FM Questions

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've got to admit that I'm guessing here, but I'm going to go with:

Obscure
Local
Regional
National
Continental
World Class

I think it's actually:

Very obscure
Obscure
Untested (or something)
Local
Regional
National
Continental
World Class

[Pumpy Tudors]

Oh, right. I forgot about the "Unproven" one, although I don't remember anything along the lines of "Very Obscure" at all.

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Oh, right. I forgot about the "Unproven" one, although I don't remember anything along the lines of "Very Obscure" at all.

I have FM2006, and it does have a "Very Obscure". I thought it did, but wasn't sure so I checked.

[vex]

What about training facilities?

Adequate
Average
....

[sovereignstar]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

So after spending an eternity managing Spart Prague and landing the Czech national job, I got offered the Inter post. I took it and I noticed that I get a max of 19 non-EU players but other teams get like a max of 4 while others get like 8. Why is this?

It's sort of confusing and I'm not even sure if I've got it 100%. Basically, Serie A has made it so there is a set amount of foreigners in the league. If you sell a non-EU player to another Serie A team you will lose a non-EU spot and the other team will gain one. If you sell a non-EU player outside of the league then you can sign another non-EU player and won't lose that spot.

I've also read that there might be a limit on the amount of non-EU players you can buy in a season (1?) in FM 06, but I'm not sure about this.

Again, SI should seriously consider letting gamers know the different rules. As it is, these same questions get recylced over and over and you'll be hard-pressed to find anyone SI-related answer them, so there's usually no offical answer. And it sucks.

[Schmidty]

Seriously, can someone help me what the hell these attributes mean regarding game mechanics, including staff?

Please.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

Oh, right. I forgot about the "Unproven" one, although I don't remember anything along the lines of "Very Obscure" at all.

Let's not forget the dreaded, "Unknown." I have a physio with this mysterious reputation level.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by Schmidty

Seriously, can someone help me what the hell these attributes mean regarding game mechanics, including staff?

Please.

Which attributes are you needing help with?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Which attributes are you needing help with?

Just about all of them.

I mean, I know what they probably mean, but in terms of game mechanics, I have no idea.

That's the only part of the game that really, really disappoints me.

[daedalus]

Have you read Marc's guide?

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by daedalus

Have you read Marc's guide?

Where do I get that?

[MikeVick7]

This will give you an explanation of most of them. There were some attributes added to the 2006 game that are not explained, so let me know which of those you need help on.

http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php...d=358&file=409

[Schmidty]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

This will give you an explanation of most of them. There were some attributes added to the 2006 game that are not explained, so let me know which of those you need help on.

http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php...d=358&file=409

Thanks!!

[Galaril]

Yeah Marc's game guide is great. I found this tactical guide for FM 06 on one of the FM fan sites, I think "The Dugout"? It will help anyone starting out with some of the tactics. There is also some good training guides on Sortitoutsi.net.

Player Definitions

When tactic building it is imperative that the construct follows a set of pre-defined rules or the tactic runs the risk of becoming illogical and full of holes. My tactics focus on player positioning above all else. They define player mentality, creative freedom and closing down as they all impact on player positioning. All other individual settings are more down to user discretion.

The following document lists pre-defined terms for player types and a set of rules to be followed by anyone wishing to build a TT& F style tactic.

GK: Goalkeeper

DC: Central defender

FB: Full-back

WB: Wing-Back

DMC: Defensive midfielder

MCd: Central midfielder with defensive responsibilities

MR/L: Deep lying wingers

MC: Central midfielder

MCa: Central midfielder with attacking responsibilities

AMC: Attacking Midfielder

AMR/L: Advanced wingers

FR/L: Wing forwards

FC: Deep lying striker

ST: Advanced striker


Home & Away

There are some basic assumptions I have made in relation to home and away systems. Some are explained in detail later on, but in simplistic terms, here they are.

Home: A good home formation should be wide with low time-wasting. Closing down should be mixed to high at the back, unless you are playing very low level management. This will focus your defenders on winning the ball quickly while your attackers are still high up the pitch. Forward runs should be high for all players except the DCs (rare) and MCd/DMC (mixed). In a 4-4-2 system wingers should be long farrowed. Creative freedom should be high up front, mixed in midfield and low at the back. Tempo is optional depending on personal preference. Passing focus should be mixed to provide the most options for players in possession.

