lmacca21

Hi There,

I wonder if there are any suggestions ... I have a 4-4-2 that works well at home with spurs (although the team can be very inconsistent at times), but away from home, we seem to get turned over by even the weakest of sides. Sometimes a great away win at somewhere like west ham would be followed by a drubbing at sheff utd....as i say at home, we are ok (usually!. I have tried dropping the defensive line etc. to no avail...

So, has anyone got any good principles which should be applied when using 4-4-2 away from home? All im looking for is a few tips on how best to strengthen the side away from home, and develop a little more consistency!

Thanks in advance!

rashidi1

Without knowing your formation in detail I will have to make certain assumptions.

If you are using an orthodox 442 without any DMs then...

1. Make sure your mentalities are not too far apart. For instance...if your defensive pack has a mentality ranging from 2 -8, then make sure your midfield pack doesn't start with 15..thats too far apart. You can have your fullbacks on mentality of 10...and still have them defensively solid by barrowing them. This makes sure that players don't always get behind them..

2. Brings me to my second point..your defensive line. The defensive line is linked to mentalities though not on a large scale. However the DL for a 442 should never be deep. If it is then the mentalities of your pack are going to make the ball distribution between the defense and midfield go awry. If you set the DL between 7-12 it should be fine. Look out to see that your MCs are dropping back in support of your defense to take over possession. That is going to be the first clue for you to know that your DL is set up right. If you have your DL too high then your defense and midfield are always going to go for the same ball.

3. Away from home you can set up for a narrow formation, this will allow you to maintain possession if you using a short passing game. And it will also allow you to defend better.

4. Your passing instructions should be set up for quick counters..My favourite way to pull the AI out of position - I do this by setting TTB to only the fullbacks and give them Direct passing. TTB is removed from the wingers....when this happens there is a lot of pinging on the flanks. If you have players with pace then you will score goals.

Hope this helps

lmacca21

Thanks!

Some good points there...real food for thought!

I use 1 dmc who sits and one who has a little freedom to get forward, although i try to keep his role disciplined.

One point though..may sound stupid, but i use the default skin, and on the tactical sliders i can not see the numbers which relate to the position of the bar?....where can i see the actual number it is set to?

Do you recommend a shorter passing game away from home?....i tend to have the full backs and wingers on direct passing, and everyone else on short/mixed......would focus passing town the flanks work better to??

danny_boy

Alright mate, Just been reading about your away day blues with Spurs...I am also spurs and flying home & away at home i play the 4-4-2 with the 2 attacking wide men (lennon & Modric) and with a tought ackling anchor man (zokora) and an intelligent creative attacking midfielder may i suggest Murphy over Jenas.... Away from home is your problem though, so to sure things up play a flat back for with 2 towering defenders... Then sit an anchor man infront of them with 2 center midfielders and 2 wide men attacking the oppostion full backs and the lone striker who would ideally be Mido or Berbatov.. This way you have the balance of defence and attack in an instant and you are using the first form of defence which is attack, with this formation you will fing you can go to Stamford Bridge & Anfield and pick up points with ease.... let me know how you do my e-mail is danielmcnab1@hotmail.com

rashidi1

there are 20 notches..each time you click is one notch..there is no numerical indicator. Yes focus down flanks would be good if your forwards have great pace