Playmaker?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of ticking the box in the tactics that says use playmaker? Does this mean all of the play will go through this player, and how do you tell who the playmaker is?

im not sure if it's just me but whenever i use a playmaker the person i designate it too performs badly.

Yes you're right it means the player you have selected as "playmaker" will be passed the ball more often and play will go through.

In response to your last question you can assign a player to be a playmaker on the drop down menu on the player roles screen in the tactics section. Make sure you have "Use Playmaker" ticked in Team Instructions for it to take affect.

i have 2 or 3 people "playmaking"

out of interest what positions do you have your playmakers Livew1re cos when i do rarely use one i only ever use an attacking mid.

I never use it because you dont know whos a good playmaker because its a hidden stat, I like the fact playmakers will get recommended to you so in FM10 you can use them if you want.

Advantage: Creative players will look to get the ball more often and therefore use their skills, usually more creative than the others, will have a better chance at doing something better. Say in a game Song and Fàbregas had a 50-50 chance of receiving the ball at any one time. You don't really want that to happen as Fàbregas is much better than Song, so giving Fàbregas the playmaker tag may be a good idea.

Disadvantage: It is the rough equivalent of planting a "kick me" sign on the player. If Fàbregas now gets the ball 75% (compared with 50%) of the time but Essien is kicking lumps out of him meaning Fàbregas is playing awfully, then that's no good is it? Getting rid of the playmaker tag would be the best thing to do here.

So you'd use the playmaker tab to allow one or more of your players to receive the ball more often, but beware of this player getting dominated, hacked down, marked, closed-down and tackled hard.

Any sort of midfield player can use it, although central players tend to be best. AM C playmakers would be like Riquelme, M C playmakers Fàbregas and DM playmakers Pirlo. Other "weird" positions would be Daniel Alves for Sevilla (WB R) or Messi (AM R).

I always use it, at Milan Pirlo seems to be excellent at it.

Pirlo has been rubbish for a while now!

Mehmet Ekici and Diego Buonanotte are quite useful with it on. Players with high creativity, passing and dribbling are good candidates imo

Riquelme is the best playmaker on the game can bag 20 plus goals and assists easily each season.

Actually there is no "hidden stat" for play making... there is however a hidden stat for "free role".

I'm pretty sure there is a playmeker stat.

I'm pretty sure there is a playmeker stat.

Exactly and even when I used it on a perfect player, he got 5s unless he scored or assisted but I think thats the AMC ratings bug.

That is Riquelme's stats from playing as a playmaker, he is the perfect playmaker.

There is no playmaker stat and it would make no sense to include one either, if the player has the right stats then he makes a good playmaker simple.

It's mostly mental stats that make a good playmaker (off course they also need to have some good technical skills. And if you have a team that works very well combining a playmaker with free role can give some good football.

I usually put my playmaker in the mc position as it's imho the most logical choice for a playmaker.

Joao Moutinho also is a very good playmaker.

I agree a playmake at MC makes much more sense than one at AMC. At MC he can sit deeper and have more passes available.

There is a playmaker stat and its called the free role which means the player can go where he wants to get involved in the game. Someone look up Riquelmes free role stat and its probably pretty high. Id do it myself but the game isnt installed any more.

Ow, free role and playmaker is NOT the same, far from it.

Free Role is just a helpful stat to have, strikers have high free roles aswell but they don't make good playmakers.

If your managing a Championship team, getting Tomas Cywka in on loan is a great move, really good playmaker

Free Role is just a helpful stat to have, strikers have high free roles aswell but they don't make good playmakers.

How is it helpful when its a hidden stat?

How is it helpful when its a hidden stat?

Its helpful because when you select free role and the player performs well game after game then he is obviously good at free roles. Any striker that has a high free role stat is an FC and not a ST.

Just because a stat is hidden doesnt mean its not helpful, most hidden stats you can get an idea of as you progress through your career. A playmaker I think plays better when he does well with free role ticked leading me to believe that their free role stat is high.

That post just makes no sense at all. Most users arent even aware of it and the only way its useful is if you cheat to discover it. Therefore its clearly not helpful.

Free role = licence to roam around outside your designated position.

Playmaker = more likely to receive the ball from your teammates.

Quite different. Free role has a hidden attribute; playmaker doesn't.

I've never understood why free role was hidden - at the very least why doesn't the assistant suggest that Player X would be good in a free role?