Away: A good away tactic should be narrow with high time-wasting. Counter-attacking should be on. Closing down should be mixed to low, with my personal preference being at the higher end of rarely. Forward runs should be rare for defenders, mixed in midfield, high up front. This will ensure the team becomes a tight unit when defending rather than only relying specifically on the defenders to break up moves a lá home tactics. In a 4-4-2 system wingers should be short farrowed or no-farrowed. If no-farrowed, sarrow the FCs. That is my preferred option. I tend to use the same creative freedom settings as I do for home tactics as I want the forwards to move into space and exploit the channels. As before, tempo is optional depending on personal preference. Passing focus should be down both flanks in order to exploit the channels on a counter and to keep the ball away form potential dangerous interception positions in front of goal.


The Rule of Two

The Rule of Two is based upon the assumption that players must have a variety of acceptable passing options available to them. If players are too close together they are too easy to contain, and passing breaks down. If players are too far apart, too many ambitious balls are hit, and passing breaks down. Therefore, each player must be able to pick out someone to pass too who has a mentality within two positions of his own.

Thus, in a 4-4-2 normal tactic, the system would run as follows:


CDs: Mentality = 6

FBs: Mentality = 8/9/10

MCd: Mentality = 8/9/10

MR/L: Mentality = 11/12

MCa: Mentality = 13/15

FC: Mentality = 15/13

ST: Mentality = 17


Obviously, barrows and farrows can be used to tweak the settings further, but the basic setup must follow the above. Furthermore, individual users can tweak settings for some players, as long as they don’t stray too far from the original plan. For example, a user may want the FC to drop deeper, and for the MCa to support the attack. The MCa and FC mentalities could then be switched, with the basic rule remaining intact. This rule can easily be implemented into all formations and systems.


Radius Theory

Radius Theory assumes that creative freedom and closing down work by setting up a virtual circle around a player. Thus, if a player has a closing down of 15, he will close down any player who enters the virtual radius of 15. If he has a closing down of 5, the radius is smaller, so he will only close down when the player is on top of him. In relation to creative freedom, a player will wander around the pitch trying to find space within the defined radius of his creative freedom settings.

Logic suggests there shouldn’t be too many people on the pitch with high settings for either creative freedom or closing down. It is important in default tactics that the defence is set up correctly, with closing down/creative freedom between 3 and 5 for all defenders. However, we must assume that certain types of players have a role that employs higher settings for creative freedom/closing down. Thus, the following settings will apply to certain types of player.


DMC: Closing Down to First Notch of Often

MCd: Closing Down to First Notch of Often

MCa: Creative Freedom to First Notch of Often

AMC: Creative Freedom to First Notch of Often

FC/ST: Creative Freedom to First Notch of Often


The logic behind these settings is that the DMC or MCd will sit in front of the back four and close down opposition players before they can get too close to the last line of defence. The MCa or AMC needs to find space behind the front man, as they will be looking for opportunities to play killer passes. The FCs have high creative freedom as it will allow them to exploit the channels and pull the opposition defence out of position.

There are two types of defensive systems, one employing high closing down, the other keeping men between the ball and the goal and not committing them to the tackle unless it is absolutely necessary. I will explain this in more detail later in the post.


5x5/Defensive Line Theory

5x5 or Defensive Line Theory assumes that most teams will have a basic philosophy of five attack and five defend. Originally, the thinking here was that 5 players should have an equal defensive mentality, and five should have can equal attacking mentality. There were problems employing this type of system as there were big gaps between the attacking players and defensive players. The solution was to ensure the defensive line setting was equal to the mentality of the attacking players. Thus, attacking mentality is 15, defensive line is 15.

However, this must be slightly re-evaluated in conjunction with the Rule of Two. The Rule of Two insists on individual mentalities throughout the team, but in its normal setup has 5 players with mentalities of 10 or less, and 5 with mentalities of 11 or more, so still follows 5x5 thinking. Thus, the defensive line must be set to the same mentality as the most advanced midfielder. This will ensure the tactical framework remains tight and difficult to break down.

If employing a DMC the defensive line needs to be readjusted. Testing has indicated that the defensive line gets too close to the DMC when set above 14. If it is set higher the DMC becomes part of the defence rather than offering protective cover in front of it. The ideal settings are between 10 and 14.

Slider Theory

As we believe width, tempo and time wasting have an effect on tactic type the following rules must be obeyed. In each case the setting will be the first notch of its type in the slider.

Default Attacking Tactic: Width: Wide; Tempo: Quick; Time Wasting: Rarely

Default Normal Tactic: Width: Default; Tempo: Default; Time Wasting: Default

Default Defensive Tactic: Width: Narrow; Tempo: Slow; Time Wasting: Often


Level Assumptions

The previous section of this post provides a set of simple rules for player positioning and instructions. However, in order to continue it is important to work from a set of pre-defined assumptions before designing and testing tactics at all levels. Although some may disagree with my assumptions as to what should work at certain levels, I believe them to be logical and concurrent with the generalities of how real life football works.

