Player Preferred Moves

I'd consider myself an experienced FM player who gets stuck into more of the tiem consuming yet interesting aspects of the game - custom training schedules, increasing coach stars in each training category, improve scouting knowledge of club etc.

Despite this, I have neglected focusing on player preferred moves and feel that I underestimate their importance. I was wondering if someone could give me an idea of the importance of these and what kind of PPM's are suitable for specific player positions and roles.

Thanks

Good PPM's: Places Shots, Shoots with power, One-Two's, Killer balls often, Comes deep to get the ball, dictates tempo, Switches to other flank, Cuts inside, Moves into channels, Overhead kicks, Dives into tackles, Marks tightly, Shoots free-kicks with power, Tries long-range free-kicks, Curls ball

Bad PPM's: SHOOTS FROM DISTANCE, Runs down x flank, Runs with ball often, Killer balls rarely, Short simple passes, Plays way out of trouble, Does not dive into tackles (may be good for slow defenders), Avoids using weaker foot, Argues with officials

and then there are many neutral ones

They are important if your tactic has few individual instructions set to "often" and relatively high creative freedom. If you tell your players to do this all the time and that all the time, PPM's are not that useful.

Surely for some of the PPM's you have listed as "bad" it depends more on your tactics, style of play and abilities of the player. For example short simple passes can be useful for a defensive minded player with a poor passing attribute ( makes a tackle; passes it on to someone more creative) Cut inside and and runs down a flank would depend on the type of tactic you employ. If you want your players to run down the line and make a cross then it would be a "good" ppm, meaning the cuts inside would be considered "bad" for your wingers.

Some of them are personal preference however i do agree that; shoots from distance, plays way out of trouble (generally for defenders only) and argues with officials are ones to avoid.

hmmm..disagree with the above "bad" PPM's.

There's some commentary that changes when a player has a specific PPM, the "gets forward whenever possible" supposedly it's just increasing the runs from deep slider a notch, however the fact that the commentary acknowledges the player has that PPM "player X has a knack for timing his runs" makes me believe that it will make him time his runs better so it's actually a useful PPM.

Anyway, here's a list of what i usually teach:

Full backs -> Gets forward whenever possible, runs with ball down flank X, likes to attempt long range passes or switch ball to the other flank (i only teach these last two if they are good passers with enough creativity to pull it off).

Centre Backs -> Shoots with power, play short simple passes , runs with ball rarely

Playmakers -> Comes deep to get the ball, tries killer ball often, dictates tempo, attempt long range passes

Wingers -> Runs with ball down flank X, gets forward whenever possible, plays one-twos, places shots

Strikers -> Places shots or shoots with power(place shots with a high technical striker, shoots with power with a strong targetman), plays one-twos, attempt to beat offside trap

Of course there's some variation on all of this depending on player roles and what you want the players to do on the pitch, a deep lying striker will normally come deep to get ball while a poacher will attempt to sit on the shoulder of the last defender and try to break the offisde trap.

Hope it's helpful!

There's some commentary that changes when a player has a specific PPM, the "gets forward whenever possible" supposedly it's just increasing the runs from deep slider a notch, however the fact that the commentary acknowledges the player has that PPM "player X has a knack for timing his runs" makes me believe that it will make him time his runs better so it's actually a useful PPM.

Anyway, here's a list of what i usually teach:

Full backs -> Gets forward whenever possible, runs with ball down flank X, likes to attempt long range passes or switch ball to the other flank (i only teach these last two if they are good passers with enough creativity to pull it off).

Centre Backs -> Shoots with power, play short simple passes , runs with ball rarely

Playmakers -> Comes deep to get the ball, tries killer ball often, dictates tempo, attempt long range passes

Wingers -> Runs with ball down flank X, gets forward whenever possible, plays one-twos, places shots

Strikers -> Places shots or shoots with power(place shots with a high technical striker, shoots with power with a strong targetman), plays one-twos, attempt to beat offside trap

Of course there's some variation on all of this depending on player roles and what you want the players to do on the pitch, a deep lying striker will normally come deep to get ball while a poacher will attempt to sit on the shoulder of the last defender and try to break the offisde trap.

Hope it's helpful!

Thanks for all the the comments guys and I have found this piece especially useful. I will be referring back to this next time I play.

Surely for some of the PPM's you have listed as "bad" it depends more on your tactics, style of play and abilities of the player. For example short simple passes can be useful for a defensive minded player with a poor passing attribute ( makes a tackle; passes it on to someone more creative) Cut inside and and runs down a flank would depend on the type of tactic you employ. If you want your players to run down the line and make a cross then it would be a "good" ppm, meaning the cuts inside would be considered "bad" for your wingers.