That post just makes no sense at all. Most users arent even aware of it and the only way its useful is if you cheat to discover it. Therefore its clearly not helpful.

It called managing your team. I have a few newgens in my side that are decent CMs, I experiment and compare how they play with free role ticked and unticked. If they play well when they are given a free role then I assume they have a high free role stat.

Cheating isn't the only way to discover players have a high free role stat, as I said strikers with a high free role will be listed as FC and not ST. If you play with a big club then people know that Messi, Kaka and certain players are better with free role ticked.

Free role = licence to roam around outside your designated position.

Playmaker = more likely to receive the ball from your teammates.

Quite different. Free role has a hidden attribute; playmaker doesn't.

Thats the same thing, the only reason a player goes outside his designated role is to receive the ball.

It called managing your team. I have a few newgens in my side that are decent CMs, I experiment and compare how they play with free role ticked and unticked. If they play well when they are given a free role then I assume they have a high free role stat.

Cheating isn't the only way to discover players have a high free role stat, as I said strikers with a high free role will be listed as FC and not ST. If you play with a big club then people know that Messi, Kaka and certain players are better with free role ticked.

All very well but its still not useful as you said.

I always use it, at Milan Pirlo seems to be excellent at it.

Pirlo is the best example of a playmaker on previous versions. He was simply awesome.

Not so good on this one, and if you do get the best out of him its maximum of one season due to his age.

Ive avoided playmaker box for reasons mentioned....Players are playing too badly.

I also think the best position for Playmaker is DM.... I'd love to see an extremely successful formation with the main position being the DM/CM Playmaker position a la Pirlo, Xavi, Iniesta.....Dont think its something thats going to happen on FM09 though.

Thats the same thing, the only reason a player goes outside his designated role is to receive the ball.

But a playmaker doesn't go outside his designated role. Actually there is little difference for the playmaker himself. It's the others that are said to play the ball to him more often.

A player with a free role doesn't necessarily receive the ball more often. He just goes where he thinks he can be of most use.

Pirlo is the best example of a playmaker on previous versions. He was simply awesome.

Not so good on this one, and if you do get the best out of him its maximum of one season due to his age.

Ive avoided playmaker box for reasons mentioned....Players are playing too badly.

I also think the best position for Playmaker is DM.... I'd love to see an extremely successful formation with the main position being the DM/CM Playmaker position a la Pirlo, Xavi, Iniesta.....Dont think its something thats going to happen on FM09 though.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=145458

You might find this thread helpful, Intercept has created a very successful tactic using a DM as a playmaker.

Thats the same thing, the only reason a player goes outside his designated role is to receive the ball.

100% incorrect.

A play-maker becomes the focal point for your team's passing. This means that now he will receive the ball in situations where previously he wouldn't; for example, the 50%-50% Fabregas-Song scenario described above. But this also includes situations where your team might force the ball into him when he's marked tightly or not the best option. Basically, you're designating him as the first option for your team's passing. If he's receiving poor ratings, it could be that he's being marked out of the game, isn't skilled enough at passing/dribbling to do something with the ball once he receives it, or just makes poor decisions consistently based on your tactics, formation, or his decision-making ability.

A free role gives your player license to move into space wherever he sees fit. Essentially your central players will feel free to drop deeper, slide wider, or move forward based on how they read the game. For your wide players, just replace "slide wider" with "slide inside".

I think what is confusing you, philly, is that it is often said that giving your playmaker (you can only set one at any time) a free role massively increases his potential. However, they are still very different things.

Assuming you're using the right kind of player (Pirlo, Riquelme, Alonso ..) To optimize your playmaker's playmaking ability you should make sure he's got the following instructions.

1/Free Role ticked .... He'll roam a bit.

2/Play him Zone and Loose ... Won't be too concerned about marking someone too tight and can quickly find space when team gains possession.

3/Closing down at a lower setting ... not certain about this one, but he should tire out less quickly.

4/High Mentality ... Looks to move the ball forward and use his creative skills.

5/High Creative Freedom ... Not sure why, just seems to work out better.

6/Passing on first few notches of Direct ... Can spot a quick distant pass to move ball quicker than defense can react to.

If anyone disagrees or has an alternative I'd like to hear it and try it out myself.

Alonso = Playmaker

Ronaldo = Free Role

4/High Mentality ... Looks to move the ball forward and use his creative skills.

