Can I win this hopeless game?

[Sunil Chetri]

first time im facing huge quality difference team in Cup semis, i think im almost out of cup, He is playing 4-1-2-1-2 Im playing 4-1-4-1 with defensive mentality....
any suggestions?

[Stefanut Stefanut]

4-5-1 V-Style

[KT Cole]

This is like asking "How long is a piece of string?" as well as assuming he's not a "Pay to win" player either.
The factors are many and multiple for this game and really it does depends on your team skills etc. I've beaten teams with similar levels to this last season [I was Level 8 and I beat teams up to Level 13]. It also depends if they're a managed team (present in the game to counter what you do in real time when you change tactics etc.

There are two types of this formation listed, and you don't say what one the opposition are using. The listings suggest the following formations [see below] you should play to get the best results.
But these also depend on a number of factors that people never ever seem to take in to consideration.
Namely your players skill levels in comparison (I refer to your screenshot) Players ages, morale, bonuses etc etc.
Also I found that critical factors are player speed and fitness and strength. Are they fast enough, fit enough and strong enough? To me these are important, especially in games like these.


Suggested formations to counter his are shown below.
Him 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Diamond
You 4-5-1 V-Style

Him 4-1-2-1-2 Wide Diamond
You 3-5-2 Flat

Given the limited information you've supplied, I'd favour the following with the formations listed above, to counter his.

Attack
Team Mentality: Hard Defending
Focus Passing: Mixed
Passing Style: Mixed
Force Counter Attacks: On

Defence
Pressing Style: Low
Tackling Style: Hard
Marking Style: Zonal
Play Offside: No

Bonuses.
Concentrate on using Defensive and Condition Bonuses during the game to help you out. You'll probably need a minimum of 6% on each to ensure you have enough to use in the game.

Also beware of bookings, I've found that if the AI "decides" to play "dirty" and start flashing cards, especially in the early part of the game then beware of your players getting booked as this can mess up your tactics big time. you may need to change the Tackling Style to "Nornal" or "Easy" dependent on the number of your players that get booked. Player Aggression also plays a big role here. The higher they are the more prone they are to being booked.
Fortunately, for me at least, my players can play in numerous positions so If I have to make changes I can hopefully cover them.

Change things as you see fit during the game, and if needed, you could focus passing down both flanks, also as Hard Defending means a lack of players up top then you could use Long Balls on Passing Style as well.
Arrows up on your Striker are important and I'm assuming you have fairly fast players, ie faster than his hopefully, but given his players star ratings then I doubt it, as drawing his team on to yours by Low Pressing should help and long balls up to your striker too, assuming mixed doesn't do it for you.
Arrows down on your Defenders, especially if playing No Offside Trap, and hopefully you can deal with him, or at least make it hard(er) for him in the match.

I hope these suggestions help you out, if not for this game then for other games you play.


Assuming you've not seen these then the formation guides are listed here and could help you out.

From this forum >>>> http://forum.topeleven.com/formation...ation-use.html

and also this one elsewhere >>> Counter Formation – Top Eleven | Top Eleven

What is missing unfortunately, are tactics, bonuses etc. These are key to helping you play matches, along with player fitness/strength to see the match out.
It would be nice if these could be listed with formations etc, but then you'd have a veritable "bible" to read through for every game.
Another thing that could help you out would be to track back through your opponents recent matches, assuming you can do this, to see what formations he uses, or sticks to, and also what was played against him. Also take a look at his position in his league, sometimes a good guide to how he is doing in that, as well as a pointer to if the team is being managed or not.



Below are details of tactics I used when playing against a 4-1-4-1 [yes, I know it's not the same formation] and these worked for me, despite people telling me to the contrary, but there is other information there, as I've said, that could help you out when playing your game(s) in the future.

Details on how I played in these games etc are given in this link here

>>>> http://forum.topeleven.com/formation...2-n-1-1-a.html <<<<

Screenshots with details and match stats etc. I won, and also won the final against a Level 10 player but I never got around to posting those results. But now I'm on this forum, I'll update it. Better late than never..
I'm not saying this will help you out with your game but if you take a look I've added info on what I did during my games. Tactical changes, bonuses used, subs made etc and when I played them. These are dependent on different game factors though.


I'd be interested to know the outcome of the game, assuming you've not played it already.
[On my day off and it's early Monday morning here in the UK]

[Sunil Chetri]

Here is assistance managers report after home leg match
Home game
Stats
My team players rating & formation
My opponent team players

[Sunil Chetri]

Game details
Formation 4-1-4-1 with hard defending
Through: mixed pass,
Passing style: mixed
Force counter: off
Low press
Hard tackle
Zonal marking
Play off side trap: off,
After half time I changed my formation to 4-3-1-2 by using subs



AC Karnataka Level 9
6 League titles
2 cup titles
1 CL title

[KT Cole]

Well played that man. You got a draw. Nice work. I'm guessing he didn't turn up to the game then? If he plays the same formation in the next leg my suggestion is to play Force counter on and play 4-3-1-2 to start with and play long balls through the middle. If he plays with a diamond formation. Attack down his flanks if you so wish and see what happens there. You could well get some joy out of that too, by pressing on his backline. Keep it the same in midfield and defence or possibly switch to three at the back, 3-5-2 with two defensive midfielders pushing up to midfield.

Check who you're playing against to see how they played in previous games and adjust to suit, but still play to your strengths, but try to play against their "weakness" as it were.

Hope you get the result you need to get past him in the next leg. Good luck


This is how I'd play. DML and DMR push up with my DMC all able to move into the Midfield if needed and my AMC moving up to ST
to give me a 3-5-2 formation. I sometimes use this as a 3-2W-3N-2 formation.
I could even drop my AMC back into Midfield and leave my Def Midfield as it is. Flexibility is key. It's taken a little while but I'm nearly there with "Total Football" [Well. Sort of...!]

With this team, I'd start off with Hard Defending and play through the middle, against the team you played, and take it from there.

This team, and formation has stood me in good stead in a lot of matches against higher level players.
Sadly this season I'm out of both Cup comps. as Nordeus borked the game (Server issues etc) and my squad got clobbered with suspensions/red cards [on normal/easy settings would you believe.]
There's a school of thought that suggests when you get to a certain level then Nordeus like to hit you with various problems. Starting with loss of stars when you "level up" for a new season is par for the course, but why, when you're basically playing teams that are the same level as you anyway?
Some players are even harder to train up due to age. Then there's the issue of being present at games, sometimes you can, sometimes you can't. You can almost, with a fair degree of certainty, say that if you're not there then you may well lose the game if both teams are evenly matched or as you've seen, you can pull a great win out of the bag if a higher level team is un-managed. Sadly a few of these players will be past their prime in a season or so. A cull will have to take place to remove certain players, and I'll sell them off, making some money in the process to fund the club.

[nikolgiorgos]

Good job.
You were lucky he didn't sow up.
I hope you 'll be lucky too in the 2nd leg.
Your system is just fine (maybe little risky with hard tackling but he didn't won many F-K).
* remember to give some victory bonus
Good luck

[Sunil Chetri]

Unfortunately I lost the 2nd leg match, but my team played well

[nikolgiorgos]

sorry
usually in a pair of games, the much stronger opponent will win one game and possibly the qualification.
In one game (like the final), you could be more lucky .

[Awe Imoleayo Peter]

What formation did you play against @Sunil