LLM Assumptions

This definition is for poorer quality teams in L2, plus all the Conference National and the Regional Conferences. For this level I believe tactics should be long/very direct in terms of passing style. Such a style will minimise the chance of losing the ball in build up play and will allow the team to constantly pepper the opposition area, hopefully forcing the defence into making mistakes. A quick/tall striker partnership would be ideal, as one player will win balls in the air while the other runs onto missed interceptions/headers from the defenders.

In terms of defence, keeping the defenders between the ball and the goal is more important than committing them to tackles. Thus, closing down is generally low (with the exception of the MCd/DMC, as detailed above) as it forces the attacking team to try and either score from distance or get past the last line of defence via quality through balls or breaking tackles. The emphasis is on the skill of the attackers to create chances rather than the ability of the defenders to efficiently read the game.

Mid-Quality Team Assumptions

This definition is for higher quality teams in L2 through to the poorer Premiership teams. At this level passing should be direct. In recommending this I am assuming the long ball game to be easily dealt with by higher quality defenders as their better positioning attributes will allow them to comfortably mop up aimless punts into the box. The direct balls will ensure the team will not over complicate passing moves and lose possession before the killer ball is played. Direct passing gets the ball quickly forward to the strikers who can then use the midfield for support. Strength and speed up front will be important to get the best from this tactic type as the forwards will be able to hold up the ball and let the team catch up with play or run at a retreating defence.

Defence is more down to the individual user at this level. Both closing down and sitting back defence options could work. My ideal would be to close down to mixed at home, which forces the attacking team to make quick passing decisions when trying to break down the defence as they are soon put under pressure if they hold on to the ball. The higher positioning and decision making stats at this level (speed, acceleration and bravery also being important) make this possible and it allows for your team to regain possession quickly and higher up the pitch than the LLM system. This works in conjunction with passing type, with the long ball being less useful in a tactic that is trying to win the ball high up the pitch. When playing away it would be better to close down slightly less as you will force the attack to break you down to make chances. Keeping men behind the ball will be useful as the home team is likely to have a fair amount of possession so massing the defence is a better option than trying to win the ball early.

High-Quality Team Assumptions

The definition for high quality teams is those that should be challenging for the European qualification slots in the Premiership. For this level passing should be short or mixed. My own preference is for most of the team to be set at the first notch of mixed, with the exception of the front two who are two notches less. This type of system is possession-centric (can be close to 70% against poor teams) but still offers players opportunities to pick longer balls when they are on. Obviously, passing, creativity and decision making are the most important attributes here as they will enable the player to hit the right ball at the right time more often then not. If a through ball is not on, the player will lay off an easy pass to keep possession and allow others to look for the killer ball. My preference for success with this tactic is having attacking players with pace, acceleration and good off the ball skills. One tall centre forward is also preferable, but not a must.

At home the defence should close down heavily. This is a direct contradiction of previous thinking but has method in its madness. The most frustrating issue for FM addicts seems to be the second season slump. This happens when a team has enjoyed considerable success in its first season, often overachieving, and as a result gains a higher reputation. The easiest way to gauge your reputation level is the pre-match odds screen. If you are nearly always the bookies’ favourite, and have ridiculously short odds against poorer sides, then you have a good reputation. The direct result of this is you will begin coming up against the dreaded 3-3-2-1-1 defensive system that nearly all high-level managers seem to employ against better sides. Note, teams may not start with that formation but will often switch when a goal is scored or due to other in-game factors. This system has been the bane of many a tactician’s life and is the key reason for the second season slump. So, how does high closing down counter it?

The key element in the thinking behind a high closing down defensive system countering the 3-3-2-1-1 was making a logical assumption about how often the system allowed for forward runs. I assumed that such a defensive system would tune forward runs down to a minimum and thus the single forward would have to hold up the ball for a considerable length of time before support arrived. My original thinking of low closing down for defenders fell down against this because the defenders would back off as soon as I lost possession which would allow the forward to easily hold on to the ball before laying it off to the midfield. As the 3-3-2-1-1 system has so many deep lying players, once I had lost the ball I struggled to win it back because the opposition played possession football between its two defensive lines of three without ever trying to get the ball forward. By upping the closing down for my defenders I began to pressurise the single forward as soon a she got the ball which invariably won me possession back immediately, either high up the pitch due to winning the tackle or via a throw in as the forward booted the ball out of play to relieve the pressure. As a rule of thumb I mirror the closing down with creative freedom, so the total of the two equals 20. Thus, if a player has creative freedom of 3 (standard for my DCs) then his closing down should be 17.

