Reserve/Youth Team Tactics

Hey guys, I was just wondering if it was possible to set your youth and reserve teams to use a specific tactic, other than the tactic currently being used by the 1st team?

And if so, how?

Cheers guys

Set it yourself in the Reserves / U18 squad tab and then go to "(Your club here) Options" and you can check the setting to use the exact tactic you set.

Ah ok, thanks. I always assumed that 'current match tactics' meant the tactic being used by the first team. Thanks a lot.

Ah ok, thanks. I always assumed that 'current match tactics' meant the tactic being used by the first team. Thanks a lot.

Well since you're controlling the 1st team, that option would be rather useless haha..but it should be a screen like this, where it specifically says U18 and Reserve..

Tried it and unfortunately it just sets the Reserve/U18 team to use the same tactic as the first team. Thats not what I'm trying to achieve. I want to be able to set the tactic to be used by the Reserve/U18 team without having to control them.

Any suggestions?

Tried it and unfortunately it just sets the Reserve/U18 team to use the same tactic as the first team. Thats not what I'm trying to achieve. I want to be able to set the tactic to be used by the Reserve/U18 team without having to control them.

Any suggestions?

you might have to control the team to do that, and that would be a ball ache

Indeed it would.

The only way around this would be to take control of the teams and go on holiday for a day just before the match with the "use current match tactics" box ticked.

This would also cause a painful throb in the nether-regions as this may holiday you, in the style of the bloke in HG Wells' "The Time Machine", past things you didn't want to miss.

We need an "issue the following instructions to the coach in charge of the reserves/U18s" option, or a holiday option just to bump you to the end of a match.

Was always wondering about this and searched and found this thread. I have always wanted to set the reserves and youths to a set tactic as the 1st team varies alot due to who im playing and whether im home or away. It seems crazy you cant set the res/yth tactics how you want. the only way is untick the box and let the res/yth manager do what they want.

But only down side is if they are defensive minded play tactics you dont want them to develop your players are gona lose out. The way I get round it is appoint a res and u18 manager who really closely reflect the way you like your 1st team to play. This way you can untick and be satisfied he will develop players and play the tactics you want them to play.

Any more thought on this?

Still no thoughts on this, if anyone still plays FM 10 like i do

Ah ok, thanks. I always assumed that 'current match tactics' meant the tactic being used by the first team. Thanks a lot.

Use current match tactics definitely does mean use the tactics currently used by the first team, it was introduced as a feature to give you a way to get your reserve and youth team used to playing in the same way the first team does before they make the step up to first team football.

The only way to do what your wanting to do is to manually take control of the reserve/youth squads yourself and set the tactics manually for all their games.

Use current match tactics definitely does mean use the tactics currently used by the first team, it was introduced as a feature to give you a way to get your reserve and youth team used to playing in the same way the first team does before they make the step up to first team football.

The only way to do what your wanting to do is to manually take control of the reserve/youth squads yourself and set the tactics manually for all their games.

But that still doesnt answer the point of how in depth do they copy your 1st team tactics? Like player instructions? Or Just formation and style? Because my main point was lets say you like your reserves to do well eg give confidence etc to young players to then bring them into 1st team which is what I love doing. Lets say you have a really easy home reserve game and have it set on use first team tactics. Ad your last 1st team game was a tough away game in which you went all out defensive? Does that mean your easy home game in the reserves will play all out defensive? You should be able to set the tactics the reserves play in their own tactics screen. I normally have my Reserve manager do hes own thing as then he can decide when to play defensive or attacking and my reserves have been much more successful this way.

But that still doesnt answer the point of how in depth do they copy your 1st team tactics? Like player instructions? Or Just formation and style? Because my main point was lets say you like your reserves to do well eg give confidence etc to young players to then bring them into 1st team which is what I love doing. Lets say you have a really easy home reserve game and have it set on use first team tactics. Ad your last 1st team game was a tough away game in which you went all out defensive? Does that mean your easy home game in the reserves will play all out defensive? You should be able to set the tactics the reserves play in their own tactics screen. I normally have my Reserve manager do hes own thing as then he can decide when to play defensive or attacking and my reserves have been much more successful this way.

