Season Five, December: Drawing Bored

Little has changed since my last post. I'm still doing well, bobbing between 7th and 10th in a very tight Championship, even rising to 4th after the Stoke win. However, I have a feeling that I could be doing better.
Basically, too many games are being drawn for my liking. But there are good draws and bad draws. Take my 0-0s against Crystal Palace and Cardiff. Palace have put together a very good team that finished 11th in the Premier League two season ago, and they and Birmingham (whom I also held to a draw) are running away with the Championship. So I was quite pleased to squeeze out a draw.
Then came a 3-week break for internationals, and a trip to Cardiff. Even when they had two men sent off, and had resorted to a 4-4-0 formation, I couldn't break then down. Thus leading us to the second meaning of this update's title: I'm going back to the drawing board.
So, I went through my Championship results so far and worked out my record using each formation. Today, I'll show my two most common formations.

Most common: 5-3-2

This was the formation I used for the 4-goal victories over Watford and Wigan. I've used it ten times, and am unbeaten with it, conceding only 5 goals and never more than one in a single game. But recently, the goals have stopped flowing. 9 goals in the first three games with this formation, but only 5 in the past 7.

Second most common: 4-1-2-3

I didn't realise quite how badly I'd been doing with this formation. It's been my main formation for six matches, which have garnered no wins, four draws and two defeats. My strikers don't seem to like ploughing a long furrow. In theory, this shouldn't happen (the formation is based on the well-known "trident" style), but in matches, the wingers tend to get pushed back, so it becomes a 4-1-4-1.

Conclusion
The problem is that my common formations are too defensive. This is what happens when you have three excellent DMs to fit into your side. My attacking players' stats should lead to more goals and more chances created; indeed, when using either a traditional 4-4-2 or a 4-3-1-2 (with 3 central midfielders) system, more goals are produced: Five games using either of these have produced three wins, two draws and 11 goals. The drawback is that, with these formations, I also concede more (goals conceded rises above 1 goal per game)
So my plan now is to continue using 5-3-2 in any match against the big teams, or away to medium teams, and use 4-4-2 in other matches. Basically, when I'm aiming for a win, it's 4-4-2; and when I'm hoping for a draw, it's 5-3-2.


I made the switch to 4-4-2 after the Cardiff game, and the chances - and goals - started flowing right away. As the transfer window approaches, I'm fairly satisfied with my squad, but will of course be on the look-out for bargains, and planning bosmans for next season. This blog has finally caught up with where I am on the game, so I'll let you know soon how I get on with 4-4-2 in the long run, and maybe soon introduce you to some of my key squad players.