Although I believe away tactics, even at this level, should follow the basic premise of keeping men between the ball and goal, as your team’s reputation grows you should find yourself employing a high closing down system away against more and more sides, as they will invariably start with conservative formations. It must also be remembered that high closing down is likely to come unstuck against quality sides playing attacking football. This is because they will quickly get men forward to support the forwards which will allow them to exploit the gap behind the defensive line as it closes down space. Good sides will also have forwards of sufficient quality and technique to hold on to the ball, spin and lay off dangerous through balls.


A Brief History of Time-Wasting
With apologies to Sir Stephen Hawking

Sir Bob was the original instigator of maximum time-wasting. The best thing to do here is look at his original post and then update with our current thinking about this.


Sir Bobby Moore’s Original Time-Wasting Post

When I first saw this instruction on FM 2006 I kind of dismissed it as something which would not come in as much use. I thought it would be an unsportsmanlike like style of play, killing the game by smacking the ball out of play.

BUT ....

As I was looking through my recent results hoping for inspiration on how I could improve my tactic I noticed that I was having reasonable possession, generally between 48-52% so most games were balanced and but my attacks seemed poorly constructed and I gave the ball away a lot, mainly in the middle of the pitch. In my experience, counter attacking is probably the most effective method of attack but it forfeits possession so you spend a lot of time defending. I decided to try out time-wasting and it made a huge difference. I played a few games on full match and was seeing definite benefits, so I decided to test it out.

I started a new save game, with West Ham as I know them best. I got to the start of the season and saved the game 3 times: V1, V2 and V3. This way there will be minimal influences on results from other areas as I was using the same tactic (apart from time-wasting), the same coaches, schedules, injuries, etc, etc.

In V1 I used no time-wasting. I noticed that I was not having very much possession at all, roughly 45% each game, and was giving the ball away here, there and everywhere. I played 15 games, mainly losses and draws. In V2 (mixed time-wasting) we were having 48-52% possession but were still losing the ball fairly often and not creating the best of chances. Finally I tested V3, with time-wasting on full. We dominated games and created loads of chances. We played fantastic football and comfortably beat sides like Man Utd and Newcastle in a way I have not done with West Ham since CM4

Time-wasting seems to be an excellent foil for wide, high-tempo football with a lesser skilled side or counter attack. The midfield have a lot of the ball when playing it and the build up is methodical and precise, some of the passing is beautiful to watch.

NOTE: Creative Freedom is important when playing with high time-wasting other wise players will knock the ball around all day and not create anything.


Sir Bobby Moore’s Second Time-Wasting Post

I have recently thought more about time-wasting.

For you to understand we are going to have to change the way we think about sliders. Instead on having 0 to 20, change your way of thinking to -10 to 10.

Now, if you imagine that 0, smack bang in the middle, is the standard amount of time-wasting, the player will not hurry himself, nor particularly take his time. Then, for example, -1 makes him slightly more hurried so he will pass the ball quicker and try not to stay in possession of the ball for any longer than needed.

Therefore when you start to think about -5 to -10 you'll realise that the player wants to get rid of the ball at all costs and just pass, no matter if it puts another player in trouble or gives away the ball all together. So you can imagine that any attack set up in this manner will be very unlikely to score, with passes going astray extremely often and the striker trying to shoot before he has composed himself etc.

Now if you imagine a time-wasting of 3, the player will be slightly more laid back. He will have time to think about the pass he is about to make, therefore low anticipation players will be able to keep up with the game, and players with a poor passing stat will not have to make a tricky pass as it is the first he sees, he could hold on to the ball and wait for something else to arise.

The conclusion of this is that time-wasting should rarely drop below the centre unless you have extremely good players and even then they would struggle. The worse your players, the further to the right you go. It is not necessarily the worst, if you are going for a real upset, i.e. trying to win the Premiership with Sunderland then time-wasting must be high to allow your players to play to the best of their ability.

Current Thinking on Time-Wasting

Sir Bob’s second post is the key to how time-wasting actually works. It is a fantastic tool for teams with low reputations or for counter-attacking tactics in away games. What it does is ensure the team keeps possession at all costs, rather than hitting risky attacking balls to the front men. When used in conjunction with a tight, sitting back defensive system it ensure your team is exceptionally hard to break down and will counter-attack only when obvious chances present themselves. If a Rule of Two system is being employed, the defensive mentality of the back line will also ensure possession is maintained as they won’t hit aimless through balls unless under considerable pressure, but instead play simple, possession friendly football across the back line.

