Middlesbrough premiership problems

joshb

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So I got promoted to the premier league in my first season by finishing second in the championship... Here is where the problems begin,

1season in prem... Finish 11th the only signings I made were Jordan Rhodes and Christ smalling and loan back kalas

dimi in goal
friend and kalas either side of the defence
smalling and Ayala are my cbs
clayton and leadbitter are my holding midfielders
adomah and Tomlin both play on the wings with Tomlin playing as a inside forward and adomah as a winger
Forshaw plays in the number 10 as a advanced playmaker
kike plays up front as a target man

2nd season and 3rd season I manage to just survive in the league by 1 point each time,

fast forward to to my fourth season and I'm still in the prem league and invested hugely in this squad bringing in some experience and young talent yet I still find myself in a relegation fight I've got great coaches all my players are happy yet I can never seem to string a pass together, grab a goal or stop the opposition from scoring

my team now is

mattia perin in goal
Kyle walker at right back
James husband at left back
Gary Cahill and Christ smalling at the back
ramassaso and gundogan in the middle of the field
nolito and Christian atsu on the wings
Martin odegard on loan playing in the number 10
and Jordan Rhodes upfront as a target man who swaps with mitrovic

please help
 
Help with what I need to change, or who I should and bring in

I can't take a screenshot yet I'm not home
 
Help with what I need to change, or who I should and bring in

I can't take a screenshot yet I'm not home

Just quote my post when you get home and take screenshot and il see if i could sudjest some tactic/signing changes
 
Help with what I need to change
You realise it's impossible to give ANY advice on what to change without seeing what exactly you're doing, right? We'll need to see ALL the instructions - your entire tactical setup.
 
OK so im home and ive took a screenshot to upload on here but for some strange reason it wont let me add it, it just keeps on dissaperaing :/ if anyone is a tech whiz then please help :(
 
It seems like you're pushing way too far up the field with those team instructions and Song won't be providing any support to the defence as a BWM because he'll chase the ball down in that role instead of holding position
 
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Thats the only way ive been able to upload my pictures

ALT + F9 in the game to save screenshots directly to the game's library in the documents.

I play with exactly the same formation, so my observations:

- If you've Mitrovic play him; try to figure out something 'cos that guy would deliver you tons of goals (ofc I'm aware of Rhodes' abilities).
- Untick 'Run at defence' and to slow down the game tick 'Lower tempo'.
- Lower tempo requires possession, tick 'Retain possession' and 'Shorter passing'.
- As I am sure you concede **** a lot of goals, untick 'Push higher up'.
- If you play this 4-3-3, no need to play with wing backs. Set your left-and right backs position to full backs.
- Untick 'Exploit the flanks'. You have excellent midfielders, one of them shall be an Advanced Playmaker don't restrict yourself to the flanks.

Try it out, give your team a couple of matches and let me know if it was helpful. :)

Good luck!
 
The front 3 will isolate themselves completely from the rest of the team sitting back. Clear Ball To Flanks is a rather extreme instruction, but I can see why you needed to use it, since your duties will isolate the front 3. No one there drops deep to link play. Your middle also isn't going to get forward enough to support the attack.

This is true no matter the Mentality, but it'd be nice to know that as it'll determine what duty your "Auto" wingbacks get.
 
ALT + F9 in the game to save screenshots directly to the game's library in the documents.

I play with exactly the same formation, so my observations:

- If you've Mitrovic play him; try to figure out something 'cos that guy would deliver you tons of goals (ofc I'm aware of Rhodes' abilities).
- Untick 'Run at defence' and to slow down the game tick 'Lower tempo'.
- Lower tempo requires possession, tick 'Retain possession' and 'Shorter passing'.
- As I am sure you concede **** a lot of goals, untick 'Push higher up'.
- If you play this 4-3-3, no need to play with wing backs. Set your left-and right backs position to full backs.
- Untick 'Exploit the flanks'. You have excellent midfielders, one of them shall be an Advanced Playmaker don't restrict yourself to the flanks.

Try it out, give your team a couple of matches and let me know if it was helpful. :)

Good luck!

thankyou I used it in my next game against arsenal I was beaten 3-1 at the emirates walcott got 2 goals and chambers scored their 3rd the consolation was a goal from gundogan in the dieting minutes of the game

ive noticed that the small changes to the squad have improved the structure of the squad, we seemed more organised, it's no improvement on the results I usually get against the big 4.

Ive got a handful of games remanding in the season against some strong sides, so relegation looks likely.

thanks anyway :) maybe I'll put this to plan properly in pre season and mount another promotion push :/
 
thankyou I used it in my next game against arsenal I was beaten 3-1 at the emirates walcott got 2 goals and chambers scored their 3rd the consolation was a goal from gundogan in the dieting minutes of the game

ive noticed that the small changes to the squad have improved the structure of the squad, we seemed more organised, it's no improvement on the results I usually get against the big 4.

Ive got a handful of games remanding in the season against some strong sides, so relegation looks likely.

thanks anyway :) maybe I'll put this to plan properly in pre season and mount another promotion push :/

3-1 at the Emirates isn't that bad and yeah don't scale your team to Arsenal 'cos most probably they are among the title contenders.

How many games do you have left? How many points do you have? Can you show the league table?

Cheers,
 
I think you are too open for ability of your squad.

generally when I make it to the premier league I concentrate on a solid defence, and make sure I have an attacking tactic stored for if I need a goal, the 3rd tactic I have as either an all out attack or a keep the ball (to protect a lead) but my main tactic is to make sure I'm solid defensively.

I would choose counter attack



play narrower
(by playing wider you are creating more gaps for the opposition to exploit)

(Narrower) It will also make your team compact centerally and have more players in key areas around the goal, allowing them to pass it too less dangerous positions (eg out wide)




The lowest closing down setting
(You currently have your players chasing the ball, which is good if you need the ball back eg losing, or even good against a poorer quality side, but by doing this your players are coming forward out of shape leaving gaps, as well as possibly been taken out of the game if they get taken on or the ball get passed by them. Sometimes as well this leads to two or more players pressuring the ball)

(Not pressing) will keep your team behind the ball and compact, leaving little space behind them, the midfield and attack will be closer to the defence, allowing the other team harmless possession (eg passing around defence) they then have less space to pass the ball into, this generally means they will not get past your defence unless you make a mistake, or it will take a decent pass, move, bit of skill to get past. This will mean they either keep possession and don't threaten or have to play more risky passes or long shot, which is more likely to give you possession, it will also allow their team to come onto to yours, so there's a big gap for you to counter

This can be used with the rest of the stuff you have, early crosses, clear to flanks, stand on feet. You could even try tighter marking.

but at the moment you are sort of booting the ball clear, then chasing it down, as well as your players stretching the pitch, if you win the ball you are taking people on, and then hitting early crosses, so you must be turning over possession quite quickly, which then you are using a lot of energy to try and win it back, plus your players will be quite far apart (play wider) so the other team will be able to pass it around you fairly easy especially as you tire and you have gaps.

lastly, the defensive line I usually change depending on who's going to play against me, if Walcott is a lone striker, I would play with the lowest line I could so there wouldn't be much space behind for a through ball for him to run onto, but if I came up against Andy Carroll I would be tempted to have a higher line, as he is not quick enough to get in behind and I wouldn't want to give him chance to get into the box beat me in the air.

until you have some better quality players technically this is how I would do it
 
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