The Element of Surprise

[Vince]

I am considering running a formation I have no current experience in on Sunday in my league match. Would it be worth it to run the formation in Cup this week to gain experience in it, at the expense of losing the element of surprise?

[damnMikeBrown]

Lelu Dallas, multi-pass

I am fifth element

[Masked]

I would not try any new formation out in a match I was trying to win - the confusion would destory my midfield rating which is usually my one advantage.

[sterlingice]

Yeah- I'm not sure you can use the element of surprise that effectively because it will result in confusion which will counter any benefits you get. Maybe you want to try something with different players offensive or defensive on different sides to try and muddle your formation but I think a new formation will be tough to try. Then again, do you have a good team leader? That would help offset this.

SI

[dacman]

If you use a new formation in a league match, you'll be the one getting the surprise.

[terpkristin]

Yeah, what everybod else has said...

If you want to use the element of surprise in this wawy, it's usually best to keep a couple of formations in good experience,and just vary when you use them. If, for example, you use a 3-4-3 every league match, your opponent might expect that, so if you threw a 3-5-2 at him (which, maybe you'd played during cup/friendlies), he'd find it a bit more dastardly...

/tk

[Vince]

Yeah, I've been meaning to do it that way, but I keep forgetting to set up my friendly/cup match lineup as a 3-4-3.

Anyhow, I barely pulled out a 5-3 PK victory in cup, and got myself up to Inadequate experience with the formation. Still not sure if I should run the 3-4-3 or not in League play. I think I'm kind of screwed either way, but we'll see.

[Vince]

Ok, here's the situation...

My opponent has an Excellent trainer with Solid leadership (but he was Cupset in round 2). His last match was an away match, and here are his ratings (I'm not sure whether or not he PIC-ed):
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="229"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">Midfield:</td> <td valign="top">excellent (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=8#skill) (very low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">passable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=6#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Defence:</td> <td valign="top">excellent (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=8#skill) (high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">excellent (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=8#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">poor (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=3#skill) (very high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Attack:</td> <td valign="top">weak (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=4#skill) (very high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">weak (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=4#skill) (high)</td></tr></tbody> </table>
In my cup match, I ran a 3-4-3 (now at Inadequate skill in the formation) to see what happened. Here are the ratings:
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="229"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">Midfield:</td> <td valign="top">poor (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=3#skill) (high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">passable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=6#skill) (very high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Defence:</td> <td valign="top">solid (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=7#skill) (very low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">passable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=6#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">formidable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=9#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Attack:</td> <td valign="top">solid (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=7#skill) (very high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">weak (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=4#skill) (very high)</td></tr></tbody> </table>
The midfield is a bit low, because it was an away PIC with my trainees in. Here are my ratings for my last 3-5-2 match (away PIC):
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="229"> <tbody><tr><td valign="top">Midfield:</td> <td valign="top">inadequate (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=5#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">passable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=6#skill) (very low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Defence:</td> <td valign="top">solid (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=7#skill) (very high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Defence:</td> <td valign="top">inadequate (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=5#skill) (high)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Right Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">excellent (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=8#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Central Attack:</td> <td valign="top">passable (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=6#skill) (low)</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top">Left Side Attack:</td> <td valign="top">weak (http://www19.hattrick.org/Common/gameRules.asp?find=labels&labeltype=skill&labellevel=4#skill) (high)</td></tr></tbody> </table>
My TS is at Walking on Clouds...with a MOTs and 3-5-2, I think that I could put up a comparable midfield to his (2 SN+3, 1 Brill+2, winger TM Outstanding +4), but I'm not sure just a comparable midfield is enough with his high defense ratings. I have at least one more cup match to help recover TS -- I'm thinking that I need to either 3-4-3 CA PIC, or 3-5-2 MOTs. Thoughts?