However, high time-wasting falls down against teams that are playing with an exceptionally defensive tactic. They too will time waste, so both teams will be concentrating on holding onto the ball in the back line rather than trying to attack. This is fine if playing for a draw or trying to sneak a one-nil win against a better side. It is not fine if you are the superior team and need the win. In such a situation time-wasting should be very low, as then your team will look to get the ball into danger areas as quickly as possible and won’t worry so much about holding onto possession in defensive areas. One of the main reasons behind the success of the 3-3-2-1-1 is the user team being too focused on time-wasting. This will be especially relevant for those built tactics related to the theories in Sir Bob’s or my threads as we were both big advocates of high time-wasting.


Other Factors to Consider When Building Tactics

Creative Freedom

Many posts on the forum are of the assumption that the creative freedom slider stops a player from obeying other individual instructions. If it is set high then a player will be more unlikely to do what he is told, if set low then he will adhere to instructions. I believe there are elements of truth to this, but it is not the whole story.

A player on high creative freedom will inevitably look for options in attack as soon as he gets the ball. If he decides that the creative/killer ball is on he will play it. Sometimes it will come off, sometimes it won't. That is the very nature of creativity in all walks of life. If he decides the creative/killer ball is unfeasible, he will play a safe ball and move into position to try again. Hence, decision making is also key to a truly great creative player. A creative player with good decision making will invariably choose the right time to play the right ball. Other factors will influence whether it comes off, such as the defensive stats of the opposition players trying to intercept the ball/tackle the creative player and the off the ball/decision making stats of the player trying to pick up the pass, but on the whole a player with good creativity/decision making will create chances. Alternatively, a player with good creativity/bad decision making will often try to play unfeasibly difficult balls that will result in interceptions and counter attacking moves more often than creating chances for his own team. When setting instructions for such a player, be aware that giving him total freedom will likely result in you losing possession and having to defend quick countering moves as often as getting into scoring positions yourself.

Creativity is not flair and must be managed accordingly. A creative player creates chances for others; a flair player creates chances for himself. Thus, whereas a flair player can be closely marked and looking out of the game, only to do something extraordinary and score out of nothing, a creative player needs time and space in which to operate, so he has more opportunity to spot the creative pass. Thus, when positioning a creative player, make sure he is loosely zonal marking with closing down set to a minimum, so that he is always in the maximum amount of space to receive a pass. If he has excellent decision making/teamwork/workrate/off the ball, he could also be assigned a free role, which would allow him to rove about the pitch looking for space and thus become more useful. Creative players are often low on bravery, so can be marked out of the game by hard-men opponents. Be aware of this if you feel your creative player is not performing, and possibly look to play him deeper which will draw his marker out of position and create space in front of him for others to exploit.

Finally, in terms of creativity for the whole team, be careful setting it too high for too many players. If you do this, too many people will be looking for the killer ball, and your truly creative players will have less opportunity to influence a game. Also, too many passes are likely to be intercepted as they are being hit from unfeasible positions on the pitch, and possession will turn over almost the second you have the ball. Tweak it high for a few players, and let the others focus on more mundane tasks, such as defending or scoring goals.

Off the Ball

I have read a fair number of posts complaining that the FCs refuse to stay in the middle of the pitch and drift wide. The standard response to this is to reduce creative freedom to the lowest notch for the front men. This is nonsensical. Forwards drift wide to find space to get the ball. If they stay in one position all match they are too easy to mark out of the game. Forwards and attacking-minded midfielders need to be encouraged to look for space. In this respect, a high level of creative freedom alongside excellent off the ball stats will be extremely beneficial. If one FC moves wide to pick up the ball it won’t matter as long as other players have the requisite creative freedom and off the ball to move into the space he has created. Higher levels of creative freedom have to be regarded as optimal for forward players in order to create space and move the defence around.

Teamwork

A player with high teamwork attribute will religiously obey the manager’s instructions, whether they are appropriate for the situation he is in or not. Teamwork is great when you have applied the optimum settings for the tactical situation your team is in, but will actually be disadvantageous if you have set inappropriate instructions. For example, if you have set closing down to 20 then a player with good teamwork will constantly close down, no matter what position/situation he finds himself in. This is where the maximum or minimum slider settings begin to fail and why moderation must be applied. If a player with high teamwork is told to close down to 20, then he will do it without fail; if he is told to close down often but not always, his decision making becomes more important, as he then has to decide on the appropriate moment to apply the closing dsown instruction.

A player with low teamwork is obviously more difficult to manage as you can never be sure whether he will obey instructions or not. This will be doubly difficult if he has bad decision making, as he will regularly do what he wants, no matter if it is a good decision or not. All a manager can do with this sort of player is try to ensure he is in a position that won't cause huge harm to his own team, but where his unpredictability will sometimes come off and create chances/opportunities to score.

