Football Manager 2017

[Stadt]

3 hours ago, StanSP said:

Started playing this recently.

First season was great - finished 6th, got to round of 16 and lost only by one goal against Bayern (2-1 on aggregate).

 

Thought I'd made some decent signings on a tight budget for the 2nd season. Absolutely terrible season so far. In January, facing pressure to get the sack and I can't find a formation that stops conceding goals from crosses. Far too easy a team just spreads it out wide gets a cross in and bang, goal to opposition. Even in the first season most goals conceded came from out wide. As Dan said, far too many goals scored in individual matches. 

 

What are your roles and duties? 

[Donut]

On 31/12/2016 at 10:29, StanSP said:

Started playing this recently.

First season was great - finished 6th, got to round of 16 and lost only by one goal against Bayern (2-1 on aggregate).

 

Thought I'd made some decent signings on a tight budget for the 2nd season. Absolutely terrible season so far. In January, facing pressure to get the sack and I can't find a formation that stops conceding goals from crosses. Far too easy a team just spreads it out wide gets a cross in and bang, goal to opposition. Even in the first season most goals conceded came from out wide. As Dan said, far too many goals scored in individual matches. 

 

You could try the tactic i have developed which i have tried and tested quite well. It has me miles clear at the top of the championship with Aston Villa and only lost one league game, who are at the start of the season not tipped to be an automatic promotion team. Ive also tried this tactic a lot with Arsenal and won a domestic treble only losing 2 league games in 38.

 

If you use a completely different tactic to this one then it might be best to have a preseason where you can work on it so the players have a good knowledge of it.

 

Just for the purpose of my post ive done screenshots from Aston Villa. Some screenshots are a little old but i have advanced the season into late March on the game.

 

 

PRESEASON:

 

I recommend playing a minimum of 7-8 preseason games and take control of training yourself at this point, put a heavy emphasis on teamwork at this stage so your players learn the system quickly. I also recommend playing teams you will beat to raise morale. Then after preseason you can hand the training over to your staff, but manage individual training yourself.

 

OVERALL TACTIC:

 

I have screenshotted the overall tactic and also the approach that has worked in home and away games below. Using shorter passing and a balanced width is best for this tactic. Also better not to use fluid mentality in my experience and keep the formation structured. My pressing and defensive line tactics are shown in the screenshots. I do not use the high press tactic of prevent short distribution as it interrupts the shape of the team.

 

1) the basis of the tactic is it is a very narrow 4-2-3-1 tactic that keeps an extremely rigid defensive shape and aggressively dominates the middle of the pitch. I have screenshotted the heat maps of two games that are very typical of the performances game to game v Newcaste 3-1 win and also Forest 4-1 win. From the heat map you can see opposition has no dominant area on the pitch and are forced wide into harmless areas. You can also see that the center of the pitch is overloaded with Villa players in both instance because the heat map is red.

 

I have also a screenshot that shows how effective the defensive shape is in game vs Brentford 5-1 win below.

 

2) The formation is screenshotted in pic 3. The key positions to make the formation work are having two full backs one set to attack and one set to support, no use of ball playing defenders, a central midfielder set to defend, also depending on the forwards you have then there is success with using a complete forward on attack OR to use a target man set to support. Either of these must be partnered with a shadow striker on attack. I have found that the shadow striker is more effective in the left position of the 3 advanced midfielders if using the target man, centrally if using a complete forward.

 

3) The central midfieder position is crucial. set this player on the same side of the full back set to attack. He should also have two individual instructions to dribble less, and less risky passes.

 

4) For your attacking full back i have screenshotted, give him a duty to stay wide with the ball. If he has a preferred move of run inside with ball train him not to do this. Instead focus training on get forward wherever possible. The fullbacks provide width when attacking, so you effectively have a midfield 5 high up the pitch.

 

5) With the player who is the deep lying playmaker, set an individual instruction to dribble less.

 

6) Set an individual instruction for the advanced playmaker to dribble more. Make sure this player has good attributes ie 14+ for vision and passing. It is good if using a central shadow striker, to have the two either side of him having a preferred move of "plays one twos".

 

7) Good traits for your players to have as preferred moves are:

 

Full backs who like to get forward

Central midfielder less risky passes

If using target man, plays with back to goal, if using complete forward, moves into channels

shadow striker like to shoot with power

 

I also personally let my assistant do opposition instructions. Im not sure whether or not the tactic can be made even more effective with certain opposition instructions, but at both clubs i have tried the tactic the assistants instructions work fine in terms of seeing us dominate games.

 

 

[Fox92]

20 hours ago, Wookie said:

What are your roles and duties? 

Wookie you seem to know your stuff about roles etc ... How can I stop midfielders (usually when they're set to 'attack') dribbling with the ball? I'm only in League Two and I keep noticing my attacking-minded midfielder dribbles with the ball, loses it and the opposition break and score. Must happen once every two games, so frustrating.

 

I can't select 'dribble less' because the option is disabled. Do I have to just change from 'attack' to 'support'?

