Changes in player positioning and technical attributes

There has been quite a lot of discussion on changes that should be made in future releases. This especially concerning the mentality sliders function and conflict with other player instruction. In addition to this, I would like to discuss a couple of other issues in the game. More specifically the players positioning on the field, and how some of the players technical attributes should be differentiated.

Both of these categories can be compared to how this is done on the game «Pro evolution soccer» (PES), even though this is not an especially tactical game. BTW in PES the attributes varies from 1-100 (not 1-20).

Players positioning:

On PES you can decide on your own where the players positioning should be, not constricted in such a degree as on FM. This means that you have the option to play with wide wingers for an example, without this necessarily affecting how wide the rest of your team plays (as discussed previously). If you want the one winger to be a line hugger, and not the other one, you can do so also. I could go on and on with examples for the whole lineup..........but I wont:)

Players attributes:

Another thing that bothers me are some of the technical attributes in the game. Here I will use some examples with past and present Liverpool players to illustrate my points:)

Dribbling:

For an example; in FM you have the attribute «dribbling» which indicates how good the player is with the ball at his feet. His pace and acceleration etc will then aid to this skill when it comes to dribbling.

In PES the pace and acceleration is the same in general (called Top speed and acceleration). This indicates what a players top speed is, and how fast he achieves this through his acceleration. In PES however the «dribbling» is divided in to «dribble speed» (DS) and «dribble accuracy» (DA).

The DS indicates how fast a player can run with the ball without loosing control over it.

This means that a player with top speed at 85 and a dribble speed at 99, will be able to run with the ball at approximately the same pace as he normally achieves running without the ball (85).

The DA however indicates how good the player is at the traditional dribbling, technical feints etc. He doesn't have to be quick when running with the ball.

To illustrate would Djibril Cisse be a player with good DS but not good DA. Hes quite fast at running with the ball at his feet, but not a technical dribbler. This means he can beat players due to his pace and not due to his technical feints. His contrary would be players like Luis Garcia and Benayoun, who both have good acceleration and DA (slippery players I call them). They lack great pace and DS, which means that they cant rely on “powering” through players when dribbling as Cisse would. They on the other hand have to technically outsmart opponents when beating them. Messi and C.Ronaldo are examples of players with both excellent DS and DA (in addition to pace and acceleration).

What type of dribbler you are is something that doesn't show itself in FM. You cant divide it in to just dribbling and speed attributes like FM does. Its more intricate than that, as explained above.

Passing:

The same principles apply here, FM calls it «passing», which indicates how good a player is at passing the ball, both at short and long distance. The last one is decided by his technique and passing ability.

PES has divided this in to several categories;

First of all, short passes are divided in to both «short pass accuracy» (SPA) and «short pass speed» (SPS). This means that some players can have a very accurate passing skill but have a weak touch on the ball when passing, which again can lead to interceptions. Others use more speed but doesn't achieve the same accuracy, which also can lead to interceptions.

For an example is Xabi Alonso a player with great accuracy but slightly lower speed. Gerrard is the opposite, his short passes are fast but sometimes inaccurate.

The long passes are divided the same way in to accuracy and speed. Some players have great long pass accuracy but lack a little speed, Alonso an example again. Others hammer the ball with great speed when passing long, but lack some accuracy. Gerrard is good at both, but slightly better at speed than accuracy.

My point is that you can be a good passer at short distances, but not at long ones. This is something FM haven't taken into account with their «passing» attribute. The fact that you have good technique in addition to your passing ability shouldn't necessarily mean you're a good long passer.

Shooting:

FM divides the ability of putting the ball in the net with your feet, between «finishing» and «long shots» attributes. In PES no such distinction is made. Her you have the skills; shot accuracy (SA), shot power (SP) and shot technique (ST).

The SA decides how good a player is at placing shots where he wants them, while SP decides how much power he achieves. The ST determines how good a player is at finishing from difficult positions or cramped situations etc.

The better both SA and SP is, the better a player is at hitting the back of the net from distance. If a player has good SP but poor SA, it either rockets in or goes for the moon. Gerrard is a player with both excellent SA and SP. Riise on the other hand has great SP, but lacks SA somewhat. When Alonso takes long shots (except from his own half) you often see him placing / curling them with the inside of his foot, not hammering them in with his wrist like Riise does (used to do). Arsenals Eduardo scored a magical goal with his heel recently, which is a good example of both excellent ST and SA (but most technique).

Summary:

This went on way longer than I planned (sorry), but it's hard to stop once you pop. In my opinion, bot these modifications Ive discussed here (players positioning and some technical attributes) should be implemented in future releases.

Sorry but I can't help thinking that you would rather be playing PES.

I like some ideas like the dribbling, but i feel finishing doesn't need technique, that IS the finishing/long shots, as is the accuracy. Maybe Long and Short passes should be added, dribble speed and technique and also shot power as well.

So you want FM changed into PES?

Why dont you just play PES?

So you want FM changed into PES?

Why dont you just play PES?

I play both. But as you know PES and FIFA are both totally different type of games than FM (which I love). Just felt that some basic ideas from PES could be implemented in FM to make it even better.

I like some ideas like the dribbling, but i feel finishing doesn't need technique, that IS the finishing/long shots, as is the accuracy. Maybe Long and Short passes should be added, dribble speed and technique and also shot power as well.

I totally agree that not everything I mentioned should be changed. The long and short passes should be added, but not necessarily into accuracy and speed. Would be brilliant if a players attributes for an example were short pass 16, long pass 11, dribble accuracy 17 and dribble speed 13. I agree that the finishing could be left alone.

The thing is FM uses many attributes to take things in account. A player with good long shots I would imagine also needs good decisions and technique to be able to strike the ball and find the right opportunity to do so. Likewise a great passer will need a good first touch, good technique, obviously good passing but also creativity, flair (for a more outrageous pass) and decisions.

These stats are there, you just need to look at stats together to get them.

I hear what you're saying, and I'm aware that the stats work together to an extent. A player with great longs shots or dribbling, wont capitalize on this if he has poor decision making for an example. Then he will shot when he shouldn't, and try to dribble when not to. This however, shouldn't mean that if you have poor decision making (your shots get blocked etc) you automatically haven't got good long shots (isolated speaking). Like in training if no one is pressuring you, and you can fire at will.

And why does a player with good long shots, also need technique to be able to strike the ball? Of course, his poor technique and first touch will contribute to him not getting the ball positioned correctly so he can shoot. But there are players with poor technique who has a tremendous long shot, often due to their shot power (Riise as mentioned).

I don't agree with what you say about passing either. You can be great at always finding a teammate with your passes, even though you don't have good technique or first touch. But these two (if poor) will restrict your chances in getting the opportunity to pass the ball to a teammate.

Catch my drift?

And also regarding passing, you talk about creativity and decisions. A player with stats passing:20 and creativity:8 (example) will be great at finding his teammates with simple passes, never mishitting. Due to his poor creativity however, he wont be able to use this skill to play great through balls (killer balls) because he lacks the vision to see those opportunities.

The opposite will occur if a player has stats, passing:8 and creativity:20. This player would see many openings and opportunities to open up the defense with his passes, but will probably fail most of the time. He will try do do the right thing but mishit the pass, to hard, to much to the left and so on. Great idea, poor execution:)

What does it mean that you're in the FM testing team?? Me be new here:)

Anyway, I think the passing stat should be divided at least in to long and short, what do you think? The finishing, long shots, etc are OK. But whats your opinion concerning the dribble stat? IMO it should be split into accuracy and speed (se above), to best show what kind of a dribbler the player is.