General Tactics

General Tactics

Make sure that as many of your players as possible are playing in the position they are supposed to be. If necessary, try picking a different formation - for example, if you have too many strikers and not enough defenders, change formations so that the strikers can fit in. Your team will probably perform better even with a risky attacking formation than compared to a balanced one with players out of position.

Make sure your team has good Morale. You can combat this easily with Morale Boosts, even if your team is losing. Make sure you watch the live matches whenever possible as this earns you Morale Boosts and spurs your team on.

Make sure you monitor the fatigue of your big name players. Otherwise, they will become fatigued and their performance will suffer.

When planning your tactics, spot the weakest player in your opponents team. Focus your attacks on there.

As is your right as a football manager, you are able to play your players out of position, should you wish. Sometimes you don't have a choice, if a player is injured for example. Obviously this will have an effect on their performance, with some players being well suited to certain positions, such as a winger being able to play on either side, or a defender playing in defensive midfield. Others will not make the transition so well. Just use logic to think where a player would be able to do well, based on their natural position and their statistics. Players tend to have the ability to do well out of position in the odd game, but it you play them there regularly it will effect their morale and form - footballers do not like being played out of position! Although it's better than not playing at all surely?

Automatic Management:

If you find yourself struggling to put enough time inito Top Eleven, you are able to automate a lot of decision-making. We've already looked at how you can get the computer to manage your players' training regimes for you. You are also able to have the AI take control of your team during the game, with input in advance from you. So if you are not able to be on your computer for a particular fixture, you can have the computer make substitutions and decide on set-piece strategy based on what you have advised in advance.

To do this, go to the Squad Screen. The tabs you are interested in are Tactics, Auto-Subs, Penalty Takers Order, Free-Kick Takers Order and Captains Order. To use these settings, drag a player from the squad on the left-hand side of the screen into the position you would like them to fill on the right. The main benefit of doing this is to specify who should come in to replace a player if someone gets injured or sent off. For example, if your designated free-kick taker is injured, who then should take set-pieces? The game will use the Free-Kick Takers Order to decide that if you are not present during the game to do it yourself.