Help with Counter-Attacks

[ZeekLTK]

I usually never use CAs, but here are the league standings at the moment, and I am hosting Scarlet Pups at home this week and really want to win to get into a 3 way tie for first (I already lost to Velvets, and he lost to Pups):

1. Scarlet Pups 4 22 - 1 12
2. The Velvets 4 16 - 2 9
3. Norge Vikings 4 11 - 5 9
4. Lusitania F.C. 4 5 - 6 6
5. Rock On 4 8 - 11 6
6. Prutas 4 5 - 10 6
7. Kewaunee Kickers FC 4 1 - 15 0
8. Soro 4 0 - 18 0

Right now I have irritated TS since I MOTSed Norfolk & Way two weeks ago (he has since been replaced by Rock On :/) and I won 4-0 last week with a PIC against Lusitania. I was planning on PIC this week just cuz my TS is so bad that I don't think MOTS would do any good. I have Prutas on the road next week and don't want to give him any chance for an upset since he is probably the 4th best team in the league behind the 3 of us at the top.

Anyways, I usually run a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 but I'm not so sure that will be effective at all since I am probably going to get killed in midfield. Pups will probably get a weak (high) rating, and I'm looking at a wretched (low) or something like that. Defense is my strength, I have one of the best in the league, and that's just with 3 guys. So this week I was thinking I could play a 5-4-1 and just stack up the defense to keep him out of the net and then hope that I could get a counter attack goal or something to win.

But like I said before, I've never used counter-attack before so I don't really know what I need to do for it. Like I said, I'm going to get murdered in midfield terribly, so will I even stand a chance no matter what I run, or is CA the way to go? I heard that you need to play defenders with either good passing or good stamina (or both?) to have a better chance with CAs... do you need anything else? I have 8 defenders on my roster right now (just bought two cheap ones with good passing for this match yesterday), as well as a midfielder who I use as a defensive midfielder from time to time, so I'll post their stats and I was just wondering if you guys could help me decide who to start for this match that will give me the best chance to win with CA. Players 1-8 will be the defenders and #9 is the defensive midfielder that I could throw back there since he is occassionally a backup and has good stamina. (I'm not listing form cuz it will probably change for some guys after training, but most guys have passable or solid if anyone is wondering):

Player 1:
Stamina: passable Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: weak
Winger: wretched Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: weak


Player 2:
Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: wretched
Winger: inadequate Defending: passable
Scoring: passable Set Pieces: passable


Player 3:
Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate
Winger: poor Defending: solid
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: disastrous


Player 4:
Stamina: passable Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: inadequate Passing: weak
Winger: disastrous Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: solid


Player 5:
Stamina: inadequate Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: disastrous Passing: solid
Winger: wretched Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: weak


Player 6:
Stamina: poor Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: wretched Passing: solid
Winger: weak Defending: inadequate
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: poor


Player 7:
Stamina: solid Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: poor Passing: inadequate
Winger: wretched Defending: passable
Scoring: poor Set Pieces: formidable


Player 8:
Stamina: excellent Keeper: wretched
Playmaking: poor Passing: poor
Winger: wretched Defending: inadequate
Scoring: inadequate Set Pieces: passable


Player 9:
Stamina: excellent Keeper: disastrous
Playmaking: passable Passing: wretched
Winger: poor Defending: inadequate
Scoring: weak Set Pieces: poor


*Note that these guys may seem kinda bad with only inadequate or passable defending, but I have a formidable keeper so he gives me good ratings. :D

I'm in V.233 too if anyone wants to scout it out. Any help is much appriciated!

[Craig P]

3, 5, 6, and 7 look like the choices for a four defender CA, if you want to add a fifth then decide between 2 (better defense) and 4 (better CA).

I think chances are pretty good that you'll get enough benefit from playing CA for it to be worth it (vs. turtling in the same formation and pressing (or otherwise not playing CA)).

[puddleduck]

I agree with CraigP's picks, except that I'd definately take 2 as the 5th defender since he also has somewhat better winger and if played as a wingback will help your attck a little bit.

[Pal11]

As a defensive trainer with plans to build a team around the CA tactic, I decided to stop lurking and start posting.

First off, stamina isn't a factor in determining your CA ability, just passing and defending (and exp., like with all tactics).

Here's a site that's useful in determine what your CA rating should be. From my experience it's quite accurate.
http://hattrick.computergames.ro/ca/

I agree with what Craig and puddleduck said. Definitely 3, 5, 6, and 7. If you opt for more defense with 2, I'd try and play him at WB on the side opposite your opponent's best attack side. Theoretically you're going to get more CA chances from their best attack side, so putting players with better passing there should help your CA.

I'd also recommend playing all of your MFs and Ws offensive to try and maximize your attack (to take advantage of your CA chances).

[ZeekLTK]

Well according to that site I should get a formidable counter-attack. Is that going to be good enough to beat him?

Also, I should play my midfield and wings offensive? According to HT Ratings Calc if I play them defensive like I was planning on doing I will get high passable or low solid defensive ratings, and my opponent usually gets, at best, high solid attack rating on one side, a mid passable rating on another, and high weak on the other. If I have them on offensive I'll probably get at best mid passable and most likely high inadequate or low passable... so which would be better? Getting the best defense possible to make sure he can't score, or losing some defense to try to make sure my CA works, cuz there is no way I'm gonna score any goals unlesss they are off CA's.

*Keep in mind I will be perfectly content with a 0-0 draw, I'd prefer to win but I play him again in 5 weeks and I will be able to PIC for every single match up until then so I wll have huge TS and be able to MOTS and (hopefully) win that game, but if he beats me this week that will just keep us level with each other and he'd still have the edge in the series. :/

[Pal11]

On the CA ratings as generated by that site, I'd say there's no way to tell for certain if any level of CA is definitely going to be enough to beat an opponent. CA chances are never guaranteed. Not only is there randomness in the number of chances your opponent gets, there's randomness in whether or not the chances your stop generate a CA, and in whether that CA is successful or not. But seeing that you'd put up a formidible CA, I'd say it's definitely worth using.

If you're aiming towards a 0-0 draw, then play your MFs and Ws defensive. I suggested the offensive tactics in assuming you'd be trying at all costs for a win, but if you're happy with a low-scoring tie and perhaps sneaking in a CA goal, then defensive positionings seem to be the way to go. A lot of the better CA teams that do it on a regular basis tend to play with their MFs and Ws offensive, but being defense trainers their defensive ratings are far superior anyway. As far as stopping his chances, I've read some people say that your defensive ratings need to be a few levels higher than your opponent's attack in order to adequately shut them down, but you definitely have a shot.

So I guess I'd suggest maximizing your defense, like you had planned. Best of luck!!