Some of them are personal preference however i do agree that; shoots from distance, plays way out of trouble (generally for defenders only) and argues with officials are ones to avoid.

The thing is that even for a player with poor passing and creativity attributes compared to the division he is playing in, shutting off his ability to whack the ball behind the opposition defenders or hit a clever pass will not be a good idea - especially if his Decisions attribute is good. You are limiting his usefulness to the team in order to reduce the chance that he makes bad passes when it is abundantly clear that a short, simple pass could be equally devastating if it is poor. That PPM doesn't reduce poor passes for a player with poor passing, it limits his passing range.

The same could be said about the "Avoids using weaker foot" PPM. While it limits the number of errors caused by using a very weak foot, it will also cause him to do very strange stuff when he could have used it but don't because he refuses to use it. It reduces his options and that is a bad thing imho.

I do agree that if you want your wingers to cross from the byline, having a player running down the flank would be a good thing - but crosses are infinitely worse than through balls and shots on goal. From a utilitarian viewpoint cuts inside is therefore much better than running down the flank and hugs touchline. I have noticed an increase in goals scored by low crosses behind the defense to fast attackers in FM12, though.

The thing is that even for a player with poor passing and creativity attributes compared to the division he is playing in, shutting off his ability to whack the ball behind the opposition defenders or hit a clever pass will not be a good idea - especially if his Decisions attribute is good. You are limiting his usefulness to the team in order to reduce the chance that he makes bad passes when it is abundantly clear that a short, simple pass could be equally devastating if it is poor. That PPM doesn't reduce poor passes for a player with poor passing, it limits his passing range.

The same could be said about the "Avoids using weaker foot" PPM. While it limits the number of errors caused by using a very weak foot, it will also cause him to do very strange stuff when he could have used it but don't because he refuses to use it. It reduces his options and that is a bad thing imho.

I do agree that if you want your wingers to cross from the byline, having a player running down the flank would be a good thing - but crosses are infinitely worse than through balls and shots on goal. From a utilitarian viewpoint cuts inside is therefore much better than running down the flank and hugs touchline. I have noticed an increase in goals scored by low crosses behind the defense to fast attackers in FM12, though.

i have to disagree with some of these bad ppms too, its clearly just something open to interpretation

the likes of plays way out of trouble, if i have a technicially gifted wb cb, who can play it out when under pressure instead of just hoofing it out for a corner/throwing etc this is surely a good ppm.

i would also assume that avoids using weaker foot is not an absoulute, so in the instance of a clear easy ball to be played witha weak foot they would do this if they had the decsions/creativity etc

Same, very much disagree on the idea of bad PPMs. Very much open to tactical interpretation

i have to disagree with some of these bad ppms too, its clearly just something open to interpretation

the likes of plays way out of trouble, if i have a technicially gifted wb cb, who can play it out when under pressure instead of just hoofing it out for a corner/throwing etc this is surely a good ppm.

i would also assume that avoids using weaker foot is not an absoulute, so in the instance of a clear easy ball to be played witha weak foot they would do this if they had the decsions/creativity etc

If that is what "Plays way out of trouble" means then yes. To me it means "takes less risks" aka hoofs it whenever he has the ball - otherwise it should have said "plays -his- way out of trouble".

Same, very much disagree on the idea of bad PPMs. Very much open to tactical interpretation

Apart from "shoots from distance", everyone hates that one!

If that is what "Plays way out of trouble" means then yes. To me it means "takes less risks" aka hoofs it whenever he has the ball - otherwise it should have said "plays -his- way out of trouble".

this confrims the problem then lol!

to me there has never beena doubt in my mind it indicates a player would try to play the ball out from the back under pressure, instead of the hoof

pure polar

stupid question.

how do you set the moves for players? I can't see it on the training section, and the private chat with coaches always greyed out.

stupid question.

how do you set the moves for players? I can't see it on the training section, and the private chat with coaches always greyed out.

They are in the Private Chat option with the individual player.

.... I personally hate the 'Short simple passes' :/ ... mostly because I play in the lower leagues, and when I finally find someone who can pass a ball and are creative too (and usually good decisions), they have this PPM .. and it is simply impossible to get them to unlearn it

I don't actually mind having shoots from distance, even though its pretty essential to have shoots from power. My deep-lying playmaker really shines with it as hes scored around 10 goals per season with all of them coming from outside the box. Since hes a DLP he does not waste too many shots either since hes never really near the box other than to chase down clearances. Its fun to see the defense spreading out after a clearance leaving a wide open lane for him to blaze one through on goal

This gives a good explanation of how PPMs work

http://www.guidetofootballmanager.com/players/preferred-moves

Player with pace + knocks ball forward = massive win.