[Donut]

39 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Wookie you seem to know your stuff about roles etc ... How can I stop midfielders (usually when they're set to 'attack') dribbling with the ball? I'm only in League Two and I keep noticing my attacking-minded midfielder dribbles with the ball, loses it and the opposition break and score. Must happen once every two games, so frustrating.

 

I can't select 'dribble less' because the option is disabled. Do I have to just change from 'attack' to 'support'?

Can you train a player to develop a does not dribble preferred move?

[Beliall]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

Wookie you seem to know your stuff about roles etc ... How can I stop midfielders (usually when they're set to 'attack') dribbling with the ball? I'm only in League Two and I keep noticing my attacking-minded midfielder dribbles with the ball, loses it and the opposition break and score. Must happen once every two games, so frustrating.

 

I can't select 'dribble less' because the option is disabled. Do I have to just change from 'attack' to 'support'?

If you're in league 2, worry less about dribbling and passing, its all about high tempo hoofball.

[Fox92]

2 hours ago, Donut said:

Can you train a player to develop a does not dribble preferred move?

Yeah true could try that.

 

1 hour ago, Beliall said:

If you're in league 2, worry less about dribbling and passing, its all about high tempo hoofball.

Yeah I've got a target man up top. I've just moved from Grimsby to Bristol Rovers so the players are technically a bit better.

[Stadt]

4 hours ago, Fox92 said:

Wookie you seem to know your stuff about roles etc ... How can I stop midfielders (usually when they're set to 'attack') dribbling with the ball? I'm only in League Two and I keep noticing my attacking-minded midfielder dribbles with the ball, loses it and the opposition break and score. Must happen once every two games, so frustrating.

 

I can't select 'dribble less' because the option is disabled. Do I have to just change from 'attack' to 'support'?

Use the dribble less team instruction? He's probably dribbling because of a lack of options so he might not have enough support in front or alongside.

[StanSP]

Thanks @Donut. Started trying it now so will let you know on progress! Before I changed it to your suggestions, I managed to beat Man Utd and Watford away (2nd and 4th in the league respectively - I'm 11th). Then lost to Palace and West Ham (20th and 6th respectively).

[Fox92]

3 hours ago, Wookie said:

Use the dribble less team instruction? He's probably dribbling because of a lack of options so he might not have enough support in front or alongside.

Ah right ok. Yeah I usually play 442 because anything else the players don't seem fit enough to play. Something like 4231 gives me a lack of options up front but the holding men are good to cover. I'm in the summer anyway now so time to work everything out.

[Stadt]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

Ah right ok. Yeah I usually play 442 because anything else the players don't seem fit enough to play. Something like 4231 gives me a lack of options up front but the holding men are good to cover. I'm in the summer anyway now so time to work everything out.

Are you playing an attack duty in a two man midfield?

[Fox92]

48 minutes ago, Wookie said:

Are you playing an attack duty in a two man midfield?

Yeah. 

 

CM Attack -- BWM Defend

 

But I'm going to start playing support -- defend I think.

[Stadt]

1 hour ago, Fox92 said:

Yeah. 

 

CM Attack -- BWM Defend

 

But I'm going to start playing support -- defend I think.

Good decision! A Central midfielder on defend is slightly more tempered than a ball winning midfielder too

[StanSP]

Had a couple of good runs following the changes to the formation above. 

 

Ended up finishing in 9th place which was just about enough for the board to resist sacking me. I think getting to the FA Cup Final helped. Sorry lads, the record of most finals without winning continues . 

The 6-1 win over Spurs in the cup was a stand-out although they had a weaker squad out due to Champions League commitments!

[stripeyfox]

Back to back promotions with Coventry! Won League 1 at a canter and thought I'd struggle in the Championship but had a good start and finish to the campaign, sneaking into the play offs and beating Swansea home and away in the semis before an extra time victory at Wembley against Brentford with Ched Evans getting the winner!

 

 

[RoboFox]

If anyone's struggling with tactics, give this a go. I used to change tactics a lot depending on opposition, but found once the team is familiar with it, this worked both home and away and got my FC Wil team from the Swiss 2nd division to Champions League football in 3 seasons (Ok, also some half-decent financial backing, too!)

 

I found that my midfield was constantly being overrun, as the AI tends to play midfield-heavy tactics. Having 3 in the middle helps neutralise it. That, combined with wingers cutting inside and overlapping fullbacks creates a LOT of chances from crosses.

 

 

The file should be attached, just pop it into your tactics folder and import in the tactics screen, see how you get on.

 

 

WW2 4-3-2-1 (Special Edition)_1A3F7541-56C2-480D-A624-B94C579B0BCF.fmf

[Finnegan]

Donut handing out advice on FM. 

 

How much easier is this year's!?

[stripeyfox]

This game. So as I said, got Coventry promoted to the Premier League via the play offs. Two days later, the board announce they are building a new stadium "Coventry Stadium" which is going to cost £50m and rather frustratingly, has a lower capacity (27,256) than our existing stadium (32,609)!

 

 

[AjcW]

Well this has never happened before but I'm still playing my first save and in 2025... I'm really enjoying it all in all... and the update has fixed some of the ridiculous penalty awards!

 

At Liverpool currently after winning 2022 World Cup with England.

