Creative Freedom... Use Sparingly!

Having played as a number of teams, in a number of countries, at a number of levels, it has been interesting experimenting with an assortment of tactics to suit the players at differing levels in differing countries.

Through this I have come to the following conclusion:

Use "creative freedom" sparingly!!

I have noticed that the overall influence of this slider can make a huge difference, at all levels. At most now, I only tend to give one or two players more creative freedom, with the rest of the team set to zero creative freedom.

By adopting this approach, I have seen very quickly, that with a number of different formations, my team actually plays a more attractive, passing orientated football, with more interplay between players and more fluidity. Statistically speaking, my team also dominates possession far more, often averaging over 60% control of the game.

Through this tweeking method, I have noticed that even when I've created a new squad of players, they gel alot quicker than I had originally expected. The team understanding is generated far quicker in my experience.

What I am suggesting, for those interested, is to give this tweek a try and see how you get on.

Set all your players to zero creative freedom, with the sole sxception of one or two players, ideally with high creativity and flair attributes. I don't believe the formation or tactics in general matter much, as I've done this with a number of teams and formations.

Let me know how you get on with this, as I'm interested to see if it actually has as big an influence for others as it has for me.

The manual tells you to do this

Who reads the manual though Cleon

Certainly not enough people when you look at the whingers posts and some of the many tactics sets available for download.

Sometimes stating the obvious is the only thing to do heh!

Originally posted by heathxxx:

Who reads the manual though Cleon

Certainly not enough people when you look at the whingers posts and some of the many tactics sets available for download.

Sometimes stating the obvious is the only thing to do heh!

I just read my reply, sorry if it sounded negative as it wasn't meant in that way at all. Theres certainly no harm in stating the obvious, it will no doubt make a difference to some people seeing it sated here also

I know you will hate me for this: but what you said doesn't mean, use creative freedom sparingly it meens, don't use creative freedom.

I just don't want to believe you and I won't give it a try

Originally posted by heathxxx:

Having played as a number of teams, in a number of countries, at a number of levels, it has been interesting experimenting with an assortment of tactics to suit the players at differing levels in differing countries.

Through this I have come to the following conclusion:

Use "creative freedom" sparingly!!

I have noticed that the overall influence of this slider can make a huge difference, at all levels. At most now, I only tend to give one or two players more creative freedom, with the rest of the team set to zero creative freedom.

By adopting this approach, I have seen very quickly, that with a number of different formations, my team actually plays a more attractive, passing orientated football, with more interplay between players and more fluidity. Statistically speaking, my team also dominates possession far more, often averaging over 60% control of the game.

Through this tweeking method, I have noticed that even when I've created a new squad of players, they gel alot quicker than I had originally expected. The team understanding is generated far quicker in my experience.

What I am suggesting, for those interested, is to give this tweek a try and see how you get on.

Set all your players to zero creative freedom, with the sole sxception of one or two players, ideally with high creativity and flair attributes. I don't believe the formation or tactics in general matter much, as I've done this with a number of teams and formations.

Let me know how you get on with this, as I'm interested to see if it actually has as big an influence for others as it has for me.

As Cleon rightly said, this is in the manual, but I have a couple of questions based on what you've found.

1. What do you mean by setting Creative Freedom to zero? (Do you mean in the middle at the default, or all the way to the left of the slider?)

2. Assuming you mean all the way to the left of the slider ...... why is the default position in the middle? I sometimes wonder if the middle postion defaults of some sliders leads to confusion. If it is so "dangerous" to play with Creative freedom then why is it set like this from the start?

You did'nt sound negative at all Cleon

I must admit though, I do get a little frustrated when people take the time to upload or post tactics help, then other people knock them for the sake of it though heh!

I've never posted any detailed tactical sets before for this reason, although I may dip my toe in the water at some point.

Thing is here, there's alot of "little" things that make a big difference with tactics. People should also read the manual for tactical advice and help too - because it's published by the game-makers, and they should know right?

I'll tell you how I actually use CF and see if others do anything simliar.

For me high CF isn't something you start a game with. For me its something you use to turn a game into your advantage when you need to pull a result out of the bag, or for when you've tried everything else and you still failing.

I then make sure I have someone either on the bench or already on the field who can come on and turn a game around. I will then give him a high CF and 9/10 this alone can turn a game around I find.

Apart from that I like all players on normal or lower cf.

