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.

Strong Backbone

Now that my place in League One was consolidated and I had some money to spend, my team was beginning to come into place. I decided to build my promotion charge based around a strong backbone of players running through the central area of the pitch, like top teams have done in the past. This backbone consisted of:
Solid GK: Anthony Silva, one of my first signings, who instantly bolstered my defence.
Strong DC: Madjid Bougherra, Algerian who plays for Charlton IRL. The first name on the teamsheet.
Consistent DMC: Anderson Silva, another South American signed on the cheap. Pass accuracy is always more than 70%, and he makes 3-4 tackles per game.
Creative AMC: Anthony Sweeney, an Englishman who got 12 goals and 10 assists in Season 2.
Lethal ST: Kyle Wilson, my top scorer in Season 2 with 22 goals.

I initially used Anthony Sweeney on the right wing, until I signed a few wingers at the start of Season 2, and could therefore move him to his natural position in the centre.

August Transfers
After his impressive start at Oxford, Premier League clubs quickly became interested in Anthony Silva. During the August transfer, I was inundated with enquiries, and Silva started to get unsettled by them, so I felt that I finally had to sell. In the last week of August, Birmingham came in with a £1m offer, which I accepted, and the base of my backbone had gone. I quickly used the money to sign a goalkeeper of similar stature, Richard Lee, who IRL is Watford's first-choice goalkeeper. He had similar stats and cost me just 275k.

Lee has now been at Oxford for two years, and Silva has moved on to Galatasaray after failing to get into the Birmingham team. As you can see from the above, there is little to choose between them, and Lee has better Handling, Aerial Ability and skill with One-on-Ones. He has had a few injuries, but has conceded just 66 goals in 70 games so far. Silva averaged slightly more than one goal conceded per game in about 60 games for Oxford.