Struggling to retain possession

N

nickc1994

Member
Joined
Sep 8, 2011
Messages
134
Reaction score
0
Points
0
In my Chelsea save i'm struggling to retain possession even though on my 'Team Instructions' retain possession is highlighted? My assistant keeps on telling me that we've struggled to retain possession throughout every match and I don't know what to change to keep hold of the ball.

Any tips would be appreciated..
 
This is where you need to turn match highlights to "full match" and watch how your team is loosing possession/how the opposition are winning the ball off of you.

My gut instinct is that you've "passing into space" selected and I've found this doesn't work very well unless your players "off the ball" and passing" far out-weight your opponents "anticipation" and "positioning" stats.


Instead of asking yourself "what am I doing wrong?", put yourself in the shoes off the opposition manager, study what their team is doing well and ask yourself "what would I be afraid of if this was my team?" and try to counter their strengths and put them on the back foot.
 
Ah yes, I've got pass into space highlighted that could be a big factor of why we cannot keep the ball. I'll unselect that instruction and see how things go. In my eyes we're not doing anything wrong cause we're top of the league and winning 99% of games which is perfect from how i'm looking at things.
 
Any tips would be given if you posted some screenshots of your tactic, team instructions, player roles and duties. You don't have to instruct Retain Possession to have possession.
 
Brendn said:
Instead of asking yourself "what am I doing wrong?", put yourself in the shoes off the opposition manager, study what their team is doing well and ask yourself "what would I be afraid of if this was my team?" and try to counter their strengths and put them on the back foot.
Click to expand...

How would I find out my opponents strengths? Team report?
 
nickc1994 said:
How would I find out my opponents strengths? Team report?
Click to expand...

The same way a real manager would, have a look at their squad (the same way you would yours), the PPM's and the formations they regularly use (Team report) and then make a judgement call. One of the things most people forgot about management: No one is going to tell you how to beat the opposition, that's your job. You tell your team how to beat them :p
 
nickc1994 said:
Ah yes, I've got pass into space highlighted that could be a big factor of why we cannot keep the ball. I'll unselect that instruction and see how things go. In my eyes we're not doing anything wrong cause we're top of the league and winning 99% of games which is perfect from how i'm looking at things.
Click to expand...


Pass into space looks to exploit a team that's been stretched, usually by playing a wide game. I rather go for player with great first touch, instruct players to "pass to feet" and train everyone to "play one-twos."


I know how you feel. I've turned Liverpool into monsters on FM13.

Average age of my squad is 23 and I'm only loosing roughly 1 game per calender season.
Won 6 trophies last (2020/21) season. I won't be happy untill I get a 100% win record in a domestic season though :p
 
also, play at a lower tempo and short/safe passes for possession retaining.
 
Brendn said:
The same way a real manager would, have a look at their squad (the same way you would yours), the PPM's and the formations they regularly use (Team report) and then make a judgement call. One of the things most people forgot about management: No one is going to tell you how to beat the opposition, that's your job. You tell your team how to beat them :p
Click to expand...

I never check my team report which my assistant has give me, it's probably the reason why you and many others are better at FM than me. I have no idea on what to look for in the report and what to change to my tactic etc
 
It's more of the basic stuff which really matters. When you take over a team, just have an in-depth look at your players. Are they pacey? Are they technically good? Do they have good passing skills? What positions suit them? What about the injury-proneness of your players? Taking a glance at their stats, and their preferred playing positions should help you determine that. this should ideally be done in the beginning of a season..

After that, set your tactics to suit your team.

Then take a peek at your upcoming opposition before a match. A glance at their players should tell you their starting 11, and which players are in good form and scoring goals. Just ensure that their main key players are marked properly, while setting team instruction, just before beginning of a match. More times than not, it works out.
 
Thanks a lot, i'll start looking at the oppositions team report more regular! :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

FMBase

Beta

Resources

Top