Quickfire Questions and Answers Thread (Tactic and Training Questions Only)

Have a question about FM tactics and are afraid it will be flamed or ignored if you open a thread?

Write it in here and hopefully one of our many members will find time to provide an answer.

Can i use this to help me find the perfect personal instructions for a player?

The problem I have is with the "Blue Bar" syndrome where my Ass Manager says that instead of using Cleons Sheff Utd project for working out who should be in your starting 11 he takes the players CA into account. Now as I don't have Genie Scout do I take the sum total of the Blue Bars ie 36x20 possible or use Cleons Sheff Utd Project for vital stats as to who I should put in my reserve team.

The example I would give would be David Prutton of Leeds Utd (my Favourite team) against Seb Sorsa. Prutton is a MR whilst Seb Sorsa is an AMR. Now on individual stats Seb Sorsa is better as a winger whereas overall Prutton is better overall (according to the total of the Blue Bars)

What system do I use?

I think it's a matter of choice and opponent. If you feel a pure winger is the better option, use Sorsa. If you want an a more all-round defensive/attacking performance, use Prutton.

I think it's a matter of choice and opponent. If you feel a pure winger is the better option, use Sorsa. If you want an a more all-round defensive/attacking performance, use Prutton.

Thanks wwfan for your prompt reply.

But is the CA more important than the actual individual stats. So as I know who to put in the first team?

I play a 5-3-2 attacking formation with the fullbacks pushing up to the wingabacks position

Thanks wwfan for your prompt reply.

But is the CA more important than the actual individual stats. So as I know who to put in the first team?

I play a 5-3-2 attacking formation with the fullbacks pushing up to the wingabacks position

Attributes are what count. A player could have a high CA but still have low attribute in the key areas for whatever position he plays in. CA is not used in match engine calculations so it's all down to attributes, moral and things like hidden attributes and personality.

Attributes are what count. A player could have a high CA but still have low attribute in the key areas for whatever position he plays in. CA is not used in match engine calculations so it's all down to attributes, moral and things like hidden attributes and personality.

Thanks Chopper 99.

If I could give you a quick example of this.

As I am playing Leeds United I will give you an example of two players one that I want to bring in & one that I already have got.

Player coming in Jared Hodgkiss DR overall blue stats are high, but player I have got Frazer Richardson has better individual stats (Workrate, Stamina, Teamwork, Decisions, Positioning & Acceleration). The Ass Man advises me that I should play Hodgkiss as his CA is higher than Richardsons but on the total of the individual stats than Richardson is better.

Who should be in my first team & why?

Thanks Chopper 99.

If I could give you a quick example of this.

As I am playing Leeds United I will give you an example of two players one that I want to bring in & one that I already have got.

Player coming in Jared Hodgkiss DR overall blue stats are high, but player I have got Frazer Richardson has better individual stats (Workrate, Stamina, Teamwork, Decisions, Positioning & Acceleration). The Ass Man advises me that I should play Hodgkiss as his CA is higher than Richardsons but on the total of the individual stats than Richardson is better.

Who should be in my first team & why?

Personally I go from attributes rather than what the ass man says. It then comes down to what I look for in a full back. For me it's similar to the things you've listed but I also look at tackling and crossing (as I like my full backs to whip the odd cross in). So whichever player has the higher attributes in the areas I consider important for the position would go in the first team.

So in your situation I would play Richardson as he seems to have the better attributes for a right back. However, I'd also give the other guy a few games if I was signing him anyway. I'd then watch those games on either key highlight or even full match to keep an eye on how he does. If he playes better than Richardson over those few game I might give him a run in the first team and check his average rating after say 10 games. I do this because there's always a chance that his hidden attributes are much higher then Richardson's and the only way to find out (without cheating) is to play him and see how he does.

@ Rob123

Be aware of the higher weighting given to the 'weaker foot'. If you have two identical players with the same CA if one has a weaker foot that is stronger than the other's then he will have lower visible attributes. But your staff reports (assuming they are accurate) will tell you they are more or less of equivalent ability.

