Central Midfielders

Whenever my players get man of the match awards, they can be in any position. Apart from central mid-fielders...

I play a 4-4-2. and i vary who i play and in what position. Ball winning midfielder, box to box, ect...

But non of my central player ever seem to have excellent games. I may get the odd great game. But not a great run so they are un-dropable, Does anyone else have this or is it just me?

Always had the same problem in FM as far back as I can remember. I have just had Jack Collison score a hat trick in a friendly and it was superb but he never recreates it and I would love to know hpw and why he did it in a friendly!!! It maybe because they just have steady games and nothing spectacular but you are right CM's always seem to get the lowest ratings.

In FM10 and 11, I played Man Utd's Anderson as AP on attack alongside Fletcher as BWM in a 4-4-2 formation, and he got at least 7.5 in almost every game. He hasn't been able to do that in FM12 because some of his attributes have been nerf'd though.

I can fiddle around with all the settings and it never works.

I'm on about 2018 now and i have never had a long standing midfielder who i think "I can't drop/sell him".

In fact, loads come and go. I've had the same wingers, strikers and defenders for years. But central midfielders? They come and go! :/

Central midfielders are largely ignored nowadays, sadly... Look at all the flak Carrick, Lucas, Song and Gilberto get (or got), despite the fact they are (were) very effective for their teams.

I suppose it's simply very difficult to pinpoint what a central midfielder does when compared with strikers (who score goals), wingers (who destroy full-backs) and centre-backs (who win headers and tackles). I think full-backs fall into this category too, unless they are rampaging full-backs who get assists (in the same way that, say, Sagna, is very underrated at times).

A good performance from a central midfielder or full-back is partly down to what they do off the ball, in terms of positioning, as well as being able to play it safe - so it's almost as if they are judged on what they "don't" do (risky but rewarding positions, or risky but rewarding through-balls).

In the past, I've seen central midfielders get good ratings through high interceptions/successful tackles/key tackles/lots of key passes, but sometimes central midfielders like Carrick or Lucas do very well without high numbers in many (or any) of them, because it's about doing the right thing, rather than lots of things.

I think it may be to do with them being the players that play the pass to player who gives an assist rather than them picking assists up, also unless you play really narrow and defensive 4-4-2 the play will go wide lessening the chance the central player gets an assist. so whilst they may not seem indispensible with the ratings, there is always a clear difference in the peformance of my arsenal team when i play arteta, ramsey or wilshere over say coquelin or diaby as a cm for a game in the league cup or a champions league group game if im already through. I play a 4-5-1/4-3-3 so the cm's might perform differently. If your cm doesnt seem to be outstanding then have a look at the goals you score and watch/read if they are involved in the play.

I have a flat classic 4-4-2 and have just started looking more closely at the players training page. I have increased Jack Collisons dribbling moves and Mark Nobles stamina training and both are now performing over 7 per game, and Collison has bagged two hat tricks. May be worth you doing that. Highlighting an area that needs improving and using the individual training focus. Intriguingly though Andrea Poli who is a better player is getting poor stats but he is a new signing so may take a while to settle.

agreed 100%. i've jack wilshere in my team for years and ive tried to no avail to make him a key part of my squad.

i have my whole team with ratings easily averaging 7.5 to 8 the whole season yet players like wilshere are getting 6.X!! yet we are still winning consecutive league titles

Sounds Like the way match rating are calculated for CMs are off on the low side more then a fault with the ME

yaya toure as a cm with a ball winning support role is a beast

Just tried something that was interesting. I moved in a 4-4-2 Mark Noble to the DM position and Andrea Poli in the central CM position and both got high ratings and Poli scored and was constantly playing delightful through balls, yet when they play side by side in a 4-4-2 they don't perform as well. Settings stayed the same just dragged them over. Most bizzare and not really ideal as it makes you narrower. Anyone tried roaming on CM's or is that too risky?

I have a CM who is on course for the division player of the year. I think the formation plays a big role here - I use a 4-1-3-2 and he is the central one of the 3. He's the main creative influence, my play-maker, playing a lot of through-balls as well as coming late into the box. He's also my main set-piece taker (although never scores from free kicks). I'm sure if there was an AMC ahead of him the AMC would steal a lot of his thunder, and maybe if my wingers/wide midfielders were better quality they'd see more of the ball.

I have a flat classic 4-4-2 and firstly tactics plus player selection are fundamental. even though building a solid 4-4-2 i would say that is less than easy in fm and irl ofcourse. a successful 4-4-2 of stoke for example can by different than the same formation in a different team. similary, its not about trying to have them perform in top quality consistently or be an underdog and try to win 10/10 times as there are many variables in a match and maybe a randomness(sadly if this is the case). personalities are also a factor(determination) but i like to play any personality at least me. and the same goes with other positions. fbs etc

I have had my two MCs in a flat 4-4-2 play very well. Creating chances and scoring. It is very important to check who is up against them in the opposition's formation and switch them accordingly throughout the match. AI managers(the good ones at least) move their MCs during the match to gain advantage in the midfield and you should counter that to get the upper hand. By the way, that goes with strikers against CBs and vice versa. Hopes that help.

Here is a screenshot of my first match in a new save.

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i have had midfield man of the match. i have hamsik there and he has had a couple. as well as giggs etc in the past

Giving them forward runs or having a player who naturally makes a lot of forward runs helps, as they'll get more goals and assists.

The ME hasnt really given good ratings to pure passers of the ball for a while, you can get good ratings for a MC however they will also tend towards to the sort of bombing forward MC with good physical attributes etc, a deep lying playmaker type playing in mc who isnt making a lot of forward runs will struggle to break too much over a 7 over the course of a season no matter how good they are.

Got this 'problem' as well but it isn't a massive issue. My centre mids average around 7.1 which is acceptable but not good in my team. However I think you really need to watch matches and judge for yourself from what you see. Are they doing the job you asked them to do? Are they hardly getting assists or goals but regularly contributing in the build up for chances?

Remember a striker can have a terrible 90 minutes but get a 7.4 because he scored into an open goal but a centre mid can play solidly for 90 minutes and get a 6.9. Who has been better overall in your opinion?

and my goal was scored by a defender.