Mark said: @ZaZ have you thought of testing some hybrid tactics. I have been using Autumn 0.1 and defensively it is the best in all my years of playing. In ten games I have 7 clean sheets and 3 single goals against in the others. I wonder if you could use the OOP from it and the IP from Winter 0.2, which seems to be the best attack. One DC from OOP could move to MC IP and a DM to ST. Just a thought
This is with Ebbsfleet in Enterprise South. No transfers and using the young GK who is rated worst in the league but with reasonable potential and high consistency. He hasnt been playing when the goals against came, and 2 of the goals were penalties. Expand
Hi, Mark! That is precisely what I did for Autumn 0.2. I mixed a test with three strikers that gave good goals scored and poor defense, with Autumn 0.1, which has good defense. Results are pretty balanced, in my opinion. Instead of mixing tactics that are too far from each other, I am trying to find transitions that will keep players close to their original position, to avoid problems with contra-attack (mine and from opposition).
I already found some combinations of roles that work well together, like PWB/FB + CHM/DM, so DMs move to CM when you have possession, and PWBs move to occupy their position. Another interesting interaction is WB/FB + CHF/W, so you play with three strikers and WB covering the flanks with the ball, and strikers move to the sides to help defending when you lose possession.
Unfortunately, most transitions involving defenders didn't work well, probably because it breaks the offside line. The same for the central strikers, you lose too much counter-attack power if you make them return to AM or something similar.
Based on Autumn 0.1, but using a WB during possession to support a line with three strikers and increase attack power (in other words, playing as a 343 instead of 361 from Autumn 0.1). Without possession, two strikers drop to protect the sides, while WB drops to FB position. Let me know how it worked for you!
Note: It didn't get very good results in the league, probably because it got to the finals of FA and won the Europa League, which can be harsh for weak squads like Nottingham Forest.
Below is the light version to use when a match is under control, with the goal of avoiding cards and saving energy. My personal match plan is: - Normal condition: Autumn 0.2 - Winning by 2 goals, or trying to avoid conceding: Balanced mentality - Winning by 3+ goals: Autumn Light
Steelwood said: Another post talked about how important match sharpness is to results so I think it is probably better to use recovery where possible, though my thoughts on that are more skewed towards winning matches rather than training results Expand
There is a difference between match sharpness being important and recovery being useful. You can keep match sharpness high even by using all your subs every match, and rotating the subs. Another trick is to book a youth friendly one day after a normal match, then allow players that didn't play to be used in the youth squad, to increase their sharpness.
I didn't test yet, but I am pretty sure super rest still works in this version. Super rest happens when you give three rest sessions in the same day, and send the player to rest home, accumulating the effects of both rests. That should be enough to keep your players in good condition during the season, and I personally always do it after matches (in the first day without travel, because travel breaks it by not allowing three rest sessions).
Rest is the only session that recovers condition and fatigue. That is why Recovery is a pretty pointless session. All it does is to not have a training session (as in "not spend energy", and keep (and not recover) the match sharpness that would be reduced if you used Rest instead. As a matter of fact, Rest sessions are only triggered if you have three sessions in the same day, so if you do only two rest sessions and something else, it is equivalent to doing two Recoveries (and that something else).
Based on Winter 0.1, but with the following changes: - PWB / FB x2 - CHM / DM x2 - W / TWM x2
Player instructions are: - Tackle Harder all - Make More Runs for CMs, Ws, and CHFs.
Let me know how it performs for you.
Below is the light version to use when a match is under control, with the goal of avoiding cards and saving energy. My personal match plan is: - Normal condition: Winter 0.2 - Winning by 2 goals, or trying to avoid conceding: Balanced mentality - Winning by 3+ goals: Winter Light
mikaty said: can you explain the google doc spread sheet Expand
Most important lines are RS Rank and ZaZ Score. RS Rank: How good a tactic is compared to others. 1 means it is the best, 2 means it is the second, and so on. ZaZ Score: How well the tactic is expected to perform, ignoring the best and worst result of each run, and the best and worst runs.
Other than that, you have scores and rank sum for goals scored, conceded, difference, and points, and smaller is better. Smaller is better, and the main difference is that scores ignore the best and worst results of the run.
Alexandru said: I tried this 0.11 with Wide midfielders (for Wingers) in OOP. Got good results for a season - 4th place. Original 0.11 was 3-rd place. Expand
I got good results with TWM in OoP, and tackle harder. It is the 0.14 version of Winter.
I will take a look, but I cannot promise to test or add results to the public table. Unfortunately, I am running other things at the moment, to round up the 0.2 versions for submissions, and each of my tests take 1h, which results in 4h since I do four runs for each tactic. It is much easier to open a slot for something that has proved results, or at least states precisely what are the changes, to know if I already tested it before.
Accius said: I played this with Grimsby. Won League 2, League 1, Championship back to back. Now in 7th place of PL in 4th season. So it's obviously an excellent tactic. However two critiques: you will concede a LOT and your players will constantly get carded. TBH in PL my GD is at 0 despite being one of the best attacking teams in the league. I have tried to shore up my defence but no luck so far from conceding goals. Removing "get stuck in" doesn't help much either. So overall, this is a B+ tactic for me. Expand
I think you are being a bit unfair. You climbed to Premier League all at once, then reached 7th in your first season, and you think the tactic is just B+? Did you expect to win all matches by 8-0 with a bunch of mediocre players? Just take it easy and improve your squad, and that will eventually fix your defensive problems, especially if your new players are fast.
Autumn 0.13 is below. I cannot consider it an upgrade since the comparison is inconclusive (not better or worse, results are pretty similar). It definitely has a better defense, so it might be better than 0.1 if you are planning to combine it with a more attacking tactic, like Winter.