Originally posted by heathxxx:

You did'nt sound negative at all Cleon

I must admit though, I do get a little frustrated when people take the time to upload or post tactics help, then other people knock them for the sake of it though heh!

I've never posted any detailed tactical sets before for this reason, although I may dip my toe in the water at some point.

Thing is here, there's alot of "little" things that make a big difference with tactics. People should also read the manual for tactical advice and help too - because it's published by the game-makers, and they should know right?

You should give it ago, as long as its done the right way noone should knock you. If I find people knocking other tactics I'll have a word, as its not nice. I know Rashidi is the same too on this subject

Re reading the manual from time to time can make you realise something you may have thought you known, or something you missed the first time around

2. Assuming you mean all the way to the left of the slider ...... why is the default position in the middle? I sometimes wonder if the middle postion defaults of some sliders leads to confusion. If it is so "dangerous" to play with Creative freedom then why is it set like this from the start?

I personally think its dangerous to play with '0' CF on players. (All the way left)

If you put players on this and then watch the 2d engine you can see sometimes a player gets the ball and is stuck on what to actually do with the ball. He might just stand there and look lost, rather than attempting to make a pass.

I think that could be why default is actually set in the middle on 10.

1. What do you mean by setting Creative Freedom to zero? (Do you mean in the middle at the default, or all the way to the left of the slider?)

2. Assuming you mean all the way to the left of the slider ...... why is the default position in the middle? I sometimes wonder if the middle postion defaults of some sliders leads to confusion. If it is so "dangerous" to play with Creative freedom then why is it set like this from the start?

Hawshiels

1. Right the way to the left, hence "zero" creative freedom.

2. Can't say why the sliders are set to the middle from the offset TBH. It's probaly is as it is, just "default".

I have to be honest though, it has surprised me how much of a difference setting zero creative freedom to all but one or two players has made. That's why I'm interested in others giving it a whirl and commenting on what they notice.

I personally think its dangerous to play with '0' CF on players. (All the way left)

If you put players on this and then watch the 2d engine you can see sometimes a player gets the ball and is stuck on what to actually do with the ball. He might just stand there and look lost, rather than attempting to make a pass.

I think that could be why default is actually set in the middle on 10.

Good point Cleon.

I've not noticed this myself though yet. I suppose then it depends on the "mental" attributes of the players.

Perhaps a safety net then is to up the creative freedom for the thicker players (we all have them! ), is to notch it up to a maximum of 5 on the slider.

Yep that what I also do with hmy milan team..everyone on 5 creative freedom except Kaka , Seedorf and Pirlo who start with 10. They all got high decisions and creativity. This way the actually follow my instructions, and if things isnt going as planned I tell those 3 players to try something on there own to break up the defence(Creative freedom slider on 17-20) - they might see something on the pitch I dont

Originally posted by heathxxx:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I personally think its dangerous to play with '0' CF on players. (All the way left)

If you put players on this and then watch the 2d engine you can see sometimes a player gets the ball and is stuck on what to actually do with the ball. He might just stand there and look lost, rather than attempting to make a pass.

I think that could be why default is actually set in the middle on 10.

Good point Cleon.

I've not noticed this myself though yet. I suppose then it depends on the "mental" attributes of the players.

Perhaps a safety net then is to up the creative freedom for the thicker players (we all have them! ), is to notch it up to a maximum of 5 on the slider. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

5 is roughly what I tend to stick most of my players on aye. But it is all down to the mental attributes like you say

Originally posted by Joor:

Yep that what I also do with hmy milan team..everyone on 5 creative freedom except Kaka , Seedorf and Pirlo who start with 10. They all got high decisions and creativity. This way the actually follow my instructions, and if things isnt going as planned I tell those 3 players to try something on there own to break up the defence(Creative freedom slider on 17-20) - they might see something on the pitch I dont

With class players like this it makes sense to have them as the ones set on high creative freedom. After all, in real-life, how often do we see them change a game with a moment of brilliance.

A good example there Joor, with players who's attributes many people are aware of.

Originally posted by heathxxx:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">1. What do you mean by setting Creative Freedom to zero? (Do you mean in the middle at the default, or all the way to the left of the slider?)

2. Assuming you mean all the way to the left of the slider ...... why is the default position in the middle? I sometimes wonder if the middle postion defaults of some sliders leads to confusion. If it is so "dangerous" to play with Creative freedom then why is it set like this from the start?

