Natural Positions

I notice that the vast majority of players have only one natural position set in the database, even if they appear naturals in more than one role in real life.

As footballers often change position and adapt throughout their career I am interested to know what decides his natural position?

The position they began their career?

The position they have played most matches in?

The position they currently fill in the team?

The position the researcher feels they have performed best in?

I also have a few questions related to positions in game.

Is there a limit on the number of positions a player can be trained to be a natural in?

Do they keep this training permanently? Can you lose it?

Does playing matches in a position increase familiarity and not playing there decrease it?

If trained to be a natural in one position do you lose the original position?

At the moment it is the policy of the researchers that players should only have one natural position, which is usually the position they have played most matches in, and I can see why that would be logical. I just think the idea of a "natural" position needs to be eliminated from the game because as you say players usually change positions during the course of their career. Also a player never loses the position rating he has from the start of the game which is ridiculous IMO.

When you train a player to become natural in another position (seems illogical that you can train him to become a natural!) he will lose that rating very quickly when you stop training him in that position, which means that it is impossible in practice to retrain a player to more natural positions than those he has set in the db plus one.

I actually don't have any idea if playing a player in a certain position increases familiarity or not.

I agree with the issue that you bring up, the system is flawed, but more annoying(to me atleast) is that they don't stick to one system of determining their natural position. If it is as AB-forever says and its the position they have played the most matches in, then the game clearly doesn't reflect it. Lionel Messi's natural position is AMF instead of the AMR he plays the most in at barcelona or even the STR position he takes every so often. As far as i know, he's only played as an AMF when playing with argentina, which isnt that often and i think he would admit he feels more comfortable at AMR/at Barcelona.

Thierry Henry started as a winger and Wenger made him into a striker after seeing his ATTRIBUTES more befitting a STRIKER. Why not give us the power to do the same? Would Henry be a winger all his life then according to the FM system? What about Nasri who plays equally well all across the midfield but he only has natural for AMF which he never gets the opportunity to play at arsenal. According to most matches played(and current), he should be a natural LW. Same can be said about Arshavin, Rosicky, Wilshere, and a host of other players in the game. Cristiano Ronaldo, natural AMR(he plays more often on the left wing) but can play all across midfield AND striker but to take full advantage of his stats you have to play him as AMR. Same with Angel di Maria who's AML but plays more on the right wing. When did adaptability become such a burden? Because someone can play mutliple positions, they must be crappier overall(CA/PA) and must play other positions crappier than his "natural" which can't even be changed. If you play someone for 1-2 years in one position consistently, he should be damn good at it, he does get coached afterall? Or let the quality of your coaches determine how well someone switches...*something* has to change.

How bout some consistency or at the very least transparency as to how this system works cause it seems very arbitrary. Easy fix = let the system(whatever it is) become more flexible. In real life, a LOT of sidebacks start out as wingers and are converted by the manager(abate at ac milan, gareth bale vice versa). Or sidebacks that slowly become centrebacks once they lose their pace(legend maldini, gallas).

I think the current position system doesn't need to be changed. The researchers just need to increase the Versatile attribute for players whose attributes allow them to play more than one position, so that we can train them more easily.

I think the wording around how good a player is in a position is too ambiguous and open to interpretation. And that there's too big a penalty for players playing out of positions they are "trained" in, even if their attributes fit the role.

I remember when i was playing FM2009, i managed to make a natural at LWB to LFB by playing him regularly at LFB and training his LFB position. When his LFB turned natural, his LWB dropped to accomplished.

I think the wording around how good a player is in a position is too ambiguous and open to interpretation. And that there's too big a penalty for players playing out of positions they are "trained" in, even if their attributes fit the role.

I'd agree with this... the concepts aren't that different between positions really. As long as a player has the right skills they shouldn't have much impact playing a different position. Especially something as basic as just switching sides but playing the same position.

The bigger impact should be just how well the players fit into the team itself more then they position training.