider bar that can be moved to determine if you want the player to be more defensive or more attacking. This has gone and i have a real problem getting my creative / attacking players to defend more. I have tried changing to a support role or defensive role but i feel in attack they do not provide the same service. Am I missing something?
Darren Smith
3 марта, 2014 at 17:27
Hi mate, I think the issue you are facing is the same as many. The game has become more realistic. In the past you could have a very creative role in a very attacking position, but with set instructions to make him help out defensively and he would still offer something going forward, this in my opinion is unrealistic. I don’t think you can any longer expect an attacking duty and role to act defensively, equally if you give someone a defensive duty then that will be the duty they take on.
However, what you should remember is that the philosophy can make a big difference here. When we set a philosophy we are basically telling the players what phases of play to get involved in. So if you are very rigid then a player with an attacking duty will attack only. However, if you have a very fluid philosophy you are essentially telling the same player that he is responsible for all phases of play. So you may want to play around with the philosophy if you expect your attacking and creative players to get more involved with the defensive phase of play. But remember it works in reverse too, so defensive players will be more responsible for the support phase of play too. Hope that makes sense.
thelimeyuk
5 марта, 2014 at 10:38
Hello Darren
Yes, I have been playing a very fluid Philosophy this hasn’t helped. But I think it is just the player himself, I think he’s lazy. I was playing him as an attacking DLF where he creates chances for his team mates and also for himself, he didn’t track back at all. So I have changed his role to a supporting CF with a free role, this has helped him track back abit and provide a creative attack presence going forward. Still not doing enough defensively in my opinion. I would like to train him for a specific move to track back but there isn’t a move to train to help defensively. Do you think I should contact SI to suggest move defensive ‘Specific training moves’??
What you think?
Darren Smith
5 марта, 2014 at 11:54
That is another thing, players matched against roles are very important this year, you can’t ask a player that doesn’t like to defend to do defensive duties, as it won’t happen, not to great effect anyway. The other key point there is if they don’t have good work rate you are fighting a losing battle, again its just being realistic, you would never ask Balotelli to do a defensive job, not unless you wanted to see two fingers.
You could ask SI, but for this specific example you wouldn’t be able to train someone to do that anyway with bad work rate. I think you need to look for a different player.
thelimeyuk
5 марта, 2014 at 12:13
You’re right. Definitely two fingers. Thinking about it, not all training moves work on players anyway if the attributes aren’t there. I have to get better work rate forwards. Thanks mate. thelimeyuk.
Max
3 марта, 2014 at 15:31
In your 4-2-3-1 you said you based this on Chelsea. Jose tweaked his tactics against Man City away to negotiate the threat of Silva, it worked in the league but not in the cup. So what you say about scouting the opposition is correct and happens in reality.
I use your tactics as I couldn’t create a successful tactic myself, so the website is a big help for me. The only thing I change with the tactic is that I use a sweeper keeper in every game as I play as Spurs and this suits Lloris.
At the end of the day it’s a computer game. So whether people reload or not (and I’m not suggesting that you do) shouldn’t matter to anyone else.
Darren Smith
3 марта, 2014 at 17:56
That is true Max, you’ll be hard pushed to find a manager in the modern day game that doesn’t tweak his system to allow for the oppositions weakness’ and strengths and I think this is a road SI will look down more and more.
As for the sweeper keeper, I too have now switched to that role permanently as it suits Rulli also.
Matsby
3 марта, 2014 at 21:44
HI Darren
Just to add to my post above, Since your post went up I have been tinkering with making slight adjustments against opposition and can confirm that it does pay dividends if used as part of an overall strategy. For example: I tend to play with attacking wing backs and a central midfield pair (CM (d) and DLF (s)). I’ve used your method of reading the opposition report to find their most vulnerable point (it is usually one or the other flank) and switching the WB on that side to a CWB and ensuring the holding CM (d) is covering him (i.e swapping the CM and DLF around if needs be). If they are most vulnerable through the centre I simply keep the roles as is and exploit the middle to take advantage. Its by no means fool proof, but results have improved dramatically.
Picking up on Wint’s comment above, I to have found that exploiting both flanks works better. Restricting your team to just one side can stifle attacks and makes your players try to force the issue even if a better option is on elsewhere. Chances created and, most annoyingly, possession therefore takes a real hit.I think the option to use one or the other might be more useful at lower levels early on when you are less likely to have good players marauding down both sides.