Hawshiels

1. Right the way to the left, hence "zero" creative freedom.

2. Can't say why the sliders are set to the middle from the offset TBH. It's probaly is as it is, just "default".

I have to be honest though, it has surprised me how much of a difference setting zero creative freedom to all but one or two players has made. That's why I'm interested in others giving it a whirl and commenting on what they notice. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

heathxxx

what about some other team and player instructions like RWB or mentlity and TTB? -> what I meen, don't then players lack in ideas and get stuck? personally it's quite weird to put it to 0. I wonder if AI plays like that.

All CF is, a license to let a player decide what to do himself. If you set all his instructions up and then give him a high CF he's going to ignore what you've told him to do. So by setting it low, it means he will stick to what he's been told to do, rather than trying to be a hero.

It's quite interesting Mitja, because when I've used wing-backs, i've had them on zero creative freedom and they seem to follow the basics of things like through balls better. It just seems that in general, players seem to follow the letter of my game-plan better.

I've even used zero creative freedom on wingers occasionally and find that this works especially well when using a target man. In this case, it seems that my wingers then cross the ball more than previously with higher creative freedom.

Originally posted by Cleon:

All CF is, a license to let a player decide what to do himself. If you set all his instructions up and then give him a high CF he's going to ignore what you've told him to do. So by setting it low, it means he will stick to what he's been told to do, rather than trying to be a hero.

Heh - beat me to it and made the point better than I.

When using run-with-ball (RWB), this is usually reserved to the few players with high creative freedom. - sorry Mitja, I missed the abbreviation.

what about seting CF to 3, 5, what's the difference? I meen isn't it better to let him decide on some rare occasions (under pressure for ex.) maybe he'll try to do smth instead of just clearing the ball. did you noticed any difference?

I wrote this badly I hope you get my point

I'm using CF like this. if I manage quality side I give it more (2 most creative players on high, defenders, DM low normal...), more defensive tactics get I also lower CF.

I'm asking this becouse I never paid so much attention to this (didn't notice such a difference) and it's a little odd to me to give such a low CF if you're managing quality side. but of course there are many types of managers, some want their players to stick more to their tactics then others.

Completely understand

It's just over the course of many saves at many levels, and in different countries, this is something that's worked very effectively for me.

Perhaps it's a little extreme for some teams, like high quality squads, as you mentioned.

I'm a Man Utd fan and looking at how they play for real, would doubt that even the defenders would be asked to perform a real life equivalent. Rio Ferdinand does have the odd foray through the middle of the park after all!

It's perhaps more in keeping with lower quality teams where organisation and playing as a unit is paramount over creative individuality.

That said though, playing this way, even with lower league teams in the English Blue Square North or or Spanish Segunda B4, the movement and passing of the team overall is alot better. They follow my instructions more clearly. Granted, players do still make mistakes, but no more often than with higher creative freedom settings, perhaps even less.

Gonna check back here for any more comments tomorrow

When I'm on the forums, I'm also playing FM at the same time and usually post when I press "continue", rather than watch the status bar.

Am about to hit the heavy Christmas schedule of fixtures now. Will let you know how my lack of CF does on muddy and waterlogged pitches heh!

This is a really interesting discussion guys and has me thinking about my own use of Creative Freedom. I have tended not to use this setting at all - or so I thought. I thought that by setting it to Normal (i.e. in the middle) that it would have little or no effect. In other words, I assumed that the middle default position was like the zero position and anything to the left and right acted like a negative or positive respectively.

But having read what Cleon said about it, perhaps I will start to experiment more with this. It's strange. I tend to play around with every other setting in the tactics (just to work out what they do) but this is one that I tend to leave alone. Perhaps this stems from FM06 (I think) when this setting could cause some serious damage to tactics. It's obvious to me now though that I should re-visit this and have a play with it as heathxxx suggests.

Looking forward to more of this tomorrow.

[p.s. Is it just me - or because of the wine I'm drinking - or is the tactical forum actually really interesting at the moment? There seems to be much more of a healthy discussion going on at the moment. There's the usual nonsense threads but largely things are constructive.]

Originally posted by Hawshiels:

This is a really interesting discussion guys and has me thinking about my own use of Creative Freedom. I have tended not to use this setting at all - or so I thought. I thought that by setting it to Normal (i.e. in the middle) that it would have little or no effect. In other words, I assumed that the middle default position was like the zero position and anything to the left and right acted like a negative or positive respectively.

