In every good career there are ups and downs. Even the best football managers cannot always lead their team to success, no matter how good the players in their squad are.
However, there are certain things a manager can do in order to prepare his team as good as possible for upcoming matches and greatly increase the chances of winning.
Thus our advice is to try the following:
1. Change and adapt the formation. Investigate if it would make sense to use different players in your starting lineup. You might want to hold back an offensive star player for a more defensive one if the proper setup against your opponent needs a defensive concentration.
2. Ensure that your players are fully rested and that their morale is high. The better the mood of your players is, the better they will perform on the pitch. If they are too tired on the other hand, they wont be able to play with their maximum potential.
3. Adapt to the actions of your opponent. If you see that he is making last minute changes in order to counter your lineup, you can intervene and make a last minute change yourself.
4. Try to avoid placing players on positions they don't feel comfortable playing on. A defensive player might not be suited for an offensive position. You will see an exclamation mark next to the player in the Squad formation when this happens. A red one means a huge penalization in his performance.
5. Teamwork is important. Putting players of different Styles, similar ages or the same nationality on the field and stimulating the potential for cooperation among them can effectively improve the team's effectiveness.
Please do keep in mind however that there is no "golden rule" if it comes to tactics. A certain formation might not always be the winning strategy. The match simulation in Top Football Manager takes into account many different factors and data. All your settings will be measured against the settings of your opponent. This is why a formation and lineup that ensured a win in a previous match may result in a defeat in the next match.