Subject: [U21] deathbymail

lol i wrote it and then copied it into word so i could get the link for the election page and i accidentally copied it twice :P

I prefer defensive midfielders and wingers (not sure if you were including that in offensive midfielders). Defensive mids can get the balls from the defence and move it up well, but if your mids are too far from the defence they will just kick it up and you only have a 50-50 chance of getting it, and if you do you have at least one opponent near the player with the ball. Wingers I like because they can exploit holes and you have an easier way to bring the ball upfield if you can get it to them. I've started using a winger on my team and he gets alot of crossing chances but his passing isn't good so he messes them up :P And i think you spelt knowledgeable right lol

the issue with U-21 is not what you prefer, its getting the most you can out of the tools you have

if you don`t have a screwdriver you can`t just use a hammer in its place ;)

That's true. When I was u21 coach we had 2 very good def-mids and a defender with decent sideskills. The def-mid crop seemed weaker this season, although that may have been because Mita and Perrault were just 20.

I saw that you select some of your player and sell them or use them in matches while you were coach of the national team. did you know that that is cheating? in your opinion what is the most reliable tactic against stronger teams?

I saw that you select some of your player and sell them or use them in matches while you were coach of the national team. did you know that that is cheating?

lol I have never had a player on the Canadian U21 team. I've had an Islandic U21 player, a Georgian U21 player and a U21 player from Iran.

As for the question about the bext tactic vs stronger teams, it depends on the other team. Different teams have different strengths, but for the most part I would say a 532 with 3 mids in the middle. Depending on how much stronger the other team is, the D line could be high.

If anyone watches a U21 match from today, they'll see the new update to the ME. If the update stays, high defense will become less effective, since any striker that gets behind the defense should outrun them. If I am elected we would play less high defense because it will be extremely risky with strikers and wingers able to run at max pace with the ball. Of course, the update might not be permanent and then nothing has changed :P

Group B

Team Matches Wins Draws Losses Goals Points
1. Deutschland U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0
2. Schweiz U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0
3. Moldova U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0
4. Canada U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0
5. Makedonija U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0
6. Prathet Thai U21 0 0 0 0 0-0 0

We got germany again lol. I'm pretty tired so I didn't really look at the other teams that much, but just looking at average marks we aren't that much weaker than the Swiss and Germans, and Moldova doesn't look too strong.

I wonder if this will affect the flat 5 man defense that so many seem to play. It is hard to know because their are slide tackles now too.

I doubt it will. For now, players only use sliding tackles for balls that are not controlled, so they might slide to cut out a pass but they can't tackle a player from further away. You could try to play the side defenders further up than the central defenders to cut out passes to a winger, but if it's a high pass the winger will be behind the defender, and he can run with the ball faster than before, so the defender probably won't catch him. Teams might use high defense less often though, because a striker or winger that gets behind the defense has a greater chance of running away from a tackle. I'm not sure if even that will happen though, because the player dribbling is still slowed down a bit and I think on average most NT defenders have higher pace than strikers (because they only have 2 main skills rather than 3).

we have only had one match with the new engine, but if you watch the game we had many break aways that did not even result in shots because players push the ball and inevitably don`t shoot because they did not have posession of the ball

both of the goals against us were the result of set plays, a penalty and an early cross, not because of a high defense leading to more break aways

I think that slide tackles will actually make it more possible to play higher defense as the real threat is always through balls, which will now be more easily cut out with sliding tackles

we have only had one match with the new engine, but if you watch the game we had many break aways that did not even result in shots because players push the ball and inevitably don`t shoot because they did not have posession of the ball

That didn't happen in any of the other matches I watched so I don't think it should haappen very often.

I think that slide tackles will actually make it more possible to play higher defense as the real threat is always through balls, which will now be more easily cut out with sliding tackles

In theory they should cut out through balls, but from what I saw and what was said in the International forums it doesn't look like it will happen that often in this version of the ME.

the last I saw was that the engine was still going to be tweaked as there were too many pushes and too few cut outs, which is actually what they are as they are not against another player :)

congratulations!

Thanks :) That was a close one! Do you still want to help with the U21 this season?