That's the only one I would disagree with. I prefer him in a neutral midfield role, not venturing too far forward, so he can pick out forward passes and not really get involved in the play or pick up loose balls and pick out the best placed available player.

Otherwise

That's the only one I would disagree with. I prefer him in a neutral midfield role, not venturing too far forward, so he can pick out forward passes and not really get involved in the play or pick up loose balls and pick out the best placed available player.

Otherwise

My screenshot of Riquelme's performance was with a mentality of 12 which I found was spot on for his role. I always wonder about crossing as I have it rarely but Riquelme has 20 for crosses could be worth using cross from deep and mixed or even often.

I'd base his cross setting on my tactic, not his attribute. If he gets forward a lot and finds himself on the edge of the box, 25-30 yards out quite often, then i'd set it to mixed. If not, i'd set it at rarely.

That's the only one I would disagree with. I prefer him in a neutral midfield role, not venturing too far forward, so he can pick out forward passes and not really get involved in the play or pick up loose balls and pick out the best placed available player.

Otherwise

Completely agree on how to play this type of player.

What I've noticed is if I give him "Forward Runs on Rarely" Instructions in combination with a high mentality setting (15/16 range), he hangs behind the offensive movement and orchestrates everything very effectively.

The high mentality setting is just to get him looking forward and trying more killer balls than with a lower setting.

Otherwise I put him on Forward runs mixed and place his mentality at team's setting. That usually does the same thing positionally and he plays a little more conservatively with his passing.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=145458

You might find this thread helpful, Intercept has created a very successful tactic using a DM as a playmaker.

Cheers for that, Il have to give that a whirl !

Playmakers are rubbish unless you only have one decent player. If you have great players all over the pitch then there's not much point (they can all win you the match).

Playmakers are rubbish unless you only have one decent player. If you have great players all over the pitch then there's not much point (they can all win you the match).

What utter utter nonsense.

What utter utter nonsense.

Based on the way it's being explained, particularly with the Fabregas-Song example, why is that nonsense?

Say that Song in that example is changed to Xavi; now, instead of wanting Fabregas to do the lion's share of the work you really want them to share the load 50-50. So would you have both of them as playmakers or neither of them, and is there really a difference?

It isn't nonsense.

Right now I'm using Mascherano as a playmaker because he's my DM. I'm play a Milan 41212 an using Maschersano as my playmaker has made my team play a lot better.

The defenders pass it to him, he in turn passes it to my target man (AMC) or out wide to my attack full backs. Also when my team attack and they hit a dead end they usually go back to him and then he redistributes. I have to admit he's not the most creative passer but he is always available and a pass to him isn't usually a risky one.

I leave the creativity to my 2 CMs and AM. So far it's been working well and for the first time in a long time I actually like the football my team is playing.

Of course it's nonsense that you can only use a playmaker if you only have one decent player, and neither of you are proving otherwise, all you're saying is that the playmaker role is useful (which it can be).

Of course it's nonsense that you can only use a playmaker if you only have one decent player, and neither of you are proving otherwise, all you're saying is that the playmaker role is useful (which it can be).

I have more than 1 decent player and the formation didn't start to click til I set Mascherano as playmaker.

It allowed my CMs and AMC to get into better positions before receiving the ball.

Also used a playmaker with a league 2 team and won the title by 20 points. Different formation though and my players weren't the best in the league. The player I set as playmaker was a CM who stayed back at all times, had decision 13 passing 11.

He did the same job Mascherano is doing for me now. He collected the ball from the defenders and acted as an option that was always available when my attackers hit a dead end.

It really does have a huge effect when used correctly.

It really does have a huge effect when used correctly.

Yes it does, I've never said it doesn't.

Yes it does, I've never said it doesn't.

What are you trying to say because I'm not too sure to be honest?

He is saying that using a Playmaker in a team full of the best players in the world is still something worth doing. Someone further up said playing Fabregas as a playermaker around players like Xavi, Iniesta, Torres, Silva would be pointless, where-as I disagree. Its something that you should do when you have a team full of the best players in the world.

What are you trying to say because I'm not too sure to be honest?

My point, is that:

Playmakers are rubbish unless you only have one decent player. If you have great players all over the pitch then there's not much point (they can all win you the match).

Isn't true.

I can't really explain it any better than that, it's fairly obvious what he's saying, fairly obvious that I'm disagreeing with him and fairly obvious why he's wrong.