Now the question becomes what has been your experience of players who have low rated weaker foot? The official line is that a lower attribute player with a stronger weaker foot will on average perform better (there was a thread on this re Ronaldo vs Elano). But different people are having different experiences, and these experiences may also be different due to the level played at.

In your example with a full back there is likely to be these negative impacts if he has a significantly lower weaker foot rating in certain situations:-

1. an attacking player cuts inside him then he is less likely to make a tackle or if he does do his less likely to do it successfully

2. if he gets forced on to his weaker foot by the attacking player he might start knocking stray passes

3. the old errant pass back chestnut: Long ball in behind the full back who goes chasing back after it. He is under pressure from the winger so has no time to manouevre the ball on to his stronger foot. He knocks a pass back to the keeper which you can see is on his weaker foot because of the angles. It's on his weaker foot so he makes a balls of it (own goal or overhit right into the path of the opposition striker or he knocks it out for a corner as he mishits it)

4. If the opposition are high up the pitch and pressing your full back when in possession he may get caught out. I've seen this work for and against me where the defender gets caught out because of the angle he gets the ball from a pass from a team mate forces him to switch the ball to his stronger foot thus giving the opposing player time to close down and nick the ball off him.

So you need to balance the overall typical scenario and make a decision. For example if wingers mostly attack down the line then the full back is defending on his strong side => the higher attribute player will probably make better tackles more consistently.

You can apply the same type of thinking to most positions and the effect of the weaker foot. If you watch a few matches in full you'll see the preference for the stronger foot, especially if you play a 442 and your two central midfielders are right foot only you'll notice much more of your play going down the right hand side.

You also need to separate out mistakes by your staff in their reports.

Just thought I should let you know about the effect of weaker foot on staff reports and it's increased importance in the match engine As you can see there's different opinions so (to use an old footballing cliche) at the end of the day you just have to give him a few games and see how he does.

I usually don't rely on Ass Man as he has no idea what I want from a player. That said, I always rotate players quite regularly and vary their individula instructions slightly. In your example, Hogkins might be a better choice (I know nothing about his stats - all based on your post), if you want DR who stays back all the time and does not close down a lot, so basically he might be better choice if you play against a stronger team. On the other hand, Richardson seems better if you want DR to support attack as he won't be quicky exhausted running back and force. Plus, as Chopper said, watch for clues about their hidden attributes (especially consistency) as they might be more important than one or two points difference in physical/technical etc. attributes.

I usually don't rely on Ass Man as he has no idea what I want from a player. That said, I always rotate players quite regularly and vary their individula instructions slightly. In your example, Hogkins might be a better choice (I know nothing about his stats - all based on your post), if you want DR who stays back all the time and does not close down a lot, so basically he might be better choice if you play against a stronger team. On the other hand, Richardson seems better if you want DR to support attack as he won't be quicky exhausted running back and force. Plus, as Chopper said, watch for clues about their hidden attributes (especially consistency) as they might be more important than one or two points difference in physical/technical etc. attributes.

Many thanks for the replies lads,

I think one of my problems is that I don't rotate players that often only when low rating or tired. I tend to stick my "strongest" team out on the pitch week in week out. Therefore the AI gets used to the team and the single formation that I use with quite good effect.

I will just use the stats in future as the way I look at it is The better a persons Individual Stats for that position then that must him a better option than a player who has similar stats but not as good.

Once again, many thanks for giving me insight into this

Well then, . . Hi,

I think I am going to get a lot of use out of this thread...

Background

My Football Knowledge is pretty much zip, I only know what I have gleaned from this site.

I have FM08, never owned or played a previous version.

My team Cheltenham L1 ( Chosen from the suburb I live . . . seemed like a good reason)

Tactic: polat 4-4-2 & counter

Training: Season Alcaholics

Oh and I don't watch FB on TV, so pretty much a dunce..

and IRL I have owned the game for about 8 weeks, so it has been a crash course

Season three current squad

Assistant Managers

How much of a role should they have? Or what role do they have?

The booklet/manual says they are supposed to be your right hand man, however most people from what I read choose the team themselves and do the team talks, so then what is left for the Assistant Manager?