 

The money is completely ridiculous at this point in the game though, it's like China now! Sold my incredible regen striker to Man City for £120 million plus add ons, signed Embolo whose at his peak and playing as a Raumdeuter(sp) first time I've used the role and adapted just for him but it's working really well! 

 

Man Utd have won the league 7 years running, hardly lost any games either and broke through 100 points last season.... but slipped up early this season so I might just have a chance! 

[Dan LCFC]

On 12/31/2016 at 10:29, StanSP said:

Started playing this recently.

First season was great - finished 6th, got to round of 16 and lost only by one goal against Bayern (2-1 on aggregate).

 

Thought I'd made some decent signings on a tight budget for the 2nd season. Absolutely terrible season so far. In January, facing pressure to get the sack and I can't find a formation that stops conceding goals from crosses. Far too easy a team just spreads it out wide gets a cross in and bang, goal to opposition. Even in the first season most goals conceded came from out wide. As Dan said, far too many goals scored in individual matches. 

 

?!?!?!

 

I got £50mil  

 

I came 8th and got us to the semis. Yet another who got knocked out by Bayern though. They've knocked out just about everyone I know who's been us.

[Dan LCFC]

3 hours ago, AjcW said:

Well this has never happened before but I'm still playing my first save and in 2025... I'm really enjoying it all in all... and the update has fixed some of the ridiculous penalty awards!

 

At Liverpool currently after winning 2022 World Cup with England.

 

The money is completely ridiculous at this point in the game though, it's like China now! Sold my incredible regen striker to Man City for £120 million plus add ons, signed Embolo whose at his peak and playing as a Raumdeuter(sp) first time I've used the role and adapted just for him but it's working really well! 

 

Man Utd have won the league 7 years running, hardly lost any games either and broke through 100 points last season.... but slipped up early this season so I might just have a chance! 

It's mental but it's realistic. Man Utd have just bought Kane for £84mil and Man City have one-upped it by buying Dybala for £98mil  

[AjcW]

5 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

It's mental but it's realistic. Man Utd have just bought Kane for £84mil and Man City have one-upped it by buying Dybala for £98mil  

Definitely, I actually think it makes everything more challenging, have to adapt to it. I took in £340 mill in sales last season  

[fleshdaddy]

I'm loving this game, particularly my latest save. Had 18 month stints at Notts County where I resigned and then Brentford, where I was sacked. Ended up getting the job at Herecles Almelo in Holland. After consolidating for the remainder of my first season (I joined with about 9 or 10 games left), we got promoted the next season and received a fair bit of investment, so much so that I've managed to win Eredivisie twice in a row now. We're genuinely becoming a force, breaking both Ajax and PSV's dominance.

 

Have signed some fantastic young players, particularly from South America. A Peruvian striker I bought has scored something like 60 in 70 for me and, whilst I've had interest from some bigger teams, I've managed to sign him and others to long term contracts with big buy out clauses. Finished 3rd in my Champions League group this last season, meaning I progressed into the Europa League, which I went out of immediately, but it's progress at least.

Also, anyone who is finding the game runs a little slow I'd recommend doing the following: (it made things a lot snappier for me!)

• Go to Preferences
• Then, go to Interface tab
• In the General window, change Rendering Mode
• By default it should be set to GPU Assisted, change that to Software
• Once you change this, click on Confirm and you are done

[Beliall]

Resigned from NY Red Bulls at the end of their season, one year left on my contract but I was bored of trying to persuade them not to sack me all season , then being offered new contracts at the end.

 

Ended up at Hertha Berlin, who were at the bottom of the Bundesliga , and I helped them stay up, got the largest transfer and wage budget I have ever seen in one of my FM career saves, and have gone a bit mental with it, blowing the whole wedge on a goalie. Jordan Pickford, England and Leicester's Number 1. I hated the current goalie that much. Now scrambling to sign a new defender and backups for other postitions. I'm optimistic about this team

[StanSP]

3rd season in and being without Champions League is helping. Lying 3rd in the league and still using Donut's tactic. 

 

Makes me sick that West Ham are top. But equally satisfied that Burnley are faltering with Stoke at the bottom  

Question for @Donut - have you used the tactic for European competition as well? If so, does it work as successfully as in the domestic league?

 

[Donut]

4 hours ago, StanSP said:

3rd season in and being without Champions League is helping. Lying 3rd in the league and still using Donut's tactic. 

 

Makes me sick that West Ham are top. But equally satisfied that Burnley are faltering with Stoke at the bottom  

Question for @Donut - have you used the tactic for European competition as well? If so, does it work as successfully as in the domestic league?

 

I havent tried it enough at the Champions League level in all honesty. With Arsenal, i had a solid Champions League campaign, eventually losing in the semis to Juventus on away goals after a 3-3 aggregate score, 1-1 away but 2-2 at the Emirates with a fairly late goal from Marchisio.

 

I think one thing that may let the tactic down at the top top level may be the full backs being exposed too much, so i may need to change the duties around to combat that, but id have to try a second season with Arsenal (i still have the save) to see if a pattern emerges.

 

With Villa, im on course for around 110 points, just so dominant