2015 Holding on to a lead (Enhanced Engine)

[japp]

Hi All

 

I've noticed that in the enhanced engine, more than any other version I've played, that the AI is much better at chasing the game from behind than they used to be, I certainly concede far more equalisers than I score!

 

What does everyone do differently, if anything, to protect a one or two goal lead in the second half? I've experimented with going more defensive but I always feel that invites a lot of pressure. I sometimes turn off pressing and go to cautious tackling, the idea being that the team holds its defensive shape much better but even then I seem to be undone by a corner or concede a penalty from a cross.

 

In previous versions I would often switch to attacking once leading and pick them off but this versions seems a bit smarter than that. It is also hard to counter the AI tactics as they seem to change very dramatically every 5 minutes

 

What does everyone else do?

 

 

[BatiGoal]

Honestly I never change my tactics in-game to hold on to a lead. I only change tactics if have have injuries or someone sent off. I make sure my strongest team is on the pitch with the fittest players.

Make sure you keep an eye out on their fitness levels as this may be a factor as well why you concede late in the game.

[japp]

Fitness has always been one of the factors that I select my team from, 95% is usually my bottom line for a starting player where possible, as long as this doesn't mean too many changes from my last game or maybe leaving a big player out for a big game.

 

This is one of the things that annoys me most about the game, you often see the AI starting with players who are very low on fitness. Last 20 minutes my team are all light green at worst and suddenly the opposition who are nearly all orange on the fitness meter are coming back from 2 down to grab a draw against me, playing an attacking, high pressing game.

 

This happens especially over the busy Christmas period when playing in England. I rotate my team to keep them fresh over that period, the AI seem to just carry on regardless. If SI's take that the game doesn't know which team is human controlled that has lead me to believe fitness is not that important - although I suspect if I picked a side full of players low on fitness I'd lose badly and pick up a couple of injuries! 

[BatiGoal]

Something you might wanna try that I didn't mention is keeping your formation as it is and just tweak your match settings from attacking to balanced. I also like to turn pressing OFF as I'm not chasing goals anymore and having players run out of position is risky. So it's better to keep your players in position which makes the team harder to break down.

[japp]

Thanks for the replies. I probably should have set out my usual starting settings but I usually start games Balanced - Mixed - Normal, everything else off. I'll see how I get on, maybe I'll drop tackling to cautious and change a player role or two. 

 

I'm what I would call a fairly cautious manager, I usually don't press, rarely play attacking, play full backs and not wing backs etc so it is hard to go a bit more defensive without going all out defence if that makes any sense? 

 

I'll keep trying things to see what works, maybe I need to be more adventurous so I have somewhere to go 

[BatiGoal]

If you got some good tacklers in the team I'd even urge you to go tackling "commited".

[japp]

Cheers, I'll have a look and maybe give it a go. I always stayed away from that when holding on to a lead as I felt it would make player commit to tackles and potentially get pulled out of position

[LostLegend]

I tend to keep an eye on the oppositions tactics and counter my tactical changes from that.

I've mentioned in another thread that I think a lot of basic rules such as player fitness, minor injuries and player position seem not to apply to the ai teams ( had man city playing Kompany as a RWM against me ffs!) its very annoying :

http://fmhvibe.co.uk/community/topic/26115-opposition-tactics-bug/

[japp]

I've been trying that approach too LL, but t obe honest once you take the lead they change tactics so much it is hard to keep up. I found by the time I changed to counter what they were doing they'd changed again and nabbed a goal back against me. 

 

It is harder to fix things defensively on this version I find. Defenders and GKs seem to get rated a 7 or 8 if I keep a clean sheet or if I concede 3. I just had a look back at my first choice goalkeepers and CBs average ratings through the 5 seasons I have played and they range between 7 and 7.5 despite the fact that I have conceded between 35 and 80 goals in a season, how can you spot the weak link?

[Aangca]

I usually never need to change my tactic, my guys usually keep me infront anyway.

 

If i do make a change its usually against a team which i shouldnt been able to beat, like Man City when i used Burton (League 1 at that moment) in the cup and I got a 1-0 lead.

What i do is move my BWM midfielder to a DMC postition and at the very end change the wingbacks to fullbacks and go from Balanced to Defensive mentality,

Using this tactic:

http://fmhvibe.co.uk/community/topic/24399-aangca%C2%B4s-4-3-1-2-enhanced-engine/

 

Byt usually i just stay with my tactic and sub the underperformers or 3 most tired players.

[japp]

Thanks Aangca. I guess the problem I have is that I don't start in a very attacking / aggressive way so I don't have anywhere to go in the main. For example I usually play Balance, Mixed Passing, Normal tackling and everything else off, I play full backs not wing backs.

 

The only time I have a good experience playing defensive is, bizarrely, if am behind with about 20 minutes to go I'll sometimes switch to defensive, short passing and cautious tackling, this seems to make my team more selective and they tend to create a couple of chances. I'll play this way until about 5 minutes to go when I go very aggressive to get the goal back. If I go defensive when leading I nearly always concede.

 

This all could just be a consequence of coming up through the leagues fast, I got promoted from League Two and One in consecutive seasons. First season in Championship I struggled badly and just stayed up, last season I finished second and now in January I am 5th in the Prem in my first season. Doing well but getting lots of draws - I'm just getting greedy because it could be better. Plus I hate conceding goals 

[japp]

I was just thinking more about this and I decided to look back at some of the games from my current save and I definitely think there is an issue with the Player Ratings. In both games my GK and back 4 were the same.

 

Game 1 - Won 3-0. Opposition had 8 shots, 4 on target, 3 clear cut chances, player ratings were;

 

GK 6

LB 8

RB 7

LCB 7

RCB 8

 

Game 2 - Lost 3-1. Opposition had 3 shots, 3 on target and 1 clear cut chance. Player ratings were;

 

GK 7

LB 7

RB 8

LCB 8

RCB 8

 

I know 2 games is a tiny sample but it illustrates the issue I am talking about. How can a keeper get rated a 6 when the opposition don't score from 4 shots on target, three of which were clear cut. Similarly how does he get a 7 when he gts beaten by all 3 shots in a game, when only one was was deemed a good chance. Surely match and average ratings should be able to be used to identify weak / problem areas in your team or tactics?

[LostLegend]

Tbh I treat player performance ratings with a pinch of salt when looking at substitutions and pay more attention to the players individual stats. (Passes completed/tackles won etc)

[japp]

Yeah I agree, I was more thinking from the point of view of identifying the weak link in the team, either tactically or individually. Player ratings should be the biggest indicator of a trend but defensive players especially seem to get similar ratings regardless of the result

[Carlos Barreira]

I do precisely the same As Aangca,also use his tactic 80% of the matcheS.