But having read what Cleon said about it, perhaps I will start to experiment more with this. It's strange. I tend to play around with every other setting in the tactics (just to work out what they do) but this is one that I tend to leave alone. Perhaps this stems from FM06 (I think) when this setting could cause some serious damage to tactics. It's obvious to me now though that I should re-visit this and have a play with it as heathxxx suggests.

Looking forward to more of this tomorrow.

[p.s. Is it just me - or because of the wine I'm drinking - or is the tactical forum actually really interesting at the moment? There seems to be much more of a healthy discussion going on at the moment. There's the usual nonsense threads but largely things are constructive.]

I allways set CF individualy. if I had FB with high creativity, decision and flair attributes, why not give him more creative freedom? this is how I've set it (little decrease after reading theathxxx posts :

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4789/cffc9.jpg

Originally posted by Mitja:

I always set CF individualy. if I had FB with high creativity, decision and flair attributes, why not give him more creative freedom? this is how I've set it (little decrease after reading theathxxx posts :

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4789/cffc9.jpg

Mitja: What sort of possession and shots/goals stats do you get in your games? I am interested because you use a more direct passing than I do and I just realised that I prefer never to use direct passing because I found that I got about 40% possession or less when I used this. It's interesting to see your use of creative freedom in this context also. It seems to make sense to have a more direct passing game with the reduction in creative freedom but that's just theoretical. I've never tried this.

It seems to make sense to have a more direct passing game with the reduction in creative freedom but that's just theoretical. I've never tried this.

I would agree with you here. I find that when playing direct passing creative freedom can be reduced even for strikers, which I then increase closing down for. This seems to result in winning a lot more aerial challenges and causing pressure on the opposition defence something that when playing direct you need to do or you will find the opposition get to much time on the ball.

having also managed at all levels, i can confirm creative freedom depends on the level of your players skills, eg if your real madrid you would be mad not to use high levels of creative freedom, so the players can make things happen, however if your cambridge united and use high levels of creative freedom it wont work as the players dont have the ability to do the buisness.

Originally posted by Hawshiels:

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mitja:

I always set CF individualy. if I had FB with high creativity, decision and flair attributes, why not give him more creative freedom? this is how I've set it (little decrease after reading theathxxx posts :

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/4789/cffc9.jpg

Mitja: What sort of possession and shots/goals stats do you get in your games? I am interested because you use a more direct passing than I do and I just realised that I prefer never to use direct passing because I found that I got about 40% possession or less when I used this. It's interesting to see your use of creative freedom in this context also. It seems to make sense to have a more direct passing game with the reduction in creative freedom but that's just theoretical. I've never tried this. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

just think that direct passes as extended short pass, it defenetly isn't long. most teams in england play so. my possesion is allways somewhere around 50%. I tweak it with tempo but even more with time wasting, if I think we're playing too fast. no problem with possesion, just don't score much even I'm creating fair amounts...

I follow the manual strictly on creative freedom. It reads thus: "..... it may be advisable to limit this on a team basis and allow it for the more talented player in your team".

I have team CF on low 3-5 and only have it higher for two or three players, at most. In my case , the AMC and one of the strikers. I won't give it to both strikers because I want one to stick to his instructions. It is about the only slider that I don't have many problems with.

I think this is going to be an interesting experiment.

Like I said before, it's made a marked difference to my own games.

Hawshiels

Perhaps this stems from FM06 (I think) when this setting could cause some serious damage to tactics.

I recall this being the case and in honesty I assumed it to be the same in FM07. It's only since playing FM08 that I've been tinkering more with tactical settings. It appears that SI have fixed things more with creative freedom to enhance the realism.

As Libertine'82 said:

having also managed at all levels, i can confirm creative freedom depends on the level of your players skills, eg if your real madrid you would be mad not to use high levels of creative freedom, so the players can make things happen, however if your cambridge united and use high levels of creative freedom it wont work as the players dont have the ability to do the buisness.

This clearly shows that the correct use of creative freedom at different levels of the game is important to get right.

I would certainly agree that you could have a number of players given creative freedom, especially with big clubs with alot of creative/flair players. What I believe though, is that even with a club like Manchester United, I would still only have a maximum of say 3 players - examples: Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo - the forward three if you like.