My Assistant Manager, Richard Hill( btw, is he any good), I let him choose the team, is that advisable? And what is he then basing his choice on. I have seen him put my ML (Kove), in at FC, and put my ST (Brunsy) in ML, is it because he drinks too much?

I also let him do the pre match talks, which sometimes he scares me and I think he says the wrong thing in which case I take over(wolfsongs guide to team talks)

Coaches

My Attack Coach Hristo Marashliev, Bulgarian. . . english basic, is this going to affect the attacking skills of my players?

Also Risso( much easier), I got him from the start, so he has been with me a while now, surely his english would have improved?

So do things such as that and also coaching attributes improve over time?

I have used the coach exploit but does having a coach for each area of training really help?

Should the Assistant Manager be involved in all areas of training or just the one which gives him the most stars?

Scouts

My players I have gone and found myself, so wondering why I need to have Scouts apart from scouting next opposition?

I have taken a couple of scout recommends, scout says "quality", and when it comes to signing Assistant Manager, says "good", So I don't understand the variation as the scout I had at the time had 16+ for both judging CA & PA, which is higher than Assistant Manager.

Players

I went with a smallish squad for this season(above) but I am struggling with when to rest players, I have read in other threads things along the lines of a squad of 27 with the firsts playing 25 games a year. My players unless they are injured or performing extremely bad play every game, so is there a system/formula/average to work from? I would assume form to be one and a pretty obvious one. I have gone into the player interaction screen and it is suggesting/options on resting that player, but his form is good , 7,7,7. So as already mentioned I do not understand when and at what times I should rest players.

I think that is enough stupid questions from me for now, if time can be taken to respond it is appreciated

cheers tel

hi guys im playing as Newcastle and i play 3 center Attacking mids.

i have James Milner who is competent in this position which aint good enough so im retraining him in center midfield his determination is 17 so i think that will help

are there any cons to retraining this player in this position?

@telv7

You'd probably be better served by opening your own thread. Maybe one in General Discussion. Here's a few 'new to the game' threads, both new to FM and new to football.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=14154

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=17716

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=9147

Unfortunately due to the forum purge a while back and the move to new forums a good few of the links within those links may be non existent. As I said post your own thread (General Discussion will probably get you more responses) and hopefully you'll get some help. Including your newness to the game and sport in the thread title might help in getting a response.

I say hopefully as sometimes those types of thread flourish and sometimes they drop like a lead balloon.

hi guys im playing as Newcastle and i play 3 center Attacking mids.

i have James Milner who is competent in this position which aint good enough so im retraining him in center midfield his determination is 17 so i think that will help

are there any cons to retraining this player in this position?

I don't think determination has anything to do with retraining. There is a hidden attribute (versatility), which determines how fast a player can be retrained and how effective he would be if retrained. That said, multiple position can eat up some CA points since some 'free' attributes become not free, though IIRC it should not be the case if you retrain AMC to MC and vice versa.

i have enough money to buy better players so i think i will offload him and emre instead of retraining them as its probably the best option

@telv7

You'd probably be better served by opening your own thread. Maybe one in General Discussion. Here's a few 'new to the game' threads, both new to FM and new to football.

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=14154

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=17716

http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=9147

Unfortunately due to the forum purge a while back and the move to new forums a good few of the links within those links may be non existent. As I said post your own thread (General Discussion will probably get you more responses) and hopefully you'll get some help. Including your newness to the game and sport in the thread title might help in getting a response.

I say hopefully as sometimes those types of thread flourish and sometimes they drop like a lead balloon.

Thanks for the reply isuckatfm, I will do that, and hopefully it won't be a lead ballon

cheers tel

simple question: how to make my players tackle???? they just stand near the AI players. and i'm not using tight marking... i also don't use opponents instructions and even if i used them its all the same

^I have that issue too. The closest I've gotten to replicating the quick tackling AI defenders is using a very defensive mentality and hard tackling. Also use marking, width, closing down and defensive line to keep your defenders as close to the opposition players as possible (but keeping your defenders tight this way you might get burned if your defenders are slow).