As far as I'm aware having 'use current tactics' ticked will copy every aspect of the tactics in place for the first team whenever the reserves/youth play. One workaround for the hypothetical situation you mentioned would be to have 3 different tactics set up in match prep, the first one being your general first team tactic and the other two set to whichever out of attacking or defending would be appropriate for your reserve match and switching the first team to using one of these 2 just before your reserve/youth team play their games, then returning it to your first team tactic afterwards.

As far as I'm aware having 'use current tactics' ticked will copy every aspect of the tactics in place for the first team whenever the reserves/youth play. One workaround for the hypothetical situation you mentioned would be to have 3 different tactics set up in match prep, the first one being your general first team tactic and the other two set to whichever out of attacking or defending would be appropriate for your reserve match and switching the first team to using one of these 2 just before your reserve/youth team play their games, then returning it to your first team tactic afterwards.

No because as far as im aware it copys the 1st teams tactics from thew last game that they played. Otherwise this would be the solution. As this is what I used to do but when I tested it Im sure I found out it doesnt copy the one in place at the time of that game it copys the tactic from the last game played from the 1st team. I did this by changing the formation on the 1st team tactics screen and the reserve team did not copy it. But if I then played that formation in the 1st team the reserves would only then copy it if i ticked copy first team tactics.

Something even more amazing that I have found out is if you tell your AM to copy tactics he actually has a different approach on what team he selects. I picked a big reserve team a day before a game and saved it. I then ticked copy 3 times, and unticked copy 3 times just to see the difference between scores/team performance and I also wrote down the team selections. Everytime on copy same team was picked and same with let AM do hes own thing, 5 changes to the team line up. Identical for both teams even the subs. I bet nobody knew this lol. Amazing when you test and find this stuff out I been playing fm10 now since it came out and just found this out. I mean 5 changes it a big difference. Must be due to my 1st team tactics has high tempo, high defensive line etc. And the AM has totally diff approach and picks a different team when hes totally in charge.

Tell a lie ;(

I just tryed that change formation on the 1st team and it did change it for the reserve game. Theres a chance I did it too close to a reserve game before and it didnt have time to work on the reserves im not sure. So this kinda sorts out asking the reserves to go defensive or attacking for a game while wanting them to mirror the 1st teams main tactics/style. But theirs still that problem of the reserves copying players roles, tiny instructions, mentalitys etc. I mean what if your Reserve team does not have a big target man/poacher combination. The 2 players selected upfront are going to suffer and get low ratings prob. I have so far concluded that if you let the AM do hes own thing he picks the best team. With it being copy first team he may not have the players at hes disposal to pick it effectively. With the AM doing hes own thing he can decide what to do depending on what the game is and what players he has to pick. Ofcourse if you have a terrible AM i suggest tell him to copy first. If you have a decent AM like I have (I have John Morling and im barnet in fm10) then let him do hes own thing. Only draw back is bringing players into the 1st team who have done well in the reserves may take them a bit longer to adapt due to playing totally different tactics in the youth and reserve team. lol, Very interesting. Anybody else take alot of time with bringing players through etc?

Well something even more interesting is the Reserve team does not seem to copy the set pieces and corners instructions. I told keeper to go up and everyone to go back or up on diff set pieces and it did not copy it. But tactics/formation and player roles seems to definitely copy. Im not sure about player instructions but I think those are followed also. Wish someone from Si could confirm either way if this is all correct as a few things could be influencing (eg time before a game setting these tactics. does it matter or not time before a game setting different instructions, eg ticking AM tactics box or not. What effects, and does it matter how early or late before a game what effect it has ) But most important was player instructions and set piece/corner instructions. Are they they copied/followed by the reserves if you tell AM to copy tactics?

Anyone got views on this on what happens to your reserves when use current match tactics is ticked? I mean if you have 4 poachers in your reserves and you play with 2 target men in the 1st team you dont want the reserves playing the 2 poachers with balls in the air or the poachers having to play the taget man role, anyone see my point?