The Problem With FM & My Hopes For The Future

Let me get the record straight from the giddy up....I'm a CM/FM fan and have been since the dawn of the Franchise.....my issues go deeper than the FM series and more into the issues relating to all management sims to a certain extent.

I used to play Sunday league when I was a touch younger and managed Sunday league teams since, and before that played at School and have obviously been to a number of footie games and watched religiously on the TV (before my Wife cancelled Sky because the PHONE line rental was expensive...grrrrrrr). Anyway my point here is that I would be considered a fairly knowledgeable chap in terms of footie and tactical nouce, as I'm sure are a large majority of the individuals who play FM and have done for some time.

This knowledge however is almost useless in a game such as FM. Therein lies the single biggest problem (albeit not massive depending on how you look at it) the FM series has to contend with each and every year. FM is a game first and foremost now. It's there to entice the masses who love Football in all it's guises and to get them hooked on a simulation that accurately reflects the intricacies of daily Football life within a club, at all levels.

FM has made huge strides in terms of training, agents and transfers and the match engine....this cannot be disputed. My only issue comes with the tactics. Whilst tactics have become much more intricate as the series has progressed, the essence of the tactical side of the game has been dampened to accommodate more "tweaks".

Let me explain simply....Tactically I know how I want my team to play...I know where I want each player to be at any given moment, and I know how my players should (granted..'should') respond in almost any situation. The issue is that FM does not give me the tools to easily tell my players this.

Take a coach....he goes out onto the pitch...runs some drills and sets up a mock game...he pits attackers against defenders. The attackers run forward to engage, and spread the ball about moving the defensive line, and producing problems for them. Just prior to a cross from the right, the coach screams "Freeze". He then sets about disecting each players position. "You should be closer to the front stick mate, ready to cut out the short ball....don't worry about the player who has run in behind, as you need to trust that your CB partner is picking him up". "When the cross looks likely from adjacent to the 18 yard box Goalie, you need to be on you're toes and ready on the 6 yard line...you're conceding too much ground and giving the forwards a head start". "Left full back is nowhere...you haven't tracked the run of the midfielder because you believe man marking means you stay with your winger....but your defensive midfielder has tracked him look!".

OK some of these instances are a bit involved but my point is that we need to help SI find a way to promote tactics to your team without having to learn the intricacies of how the GAME decides these positional tweaks should be made. Sliders with 20 stopping points is a rather crude method.

I'm not getting back into the Wibble/Wobble debate at all (even though for me I could tell each player where to be with or without the ball...if he didn't do it, then training was the issue, or ultimately his footballing brain, but not the tactical instruction I gave him...that can't be understood any other way!)

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions on to whether my point, although shallowly made as I'm at work) is a valid one, and further, I won't even post any ideas I have relating to how such a game might implement such tactical progression (they might be perceived as rather radical at this juncture). I just hope it sparks a bit of debate and some SI involvement.

I don't want to play a GAME, I want to immerse myself in a SIMULATION....isn't that what this was always about? (Granted before Sega dropped into the equation...but surely the lifeblood still runs true?)

Thoughts?

positioning, marking, concentration, decisions, etc...

I'd definitely like the training module to be revamped, but everything you've said is already covered in training. Even if you yourself don't do it, it's your instructions regarding training schedules that the player's and coaches follow...

positioning, marking, concentration, decisions, etc...

And this is the problem. I agree with the OP, its sometimes near impossible to create the tactic you like simply because you have no tools to do so.

Specific off the ball patterns, runs at the backline, intricate movement etc are heavily trained in every professional team these days. What do we get? By necessity a set of arbitrary sliders.

Id love to be able to say, set a few off the ball movements for my wide players when we gain possession in the middle third. Make it a graphical interface where you can instruct one player (AML/ML) to cut inside, receive the pass from the MC, one-two it back in space to said MC who advances and then take up position on the left again.

Not a be all - end all kind of tactic, but a "possible way" for your team to play if the opportunity arises. Give us say 10 slots for these (similar to Match Preparations) and we have a solid way to manage the details of our tactics.

Another example would be how Busquets drops deep into the backline while Barcelona is in possession, with the wingbacks moving further upfield. It is impossible to implement, but with a "Special Moves/Flavour" system like this, it could be done.

It might be exploit prone, I know (think side arrows) but if done right it would add so much!

Just a thought

Lazaru5, thanks for the reply.

You are talking about their ability to perform a given instruction...I however am talking about how to pass said instruction on to the player. Training and stats can determine how well they perform in their given task, but not whether or not then are actually told to do it.

I hope this clarifies the point.

Fred,

This is precisely the sort of debate I hoped my post would inspire.

The ability to tell an attacking full back that they have "run at the opposing full back" just as one important but small example, is missing. Yes I can set the mentality of that player and the sliders, but does this mean that if the sliders are 3/4 up that the player will stop 3/4 up the pitch and go no further....sliders are outdated!

No coach or manager tells their players to "run at the full back 66.6% of the time and only then don't go further than the 3rd quarter of the pitch". More likely a Manager would say "try and get at the opposing full back when the time is right, and players are supporting" - the statistics then play a part in how WELL he accepts and implements that instruction.

Lazaru5, thanks for the reply.

You are talking about their ability to perform a given instruction...I however am talking about how to pass said instruction on to the player. Training and stats can determine how well they perform in their given task, but not whether or not then are actually told to do it.

I hope this clarifies the point.

One would assume that IRL the process of teaching player's movement skills would initially be showing them videos of footballers past and present and saying "watch how he does it" rather than, as Fred_FCB suggest, "scripting" the way your team play. Spontaneity and the unexpected are what win you matches (unless you're a set-piece goalscoring team but then you'd be less bothered about your forward player's movement) in which case you want them to "think for themselves"

I think you might be right, but only in part Lazaru5. I hardly think Harry Redknap is the guy who shoves board after board of tactical instructions in the face of his team, but some managers do. Mourinho comes to mind, val Gaal too. Every manager is different, but thats not the point.

"Scripting" as you describe it is how a vast majority of coaches/managers convey their game plan to their players. Else, why use a coach at all? Just throw a bunch of players on the field and have a psychiatrist help them build up confidence. Thats not the game I want.

OK you've both got points there...but let's stick to the point.

The game is supposed to be a simulation of the essence of Football Management. Telling a player to "attack" 16 20ths of the time (the sliders) isn't at all realistic. On the flipside however telling a player to "attack when you can and have supporting players" is....and as pointed out previously, their ability to complete the task is based on their statistics at that point.

The fact is if I want to create a quality 4-4-2 team, I have to learn how the game engine works and map my commands to it....which isn't what I personally enjoy doing. I believe there are other mediums we can use to achieve the same and increase the simulation effect. As I've mentioned before, sliders are not and have never been the answer in my opinion. I believe we were closer with the Wibble/Wobble.