Marking doesn't work great on this version in my opinion though (I've seen top class defenders set to tight man mark just stand still and watch the opposition striker run across them, but the truth is in real football all chances come from one player or another losing their man or getting beaten in a one vs one situation. You either accept it as being organic in the game or you view it as a conspiracy ). The only way to really get your defender to stick to his opposite number is to use specific man marking but that has it's downsides too.

I still can't get my CBs to crunch into the strikers regularly like the AI defenders. Someone posted before about leaving Creative Freedom at a reasonable level (I think mixed) made their defenders tackle more regularly so you could try that. As I said very low mentality, hard tackling and using settings to get defenders as close to their man as possible is as close as I've gotten to replicating how AI defenders generally behave. I say generally as it is difficult to separate out the affect of mental attributes.

Isn't it ironic! the mod puts up a thread to attract 'stupid questions' away from the main threads and what do we get? Not one stupid question, but plenty of perfectly sensible ones!

Maybe what you need to do is create a 'bucket' thread and have the mod re-direct genuinely stupid questions there rather than close the threads or allow a string of muppet posts.

Glad I dipped into the thread despite the title, mind!

Irony is good

ok guys i cant find a thread it had all the PA abilities of players on a list was split into three groups

ok guys i cant find a thread it had all the PA abilities of players on a list was split into three groups

I think this was in the Good Player and Team Guide forum somewhere.

kk cheers will have a look

has anyone had Rooney and Tevez play well together in a basic 4-4-2 and if so pass some setting on please

Try using the 4-4-2 and counter tactic. I used the 4-4-2 most of the time as Man Utd and got a ton of goals from rooney and Tevez

I've a quick question on farrows and barrows. I know the answer is probably close by anywya but I thought I'd ask in here.

Am I right in thinking that when your team isn't in possesion your players will move to the natural position on the field they are placed in?

and..

When you are in possesion they move to the area of the field at the end of the farrow or barrow?

If that's not correct could someone explain to me please?

Thanks.

Barrow = where the player will be when not in possession.

Farrow = Where he will be when you have possession

Sarrow = He will play slightly wider than normal.

Thanks for the reply Cleon, that clears it up for me.

Barrow = where the player will be when not in possession.

Farrow = Where he will be when you have possession

Sarrow = He will play slightly wider than normal.

Soon to be a moot point anyway

Are you saying that because arrows are being removed from FM09?

Are you saying that because arrows are being removed from FM09?

On FML a Farrow = forward runs often, a Barrow = forward runs rarely, so I presume thats how it will be for 09 too.

So what is the difference in say a ML with a short farrow to AML compared to a ML with a farrow to FL? Do they both mean FR's often?

How is this going to work when setting up a tactic, if you change a fullbacks FR's to rarely on the slider does it automatically give a barrow on the overview screen?

Yups all it means is forward runs, its just 1 arrow. And when you change FWR's in the tactics screen, it does automtically give them barrows etc.

I wasn't too keen at first but it works really well and makes much more sense when you get used to it. Its more logical.

Yups all it means is forward runs, its just 1 arrow. And when you change FWR's in the tactics screen, it does automtically give them barrows etc.

I wasn't too keen at first but it works really well and makes much more sense when you get used to it. Its more logical.

So mixed is being done away with?

They'll either get forward or they won't??

So mixed is being done away with?

They'll either get forward or they won't??

No, mixed is no arrow on the player.

Id like to ask a quick question regarding playing chelsea's 4-2-3-1 with which has Lampard in AMC bombing forward and also Essien bombing forward. Lampard and Essien keep scoring against me, despite my MC with a barrow marking lampard. Both my DC's are on closing down own area. I think that is fine for the DC marking Drogba, but should I have my other DC on higher closing down settings so he can close down Lampard and Essien bombing from midfield more effectively??

I have been looking at some formations that I would like to use for my team but I am really struggling to copy these files into my tactics file.

Can someone please give me an idiot proof guide how I would do this.

This would be very appreciated !!

^Download the .tac file and drop it into the tactics folder in the User Data Folder. To find where your user folder is go to Preferences in FM and it is listed at the bootom of the General section.