The rest of the team would be set to 5 clicks or below on the slider. What I have seen represented in the match engine, is a better overall fluidity of passing between players, as they observe my tactical orders better.

The difficulty at lower levels is that it's rare to have really good creativity/flair players, therefore narrowing your options down. When you've got perhaps one really good creativity/flair player, he can sometimes get marked out of the game. It's best if you've more than one player with high creativity in this case.

Re-assessing creative freedom has certainly been an eye-opener for me and has boosted my enjoyment of FM08 even more. I believe I trully have more control over how my team plays and performs, with my desired tactics and formations.

I'm playing LLM (Bath City) and originally had my creative freedom set to Little (6) for all my players but they weren't performing very well and couldn't create chances. I got frustrated and bumped up the team CF to Normal (11) and the team as a whole played alot better and started winning games a bit more comfortably. My team are not creative geniuses either but a higher CF worked for them.

Glad that the broader use of CF worked well for your team Powermonger

A lack of creative freedom for your whole team doubtless lead to lack of scoring chances. The more default CF works well enough for LLM games, but I still go a little deeper myself and limit it to no more than 2 or 3 of the "right" players.

Mind you, it does show that keeping things simple in an LLM game can work wonders.

heathxxx has given me a liitle food for thought, thanks. Perhaps one of you gentlemen could advise on this.

Shots 8

On 1

Off 7

Poss 53%

Passes Comp. 65%

Crosses Comp 30%

Tackles won 69%

Headers won 40%

Match result a 1-2 defeat at Plynouth. My only excuse was that at this time of night I was just experimenting and did not use a SUS defence and they scored on 89 minutes.

I am trying a 4-4-2 diamond set of four tactics. This was the possession one. RoO mentality. Global creative freedom on low [5]. That bit is where heathxxx, in his latest post gave me food for thought.

I should add that I am normally poor at tactics but it may seem at last that even I am beginning to see the light. All assistance greatly appreciated. I'm not proud!!

Originally posted by heathxxx:

Glad that the broader use of CF worked well for your team Powermonger

A lack of creative freedom for your whole team doubtless lead to lack of scoring chances. The more default CF works well enough for LLM games, but I still go a little deeper myself and limit it to no more than 2 or 3 of the "right" players.

Mind you, it does show that keeping things simple in an LLM game can work wonders.

I still keep my back 3 on low CF Little (4) but the rest are on team. I try to keep things simple for my team and use team settings wherever I can, helps keep the cohesion.

Anyway, CF is one the sliders I hate most, too many setting positions and it's not easy to tell if it's the CF setting at fault.

don't know about this. I've done 20 test games, playing 10 with 6CF and 10 with 20CF. The 6CF games ended 1W 7D 2L 4GF 9GA and the 20CF games ended 6W 3D 1L 17GF 6GA. So far i can't see where this lower CF works.

I hear you powermonger

I think that it's definately the case that you have to adapt this, along with other aspects to suit the players you have.

It's one of the gripes I have when I've read through some superb tactics posted by people on the forums that are blindly criticised by others.

We live in an age beyond "Diablo-esque" killer tactics, but unfortunately many download a tactic expecting it to be as such, then when it does'nt work for them, they flame the original poster.

Fortunately though, I think that some of the recent topics are highlighting individual slider settings in a bit more detail, so hopefully the "flamers" will take note.

Originally posted by Burst:

don't know about this. I've done 20 test games, playing 10 with 6CF and 10 with 20CF. The 6CF games ended 1W 7D 2L 4GF 9GA and the 20CF games ended 6W 3D 1L 17GF 6GA. So far i can't see where this lower CF works.

What team and level are you playing as Burst?

Did you lower/raise CF for all your first 11, or as suggested, leave your best creative/flair players with high CF?

I usually find that extremely high, 20CF turns my team into a bunch of headless chickens, but then again, you might have alot of Brazillians or the football equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters, which would help of course.

It sounds as if you set all your first 11 to low or high CF, rather than as suggested in the earlier posts. Correct me if I'm wrong though.

If you've set all players to high or low CF, it's not going to work, because it's too extreme either way.

The key here is 2-3 maximum players set to "reasonably high, say 15CF, with the rest set to 6 or below.

If you've set all your players to high CF, then you need to have high creative attributes throughout your squad, even your defenders, to have any sustainable success.

worked great here for me.