Decision Making

Decision making is hugely important in how you instruct a player. The higher the decision making stat, the more mixed instructions you can give him, as you are sure he will take the right option at the right time. Thus, a central defender with good defensive stats and high decision making can be asked to close down to mixed, as you can trust him to apply the instruction when required. A central defender with bad decision making should be told to close down rarely, which will keep him between the striker and the goal and thus make the attacking player try to go past him, rather than committing himself to a rash challenge. This can be applied right down the line for every position on the pitch. If a player has poor decision making, give him firm instructions to do a job; if he has good decision making, trust him to do the right thing. For a winger, for example, you could tell him to choose between through balls and crossing; with them both set to mixed, as you believe he will invariably pick the right option. I could go on and on about this, but I'm sure it is pretty obvious by now.


Multiple Tactics

Although it is very possible to win continuously while only using one tactic, my own penchant is to employ a system of three. My formation preference is to use the 4-1-2-1-2 Diamond for a standard home and away system, with an alternate 4-2-3-1 for away games. I prefer to use direct tactics away from home, even when I am in charge of a quality side, as, in reference to Cleon’s guide to passing types, direct is designed to get the ball to the forwards quickly and is thus ideal for counter-attacking. My 4-1-2-1-2 away is therefore direct and counter-attacking, whereas the 4-2-3-1 alternate is more focused on possession and thus uses shorter passes at higher levels.


On Breaking Down a Massed Defence

This is extremely difficult to test, as once someone scores the AI changes tactics and you no longer face the same challenge. However, I do now have an idea on how to approach it.

You need to go against the 5x5 rule to an extent. This is because 5x5 is designed to compact your formation and make it difficult to break down, which you don't need to do if you are facing a team that is sitting back and focussing on not conceding, In fact, the only thing you need to worry about is a quick break, which a high defensive line makes more possible.

The idea is to set a formation that has most of your players in space or looking for space all the time. Thus, you need to first deepen your defensive line to try and pull the other team out of their compact formation. You don't need to worry about their MCs getting between your defence and midfield, as they will have very defensive instructions and won't even try. You then need to up the normal RoT settings by 4 notches pretty much across the pitch. Make sure only your MCd or DMC closes down. That way you force the opposition to try things, rather than commit yourself to tackles, and generally your DCs mop up comfortably at the back. You also keep the rest of the team in space by reducing their closing down instructions. You will see that your MCs have a lot of space in which to operate and will be able to pick their passes,

You should hold up the ball with your front men. This is because you can't quick counter anyway because of the oppositions defensive setup, so you need to allow your MCs time to support the front men. Holding up the ball will bring them into play more. You also need to play with wide settings and a slow tempo, again to give players time to support the attack. Also play with mixed passing focus, as it allows for more angles in trying to break them down. Counter attack and offside trap should be off.



Conflicting Instructions

I thought it may be worthwhile compiling a short list of what I believe to be conflicting instructions when tactic building. As always, any I have missed out or you included any you disagree with please comment.


Deep Defensive Line & Offside Trap

If you employ these settings you are basically setting an offide trap around the penalty area which is incredibly dangerous as anybody running from deep will exploit it. You will also have no time to get back and make saving tackles. To successfully implement an offside trap you need to be high up the pitch, so if it's broken, the attacking player still has a lot of work to do.


Deep Defensive Line & High Closing Down

Closing down can only work efficiently if you restrict space for the opposition, which a deep defensive line fails to do. To employ a high closing down strategy a high defensive line and narrow formation should be employed.


Wide Formation & High Closing Down

See above


Slow Tempo & High Closing Down

Close down but do it slowly! This speaks for itself in terms of non-compatibility.


Direct Passing & Slow Tempo

Based on Cleon's analysis of passing, Direct Passing should be employed when you want to get the ball down the pitch to the attacking players as quickly as possible. A slow tempo system doesn't support this.


Zonal/Tight Marking & High Closing Down

This may work when specific marking, as the player involved should immediately close down his specified markee and try to deny him space, so is probably ideal when trying to take a talented but cowardly playmaker out of the game. However, when employed in conjunction with zonal marking it will cause conflicts, as the player will be trying to stick tightly to one man, but close down somebody else who has the ball and confusion will reign.


High Defensive Line & Slow Tempo

I am not sure about this one, but it seems to me a slow tempo system works better when your defensive line is a bit deeper, as it offers more safe pass options to the man in possession. If you are playing a high line and are using a slow tempo it seems quite hard to hold possession and you are very vulnerable to quick breaks. I am very prepared to be shot down in flames on this though.


3-Man Midfield & Narrow

Again, I am prepared to be shot down here, but it seems that a 3 man midfield needs to have a widish setting or they play too close together and fail to create opportunities.