In short, Winter 0.11 has the best attack, Autumn 0.1 has the best defense, and Spring 0.12 is a balance between both. Winter has one extra attacker, Spring has an extra defender, and Spring has an extra midfielder, so you might want to consider that based on your squad depth. They are all very close, and personally I would go for Winter 0.11 + Autumn 0.1, so you can change from attack to defense during a match or depending on the result you need. In fact, I am testing a 0.13 version with standardized backline to make easier to transition between those tactics using the same squad.
If you want a single tactic that is good in any situation, then I would go for Spring 0.12 instead.
Those things unfortunately happen, the game can be pretty cruel sometimes. As long as you are still overachieving and getting good performances, then there isn't much to worry. It is important to remember the game was released less than two weeks ago, and tactics will still improve a lot, especially when tests from FM-Arena start.
So, you want meta without meta?
This is with Ebbsfleet in Enterprise South. No transfers and using the young GK who is rated worst in the league but with reasonable potential and high consistency. He hasnt been playing when the goals against came, and 2 of the goals were penalties.
Hi, Mark! That is precisely what I did for Autumn 0.2. I mixed a test with three strikers that gave good goals scored and poor defense, with Autumn 0.1, which has good defense. Results are pretty balanced, in my opinion. Instead of mixing tactics that are too far from each other, I am trying to find transitions that will keep players close to their original position, to avoid problems with contra-attack (mine and from opposition).
I already found some combinations of roles that work well together, like PWB/FB + CHM/DM, so DMs move to CM when you have possession, and PWBs move to occupy their position. Another interesting interaction is WB/FB + CHF/W, so you play with three strikers and WB covering the flanks with the ball, and strikers move to the sides to help defending when you lose possession.
Unfortunately, most transitions involving defenders didn't work well, probably because it breaks the offside line. The same for the central strikers, you lose too much counter-attack power if you make them return to AM or something similar.
Note: It didn't get very good results in the league, probably because it got to the finals of FA and won the Europa League, which can be harsh for weak squads like Nottingham Forest.
Below is the light version to use when a match is under control, with the goal of avoiding cards and saving energy. My personal match plan is:
- Normal condition: Autumn 0.2
- Winning by 2 goals, or trying to avoid conceding: Balanced mentality
- Winning by 3+ goals: Autumn Light
It is actually 0.15, I put the wrong number in the sheet. It will now be promoted to 0.2 since I will move to work on spring or summer.
There is a difference between match sharpness being important and recovery being useful. You can keep match sharpness high even by using all your subs every match, and rotating the subs. Another trick is to book a youth friendly one day after a normal match, then allow players that didn't play to be used in the youth squad, to increase their sharpness.
I didn't test yet, but I am pretty sure super rest still works in this version. Super rest happens when you give three rest sessions in the same day, and send the player to rest home, accumulating the effects of both rests. That should be enough to keep your players in good condition during the season, and I personally always do it after matches (in the first day without travel, because travel breaks it by not allowing three rest sessions).
Rest is the only session that recovers condition and fatigue. That is why Recovery is a pretty pointless session. All it does is to not have a training session (as in "not spend energy"
This is Winter 0.14. The versions with two digits are tentative, then I pick the best of them to make into the official new version with one digit.
- PWB / FB x2
- CHM / DM x2
- W / TWM x2
Player instructions are:
- Tackle Harder all
- Make More Runs for CMs, Ws, and CHFs.
Let me know how it performs for you.
Below is the light version to use when a match is under control, with the goal of avoiding cards and saving energy. My personal match plan is:
- Normal condition: Winter 0.2
- Winning by 2 goals, or trying to avoid conceding: Balanced mentality
- Winning by 3+ goals: Winter Light
Most important lines are RS Rank and ZaZ Score.
RS Rank: How good a tactic is compared to others. 1 means it is the best, 2 means it is the second, and so on.
ZaZ Score: How well the tactic is expected to perform, ignoring the best and worst result of each run, and the best and worst runs.
Other than that, you have scores and rank sum for goals scored, conceded, difference, and points, and smaller is better. Smaller is better, and the main difference is that scores ignore the best and worst results of the run.
I got good results with TWM in OoP, and tackle harder. It is the 0.14 version of Winter.
He uses the name Gerrard here.
I think you are being a bit unfair. You climbed to Premier League all at once, then reached 7th in your first season, and you think the tactic is just B+? Did you expect to win all matches by 8-0 with a bunch of mediocre players? Just take it easy and improve your squad, and that will eventually fix your defensive problems, especially if your new players are fast.
It is not done testing yet, need two more runs.
I can only talk about the tactics I tested. You can see a link to my results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kKEqBmE-ENJGgaDTgYJsAbmqcAKxekxx_QCtvreVUYA/edit?usp=sharing
In short, Winter 0.11 has the best attack, Autumn 0.1 has the best defense, and Spring 0.12 is a balance between both. Winter has one extra attacker, Spring has an extra defender, and Spring has an extra midfielder, so you might want to consider that based on your squad depth. They are all very close, and personally I would go for Winter 0.11 + Autumn 0.1, so you can change from attack to defense during a match or depending on the result you need. In fact, I am testing a 0.13 version with standardized backline to make easier to transition between those tactics using the same squad.
If you want a single tactic that is good in any situation, then I would go for Spring 0.12 instead.
Three CHM (CM) during IP, and they all drop to DM during OoP. All have tackle harder and run more into space.
Those things unfortunately happen, the game can be pretty cruel sometimes. As long as you are still overachieving and getting good performances, then there isn't much to worry. It is important to remember the game was released less than two weeks ago, and tactics will still improve a lot, especially when tests from FM-Arena start.