Thats all you need to know!

If that is what "Plays way out of trouble" means then yes. To me it means "takes less risks" aka hoofs it whenever he has the ball - otherwise it should have said "plays -his- way out of trouble".

Gerard Pique is unarguably the best ball playing CB in the game today, and he has a "Tries to play way out of trouble" PPM, so this kind of confirms to me that it's a so called good PPM to have, for the right player.

Here's my PPM king from my long-term save in FM10. He learned all this moves after successful tutoring from different players. He gets an average of 5 tackles and dribblings per game and he dominates the midfield almost every game.

can you tell me his CA please?

I am eager to know how much these ppm's consume

Here's my PPM king from my long-term save in FM10. He learned all this moves after successful tutoring from different players. He gets an average of 5 tackles and dribblings per game and he dominates the midfield almost every game.

Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't players limited to 5 or 6 PPMs now? I'm pretty sure I tried teaching some to a player already with 5 or 6 in FM11 and they replied 'I feel there is already too much to my game' or something along those lines. Maybe it depends on the player? How is it in FM12 now? I haven't really tried teaching many yet to find out.

can you tell me his CA please?

I am eager to know how much these ppm's consume

His CA now is 188. But his CA was 135 when he was 18 years old when I first started tutoring him. "Stops play" and "Dives Into Tackles" were his original PPMs, the rest of his PPMs were learned from 4 or 5 different players over 3-4 years.

Here's a picture of him at 18 years old before tutoring. His determination was 13 and after tutoring I raised it at 20.

thank you for the info

good job with his determination

Do people take any notice of when a coach says he doesn't think a player can adapt to a suggestion? What stats do coaches use to decide if a PPM 'fits' a player?

Do people take any notice of when a coach says he doesn't think a player can adapt to a suggestion? What stats do coaches use to decide if a PPM 'fits' a player?

Personally I think they just pull suggestions out of a hat

Umm.. i never knew that teaching a PPM would use a player's CA/PA.

I had a central midfielder in FM13 that had 11 PPM's. When he had reached the level of PPM's with coaches saying he already has enough about his game won't be able to learn any more. I'd ask a coach to cancel one of his PPM's, and in turn, they'd suggest a new one to me ???? Go figure, sirst they so no he can't learn anymore, so I try to remvoe one and get a response of no here's a new one for him that we suggest. Crazy ehh ?!?!?! Anyone else realize this ???

Arrives late in opposition area is surprisingly effective in combination with comes deep to get ball for certain types of forwards. Namely, ones with excellent movement and acceleration - or just any player you want to deploy as a false 9. Arrives late is also greatly effective for one winger in a three-man attack systems with far post crossing - he'll arrive late and unmarked at the far post for simple headers home pretty frequently.

Places shots + rounds keeper is also very solid as a combination for anyone you expect to get into one-on-ones regularly. And, of course, plays one-twos is an absolute must for playmakers, trequartistas, and attack-role deep-lying forwards or complete forwards.

Plays short simple passes is of immeasurable value to a deep-lying playmaker, as is dictates tempo and, depending on exact positioning, switches ball to opposite flank. Dictates tempo, though, is massively valuable to any intelligent playmaker.

Personally I would not teach any PPM that has an effect that can be utilized through player instructions, though, for maximum tactical flexibility. For example I'd never teach a player "stops play" or "plays no through balls" (unless the player has dreadful passing or is Steven Gerrard ).

Also didn't notice how necro this thread was...

For playmakers I absolutely insist on them having the PPM "Tries Killer Balls Often", or else I'm sticking them on the flanks. I'd brainwash him into thinking he's Mesut Ozil and he's bloody well going to play like Mesut Ozil.

I think the only PPM's I don't use regularly are Dives into Tackles and Argues with Officials... pretty much everything else I use for most positions. NB. Teaching Fabio Cuts Inside, Places Shots, Arrives Late in Opposition Area in FM13, was a touch of genius if I do say so myself, he pretty regularly picked up 10+ goals a season from left back like that.

Dives Into Tackles is probably my favourite defensive PPM, oh man I just have teach every full back/DM/CB I have that PPM. I can't live without it.

But it takes away some percentage in general training.. Not when tutored though..

How about 'Curls Ball'? Does it make your player's shots more deadly?

What about 'Argues with Official'? Is it any good?