5-Man Midfield & Wide

In opposition to the 3-Man midfield idea, this forces wingers so wide they cannot take the option to attack full-backs on the inside. They get constantly forced onto the outside and become marginalised. Again, shoot away if you disagree.


Full-Backs Forward Running & Trying to Defend a Lead

If you set your full-backs to have forward runs to mixed or often you will become hugely vulnerable to direct balls into the channels when trying to defend leads (the AI loves this type of ball). So, when trying to see out a game, get rid of forward

[Galaril]

Can anyone tell me what is the differnce between some of the posisitons for example fullbacks and wingbacks. Also central defender as opposed to central mid fileders. Is there alsit anywheres defining all the differnt positions?

[Ajaxab]

Someone can correct me if necessary, but a fullback tends to play more conservatively than a wingback. In FM terms, a fullback tends to stay more along the same line on the tactics board as your central defenders. A wingback tends to get forward and tends to be positioned one circle above a fullback on the tactics board.

Central midfielders typically play 2 circles ahead of central defenders although there are some tactics where a defensive central midfielder will play just in front of the defensive line and conversely where an attacking central midfielder will play 'in the hole' just behind the strikers.

[scooter]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Can anyone tell me what is the differnce between some of the posisitons for example fullbacks and wingbacks. Also central defender as opposed to central mid fileders. Is there alsit anywheres defining all the differnt positions?

If you happened to watch any of the England vs. Portugal and Brazil vs. France WC games today, there were some very good real-life examples of those positions.

Roberto Carlos and Cafu for Brazil would be what I would consider wingbacks - they are "defenders" but they spend a lot of time in the opposition's half of the field and do not seem out of place crossing the ball from the far corners (Miguel for Portugal was also playing that style of game). Ashley Cole for England and Nuno Valente for Portugal were both playing more of what I would call a fullback position. They would occasionally go forward, but their primary responsibility is defense. I think a lot of it comes down to team mentality and the player's style of play.

France has a pretty interesting midfield setup: they keep Makelele and Vieira as defensive midfielders (sitting just in front of the defensive line) to break up the opposition's attacks with Zidane as the playmaker (attacking) midfield player in a more advanced position. The two DMs would create the turnover and instantly look to pass the ball to Zidane to initiate the attack. Malouda and Ribery play outside on the left and right respectively to add width to the attack and spread the defense out. Brazil had been running a similar system, but today it wasn't as effective

I find that watching live matches really helps me understand what is going on in FM and what my team should be doing. For example, watching Ghana's offside trap get picked apart by Brazil's lightning-fast counterattacks taught me to never play a high defensive line and an offside trap against a team with more speed than my team

[Karim]

Thanks for posting that Galaril. There's a lot of great information there that I'm eager to try out.

[illinifan999]

I just love watching those little dots run around kicking the ball. Especially when you can see your tactic kicking in and the players running it to perfection. I've fallen in love with the 3-4-3 for my Inter team. 40-6 g/d in 11 games played, and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a 2 striker formation.

[Northwood_DK]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

I just love watching those little dots run around kicking the ball.

One can only dream that they can one day also throw and catch the ball.

[DaddyTorgo]

Originally Posted by illinifan999

I just love watching those little dots run around kicking the ball. Especially when you can see your tactic kicking in and the players running it to perfection. I've fallen in love with the 3-4-3 for my Inter team. 40-6 g/d in 11 games played, and I don't think I'll ever be able to go back to a 2 striker formation.

agreed. i´m running a 4-3-3 with my real madrid team and after a season with a plus 60 goal differential i think i will find it hard to go back, if i can correct the slight defensive breakdowns...

[flere-imsaho]

It's Real Madrid. You're supposed to have slight defensive breakdowns.

[Adamski47]

I have a question...where can I get the updated patch? I cannot find it on their website. Thanks.

[daedalus]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

It's Real Madrid. You're supposed to have slight defensive breakdowns.

Actually:

It's Real Madrid. You're supposed to have significant defensive breakdowns.

Please excuse me while I hide from Icy.

[Galaril]

A question I have since I couldn't find it mentioned in th manual or in the forums though I am sure mit is buried somewhere in there is this.
What do the 2 to 4 set of numbers ie. 7-7-8-7, 6-7, 7-7-8 mean on the players ratings screen next to each players name under the "form" column?

[Celeval]

It's a listing of the last few competitive games a player has played, and their rating in such. So someone with 10-10-10-10-10 has been playing lights-out, 4-4-4-4-4 sucks, and 5-6-7-8 is improving.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by Celeval

4-4-4-4-4 sucks

That person would need to be released. Immediately.


