ronmaiden

Hey everyone

I see a lot of tactics set up for the bigger clubs and how their results are great, which is all well and good when u have players like Ronaldo and Gerrard.

I am Torquay in the Blue Square Premier (no laughing) and I just cannot find a consistent tactic. Scoring goals seems to be my biggest problem, I never get hammered and its usually a case of 1 or 2 goals wins it.

I usually have the majority of possession and but if i have say 12 shots on goal only 2/3 are on target, is this just down to my poor strikers? is there any way of converting these chances into goals?

I am playing a 5-3-2 at the mo, please help as im getting rather frustrated.

Cheers

FinalXM

is use this with carlisle utd. an it is awsome
FMFormation.net - Football Manager - FM2008 - Downloads - Wozza's Widge 4-2-2-2

Wednesdayboy

I'd say poor strikers but there are ways to stop this from happening.

1. Buy new strikers - Simple really, buy strikers with not just good finishing but good composure. Whats the point of having someone who can hit the ball were he wants when he's not got any pressure on him, but if theres defenders about will sky it. If needed you can loan them from a parent club etc.

2. Swap striker positioning - Look at there fav foot. If you have a left and right footed player then put them on different sides.

Left side - Right footed
Right side - Left footed

3. If you want you can do a different stratagy, put Left footer on Left side and Right footer on Right side then use Player instructions to make them swap position with each other, that will make you more chances and better chances.

4. Reduce the Long shot to rarely on your strikers, unless they have good long shot Attribute. (13+/12 at a push). this will stop you wasting chances by shooting from range.

Hope this helps, don't forget to thank me.

ronmaiden

Hey thanks! I will download the tactic and try your suggestions Wednesdayboy - cheers for the advice!

ronmaiden

OK tried the Wozzas Widge formation and had a doomer start to the season that left me 16th after 10 games, switched to this tactic FMFormation.net - Football Manager - FM2008 - Downloads - The New and Improved Counter Attack For The Lower
and now in the playoffs after 40 games, went on a 16 game unbeaten run and have had apart from the odd draw against the lower teams this works so well, I did also get in a lot of strikers on free transfers which helped. So if anyone else is struggling in the lower leagues I totally recommend this tactic.

CFM

I'll have to give that one a shot when I'm managing Oxford. Games usually start off well then everything usually falls apart.

barosanu

the best tactic for lower teams is 5-3-2 SUPER ATTACKING FORMATION.give it a try .youll find the tactic here:
5-3-2 Super Attacking Formation

ronmaiden

OK now getting so seriously annoyed that I may stop playing altogether!! I left my previous team and I'm now Stevenage, bought in some great players (got Chelsea as a parent club so have 3/4 quality youngsters, 1 even valued at 1.4m) but still cannot find a consistent formation, always get outplayed on the possession front and get beaten by nearly everyone!! and shot to on target ratio is so poor, tried 442 and then every other formation going, is the game designed to stop you going to lower league teams?? what the hell can i do with these lower teams, feel like just going Man U like everyone else and winning the league but i like a challange!!

Alan_R

There is a definate difference. I usually do fairly well at small clubs. Lower funds the better I seem to be able to work better with low expectations and work with what I have. But if i start at a prem team im hopeless! you really need to approach the game completely differently. Try keeping your tactics very simple. I find using a big target man and long ball tactics works wonders in lower leagues. Ok its boring but there is no point trying to play poetic football with players who find it hard to create or spot a pass. Keep trying! dont give up there is no better feeling than taking an obscure club to glory!

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ronmaiden

OK Alan R im gonna try and not jinx this but switched to 4-1-4-1 and set passing to long ball with a target man either holding the ball up or running on to it depending who i use and I have won 2 games and drawn the 3rd which was against Oxford who are season favourites, possession has been equal or greater and had quite a few shots apart from the Oxford game!! will let you know if this good run continues!

ronmaiden

Wot can I say it worked!! finished top of the league with Stevenage!! P46 W26 D13 L7 scored 71 with only 1 up top and only conceded 35! so happy! I took on 4 loan players from my parent club Chelsea so will need to replace them for next season but thanks Alan - best tips ever!!

ronmaiden

Just to say tactic is still working just about in League 2, board gave me no money when i got promoted so had to bring in a couple of frees and raided Chelsea Res/youth for 4 players (one was worth 3.4m!!!) and currently 3rd after 10 games having only lost once. Scoring is a little trickier but hoping for a mid table finish with a far hope of the playoffs.

shadowbrewster

this is how i usualy start about my tactics (which i create new for each team i play with)
look at your players wots there strengths in that league
etc is your team stronger then the others or is it faster as this is a major decider

now long is brilliant for lower league and further u go down the more effective it is but once u start hitting the better teams u will have a problem like u are startin to see in league 2 start to lessen the long ball to a more direct passing atleast from the midfield upwards u can still have your defence on long so then they wont do a bad pass and just aim to get the ball out of your half

now another thing ive noticed is alot of people play high tempo full match this is ok if say u are man utd or chelsea they have the players and stamina but pretty much everybody else dont even other premiership sides cant keep a high tempo for a full game and then wonder why they concede so many late goals this is cause your players are alot more tired then the other teams and so cant play effective anymore so i suggest creating 2 tactics with everythin the same except one is a high tempo while the other is low tempo and switching between them can create a very good system and catch the other team off gaurd

another effective lower league tactic is to man mark instead of zone marking as zone markin requires alot more skill for a player then to just pretty much stand next to the same guy the whole game(this is even more effective is your whole squad is stronger then the other team)

just my little tips hmm might make a quide on lower league tactics and how to go about creating a effective tactic

Bozza

Good to here that you turned things around. You have to be careful with changing tactics though. Using a different tactic every match or couple of matches isn't a very smart thing to do because it prevent your players to get used to a single tactic and grow into it. I always suggest that you make your own tactic and make it so your key players are on their favourite position. If your key players are an AML and AMR, it isn't very logical to download a tactic which plays only through the middle.

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ronmaiden

Thanks for the tips Shadowbrewster, I had just lost 3 games in a row and dropped to 12th so just altered the tactic to be direct rather than long ball and it stopped the rot, now back up to 5th after about 20 games. Havnt tired the tempo thing yet but have started to pay more attention to the teamtalks which i think has helped.

ronmaiden

OK finished my second season and finished 11th, had a bad run of results using long ball and my 4-1-4-1 at the start so pushed the wingers up to make more of a 4-3-3 and got back on track but still conceeded quite a few. My loan signing from Chelsea Di Santos grabbed 30+ goals tho, not quite sure how to approach next season if the long ball isnt going to work tho. Strengthening my defence is top priority

Vass

It's great tactic. For lower league teams I use long pass and quick play to handle defensive teams with slow defenders. When I got straight defeats once I used this and have no problems both home and away. Just tick use Target Man if not ticked already. It's superb I have turned my bad away form into domination with this. I swap my 4-4-2-target-man-longball tactic with this one and therefore I had some really good games in Spanish lower divisions.