The in game Tactics > Edit Tactics > Import. This should bring you to the relevant User Data Folder. Click on the tactic you want to have in your game and click Select (or just double click the tactic). The tactic will now appear in the Tactics drop drown something like this:-

Save...

Edit Tactics

-------------

< Standard Tactics

< Archived Tactics

-------------

My Tactic Version 1

My Tactic Version 2

.

.

.

.

etc.

Doing it like this makes it easier to find if you happen to have many tactics in your User Data Folder.

Alternatively you can use the Archived Tactics menu list as shown above to locate it.

How can I stop my fullbacks from rubbish passbacks to the goalkeeper that keep getting intercepted?

Is it something fundamental in my tactics or simply a match engine flaw? It seems to happen on quite a regular basis.

Oh just thought of another one too.

I understand it's best to leave your players playing a new tactic for 10-15 games to let it gel. But what happens if you play a different formation home and away? Or similar formations but with many different settings? Do the players learn both or does it disrupt things?

How can I stop my fullbacks from rubbish passbacks to the goalkeeper that keep getting intercepted?

Is it something fundamental in my tactics or simply a match engine flaw? It seems to happen on quite a regular basis.

It's your tactics . Probably your fullbacks don't have any good alternative options. Why? Because your DCs and midfielders are too far away or not in space to receive a pass. Also if the fullbacks' mentality is too low they'll go backwards rather than forwards. So maybe increasing their mentalities to be nearer to the midfield will adjust both their thinking and positioning to make better passes.

Oh just thought of another one too.

I understand it's best to leave your players playing a new tactic for 10-15 games to let it gel. But what happens if you play a different formation home and away? Or similar formations but with many different settings? Do the players learn both or does it disrupt things?

Some people confuse tactics with formations. You can (and should) adjust tactics WITHIN a formation all the time to respond to the opposition and changing circumstances - that doesn't affect gelling. Changing FORMATIONS does. Personally, I keep the same formation but adjust the settings; other do have one home formation and one away one - my guess is that it would take longer for players to get fully comfortable with two rather than one, but patience should pay off. Of course, as in real life, it's a highly skilled art to correctly judge whether your players/team just need more time or if something is broken and needs fixing!

Id like to ask a quick question regarding playing chelsea's 4-2-3-1 with which has Lampard in AMC bombing forward and also Essien bombing forward. Lampard and Essien keep scoring against me, despite my MC with a barrow marking lampard. Both my DC's are on closing down own area. I think that is fine for the DC marking Drogba, but should I have my other DC on higher closing down settings so he can close down Lampard and Essien bombing from midfield more effectively??

I find Chelski particularly hard to tactically combat. In addition to Lampard and Essien, they have Ballack and whoever they buy (eg Diego) proving damned effective. The worst part is how fluid their tactic is, so that the players inter-change positions and formation with great rapidity. Thus I find it more effective to avoid man-marking and focusing on individual opponents in my player instructions; rather I go for closing down all but the DCs in the OIs and defend deeper than I do with just about any other opponent.

Simply, Is player instructions necesarry to become world class ( for instance Derby mid table first season, conference to prem, Newcastle winning in first season)

Do staff progress in response to their 'PA'?

Like, I have some staff with super huge PA, but do they actually progress with their skills or not?

Do staff progress in response to their 'PA'?

Like, I have some staff with super huge PA, but do they actually progress with their skills or not?

Yes, if they are aged under about 50 and their facilities are good enough. Possibly other variables like quality of players etc. But they can definitely improve their attributes. Look out especially for players who become coaches - at first they might be pants but become brilliant in a few years.

Scouts can progress too, but I haven't yet found development with physios.

Awesome, thanks very much.

I have an Asst. Manager that has a CA of 93 and a PA of 187, so I wondered if he would even reach that as he's staff, lol.

How old is he?

Why do have morale issues with some players? We have just got promoted, against the odds, and after 10-15 games, despite the media predictions we are in a very healthy 12-13th place.

There are a few players who are regulars in my first 11, who are playing well and have no concerns in their "personal" section (one of them even has "pleased to have signed a new contract!") yet have morales of poor or very poor.

How can I cheer them up?

Can standard tactics win things (llm style)