Or you would need to be fired.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Adamski47

I have a question...where can I get the updated patch? I cannot find it on their website. Thanks.

what version do you have? if you just bought the digidownload from Sega, you're all patched up to the latest version. If you have another version, let us know, we'll find it...

FM

[Warhammer]

Where is the offside trap setting? I keep seeing people mention it, but I don't see a tab or anything with that label.

[MJ4H]

Its on the tactics screen under team instructions. I think its just called "play offsides"

[Galaril]

Originally Posted by Celeval

It's a listing of the last few competitive games a player has played, and their rating in such. So someone with 10-10-10-10-10 has been playing lights-out, 4-4-4-4-4 sucks, and 5-6-7-8 is improving.

Thanks for that. What is the rating anyways? Is it an overall rating encompassing all attributes? Would a 6 be average?
One more question when I click the check for affects from training all I see are minus's or dashes not sure which afer all the numbers what is that saying ?

[dacman]

The form rating just gives you a clue as to if that particular player is playing up to his abilities. 7 is average -- eh, maybe "average" has a bad conotation. 7 is decent, respectable, etc.

The form rating has little to do with a player's abilities. It's quite likely a poor player at 8-8-8-8-8 is contributing less to your team than a really talented one at 6-6-6-6-6.

[tanglewood]

Originally Posted by dacman

The form rating just gives you a clue as to if that particular player is playing up to his abilities. 7 is average -- eh, maybe "average" has a bad conotation. 7 is decent, respectable, etc.

The form rating has little to do with a player's abilities. It's quite likely a poor player at 8-8-8-8-8 is contributing less to your team than a really talented one at 6-6-6-6-6.

No, form has no relation to how good a player is, it is on an absolute scale. Someone who has a 7.32 average is performing better than someone who has a 6.94 average according to FM, even if the first guy looks like a scrub and the second is a million pound superstar. Occasionally I disagree with a player's rating in a match, but I'd say most of the time it is accurate.

As for what an average is, here is roughly how I view them as 7 is someone who is getting the job done, solid but not spectacular. If you have all 11 guys giving you a 7 for 90 mins you're usually in not bad shape. 6 is a mediocre, below par, but not necessarily bad performance, although I usually take off guys on a 6 early in the second half, especially if we are losing. A 5 is someone who is just not performing for you out there, he has probably made a few key errors in the game that have cos you already, and will certainly get pulled at half-time, possibly before that too. 8 is having a very good game, doing more than what is expected or required from his role. 9 is a terrific performance, 10 is lights out.

[WSUCougar]

All players start the match at "6" level though, correct?

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

All players start the match at "6" level though, correct?

Yeah. It seems to me that at some point, maybe 3-4 years ago, the ratings were slightly adjusted. Back in the CM days, it seemed like a 6 meant what a 7 means now. I guess they had to make an adjustment for inflation

But overall, I'd say Tanglewood is pretty spot on with his description. Anybody at a 6 or worse in the second half in a game I'm in charge of is probably coming off at some point.

[WSUCougar]

Originally Posted by ice4277

Anybody at a 6 or worse in the second half in a game I'm in charge of is probably coming off at some point.

Hmmm...

*wonders if some leagues allow more than 3 subs*

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by WSUCougar

Hmmm...

*wonders if some leagues allow more than 3 subs*

I should have made it clear that, since I am such a good manager, I never have this problem

[SirFozzie]

*coughbullshit*

[DanGarion]

I'm having fun learning FM.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by ice4277

I should have made it clear that, since I am such a good manager, I never have this problem

*cough*sugar*cough*daddy*cough*team*cough*

Darn I think I'm coming down with a cold or something

FM

[scooter]

In regards to average ratings - you also have to factor in the number of substitute appearances a player has and when they are being substituted into the game (the number in parentheses). For example, a guy that is always being subbed into the game in the 80th minute is not going to get too many 7s (unless he is some kind of super-sub). I've noticed this with younger players that I'm looking at on other teams (potential young player buys). Some computer managers like to bring on younger players for a few minutes at the end of games to get them experience, but their average rating is always lower (like 6.52) because he is getting mostly 6s. If a guy has more substitute appearances than starts and an average rating of 6.70 or better, it may be someone to take a closer look at.

[ice4277]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

*cough*sugar*cough*daddy*cough*team*cough*

Darn I think I'm coming down with a cold or something

FM

Hey! I would never cheat!!!




However, from time to time, I may lie about how good I am at the game

[chinaski]

A couple questions..

The MLS season has been over for 50 days, yet my guys are still training. Does the game at some point send them on vacation and bring them back into training in time for late february friendlies?

How many players should my senior and reserve squad generally have?

thanks!