Philosophy and how to use it?

Hi everyone, just getting my teeth into FM14 and have been finding it hard to settle on a tactical approach for my RB Leizig team. I have used the following tactical approach in previous versions of FM with success/
- 1 x Offensive tactic where the focus will be on holding the majority of possesions, pressing up the pitch, dominating the opposition. I will usually have three players dedidated attack duties (mainly ST and AMCLR), 4 with support (Mids and LR/FB) and 3 with defence (DC x 2 and DM) (GK omitted). Philosphy is fluid
- 1 x Neutral, ballance philosophy, standard mentality, 1/2 x At role, 4/5 Support, 3/4 Defence
- 1 x Defence, to be used against better opposition or big away games. Rigid/Very rigid, counter,

In finding that this approach isnt working with FM14, maybe i need more time to get my tactical familiarity up (as it is low and isnt progressing fast)

So my questions Are:
- Is the above suitable?
- How would you approach tactics when your famliarity is low and are struggling to win games against poorer teams? Would you go more rigid

I for one, had the same problem. It took me a while to understand that my team is comprised of 11 dolts on the field who can't think for themselves (yes, even if you tell them to be more expressive). Every 'shout' in the 'instructions' list can make a difference.

Most formations can be considered either defensive or offensive so I'd prefer having two formations which can be altered with for different situations or 1 formation with 3 different philosophies, unless if you really love micromanagement, then you can have 3 different formations and keep switching between being offensive, defensive or balanced.

The fluidity is kind of a big deal on FM 2014. It doesn't always mean that being 'very fluid' means being more offensive and sometimes the best defence is offence. For example, Playing on 'defensive' mentality with 'very fluid' means that once you get that counter attack/possesion on the opponent's half, your defense line will push higher to help with the play, hence, they will be in a better position to retain possesion in case you lose the ball but then again, they will also be more vulnerable to a counter attack. It depends both on the different situations and the opposition's instructions.

When playing against defensive and narrow opponents, you should probably instruct your players to play wider and on the flanks. It is preferable to play with left footed winger on the left and right footed on the right because you don't want your wingers to cut inside, into the narrow defense. You can always try to overwhelm the opposition on one side of the pitch which can work quite well sometimes against bigger teams. The classic 4-4-2 is good for that. Have (for example) right footed DR, MR, FC (the FC on the right should also be right footed with good speed and crossing and should be told to 'move into channels') and tell your players to 'play through the right flank'. The other FC should probably be a target man with good strength, jumping reach, heading and off the ball.

My suggestion to you is to read with care each role on each position. Same thing goes to the different mentalities, fluidities and instructions.