Subject: Mentor Available

if anyone is looking for some help i'd be more than happy to give a hand...

I would be really pleased if you could help me, I've been playing the game for 3 years now, but really only watching matches.
Just decided to take this thing more seriously to increase my fun.
But the process of team building, finances, tactics and overall development is where I am lacking

thought i'd try and get the mentor thread up and running again.

I'll help out as well.

i could use some help with tactics.

i used to play sokker years ago. I rejoined with a friend recently, and completely forgot how to start a team...I started running it like I ran my first successful team. Now I am near bankruptcy, and the only chance I have to make it is to dominate my bot opponents to gain supporters and home-game attendance.

I cannot purchase any players, so I can only work with what I've got. The only chance I have is to out-tactic the bot teams. Should not be too hard for the majority, but the first place team has ... well had players worth $200k-$400k, but apparently just turned into a human team. That being said, it will be more important to out-tactic my opponent, since he is not a bot.

Anybody willing to take on the challenge?

SEll your older players of value and buy younger(young enough to train) cheaper players(even in positions you are not training), you will still dominate the bots and train players to boot.

You don't need vets top beat bots

Well i will definitely take that into consideration when I have purchasing power again. Only problem is that I am sitting at -400k, and I doubt my old guys would sell for enough to get me out of the hole. I've cut back on my expenses, so I should still be able to survive until I have somebody worth selling.

In the meantime, however, I would like some advice with tactics. I am not a particularly strong tactician...the only reason my former team was so powerful was because my junior school pumped out some top players and allowed me to purchase players to dominate whatever league i was in...until I got to A-league. Then it became apparent that my tactics were mediocre at best. I got some help from fro, and noticed an immediate improvement in my team's play. That was, of course, about 3 or 4 years ago, and I cannot remember the specific advice, and i'm sure some things have changed with the match engine. All I really remember is the little ball in the corner squares means you set up for a corner kick, and the very center square is for a goal kick.

So any tactical help would he appreciated, especially general advice on player positioning that I can use as I progress.

couple things.
tactically: in my opinion, your defensive line is too wide. they should tighten up a little to stop any thru passes. while it can work, overall i think having two midfielders that wide is hard in C because your guys don't have a high enough level of passing or pace to complete passes that are so long. bringing them in a just a little would help you control the ball a bit more and the center of the pitch. also, bring more guys over when the ball is on the sideline for a throw-in or corner kick. throwing or cornering successfully will give you a lot of help.
team management: (without knowing what you're training) first, i'd close your junior school. it can't get you a useful player in the next 2 seasons, by then you'll be bankrupt. the money you save from that, and firing the coach, will really change your financial outlook. the way the junior schools work now its cost prohibitive to have one as a C league. also, cut down your roster. outline who is your best defender/mid/att no matter age. keep them. sell everyone else over 22. when money gets better, cut that back to 21.you only need one useful backup per order(D/M/A) to run a team and it will save you salary and increase training for the other guys. i know this all sounds counter productive, however, you will earn a lot of money and it will allow you to accelerate the financial turnaround process.

Thanks for the input. I adjusted some things, and they seem to have worked. In the past, I used to just watch my matches for the enjoyment of watching stick figures play soccer, but today (since it was pretty much a guaranteed win) I tried to focus more on how my players were playing, and how my tactics were working.

My defensive midfielders definitely got into the game more, which helped. My throw-ins could be a little better, but I did notice an improvement. I also saw a couple things in the match that I can adjust for future tactics. And thankfully, I could see how my strikers actually performed at their skill level, since there was no keeper. Tactics can only do so much, but if the players don't have the skills, they won't score. Will definitely be replacing them once I have money.

As far as team management, I have already done most of those things before your post. I think my biggest problem was starting up that junior school. I closed it, with the exception of 4 players that are young enough, hopefully skilled enough, and will be out soon enough to be useful to me. I also fired all of my assistants, because even though they were cheap, they were a waste of money. I think I have had 1, maybe 2 random pops since I started this team, while my buddy that started at the same time has had several each week with a better head coach and no assistants. So I fired my 4 senior team coaches, and kept the junior coach. Will be spending a little bit more money to keep him, but I figure it will be worth the cost in the long run, especially since two of my young guys will be out in two more weeks which will allow my to sell some older guys.