Darren Smith
4 марта, 2014 at 18:25
Sounds like a good plan, as mentioned understanding when the changes are needed is vital, when you master that the rest is mostly research and common sense really. Its just a difficult dance to see when the opposition posses enough of threat or weakness in a particular area to make you change.
Pedro Fontan
4 марта, 2014 at 12:48
Fantastic post Darren made me think about paying more attention to being tactically aware against different opponents. Especially with the new patch out now this post couldn’t have come at a better time. And by the way having seen the Napoli stream i am very compelled to believe that Darren does pay attention to every detail possible which is what needed to succeed in this game. By the way you can see you are in charge of the Scouting Network with the amount of players in your team that are on the SN :D
And just looking back at the comments there are always going to be idiots who misunderstand what you are trying to write about. I think you say about 4 times that this is not a guide and only a way of how looking at tactics in more detail can help and yet resident knobhead continues to «speik». And by the way SamCHammer that response was top quality. «which bridge do you live under» I mean i am not even from England and the guy’s spelling made me want to poke my eyes out so i couldn’t agree more Sam.
P.S- It would have been kind of funny if you had lost after all that. XD
Darren Smith
4 марта, 2014 at 18:32
Thanks Pedro, glad you liked it. Yeah you can see my bias towards certain players and that is repeated throughout my saves :) I get attached easily.
As for the unfair comments, I guess when someone struggles to write properly we should assume they might struggle to read too, as you said its very clear throughout the post what its about, he didn’t seem to grasp that but there’s no telling some people. SamCHammer’s comment gave me a good laugh too, especially the last bit, priceless.
SamCHammer
6 марта, 2014 at 11:58
Don’t make me blush! Tried counting to 10 but it didn’t work — had to say something. Looks like he’s toddled off now.
By the way, tried this with Newcastle against Man Utd away — beat them 6-0 at home so I was feeling confident. Five points clear at top, Utd in 2nd, third-last game of the season. Using your flat 442, put Sissoko (in place of Bruno/Ben Arfa) as RW-D to get him to track El Shawaary, with Clyne at RB.
Lost 2-0. Goals came from Nani on the right instead! Blew up after that and lost the title by one point. Mitrovic decided not to turn up after March — scored 3 in last 15 — but still ended up League top scorer with 23.
In no way am I blaming you, Darren ;)
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2014 at 12:03
Thats a shame mate, its really hard to know when making a switch is appropriate…I tend to only do it if I feel like the game will not be winnable with the usual tactics or system.
SamCHammer
6 марта, 2014 at 12:10
Jokes aside, not blaming you. Seemed like a prime opportunity to try it out though seeing as El Sharaawy was main assist source. Chalk it down to The Game You’ll Never Win. Who knows, might have been smashed 5-0 had I not read this and done it.
Did induce some pre-work morning rage, though.
Darren Smith
6 марта, 2014 at 18:51
I know mate. That’s the really difficult part about tweaking, if the worst does happen and you do lose its hard to know if it was the tweak or if you’d have lost anyway.
Wayne
5 марта, 2014 at 09:50
Darren
Excellent post as always! I have been using your 4-2-3-1 to good effect over the last few seasons with my (now unrecognisable) Aston Villa side.
I thought that the Community Shield against my rivals for the title last season (they finished 8 pts clear, but I was a comfortable 6pts clear in 2nd), would be a sound game to try ‘tinkering’ as they have bettered me on 12 occasions, and I have only managed 6 wins (all at home).
The facts were pretty much what you had above with Man City. Most assists from the Left flank, Pace as highest attribute. Danger men were not populated as it is the start of season 8.
So I switched my WB to FB def and IF Att to DW Def…. Result!
3-1 to me! They had a grand total of 3 shots to my 9, 1 on target to my 5!
Cheers!
Darren Smith
5 марта, 2014 at 11:52
Good to hear, glad it worked.
pedro roriz
5 марта, 2014 at 13:04
mate, you did a great job with this review! and, i can say for myself, you’ve really done what you’ve set yourself to; you’ve inspired me to be more cautious with the details and reports.
it is always really nice when you’ve played so much of the game and still can find lots of people who can still teach you so much about the game. so, thank you!
btw, this community is 100% behind you. so, the ‘foreign’ haters represent the asshole quota of the world, but are by far a minority. you are a great asset to us, a good gamer and a good friend.
cheers
Darren Smith
5 марта, 2014 at 18:38
Thanks Pedro.
