Lost Champions League Final, would appreciate dissection from the experts

[Stephen Lam]

It is quite a risk hard tackling, and I do not think it is the key factor of not conceding the goal.
You could try this against an unbeatable oppo where risks can be taken, but not against an even oppo.
Tell us in general what are your defense tacticts and usual formations you use, maybe it is something else that causes the conceded goals

I used normal attack/defense posture. Normally I go with 4-5-1 V style as my favorite formation, but in this case due to the opponent playing classic 4-4-2 I went to 4-5-1 Flat in an attempt to control the midfield and possession. I went with Mixed passing as well as I found that works better than short when the opponent doesn't have a DMC/DML/DMR, and avoided long because I already have played this opponent before and knows he loves the counter.

I do not believe it was a matter of tactics as you used both balanced and countering formations.
In general the match from statistics, ratings (at least when game was draw) and formations seems could end to a draw.
This means that minor factors start playing each role.
That's why I believe hard tackling was the minor-key factor for this game, and the 2 penalties is a good proof for that

Hmm but if it was only the penalties that were the cause, then only my players who conceded the penalties would have bad ratings right? But if you look at my team ratings, almost everyone played horrible.

[pcmacdaniel]

Thanks pcmacdaniel, I was at max bonus and condition, as well as max morale. I primarily used Possession as my active game bonus.

What I think caused you to get beat, was the programming code of the game engine. Some seasons it seems to favor offense, other defense. My team this season was better with defense + counter-attacks, so I suspect teams using Defense + counters, had the advantage over normal and attacking setups this seasons, when everything else was equal.

I had been playing with normal and occasionally switching to attack. I was still doing decent, since I reached the cup final, but there were some losses and draws along the way, before eventually losing to a 4-1-4-1 in the cup final. After this I switch my 4-5-1v from normal mentality to defense + counters and my goal production shot up tremendously, including 7-0 and 5-0 wins in the last 2 CL matches. Whereas when using normal/attack, my offense was stagnant more often.

[woopypooky]

Since u say your opponent likes counter, did u turn on offside?

In my opinion, formations is just 20%, orders are 80% for tactics. For games that i am watching, i usually tried the 2 end of the spectrum.
Attacking + high press + offside + short pass
&
Hard defend + low press + mixed/long ball + counter

Depending on the opposition quality vs mine, i usually picked either one and start the game. If things going well, i dont change it. If doesn't, then i switch to the opposite.

And possibly he got better players than you. Some players can have 8-9-9-8-10 ratings against weak opponent/inactive/abandoned teams but turn up 5 or 6 during important games,..Over the course of a season, i usually take note of my players rating against equal/big teams/active teams.

[Stephen Lam]

Since u say your opponent likes counter, did u turn on offside?

In my opinion, formations is just 20%, orders are 80% for tactics. For games that i am watching, i usually tried the 2 end of the spectrum.
Attacking + high press + offside + short pass
&
Hard defend + low press + mixed/long ball + counter

Depending on the opposition quality vs mine, i usually picked either one and start the game. If things going well, i dont change it. If doesn't, then i switch to the opposite.

And possibly he got better players than you. Some players can have 8-9-9-8-10 ratings against weak opponent/inactive/abandoned teams but turn up 5 or 6 during important games,..Over the course of a season, i usually take note of my players rating against equal/big teams/active teams.

I kept offside trap disabled because his strikers were much faster than my central defenders (as is often the case).

In terms of player stats I had an overall small edge in my starting 11. How does player rating factor into it?