I usually uses it like 6 for team and 10/11 for the players with good Creativity, Decisions and Flair. Was getting nice results on my tactic(had just been promoted and got a 6 place on league). Tryed this zero CF for team and kept my 2 better creativity, decisions and flair guys with 12.

Won 1 game by 5x0, 3 games by 3x0, 2 by 1x0, drawned 2 by 1x1, but havent lost. Nice hint!

Originally posted by Luiz Hemerly:

worked great here for me.

I usually uses it like 6 for team and 10/11 for the players with good Creativity, Decisions and Flair. Was getting nice results on my tactic(had just been promoted and got a 6 place on league). Tryed this zero CF for team and kept my 2 better creativity, decisions and flair guys with 12.

Won 1 game by 5x0, 3 games by 3x0, 2 by 1x0, drawned 2 by 1x1, but havent lost. Nice hint!

Just out of interest, what sort of posession percentages were you getting in the games Luiz?

I was finding that my teams percentage of possession was anything from 58% or even higher.

well defenetly it isn't all in CF. all other instructions have to be taken in acount as well as attributes of player, home/awey game... I just tried to lower a little my CF and it didn't work well. not at all. after I highered it I scored 2 goals and had some other chances. but as you said heathxxx players do play exactly by instructions. so if you want your player to do so, lower his CF, but I wouldn't it lower to 0 never. I got my CB set to 4 and not finding any problems with it. further I think it's crazy not to give your best players high CF, but it depends wheather you are capello type or maybe wenger....

Definately have the creative players on high CF

Probably 0-5 variable for CF for non creative players is the way to go then Mitja, so that it's a bit more flexible for most players. After all, you do get centre-backs occasionally who have say, 10 creativity, so it makes sense to let them have a bit more leeway.

thinking why I even give some CF to my CB is simple. just that he can choose what kind of pass he wants to play. maybe becouse I play direct/fast. to tell you the truth I didn't have much succses on FM08 but I think I'm quite succesfull at tactics as my team do create chances/ defends well, it's just my strikers don't score...

I play 3-6-1(3-1-3-2-1) with short pass and slow tempo, so my possesion hasnt increased, stayed at 60%(depending of the opposition team it tends to be lower but never lower than 50%).

My teams creativity isnt great overall. My best creativity player has 17, but has poor decisions and flair. The one i let be creativy now is my AMC wich has 15 Creat, 14 Flair and 13 Deci.

When trying this on your team, remember that Teams Talk plays a HUGE role on how your players plays(take a look at "A Manual to Team Talk" on the pc forum) and that your team can be just playing badly(happens like twice a season depending on Team Talk).

About Strikers dont scoring its happens a lot. I think it happens more than it should, but we have to live with it. The solutions I have found for it is to rotate your Strikers. Put the problematic one on the bench for like 3 games than call him back. I usually do this when they have like 9 hours without scoring...

I only have 1 player on 14 CF the rest of my team is one 4 for CF..and I'm using a top side

Im using it on a brazilian second division team that i managed to get to first and stay on top mid table. With my normal tactic(6 for team, 14/15 for good players) I got good results, but with team 0 and player 11/12 im getting much better ones till now

I have just see the comment about not getting much chances with low CF.

I usually get 20+ against lower teams, 15+ against teams of same level and 10+ against teams better than mine. The exception is when im having a bad time on my team(as I said happens twice a season and endures for 3-5 games), when that is happening i usually get 5-7 chances

I tried it on my team, I felt that it might've been some improves but im not really sure where to look for them...by "my team actually plays a more attractive, passing orientated football" what do you mean by that? More chance created? More shot on goal? Better pass completion?

I always get 20+ shots on a normal game (the ones I lose at are usually around 10).

My question is...does CF has to be set to 5 or 0 for most players for them to be following your instructions and play good football?

I think it depends on the player and most of the time you will want them to dont improvise. I mean, if you get a big stupid CD, you dont want him to think, just grab the ball and kick it to the other side as much as he can. But if you have an intelligent one like... dont know, maybe cannavaro, you can give him some liberty to do what he want some times. I think that if you play on a team that the players are not very intelligent, dont make them think... just tell them where to run and when to shoot, maybe thinking is not for them right?

In some of my formations because they are so attacking, its absolutely critical that players hold their positions, and thats only possible if you have low CF