SamCHammer
9 апреля, 2014 at 15:52
Thought I’d open this up for discussion again. Seen mention of tweaking to nullify a particular tactic, and wondered whether anyone has noticed that 4312 seems to be bloody effective — especially in the Championship against a high line. Well, always trumped me anyway. Yet this formation never seems to crop up. Countered this by dropping in a DM in front of a flat 4 and sitting deeper.
One for you geniuses to explore….?
Darren Smith
9 апреля, 2014 at 19:01
I’d not noticed that to be honest, not managed much in the Championship but did face it in Italy wasn’t under much pressure to be honest.
pedro
11 апреля, 2014 at 10:11
Hi Darren,
First time i’m seeing this post.Well, I’ve been playing fm since CM :)… I’m the type of guy that wants to pick up a tactic in these foruns, and plug-it and play. What i really like is (besides winning trophies), is to see how players develop. So for me tactics, is just push and go. I’ve just made 1season in this fm2014 (I’m going on the January of the second season with arsenal), it has been harsh. The 1st seasson I ended in 3place,this season i’m in 6place 10 points behind the 1st. I’ve just loaded your tactic for this 2nd half of season, but since I have no routines, the opp creats a lot of opportunities even with weak team, so I normally change it during the game for my previous one (the traditional 4def-1anchor-2Mdf (1dlp and am) (amr cut inside and aml winger att) 1poacher. (some ticky
Seeing this post made me realise that «losing» 30sec looking to exploit the weakness of your opp, could really make the difference. Just one question, where do you see the attributes (best and worst) of your opp?
Darren Smith
11 апреля, 2014 at 10:37
That is in the pre-match opposition report that your scout provides you a few days before the game in your news feed.
SamCHammer
15 апреля, 2014 at 13:04
Who wants to take on recreating Liverpool’s 442 diamond formation then?! Anyone….? Better brains than me out there…
Darren Smith
15 апреля, 2014 at 18:33
Not seen enough of it to try.
Chip
17 апреля, 2014 at 22:38
Hi Darren
Yet another great post which I loved reading! I do have a few questions though…
Do you do most of your research for the bigger games? I could imagine it would take a lot of time to do it for every game so do you usually do it for the games you’re expected to lose and the big games?
With your example in the post, did you add a team instruction to exploit both flanks or maybe even just one flank?
Also, do you have any suggestions on how to stop teams who’s best attribute are passing? I’ve came up against a lot of teams which are great at passing and I can’t seem to find what counters it!!
Thanks
Darren Smith
18 апреля, 2014 at 09:21
Hi Chip,
I don’t do a lot of research into the opposition TBH, sometimes not at all, but as you said I do it when there is a pattern of losing to the opposition and it looks like it may continue unless I change something. There is something to be said for comments suggesting a quality team shouldn’t need to change for the opposition, but in some cases like above when its blatantly obvious the system won’t work as it hasn’t before against a particular team I will look in depth at what I can do to change that. So I guess it is more about finding losing patterns and trying to plug them as opposed to moving things around every time I feel the opposition are better than us.
As for exploiting an area, I already exploit both flanks so that was there regardless, on a side note I never recommend exploiting just one flank, the AI seems to catch onto that for some reason and it makes the tactic too one dimensional, never worked for me personally even if there is an obvious weakness down one flank.
As for stopping a team that pass well and that is there strength, well I’ve never really paid much attention to it. So if it were me I’d just use my common sense, doesn’t always work as FM isn’t always logical unfortunately, but below is what you could try.
— Check the opposition formation and make sure you have the same amount of players as they do (or more) in the middle of the pitch. I would imagine hassling them would also help, maybe even try telling the lads to get stuck in. If they are going to have the lying amount of possession then you might want to have a direct passing system that counters them so you can break quickly after holding a tight shape. In all honesty I wouldn’t know if this will work without testing but its what I’d start with trying.
nugraha
11 мая, 2014 at 16:41
Hi Darren, great article! I do have a few questions though..
I play using 4-4-2 with Feyenoord and with 2 winger (Attack Duty), DLP (Defend duty) and a BBM (Support). Sometimes in an away match against some though opposition who uses 4-3-3, my midfield tend to be outnumbered (as my assistan said) then lost possession far too often then lost the match. I play with control and fluid mentality. How do i counter this problem? Should i change my formation and add more midfield player ? Or should i stick with my formation but tinker it with some changes in instructions or players’ roles and duties perhaps?
Darren Smith
11 мая, 2014 at 17:09
This post shows that watching the match engine closely will show where your issues are, if you have assessed the problem as been in midfield, then you need to change the shape to compete in that area.I can’t tell you how to solve your problems as I can’t see them first hand I’m afraid.